Cleveland Sports Forum

Paul Hoynes reports:

March 23, Day 37 -- The Indians expect to get infielder Josh Rodriguez, the first pick in December's Rule 5 draft, back from the Pirates before the end of camp. Rodriguez played shortstop and second base for Class AAA Columbus last year and the Indians are in dire need of upper level shortstops.

Rodriguez is trying to make the Pirates as a utility infielder. As a Rule 5 pick, the Pirates have to keep him on the 25-man roster or offer him back to the Indians for half of the $50,000 purchase price.

Last season Rodriguez hit .293 (93-for-317) with 23 doubles, 12 homers and 46 RBI at Columbus. He started the year at Class AA Akron and hit .317 (20-for-63) with 11 RBI.


Minors update: Columbus beat Akron, 6-1, Tuesday. Wes Hodges and Jared Head drove in two runs each for Columbus. Nelson [sic, he's Kelvin] De La Cruz struck out three and didn't allow a hit in three innings.

Drew Pomeranz, pitching for Class A Kinston, threw three scoreless innings in a 3-0 loss to Class A Lake County. Pomeranz, the Indians No.1 pick last year, struck out five and walked three. Alex Lavisky doubled for Lake County.

The Indians minor leaguers will play Milwaukee's minor leaguers today.

JRod's gone 7-25 with no extra hits, 5 k and 5 bb for the Pirates.

http://www.bucsdugout.com/

Pirates Could Hold Onto Josh Rodriguez, Cut Pedro Ciriaco
by Charlie on Mar 27, 2011 3:36 PM EDT


J. Meric - Getty ImagesMore photos »
about 1 month ago: BRADENTON FL - FEBRUARY 20: Infielder Josh Rodriguez #7 of the Pittsburgh Pirates poses for a photo during photo day at Pirate City on February 20 2011 in Bradenton Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)
Rob Biertempfel tweets:

Signs indicate #Pirates will KEEP Rule 5 pick Rodriguez, send [Pedro] Ciriaco back to AAA

Also, Ciriaco isn't listed in Monday's lineup, even as a reserve (although Bowker isn't listed either, so that might not mean anything).

That means it appears Josh Rodriguez is in. Cool! It has looked for a couple of weeks like Ciriaco would make the team, but maybe not. In the abstract, I don't have any problem with Ciriaco as a backup major-league infielder - it's always helpful to have a guy with a good glove at shortstop. And he'll be back eventually. But right now, the Pirates can't keep both Josh Rodriguez (a Rule 5 pick) and John Bowker (who is out of options) in the organization if they start the season with Ciriaco and Steve Pearce on the bench. If they send Ciriaco back for now, they get to keep both players, which seems like the sensible move to me. Assuming the Pirates don't go with three catchers - and the news that Chris Snyder's back feels better decreases the chances that they will - they can now keep Rodriguez and Bowker, which would be excellent. Also, they'll still have Pearce in the majors.

A bench of Ryan Doumit, Matt Diaz, Rodriguez, Bowker and Pearce is light on good defenders, but it's probably the best alignment in the organization in terms of offensive ability. It also keeps potentially decent players like Rodriguez and Bowker in the organization. I like it a lot. It's also the exact bench I predicted back in January, although, at the time, some of that seemed like wishful thinking on my part. And I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch - this whole thing could still go down the tubes if Snyder isn't ready to go or if the team decides to go with Ciriaco after all.

Rule 5 player makes team, roster all but set
Monday, March 28, 2011
By Colin Dunlap, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates' opening day roster is almost solidified.

Sunday, the team optioned infielder Pedro Ciriaco to Class AAA Indianapolis, opting instead to keep Josh Rodriguez, a Rule 5 player, as the backup middle infielder.

Part of the decision was based on Ciriaco having minor league options while, as a Rule 5 player, Rodriguez needed to make the Pirates' 25-man roster or be put on waivers and then, if not claimed, offered back to Cleveland.

"As you get later in camp, and you start to weigh irreversible and reversible decisions that you have to make [options] do factor in," general manager Neal Huntington said. "Josh's track record is one where he is going to be a solid offensive player. We talked about, 'Can he show us enough to play serviceable defense at shortstop and around the diamond.'"

Rodriguez made 15 errors in 86 Class AAA games last season and in 2007 made 32 in high Class A. He has never appeared in a major league game and the 26-year-old has hit .266 with 44 home runs in five minor league seasons, hitting .293 in Class AAA last season.

This spring, Rodriguez has hit .303 in 20 games with a home run while Ciriaco hit .333 in 26 games.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11087/11 ... z1HtcIlwpK

Tony a couple days ago.

DSL gets ready: While the final week of spring training is in progress for the big league and minor league players, things will soon get underway in the Dominican Republic as players there will begin to get ready for their season which starts at the end of May. Spring training for players in the Dominican Summer League will start with a preseason camp on May 1st. A few players who came stateside for spring training this March will return to the Dominican Republic to participate in spring training and then play there. Regular camp will start up around the end of the first week of May and then exhibition games will kick in around the middle of May. When the regular season opens up for the Dominican Summer League at the end of May, the Indians will need to have their roster down to 35 players.

DSL catching trio: The Indians have three catchers in the DSL that could get a lot of playing time this year: Jose Alamon, Juan De La Cruz, and Kevin Calderon. None of the three are considered to be on the prospect level of Alex Monsalve when he came into the system over two years ago, but they all have promise. Calderon (5'11" 170 pounds) turns 17 years old next month and is very athletic and a good runner for a catcher. He shows good agility and flexibility, can throw, and has good hands. He is much more of a defensive catcher right now, but has a good frame where he should see strength gains down the road. Alamon (6'1" 170 pounds) is from Venezuela and does not turn 17 years old until August. He throws the ball well and has some potential as a receiver. De La Cruz is a switch-hitter and the most physical of the bunch (6'1" 190 pounds).

Keep an eye on Boscan: Infielder Manuel Boscan was suspended 50 games last year for performance enhancing drugs, but he is a young 17-year old switch-hitting shortstop prospect to keep tabs on. He is supposedly a lot like Asdrubal Cabrera where he will not wow anyone with any plus tools, but is a player who plays above his abilities. He has a plus arm and is an average runner, and more importantly is not as raw as a lot of young DSL players usually tend to be.

Releases: The Indians released eleven players from their minor league system on Saturday: right-handed pitcher Omar Aguilar, right-handed pitcher Jeremy Johnson, right-handed pitcher Dave Roberts, right-handed pitcher Julio Ramirez, catcher Juan Aponte, outfielder Kevin Rucker, outfielder Joel Torres, outfielder Trent Baker, left-handed pitcher Vidal Nuno, right-handed pitcher Casey Gaynor, and right-handed pitcher Taka Nakamura.

Columbus recap: Columbus beat Lousiville 10-7 on Sunday. At the plate they were led by outfielder John Drennen (1-for-4, 2 runs, HR, RBI, K), third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall (1-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI), and right-fielder Tim Fedroff (2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 BB). On the mound left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz went 4.0 innings (2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K) and left-hander Nick Hagadone who went 3.2 innings (3 H, 3 R/ER, 0 BB, 7 K).

Akron recap: Akron beat the Reds 7-2. At the plate third baseman Kyle Bellows continued his strong spring (2-for-3, R, HR, 3 RBI, BB). Outfielder Abner Abreu (1-for-3, R, HR, RBI) and DH Justin Toole (3-for-4, R, 2B, 2 3B) also chipped in. On the mound lefty Drew Pomeranz went 4.0 strong innings (2 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 9 K). Righty Marty Popham went 3.0 innings (1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K) and righty Conor Graham went 1.0 inning (1 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 2 K).

Kinston recap: Kinston lost to the Reds 6-1. It was a quiet day offensively as young catcher Ryan Battaglia provided all the offense (1-for-1, R, HR, RBI). No one else had more than one hit (they had seven hits total) and the K-Tribe combined to strikeout 13 times. Right-hander Steven Wright went 3.0 innings (2 H, 2 R/ER, 1 BB, 1 K), right-hander Clayton Cook went 4.0 innings (6 H, 3 R/ER, 2 BB, 2 K), and right-handed sidearmer Toru Murata went 2.0 innings (1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K).

Lake County recap: Lake County lose 7-4 to the Reds. DH Jesus Aguilar keeps showing the muscle this spring with another power display (2-for-4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K). First baseman Preston Mattingly (2-for-4) was the only other player to do anything offensively as Lake County combined for an amazing 18 strikeouts on the day. Right-hander Kyler Blair went 4.0 innings (3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K), left-hander Mike Rayl went 3.0 innings (8 H, 4 R/ER, 0 BB, 1 K), and right-hander Alex Kaminsky went 2.0 innings (1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K).

Tony the next day (yesterday):



No J-Rod return: Reports are coming out of Pittsburgh that the Pirates plan to open the season with infielder Josh Rodriguez on their 25-man roster.

Phelps at short: One thing people have wondered about is how Cord Phelps will get consistent playing time at Triple-A Columbus this year with Lonnie Chisenhall the everyday guy at third base and Jason Kipnis the everyday guy at second base. Phelps will play a few times a week at third and second, but apparently he may also see some time at shortstop and left field. The Indians played him at shortstop in a spring game on Monday, likely to try him out there. It is not a certainty he plays any shortstop or left field this year, but it looks like they are really considering it.

Columbus recap: Columbus beat the White Sox 7-1. At the plate DH/3B Jared Head (2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 K), DH/SS Juan Diaz (2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI), SS/DH Cord Phelps (1-for-3, R, 2B, SB), and 2B Jason Kipnis (1-for-3, R, RBI, BB) led the way. On the mound right-hander Alex White went 5.0 very good innings (2 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 5 K), and right-hander Yohan Pino threw 2.0 innings (1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) and right-hander Jensen Lewis threw 1.0 inning (0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K).

Akron recap: Akron beat the White Sox 11-6. The hot springs continued for outfielder Abner Abreu (3-for-5, 2 2B, RBI), 1B Jeremie Tice (2-for-3, R, 4 RBI, BB), and 2B Ronald Rivas (3-for-4, R, 2B, HR, 6 RBI). On the pitching front, right-hander Joe Gardner went 4.0 innings (4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K), left-hander T.J. McFarland went 4.0 innings (2 H, 1 R/ER, 3 BB, 3 K), and right-hander C.C. Lee went 1.0 inning (0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K).

Kinston recap: Kinston beat the White Sox 4-1. Right fielder Tyler Cannon has been playing all around the diamond and continues to have a good spring (3-for-4, 3 R, 2 2B, K). DH Casey Frawley (2-for-3, BB) and SS Kevin Fontanez (2-for-2, 3B, RBI, BB, SB) chipped in. Right-hander Brett Brach went 3.0 innings (5 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 4 K), left-hander Chris Jones went 2.0 innings (2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K), and right-hander Jose Flores (welcome back) went 1.0 inning (0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K).

Lake County recap: Lake County beat the White Sox 11-7. Catcher Alex Lavisky continues to swing the lumber (2-for-4, R, HR, 5 RBI, K), and LF Preston Mattingly (2-for-2, SB), 3B Dan DeGeorge (3-for-3, R, 2 RBI), and C/DH Alex Monsalve (1-for-2, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB) also paced the offense. On the mound right-hander Cole Cook went 4.0 innings (5 H, 2 R/ER, 4 BB, 2 K), right-hander Nick Sarianides went 2.0 innings (2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K), and right-hander Nate Striz went 1.0 inning (2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K).

Sweet Civ! Now all we need is to see Knapp pitching and also Adam Miller for grins....

White and Pomeranz look like real pitchers.

OF and 1stBase power are more uncertain. Only power prospect in the top of the system was Weglarz and he's down once again. Abner Abreu is having a great spring so perhaps he roars back up the prospect watch. But he's a few years away in any case. 1st baseman almost always are converted from some other position so the lack of anyone playing first who can hit isn't a concern, but we need an extra 3B or an extra OF or extra C to be a 1st base candidate. I suppose possibilities exist:

Chun Chen who may not be a good enough defensive catcher could be the first one.
Alex Lavisky in four years could push Santana to 1st.
Kyle Bellows, longshot to be any better than Pat Osborne, but he can field so could in theory push Chisenhall to 1st.
Levon Washington years from now moves Brantley to 1st base, which only would make sense if Michael develops 15HR power.

Antonetti noted that Minor League first baseman Beau Mills is currently battling a "lower body" injury, and his status for the start of the season is undetermined. ...

The Indians are still weighing whether Kipnis and right-handed pitching prospect Alex White should open the season with Double-A Akron or Triple-A Columbus, according to Antonetti. .


HUH??

civ ollilavad wrote:Antonetti noted that Minor League first baseman Beau Mills is currently battling a "lower body" injury, and his status for the start of the season is undetermined. ...

Umm...what exactly is a "lower body injury???"

Tony Today

Young Brown is gaining confidence

Indians minor league outfielder Mark Brown is still learning the ropes of professional ball. Fresh out of high school as a 19th round pick last year out Martin Luther King High School in Detroit, Michigan, he is enjoying life in the Arizona sun during his first spring training and excited for the upcoming season.

“Spring training is going well,” said Brown in a recent interview for IPI. “There are a ton of dudes out here. Of course everybody is good, but the main thing is just finding a way to separate yourself.”

At 5’9” and 160 pounds, the smallish Brown separates himself from other players with his speed and athleticism. He is very raw and needs some work, but the Indians believe he has the tools to be an impact defensive centerfielder down the road.

Brown, 19, was committed to attend the University of Kansas and play baseball for them, but he ended up signing shortly before the August 16th signing deadline last year. Upon signing with the Indians he immediately went out to Goodyear, Arizona to play with the rookie level Arizona team and then participated in Instructional League in September and October.

“I felt like I did pretty well,” said Brown about his performance in rookie ball and Instructs. “I am getting adjusted to the hitting and the main thing for me is getting stronger and more comfortable. For me it is just seeing more pitching and getting adjusted to the speed of the game.”

Brown played against limited competition in high school, so it may take awhile for him to make some adjustments in his approach and really settle in and become comfortable. Smoothing out his hitting mechanics will be one early area of focus as he has a little bit of a funky hitch with his front leg kick as he begins his swing.

“At the plate I just need to practice relaxing more and being smoother,” said Brown. “I guess that just comes with seeing more pitching and getting used to that velocity. [The hitch] was a bad habit that I developed, and me and [Hitting Coordinator] Bruce [Fields] have been working on it in the offseason to try and fix it. With fielding I can always work on going back on the ball as that is probably my weakest point.”

We are in the final days of spring training where a lot of players are getting ready to break camp for full season destinations in Lake County, Kinston, Akron and Columbus. Due to Brown’s youth and inexperience he will likely remain in Arizona in extended spring training in order to continue to work on his game and get ready for short-season league action which kicks up in mid-June. However, if things go well the next few months there is a chance he could see a call late in the season to short season Single-A Mahoning Valley or Low-A Lake County.

“My personal goal this year is to hit for average, be a gap to gap hitter, and stay up above .300 all year,” said Brown. “Hopefully I am up to Lake County by the end of the year. That’s my ultimate goal, to be up in Ohio by the end of the season.”

Phelps ready for role change

Infielder Cord Phelps looks to be in store for an interesting season.

Interesting because even after a nice year last season where he hit .308 with 8 HR, 54 RBI and had a .825 OPS in 119 combined games between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus, at the outset of the season Phelps looks to be a man without a position.

“I am not really sure,” said Phelps in a recent interview for the IPI about his plan for this season. “I would imagine I’ll play some second base, but I don’t know. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.”

Interesting indeed.

Phelps, 24, has had to give way to highly regarded prospect Jason Kipnis as the every day second baseman in Columbus. Since being drafted in the 3rd round of the 2008 out of Stanford University he has done nothing but play second base in his two and a half years as an Indian, but that will surely change this year because of the presence of Kipnis.

To add to his versatility and create some additional value, the Indians had Phelps play third base in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) last October and November. The reports from the limited game action he had out in the AFL were enough for the Indians to decide to continue with the third base experiment this season.

“It was the first time I played third in three or four years,” said Phelps. “It is a very different position, but I felt like I improved over the course of the fall with getting better at reads and stuff like that. I am just willing to do whatever they need me to do, and if third is the position they need me to play I will play there.”

With another hot shot prospect in Lonnie Chisenhall also in Columbus as the everyday third baseman, Phelps would probably only play third once or twice a week to give Chisenhall a breather. In fact, it looks like he will be moving all around the diamond where he will mostly play second base and third base, but potentially also see time in left field and shortstop. Since being sent down to minor league camp on Saturday, he has done nothing else but work out at shortstop and has played there in games the past two days.

Beyond his role on the field, Phelps will also look to continue to apply his more aggressive approach at the plate this year, a change in his approach that he made going into last season. In 2009 at High-A Kinston he was one of the league leaders in walks and on-base percentage, but last year he really honed in on being less selective and being more aggressive which helped him become a more productive hitter and have what some would call a breakout season.

“I tried to be more aggressive last year and not let hittable pitches go by and I think that showed,” said Phelps. “In Kinston I was maybe being too selective, so I tried to improve on that last year to be more aggressive and I think it worked out for me. The main thing for me at the plate this spring has been to try and feel comfortable, see pitches, and just try to get my timing because a lot of times you feel like you are not seeing certain pitches well. I think that is important for a hitter, so I have tried to focus on that.”

The Columbus and Cleveland players broke camp on Tuesday and travelled to Columbus, Ohio for an exhibition game in Columbus today. The start of the season is right around the corner, and Phelps is ready.

“I just want to try and build on the things I learned last year,” said Phelps. “Just try to have a good attitude everyday and try to be consistent mentally and hopefully that will lead to consistent results.”

Notebook:

Goedert returns: Infielder Jared Goedert is working his way back from his oblique injury which has sidelined him the past few weeks. On Tuesday he played third base in an inter-squad game between Columbus and Akron and went 1-for-2 with an RBI. It was his first game action since he suffered the injury back in early March. If he does not have any setbacks the last few days before the start of the season it looks like he has a good chance to open the season on time with Columbus.

Lavisky is en fuego: Ho hum, catcher Alex Lavisky hit another home run yesterday. He is now unofficially up to about five or six homers this spring, which is very impressive for a player fresh out of high school and in his first spring training. I think he is leaving very little doubt – at least in the early going – that so far he is worth everything the Indians have invested in him and that he deserves to open the season at Low-A Lake County.

Kluber back on the hill: Right-hander Corey Kluber made his return to the mound on Tuesday and went 3.0 innings and allowed one hit, no runs, one walk and had three strikeouts. It was his first game back since being hit in the head with a line drive last Monday.

More short for Phelps: For the second straight day infielder Cord Phelps played shortstop for Columbus. He went 1-for-3 at the plate and split the game between third base and designated hitter.

Columbus vs. Akron recap: Columbus and Akron played to a 2-2 tie in a seven inning inter-squad game on Tuesday. Columbus right-handed pitcher Jeanmar Gomez went 5.0 innings (4 H, 2 R/ER, 1 BB, 2 K) and righty Cory Burns pitched the final 2.0 innings in relief (0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K). Right-hander Bryan Price went 2.0 innings for Akron (1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K) and righty Joey Mahalic finished it off with 2.0 innings (2 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 1 K). The only player of note who did anything for both sides was outfielder Abner Abreu (1-for-3, 2 RBI).

Kinston vs. Lake County recap: Kinston beat Lake County 4-2 in a seven and a half inning inter-squad game. For Kinston, right-hander Adam Miller continues to plug away and pitched 1.0 inning (1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K) and righty Tony Dischler went 4.0 innings (5 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 1 K). For Lake County, right-hander Felix Sterling went 3.0 strong innings (2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 0 K) and righty Luis Encarnacion went 2.0 innings (0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K). The only thing noteworthy for either team at the plate was Lavisky’s homer for Kinston (1-for-2, R, HR, 2 RBI, K).

Chisenhall, Kipnis, Phelps, Valbuena leave no room for Goedart to play. I hope Antoneilli isn't serious about Kipnis returning to Akron; that would be stupid.

Antonetti? I forget his name.