To keep from bombarding everyone with too much AZL information, I alternate weeks between team one and team two, but that doesn’t always work out with reality. On July 26th, Indians 1 right fielder Ruben Cardenas hurt his left wrist on the warning track while attempting to catch a foul ball.
Onto the Indians 2 team, we’ve officially begun the second half and they started off just like they played the first half, with a lot of offense. In the first game (July 24 vs CWS) they scored 14 runs in the first two innings in an ultimate 18-3 win that ended a four game losing streak. That marked the third time since July 16th that the team scored 12 or more runs with an average of 9.1 runs per game through July 27th.
You may ask, “what is the biggest difference between the offense now and the offense of three weeks ago.” My response would be, “you don’t know Bo?”
Noah Naylor (he prefers to be known as Bo) was one of the Indians latest signings from the 2018 draft and he didn’t make his debut until July 10th, almost a month after the Arizona League season began. The Indians eased him into the line-up slowly, not allowing him to play a full game as catcher until July 22nd and splitting his time early on between catcher and DH. This appears to have been successful as, starting with a three hit game on July 16th, he had 12 hits in eight games including his first two career doubles and his first career home run.
In a league rampant with wild pitches/passed balls, Naylor has been a blessing, never afraid to give up his body to keep a pitch in front of him. He has also had a solid arm, catching two runners stealing so far with a couple pick offs as well. Keeping all their options open, Naylor also played third base for the first time on July 26th (two assists, no errors).
Obviously, a team scoring nine runs per game has more than one hot offensive performer and their other primary catcher, Yainer Diaz, is having the time of his life. During his current 9 game hitting streak, Diaz has reached safely 21 times with three doubles and two triples, four times hitting safely at least three times in the same game. His four hit game (double, triple, walk, 2 RBI against the White Sox on July 24th was the single best game of his two year career.
With Naylor now playing every day, it is becoming difficult to get all four of the Indians 2 catchers work (Indians 1 has three catchers, so they can’t just move one to the other team). Micael Ramirez doesn’t have great numbers this year, but he has barely played, a surprise considering his expectations coming into the season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Felix Fernandez, promoted to Mahoning Valley just so he can continue to play regularly.
I could go on and on about the offense, but I’ll just mention two more hitters who have been particularly hot, outfielders Pablo Jimenez and Billy Wilson. Last week I named Wilson the most outstanding performer of the first half and he is already working on the second half with four home runs since July 15th. His eight home runs have already tied the AZL Indians franchise record for most in a season (or set a new record if you consider Indians 2 a new team) and he is now slugging near .600. In addition, he continues to work on his speed game, regularly bunting for hits and stealing nine bases this season without being caught (three in the last week).
Jimenez has not been talked about as much, but was one of the biggest part of that blowout win against the Sox. In that game he had three hits and his fourth home run of the year, knocking in six and scoring three. He has knocked in 11 runs in his last four games.
Moving on to the pitching staff, Carlos Vargas (the rare 18 year old international signing) had the best game of his young career on July 26th, striking out four in four shut out innings. He had allowed exactly one earned run in each of his previous five starts and thus lowered his ERA to 2.29. He still needs to extend himself to five innings per start, but the two hit, one walk appearance showcased his best stuff so far.
Like Naylor, 2018 CBA round pick Lenny Torres was a late signee yet has already made a difference. In two starts, he has 4.1 scoreless innings pitched with five strike outs.
Another recent addition for the Indians 2 was Jose Oca, my top pitcher for the first half for the Dominican Summer League Indians. The right handed reliever had a 1.98 ERA before promotion and has struggled in his first couple games in Arizona. In his first two appearances, he allowed four runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter across three innings, but had a solid outing on Sunday.
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