Benson’s major concern has always been to be his bat-to-ball skills, and they have been problematic in his first pro season. The toolsy right fielder hit .169 with 33 strikeouts in his first 71 at-bats at Mahoning Valley, taking some of the shine off his prodigious raw power and elite arm strength

poor bat-to-ball skills???

Is that like he can't hit a bull in the ass with a fiddle?

10. Greg Allen, OF
Double-A Akron
Age: 24

Allen was primed to rise to Triple-A Columbus when Bradley Zimmer got promoted but went down with a hammate bone injury in May. Allen was having an uninspiring showing in his return to Akron, but should be roaming center field in Triple-A when he returns to health

[not quite ready for AAA yet; this season may unfortunately be largely a wasted year for Greg: with Zimmer proving he can play center to big league standards Allen is probably an important trade piece rather than a piece of Tribe future, Just as he was last year in the fortunately derailed Lucroy deal]

RISING

• RHP Julian Merryweather has been knocking on the Indians’ door since his late-May promotion to Triple-A Columbus. He attacks hitters with a 93-95 mph fastball and two potentially average secondaries. He could work in a starting or relief role in the majors, and he may flirt with triple-digits fulfilling the latter.

• RHPs Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale have succeeded as advanced college pitchers in the low minors and have arsenals are strong enough to hint at backend starter roles in the majors. Each commands a low 90s fastball, and Civale utilizes a solid curveball and Bieber relies on his slider and changeup.

• 3B Gavin Collins battled injuries in college at Mississippi State but is crushing the ball now that he is healthy. He consistently has competitive at-bats, rarely strikes out swinging and puts the ball in the air regularly, resulting in an .848 OPS at two levels.

FALLING

• LHP Brady Aiken has yet to find the velocity from his amateur days, sitting just 86-90 mph in stretches and throwing secondaries that project no better than average. It’s his first full season in the minors and he’s still just 20 years old, but the results haven’t been pretty.

• 2B Mark Mathias fell in the 2015 draft because of a right shoulder injury. He’s struggled at the plate this year (.212/.317/.308) but more concerning, he’s had issues with both of his shoulders that have required stints on the disabled list. His left shoulder has been the biggest issue this yea,r as he dislocated it in spring training and again on July 3. [Tyler Krieger has been healthy but not doing much to add to his resume either]

• RHP Adam Plutko cruised through the low minors, but his plus control and fringy stuff hasn’t worked in Triple-A. His 6.22 ERA has been marked by 17 home runs allowed in 16 appearances. [Doesn't look like UCLA teammates Bauer and Plutko will be anchoring the Tribe rotation of the future]

• 1B Nellie Rodriguez has prodigious power but his strikeout rate has risen to an unsustainable 41 percent this year, which explains his .140/.239/.304 slash line at Triple-A Columbus.
[he's soared to over 150 recently]

HURTING

• LHP Rob Kaminsky pitched just five innings in early April at Double-A Akron and has been on the disabled list with forearm soreness since.

• LHP Tim Cooney hasn’t pitched in a game since 2015 after suffering a shoulder injury last year and is currently dealing with a strained flexor in his forearm.


GRADUATING

• RHP Shawn Armstrong has settled into a low-leverage relief role and gone 1-0, 4.26 in 16 appearances.

[Erik Gonzalez, too. And Zimmer]

Great to have you back, Civ! Been awfully lonely around here.

You came back with a vengeance too. Lot's to digest.

DeMasi got a shot to start originally due to make up double headers, or because guys were getting moved up. Can't remember now, but remember he was kind of pressed into starting. He did so damn good that after another bullpen outing he was given another start. He did so well there that they gave him a promotion to Akron where he got another start. He's getting an oppurtunity and taking advantage of it. I love it. I love tough guys, balls of steel, who grab an oppurtunity by the horns and run with it. Good for him.

As I posted not long ago, I think Gavin Collins and Mitch Longo are both worth keeping an eye on. Although in Longo's case I may be biased. He is the local kid from Mayfield who went to school at Ohio U. But both seem to be getting better and better now that they are healthy. I've been following both closely of late.

To me Chang isn't even a prospect any more. He is cemented in suspect status. Castro has definitely passed him up in my mind. Chang is striking out once every three at bats. Striking out 3 times for every walk. Hitting .228 and getting on base at .315. AA is make it or break it and I see nothing to makes me think Chang will ever handle major league pitching. Just my worthless 2 pennies.

My man, former Buckeye Tanner Tully, was promoted from Low A to AA last week to make an emergency start. And gave up 3 earned in 5.2 innings. He's making another emergency start tonight in game 2 of double header in Akron but will then be assigned to new home, HighA Lynchburg.

By the way, Civ, you mentioned Haase. Not long ago I posted about how he was taking analytics seriously and started working on his swing to improve his launch angle. And how impressive his power numbers have been since he started.

Definitely an interesting story. One worth keeping an eye on.

And speaking of catchers, our draft pick Michael Rivera out of Florida got his first pro hit for Scrappers last night.

Another of our draft picks, Ernie Clement, has a modest 11 game hit streak going.

I somehow missed it this morning, but Bieber was promoted to start game 1 for Akron today. And he was great again!

6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K.

Columbus once again goes down to defeat in Charlotte, and I have no doubt that it is due to the fact they are not used to playing in such a shitty park... ... Merryweather got smacked around again. Been struggling recently. Hasn't won a game since June 10. Tonight 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. ... Yandy 1-4 ... Naquin 0-4. ... I have never been a fan of either Rodriguez, but it's time for me to recognize Ronny is having himself a fine year. 3-4 tonight with a double and a homer. He's now hitting .288 with 12 homers.

Akron split a double header against the RumblePonies today.
They won game one 1-0 when Krieger hit a sac fly in btm of 9th to score Haase. ... As mentioned, Da Biebs was on again. 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K. ... Bradley 0-4. ... Papi 0-2 with 2 walks.
Frankie still out with minor hip strain.
Game two went down 6-0 and my boy Tully was *ahem* not good. 6 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. ... Allen 1-3 with SB. ... Bradley 0-3.

Hillcats lost 4-3 today. ... Civale 7 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 6 K. ... Carter 0-4.

Lake County off today.

Scrappers fall to State College 4-3. ... Taylor 2-4. ... Cantu 2-4. ... Wade, Oscar, and Jones all 0'fer.

AZL Indians fall to ChiSox again 7-1. ... Gabe 0-4. ... Freeman 1-4. ... Cooper 1-4.

DSL Rays 4 Indians 2. ... Sanchez 3(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 4SO. ... Gonzalez 1-2 R 3BB SB. ... Celesten 1-5 RBI

DSL Astros 5 Indians/Brewers 0. ... Varela 3(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 0BB 2SO'. ... Perez 1-3

Merritt, Lugo, McKenzie, Hillman, and Plesac starting tomorrow. Should be a fun day!

Civ, by the way, I have noticed at MiLB.com that when you click on a player that is on a DSL Coop team, like the Indians/Brewers, they now have a "Parent Team" stamp on the players page in the upper right corner. That takes care of that problem.

From @indiansPro

Columbus #Clippers INF Ronny Rodriguez over his last 38 games:
45-134 27R 8(2B) 9HR 25RBI 6BB 7SB .336 AVG .366 OBP #Indians

Last 5 starts amongst friends:
Juan Hillman 34.0(IP) 20H 7R 7ER 4BB 28SO 1.85 ERA
Triston McKenzie 32.1(IP) 25H 8R 7ER 5BB 43SO 1.95 ERA

RonnieRod and LuigiRod both were around the lower half of our Top 10 a few years ago, both kind of fizzled [LRod had a drug suspension] and both are having good comeback seasons this year. Ronnie seems to be mostly a 2B now and Luigi an LF so neither necessarily is going to make it to the majors, but utility roles still pay pretty well.

On my phone Bieber was the story of the day at milb.com, but not finding it on the computer. It's there somewhere and I'll try to post it later. His K/BB numbers are rather incomprehensible. Although the AA start did include one walk, so I guess that qualifies as a really bad command day for Bieber.

Ha! Isn't that the truth. Dude walks one batter and I wonder if he's sick. Alot of our pitchers have done a great job in this regard, Indians are drafting and coaching wanting guys who throw strikes, but Bieber and Civale have both been otherworldly.

BA for yesterday. I have no idea why they include all 2017 draftees but won't add in veterans who didn't rank in the top 30 preseason:

CLE AA Allen, Greg CF 3 0 1 0 .231 SB (10)
CLE AA Bradley, Bobby DH 3 0 0 0 .242
CLE AA Chang, Yu-Cheng SS 2 0 0 0 .226 BB (35)
CLE AA Krieger, Tyler 2B 3 0 1 0 .220 3B (1)
CLE AAA Diaz, Yandy 3B 4 0 1 0 .333
CLE AAA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 3 0 0 0 .153
CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik PR 0 0 0 0 .288 CS (1)
CLE MAJ Zimmer, Bradley CF 5 2 3 4 .277 HR (6), BB (17), 2 SB (12)
CLE R Cooper, Michael 1B 4 0 1 0 .209
CLE R Fermin, Jose 2B 1 0 1 0 .161
CLE R Freeman, Tyler SS 4 0 1 0 .350
CLE R Reeves, Mitch DH 4 1 2 0 .214
CLE R Rodriguez, Johnathan RF 0 0 0 0 .128 BB (5)
CLE SS Friis, Tyler SS 3 0 1 0 .278 BB (1)
CLE SS Gonzalez, Oscar RF 3 0 0 1 .306
CLE SS Jones, Nolan 3B 4 0 0 0 .228 [also an error, his 11th, I was two too low yesterday]
CLE SS Persinger, Dillon 2B 3 0 0 0 .240 BB (3) [why would anyone care about him?]
CLE SS Wade, Austen CF 4 0 0 0 .216
CLE AA Bieber, Shane 6.2 5 0 0 1 5 0.00
CLE AAA Merryweather, Julian 4.1 5 4 4 4 3 4.37 L (3-2)
CLE HiA Civale, Aaron 7 8 3 3 2 6 3.02
CLE R Hendrickson, Michael 1 6 4 4 1 0 11.25 L (0-1)
CLE R Scheftz, Jordan 1 2 1 1 1 2 6.75
CLE SS Echols, Riley 1.2 1 1 1 0 1 4.73

I think from now on, I 'll separate the BA prospect report into two shares leaving the 23rd round 2017 draftees by themselves, or just deleting them