It says a lot about the depth the Indians have at the middle infield positions when one of the team’s ten best prospects may never play meaningful innings with the team because there are two players younger and better than him. If you couldn’t guess by the title of this post and the scenario laid out in the previous sentence, I am speaking of Erik Gonzalez. Despite the recent success Gonzalez has had and the vast strides he has made up the Indians’ Top Prospects list, he still has a long way to go before we see him in Cleveland, if we even do at all.
Gonzalez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians in 2008 by way of the Dominican Republic. The 23 year old prospect has spent the past five seasons in the Indians farm system, with his professional debut coming in 2010 with the Indians’ rookie team. His first few seasons in the system were defined by superb defense and below average offense. Considered to have one of the strongest arms in the Indians organization, Gonzalez has spent the majority of his playing time at third and short, but has also spent time at every position besides pitcher and catcher. His premier defense and positional versatility are sufficient for him to carve out a career in the major leagues as a utility man, but his developing bat could be Gonzalez’ ticket to a full-time starting role.
In 2013, Gonzalez started out as the starting third basemen for the Lake County Captains, the Indians’ low-A team. After 93 games, Gonzalez was having his best season as hitter slashing .259/.307/.439 with 39 extra-base hits and 10 stolen bases. He was promoted to high-A Carolina where he struggled mightily, posting a triple slash of .242/.259/.366 in 39 games with the Mudcats.
In 2014, Gonzalez began the year in Carolina as the Mudcats starting short stop and this time, he excelled tremendously. In 74 games with Carolina, Gonzalez slashed .289/.336/.409 with 24 extra-base hits and 15 stolen bases. Suddenly, Gonzalez was no longer just defense first utility man with a hole in his bat, but now he was beginning to look like a legitimate infield prospect. After Francisco Lindor was promoted from AA Akron to AAA Columbus, Gonzalez was called up to fill the void left by Lindor and instead of faltering like he did after his 2013 mid-season promotion, Gonzalez took off and put up the best numbers of his career. In 31 games with the Rubberducks, Gonzalez hit .357/.390/.473 with 6 doubles, 3 triples, 1 home run, and 6 steals. These numbers were a bit over inflated by an unsustainable .429 BABIP, but considering the fact that he was striking out at a lower percentage than he had been all season, there’s reason to believe his performance at the plate was no fluke.
Gonzalez is likely to begin the season in AA Akron and will again be Lindor’s replacement as soon as the Tribe’s top prospect is promoted to the big league team. It’s quite possible that Gonzalez’ defensive versatility and base running abilities could earn him some time with the big league club this season as an injury fill-in or a September call up. If Gonzalez can continue to improve as a hitter, his value to the Indians will improve immensely, not just as a prospect, but as a trade chip. The Indians saw first hand how valuable talented middle infield prospects can be after the power hitting Brandon Moss was attained for mid-level prospect Joe Wendle. With advanced statistics and teams like the Kansas City Royals proving how important elite defense can be to a team’s success, more and more teams are shifting their focus away from hitting to a more pitching and defensive-minded focus. This makes prospects like Gonzalez all the more valuable as an elite defender who is capable of playing multiple positions. Regardless of whether Gonzalez ever plays with the Indians or if he is traded, the depth he provides to the Indians’ organization at the infield positions is invaluable. Finding one prospect capable of playing a position as demanding as short stop at the big league level can be a difficult task for many teams, the fact that the Indians may have three is truly amazing.
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