New And Old Names Breakout In Lynchburg

The Lynchburg Hillcats had quite the collection of talented prospects this year. Plenty of them saw their stock go up, some all the way to AA while others that were promoted to the Carolina League during the season helped lead the team into the Carolina League Championship Series. The Hillcats were able to stave off elimination in the first round to the Potomac Nationals, winning two straight after being down 0-1 in the best of three series. They won the first of a five game set against Myrtle Beach (Cubs) but lost three in a row to the Pelicans to end a good season.

Pitching wasn’t always the Hillcats best collection of talent, especially after Justus Sheffield was traded away and Julian Merryweather was promoted. The team also nearly lost Francisco Mejia during the middle of his historic winning streak thanks to a trade that never was.

MVP

Bobby Bradley gets a ton of pub for his prodigious power, but Anthony Santander actually bested one of the Indians top prospects in OPS (.862 compared to .810). Santander also struck out less than Bradley (110 to Bradley’s 170 and Santander had 15 more at bats). I had to check, because I thought Santander may have parlayed a hot month into a good season, but he actually ramped up month by month.

Finally healthy, Santander reached 500 at bats and socked 20 homers and 42 doubles. The switch hitting 21 (soon to be 22) year old hit lefties as well as righties (.881 OPS vs. LHP, .854 OPS vs. RHP). He was the Hillcats most consistent hitting threat.

Future Stars

If we’re talking surefire future stars, the only one I feel comfortable picking from this Hillcats team is Francisco Mejia. I’m higher on Santander than most, but it was the first season he was healthy in his career and seeing it at the AA level in another healthy season would be good.

Bradley’s numbers took a step back this year but it’s important to remember he’s 20 year’s old playing in High-A. What he’s done at his age is ridiculous, but the strikeouts are still a concern. I know Mejia has makeup concerns but I heard the end of the season maturity wise was very good for him and even though he too hasn’t done it at the AA level, his sub-2.00 pop time, arm and switch hitting ability all showed up this year in a big way and I feel more comfortable about Mejia reaching his ceiling than anyone on this roster with a high ceiling.

Under Appreciated

Greg Allen was extremely underrated going into the season and still may be. I’m as high on Allen as I am Santander, but a guy we still don’t talk about a lot is Dorssys Paulino. While Paulino predictably had to be moved off of shortstop and he may never been the explosive bat he was thought to be when he was signed, he’s only 21 (soon to be 22) and actually had good numbers despite missing quite a bit of time with a hammate injury (.284/.353/.455 in 211 at bats in Lynchburg). He should finally move on to AA next season and another solid season would be very encouraging.

Cause for Concern

I was never big on Sean Brady (5th rounder 2013) and his potential and he put up very, very average numbers this year. I was much higher on Mitch Brown (2nd round 2012) and now he’s a reliever. He had 40 strikeouts as a reliever in 24.2 innings, but also walked 18 and led all Hillcats in strikeouts overall (120). He’s just never been able to keep the ball down enough. Brown’s problem in Lake County was throwing too many strikes at times and at the same time walking too many. He’s an extremely smart person and pitcher, so I’m surprised things just haven’t clicked for him. For what the Indians invested in him signing bonus wise and given it was four years ago, Brown’s career trajectory has been as surprising as it’s been disappointing.

The same can be said for Dylan Baker who missed the entire season with another injury/surgery. He’s fractured his fibula, had Tommy John and had another serious arm surgery this year. The Indians added him to the 40 man roster in the last off-season because he was Rule 5 eligible and he’d never been in Double-A. He could be taken off the 40 man roster this off-season because despite all the talent, he’s not been healthy.

Most Power: Bobby Bradley
Best Bat: Francisco Mejia
Best Wheels: Greg Allen
Best Glove: Francisco Mejia
Worst Glove: Yu-Cheng Chang
Best Control: Julian Merryweather
Best Stuff: Mitch Brown (Sheffield, before the trade)
Best Chance to be an MLB Pitcher: David Speer
Best Chance to be an MLB Hitter: Francisco Mejia