With the idea that we’ll start with the bad news and end with the good, it’s the Arizona League injury report.
Pedro Alfonseca only played in two games last year before missing the rest of the season with injury and was having a nice season this year before a pitch broke his hand on August 7th and ended his 2018 season. Alfonseca must think that someone has it out for him as he was hit by three pitches in his final two games including the knock out blow. Alfonseca ends his season with a modest three game hitting streak, hitting .385/.529/.462 in August. Alfonseca is already 20 and very well could be promoted next year out of need despite never playing in a full season.
Also out recently was Michael Cooper, who didn’t play from August 11th through the 15th. He was also hot before missing time with a seven game hitting streak prior to his 0 for 4 on the 11th, batting .375/.426/.500 from July 22nd on. He hit a double in his return to the field on August 16th against Cincinnati.
Taking over at first base for Cooper was catcher turned outfielder turned first baseman, Miguel Jerez. Jerez has been decent the last two seasons, but has really taken off since he was removed from his catching duties. He hit his league best 12th home run on Saturday and currently ranks 1st in the Arizona League in slugging percent (.565). He has taken his crush to the next level in August, batting .320/.393/.600 with five home runs and 16 RBI. He is one of just five hitters to reach 10 home runs in the AZL since 2005 and has the highest total since Joey Gallo in 2012 (Billy Wilson of Indians 2 also reached the 10 home run mark on Saturday).
On the positive injury side is Jonas Wyatt, returning to action with a rehab appearance in a couple games last week. He hasn’t regained his velocity yet and was hit very hard in his first two appearances, but has improved each time out. While he is on Lake County’s roster, due to the lateness in the season, it’s unlikely he’ll get more than a week with the Captains this year.
Finally, Quentin Holmes has also returned from injury, a hamstring strain that cost him almost the entire season. With this return, however, he has been moved from team one to team two.
The reason Holmes had to move was the recent addition to team 1 of Steven Kwan. Kwan missed time in the college World Series with a hamstring issue of his own and just made his professional debut on August 10th. After slowly introducing him to the line-up, Kwan has finally begun playing full games and had two hits on Friday and Saturday. He walked in each of his first three games despite having just two plate appearances in each and walked twice on Saturday as he reached base four times including a triple.
One player taking advantage of Kwan’s part time situation was Johnathan Rodriguez, who was able to play some in center. Rodriguez has been hitting better of late, batting .342/.350/.526 since August 5th including a four hit game on Saturday and his first home run of the season on August 6th.
Overall, the Indians 1 offense has improved greatly of late, making up for the pitching losses as multiple players have been called up to Mahoning Valley. Wilbis Santiago has an active six game hitting streak made up of 10 total hits including a double and a triple while striking out just once. Marcos Gonzalez hit his first two home runs of the season on August 10th against the White Sox and has raised his batting line to .330/.427/.470 on the year after having a slugging percent of just .389 on August 3rd. Ruben Cardenas has never cooled down and has had multiple hits in five games since August 6th.
In the bullpen, Aaron Pinto (pictured at top) and Kellen Rholl continue to step up in the ever depleted group. Rholl has struck out 20 in 17.2 innings this year and hasn’t allowed an earned run since July 6th (9 appearances since). Pinto allowed an earned run on July 22nd, but still holds a 1.99 ERA and 26 K’s in 22.2 innings. Pinto was particularly devastating when taking on his own brethren on August 12th as he pitched 2.2 perfect innings against Indians 2, striking out 6 while earning a save.
One starter deserves special note as well as Raymond Burgos continues to have an excellent season. He went a career best 5.2 innings on Saturday, striking out 6 while allowing just one run. While the lefty has had a great season overall, he’s really hit a new level of late, starting with his nine strike out game on August 3rd. Since then, he’s pitched 17 innings with a 2.12 ERA and a .231/.265/.277 line despite a .375 BABIP. During this span, he’s walked just two and struck out 25. The BABIP is particularly important as it shows that he hasn’t been lucky (it’s .346 for the season), but has in fact been unlucky and could have numbers significantly better than he is showing right now. This is similar to what happened to Luis Oviedo in 2017 and it wouldn’t be even slightly surprising if Burgos had a similar breakout season for the Scrappers or Captains next year.
As a team, the Indians 1 have been treading water lately and this has allowed the White Sox to surpass them in the second half standings. The Indians 1 already have a play-off spot locked up and with the second best overall record (behind Cubs 1 of the AZL East), have a tentative hold on a first round bye in the play-offs. However, the Indians 2 are now nearing play-off elimination thanks largely to the improved play of the White Sox club and Indians 1 are at risk of losing their bye if they don’t turn things up soon.
The Indians 1 team will have a chance to do some major moving in short order as they play the Padres 2 three times in two days. They also have single games left against the worst team in the league (the Reds), their sister squad (Indians 2), the best team in the league (Cubs 1) and their top in division competitor (the Sox)
With the AZL regular season ending on August 27th, this will be the final bi-weekly update of the 2018 season for Indians 1. Following the regular season will be recaps for all play-off games and an end of the season wrap up for both teams.
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