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How time flies. We are now about 40 or so games into the season, time enough to get a meaningful read on the progress of the future Indians. I think I mentioned in my pre- season preview that the Indians system was stronger than a lot of the major media was reporting, particularly in pitching, and the early going has borne that out. Without further adieu let’s go from top to bottom and see what’s been cooking down on the farm.
The only two position prospects are John McDonald (SS) and Danny Peoples (IB). Both are off to slow starts at the plate and both are not so young anymore. Their best chance is to hook on with another organization.
Jake Westbrook (RHSP) looks ready; he’s started 4-1, 2.78 ERA Roy Smith (RHRP) could be in Cleveland before the year’s out. He’s posted a 0.67 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 26 innings. Tim Drew (RHSP) looked good in his first start here after being sent down, I think with another year of AAA experience he will help the Tribe in 2002. Danny Baez (RHRP) of course has been recalled by the Indians and based on his first few appearances may not be coming back. It looks like his move to the pen was a smart move. David Riske (RHRP) has been consistently effective, posting a 2.82 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 22 innings of work. Sean Depaula (RHRP) got off to a great start, but is having arm problems again, which is a worrisome sign. His future looked bright after he was the only Tribe hurler who could get anyone out in the last couple of games of the Indians/Red Sox 99 playoff series. Now his future might be in doubt.
Akron is in the cellar of the Eastern League’s Southern Division, posting a 13-26 record. Their lack of success this far can mostly be attributed to an anemic offense.
Jason Fitzgerald (OF) and Scott Pratt (2B) are the only two hitters having consistent success so far. Fitzgerald is 6th in the Eastern League with a .329 average, and he has an OPS (0n base pct + slugging pct) of .841. Pratt is hitting .278 with 10 stolen bases. Pratt has also played a little centerfield this year. Billy Munoz IB), the Indians Minor League Player of the Year in 2000, is hitting only .148 with 2 homers and now is out with a hand injury. The versatile Corey Erickson ( IF-OF) has 7 homers but with a .155 batting average. Zach Sorenson SS-2B) has missed most of the season so far with a shoulder injury.
Zach Day (RHSP), acquired along with Jake Westbrook last year from the Yankees in the David Justice deal has been victimized by low run support, showing a 3-5 record with a 2.98 ERA. Mike Bacsik (LHSP) started the year in Buffalo and performed well but got sent down to Akron the make room for all the rehabbers ( Wright, Nagy, Woodard). He is 2-1 with a 2.92 ERA. Ryan Drese( RHSP) started strong after almost making the Indians out of Spring Training, but has had a couple of rough starts lately. For the year he is 1-5 with a 4.47 ERA. He has all the tools and the right attitude, he just needs more experience, after missing so much time due to injury. Jason Stanford( LHSP), signed last year as a free agent, continues to sparkle, he’s now 3-2 with a 2.32 ERA, and an amazing strikeout to walk ratio of 33/3. Matt White LHSP) had a strong 2nd half in 2000 and has continued pitching well, he’s 3-3 with a 2.97 ERA. Martin Vargas (RHRP) has had a so-so start, 4.98 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 21 innings.
Kinston sprinted off to a very hot start but has cooled off lately, and currently lead the Carolina League’s Southern Division by 4 games with a 27-16 mark. Kinston has had more than their share of injury problems. Currently on the Dl are: Kyle Evans (RHSP) with a shoulder injury, Steven Cowie (RHSP) with tricep tendonitis, Jose Vargas (RHRP) with a bum shoulder, Tyler Minges (OF), left wrist injury, and Jesus Hernandez (OF) with a broken leg. Nate Grindell (3B-IB) is off to a fast start, hitting .310 with a .834 OPS. Luis Gonzalez (IF), .317, .862 OPS and Nate Janowicz (OF), .300, .754 OPS are also having positive offensive years so far. Other prospects aren’t faring so well. Jorge Moreno (OF), Maicer Isturiz (2B) and Johnny Peralta (SS) are hitting .160, .170 and .187 respectively. Eric Johnson ( OF) has performed fairly well after being overmatched last year after his promotion to here.
Kinston is loaded with pitching prospects and they are proving it on the mound. Brian Tallet (LHSP) is 3-1, 3.00 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched. Kyle Denney (RHSP) is 3-3, 3.16 ERA and an even better K/IP ratio, 54 in 37 innings. Shane Wallace (LHSP) and only 20 years old, is 6-2, 2.09 ERA, 41 strikeouts and 6 walks in 51.2 innings. Alex Herrera (LHRP) has an ERA of 0.32 with 41 strikeouts in 28 innings. The aforementioned Jose Vargas had 19 strikeouts in 11.2 innings before being shut down. Needless to say, the K-Tribe pitchers lead the Carolina league by a wide margin in strikeouts.
The RedStixx jumped off to a great start but, like Kinston have leveled off lately, and currently hold a 2 game lead in the South Atlantic Divisions Southern Division at 27-17.
Ryan Church (OF) is pacing the offense, hitting .270 after a recent slump but also posting 31 RBI, tied for second in the league. Church was voted MVP of the New York-Penn League in his debut last year. Last years top pick Corey Smith (3B) has gradually started to adjust to jumping 2 levels, and is hitting .231 with 5 homers, 9 doubles and 26 RBI. Smith is having a hard time in the field, however, amassing an alarming 19 errors already. Hector Luna (SS) is at .311 with an OPS of .811 and 9 steals. Alex Requena (OF) has 10 steals to go along with a .289 average, and Willy Taveras (OF) is hitting .272 with 16 stolen bases. Sean Swedlow (IB), who will turn 19 in a couple of days, is struggling after jumping right from Burlington to here. He’s hitting .163 and has also been a little shaky in the field, having totaled 9 errors so far.
In going through the stats for Columbus, Jeff Becker (IF) caught my attention. He’s only hitting .244 but has an OPS of .811 thanks to an on-base percentage of .427. He’s on nobody’s radar screen as a prospect but anyone at this level who has more walks (20) than strikeouts (17) is at least intriguing. Becker is a little old for the league at 24.
Among the pitchers, Fernando Cabrera (RHSP) has been solid and quite impressive for a 19 year old in Class A. He has a 2-2 record, 3.28 ERA, 50 strikeouts in 49 innings. Jason Davis (RHSP) started 5-0 but has tailed off, dropping his last 2 decisions, and has an ERA of 3.40. He needs to work on his control, issuing 24 base-on-balls in 53 innings. Brandon Matheny (LHSP) has a 2.28 ERA and a 1-1 record in 6 starts. Dan Neil (LHRP) and Ryan Larson (RHRP) have been almost impenetrable so far, Neil with a 0.60 ERA and Larson still perfect at 0.00 after 14 appearances covering 22.1 innings. Larson has 21 strikeouts, 4 walks and has allowed only 12 hits. Matt Wade (RHSP), a 13th round choice out of high school in 1998, had a big rookie year at Burlington in 1999, posting a 1.09 ERA. Last year he had a hard time at Columbus (6.69 ERA) but he has bounced back this year and is 2-2 with a 3.45 ERA so far. Derek Thompson (LHSP), our supplemental 1st round pick last year, just joined the RedStixx form extended spring training. He got rocked a little in his first start, but I would expect a quantum improvement the next time he takes the mound.
The Indians will vacate their working relationship with the Columbus RedStixx after next season and will have a low-A team in Eastlake, Ohio in 2003.
We are fast approaching the June amateur draft (2 weeks from now) and I have been scouring the prospect lists for names the Indians might be interested in and I’ll share my thoughts next week. The Indians have 5 of the top 51 picks, so this is a big draft for them.
A few prospect were injured before the season and haven’t seen action yet. Mike Edwards (3B) had shoulder surgery and is not expected back before next month. Francis Finnerty (3B-IB) had knee surgery, no word yet on how long he’ll be out. Edward has been compared to Travis Fryman, steady but not spectacular, and Finnerty is a young switch-hitter with power potential.
The Indians have their player to be named later in the Justin Speier trade and he is Brian Jenkins, a 22-year-old outfielder with some power-speed potential. I noticed that immediately after the trade the Mets designated Speier for assignment. Am I missing something there? Why did they make the trade?
Speaking of not making sense, I was mystified by the sudden release of Roy Padilla. The Tribe talked him up all spring, Baseball America listed him as the Indians 16th best prospect, and he’s gone just like that.
That’s all for now, as always feel free to contact me at Shayboy46@aol.com with question, comments, or you just want to talk about baseball.
