Cleveland Sports Forum

We have some early baseball today as Ducks are already under way. And I think I saw where Hillcats play early today too.

Quite a game in Akron this afternoon. It was tied 0-0 at end of 9. Top on 10 Trenton scores, but Akron came right back in bottom of 10th to tie it back up. Then Ducks scored in 11th to win.

Bobby Bradley was indeed 0-5, as expected. Kind of season it has been.

Paulsen, who we picked up from scrap heap, I think from Reds, has been doing very well this year. 7 shutout today. Only 3 hits.


Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Akron RubberDucks RHP Jake Paulson over his last three starts:

- 19.2(IP) 12H 5R 4ER 3BB 16SO 1.84 ERA

George Valera must be making an impression down in Arizona. Another guy took note and did up a report.


George Valera
http://2080baseball.com/wp-content/uplo ... MLBCLE.png
Position: RF
Level: Rk
Affiliate: XST Indians
League: Extended Spring Training
Born: 11/13/2000 (Age: 17)
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 160
B/T: Left / Left
Acquired: Signed as international free agent July 2, 2017 (CLE)
MiLB Page Link

Prospect Spotlight

Born in the United States, Valera relocated to the Dominican and was eligible to sign with Cleveland as a 16-year-old in 2017, signing for $1.3 million. The massive power he generates from a 5’10’’ frame has turned heads on the backfields in Goodyear, AZ—his hit and power combo is advanced for his age (won’t be 18 until November), and the bat stood out in both my Spring Training and Extended looks in March and May.

The carry tool is his current 60, future 70-grade raw power, putting on a show in BP with pullside bombs and flashes of all-fields power. To put the power in perspective, Valera is as old as most high school juniors, and he’s showing plus big league raw power right now—though it’s partially a byproduct of a mature frame that developed quickly and is close to filled out. Valera’s low hand set-up and launch angle help him get to the zone quickly, but against higher quality fastballs, he is likely to be challenged by fastballs elevated. Valera shows enthusing ability to ID secondary pitches for a teenager, but what is a bigger swing overall might always be vulnerable to swing-and-miss, even within the zone.

Though he plays centerfield right now, the body and toolset fit a right field profile long-term. He gets good routes and jumps in center but lacks the raw straight-line speed to stay there, though those defensive attribtes translate well to a corner, where Valera projects to be an above-average defender. He shows an above-average arm that is plenty for the position. There’s risk in the profile given his age and whiff potential, but the power is special and there are signs of feel to hit. I think he can get to the power enough such that he reaches his ceiling, a first-division regular with prototypical right field tools.

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

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Rubberducks 2 Thunder 1 (11 Innings)
Paulson 7(IP) 3H 0R 0ER 0BB 6SO
Lovegrove 2(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 2BB 1SO
Pasquale 2(IP) 1H 1R 0ER 1BB 5SO
Loopstok 1-3 RBI BB (Walk-off Sac Fly)

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Columbus Clippers transactions
INF/OF Richie Shaffer placed on the 7-day DL
LHP Matt Whitehouse promoted from Akron
RHP Jordan Milbrath assigned to Akron

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Akron RubberDucks transactions
RHP Jordan Milbrath assigned from Columbus
RHP Zach Plesac promoted from Lynchburg spot start or to stay
LHP Matt Whitehouse promoted to Columbus

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Lynchburg Hillcats transactions

RHP Felix Tati promoted from Lake County
RHP Zach Plesac promoted to Akron

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Mud Hens 4 Clippers 1

Wilk 6(IP) 6H 4R 2ER 1BB 4SO
Sulser 2(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 3SO
Chang 1-3 RBI
Diaz 2-4

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Pelicans 5 Hillcats 0

Hentges 6(IP) 5H 2R 2ER 2BB 4SO
Carter 1-3 SB
Longo 1-4
Capel 1-4

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Dragons 5 Captains 4

McCarty 5(IP) 4H 2R 1ER 2BB 3SO
Friis 3-4 2R 2B
Isaacs 2-4 R 2B RBI SB
Berardi 2-5 2B RBI

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Injury update: Justin Garza will make his next scheduled start for the Hillcats. Exit was precautionary.

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Lynchburg Hillcats OF Mitch Longo is currently riding a 9 game hitting streak:

15-41 9R 4(2B) 2HR 9RBI 3BB 1SB .366 AVG .409 OBP #Indians

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Lake County Captains OF Oscar Gonzalez over his last 8 games:

12-29 5R 2(2B) 3HR 6RBI .414 AVG .414 OBP #Indians

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Despite a current Avg of just .203 Lake County Captains OF Will Benson has reached base in 36 of 41 games this year. (One game not added no official AB just PR) Benson's OBP% is a robust .369 and he is tied with the Midwest League lead in HR's with (9) on the season. #Indians

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While Columbus Clippers (3B) Yandy Diaz .289 Average isn't good enough for the top 15 in the International League his .435 OBP leads the league. #Indians

Actually, since I can’t imagine Yandy getting off to a worse start this season the fact he is hitting .289 and getting on base at a .435 clip is actually pretty promising in my opinion.

The Mejia slump is the most mystifying. He is at 184 nearly two months into the season. His second half at Akron last year was disappointing. This is dreadful

Bradley at 199 in his repeat season in Akron is disappointing too

Not much good from any of the teams top prospects. Chang at 257 has the best average from
Listed in the preseason top ten

Plesac is killing it today in his Akron debut!

2 hits and 7 K thru his first 5.

(and his 4th pick off this year too)

Good work for the Plutko Pleasc team. Zach was just drafted last summer wasn’t he? Quick move up to AA

He was drafted 2 years ago, '16. If I remember correctly wasn't he recovering from a TJ surgery or something at time we selected him? Might be wrong about that.

He finished up right after I posted.

Ducks won 1-0 on the back of his great start.

Castro 1-4
Marabell 1-3 with walk
Bradley 0-4 (sigh)
Plesac 5.2IP 2H 0R 1BB 8 K

Nice.

That sounds right Hillbilly. He’s coming along nicely


Other game this afternoon

Columbus in action. Chang with his 4th homer. In his last 10 games:
294/351/529.
NRod homered. He’s back for a repeat sub 200 season with the clippers

Clips lost 9-7.

Yandy 1-3, double, with 2 walks, in the lead off spot today.

Mejia was 0-5... Damb

AL Central prospects who are this close to callup

By Rhett Bollinger MLB.com @RhettBollinger

Prospects remain the lifeblood of Major League teams, and it's apparent in the American League Central with the White Sox, Royals and Tigers all in a rebuilding stage, while the contending Indians and Twins have prospects who are close to reaching the big leagues and could help down the stretch as they compete for the postseason.

The division boasts 18 players ranked among MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects, including eight from Chicago, five from Minnesota, three from Detroit and two from Cleveland. So it's clear that plenty of talent is going to make its way into the division in the near future.

With that in mind, here's a look at five prospects -- one from each team -- who could make an impact in 2018.

Indians

Prospect: RHP Shane Bieber

MLB Pipeline rank: No. 8 (Indians)

Why you should keep an eye on him: Bieber excelled with Double-A Akron (1.32 ERA in four starts) and hasn't missed a beat since being promoted to Triple-A Columbus (1.16 ERA through five starts). Overall, the precision-based righty had a 1.23 ERA with 54 strikeouts against just three walks in 58 1/3 innings through his first nine outings.

ETA: Possibly later this season. Bieber was a blip on the organization's radar coming into 2018, but he has risen to the next-man-up region of the depth chart. If there were a setback in the MLB rotation, the righty now looks like a real possibility to be called.

https://www.mlb.com/news/5-prospects-wo ... -277990004

After last season I think it unfair to call him a blip before this season.

My daughter may not know much about baseball, but she thinks that the Captain's are horrible. She had tickets to the game at Dayton Dragons. Beautiful field. But she cringed when I told her that LC was an Indians farm team.