Cleveland Sports Forum

One of my friends had an extra ticket to this evening's opener in Geneva. He offered it to me but the offer came too late in the day. I live about 20 minutes from the stadium.

EASTLAKE, Ohio – One team has been hot all year. One team got hot late, and is getting hotter. That's the storyline for the Midwest League championship series between Cleveland Indians Class A affiliate Lake County Captains and Chicago Cubs affiliate Kane County Cougars.

Kane County has the best record in pro baseball. Lake County is enjoying one of the best in-season turnarounds.

Both teams are 4-0 in the playoffs heading into the best-of-five series that begins Wednesday in Geneva, Ill., where Game 2 also will be played Thursday.

The series comes to Lake County's Classic Park in Eastlake on Saturday and, if necessary, Sunday and Monday.

The Indians' other affiliates in the playoffs, Class AAA Columbus and Class AA Akron, were eliminated last week.

Here's a preview:

Class A Midwest League championship series

Teams: Lake County Captains vs. Kane County Cougars.

Series schedule: Game 1, Wednesday at Kane County, 7 p.m. Game 2, Thursday at Kane County, 7 p.m. Game 3, Saturday at Classic Park, 7 p.m. Game 4 (if necessary), Sunday at Classic Park, 7 p.m. Game 5 (if necessary), Monday at Classic Park, 7 p.m.

Lake County update: The Captains swept best-of-three series against South Bend and Fort Wayne, outscoring the opposition, 23-9. Lake County had the league's worst record in the first half (27-43), but finished third in the East Division in the second half to secure a wild-card berth. Their second-half turnaround (38-31) included a 14-6 finish and was led by several players who started slow and finished strong, including starting pitchers Luis Lugo and Mitch Brown, first baseman Nellie Rodriguez and outfielder Clint Frazier, plus the addition of reliever Justin Brantley. Infielder Paul Hendrix, who hit .318 in the first half, then cooled (.258 second half), is hitting .304 in the last 30 days and .375 in the playoffs.

Kane County update: The Chicago Cubs affiliate led the minors with a franchise-record 91 wins in the regular season (45-25 first half, 46-24 second half). The Cougars swept a three-game home series against Lake County in April, the only regular-season meeting. The Cougars are 4-0 in the playoffs, sweeping Wisconsin and Cedar Rapids by a combined scored of 22-10. Their team-record 2.65 ERA largely has been the work of starters Paul Blackburn (9-4, 3.32 ERA), Daury Torrez (11-7, 2.74) Jen-Ho Tseng (6-1, 2.40) and Duane Underwood (6-4, 2.50).

Pitching phenoms: Lake County also has featured strong pitching. In four playoff games, Captains pitcher allowed an average of 2.25 runs (1.50 earned), 4.25 hits, 3.75 walks and no home runs, and averaged 9.5 strikeouts. Lugo, Brown, Anderson Polanco and Dace Kime were the starters, and they allowed five runs combined. Robbie Aviles, Brantley and closer Trevor Frank did the bulk of the relief pitching and combined for one run in 11 innings.

Starting pitching, a closer look: Lugo's line for his last seven starts: 6-0, 1.84 ERA, 38 strikeouts, 6 walks and 28 hits in 38 2/3 innings. Brown's last eight starts: 7-0, 0.96 ERA, 49 strikeouts, 11 walks and 30 hits in 46 2/3 innings. Polanco moved into the starting rotation on Aug. 8 and since then is 2-0 with a 1.72 ERA with 33 strikeouts, 9 walks, and 18 hits in 30 1/3 innings. Kime has been inconsistent, and gave up six runs in three innings in his final regular-season start, but his start in the series-clinching win against Fort Wayne on Sunday was one of his best outings (1 run, 4 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings).


Lake County Captains

Fresh face: First-round pick and right fielder Bradley Zimmer joined Lake County for the final three regular-season games and hit two homers. In the playoffs he is hitting .375 (6-of-16) with three RBI and three extra-base hits.

Twenty-somethings: Twenty-year-old sluggers Nellie Rodriguez and Clint Frazier (he turned 20 on Saturday) carried their strong second-half play into the playoffs. First baseman Rodriguez is hitting .429 in four playoff games (6-for-14) with two home runs and six RBI. Rodriguez is a candidate for Midwest League MVP. He hit .268 with 88 RBI and 22 homers in the regular season. Center fielder Frazier, last year's No. 1 pick, is hitting .438 (7-for-16) in the playoffs with one homer and three RBI. Frazier hit .266 with 50 RBI and 13 homers. Between them, Rodriguez and Frazier also compiled more than 300 strikeouts.

Papi injured: Outfielder-designated hitter Mike Papi, selected 38th overall in this year's draft, suffered a thumb injury diving into first base Saturday. Cleveland Lincoln West graduate Brian Ruiz has replaced Papi and had a hit and a walk Sunday.

Championship histories: Lake County advances to its second Midwest League championship series. The Captains won the ML their first season in the league in 2010, a team that featured current Indians rookie outfielder Tyler Holt. They lost in the 2003 South Atlantic League championship series, the franchise's first year in Lake County after moving from Columbus, Ga.

Kane County is making its 14th playoff appearance in 24 years, and first since 2011. The Cougars won the 2001 championship with a team that featured Miguel Cabrera and Adrian Gonzalez. That series was called after one game because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

GENEVA, Illinois – The Lake County Captains came up short in the Midwest League Championship Series opener Wednesday night at Fifth Third Bank Stadium, falling to Kane County, 4-3.

Game 2 is Thursday night at 7 at Kane County, then the teams move to Classic Park in Eastlake for the remaining games in the best-of-five series.

Both teams did all their scoring in the first two innings and the Captains hurt themselves in the field.

The Captains got on the board in the first when Bradley Zimmer doubled with two outs and scored on a double by Nellie Rodriguez.

In the second, Dorssys Paulino and Brian Ruiz singled around an error to load the bases with no outs and Claudio Bautista doubled in two runs, but that's all the Captains could get.

Shawon Dunston, the son of one-time Indian and long-time Chicago Cubs shortstop Shawon Dunston, singled to open the Cougars' first inning against right-hander Mitch Brown. Mark Zagunis followed with a homer to put Kane County on top.


Lake County Captains-8.jpeg

Lake County Captains pitcher Mitch Brown (22) misplays an infield pop-up against the Kane County Cougars at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva, Illinois on Wednesday.

Sean King for Shaw Media

The Captains gift-wrapped two runs in the second by committing three errors, including two by Brown. Dunston singled in the first run, then came around to score on consecutive errors by Brown and third baseman Paul Hendrix.

Caleb Hamrick replaced Brown for the third inning and faced the minimum number of batters over the next four innings. The only blemish was a single by Jeimer Candelario leading off the fourth and he was promptly cut down trying to stretch it to a double by rightfielder Zimmer.

Brown was charged with four runs (three earned) in two innings, allowing four hits, one homer and three walks, while striking out two and taking the loss. Robbie Aviles worked two scoreless innings after Hamrick.

Kane County starter Jen-Ho Tseng worked five innings for the win. He was charged with three runs (two earned) and six hits, while walking one and striking out eight. Ben Wells, Jasvir Rakkar and Francisco Carrillo held the Captains to one hit over the final four innings. Carrillo got the save.

Zimmer had two hits, a walk and was hit by a pitch in his four at bats. Clint Frazier was hitless in five appearances and was called out on strikes in three consecutive at bats

CLE LoA Paulino, Dorssys LF 4 1 1 0 .250
CLE LoA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 4 0 1 1 .250 2B (1)
CLE LoA Zimmer, Bradley RF 2 1 2 0 1.000 2B (1), BB (1), 2 SB (2)
CLE LoA Brown, Mitch 2 4 4 3 3 2 13.50 L (0-1)

BA's All Prospect Team for August includes:

1B Jesus Aguilar • Indians
Triple-A Columbus (International)

The Indians rewarded Aguilar with a September callup after he turned in his best month of the season to finish among the International League leaders in average (.304), home runs (19), RBIs (77), on-base percentage (.395), slugging (.511) and walks (64). Injuries to veterans Nick Swisher and Ryan Raburn could enable Aguilar to see his name on the lineup card at first base or DH a bit more often as the Indians pursue an AL playoff spot.

AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG
96 19 35 9 0 5 13 14 13 0 0 .365 .441 .615

[Not much of an opportunity so far. 0-7 with a walk]

Mr. Chang, the SS-3B for our Arizona team, who ranked No. 2 in the league to Bradley in many offensive categories is, apparently, for real. A brief q/a at Baseball America provides this teaser:

Matt Eddy’s comment is in reply to civ ollilavad:

Can you enlighten us more on Chang? I know he got $300,000 for signing out of Taiwan and his numbers at the plate look ...


Matt Eddy

Chang will feature prominently on Bill Mitchell's forthcoming Arizona League Top 20 Prospects list, so I don't want to steal his thunder. Synopsis: Probably not a shortstop, but he can swing the bat.

["Feature prominently" seems to suggest rank way up there. Could possibly be ahead of Bradley, since defensive flexibility of course is also a consideration in rating prospects.]



Reply to Matt Eddy

Why was Jiminez used at 1B instead of Aguilar? Is he hurt? Hope we are not thinking of keeping Jiminez over Aguilar.

Couldn't guess. I am sure that Giminez will be off the roster as soon as the season ends and space is needed to kids like Lindor.

Lake County lost again. For some reason Milbreth started, he'd been dumped into the pen a month ago and he, like Mitch Brown, didn't make it 3 innings. But it really wouldn't have mattered much who pitched since the offense was shut down on 2 hits. it's a best of 5 series so all the Captains have to do is sweep the last 3 against the team in the Midwest League that's been best from start to finish of the season. Regardless, it's been a good end to the season for the Captains.

Low light of Thursday game: 4 K by Nellie Rodriguez.

BA has issued their annual "Classification All Stars" and the Indians have scored unusually well, especially with First Basemen.

AAA All-Star 1B: Jesus Aguillar [but not good enough to drive Chris Giminez to the bench apparently]
Low A All Star 1B: Nellie Rodriguez
Short Season A All Star OF: Brad Zimmer
Rookie League All Star 1B: Bobby Bradley
Rookie League All-Star SS: Yu-Chiang Chang [although he won't stay at SS]
Rookie League Player of the Year: Bobby Bradley

This is more of a how they did this year than a how they project, but it's a good list in any case.

Add in some others who both had good 2014s and project very well to include:
SS Lindor
SS Gonzalez
CF Frazier
C Mejia
1b/of Papi
CF Naquin

Minor league ends for the Indians as Lake County is swept 3 games to none in Midwest championships.

Clint Frazier's 5 th postseason double and a walk were the only highlights.
But Frazier and Zimmer and Rodriguez are good hitters who will are converge in Zebulon NC next year. Zimmer is least likely of the trio to stay there all year. Papi missed this series and didn't put up numbers during his month in Eastlake, so he could return to start 2015. He makes a fine quartet of bats that we sure hope develop and make their way to Cleveland in good time. Like 2017-18.

Final Box of 2014:

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.js ... x&sid=milb

Baseball America keeps churning out one list or ranking or another. The league Top 20's will be out fairly soon; so far they've produced Top 10 for summer amateur leagues. Our attention will be focused mostly on the first lists they possible, since they usually work their way up from Rookie Leagues to AAA. [Not sure if they include the Dominican League; I am awaiting an objective assessment of Gabriel Mejia]

Today they rank the Minor League MVPs in prospect order. This year, unusually, we have one of those guys, Bobby Bradley. Here's the full writeup.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/r ... ague-mvps/

Ooops, it turns out to include only the full season leagues, so no Bobby.

TOP TEN PROSPECTS FOR AUGUST 2014
Posted by Joseph Coblitz on Aug 14, 2014 00:00

ShareTweet(1)
The minor league season is coming to a close with just one month left to play and so it is becoming more obvious which players have improved in the 2014 and which have not. There are a few of the more familiar names on this months rankings, one being a new addition at the trade deadline and another who was a top ten prospect coming into the season, but is only starting to find himself now in single A. Don’t expect more than one player listed to join the Indians in September as most players at that level have already been listed, like Austin Adams, Tyler Holt and Audy Ciriaco.

1. Daniel Gomez – Starting Pitcher
DSL Indians - 2012 International Free Agent – 2013 Rank UR
Gomez was a fairly good pitcher last season as a 19 year old used in various roles, but as a more full time starter this year he has been fantastic. In a similar amount of innings (52.2 in 2014, 53.2 in 2013) he has lowered his ERA (from 2.52 to 1.71), raised his strike outs (31 to 47) and allowed less base runners (1.30 WHIP to 1.00). He has transformed himself from mediocre to one of the best pitchers in the Dominican Summer League and should be a member of the Arizona League Indians or Mahoning Valley Scrappers in 2015.

2. James Ramsey – Center Field
AAA Columbus – From St. Louis in Masterson Trade – UR
Most of the talented AAA level players have been covered by this point, with many being featured in the original top ten of the most likely players to make their debut in 2014. Of course Ramsey could not have been featured then as he was a member of the Springfield Cardinals, the Cardinals AA team. Since his trade and subsequent promotion, Ramsey is just 9/42, but on the season he is batting .288 with 14 home runs, 50 runs scored and just 81 strike outs. It is likely he made a premature transition to AAA to see if he could help the Indians this season (most likely predicated by the glut of outfield injuries at the Major and minor league level), but it seems that won’t be the case. After another season in Columbus, however, things could definitely be different and it looks now as if the Indians received fair value for two months of a damaged pitcher.

3. Clint Frazier – Center Field
A Lake County – Drafted 2013 Round 1 – 2012 Rank #63
Clint Frazier6After Francisco Lindor, Frazier could be the Indians top all around prospect. He has incredible speed, especially considering how big he is, has a quick bat and great instincts in the field. The reason he is so late coming in the rankings (#53 overall this year) is that his numbers have fallen off considerably in his second year with the Tribe and his first at the ‘A’ level. In the first 100 games of 2014, Frazier has already struck out 144 times and has hit safely just 105 for a .166 average. While these would not be terrible numbers at the Major League level, they are a little disconcerting in Lake County. He has seen a change of late, however, raising his average from .243 on June 19th to .275 on July 17th. Most recently, he is on a five game hitting streak, going 9/23 with six RBI in that span. It appears he has finally adjusted and although he may need to start next season in Lake County, he should be able to succeed at the high ‘A’ level at some point in 2015.

4. Justin Brantley – Relief Pitcher
A Lake County – 2014 MiLB Free Agent – UR
The Indians struck gold when they added one Brantley to the team in 2008 and look to do the same with Michael’s cousin now. Justin Brantley went undrafted, but has destroyed as a reliever in his first professional season at the single A level. Brantley has thrown 32.1 innings in 18 games and struck out 36. He has walked just ten with an ERA 0.84 and a WHIP under 1.000. Whether it is good or bad, his only three runs allowed this season (and thus in his career) came off three solo home runs. While no relief pitcher could ever mean as much to the Indians as Michael Brantley has, Cleveland could do a lot worse than a team full of Brantleys.

5. Jose Medina – Left Field
DSL Indians – 2013 International Free Agent – UR
The disparity in talent in the Dominican Summer League makes it easy to separate the possible prospects from those who burn out after a single season and there is no question that Medina is the Indians best pure hitter sitting in the DSL. In his first minor league season, he has already knocked in 49 runs with a .475 slugging percent. Medina has been primarily a left fielder, but has been moved around a lot, playing 23 games at first and spending some time at short stop and right field as well. He has been best defensively in the outfield and that is likely where he will stay next season, either in Goodyear or remaining in the DSL.

6. Gabriel Arias – Starting Pitcher
AAA Columbus – 2013 MiLB Free Agent – UR
Arias pitched four years in the DSL for the Phillies before finally reaching the advanced ‘A’ level in 2013 after three more seasons in the Phillies minor league system. After all this struggle, he was let go by Philadelphia and signed by the Indians in the off-season, the break he needed to make it big. With all the Indians struggles with starters at the Major League level, there has been a lot of minor league movement as well. Arias has made 12 starts in AA and nine in AAA, posting a 3.36 ERA with 76 K’s over 128.2 innings across both levels. The former low level reliever for the Phillies has been transformed into one of the Tribe’s top minor league starters in just one year. After starting just 15 games since leaving the Dominican Republic, he has made 21 for the Rubber Ducks and Clippers, levels he had never came close to while with the Phillies.

7. Mitch Brown – Starting Pitcher
A Lake County – Drafted 2012 Round 2 – 2012 Rank #42
Mitch BrownIt is fair to say, “Mitch Brown is on fire.” Going back to June 10th, in his last 11 starts (excluding the two on July 8th and 13th), Brown has given up two or less earned runs in each game and has allowed two just one. Over that span, he has pitched at least five innings in all but one game as well. While his season numbers don’t look as impressive, he has dropped his ERA from 5.66 on May 19th to 3.72 today flipping his win loss record from 0-6 at that point, to 5-2 since. As a second round pick, much is expected of Brown and at just 20 years old, he still has plenty of time to deliver. Expect him in Carolina in 2015 and keep an eye on him for the future.

8. Yu-Cheng Chang – Short Stop
AZL Indians – 2013 International Free Agent – UR
Yu-Cheng ChangChang is in his first season with the Indians after being signed last Winter out of Taiwan. Chang is a slick fielding short stop (his .942 fielding percent there is almost immaculate for the Arizona Rookie League) and a slightly worse third baseman. His real strength, however, has been at the plate, batting .328 with 21 RBI and 29 runs scored. Chang is just 18 years old with plenty of room for development, giving a very positive outlook for his future. What may be best about Chang however, is that he represents a new market to find players for the Tribe as Taiwan has largely been ignored in Major League history.

9. Johan Puello – Relief Pitcher
AZL Indians – 2012 International Free Agent – UR
A few DSL players are mentioned in this month’s top ten as they try to make it to the US and Puello is one of the success stories they are trying to emulate. Puello is in his first season in Arizona and has been great in a full relief role, striking out 26 in 23.2 innings with a 1.52 ERA. One thing to look out for is that he has allowed ten unearned runs, but that could actually be a positive as official scorers are generally pretty loose when calling errors, so defense could have hurt him even worse than can be seen. It is hard to judge a player against the diverse talent of the Arizona Rookie League, but Puello has definitely differentiated himself enough to deserve a shot in Lake County or at least Mahoning Valley in 2015.

10. Erlin Cerda – Third Base
DSL Indians – 2012 International Free Agent – UR
Cerda looks to be an up and coming speed player for the Tribe, going from 12 steals in 19 attempts in 60 games last season to 19 in 21 already this season in 57 games. In addition, he has increased his walk rate, getting on base 44% of the time with a .323 batting average. This is Cerda’s second year on the Indians DSL squad and his vast improvements make him a likely candidate for promotion to the United States.

INITIAL ANALYSIS OF THE INDIANS 2014 DRAFT PICKS

Posted by Joseph Coblitz on Sep 15, 2014 06:00

ShareTweet(1)
It has only been three months since the Indians picks in the 2014 amateur draft were selected and even less time since they signed and joined their minor league squads, but already some have stood out. While the best performers were generally those taken at the top of the draft, there have been a few who made a name for themselves despite being taken after more than 500 players in 2014. The Indians were able to sign 28 of their 40 selections and most have received a significant amount of playing time in the past few months, so get ready for a nice, long list.

1. Bradley Zimmer – OF – First Round, 21st Overall
Zimmer was a college pick, who was initially placed with the Short Season Scrappers and batted .304 with four home runs and 30 RBI in 45 games before being promoted to Single A Lake County, where he helped them in their play-off run. He has an impressive combination of speed and power, stealing 12 bases to just four caught and hitting 12 doubles in limited action.

Justus Sheffield2. Justus Sheffield – LHP – First Round, 31st Overall
Sheffield spent his entire first season with the AZL Indians after being drafted out of high school. He was initially used as a starter, but came out of the bullpen later in the season, posting a 4.79 ERA overall. He was plagued by some poor defense (five of his 16 runs allowed were unearned), but his 29 strike outs to just nine walks in 20.2 innings show a lot of potential for the future.

3. Mike Papi – OF – First Round, 38th Overall
Papi played just two games with Mahoning Valley before moving to Lake County where he spent the majority of his season. He has batted just .178/.305/.274 in single A with three home runs and 15 RBI in 39 games. He has been used at first base, right, left and center field, but has not been impressive there either, posting a .967 fielding percent at all outfield positions.

4. Grant Hockin – RHP – Second Round, 61st Overall
Hockin posted a 3.86 ERA as a starter for the AZL Indians with 21 innings in nine games (seven starts). He struck out 19 and walked just four with a WHIP of 1.19. At 18 years old, Hockin could possibly use another season in Goodyear before moving to the next level.

5. Bobby Bradley – 1B – Third Round, 97th Overall
Bobby BradleyBradley was just a high school pick, but he may have had the best season of all the 2014 picks. He played the whole season with the AZL Indians and batted .361/.426/.652 with 50 RBI and eight home runs, good enough for the AZL Triple Crown and MVP. He was solid enough defensively, especially considering the field conditions, but could project as more of a DH eventually.

6. Sam Hentges – LHP – Fourth Round, 128th Overall
Hentges is just 17 years old and has already set a high bar for his future with a 0.69 ERA in 13 relief innings, allowing just nine total base runners for a WHIP of 0.69 as well. Hentges struck out 10 as one of the better AZL relievers in a short period. He will likely spend one more season in Arizona before being able to prove himself at a higher level.

7. Julian Merryweather – RHP – Fifth Round, 158th Overall
The 22 year old out of Oklahoma Baptist University started for the Scrappers and threw 46.2 innings in 13 games, striking out 35. His ERA of 3.66 was solid, but not completely impressive as he was one of the older players on the team. More will be learned of his ultimate ceiling once he plays a full season with the single A Captains.

8. Greg Allen – CF – Sixth Round, 188th Overall
Allen played in both center and right field for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, batting .244 in 57 games. While this number may not impress, especially considering that he is 21 years old already, there were two numbers in particular worth recognizing. In 35 stolen base attempts, Allen was safe 30 times, not only leading the team in SB%, but lead the league in total steals with eight more than the next best runner and 19 more than the next best Scrapper.

9. Simeon Lucas – C – Seventh Round, 218th Overall
Simeon Lucas2Lucas was Li-Jen Chu’s primary back up during the second half of the season in the Arizona League, but didn’t play much as the Taiwan native was excellent all around. Lucas got into just 16 games and batted just .217. Behind the plate, he was even worse, committing five errors in those 16 games while allowing 16 of 19 base stealers to advance safely.

10. Micah Miniard – RHP – Eighth Round, 248th Overall
Miniard pitched just 12 innings for the AZL Indians with a 5.25 ERA and a WHIP of 1.16 in relief. He averaged two innings per appearance, so he could still be used as a starter, long reliever or short reliever depending on his ability. This will likely be worked out next season, when he will probably still be playing at the rookie level.

11. Alexis Pantoja – SS – Ninth Round, 278th Overall
Alexis PantojaPantoja was a high schooler drafted out of the Puerto Rican Baseball Academy and is one players whose numbers can be mostly ignored. He started the season in the Arizona League as the team’s second baseman, but moved to short stop, pushing top prospect Yu-Cheng Chang to third. While he only batted .250 with five extra base hits, Pantoja was undoubtedly the fastest player on the Rookie level Indians, stealing 13 games without being caught.

12. Steven Patterson – 2B – Tenth Round, 308th Overall
Patterson was a second and third baseman for the Scrappers and had a very average start. He played in 54 games with a .269 average, 20 doubles, 38 runs and 26 RBI. Defensively, he played poorly with a .750 fielding percent in three games at third and .962 in 50 games at second. With plenty of options at both positions already in the system (some of whom were from this draft), Patterson could already be trending as a minor league utility man.

13. Jared Robinson – RHP – Eleventh Round, 338th Overall
Jared RobinsonRobinson was a solid reliever for the AZL Indians, posting a 1.23 ERA in 22 innings, while striking out 19. Robinson was one of the most trusted relievers on the team as he was the first come in during the AZL championship game after the aforementioned Sheffield. He is 19 years old and has earned a promotion to at least Mahoning Valley in 2015.

15. Jordan Dunatov – RHP - Twelfth Round, 368th Overall
Dunatov was taken out of college, but still played his limited time with the Rookie level Indians. He pitched just nine innings in ten games of relief. While he didn’t allow an earned run, it may be simply because his defense didn’t let him as he walked ten and held a 1.78 WHIP overall with five unearned runs.

16. Austin Fisher – SS - 13th Round, 398th Overall
Out of Kansas State, Fisher was a short stop for the Scrappers, playing in 40 games with a .963 fielding percent. In 46 games over all, he batted just .196 with two extra base hits, two steals and ten RBI. It’s unfortunate that a college age player was unable to succeed at the short season level, but he may need to repeat next season at this level or even go down to Arizona for some rookie ball.

17. Luke Eubank – RHP – 15th Round, 458th Overall
Eubank had a tremendous year in relief for the Scrapppers, posting a 2.25 ERA in 20 innings, striking out 16 and grabbing six saves. Eubank is just 20 years old as a college pick and should be an interesting one to follow, either as a reliever or stretched out as a possible future starter.

18. J.P. Feyereisen – RHP – 16th Round, 488th Overall
Feyereisen only pitched 17 innings for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in relief, but certainly opened some eyes in that time. He struck out 24 and allowed a total of ten base runners, just one by walk. Of course, his biggest stat was his 0.00 ERA as he didn’t allow even an unearned run. There is not a number that makes him look bad as Feyereisen added an extra three wins an four saves to his already impressive rate stats.

19. Cameron Hill – RHP – 17th Round, 518th Overall
Hill was a starter for the Scrappers, posting a 1.76 ERA in 56.1 innings overall. He struck out 33, but walked 20, showing he may still be a little wild. Of course, this was the 20 year old’s first minor league season and he was more impressive than not in his 12 starts.

20. Taylor Murphy – OF – 18th Round, 548th Overall
Murphy was originally drafted by the Mariners in 2011, but didn’t sign until this year with the Tribe. He played both left and right field, but wasn’t particularly impressive on either side. At the plate, he did walk a little more than average with 26, enough to raise his poor average of .262 by almost 100 points to a .361 OBP.

21. Argenis Angulo – RHP -19th Round, 578th Overall
Argenis Angulo1Angulo was born in Venezuela, but moved to Texas for college and was drafted for the first time by the Indians this year. He pitched only in relief for the AZL Indians, posting a 7.80 ERA, but striking out 27 in just 15 innings. Angulo is a little old at 20 for a Rookie level player and it is hard to judge him from just 13 games in his first professional season.

22. Gian Paul Gonzalez – C -20th Round, 608th Overall
Gonzalez was the AZL Indians fourth string catcher behind Li-Jen Chu, Kevin Calderon and the previously mentioned Lucas and for good reason. Gonzalez batted just .176 with no extra base hits in 11 games and allowed 76% of runners to steal bases successfully. The 18 year old out of Discipulos de Cristo in Puerto Rico has shown little to get excited about to this point, but could be given a better chance when Chu and Lucas are promoted ahead of him.

23. Bobby Ison – OF -21st Round, 638th Overall
Bobby IsonIson was the starting center fielder for the AZL Indians and was solid defensively, while being less than impressive at the plate. These Indians were an offensive juggernaut this year, but Ison was not a big part of that, batting just .240/.338/.256 and was caught in five of 13 steal attempts.

24. Jordan Carter – RHP – 22nd Round, 668th Overall
Carter was used as a flex pitcher for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, starting just two games, but pitching 34.2 innings in his 12 total games. He struck out 24 compared to just four walks while holding opponents to a 2.60 ERA.

25. David Armendariz – OF – 23rd Round, 698th Overall
Armendariz started in the Arizona League, but at 22 years old, the left fielder was an elder statesman in that league and was promoted after just 18 games. After batting just .140/.140/.200 in Mahoning Valley, he may have proven that he still belonged in Arizona. With all the great talent from this year’s draft, it is hard to get excited about a weak hitting outfield with no power, speed and a poor glove.

26. Jodd Carter – CF -24th Round, 728th Overall
Jodd CarterCarter was drafted out of high school in Hawaii and was the starting left fielder and number two hitter for the AZL Indians. He batted .291 with 17 RBI in 37 games. He is just 17 years old and looks like he could develop some power in the coming years.

29. David Speer – LHP -27th Round, 818th Overall
Speer is a 21 year old out of Columbia University and was dominant in relief for Mahoning Valley this year. He struck out 47 in 42.2 innings and walked just eight with a 2.74 ERA. He did allow 42 hits, increasing his WHIP to 1.17 despite his limited number of walks.

30. Nathan Winfrey – 3B -28th Round, 848th Overall
Nathan Winfrey2Winfrey played 28 games as a reserve player for the AZL Indians, all at DH or third base. Winfrey batted just .211 with 20 hits that somehow turned into 20 RBI. He also walked 20 times for a more impressive .369 OBP, showing a glimmer of hope for the 19 year old. Once Yu-Cheng Chang and Pantoja advance, Winfrey should be able to prove himself as a full time player in Goodyear.

31. Drake Roberts – 2B -29th Round, 878th Overall
At 22 years old, Roberts is very old for the Short Season Scrappers, but he did not dominate as one would expect. He played just 34 games, mostly at third base, batting .175/.238/.250 over that span. He also played games at short stop and second, but wasn’t impressive defensively at any position or the plate.

33. Dominic DeMasi – RHP – 31st Round, 938th Overall
DeMasi was a very average reliever for the Scrappers, allowing a 1.75 WHIP, 4.91 ERA and 10 walks in 18.1 innings. At 21 years old, he may need another season below Lake County before he can truly be evaluated.

39. Juan Gomes – C – 37th Round, 1,118th Overall
Juan is the younger brother of Indians starting catcher Yan Gomes and is a catcher himself. He was also the only player to sign that was drafted later than the 31st round and one of just five who signed after the 24th round out of 40 total players drafted. He did not make his professional debut this year at the age of 22 after being drafted out of Odessa College.

there were two numbers in particular worth recognizing. In 35 stolen base attempts, Allen was safe 30 times, not only leading the team in SB%, but lead the league in total steals with eight more than the next best runner and 19 more than the next best Scrapper

One number is the number of steals. What's the other number? His pct? He does not need to get himself on base a lot more and a third, or perhaps second impressive number, is his walk total which was 27 and lifted his OBP to 361 and exceeded his strikeout total.