Tribe Minor Leaguers Wrap Up Winter Leagues

The Indians had relatively few minor leaguers participate in the Winter Leagues this year (plus 5 who have played in the Majors at one point or another). None played in Mexico or Australia this year and we’ve already covered those in the Arizona Fall League, so we’ll focus here on the Liga de Beisbol Dominicano, the Lige de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente and the Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional.

Dominican Winter League

Eight current Indians participated in the Liga de Beisbol Dominicano this year, all position players. These ranged from Major Leagues Abraham Almonte, Michael Martinez and Erik Gonzalez to top prospect Francisco Mejia and less well thought of prospects Nellie Rodriguez, Ronny Rodriguez, Jordan Smith and Ordomar Valdez.

Starting with the Aguilas Cibaenas, Ronny Rodriguez had a solid season, batting .306/.362/.463 in 44 games. While he was listed on the roster at second base, but played primarily at first, a position the super utility man has been featured at more and more the last two seasons. His ability to play every position on the field except pitcher and catcher could be his ultimate ticket to the big leagues and he did nothing to hurt his offensive expectations in Winter ball. While he dealt with an ankle injury that cost him some playing time, he returned for the championship.

Almonte and Smith both played for the Toros del Este and had as opposite results as you would expect between a Major Leaguer and someone who can barely hang on in AA. Almonte hit .329/.402/.388 while Smith went .143/.294/.143. If there is a worry here, it is that Almonte hit for almost no power with just five doubles in 22 games compared to 20 in 67 games in 2016.

Martinez and Mejia each played for the Estrellas de Oriente and struggled, but played in only a minimal amount of games. Mejia went 5 for 22 without an extra base hit or walk while the utility man hit .237 across six games.

The larger of the Rodriguez’s, Nellie, played for the Leones del Escogito along with Erik Gonzalez and here, Gonzalez somehow outslugged the towering first baseman. Gonzalez had a solid Winter, hitting three home runs and batting .273 while stealing a couple bases in 21 games. He will definitely be in the running for the Indians utility man job come Spring Training. As for Nellie, he hit just .146 and slugged only .293, disappointing numbers after he hit a career high 26 home runs in Akron in 2016.

Used mostly as a defensive replacement, Valdez only had two at bats during the Winter season for the Tigres del Licey.

Puerto Rican Winter League

The Indians had just four players involved with the Lige de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente this year, position players Taylor Murphy, Gian Paul Gonzalez, Alexis Pantoja and relief pitcher Leandro Linares.

While they were on roster, the catcher Gonzalez only played in six games and went hitless over nine at bats in the Puerto Rico Winter League while Joe Colon pitched just one inning in one game, also hitless. Linares also had a limited Winter, pitching just three innings and allowing eight runs across four appearances. Pantoja, an outside prospect for a future utility spot, hit .314/.330/.384 while Murphy hit .222/.383/.250 with nine walks in 13 games being his biggest highlight.

Venezuelan Winter League

In the Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional the Indians had nine players of concern, including Rule 5 Draft pick Hoby Milner. Also in Venezuela for the Winter were pitchers Nick Pasquale and Randy Valladares, Major League hitters Jesus Aguilar and Giovanny Urshela and minor leaguers Yhoxian Medina and Yonathan Mendoza. High prospect Yandy Diaz also participated and caused the only (and even that was slight) drama for the Tribe in Winter ball.

With little else to talk about around the signing of Edwin Encarnacion, there was much speculation around Diaz as he could very well be a major part of the Major League club next year. Because of this, he nearly went back to the states when he had a minor injury, then ultimately had his season ended early because the Indians were worried about him playing too much. His .371/.451/.510 line was more than respectable.

Both of his teammates on the Leones del Caracas, Aguilar and Medina also had good seasons. Medina was used sparingly, getting just 28 at bats in 27 games, but Aguilar continued his Venezuelan League dominance with ten home runs and eight doubles. No other foreign Winter leaguer for the Indians had more than three home runs and only Ronny Rodriguez and Urshela hit more doubles.

Speaking of Urshela, he had a great season for the Aguilas del Zulia, batting .337/.352/.485 with 16 doubles, three home runs and 33 RBI. Like Diaz and Gonzalez, Urshela should be considered a fringe contender for the Indians final bench spot in 2017.

None of the others played much, but Mendoza had a nice .385 OBP in 11 games. Milner pitched just 2.2 innings, Valladares 4.2 and Pasquale 9.2.