As we continue on through our rankings of the Indians minor leaguers by position, we come to the largest group, relief pitchers. While we could have split this list between right and left handers, an extreme predominance of right handed relievers would have left less than 10 to rank among the lefties and still left an unwieldy list from the right side. Instead, we’ll be ranking the top 15 overall although we’ll only include breakdowns of the top 10 for brevity’s sake.
While all these lists take into account potential to reach the Major Leagues at all, then expected floor and ceiling once there, the reliever list is the most extreme. Older players in AAA might not be as talented or have as high of a ceiling as those in rookie ball, but they definitely have a greater chance at reaching the Majors, simply by being the next in line in case of injury. In this case, we’ll slightly favor the player with the higher ceiling as we look who will be the most likely to come up big for the Indians in the long run.
15. Josh Martin – 2012 Draft, 12th Round – RHP
Age: 27 – AAA Columbus
14. Dalbert Siri – 2014 International Free Agent – RHP
Age: 21 – A Lake County
13. Cesar Ventura – 2013 International Free Agent – RHP
Age: 22 – Extended Spring Training
12. Dylan Baker – 2012 Draft, 5th Round – RHP
Age: 25 – AA Akron
11. Jeff Johnson – 2011 Draft, 10th Round – RHP
Age: 27 – AAA Columbus
10. Argenis Angulo – 2014 Draft, 19th Round – RHP
Age: 23 – A+ Lynchburg
By Joseph Coblitz
After missing almost all of 2015 with injury, Angulo came back with a vengeance last year, striking out 49 in 45.1 innings and posting a 1.59 ERA that included stops at each level from Mahoning Valley to Columbus with the exception of Lynchburg, where he is currently playing. He’s having similar success in the Carolina League where he has been used as a part time closer.
Angulo’s one problem is his walk rate, which will have to improve if he wants to have a Major League career, especially considering the expectations that Cody Allen, Andrew Miller and Bryan Shaw have created. As he is now, he’s still worthy of a promotion to AA this season and could be in AAA as early as next year.
9. Ryder Ryan – 2016 Draft, 30th Round – RHP
Age: 22 – A Lake County
By Justin Lada
Ryan might be the most interesting story or reliever on this list. The Indians drafted him out of high school in 2014 in the 40th round as a pitcher, but he didn’t sign. He went to North Carolina and played third base and outfield, but didn’t hit much. He was touching the mid-90s as a high school pitcher and wound up not pitching much in college. The Indians had continued interest despite throwing one inning in college and he signed after being drafted in 2016.
Ryan throws a fastball and mostly a slider and at the moment, experience and subsequently command are his biggest drawbacks. Unlike most draftees, Ryan might not have the mileage on that arm like others which could help him. He has a lot of room to grow and has the ability to miss bats. The Indians proved they’re intrigued by his arm, so file his name away as one to remember.
8. Mike Letkewicz – 2016 Draft, 23th Round – RHP
Age: 23 – A Lake County
By Caitlin Boron
Michael Letkewicz started his pro career in 2016 and showed up ready to prove what he can bring. In his first season in the Cleveland system, the reliever was as good as anyone could have hoped. He was dominant and consistent out of the pen, showing in his 6-0 record and four saves in four opportunities. He was the pitcher you’d expect to keep your team in the game mid way through.
With 2017 being his first full season, it’s curious to see if he can stretch his short season heat across a full year. To this point, Letkewicz has pitched 15.1 innings over ten games and holds the fourth lowest ERA among Captains pitchers (1.76). Also, he has only given up three earned runs to date, and has yet to give up a run since April 12th.
7. Louis Head – 2012 Draft, 18th Round – RHP
Age: 27 – AAA Columbus
By Caitlin Boron
So far this season, Louis Head has either been lights out or completely out of it, the typical life of a reliever. In his first AAA season, Head has put up a 1.67 WHIP with a .306 opposing average over his 15 innings pitched.
Aside from the game on May 10th, Head would allow at least one run whenever he would give up a hit. However, being very Danny Salazar-like, Head sits in the top three among Clippers’ RP for most strikeouts (19) behind Tyler Olson and Josh Martin. Of the 273 pitches that Head has thrown over the course of this season, 166 (61%) of them have been strikes.
He has the potential to be a reliever fit for Francona’s needs in regards to facing one or two batters per appearance. On the upside, that’s a nod to a pitcher’s command and precision for getting guys out. The unfortunate part of being that guy is that the margin for error is smaller, in that if he has a bad outing his ERA will explode.
6. Billy Strode – 2015 Draft, 10th Round – LHP
Age: 24 – A+ Lynchburg
By Caitlin Boron
Since being drafted in 2015 by the Indians, Strode has had two pretty good seasons. He pitched in 20 games for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers after being drafted and ended his first pro season with a 1.74 ERA and .99 WHIP in 26.1 IP.
In 2016, the lefty reliever started his year in Lake County before being promoted to in the middle of the year high-A Lynchburg. His promotion came after a mid-season hot steak. Strode has had a slower start to 2017. He’s pitched 12.1 innings and one start, and has given up as many earned runs (7) in those few appearances than he did in almost all of 2016 (8) and has had the same effect with his walks.
The kicker to success for Strode seems to be the month of June. In June of 2015 and 16 he posted a 0.00 ERA and similar WHIP (1.29 in 2015 and 0.00 in 2016) and between those seasons pitched 15.4 IP, struck out 16 and gave up zero earned runs.
5. David Speer – 2014 Draft, 27th Round – LHP
Age: 24 – AA Akron
By Justin Lada
Speer was a 27th round pick in 2014 out of Columbia where he was an Ivy League starter and star. For the Indians though, Speer is a left handed specialist with command being his best tool. He throws four pitches for strikes and also is able to induce a very good amount of ground balls. Speer doesn’t throw above 90 very often and doesn’t have a funky angle either, but he gets the job done with impeccable command pounding the lower half of the zone.
Andrew Miller and Boone Logan are both locked in through 2018 and Kyle Crockett is possibly still ahead of him with Ben Krauth is gaining, so I’m not sure where Speer fits in the Indians future. The Indians don’t have an immediate need for him and he’ll need to be added to the 40 man roster this winter or be exposed to the Rule 5 draft where LOOGY’s are popular picks to stick, so he may never don the Block C but I don’t think there’s any doubt some team, if not the Indians, will have him in their bullpen as a match-up lefty in a few years.
4. Matt Whitehouse – 2013 Draft, 19th Round – LHP
Age: 26 – AA Akron
By Justin Lada
Whitehouse was the Indians 19th rounder all the way back in 2013 and has already overcome the Tommy John surgery that cost him most of 2015. He came back really strong in 2016 striking out 85 in 79 ⅔ innings. The Indians aren’t just using him like a match-up lefty either. His strikeout rate is down to start the 2017 season, but he’s pitched at least two innings in all of his outings through May 12 and has made three appearances of three innings. The Indians will probably continue to use Whitehouse as a reliever, but how they deploy him going forward will be interesting if they view him as more than a one out reliever like they currently do.
3. Cameron Hill – 2014 Draft, 17th Round – RHP
Age: 22 – AA Akron
By Joseph Coblitz
Hill struggled when I last saw him in the 2016 AFL and, while been giving up less runs for Akron this year, his command problems that have been a problem since his first year in Mahoning Valley are still an issue. He hasn’t had a full season K/9 above 9.0 since 2015 in Lake County, so combined with the walks, it makes him an odd fit as a right handed reliever, but he’s been extremely good at limited hits and he’s only 22 (for a few more days at least), so he has a greater chance of improvement than many on this list.
2. Leandro Linares – 2013 Internation Free Agent – RHP
Age: 23 – A+ Lynchburg
By Justin Lada
Linares signed with the Indians at age 19 in 2013 along with Yandy Diaz after defecting from Cuba. He had some visa issues to jump through, so he got a bit of a late start. The 6’3″ right hander had control issues as a starter in 2014 and 2015 at the lower levels but then was placed in the bullpen last year and took off. He appeared in the bullpen at three different levels and ended the season in High-A Lynchburg totaling 55 strikeouts and 12 walks in 44 ⅔ innings. Though he currently sits on the DL with biceps soreness, the big bodied Linares sits 92-95 MPH with his fastball with a solid curveball and average change-up and slider, although he seemed to scrap the curve once he hit the pen full time. He now mostly features the fastball and slider. If his trend of having better command in the bullpen continues, he’s a guy who could have back-end reliever type stuff in the future.
1. Ben Krauth – 2016 Draft, 16th Round – LHP
Age: 23 – A Lake County
By Joseph Coblitz
Krauth ranked fourth in our reliever rankings last year despite being drafted only a few months earlier and he hasn’t slowed down. In his first season he blew through the AZL, Short Season and all the way to Lake County. Now back in A ball, he’s allowed one earned run in 17.1 innings while striking out 20. He’s no flame thrower, but a command enthusiast (46 K’s to 7 BB last year with no walks in 21 AZL innings) and as a college draft pick, he’s moving quickly through the system. He should reach Lynchburg at some point this year and could be in Columbus by late 2018 if this pace continues.
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