DSL Indians
by Joe Coblitz
It was another poor week for the DSL Indians and, while record is not particularly important at this or any other minor league level, their 1-5 week and 23-36 season have been indicative of their performance as a team. There were few players of note as the top DSL pitcher, Luis Araujo, continues to sit with some elbow issues. If there was one player deserving of note in a week that the Indians were outscored by 18, it was Ronny Dominguez.
The center fielder played in all six games and had hits in the last five, tallying 7 hits and two walks, raising his average to .271 on the year. One of those hits was his second home run of the season and he stole two bases as well to bring his season total up to 11 although he was also caught twice for ten on the year. Ultimately, the DSL is a crap shoot when it comes to finding great players and this team has a very limited number who even seem capable of moving on the US in the future. Of those are Dominguez, Araujo and maybe a handful of others like Wilbis Santiago, who has been mentioned multiple times in previous minor league reports. Unfortunately, the Indians top two prospects as far as expected potential, Christopher Cespedes (.215/.263/.312) and Henry Pujols (.164/.282/.333) have had just dismal seasons to this point.
AZL Indians
by Joe Coblitz
The Goodyear Tribe didn’t fare any better than their counterparts in the Dominican Republic this week. With a 1-4 week they’ve dropped to 4-10 in the second half after claiming a play-off spot thanks to their first half dominance. Unlike the DSL team, the AZL Indians were busy scoring some runs and who better to do the scoring than 2016 first round draft pick Will Benson.
Some have been worried about Benson’s poor numbers to this point, but as one of the few who have seen him live, I can assure that these worries are completely unwarranted. On Saturday, he lead the team with three hits including a double, then he hit a triple on Tuesday. He stepped that up with two hits including a home run on Wednesday and another two hits with another triple on Thursday. He may not be the best contact hitter on the team (that’s Nolan Jones) or the best pure power hitter (that’s Oscar Gonzalez, who hit his league best 8th home run this week), but Benson may be the best combination of the two qualities. In addition, he’s been a solid right fielder and has shown considerable speed, both in the field and on the bases.
Since all the pitchers that anyone has heard of (Brady Aiken, Jhonleider Salinas and Ben Krauth from this year’s roster) have been removed from the AZL roster, it’s time to learn some new ones. Possibly the most impressive pitching performance I’ve seen this year at this level was made by Gregori Vazquez on the road against the Reds on Monday night. He pitched 7 innings, striking out ten and allowing just one run on a solo home run to the first batter he faced in the game. After that, he allowed just four more hits and no walks, although he was not the winning pitcher as Ryder Ryan blew the 1-1 tie in the eighth. Vazquez has been in the rotation all year, but this was his first time recording more than two outs in the sixth, let alone pitching the entire 7th. For an 18 year old (for another month) in the AZL, this is really impressive. Vazquez also pitched well in the DSL last year and could have enough on his fastball to succeed at higher levels as well.
Mahoning Valley Scrappers
by Caitlin Boran
With the elimination number set 13, Mahoning Valley pushes forward from the middle of the Pinckney pack. They finished their week 25-27, 11 games deep into third place, a far more impressive cry than where they were just a season ago.
They have won their last three games, after losing three straight to the Hudson Valley Renegades earlier on in the week. Each Friday as I comb through what they’ve done over seven days, it strikes me how, like their big league parent team, they battle back until the final out.
Centerfielder, Gabriel Mejia, put up a good week, adding three more stolen bases to his total this season, now at 15 in 22 attempts, and has batted a .342 over his last ten games (.301 on the season). In Friday night’s 4-2 win over the Crosscutters, Mejia scored the first run for the Scrappers, going 1-3 with a walk. As a leadoff, the switch hitter has become quite the asset to this young team and has a bright future ahead of him in the coming seasons.
Also in Friday’s win, RHP Aaron Civale and LHP Ben Krauth had a no-no going between them over eight innings, before being broken up by a double, given up by RHP Michael Letkewicz. Krauth ended up with the win, his first for the Scrappers, after pitching 4 innings and continuing to put up a 0.00 ERA in his three games played. While in Arizona, his ERA looked the same, at 0.00, in 14 innings pitched over 7 games.
Next week, The Scrappers will send off some of their best to place in the NYPL All Star game on Tuesday, August 16th. Outfielders Andrew Calica, Gabriel Mejia and Todd Isaacs, LHPs Juan Hillman, and Tanner Tully, and infielder Erlin Cerda will all represent the Indians and play their little, scrappy hearts out in this short-season summer classic.
There is a lot left to look forward two, with just three weeks left to play in the season, and still a lot of ground left to cover, but if there’s one group of guys who came give the rest of their division a run for their puppies, it’s these Scrappers.
Lynchburg Hillcats (28-20)
Lake County Captains (20-26)
Akron Rubber Ducks
Rob Kaminsky played a big role in securing the .500 record on the week, as he continued his excellent run of form by pitching six innings Friday and only allowing two runs, earning the win for Akron. He now has a 1.06 ERA to go along with an 8.4 K/9 over his last three starts. At just 21, Kaminsky is solidifying himself as a solid pitching prospect for Cleveland.
Meanwhile, Greg Allen has transitioned seamlessly to AA ball since his promotion on July 27. Last week, Allen went 8-19, while collecting three walks (and just three strikeouts) while also recording two steals. Just like Kaminsky, Allen’s performance at a more advanced level of the minors should cement his status as one of the better prospects in Cleveland’s system.
While the Ducks have started to fall out of contention for the Eastern League playoffs, as they sit seven games back of Altoona for first place in the division, they will try to make some noise next week on the road against Trenton and Bowie.
Columbus Clippers
3B Giovanny Urshela had his career best 21-game hit streak snapped Tuesday night. However, his consecutive plate appearance without a walk or HBP streak is now at 228. The last time Urshela reached base via walk or HBP was on June 11. During his odd streak, Urshela has put the ball in play 89% of the time, as he has struck out only 25 times.
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