Q and A at BA:

Shurley (Fort Wayne, IN): Drew Pomeranz. #1 on the very first Hot Sheet, April 15. Since then, he's held an ERA of 1.93. A K:BB ratio of 77:23 in 60 IP. Even made the Futures roster. And yet no other mention the rest of the first half? Is he not an actual prospect (after being drafted #5 overall)?

Jim Shonerd: Looking at his whole body of work, that is surprising. But he's had a lot of five inning (or less) starts, which makes it hard to get on unless you get two starts in a week. And while he's maintained a consistently good strikeout rate, he hasn't posted any gaudy numbers in any individual start. He usually gets his 6-8 Ks and that's it, which is fine. But I'd say those factors have conspired to keep him off.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x&did=milb

Columbus wins again, 9-5
Anotehr really big game for Chisenhall: two singles, homer and 5 rbi. 2 hits each for Valbuena and Donald.
Huff 6 2/3 5 runs; Lee AAA debut perfect against 4 batters; Putnam fans the side in the 9th

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x&did=milb

3-1 Aeros win. TJ McFaralnd 7 1-run innings. Langwell and Burns finish.
Beau Mills another multihit game, 2 singles.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... a_salafa_1

Kinston wins 4-2. Brach 2 runs in 6 1/3. Chris Jones finishes perfectly and fans 4 in 2 2/3.
Abraham 3 hits, Tice and Cannon 2 each

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x_ftwafx_1

Captains win theirs with lots of offense. 18 hits produce 7 runs. 7-3 final.
4 hits by Alex Monsalve. 3 by Casas and Jesus Aguillar who includes HR#12 and a double. 2 for Washington, Heere, Rodriquez.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x_aubasx_1

Mahoning Valley wins, too, 9-3 (it was a shutout until the 9th). Catcher Jake Lowrey blasts two homers, and a double. OF Aaron Siliga singles, doubles, homers for 4 rbi. OF Myles 2 hits and a steal. Wolters walks and singles.
Kyle Wetmore 3rd year pitcher with 5 scoreless innings, fans 4. Lefty from JC is 22, same as most of his teammates.


http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... k_clerok_1

6 for 6 for our minor league teams, as AZL Indians win on a 105 degree evening.
3rd rounder Jake Sisco debuts with 3 perfect innings, 3 K. MCarmona 3 innings, 1 run.
RF Juan Romero who homered twice last game, follows up with 2 doubles.
CF Luigi Rodriguez 2 hits.
SS Jairo Kelly 2 hits, one a triple
3B Robel Garcia 2 hits, one a homer.
All the aforementioned hitters are 18 years old.

Might Juan Romero be the next slugging prospect from Latin America? Perhaps even -- although it may sound rash -- the next Abner Abreur?!

At age 17 he played some 3rd base and a lot of dh'ing for Arizona team. His stats:

145-21-35-14 10 doubles, 2 triples, 7 homers. Avg 241. Slg 483. 16 walks and OBP 321
One minor flaw were his 67 strikeouts vs 43 outs by any other means.

At age 18, In the very very early days of 2011 season, he's gone 12-2-5-7 with 2 doubles last night, 2 homers the night before. Still can't hit singles. No walks and 2 K -- which is probably the main numbers to watch.

Romero has moved to RF this season, as Abreu did after his marvelous debut in Rookie ball.

Abreu at age 18 debuted in Rookie ball going
211-32-50-37 16 doubles, 4 triples, 11 homers, a mere 19 singles 9 walks, 52 K
OBP 289 SLG 538 OPS 827

His career totals since, including interruption after a broken leg (or was it a broken arm?)
890-101-231-xxx 49 doubles, 11 triples, 15 homers 42 walks vs. 272 K
OBP 293 SLG 390 OPS 683

Tony's preseason take on Romero:

Juan Romero – Third Baseman
Born: 06/16/1993 - Height: 6’1” - Weight: 175 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right



History: Romero was a free agent signing out of the Dominican Republic by the Indians in 2010. The Indians were pretty high on him when he signed, and aggressively pushed him to rookie-level Arizona without even sending him to the Dominican Summer League. At rookie level Arizona he tied for the league lead in home runs and was 14th in OPS.

Strengths: Romero only turned 17-years old in mid-June and showed incredible raw power for his age. He has tons of upside with a great swing and a good body that should lead to even more strength as he matures. He is improving as a defender and has all the tools to be a solid third baseman, and may have the most projection of any third baseman in the system, which says a lot with the likes of Lonnie Chisenhall, Giovanny Urshela, and Kyle Bellows around. Because of his athleticism and strong arm, the Indians feel that he could also one day make a smooth transition to right field, but that will only be as a fallback as their main priority is to develop him at third base.
[Change of mind: he's playing RF already. Likely since our OF ranks are far slimmer than 3B]

Opportunities: The strikeouts are obviously a big issue with Romero, but time is on his side and his plate discipline and strikeout issues are something that the Indians will focus on going forward. His raw power and athleticism combined with his plate discipline woes are a lot like that of Abner Abreu when he first came into the system, so while the upside is exciting, there is still a lot of improvements to be made. [Tony was burned on Abreu, ranking him as #4 Tribe prospect a couple years back. Live and learn.]

Outlook: Romero made some big strides in his pro debut in 2010, and due to his youth and projection his developmental curve is still very far ahead of him. The Indians plan to be aggressive with a lot of their young Latin and high school signings this year, so he will get a chance to move up another level in 2011. [didn't happen] He should open the season in extended spring training and then when short season leagues start up in June should be assigned to Single-A Mahoning Valley. [would have been a very poor idea for an 18-year-old who needs to learn to make contact, good call by the Tribe]

Lonnie Chisenhall is not messing around.

Chisenhall, who missed 10 games due to a concussion, continued his big week with a grand slam and five RBIs on Friday as the Triple-A Columbus Clippers pounded the Gwinnett Braves, 9-5.


· Gameday box score
· Chisenhall's player page
· See a game in Columbus
· Indians affiliates coverage
Since coming off the disabled list on Wednesday, the Indians prospect has driven in 13 runs in three games.

The former first-round pick took Braves starter Todd Redmond deep to center field with the bases loaded in the first inning for his seventh homer of the season. He added an RBI single in the third and singled and scored in the fifth.

Chisenhall is 7-for-13 with two homers and four runs scored over those three contests. He even managed to plate two runs on Thursday without getting a hit.

MLB.com's preseason No. 36 prospect suffered a concussion sliding into third on June 11 in Buffalo and missed 10 days.

"I've been itching to get back, I was definitely really ready to get out there," he said Wednesday after going 4-for-6 with a career-high six RBIs. "My swing was feeling good in the cage and I had a few days to nitpick my swing."

The time off helped, especially after Chisenhall hit .248 in April to start a season that many thought might pave his way to the Major Leagues. He's still hitting .192 (14-for-73) against left-handed pitchers, but he's also batting .365 (27-for-74) with runners in scoring position.

A strong second half should only increase the chances of the 22-year-old third baseman getting called up to spell Jack Hannahan in Cleveland. Chisenhall leads his position in fan voting for the Triple-A All-Star Game after totaling 17 homers and 84 RBIs last year at Double-A Akron.

Chis 0-2 so far tonight. Valbuena homers, his 10th, is hitting 311; why not try him instead of Everett? Scott Barnes with 6 K in 4 innings, but 2 solo homers allowed.

bottom 5 in today's Aeros lineup all hitting below 200. DelaCruz walking too many again tonight.

Pomeranz leaves after only 4 scoreless innings, 4 walks and 4 K; I guess he met his pitch count early. His command has been less consistent lately but rarely allows runs.

Jesus Aguillar keeps swinging a hot bat, single and double in his first 2 trips after 3-4 yesterday. Mike Rayl pitching into the 5th with shutout, his ERA has hit 1.77, he's allowed 1 hit and 0 walks.

46th rounder Robert Nixon throws 5 shutout innings, 3rd rounder Tony Wolters with a double, and Scrappers ahead 1-0.

Not sure why I bother with this, anyone can find the box scores if they have any interest. 5 of 6 teams combined to score 9 runs, and Lake County alone scored 9 runs. We won games 2-0, 2-1, 2-1 and 9-3 and lost 8-2 and 5-1.

Best line of the day: Mike Rayl 6 1 0 0 0 8

Studevenat debuted in Akron with 2 scoreless innings. Bryan Price has 2 1/3 scoreless there

DelCruz manged to put 11 on base in 3 2/3 and allow only 1 run to score.

Nick Weglarz hit a double!

Donald and Valbuena with 2 hits in AAA.
Henry and Bellow 2 hits in AA. Mills homered and walked.
Aguillar with 3 more hits, one a double; Moncrief 2 doubles and 2 walks; triples by Monsalve and Roriguez and Casas for Captains.
Juan Romero with a three RBI triple but fans the other 3 times up.

Elvis Arajuo not so hot. 3 innings, 6 hits, 1 walk, 1 K.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x&did=milb

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x_akraax_1

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... a_salafa_1

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x_ftwafx_1

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x_aubasx_1

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... k_cubrok_1

I appreciate and read everyday Civ! Dont stop.

I guess one vote is enough to convince me; now that are 6 teams playing every day I'll generally post all at once, saves lots of time.

A little more power in the farm system this year, it appears. Some comparisons:

In 2010, for the season, we had 5 batters with 15 or more homers:

15 Wes Hodges, since released
16 Jason Kipnis
17 Lonnie Chisenhall
21 McBride, still lingering in AA in his upper 20's
27 Jared Goedart, pretty much written off as a prospect, it appears.

This year over the first half of the season we have 5 with 10 or more:

12 McBride again, but no one pays any attention since JoeZ has abandoned us
12 Jesus Aguillar in Lake County, a rare 1B with power in our system. Big guy, is he mobile enough to play in the field? he doesn't strike out as much as some sluggers.
11 Adam Abraham at Kinston. Used to play hockey. Never appears on prospect lists.
10 Luis Valbuena. I may be the only one left, but I still think he should be in the majors for the next decade or so.
10 Chad Huffman. He should be in Cleveland now (make that in SF today). Been through other organizations, not likely to be a savior. But if Ryan Ludwick could break through, why not?

Obviously group is mostly not major prospects. Aguillar is the only one who might qualify; I'm waiting to see BA or Sickels or someone similar evaluate him.

There are seven more who are on track to hit 15, which would mean last year's 5 would be more than doubled:

Jared Head 9. Another nonprospect but he's hitting the homers, and batting over 300 in AAA and we ought to try anyone who can play the OF and can possibly hit.
Kipnis 8 along with 9 triples. I hope he doesn't get a chance to finish with 15 minor league homers, since he ought to join the Indians soon. He's an OK but not a great defender which will fit the current mold of the team.
Chun Chen 8. Catcher hit a dozen last season between the two Class A levels. He's a prospect, the degree to which he is a top prospect depends on his defense.
Casey Frawley 8. Looking for a SS with power and not a lot more? There has been some suggestion he could be a UT IF but at the rate he's moving through the system that would be no sooner than in 2014.
Carlos Moncrief 8. One of my past breakout candidates as a pitcher he's now a RF with a strong arm who can do everything but hit singles. His batting average for Lake County is a woeful 231 but he walks a lot, hits plenty of xb hits of all kinds. 24 singles; 18 doubles; 4 triples. His OPS is a respectabale 343. He slugs 444. Prospect?
Alex Lavisky 8 at Lake County; will finish the season at Mahoning Valley sharing catching duties with another power hitter, Jake Lowrey. Could be Indians' first Cleveland-born and Indians-developed major leaguer since ???

I skim for the highlights but rarely follow any links. I appreciate the effort, Civ.