Cleveland Sports Forum

From Sunday games, lots of youngsters got at bats:

CLE MAJ Bradley, Bobby 1B 0 0 0 0 -- BB (1) [has been good at drawing walks when not homering or fanning]
CLE MAJ Diaz, Yandy 3B 1 1 1 0 1.000
CLE MAJ Frazier, Clint RF 2 0 0 0 .000 [never mind, he's a flop]
CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik PR 0 0 0 0 .250
CLE MAJ Krieger, Tyler 2B 2 0 0 0 .000
CLE MAJ Naquin, Tyler CF 4 1 2 0 .417 2B (2), SB (1)
CLE MAJ Papi, Mike PH-DH 1 0 0 0 .000 [picking up where he left off last year]
CLE MAJ Ramsey, James LF 0 0 0 0 .105
CLE MAJ Wakamatsu, Luke SS 1 0 0 0 .000 [teenager with big league roots]
CLE MAJ Zimmer, Bradley CF 2 0 1 1 .500 [on course for big league stardom]

CLE MAJ Clevinger, Mike 2 5 3 1 2 3 1.50
CLE MAJ Merritt, Ryan 1 1 0 0 0 0 6.00
CLE MAJ Plutko, Adam 1.2 0 0 0 1 3 3.86

Prospects on Monday:

CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik SS 1 0 0 0 .238

That's all.

Prospect performances on Tuesday:

CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik SS 3 0 0 0 .208
CLE MAJ Ramsey, James PH-RF 1 0 0 0 .100 [continues to make his case for the big league roster]

Tony's Prospect list is reaching the real prospects. Highly excerpted writeup:

The countdown continues with one of the most intriguing arms in the entire system who has the size and stuff to potentially be one of the Indians best pitching prospects in the next year or two...
32. Sam Hentges – Left-handed Pitcher
Born: 07/18/1996 – Height: 6’6” – Weight: 245 – Bats: Left – Throws: Left

Hentges was selected by the Indians in the 4th round of the 2014 Draft out of Mounds View High School (MN) and signed for $700,000. He features a solid average fastball that sits at 89-92 MPH and touches 94 MPH. He does a nice job of leveraging his fastball on hitters to get it on a good downward plane which brings a lot of swing and miss and makes him tough to square up. His best secondary offering is an average curveball that he shows a good feel for spin with good shape and has the potential to be a plus offering for him down the road. He shows a feel for his developing changeup, though it is still a work in progress because he lacks experience with it and does not have much confidence in it.

Hentges has a good delivery and arm action that is repeatable. He creates some deception with the way he hides the ball in his delivery and has good extension out front that allows the ball to get in on hitters quicker. He shows some good athleticism on the mound as he gets off it well to field his position.

Hentges was a first baseman for most of his high school career before moving to the mound full time his senior season, so he lacks much experience as a pitcher. While he is building his foundation the Indians are also really working with him to command his fastball better down in the zone and to both sides of the plate. His changeup is a key offering for him as it gives him a third pitch to stay in the rotation

He should open the season at extended spring training to continue to develop and should show up at short season Single-A Mahoning Valley when their season starts in June – though if he needs extra work he could stick around in Arizona for the summer league or if he makes some big strides could go up to Low-A Lake County.

Zimmer in his first AAA game today. 1-1, dbl, run, and rbi.

Nellie in his first AAA game today went 1-3 with a walk, homer, run, and 2 rbi

Well-paid 2nd round draft choice who has a good year, a bad year, a good year, a bad year, barely makes the Tony Top 30, likewise the BA Top 30. You will be surprised to read that Tony says he has great makeup and aptitude.

Tony's take:


30. Mitch Brown – Right-handed Pitcher

Born: 04/13/1994 – Height: 6’1” – Weight: 195 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

Brown was selected in the 2nd round of the 2012 Draft out of Rochester Century High School (MN) and signed for $639,700. He features a plus fastball that sits at 91-94 MPH and has touched as high as 96 MPH a few times, and he has the arm strength to add another tick or two to his average and top end velocity. His fastball shows a lot of good movement and late life through the zone which helps generate a lot of swing and miss for him. He is inconsistent at times with his command .His hard biting above average slider is his best secondary offering and sits in the low 80s with some good tilt. His upper 70s curveball is an average offering that he spins well and commands well with the potential to be above average. His developing changeup is firm but he shows a feel for it and is getting better at commanding it to the lower part of the zone for strikes. He is a plus makeup player who is very coachable and has a strong aptitude with a willingness to make adjustments. The key now for Brown is developing more consistency

It has been a mixed bag for Brown since joining the organization in 2012. He had a rough year in 2013 because of a bicep injury and then had a great year in 2014 before falling back with an inconsistent year last season. His biggest nemesis throughout his career has been inconsistency, be it with his delivery, Last season he produced subpar numbers across the board where he saw a notable decrease in his strikeouts going from an 8.2 K/9 in 2014 at Low-A Lake County to a 6.9 K/9 at High-A Lynchburg, his walks jumped from a 3.6 BB/9 to 4.9 BB/9, his strikeout to walk ratio dropped from a 2.31 K/BB to 1.42 K/BB and his home run rate more than doubled going from a 0.39 HR/9 to 0.95 HR/9.

prospects at work on Thursday:

CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik SS 3 1 2 0 .259
CLE MAJ Naquin, Tyler CF 4 1 2 1 .452 3B (3) [I assume he's won the CF job until he breaks his wrist diving for an un catchable liner]
CLE MAJ Ramsey, James LF 1 0 0 0 .095 [if they need to clear a roster space for Byrd, he's a prime contender]
CLE MAJ Armstrong, Shawn 0 2 2 2 0 0 18.00 L (0-1) [oops]

Catcher Martin Cervenka, the Czechs' only Major League Baseball-affiliated player --
on the Indians' Double-A Akron roster --
hit a grand slam in a seven-run eighth and finished with six RBIs.

http://m.mlb.com/video/v557844483/czege ... tends-lead

{ Cervenka's line: 5ab/1r/2h (2b + hr)/6rbi/1k }

A couple years ago Cervenka and Loopstock and Ryan Battaglia from Czech Republic, Aruba and Australia were all on the same team

Greg Allen with 2 hits and Papi with a homer yesterday.

Tony's No. 27: LHP Sean Brady You'll never guess it but he has exceptional makeup and unbelievable toughness, to quote The Man.

Born: 06/09/1994 – Height: 6’0” – Weight: 175

Brady was selected in the 5th round of the 2013 Draft out of Ida S Baker High School (FL) and signed for $800,000. season he ranked 4th in the Midwest League in innings pitched (146.1), tied for 4th in losses (12), 10th in strikeouts (118) and tied for 11th in WHIP (1.23).

Stuff: He features an 87-91 MPH fastball that he is starting to show some 92-93 MPH fastballs on a more frequent basis when he reaches for extra. throws a lot of strikes with it and locates it well to the lower part of the zone. His upper 70s plus curveball is the best pitch in his arsenal because of its polish, sharp break and how he wipes out lefties with it. His developing changeup is a clear third option for him but it has really come along well and he has shown flashes of throwing it for good strikes – and has a chance to be an average offering for him.

He has an exceptional makeup and is a competitor who has unbelievable toughnessto handle pitching in any situation with the poise to work out of jams and not let the results on the field speed the game up on him. His approach to the game on and off the field is beyond his years as he is he displays an excellent work ethic and never stops working to improve in all areas of his game. He just really understands the rigors of what a full season entails, makes the proper adjustments mechanically and really trusts the process.

Some people in the organization have gone as far as to compare him to a Mark Buerhle-type because of his feel for pitching, delivery, command and good pitch mix. He has been a performer and his consistency through the minors so far has been amazing as he put up a 3.69 FIP in 2013 at rookie level Arizona, a 3.79 FIP in 2014 at Short-A Mahoning Valley and a 3.75 FIP last season at Low-A Lake County. He should move up to High-A Lynchburg to start the season

Too small. Have to throw harder than 87-91. Might get A ball players out with that stuff but Major League hitters eat that stuff up for dinner.

most likely. That's why big solid lefties like Hentges and Lugo are more interesting.

Hentges just had a good outing. 1 hit and 4 K in 2 innings. Really like him.

he's 6-6 245. Turns 20 in July. Played ball in Minnesota so obviously didn't get a ton of innings in high school. He will undoubtedly be brought along slowly. 49 good innings in Arizona rookie league last summer; 9 not very good innings in the NYPL. Wouldn't be a tragedy if he returned to Arizona for extended ST. Nice if they start him in Eastlake: weather may not seem too different from home.