Cleveland Sports Forum

Indians Prospective updates ...

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Bats 11 Clippers 2

Zarate 2.1(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 4SO
Chang 2-4 R HR 2RBI
Diaz 1-3 R 2B BB
Allen 3-4
Mejia 2-3 BB

Columbus Clippers (C) Francisco Mejia has (13) multi-hit games out of his last 18 played.
During that span: 31-73 7R 8(2B) 2HR 15RBI 1BB .425 AVG .440 OBP

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RubberDucks 12 Baysox 5

Bradley 3-4 3R 2HR 3RBI BB
Calica 2-6 R HR 3RBI
Castro 2-4 R 2B 2RBI BB
Marabell 1-4 R 2RBI

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Blue Rocks 6 Hillcats 5

Siri 2(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 3BB 5SO
Longo 1-3 R 2B 2RBI BB
Capel 1-2 R RBI 3BB
Clement 2-5 R

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Captains 6 Lugnuts 0

Perez 6.2(IP) 4H 0R 0ER 2BB 5SO
Gonzalez 1-4 R HR 2RBI
Berardi 3-4 R 2B RBI SB
Jones 2-4 RBI

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Scrappers 6 Crosscutters 2

Draper 5(IP) 5H 2R 2ER 1BB 2SO
Rodriguez 2-4 2R HR RBI
Fermin 2-4 2RBI
Gantt 1-4 2R RBI
Freeman extended hit streak to 7

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AZL (Indians 1) 5 Cubs 1

Burgos 5(IP) 2H 1R 1ER 2BB 3SO (returned from T.J. surgery, both his starts have been good)
Royalty 2(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 5SO
Alfonseca 2-4 R 2B HR 3RBI
Jerez 1-2 2R HR RBI 2BB

AZL (Indians 1) RHP Alex Royalty has been phenominal over his first 3 professional outings:
4.2(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 10SO 0.00 ERA 19.6 SO/9

AZL Indians (1) 18yr old (SS) prospect Marcos Gonzalez is currently on a 6 game hitting streak starting the season with a hit in every game:
10-26 3R 1(2B) 1(3B) 4RBI 1BB .385 AVG .429 OBP

AZL (Indians 1) LHP Adam Scott has been outstanding to start his professional career over his first 3 outings:
- 4.1(IP) 3H 0R 0ER 0BB 9SO 0.00 ERA 18.8 SO/9

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AZLIndians2 14 AZLAngels 2

Felix 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Meza 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Delgado 1-3, 2 R, BB, RBI
De Oleo 3-5, 2 2B, 2 R, 6 RBI
Lopez 2-4 R, RBI

AZL (Indians 2) 18yr old INF Raynel Delgado has gotten off to a red hot start to his professional career over his first 4 games:
6-11 4R 1HR 4RBI 1BB 2SB .545 AVG .583 OBP

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DSL Red Sox 8 Indians 1

Franco 3(IP) 1H 1R 0ER 1BB 2SO
Planez 1-4 R HR RBI
Rocchio 2-4
Idrogo 1-4

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DSL Indians Brewers postponed.

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Lake County Captains transaction
INF Miguel Eladio promoted from Mahoning Valley
RHP Tommy DeJuneas activated from 7-day DL
INF Tyler Friis placed on the 7-day DL

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BREAKING: Ethan Hankins, who was taken 35th overall by the #Indians, has signed with @Chipola_BSB. Hankins is still in negotiations with the club, but very interesting move as he would be draft eligible again next year if they don't get the deal done. @PBR_JUCO @PBRGeorgia

some comments on the same:
Bradley is nearing Mendoza again, at .198, his 14 homers lead the system.
Calica is showing some power, with 5 homers now to go with his 291 average
in the Akron bullpen:
Lovegrove 1 2/3 3 K 1 unearned run; Henry Martinez 1 1/3 perfect innings, 2 K

NOT SO NOT:
Columbus pitches Michael Peoples 3 2/3 innings, 9 runs on 12 hits, although he did strike out 6
Columbus reliever Jake Leathersich 1 2/3 innings 1 run and 3 walks. For the season 25 walks in 27 1/3 innings exceeded by 32 K.
Lynchburg Sam Hentges 2 4 4 4 2 4 on again off again season

Karinchak 1 0 1 0 1 2 0.56 unearned run on his error

RODRIGUEZ WATCH:
Mah Valley Jason: singled and homered
AZ1 Johnathan walked
AZ1 Jhan singled

in the desert:
George Valera 0-2 with a walk and his 3rd error in the Outfield already
Engelmann single and walked in 2 AB

pitching today:
Talbot, Paulsen, Tully, Mejia, Mota

Jean Carlos Mejia could be he most interesting of that group. He's a 21 year old 6-4 205 Righty; recently joined Lake County 3.05 so far.
Juan Mota is another 6-4 Righty, a year older at a lower level and a career ERA about 2 points higher

A Trip Around the Farm: Triston McKenzie gets comfortable in Akron

By Michael Hattery 2h ago
Triston​ McKenzie is​ tall with​ a fluid gait. His stride​ is long and​ particularly daunting for​ this​ writer who​ attempted to​​ walk and talk with him “West Wing”-style en route to McKenzie’s participation in a charity event hosted by the Akron RubberDucks. At 20 years old, McKenzie is one of the youngest players in the Eastern League, and perhaps one of the most easily identifiable. McKenzie is best described as rail thin.

He entered 2018 as the crown jewel of the Indians pitching prospects with prospect evaluators fawning over his strong arsenal and advanced feel on the mound. Baseball Prospectus had McKenzie ranked 37th of its top 101 prospects, and FanGraphs had him 51st. The young right-hander has flexed his four-seamer at 91-95 mph with the makings of a plus curveball as well as advanced command and control.

However, as the Indians organization broke camp in Arizona, McKenzie experienced forearm tightness that delayed his season debut to the first week of June. But all is good now.

“When I go out there, I feel the same as usual, comfortable in my own skin, comfortable just getting out on the mound,” McKenzie said.

The results have been solid through four starts: 19 1/3 innings, 19 strikeouts, five walks, a 4.26 ERA. There have been a few blips in terms of hard contact, but these are to be expected when a starting pitcher jumps to Double A.

“I was talking to Triston last (Saturday) night that, you know this is basically his April and he is competing with guys who are in midseason form,” Akron pitching coach Rigo Beltran said. “So he needs to understand that he is still trying to get in shape, get his pitches to do what they are supposed to do.”

There are a few major jumps in the player development path, and moving to Class AA is perhaps the biggest.

“(T)here are little intricacies of being in this league, especially since this is a league where guys prove themselves, there are little things that I have to learn,” McKenzie said.

Beltran added, “There is definitely an adjustment going from A-Ball to AA, better hitters, better umpires, guys are a bit stronger.”

Of course, the measure of success in player development is often not measured in the box score but rather in the player’s ability to make the requisite adjustments.

“As a person watching, wanting to be a successful big leaguer, you watch what the big leaguers do,” McKenzie said. “And it is being able to throw all of their pitches in any count, any situation whether it be a starter in the beginning of the game, a starter in his ninth inning, or a reliever, like a closer, like Cody Allen when he is in there to get a save.”

Yet, the checklist for player development is never short and requires constant efforts to work on interconnected skills to reach the big leagues. Beltran outlined the different areas of growth they have targeted this season.

“I think he is going to learn to value the ability to execute his pitches a little bit more; to better command to the bottom of the zone and expand up. Developing his secondary pitches, his work ethic between starts, and his work ethic during the offseason. Stuff that he is going to need not only to compete at the Double-A level but eventually at the Triple-A and big-league level.”

Beltran thinks McKenzie’s ability to take coaching will be a key.

“I like how open-minded he is to suggestions and he is willing to try new things, and how good of an athlete he is,” Beltran said. “He is a very good athlete, so when you talk about mechanical changes or pitch development stuff he is able to grasp it really quickly and apply it, and carry it into the game.”

Blue chip production
(Updates on former first-/second-round picks and major international signees)

Nolan Jones: Jones is hitting to all fields and is starting to show off his raw power. Jones could be getting promoted soon.

Will Benson: Benson is simply struggling to make enough contact at the moment. All of the other skills — power, discipline and defense — are there, but his contact skills remain an impediment.

Brady Aiken: Aiken has still not been assigned to an affiliate.

Quentin Holmes: At 19 years old, he is playing for one of the Indians’ two Arizona Rookie League teams. He has plus speed but a lot of work to do with his hitting approaches.

Hot three hitters (Last 28 days)

Name Level AVG OBP ISO K%
Francisco Mejía Columbus (AAA) .395 .417 .235 14.1%
Nolan Jones Lake County (A) .329 .421 .256 22.10%
Oscar Gonzalez Lake County (AA) .299 .322 .184 15.50%


Hot three pitchers

Name Level IP ERA K/9 BB/9
Eli Morgan Lynchburg (A+) 34.1 2.62 10.50 1.60
Dalbert Siri* Lynchburg (A+) 21.2 2.08 12.50 5.00
Luis Oviedo Mahoning Valley (A-) 10.0 0.90 13.50 1.80
*Denotes reliever status

civ ollilavad wrote:Jean Carlos Mejia could be he most interesting of that group.

More interesting than a former Buckeye? Bite your tongue.

Sam Hentges
Born: 07/18/1996 (Age: 21) Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Arm Slot:
Height: 6'6''
Weight: 245
Primary Position: LHSP
Seconday Position: - Acquisition Period: 4th Rd., 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft (CLE)
Entry Point:
Options Used: N/A
Report Info
Evaluator: Adam McInturff
Report Date: May 2nd, 2018
Dates Seen: 4/22/18
Level: High A
Affiliate: Lynchburg Hillcats
MLB Team: http://2080baseball.com/wp-content/uplo ... MLBCLE.png
On 40-Man Roster: No
Physical Description
Extra-tall, lanky, and long-limbed; well-proportioned, trim frame; looks like a young J.A. Happ (LHP, Blue Jays). TJ Surgery (July 2017).
Mechanical Notes
Side-saddle semi-windup delivery; online and balanced finish, repeats very well; low-maintenance overall operation. Full, clean arm circle w/ slight hook in the back; loose H3/4's slot out front.
MLB ETA Present Role Future Role Role Description Risk
2020 P 55 Mid-Rotation Starter High
Pitch
Present Future Sitting Range
Comments
Overall Fastball Value
50 55 — —
Projects to have above-average velocity for LH starter w/ above-average command. Sum-of-the-parts will make FB above-average, even if it isn't a traditional bat-misser.
Fastball Velocity
50 55 92-93 90-94
Generates low-90s velo effortlessly w/ touches of 94. Could grow into a tick or two more as he fills out given body type.
Fastball Movement
50 50 — —
Tall frame gives steep natural angle. Moderate run when down in zone. Flattens when elevated.
Fastball Command
45 55 — —
Best sequences see him consistently land FB to lower third, flashing ability to weave to both halves of the plate. Falls out of command later in outings; shows glimpses of what will be above-avg command as his frame fills out.
Curveball
45 50 79 77-80
Flashes average but doesn't finish consistently at present, occasional backups/rollers. Sweepy tilt w/ moderate plane change; tougher slant on LHH; future AVG pitch.
ChangeUp
30 45 85 84-86
Third pitch, less feel for it than FB/CB; crude offering that he's working hard to develop; slows arm, often floating a hittable pitch over the plate; shows moderate fade at times. Clean arm action/delivery project to improve CHG to a playable third.
Control
45 55 — —
Advanced ability to establish FB and get first-pitch strikes. More present strike-throwing ability w/ FB than off-speed pitches; CB is more of a chase pitch below the zone; limited current strikes w/ CHG. Has body type/delivery/feel to project as an above-average strikethrower at maturity.
Attribute Present Future
Delivery Average Plus
Athleticism Average Average
Pitchability Average Average
Mound Presence Average Plus
Player Video
https://2080baseball.com/draft-prospect ... m-hentges/
MiLB Stats
http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?pl ... g/2018/ALL
Overall Summary
Extra-projectable lefty; ceiling of quality #4 starter that lengthens the middle of any rotation. Projection required on CHG and injury history add risk to profile.

Hentges has solid potential and is still young. Regrettably his draft cohort colleague Grant Hockin is not back on the mound and perhaps will not be.

Clippers 5 Bats 3

Talbot 6.1(IP) 5H 3R 2ER 1BB 4SO
Barnes 2-4 2RBI
Mejia 2-4 R 2B
Allen 1-3 R 2B RBI BB
Y.Diaz 1-3 R 2B RBI BB

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Baysox 8 RubberDucks 4

Bradley 1-4 R HR 2RBI
Tom 1-4 2B 2RBI
Mathias 0-2 2R 2BB
Pasquale 1.1(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1SO

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Hillcats 8 Blue Rocks 3

Tully 7(IP) 6H 2R 2ER 1BB 4SO
Rodriguez 1-3 R 2RBI
Capel 1-4 2R 2B RBI BB
Carter 1-3 R 2B RBI BB
Longo 2-5 R SB
Krauth 0.2 IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K

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Lugnuts 8 Captains 7

Gonzalez 3-5 2B 3B 2RBI
Isaacs 1-4 R HR RBI
Laureano 1-5 R HR RBI
Berardi 1-3 2R 2B BB

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Scrappers 8 Crosscutters 2

Mota 6(IP) 5H 2R 2ER 1BB 4SO
Reeves 2-4 R HR 4RBI
Lucas 1-4 R HR 2RBI
Freeman 3-4 2R 2B RBI

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AZLIndians1 9 AZLCubs2 3

M.Gonzalez 1-4 2R BB
Jerez 1-3 HR 2R 3RBI 2BB
Alfonseca 2-4 2B 2RBI

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AZLIndians2 12 AZLReds 3

Mejia 5(IP) 7H 2R 2ER 1BB 5SO
Lopez 1-4 2 BB
Santiago 2-5 3R BB
De Oleo 2-4 2 2B 2R RBI BB

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DSL Rangers 1 Indians 0

M. Garcia 6(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 1BB 3SO
Planez 2-3 3B BB
Noel 1-3 2B BB
Montero 1-3

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DSL Indians/Brewers 6 Cubs 5

Vasquez 3.2(IP) 2H 1R 0ER 1BB 2SO
De La Cruz 2-4 2R 2B BB
Peralta 2-5 RBI
Made 1-3 R 2BB

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Mahoning Valley Scrappers (SS) Tyler Freeman remained red hot extending his hitting streak to 8 straight games with 3 more hits tonight. Freeman is now 2nd in the NYPL with a .452 average on the season.
During streak: 17-33 5R 5(2B) 7RBI 1BB .515 AVG .529

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Mahoning Valley Scrappers OF Mitch Reeves with a HR and 4 RBI's on the night now leads the NYPL with 12 RBI's on the year and his 3 HR's are second in the league. #Indians

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#Indians prospect and current Lynchburg Hillcats OF Mitch Longo through his first 162 career games:
196-605 106 R 44(2B) 5(3B) 9HR 64RBI 53BB 33SB .324 AVG .383 OBP

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Akron Rubberucks transactions
(C) Sicnarf Loopstok placed on 7-day DL
(C) Logan Ice promoted from Lynchburg

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AZL (Indians 1) RHP Alex Royalty has been phenominal over his first 3 professional outings:
4.2(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 10SO 0.00 ERA 19.6 SO/9

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Akron RubberDucks (1B) Bobby Bradley with a HR tonight vs Bowie has now hit 5 HR's over his last 8 games. Bradley leads the organization with 15 now on the year 4 more than both, Lake County Captain OF's Oscar Gonzalez & Will Benson who each have 11 long balls. #Indians

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2018 23rd Round MLB Draft Pick 21yr old 6'1 185lbs Junior OF Cody Farhat out of Texas Tech University (TX) will officially sign Friday out in Goodyear, Arizona.

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Columbus Clippers (C) Francisco Mejia over his last 24 games has seen his average raise from .178 to .265 during this span.
38-93 10R 9(2B) 1(3B) 3HR 19RBI 5BB .409 AVG .440 OBP #Indians

Some other notes:

Will Benson is currently on a 3-38 strike with 4 walks and 15 strikeouts. Fading farther below 200.

Rpczynski looking unready for promotion, this time he retired one, walked one and gave up one hit.
Ben Taylor does OK in AAA; this time 1 1/3 innings, one hit, one K.

I see Anthony Santander is back in AA for the Orioles.

Yainer Diaz catches for AZ2; is NOT related to Yandy Diaz.

Nick Sandlin, 2nd rounder, reliever who could "move fast" is hanging around Arizona for present, to sure why. No runs allowed in few outings.

I usually complain about high draft pick 2nd basemen, but for some reason I feel optimistic this year about Delgado and Palcaios. The latter with a couple hits and a couple is 3-8 for the Scrappers after a brief terrific 5 game stay in Arizona.

Trying to keep these guys straight is tough when we use starting pitchers the same night:
Jean Mejia for Lake County. ran out of gas in the 4th.
Juan Mota for Mahoning Valley. Pitched a solid 6 innings.
Wilmar Mejia for Arizona 2. 5 innings, 2 runs on 7 hits.
better than any of them was J. Gutierrez for AZ1 5 innings, no earned runs

Today:

Wilk
Brady
Morgan
McCarty
MHV off; 9-2 mark as they hit the road
both Arizona teams are in action, no pitchers noted on the schedule

Here's a good name to memorize:

Makesiondon Kelkboom 17 year old SS from the Netherlands. I don't think it's his father spelled backwards

Mejia and Barnes named to IL All star team.

BA highlights for our top 30 prospects in action Tuesday:

CLE AA Bradley, Bobby 1B 4 1 1 2 .203 HR (15)
CLE AA Krieger, Tyler CF 4 0 0 0 .226 BB (26)
CLE AA Mathias, Mark 2B 2 2 0 0 .235 2 BB (31)
CLE AAA Allen, Greg CF 3 1 1 1 .273 2B (9), BB (13)
CLE AAA Chang, Yu SS 4 0 1 0 .264
CLE AAA Haase, Eric DH 4 0 1 0 .211
CLE AAA Mejia, Francisco C 4 1 2 0 .265 2B (14)
CLE HiA Capel, Conner CF 4 2 1 1 .267 2B (12), BB (29)
CLE HiA Clement, Ernie SS 5 1 1 0 .357
CLE LoA Benson, Will RF 4 1 0 1 .187
CLE LoA Gonzalez, Oscar LF 5 0 3 2 .271 2B (12), 3B (1)
CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik PH-SS 1 0 0 0 .293
CLE R Gonzalez, Marcos SS 4 2 1 0 .367 BB (2), SB (1)
CLE SS Freeman, Tyler SS 4 2 3 1 .452 2B (6)

Lake County is, as usual, not doing too well this afternoon. Nolan Jones has a single, Will Benson a walk, and out of the ordinary Oscar Gonzalez has drawn two walks [season total now is 10 along with 73 streikouts]
Kirk McCarthy drafted 1 round after Elijah Morgan last summer, continues on a very different career path. He lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowed 10 hits, 5 runs, although 3 were unearned.

Yup, very little to highlight there.

Lugnuts 6 Captains 2

Jones 1-4 R
OscarG 0-1 2BB
Benson 0-3 with 3 K

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And other early action ...

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DSL Rangers 9 DSL Indians 4

Rocchio 1-4 R
Tena 2-5 R RBI
Noel 0-2 2BB RBI
S Rodriguez 2-3 BB

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DSL Indians/Brewers 5 DSL Cubs 4

Vergara 5 IP, 5 H, 1ER, 2 BB, 2 K
De La Cruz 2-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI
Planchart 1-4, R
Maestre 2-4, 2B, RBI

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And lastly, Calica getting a little attention ...

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Calica Bringing Well-Rounded Game To Akron

Like most sports, baseball has its highlights and superstars that draw attention and fans to follow the sport. There are always cool plays that happen that are shown in game recaps or focused on, and while these plays deserve all the attention they get, they are not the entire game of baseball. In Double A, it is a season long epic of 144 games played, and while there are certainly highlights that are noted, they do not make up the entire season. Instead, there are a lot of little plays that happen that are just as important as those highlights.

Going off of that, consistency is arguably the most important quality one looks for in a prospect, and the one player on the RubberDucks who embodies that the most is outfielder Andrew Calica. Calica is an 11th round draft pick in the 2016 MLB Draft out of UC Santa Barbara, and while he isn’t a big-name prospect, his play shows that he is someone worth watching. His play is not flashy by any means because he doesn’t do one thing amazing, he just does everything well consistently.

The first example of his consistency harkens back to his transition from college baseball to minor league baseball. After being drafted, Calica started the year at Mahoning Valley, and one would expect him to struggle. However, Calica did the exact opposite and tore apart pitching hitting for an insane slash line of .388/.491/.568 over a 40-game period. What’s even more impressive is that his play was so good, he actually got called up to Lake County before the year was over, where he only had a slash line of .359/.405/.513 over his 10 games he spent there.

“I just try not to put too much pressure on myself,” Calica said. “I just like being able to go out and focus on the game. It’s a different kind of atmosphere, you got that competitive atmosphere in college, and you got school to worry about. It’s nice to be able to come out to professional baseball and just play my game and find a routine that works for me.”

From Mahoning Valley and Lake County in 2016, Calica quickly found himself up in high level Class A Lynchburg for the 2017 season. It would be understandable for him to regress at a higher level in only his second year in the minors, and while he didn’t put up superhuman numbers like he did the previous year, Calica still put up extremely consistent numbers. He hit for a slash line of .274/.368/.396 over the full 2017 season. One could argue that these numbers are even more impressive than his numbers in 2016, considering the level of competition was greater at Lynchburg than at Mahoning Valley and Lake County. Also, the fact that he did those numbers over a full season instead of a small sample size only adds to his credibility.

Moving into the 2018 season, Calica found himself called up to his first taste in Double-A with the RubberDucks and reflected on what that transition has been like.

“Obviously, the play is more up here," said the outfielder. "You got guys who have their pitching dialed in, they got great stuff like they did in High-A, but they know how to use it a little better. They pitch to your weaknesses so you constantly have to make adjustments off of that. You got guys in the dugout who you just see are more dialed in with their routines getting their bodies ready, and everything is just a little more professional as you move up. You see that around and you have all these examples to use for yourself and to build on what you are trying to accomplish for yourself.”

Akron RubberDucks manager Tony Mansolino took a few seconds to comment on Calica’s play so far.

“He’s been great. He’s playing well defensively playing three positions all year and he’s been getting on base consistently," said the 'Ducks skipper. "He’s got good numbers but he’s doing it against good left handed and right handed pitching, putting up good at bats. He’s really been the catalyst for us up at the top of the lineup and he’s been really big for us. It’s hard to find someone who can go out and do that. To have a guy who can go out and face a late inning reliever and not have to worry about moving him down in the lineup is really settling.”

Currently throughout the 2018 season, Calica is doing more of the same. He currently has a slash line of .293/.399/.423 through 61 games with five homers, 14 doubles, 31 RBI's and 40 runs scored, to go along with 27 walks and 14 stolen bases. In addition, he not only plays one position in the outfield, but is able to play all three positions making him not only a consistent threat on offense, but a versatile threat on defense as well.

“I think it was a great opportunity transitioning into playing all three positions last year,” Calica said. “This is my second year with Tony Mansolino and he and the coaching staff last year in Lynchburg helped with my development a lot. They’ve helped us all become more versatile and I think in the future that will be very beneficial to me.”

Moving forward, Calica hopes to continue to make adjustments and fine tune his gameplay to give the RubberDucks a chance to win a championship.

“I just try to take it one day at a time,” Calica said. “I do everything today to put the team in a position in a chance to win, to develop myself as an individual and at the end of the day, whatever happens, happens.”