The Indians announced yesterday that they cut seven minor leaguers including pitchers Cortland Cox, Devon Stewart, Kenny Mathews and Ryan Perez as well as infielders Angel Miguel and Nate Winfrey and catcher Jack Goihl. While most of these names may be unknown to many, Perez was the “switch pitcher” drafted by the Indians in 2015 and Angel Miguel was a Cuban born player only given one season in the minors before his release.
Starting with the easiest of the cuts, the Indians drafted six catchers in 2016 including four in the first 15 rounds to fix an extreme need of catching talent in the minor leagues. Of those, the first three signed and combined with multiple international signings, things became very crowded behind the plate. While they didn’t make any major moves during the season last year, getting rid of Goihl was an easy choice to make after the backstop batted .143/.201/.268 in all of 38 games across two seasons. He was originally a 28th round pick from 2015 and never had high expectations.
Also a 28th round pick (2014), Nate Winfrey was a better hitter than Goihl, but not by a ton. He was an All-Star in 2015 when he played for Mahoning Valley, but struggled in Lake County in 2016. As a third baseman with limited defensive upside, there was little room left for him in the system at the lower levels.
The other infielder, Miguel, was the biggest surprise of the early cuts. Miguel began his career in the Cuban National League when he was 18 and played there through 2013. He signed with the Indians between 2015 and 2016 and, at the age of 26, was forced straight into AA. After struggling there, he was sent to Lake County, where he played slightly better, although not very impressively for a man nearly five years older than the average player at that level. Miguel was never a great hitter in Cuba, but was a solid middle infielder and played second and short while he was with the Indians.
Cox was drafted in the 32nd round in 2013 and has been used almost exclusively in relief with the Indians. He had a great 2015 season between Mahoning Valley and Lake County, but pitched poorly for the Captains in 2016 as well as in his short trip to Akron. In 2016, his K/9 rate dropped from 11.3 to 7.9 and his walk rate rose from 1.5 per nine in 2014 to 2.6 in 2015 and 3.1 in 2016.
Taken in the 9th round of 2015, Stewart was also a reliever in Lake County for most of last year and struggled in limited action. At 24 years old, he was a little behind in his development having not pitched above A and it didn’t look like he was ready to make the jump this year.
Originally a left handed starter, Mathews missed almost all of 2014 with a forearm strain and all of 2015 with the same, Mathews turned to relief in 2016, but still only pitched 30 innings in 2016, mostly at the short season and rookie levels. Now 23, it appears the Indians ran out of patience as Mathews tried to work his way back from injury.
Perez was an exciting addition when the Indians drafted him in 2015 being the only switch-pitcher in his class. He’s naturally a lefty, but has topped out in the mid-90’s between both arms and had the ability to switch within the same innings (did very little of this in the minors). His first season with Mahoning Valley was a slow one, pitching 25 innings from the pen, giving up 18 earned runs off 30 hits. Normally, I’d say the ERA of a relief arm isn’t a great representation of that player, but his 6.48 is on the mark. 2016 was an improvement, but not enough to keep the young switch off the chopping block.
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