FanPost

Columbus Clippers field report, August 15

Columbus Dispatch



Some thoughts from having seen the Clippers play Friday night....

FRANCISCO LINDOR: You've all read plenty about Lindor, so I'm going to get a little poetic here. A few years ago, I was warming up on the suspended track at my gym. One jogger was decidedly Unlike the Rest of Us. He just seemed to be getting more out of every stride, but doing so much less. Then I recognized him -- he was a high school classmate of mine, our star two-guard, who had gone on to a decent but undistinguished D1 NCAA basketball career.

As different as a former NCAA athlete looks from your average LA Fitness schmoe, that's how different Francisco Lindor looks from other AAA baseball players. He just seems to inhabit some over-lapping plane of existence in which movement requires less effort. Sometimes, you read a scouting report about a ballplayer and then see him in living color and think, "Man, how did they notice THAT guy?" Not so with Lindor. Anybody who has ever watched any sport, ever, could pick him out as the best player on the field. And I say that after seeing him on a night when he actually DID very little.

GIOVANNY URSHELA: He's shorter than you'd think, but a little wider and deeper; long arms, broad shoulders, big hands, big feet. The kid can just flat-out play baseball. His defense is capital-R Ready, and very prototypical-third-baseman-ish -- good positioning, quick first step, outstanding arm. He made a highlight-reel play, ranging into foul territory from well inside the bag and nailing the runner at first with a perfectly placed one-hop throw across his body. Later, on a wicked chest-high hop, he climbed the ladder to pick it at belt level and timed the release for just after he touched back down.

Gio's home run just snuck over the wall -- actually, it nicked the line and fell back into play, much to the dugout's amusement -- but it was in the air for what felt like a minute and a half. He also took a decent outside-corner fastball into right center. Kid looks legit.

Just two notes of caution. First, his timing mechanism is a bit elaborate: there's a long, fairly high toe-tap (a bit like Santana's old move from the RH box) and he loads his hands in two stages -- way back, then way up. Maybe that works against MLB pitching, maybe it doesn't. I suspect they're trying to simplify his stroke a little. Also, I was sitting right up by the dugout and didn't hear Gio speak a word of English all night. After reading Francona's comments about Jose Ramirez's language issues recently, I'd guess that Urshela's ESL situation is a developmental priority.

I'm happy to report that "GREAT PLAY, GIO!" translates just fine.

JAMES RAMSEY: My dad called this one: "That kid's a total loon." And he is. Ridiculously intense. Times every pitch from the on-deck circle. Watches every play from the dugout. Breaks on every ball off the bat in the outfield. Ramsey must be a gym-rat through and through, to boot -- he's not that big of a guy naturally, but he couldn't be any fitter. Fun to watch. Made a long running catch on a sinking liner in center look very easy. Ramsey's set-up in the batter's box is weird and hunched over, but he seems to square up quickly, so hey, whatever works.

JESUS AGUILAR: Aguilar is kind of an interesting dude. At first, you watch him, and you think he's engaging in some Ortiz-esque histrionics. He chatters at everybody, constantly. He waves the bat around like he's in flag corps. He wanders all over the home plate area during at bats. But gradually, you realize, nobody's reacting to this, because it's entirely Jesus dropping in to visit us from. Planet Jesus. This is simply a big, slow-moving, spacey guy.

Aguilar is also way out in front of everything right now. His reaction to the pitch, any pitch, is to swing. It's fine as long as he can time it up well enough to waste pitches he can't drive. Might not be a recipe for long-term MLB success.

Also, the man has thighs like an elephant's. Good gravy.

CARLOS MONCRIEF: On what is undoubtedly the fittest minor league baseball team I have ever seen, Moncrief's physique is the most terrifying. Dude looks like a running back, and moves like one, too -- head down, quick feet. I would pay good money to know how much Carlos Moncrief can deadlift.

I am told Tyler Naquin has a better throwing arm than Carlos Moncrief, and for this reason I should very much like to see Tyler Naquin. When Moncrief catches a ball and there are runners on, he will stutter step to entice the runner to test his arm. This is pointless. Nobody is testing Carlos Moncrief's arm. There was a runner on second when Moncrief made a decent snag on a fly ball to medium-deep right. The runner did not go. Moncrief threw anyway. Holy crap. Lindor cut it off, unnecessarily, because it was going to hit Urshela in the chest. I haven't seen an Indians outfielder throw that well since, I don't know, Choo?

TYLER CLOYD: He pitched well enough for an AAA start, but he was sitting at 88-91 MPH, and he left two pitches up which got absolutely vaporized.

Beyond that…

You can tell the Indians have a lot invested in the Clippers franchise as a developmental stop right now. Even the Clippers' AAAA guys -- Carson, Ciriaco, Sellers -- are at least replacement-level players and obvious workaholics to boot. Also, Dusty Brown is an awesome minor-league catcher in the Indians long-standing tradition of awesome minor-league catchers. The Mud Hens, by contrast, are still trotting out Mike Hessman.

The Clippers are a team full of guys who have legitimate chances to make the bigs, and they know it, and they play like it. The best part, for me, was when Cloyd gave up some runs and there were runners on -- the whole team became visibly more engaged, as if their collective reaction to the pressure was, "How cool, it's a ballgame again!"

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