As explained in last week’s preview, the Indians began their 2018 Extended Spring Training schedule on Wednesday April 11th. While these games don’t count for anything, it is a great opportunity to see many young players at the same time in addition to offering a rehab opportunity for injured players throughout the system.
Because that aspect is likely the most interesting to the average fan, we’ll start there. The biggest name currently in Goodyear, Danny Salazar, didn’t actually get into either game I attended, but he and Cody Anderson have been throwing bullpens on the side. Ryan Merritt, however, pitched in the first game and again on Monday 4/16. In his second start he struggled early, but found his form before leaving the game after his planned four innings. While the results weren’t good (7 hits, five runs, one home run allowed), this situation was probably a worst case scenario for a pitcher like Merritt. Players at this level aren’t looking to take a walk (in fact in that game the first walk for either team came in the 9th inning when Gabriel Mejia entered the game on his own rehab assignment) and they weren’t willing to take Merritt’s less than electric fastball for strike one. Once he adjusted, however, he struck out five by utilizing his low curve. He is expected to make one more start in Extended before continuing on at the higher levels with his rehab.
Also on the rehab front, Michael Tinsley and Mejia have been playing regularly and should return to their normal clubs (probably Lake County and Lynchburg respectively) shortly.
While it’s far too early to make serious judgement, one positive of this crew appears to be the catching position where Angel Lopez, Yainer Diaz and Josh Rollette have all shown good signs. Lopez and Rollette played in the AZL last year while Diaz was on the DSL squad. They appear to represent the Indians trend toward favoring defense first players, especially at the extreme skill positions. I’d expect at least Lopez to head up to Mahoning Valley once the short season starts, possibly along with Jason Rodriguez.
A few players who will likely repeat AZL got their seasons started off as well as outfielders Pedro Alfonseca and Johnathan Rodriguez both were limited in playing time last year after being taken in the 2017 amateur draft. Both are quick players and should provide plus defense.
A final note from last Wednesday’s game was that the home plate umpire was Emma Charlesworth-Seiler, one of two female umpires in the minor leagues. This is an extremely positive change for the league and the players treated her as they would any other umpire, which is courteously at this level.
Getting to Know the New Guys – Nick Gallagher
A 16th round pick in 2017, Gallagher (pictured at top) missed his entire rookie season with injury so this is his first time getting into game action for the Indians. While it may have been the fact that he’s 20 years old (he was drafted as a junior out of Iowa) or that he followed Merritt, I was thoroughly impressed by the right hander. A starter in college, Gallagher pitched three innings in relief last Monday, striking out four without allowing a single base runner.
He did this with a terrific fast ball that hit mid to upper 90’s with a decent change and a tight slider. As mentioned earlier, players at this level are as willing to swing at anything as anyone, but Gallagher kept things within the zone and was still able to miss bats at an extreme rate. As a 20 year old, he likely would have jumped straight to Mahoning Valley last year if he had been healthy and that is exactly where I expect him to go once the season starts.
In Iowa, Gallagher was the ace of the staff in his final season, but with his skill set he could be an interesting reliever as well. While the Indians have many highly talented starters throughout the system, they don’t have many relief prospects who can jump into a game throwing mid-90’s with multiple offerings. I expect him to break out as a starter this season, but as his career advances he could become a great asset in the late innings.
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