Cleveland Sports Forum

Arizona Fall Rosters announced. Indians sending mostly a very uninteresting group of players, although some assigned spots not yet filled.

Pitchers:

Dylan Baker CLE R-R 6-2 215 4/6/92 probably going to Arizona to make up for time lost after opening day injury
Louis Head CLE R-R 6-1 180 4/23/90 reliever looked good in Class A stops. Getting tested against older hitters.
Nick Maronde CLE R-R 6-4 220 9/4/90 acquired in trade from Angels. Big league experience, trying to bounce back.
TBA CLE How about Ryan Merritt? Give him a chance to try his slower speed stuff against better hitters? Or maybe Joe Colon, is he actually a prospect which his stats suggest but scouting reports reject.

Position Players:
Tony Wolters CLE L-R 5-10 180 6/9/92
BA rated him "interesting": INTERESTING: Indians C Tony Wolters has made a pretty smooth transition to working behind the plate. He’s thrown out 47 percent of basestealers this season
Jordan Smith CLE L-R 6-4 205 7/5/90 I'd rate him exceptionally uninteresting. Had a pretty weak debut in AA.
Every other team seems to have 3 position players, so I assume we get another one, too. Since Latin players usually head south for the winter, that rules out Ronnie and Luigi Rodriguez. Why not give Tony Gallas a chance against the prospect pitchers, he's had an exceptional 2014 albeit age 26 in High A and AA. Or Levon Washington, who is way behind in games played over his career.

I thought the Arizona Fall League was for top prospects. I don't see any of these guys answering that description. Walters is as close as it comes I guess. Seems like a waste of at least four roster spots.

Youngest Scrapper with biggest night of his career. Expect more of the same.

Francisco Mejia had every reason to swing for the fences.However, the ear-to-ear smile on Mejia’s face suggested that the Mahoning Valley Scrappers’ catcher was more than satisfied with a single to right field.Mejia capped off a memorable night at the plate on Wednesday when he knocked in Bradley Zimmer with the game-winning run in a Scrappers’ 8-7 home victory over Jamestown.

Mejia’s heroics came with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning. Zimmer reached base on a throwing error by Jammers shortstop Tyler Filliben. The Scrappers center fielder promptly stole second, then advanced to third on a throwing error by Jammers catcher Taylor Gushue.

That set the stage for Mejia, who came to the plate needing a home run to hit for the cycle. However, with the infield drawn in, Mejia lined a single between first and second base to send 2,120 fans home happy.

Mejia went 4-for-5 with five RBIs. For good measure, he threw out a runner trying to steal second and also picked off a runner at first.“I knew I needed a home run for the cycle, but my only thought in the ninth was to get the ball out of the infield and let Bradley do his thing,” Mejia said. “I knew that as long as I got the ball out of the infield, Bradley has the speed to give us the win. “That was my only focus, to do whatever it took to give us the win.”

Early on, it appeared as though the Scrappers wouldn’t need a ninth-inning rally. Thanks in large part to Mejia’s offense, the Scrappers built a 6-1 lead before the Jammers rallied to go ahead 7-6. After Zimmer and Greg Allen reached base on walks in the first inning, Mejia scored both runner runners with a triple down the right-field line.

In the fourth inning, Zimmer and Allen again reached on walks, and both again scored, this time on a Mejia double.“It was just one of those nights, I was in a groove,” Mejia said. “I’ve felt good at the plate lately. Things are starting to come around.”

The Scrappers owned a 6-2 lead entering the sixth, but the Jammers responded with a five-run inning to take the lead. Scrappers reliever Anthony Vizcaya surrendered four runs and didn’t make it out of the inning.The Scrappers tied the game in the seventh with a Taylor Murphy groundout that scored Steven Patterson.

Dominic DeMasi and J.P. Feyereisen then each pitched a perfect inning, setting up Mejia’s walk-off hit.

Scrappers manager Ted Kubiak wasn’t surprised to see his catcher swing a hot bat.“Frankie gets his cuts, he has some tools, there is no question about that,” Kubiak said. “He gets things done, both at the plate and behind the plate. He’s agile, he never gets tired and he has an incredible body for the game.“

For him to squat back there the way he does all the time, he’s been beat up and banged but he never complains

.”The Scrappers (31-39) will finish with more wins than a year ago. The Scrappers have logged 30-win seasons in three of the last four seasons. -

I could rate Mejia as our No. 2 prospect behind Lindor, although I suppose the "official" lists will continue to name Frazier and Zimmer ahead of him.

All of yesterday's box scores:

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20140827

Pitching Star of the Day:

Mitch Brown, eighth start in a row in which he allowed either 0 or 1 run. 6-5-1-1-0-7

Other notable efforts:
Moncrief 2 doubles and walk; Aguillar double, walk, 2 rbi
Maronde 4-9-5-4-1-4
Monsalve 3 hits, one a double.
Cole Sulser loses his 13th of the year; Dartmouth grad ready for Wall Street career
Zimmer 2 walks, 3 runs; Greg Allen 2 walks, steal #26, only batting 248, OPS 663
Sean Brady 5-7-2-2-3-2; J P Feyereisen runs his scoreless streak to 15 innings
Tapia single and double
Grant Hockin 3-3-1-1-1-2 add him to the list of good looking 2014 draftees

BA notes most of the same performances:

CLE AA Gonzalez, Erik SS 4 1 1 1 .348
CLE AAA Aguilar, Jesus 1B 4 0 1 2 .301 2B (29), BB (63)
CLE AAA Lindor, Francisco SS 5 0 1 0 .278
CLE AAA Moncrief, Carlos RF 2 3 2 0 .276 2 2B (33), BB (37)
CLE HiA Rodriguez, Luigi LF 3 1 1 0 .245 BB (48), SB (15)
CLE LoA Frazier, Clint CF 4 1 1 0 .268 2B (18)
CLE LoA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 4 0 2 2 .265 2B (31)
CLE SS Mejia, Francisco C 5 1 4 5 .277 2B (15), 3B (3), SB (2)

CLE AA Haley, Trey 1 0 0 0 1 0 6.43
CLE AA Maronde, Nick 4 9 5 4 1 4 12.38 L (0-2)
CLE HiA Clevinger, Mike 4.1 2 2 2 4 2 5.40
CLE LoA Brown, Mitch 6 5 1 1 0 7 3.18 W (8-8)
CLE MAJ Crockett, Kyle 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1.85
CLE MAJ Lee, C.C. 1 1 0 0 0 2 3.48
CLE SS Brady, Sean 5 7 2 2 3 2 2.79

Coming to the end of the minor league season this weekend except for the playoffs. Arizona team has the best record in the league so they'll play a bit longer. I doubt anyone else will qualify. Overall our 6 U.S. teams have a slightly over .500 record; although the full season teams are a bit below. I'll have half an hour extra time to waste now over the next six months, except time analyzing the Tribe's Top prospects lists over winter.

Thursday games:

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20140828

Not much noteworthy at the upper levels:
Erik Gonzalez 2 hits. Joe Wendle 2 hits. Raburn 3 hits, Giambi his first AA hit, hitting .071

Luigi Rodriguez single and double. Hitting 249/705. Last season in limited play at same level, 283/782. Age 21. Star fading.

Of course 21 is young for Carolina, so compare Rodriguez to all these guys at lower levels:

Age 21
at Lake County, Mike Papi yesterday 2 walks. .189/613 RF
at Mahoning Valley Brad Zimmer 0-4 .303/866 CF

Age 20
at Lake County Nellie Rodriguez singled and HR 21 266/822 1B
at Arizona Chu walked 348/1027 Catcher

Age 19
at Lake County Clint Frazier 2 singles 269/767 CF
at Lake County Dorsyss Paulino single, double 248/665 [stats nearly identical to 2013 at same level, but now's he an LF]
at Arizona Yu Chiang Chang 2-4 346/986 3B/SS
at Arizona Silento Sayles 2-4 cs [16/21 stealing] CF

Age 18
at Mahoning Valley Francisco Mejia 2 walks, 275/724 Catcher
at Arizona Bobby Bradley 0-4 361/1078 1B
at Arizona Emmanuel Tapia single, walk 315/894 1B

Civ what are you talking about??? Columbus and Akron are virtual locks for the playoffs......

OK. Neither has a particularly great recond, but I haven't looked at standings. And maybe use they first half/second half champs?

OK, proof that I don't like at wins and losses, just individual performances of the prospects.

Columbus, is in 1st place in the IL West and has clinched a spot. When we grade Zach McAllister they will have to rely on Cloyd and Arias who have each had good days and bad ones. Not so Toru Murata, he's been pretty lousy all the time. We'll thin out the Clipper bullpen too but at least they will get keep Lowe, at least I hope so.

Akron is in good shape. Second place in the EL West, 2 games up with 3 games to go.

And even Lake County has clinched a spot, so little do I know! I have noticed them winning a lot of games recently, with Mitch Brown leading the way. After an atrocious start of the year the Captains are 37-28 in the second half. I honestly don't why they have clinched a spot but South Ben with a better second half record hasn't but that's what the MinorLeagueBaseball.com standings show. Anyone eight teams qualify in the SAL, so there's room for both.

So Branyan's back but there is no room for Manny

OK, this I was aware of. Mitch Brown appears again on the BA Prospect Hot Sheet

12. Mitch Brown, rhp, Indians

low Class A Lake County (Midwest) Age: 20
Why He’s Here: 2-0, 1.50, 12 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 2 HR, 15 SO, 0 BB

The Scoop: Brown’s performance this week served as a microcosm of his second half, when he cut his walk rate in half. The 2012 second-rounder pounded the strike zone with a live fastball with sink and two improving secondary pitches to strike out 15 Midwest League batters against no walks in 12 innings this week. Brown is trending in the right direction, having gone 8-2, 2.32 in 13 second-half starts.

Also noted by BA in their runner up division:

In The Team Photo

Jesus Aguilar, 1b, Indians: He’s a bat-only first baseman, but he had a heck of a week. The 24-year-old doubled four times and homered thrice in 22 at-bats at Triple-A Columbus in a week in which the Clippers locked up a spot in the International League playoffs. Aguilar has been particularly hot lately, racking up a 1.058 OPS in August with five of his 19 homers this year and just 12 strikeouts in 84 at-bats.

I'd rather a bat only first baseman than a first baseman who doesn't hit, e.g Broussard, Garko.
He won't be around to aid the Clippers in the playoffs, either.

civ ollilavad wrote:Also noted by BA in their runner up division:

In The Team Photo

Jesus Aguilar, 1b, Indians: He’s a bat-only first baseman, but he had a heck of a week. The 24-year-old doubled four times and homered thrice in 22 at-bats at Triple-A Columbus in a week in which the Clippers locked up a spot in the International League playoffs. Aguilar has been particularly hot lately, racking up a 1.058 OPS in August with five of his 19 homers this year and just 12 strikeouts in 84 at-bats.

I'd rather a bat only first baseman than a first baseman who doesn't hit, e.g Broussard, Garko.
He won't be around to aid the Clippers in the playoffs, either.

Branyan will fill in for him!