Cleveland Sports Forum

Regular season ends. Organizational leaders:

On 250 minimum at bats, AVG goes to Gabriel Mejia at 342.
For 400 minimum at bats, leader is Yandy Diaz at 313

On base pct, Diaz tops at 408, Mejia at 407.
Slugging avg Bobby Bradley the leader at 535
Home Runs Bobby again with 27
RBI Nellie Rodriguez repeat winner, with 98

Hits Yandy Diaz 150
Runs Clint Frazier 87
Doubles Frazier with 36
Triples Ivan Castillo 12
NOW I SEE THE POSTED SEASON TOTALS STILL OMIT TODAY'S GAMes for some leagues, but I can confirm
Steals: Greg Allen with a couple today tops Zimmer 46-44. Mejia in a half-season had 40. Last year he stole 74 in short season Dominican
Walks: Mike Papi 81

Wins: Toru Murata 15
Lossess: Mitch Brown and Sean Brady 12

Bobby Bradley’s professional career began last year with a triple crown and a championship in the Rookie-level Arizona League. The precocious 19-year-old first baseman has followed up that performance with a fantastic season in the Midwest League.

TALENTED TEENS
Most home runs by a teenager in the Midwest League since 1962
Bob Gorinski: 30 (1971)
Larry Walker: 29 (1986)
Miguel Sano: 28 (2012)
Bobby Bradley: 27 (2015)
Prince Fielder: 27 (2003)
Wily Mo Pena: 26 (2001)

Bradley was promoted to high Class A Lynchburg on Saturday, but not before hitting .269/.361/.529 with 27 home runs in 108 games at low Class A Lake County. His 27 home runs will make him the circuit’s home run champion and are the most in the MWL by a teenager since Miguel Sano hit 28 home runs for Beloit in 2012. Only Bob Gorinski (30), Larry Walker (29) and Sano have hit more home runs as teenagers in the Midwest League since 1962, when the modern era of the minor leagues was ushered in by the adoption of the Player Development Plan. Prince Fielder also hit 27 home runs as a 19-year-old with Beloit in 2003.

In addition to leading the league in home runs, Bradley also tops it in OPS (.890), slugging percentage and RBIs (92).

BA Features Bobby:

No Resting On Laurels For Indians’ Bradley

Indians director of player development Carter Hawkins said the root of Bradley’s season is the work he put in during the offseason.

“He could have been complacent after an unbelievable year in the Arizona League,” Hawkins said. “It would have been easy for him to think he had the whole pro ball thing figured out.”

Last summer, it certainly looked like Bradley did. He hit .361/.426/.652 with eight home runs and 50 RBIs in 39 games after the Indians picked him in the third round out of Harrison Central High in Gulfport, Miss. But Hawkins said Bradley spent the winter working on his strength and conditioning and was ready to go once spring training began.

The start to Bradley’s 2015 season was interrupted, however, by an oblique injury he suffered in April. He missed about three weeks of action, but returned as strong as ever. He hit two home runs in his second game after being activated from the disabled list and has continued to crush the ball ever since.

Not long after his return from injury, Bradley celebrated his 19th birthday. He was the third-youngest player in the league on Opening Day and, even now, just five players younger than him have gotten more than 100 plate appearances in the league.

As well as Bradley has hit, however, he is still developing as a player. He has struck out 148 times in 465 plate appearances (31.8 percent) this season and has made 17 errors at first base.

Hawkins said there will always be some swing-and-miss in Bradley’s game—a natural tradeoff for his power. But the Indians hope he will in time learn to more consistently use the middle of the field and cut down on his strikeouts.

“He loves hitting,” Hawkins said. “Eats it up. His body continues to improve and get more agile.”

About all that's left is playoffs for Clippers and Hillcats.

Picking the Boudreau and Feller winners.

Then in a couple months the next iteration of Top 10-30 prospect lists.


And the next thing we know they'll be back on the rear diamonds in Goodyear.

Clippers out to a 4-0 lead behind Merritt's 4 shutout innings, hasn't struck anyone out, but only 3 baserunners.

both games rained out on Thursday.

BA posts its ALL MINOR LEAGUES all star team for the 2015 season and Bradley makes the lineup:

DH Bobby Bradley • Indians
Low Class A Lake County (Midwest) • High Class A Lynchburg (Carolina)

Bradley led the Rookie-level Arizona League in home runs and RBIs in 2014, and he accomplished the same feat in the Midwest League this season, becoming the circuit’s first teenage home run champ since Miguel Sano in 2012. Bradley smashed 27 homers and drove in 92 runs for low Class A Lake County before a late-season drop-in at Lynchburg that spanned two games.

So do two pitchers in the Tigers' system including this Boyd kid whose ERA is over 8 in his big league debut and is starting against us this weekend. Maybe they some promise afterall: he and others were pickups from recent deals.

Zimmer makes the 2nd team All Star roster in CF. His miserable season ending streak in Akron brought him down from the 1st team, but obviously has not seriously diminished his prospect standing.

Next BA posts "classification" all stars

Our winners:

AAA: none

AA: none

High A: Zimmer in the OF

Low A: Bradley at 1b: and Player of the Year

More:

Short Season A:

Daniel Salters named as catcher. Wow, didn't know he was that impressive; must be a solid defender to go with his 688 OPS

Rookie:

Nope, Mejia does not make the cut. Lack of power I assume cost him a spot. [9 doubles and 1 triple for Mejia; least power among the guys who beat him out had 15 doubles, 3 triples and a homer, and more walks that Mejia too]

My question to BA: Gabriel Mejia? Average and walks and steals aren't enough to overcome very little power I guess. Does he come close? How good is his defense compared to the others rated 1st team?

BA reply: I leaned heavily on our league top 20 prospects rankers to build our short-season and Rookie all-star teams. I asked them to send me an all-star team for each league based on top-performing prospects, then I melded the various lists into the two teams. They did not nominate Arizona League Indians CF Gabriel Mejia as a candidate, even though he hit .357/.438/.417 with a league-leading 34 SB in the AZL.

My question to BA:

Does Brad Zimmer's really poor finish of the season in Akron do much to diminish his prospect standing? I suppose it cost him a 1st team all star rating.

BA reply:

Not much on hurting his prospect status as the tools are very impressive and it was really his first hiccup, but yes, if we did this at the midseason Zimmer makes a good case for a first-team spot.

ORGANIZATION STANDINGS • DOMESTIC CLUBS ONLY
No Organization W L PCT Playoff League Champ Runner-Up
1 Astros+ 431 332 .565 6 Greeneville (APP)
2 D-backs+ 420 345 .549 3
3 Pirates+ 417 346 .547 4
4 Phillies 377 319 .542 3
5 Cubs 371 316 .540 2
6 Twins 367 320 .534 2
7 Mets+ 406 357 .532 3
8 Dodgers 366 326 .529 3
9 Orioles 366 333 .524 2
10 Mariners 359 334 .518 3
11 Cardinals+ 389 371 .512 3
Yankees++ 422 403 .512 3
13 Indians 353 341 .509 2
14 White Sox 347 341 .504 2 AZL White Sox
Giants 350 344 .504 2
16 Rays+ 381 378 .502 3 Princeton (APP)
17 Royals+ 378 382 .497 4
18 Reds 339 348 .493 3
19 Braves 336 351 .489 0
20 Blue Jays+ 369 392 .485 2 GCL Blue Jays
21 Athletics 335 359 .483 2
22 Padres 330 364 .476 3
23 Tigers 326 365 .472 2
24 Red Sox 328 371 .469 1 GCL Red Sox
Nationals 326 369 .469 0
26 Rockies 333 382 .466 1
27 Angels 317 374 .459 3
28 Brewers 300 384 .439 1
29 Mariners 301 391 .435 2 AZL Mariners
30 Marlins 297 399 .427 0
+ Organization with seven affiliates instead of six
++ Yankees have eight domestic affiliates, plus two more in Dominican Summer League

Next BA is posting "best player" "best pitcher" and "keep an eye on" for each team.

3 great choices for Tribe in the first category with Zimmer, Bradley and Frazier. Zimmer's total tool set exceeds Bradley's but Bobby has just been honored as the Best Player in all of lower A ball, so either choice would be appropriate.

Best pitcher candidates should be Plutko, Clevinger and Sheffield. I vote for Clevinger. Sheffield's fast ball still puts higher on prospect ratings.

"Keep an Eye On" I guess means someone who's under the radar, sort of a surprise, maybe has a brighter future than a present. I could pick Francisco Mejia here as a 19 year old everyday catcher in full season ball. Yu Chiang Chang is similar. I could also nominate the two 2012 rookie stars who came back in good form the second half of this year: Anthony Santander and Dorsyss Paulino. On the other hand if this is written up Jim Ingraham he'll pick one of the relief pitchers on Akron, Josh Martin or Jeff Johnson.

In case of any interest, here are the reports for other AL Central teams:


WHITE SOX BEST
Best Player: Tim Anderson
Best Pitcher: Frankie Montas
Keep An Eye On: Robinson Leyer

Best Player: At the beginning of the season, the White Sox were high on Tim Anderson’s offensive skills.

The 22-year-old prospect didn’t disappoint, and Anderson was leading the Southern League with 153 hits 76 runs and 47 stolen bases late in the season while tying for third with 207 total bases and ranking fourth with a .310 batting average and 11 triples.

Anderson, Chicago’s first-round draft pick in 2013 (No. 17 overall), could be in the major leagues at some point next season. Will he arrive as a shortstop?
He had 23 errors in 106 games at short with Double-A Birmingham, but Anderson is expected to remain at the key infield position when he joins the Sox.

“We view him as a shortstop and I think most of the industry does as well,” general manager Rick Hahn said. “That’s a testament to the kid’s athleticism and the repetitions and his instruction and his ability to adapt.”

Look for Anderson to start the 2016 season at Triple-A Charlotte.

“He was a guy we expected to make a stop in all probability at each level and there likely was going to be some acclimation at each level before he fulfilled his potential,” Hahn said.

Best Pitcher: Righthander Frankie Montas had a big season at Double-A Birmingham, and the 22-year-old was also added to the White Sox’ roster on July 17 as the 26th man for a doubleheader.
In 23 starts with Birmingham this season, Montas was 5-5 and his 2.97 ERA ranked seventh in the Southern League.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder has a big arm, and his 100-mph fastball has stirred talk of a switch to the bullpen when Montas arrives in the major leagues.
“He throws hard,” manager Robin Ventura said. “We saw him in spring training and you’re excited about the kid.”

Keep An Eye On: Righthander Robinson Leyer did not have overly impressive numbers this season.

In 16 starts with high Class A Winston-Salem, Leyer was 3-6, 4.30 ERA. After being promoted to Double-A Birmingham, he was 2-1, 5.17 ERA in nine games (six starts).
Don’t be fooled by the stats.
“He’s another exciting young power arm in our system,” assistant director of player development and scouting Del Matthews said. “He’s an extremely athletic righthanded pitcher with a very quick arm. He has a high octane fastball, occasionally bumping triple digits, combined with a pretty good changeup and a slider that heís fine tuning.”

Leyer developed as a starting pitcher but now projects as a future relief pitcher.