Minor Action: 4/22

by APV on Apr 23, 2008 9:09 AM EDT

If the Tribe sucks when Brick eats tapas, they're unbeatable when I drink too much sangria and eat a bunch of undercooked fish. Looks like it's going to be a long summer for me...

Buffalo 4, Scranton 2

The exciting action for Buffalo comes tonight, when Adam Miller makes his season debut, but until then Brian Slocum (2-1, 4.08 ERA) continues to audition for the role of serviceable major league starter. Slocum's now got 17 Ks in 17.2 IPs, with a nice .212 batting average against. He's been a little wild and he hasn't made it past the 5th in any of his starts (I think that's at least in part an organization decision to limit his workload coming off surgery), but he continues to pitch effectively. Offensively, the pop was provided by Jordan Brown (2-4, 2 2Bs) and Brad Snyder (2-4, 2B, HR). After a slow start, Brown has been picking it up of late. He's got a 5 game hitting streak and hits in 8 of his past 9 (15-37, 6 2Bs, 2BB, 3K). Brown's power continues to come in the form of doubles and not homeruns, though, as he has yet to ring one up this season. Snyder has also been hitting the ball better over the past week (7-19, 2 2Bs, 2 HRs, 1BB, 2K over his past 5).

Akron 1, Altoona 7

Akron was not so fortunate, as they received no offense, poor defense, and shoddy bullpen work in a loss to Altoona. Frank Hermann (2-1, 4.37) pitched decently, allowing 3 runs over 6. But the bullpen promptly surrendered another 4 and Akron only mustered 3 hits of their own on offense. Michael Aubrey's rbi double, his 6th on the season, accounted for the lone Aero run.

Kinston 4, Salem 7

Kinston suffered the woes of bad defense ever worse than Akron, as they committed four errors leading to four unearned runs. Steven Wright (0-1, 2.81), who began the season with two fantastic starts, was decidedly pedestrian (4IP,6H,3ER,3BB,1K). Dan Cevette pitched two innings of shutout relief (2IP,1H,1BB,4K), before the defense and bullpen gave it away. The slumping Beau Mills (.208/.358/.302) had a single and knocked in 2 runs. Nick Weglarz did not walk (!), but did record a single in 4 ABs. John Drennen , competing with Reid Santos for the title of "favorite Hawaiian in the system" (left vacant by Rodney Choy Foo's departure at the beginning of the season), went 2-4 and scored 2 runs. Drennen hasn't had much (or any) pop so far, but his .408 OBP out of the leadoff spot far outclips the .336 mark he put up last season.

Lake County 7, Delmarva 1 (Game 1)
Lake County 11, Delmarva 1 (Game 2)

Lake County continues to bury opposing offenses into the ground then stomp on them. Ryan Morris (3-0, 1.23) did the digging in the first game, pitching 6 innings of shutout ball (2H,2BB,4K). Morris hasn't allowed a run since his first start of the season, a span of 16.1 innings. The work in the 2nd game was by committee, with "Judge" Judy (3-0, 1.98) pitching 3 innings of perfect ball (5Ks) for the win. Judy's 22 and only in low-A, but count him as my favorite "probably completely insignificant low ball/old relief pitcher putting up impressive numbers" this season. 13.2 IP, 3H, 3ER, 5BB, 19K, .071 BAA, 1.75 GO/AO...Hits were plentiful for the Captains, including from their tandem of 23-year old OFers, Adam White (4-9, 4R, RBI) and Matthew Brown (3-8, 2R, 2RBI). Karexon Sanchez also had hits in both games (3-8, 3B, 3R, 2RBI). Big firstbaseman Chris Nash also had his best day in awhile (3-7, 2 2Bs, 1BB/1K),

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As excited as we are about Beau Mills, for good reason, he hasn’t exactly hit as a professional. Also, what are we to make of the third base rumors, since he has played primarily at first this season.

by ClarkM on Apr 23, 2008 9:31 AM EDT 0 recs

Hello ClarkM,

Mills has played some 3B this season, though I think you’re correct in that he’s probably played about 2/3 of the time at 1B and 1/3 time at 3B. Still, I don’t think the Indians have ruled it out – it seems his shoulder is healthy again (according to published reports,) and they seem to think that he could be a quality ML 3B in time.

Only time will tell, but obviously, if Mills can remain there, he’d be even more valuable than if he was at 1B.

Regarding Mills, we also have to keep in mind he’s only 21-YO and this is his first season at High-A. John Drennen ran into similar problems at High-A last season, and though Weglarz has a very good walk rate, he’s arguably struggled more at getting hits than Mills has, so it’s not uncommon for highly-regarded hitting prospects to stumble a bit at first at High-A. Jared Goedert also struggled at High-A last season, though I think part of his struggles were due to the fact he had a shoulder injury to contend with not long after arriving at Kinston.

Also, looking up his season stats from 2007, he didn’t do too badly for his first professional season – while he hit only .179/.303/.250 in 28 ABs at SS-A Mahoning Valley, he hit .271/.333/.435 in 177 ABs at Low-A Lake County (with 5 HRs and 36 RBIs – projected out to 500 ABs, that would be 14 HRs and 101 RBIs) and .275/.375/.500 in 40 ABs at High-A Kinston.

In Thursday’s game for Kinston, he went 2-5 with 1 R scored, a 2B, and an RBI, along with 2 Ks, boosting his season BA to .210. He also played 3B and made his 4th error of the season (a throw on a ball hit to lead off the top of the 9th inning. No damage resulted though thanks to the next batter bunting the ball into the air for a double play.)

Just my 2 cents. :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 25, 2008 2:51 AM EDT up 0 recs

Awesome stuff. I was just drooling over the Kinston walk stats myself. Jordan Brown, walk on, brother! Power will come. I want the sick walk rates.

by tabler84 on Apr 23, 2008 10:41 AM EDT 0 recs

Gotta be careful if you’re a disciplined prospect, though. One day they’re raving about your knowledge of the strike zone, the next they’re writing you off for having “old player skills.”

by Jay on Apr 23, 2008 12:37 PM EDT up 0 recs

That phrase - “old player skills” - has stuck with me more than any other early in this season. I have this vision that after a Player of the Week tear you’ll throw up a banner that reads, “Old player skills beat diminshing skills,” or the like. But so far the phrase is annoyingly prescient.

by tabler84 on Apr 23, 2008 1:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

Feh. Pronk may never come back, but that still doesn’t mean he had “old player skills”—as far as it’s ever been defined in print, he simply didn’t. He might just be his own special blend of collapse. As for Marte, if he never gets a job, we won’t ever know if he sucks at it, let alone why he does or doesn’t. The old-player skills thing has become a crutch for some who don’t want to accept that sometimes players just fail, or age prematurely, or don’t have good numbers in 57 AB.

by Jay on Apr 23, 2008 1:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

Frankly, I think Old Player Skills would be a great name for a band.

“Hello, Cleveland! We’re Old Player Skills! We’re here to rock you, but not very hard!”

Free Andy Marte!

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on Apr 24, 2008 11:39 AM EDT up 0 recs

Wow.

by Jay on Apr 24, 2008 11:47 AM EDT up 0 recs

Let the Judge Judy watch begin. Now pass the sangria.

by ken from alexandria on Apr 23, 2008 10:44 AM EDT 0 recs

Isn’t one of those pieces of “minor league wisdom” that guys who hit more home runs than doubles don’t pan out at the major league level? If that’s true, then Brown’s hitting doubles is possibly a good sign!!

by peter m on Apr 23, 2008 10:58 AM EDT 0 recs

More or less, yes, but Brown is getting to an age where it’s time to see some HR.

by Jay on Apr 23, 2008 1:16 PM EDT up 0 recs

More HRs will come in the majors where the ball is juiced more than in the minors. Hardball times did an analysis of this a couple of months back.

by oxforddave on Apr 23, 2008 1:38 PM EDT up 0 recs

Link

by oxforddave on Apr 23, 2008 1:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

Here is Miller’s line from his first start in Buffalo last night. No earned runs, 2 Ks, 2 BBs in 5 innings (84 pitches) of work, not bad for a first start.

Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Miller, A 5.0 4 3 0 2 2 0 0.00

by millionairesrow on Apr 24, 2008 10:07 AM EDT 0 recs

Hello everyone,

I was just reading on TheClevelandFan.com about CF Adam White and his speed – he reportedly grades out as an 80 on the 20-80 scale for speed and some think he could steal 50 bases by the end of the season (he stole 2B twice in Thursday’s game.) The Indians are working with him to improve his baserunning technique so that he can become a more effective base stealer who doesn’t just rely on speed.

After a bit of a slow start at Low-A Lake County, his hitting has picked up recently as well, as he’s now hitting .328/.408/.418 (2 2B, 2 3B, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 8 BB/16 K.) He just turned 23-YO on Monday, so I expect he’ll probably move up to Kinston by June if he continues to hit like he is right now. He’s batting .306 against RHP and .389 against LHP (he’s a switch-hitter.)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 25, 2008 3:00 AM EDT 0 recs

I’ve yearned for a ridiculous speedster on the Tribe since last year’s ALCS. This is so awesome.

by supermarioelia on Apr 25, 2008 9:48 AM EDT up 0 recs

To play regularly or to pinch run and help in certain situations? This kid’s age is a concern.

by tabler84 on Apr 25, 2008 11:12 AM EDT up 0 recs

Hello tabler84,

Yes, his age is a bit of a concern, but he was a college draftee (I’m not sure whether junior or senior – I presume by the age that he was probably a senior,) and like I mentioned, he’ll probably be up to Kinston by June if he keeps this up, so arriving in AA Akron this season wouldn’t be out of the question if he continues to adapt as he moves up. And while 23-YO is not that young for AA, it wouldn’t be “that” old either, so I wouldn’t worry a tremendous amount about the age until after this season and where White is after the season ends

Admittedly, if he falters for any length of time, then his chances will be reduced as to becoming an everyday starter, but as of right now, I won’t worry too much about the age yet. Like Mario, I too like the speed aspect, which at worst, could be useful off the bench as you mentioned if he does falter. I thought I read too that his defense in CF is pretty solid as well, which would also work in his favor.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 25, 2008 8:42 PM EDT up 0 recs

This is ridiculous. His chance of ever being an everyday starter is miniscule right now.

by Jay on Apr 25, 2008 11:29 PM EDT up 0 recs

Hello Jay,

If you mean because he’s too far away to project, I agree. If it’s because he’s too old, I think that remains to be seen – if he gets to Akron by the end of this season, I think he puts himself on the prospect radar screen. After all, he’s only had 219 ABs coming into this season – I know the age is a detriment, but ruling him out as a possible everyday starter some day seems premature to me.

I presume you say that because Grady will still be in CF for the next few seasons and you’re presuming White will man a corner OF spot? Otherwise, why could he not be an everyday starter – you still don’t have to hit for power playing in CF, and with 80-type speed, that isn’t speed that comes around everyday, so writing him off as a possible everyday starter down the road seems premature to me – he would seem like a legitimate top-of-the-order threat (SSS, granted, but so far, 9 BBs in 70 ABs to help compile a .400 OBP so far, and is 8/9 in steals, along with a .314 BA, 2 2Bs and 2 3Bs.)

Of course, he has more work to do to put himself in a position to be a legitimate starting CF one day, but to think he has virtually no chance of being an everyday starter some day (I presume due to the lack of power and his age?) seems more ridiculous to me, no offense – we don’t know how quickly he’ll advance through the system. If he’s not to AA Akron by the end of this year, I’d probably agree more with you, but as for right now, I think it’s too early to say that for sure.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 26, 2008 2:15 AM EDT up 0 recs

Indiansfan,

What makes you think the .314 BA is more legit than the .260 he hit last year? I think the Indians placing of him in Lake County also says a lot about him as well. If they were that impressed with him, don’t you think he would be in Kinston right now, instead of Cirilio Cumberbatch?

by ClarkM on Apr 26, 2008 9:45 AM EDT up 0 recs

Hello ClarkM,

Regarding Cumberbatch, he’s had 322 ABs at Low-A Lake County over the last two seasons – he seemed like a logical choice to move up to High-A Kinston, and he did hit .300/.388/.421 in those 290 ABs at Low-A Lake County in 2007 (and I think he was injured for part of the year as well, if I remember correctly; otherwise, he probably would have had more ABs there.)

In addition, Cumberbatch filled in at AA Akron for a few games and managed fairly well for a guy skipping a level (SSS understood) – all the more reason to think Cumberbatch is ready for High-A.

Combine that with the fact White was in his first professional season last season, which is likely the main reason he was at Mahoning Valley to begin with, as virtually all the Indians’ college draftees spend their first full season at Mahoning Valley, and he seemed like a more logical choice to begin the year at Low-A Lake County, not Cumberbatch.

In addition, how many Indians’ college draftees actually make the jump from Mahoning Valley to Kinston? Even highly-touted Beau Mills spent some time at Lake County in 2007 before moving up to Kinston. Only Jeremy Sowers, in recent memory, comes to mind of a recent Indians’ college draftee who skipped Low-A Lake County entirely. As a result, I wouldn’t read too much into White’s placement at Lake County – if he keeps progressing at his current pace, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him at Kinston by late May/early June.

In regards to his .260 BA, it was after a long college season; many college draftees don’t always excel in their first taste of professional baseball, especially when they play in the same season they are drafted. I’m not saying that White is certainly a .314 hitter, but I wouldn’t read that much into the .260 BA either, especially since last season was a long season for him. I’d lean more towards what he does in his first full professional season rather than his first exposure to the pros in a long season for him.

Just my 2 cents – no offense.

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 27, 2008 6:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

“In addition, how many Indians’ college draftees actually make the jump from Mahoning Valley to Kinston?”

Josh Rodriguez, Wes Hodges, Stephen Head, Trevor Crowe, Jordan Brown, David Huff, and Jensen Lewis. Lots of people do it, they are called prospects. Those who get sent to Lake County have lots of proving to do, like Kouzmanoff and Goedert, in order to get noticed and they were a year younger. I questioned White’s batting average because that’s the only thing making his line look respectable, and I am not sure he can sustain it with his BABIP of .415.

by ClarkM on Apr 27, 2008 10:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

And … that should conclude the last discussion we need to have about this guy until he makes it to Double-A.

by Jay on Apr 27, 2008 10:32 PM EDT up 0 recs

Believe me, I don’t want to prolong this, but with all due respect to ClarkM and his peeless avatar, Trevor Crowe played at Lake County in 2005 (and went back for a cup of coffee in ‘06).

by ken from alexandria on Apr 28, 2008 9:29 AM EDT up 0 recs

Very commonly a top college draft pick will get sent to Lake County for a few weeks and then moved to Kinston at the first sign he knows how to hold a bat. Crowe was not terribly forthcoming with such a sign, managing about one double or triple per week with no home runs. That said, they gave him a taste of Akron in the last week of the season and promoted him to Kinston for 2006.

His two games back in Lake County in 2006 were just a rehab assignment after three weeks out. Lake County is about 1000 miles closer to Cleveland than Kinston is, so they often send players there for their first few games back rather than shipping them off to Kinston, or if the Aeros happen to be on the road at the time.

by Jay on Apr 28, 2008 1:40 PM EDT up 0 recs

ClarkM and his peeless avatar

Doh! That would be “peerless,” of course.

by ken from alexandria on Apr 28, 2008 2:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

If it’s because he’s too old, I think that remains to be seen

You can say it remains to be seen, but that only means that his odds aren’t zero and might improve. Iif you had to peg his odds right now, right now, of being an everyday starter, they would be miniscule. There are far better and/or younger prospects than this guy who are still less than 50/50 when you really do the math on it.

I know the age is a detriment, but ruling him out as a possible everyday starter some day seems premature to me.

I didn’t rule it out absolutely. I said his chances are miniscule, not non-existent.

I presume you say that because Grady will still be in CF for the next few seasons and you’re presuming White will man a corner OF spot?

No, I’m saying irrespective of situation, it’s very doubtful he’ll hit well enough to be a starter for any team.

Otherwise, why could he not be an everyday starter

Because he you need to be able to hit well in some respect or another regardless of how fast or what position. The comp you’re looking for is Willy Taveras, but Willy was a major league starter by age 23, and furthermore, he shouldn’t have been a major league starter then and arguably shouldn’t even be one now, with his Coors/Enron-inflated career 688 OPS. This guy is a stretch to become Taveras, and even Taveras is a stretch as an everyday starter.

he would seem like a legitimate top-of-the-order threat

It is true that if he can maintain a .400 OBP through Double-A, that combined with his speed will make him a useful player at least. But that kind of OBP requires both average and walk rate, one very good and one great, and the walk rate will be tough to maintain at higher levels, and the batting average even higher to maintain. And he’s just a long way from Akron at the moment.

If he’s not to AA Akron by the end of this year, I’d probably agree more with you

Fact is, not many prospects jump from Lake County to Akron in one year, so it seems silly not to acknowledge that he’s very unlikely to get where he’d need to be in order for you to agree with my assessment.

by Jay on Apr 26, 2008 2:55 PM EDT up 0 recs

Hello Jay,

You make some good points, and I didn’t mean to imply that White has a GREAT chance to be a ML starter at this point – I just meant that if he has a solid to great season in the Minors this season that he could put himself on the radar screen to being a prospect who could start in the Majors one day.

Granted, he would be one of the few to make it from Lake County to Akron in one season, but it happens from time to time. I’m thinking if he would move up to Kinston by late May/early June (a possibility being that he’s off to a good start at Lake County and he is 23-YO, so I suspect the Indians will move him up sooner rather than later, based on the fact he’s handling Lake County for the most part without much trouble,) that reaching AA Akron by the end of the season wouldn’t be out of the question.

I didn’t mean to say that you “ruled him out” as an everyday starter – my bad.

I was thinking when I made my original post that if he could make it to AA Akron by the end of the season, I’m thinking he could have maybe somewhere around a 30% chance of being a possible ML starter someday, meaning that he’s forcing his way into the picture as being on the screen, and essentially, doing everything possible to make the Indians consider him as a future piece down the road. Certainly, 30% isn’t that high of a percentage, so he still wouldn’t be a “can’t-miss” prospect, but someone you’d have to consider as possibly fitting into a starting role somewhere down the road, and as you said, more likely, a useful piece at least. Obviously, if he doesn’t make it to Akron (i.e. falters at Kinston,) then I agree that he probably takes himself out of the picture unless he really excels in 2009 (say at both High-A Kinston and AA Akron, and granted, that would be pretty unlikely,) and his chances are probably 5%-10% at best.

That was my thinking when I wrote that original post, but my wording may have made it seem like I thought of him as a “can’t-miss” prospect, which is not what I meant to imply – sorry about that.

I just think he could be a guy to keep an eye on if he can reach AA Akron this year, a challenge certainly, but one that he MIGHT be able to achieve if he can move up to Kinston by the beginning of June.

Just my 2 cents – no offense.

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 27, 2008 6:29 PM EDT up 0 recs