Here's the Tyler Freeman story for those too tired to click on Hillbilly's link to the story

By Sam Dykstra / MiLB.com | May 15, 2019 10:25 AM




The Indians front office came to Tyler Freeman last fall with an idea. Well, it was more of a suggestion.

"We had so many meetings in the offseason, but the one I remember they told me, 'This isn't a big concern at all, but, hey, maybe your walk rate could be better,'" he said. "They didn't even want me to change much. They told me I put the ball in play a lot, and that made up for pretty much everything. But I'd call it a 'maybe' concern, and I took that as, 'OK, that's what I need to focus on now.'"

No matter the severity of the instruction, the 19-year-old infielder took it to heart and spent his first healthy pro offseason -- he was nursing a torn labrum in his left shoulder during much of the prior one -- working out with a pitching machine that simulated a live pitcher using different windups, arm angles and pitches. His focus was on developing an approach that would keep his above-average hit tool yet reel in some of his aggression.


Clearly, it's working.

The Indians' No. 3 prospect has seen his walk rate jump from 2.7% last season at Class A Short Season Mahoning Valley to 10.6% through 30 games this season at Class A Lake County. Meanwhile, he's still batting .293/.418/.483 over 141 plate appearances. Consequently, Freeman has jumped into MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects ranking, at No. 96, for the first time as he becomes a more well-rounded offensive threat.

"It was probably around Spring Training, honestly, that I noticed the changes that quickly," he said. "There were a couple times when I looked at a pitch and knew it was a ball and thought right after, 'Hey, if I was at Mahoning Valley, I'm probably swinging at that pitch or fouling it off.' Already, I was recognizing that that's actually a ball, let it go, and I realized this was going to work."

It didn't take long for those results to carry into the season, either. Freeman took a free pass in five straight games from April 7-12, a stretch beginning with the third contest of the season. On April 25 alone, he walked a career-high three times. When it comes to raw totals, his 15 walks this season are already almost double his 2018 total of eight in 41 fewer games.

What makes all of this so noteworthy is that the middle infielder was already gifted at the plate before adding more plate discipline to the mix.

The Indians took Freeman with the 71st overall pick in the 2017 Draft on the promise of his bat, and following his return from shoulder surgery last spring, he showed off that promise in the New York-Penn League, where he was one of the Class A Short Season circuit's most dominant hitters. Freeman led the NYPL with a .352 average, .929 OPS, 95 hits, 29 doubles and 138 total bases. He especially blew the competition away in those last three categories, with second-place hitters finishing with 71 hits, 18 doubles and 123 total bases.

So when Cleveland brass came to Freeman in the offseason to talk about his preparation for the jump to the Midwest League, there really wasn't much they could say, other than "maybe" the whole walk thing. If they were being picky. But the reason the California native has been able to stop swinging at so many pitches but still make regularly solid contact is perhaps his most elite skill.

Of the 1,295 qualifiers across the Minors last season, Freeman had the second-best swing-and-miss percentage at just 3.0%. Even with the jump to Class A, he's still swinging and missing only 3.3% of the time through mid-May, ranking fourth among 888 qualifiers in 2019.

"I'm still the hitter that I am and always have been. I'm still going to be very aggressive," he said. "The only thing that changes is trying to get my pitch and hitting that. I saw a video of Ted Williams in the offseason and just the other day again on Instagram, where he talked about the reason he was so good was because he was going to only swing at his pitch. Anything that wasn't his pitch, he was going to let it go. It's baseball. You've got three strikes. Don't just jump on what you see."

Other unknowns remain in Freeman's profile. He has split time between shortstop and second base for much of his Minor League career, only to make 30 of his 31 defensive starts at shortstop with the Captains this season. That's in part because his usual double-play partner, Jose Fermin, has been on the injured list since April 26, allowing Freeman to take over full-time duties at short for the time being. The teenager is still taking grounders at second in preparation for Fermin's return -- as well as for his long-term future, as many believe his average arm will work better at the keystone. His power is also mostly in the gaps at this stage of his development. His 12 doubles are second-most in the Midwest League, but he's paired that with only two homers in 116 at-bats so far.

But as of now, Freeman's elite contact rates and improving discipline are commanding attention from across the Minors, as evidenced by his recent jump into MLB.com's ranking. That's not something he envisioned two years ago, when he had a strong commitment to TCU and decided to turn down three pre-pick offers from the Tribe on the first day of the Draft only for Cleveland to take him anyway and sign him for $816,500 just before the deadline.

Had he stuck to his original plan, Freeman would be a sophomore shortstop sitting atop the Horned Frogs lineup. Instead, he's becoming one of the best pure hitters in the lower level of the Minors, with his sights set on being even a little more than that.

2019 MiLB include

"This early on? No, I hadn't thought I'd necessarily be here," he said. "I always knew I had the work ethic to improve over time, and I've always given it all I've got. So far, it's showing up in results. But I'm not going to take this for granted. It's been an honor to see myself recognized liked this, but all it does is make me want to work harder.

"I'm not big on prospect lists, reading them and keeping up with them, but I do get texts from family members and friends, so it's hard not to think about it. But whether I'm No. 1 on those lists or the last guy on there, I'm going to strive to get better, however I can on whatever I can improve in my game."

in this evening's game, Lynchburg is getting shut out, although Oscar with a pair of doubles; Mejia went 3 innings, fanned 5, allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, but he was out there pitching which is probably the most important thing.

a kind of screwy 5 1/3 1 hit scoreless innings for Chiang for the Clpppers, he walked 6 and threw 101 pitches. They're up 6-0 behind homers by Flaherty, Thompson and Barnes.

Highlighted by BA:

Will Benson, LF, Indians. Benson had three hits in five at-bats with three RBIs and three runs scored for low Class A Lake County. Cleveland’s No. 21 prospect had two singles and hit a two-run home run in the second inning. It was his fourth game in a row with at least a hit and his first three-hit performance of the season. He hit a paltry .180/.324/.370 last season in the Midwest League, but did manage to blast 22 home runs. Benson has seven home runs through 117 at-bats thus far and is making more contact than he did last year

[maybe was his first 3 hit performance but he also had the 4 homer game a few weeks ago]

Also:

CLE AA Clement, Ernie SS 3 0 1 0 0.171
CLE AA Johnson, Daniel CF 5 2 1 3 0.252 HR (8)
CLE AAA Bradley, Bobby 1B 1 1 1 1 0.302 HR (8)
CLE HiA Gonzalez, Oscar LF 4 0 3 0 0.369 2 2B (10), CS (3)
CLE HiA Jones, Nolan 3B 3 0 0 1 0.296
CLE LoA Benson, Will LF 5 3 3 3 0.256 HR (7), SB (11)
CLE LoA Freeman, Tyler SS 5 2 3 1 0.306 2B (13), SB (10)
CLE LoA Holmes, Quentin CF 5 3 3 0 0.178 2B (5), SB (9)
CLE AA Hentges, Sam 7 4 0 0 1 6 4.69 I would have featured this line
CLE HiA Mejia, Jean Carlos 3 4 2 2 0 5 2.84

Daniel Johnson hit his 9th homer for Akron last night. What the Tribe lacks in drafting they usually make up for in trades.

Thursday games;

Pitchers first:

Columbus-
Anderson 4 2/3 2 1 1 2 2
hu 2 1/3 5 3 3 1 3
Edwards 1 2 1 1 1 3

Akron-
Eli Morgan 5 4 2 2 3 5
Kaminsky 2 2 0 0 0 2 5.11
Sandlin 2 1 0 0 0 4 0.79 no runs in last 7 outings; OPS 0.96 in same

Lynchburg-
9th year pro! Anderson Polanco with 4 shutout innings in relief; he's 26 and a Class A lifer

Lake County-
Mota left after 2 innings, 1 earned run

and the offense, starting with the power guys, comparing their lines

Bradley was 0-4 he's hitting 292, OPS 925
Haase single two walks and tried to steal hitting 228 OPS 840
Johnson tripled and homered hitting only 262 but OPS 911
Oscar Gonzalez singled hitting 366 OPS 891
Benson singled and homered hitting 264 OPS 891

Others:
Greg Allen a single
Ernie Clement single and walk
Freeman single
Holmes unfortunately 0-4 with 3 K

BA lines for Thursday:

CLE AA Clement, Ernie SS 3 1 1 0 0.184 BB (5)
CLE AA Johnson, Daniel CF 4 2 2 1 0.260 3B (2), HR (9)
CLE AAA Bradley, Bobby 1B 4 0 0 0 0.292
CLE AAA Haase, Eric C 2 1 1 0 0.228 2 BB (15), CS (1)
CLE HiA Gonzalez, Oscar DH 4 0 1 0 0.366
CLE HiA Jones, Nolan 3B 3 0 0 0 0.288 BB (28)
CLE LoA Benson, Will RF 4 1 2 1 0.264 HR (8)
CLE LoA Freeman, Tyler SS 4 0 1 0 0.304
CLE LoA Holmes, Quentin CF 4 0 0 0 0.171
CLE LoA Naylor, Bo C 4 0 0 0 0.204
CLE MAJ Mercado, Oscar PR-LF 1 1 0 0 0.000
CLE AA Sandlin, Nick 2 1 0 0 0 4 0.73 Sv (1)

One of our talented infielders, Palacios, has been rehabbing in Arizona. Had labrum surgery. Hopefully we will see him back soon. And Gonzalez.

Lots of good stuff to report from the Friday night minors


Pitching:

Columbus: Plesac 7 7 3 3 0 9 2 homers
for Akron: Civale 6 8 2 2 0 4
relievers Krauth 2 and Siri 1 shutout innings
Lynchburg Hillman 6 2/3 5 0 0 1 7 ERA at a career low 3.02
in relief R. Broom 1 1 0 0 1 2 0.52
L.County: Burgos 4 1/3 4 3 3 1 6 3.44 [the only starter to walk a batter]
of the IL Royalty 3 1 0 0 1 2


Hitting:

Johnson stays red hot, 3 singles and a walk, avg 278 OPS is a system best 937
Freeman nearly matches that with 2 singles and a walk, avg 313 OPS of 921 leads the Midwest League; he did the same in the NYPL last year
Bradley similar line, one single, 2 walks avg 291 OPS 922
Eric Haase 10th homer, single, walk avg 240 OPS 884
Gonzalez 11th double 365 OPS 893
Benson and Holmes each drew one walk
Greg Allen 3 singles and a walk
former 5th rounder Ka'ai Tom singled and drew 3 walks; overall still only 228/700. But after a dreadful start, in his last 12 games his line impresses:
348/423/587 OPS 1010

Lake County Captains transactions

LHP Raymond Burgos placed on the 7-day IL (Left forearm soreness)
RHP Riley Echols promoted from extended spring training
INF Henry Pujols assigned to Mahoning Valley roster
INF Jose Fermin activated off the 7-day IL

Burgos keeps coming and going. Nothing major yet, but still worrying.
Welcome back Jose. He'll rejoin Freeman for a solid top of the order.

I'm hoping there's no injury news on Valera or Bracho or Rocchio or Hankins or Vargas down in Arizona? Looking forward to them getting out on the field soon.

Nothing I’ve heard. I know Valera has been playing cause saw some comments from a guy who watched him down there. Just doing the Arizona intrasquad thing till short season starts.

Top performances by our top players on Saturday.

So if you want to keep your OPS close to 1000, just single and walk every day [1-3 with a walk is .833] or even better double and walk [1167]
Johnson went for the latter course yesterday, so his OPS reaches 943. For the season he has 7 doubles, 2 triples, 9 home runs.
Over his last 9 games, he's 14-37, one double, one triple and 6 home runs, 4 walks. His impressive line over that period: 378/439/946

Tyler Freeman found an even better way to boost his league-leading OPS: single and his 3rd homerun. Avg: 318, OPS: 946.

Other notables:
Ernie Clement doubled and walked, 195/661 is improving.
Bo Naylor 1-406/601. Is improving, slowly
Benson 0-3 with a walk. Lots of walks.
Bobby Bradley ditto.
Greg Allen two singles.
Nolan Jones, three singles, 294/OPS 774. I'm ready for some power.
Oscar Gonzalez double 12, 359/884

Not too much interesting among the pitchers, except another shutout 1 2/3 by Kyle Nelson. ERA 0.00 over two levels, assume he'd be tested at more levels this summer. an Indy League refugee Matt Solters with a good start for Lynchburg; the Class A starter is older than six players on the current major league roster; nearly 2 years older than Shane Bieber and 5 months older than young veteran Lindor.

Woji gets national attention: surrenders Tim Tebow's first AAA homerun, in his 115th at bat.
But the Clippers hold a big lead beyond homeruns from Greg Allen [#2], Eric Haase [#11] and Trayce Thompson [#9]

Ernie Clement continues to improve, single and triple in his first 3 At Bats today. Johnson is 0-3.
Perpetual AA 1B/DH Nellie Rodriguez with his 3rd homer.

Lynchburg just underway. Justin Garza who's reliably either awful or great sets the tone with a 2 run 1st, although he did strikeout 3 Former Indians LHP prospect Luis Lugo working asking the Hillcats; he's 25 still in Class A. Success seems unlikely.

Oviedo another guy who's Hot or not is not so hot today; 5-8-4-4-3-6. Tyler Freeman so are only with a walk. Benson with a single a walk and 12th steal. Holmes a walk and his 10th steal.