This Is Next Year: Off And Rolling

The Indians farm system continues to thrive as both team records and individual statistics are giving credence to a bright future for the franchise.

Extended Spring Training

by Joseph Coblitz

A very misnamed league, extended Spring Training is really just an extenuation of the same group of players who make up the short season A team in Mahoning Valley, the AZL Rookie team in Goodyear, the Indians Dominican Summer League team and the instructional league team in the Fall after those seasons have ended.

These games are played without regard to score or even the basic rules of baseball at times, including a ten man line-up featuring two designated hitters and games that end whenever it feels right. Even though it’s nearly impossible to find any information about these games, I’ve had the chance to watch a few live this week and can provide just the smallest update.

First, a few players of note who are playing in Goodyear right now are top prospects Triston McKenzie (3 IP, 3 K’s, 2 H, 2 BB), Juan Hillman (3 IP, 2 K, 2 BB, 1 H), Jonas Wyatt (3 IP, 3 K, 3 H, 2 BB), Ka’ai Tom (2 BB, 1 R in one game) and Gabriel Mejia (2 H, 2 SB, 1 RBI in two games) among others. Also, rehabbing from injury is AAA outfielder, Anthony Gallas  and in two games, I’ve only seen him hit safely three times, walk twice, steal a base, knock in two and score three runs. It is safe to say he looks like a AAA player facing rookies nearly a decade younger than he is. The same is true for Luigi Rodriguez, who is playing out the rest of his PED suspension from 2015.

To finish with a player you probably haven’t heard about, but should: first baseman Jose Medina went 4/4 with a double, run scored and two RBI in the game on 4/19. He’s an excellent defender and an exciting young player who will likely play for Mahoning Valley later this year.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnT5LI2d4Vw]

Lake County Captains (10-6)

by Justin Lada

Despite a 3-4 week, the Lake County Captains still find themselves 10-6 and at the top of the Midwest League Eastern Division.

Catcher Francisco Mejia had six hits in the last week, including three in an 8-1 win over West Michigan on April 20. He’s currently second in the league in hitting at .418. His 12 RBI are also tied for third.

2B/SS Tyler Krieger watched his average drop .100 this week, but he made SportsCenter’s Top 10 with this nice diving catch.

RHP Matt Esparza allowed nine runs on 11 hits in his first start of the season. Since then, he’s allowed just one run in 11 innings while striking out 12. He fanned seven and walked one in six innings in his start this past week

After allowing a run in his first two outings, right handed closer Kieran Lovegrove has gone three straight appearances without allowing a run, including striking out the side in order against Great Lakes on April 17. He’s 2-2 in save opportunities and has 10 strikeouts and has yet to walk a batter in 2016.

OF Nathan Lukes wrapped up the week with four straight two hit games, raising his average from .257 to .313 in the process. He’s also tied to the team lead in steals with four.

The Captains wrap up a series in Lansing over the weekend with the Lugnuts and are off Monday. They return home for a six game home stand against Burlington and Peoria. Lake County is 5-1 at the friendly confines so far this season.

Lynchburg Hillcats (13-3)

by Mike Melaragno

The Hillcats won three in a row at Potomac to sweep both series on their opening road trip of the year to go a perfect 7-0 during their time away from City Stadium.

With seven straight victories, the Hillcats have opened a 4.5 game lead over the Potomac Nationals and Wilmington Blue Rocks in the Northern Division. Lynchburg is also running away in the physical sense with 24 stolen bases, which is the second-best total on the circuit. Outfielder Greg Allen paces the Carolina League with 13, partly due to his 524 on-base percentage, which ranks second. He also leads the league in runs scored (16) and walks (15).

Outfielder Mike Papi claimed the initial Carolina League Player of the Week distinction in 2016 for the week of April 7-17. Papi has reached base successfully in all 12 games he has played this year. That includes a current five-game hitting streak in which he is 8-for-20 with twodoubles and three home runs. He has four RBI’s and four runs scored during that span.

Papi led the Carolina League in slugging percentage (.800) and home runs (4) through the first 10 games. Additionally, he was tied for fourth on the circuit with five doubles and 11 walks. Last year, Papi finished third in the CarolinaLeague with 34 doubles and topped all players with his 81 walks. In his Hillcats career, Papi and 92 walks.

Akron Rubber Ducks (10-5)

by Caitlin Boron

I’ve spoken with a few die hard baseball fans, and we’ve come to an agreement that this season, while Columbus seems to look like the Quadruple-A team, AA Akron might be the new AAA for Cleveland. They’ve continued to push their hot start, finishing the second week with a 10-4 record going 4-3 since Saturday, while breaking away almost from the rest of the Indians farm teams due to their level of talent.

During Monday’s 4-1 win over the Binghamton Mets some awesome things happened. Top prospects Clint Frazier and Bradley Zimmer along with Lonnie Chisenhall, in town on a rehab assignment, all doubled, and 2B Todd Hankins smacked a ball into left field for a standing triple. On the defensive side, SS Eric Stamets made a mind blowing grab on a grounder, resulting in 6-4-3 double play in the 7^th, and of course saving the best for the last of the game, the Rubberducks closer Ben Heller struck out two and topped out at 100 mph like it was nothing, giving him his 4^th save for the season and keeping his ERA to an impressive 1.80. Watching that game, I felt like I had witnessed something amazing at Canal Park, a glimpse at the exciting future for the Cleveland Indians, and I insist that everyone get to Akron so you can see the same.

Also during the week, Indians outfielders Michael Brantley and Chisenhall continued their rehab stints looking as ready as ever to get back up to the bigs, which Lonnie did when he returned to Cleveland to play in Wednesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners. In Akron though, an experiment was done putting him in center field, a similar trial was done in Columbus last season putting Lonnie in right. With some players making a transition to a newer position, sometimes it looks as if they don’t fit, but to me it looked like he was comfortable in center and It was interesting seeing him between Brantley and Zimmer on the field.

In the same Monday game, Brantley made a catch that apparently looked different from all angles. Where I was at in the left field corner, I saw he made the catch on the warning track, but from the press box they thought he made the play off the wall. Either way, though I was right The Indians stud Doctor Smooth looked like his old, amazing self again in his element, though there is still no official word when he’s set to return to Cleveland.

Columbus Clippers (7-7)

by Kevin Gall

Erik Gonzalez was the Clipper’s best hitter this past week, a strong sign after not adapting well to AAA pitching over the course of the 65 games he spent in Columbus at the end of last year. In 5 games this week, Gonzalez batted .381 (8 for 21) with 2 runs scored, 5 RBI, and a stolen base. Gonzalez’ stock took a hit last season after his overall poor showing at the plate, but he’s off to a strong start this year with a slash line of .333/.333/.378. He’s never been much of a power hitter but makes up for it with solid defense, which he showcased throughout this week and season.