Ryan Mulhern

Ryan Mulhern - First Base
Age: 27 Height: 6'2" Weight: 205 Bats: Right Throws: Right

	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	OBP	SLG	OPS
2007 Buffalo	.290	130	476	67	138	36	2	16	76	40	133	1	.350	.475	.825
Career	.282	525	1932	284	545	144	10	75	311	178	525	17	.348	.483	.831

History: Mulhern was taken in the 11^th round of the 2003 Draft out of the University of South Alabama. Mulhern had a sensational 2005 campaign where he won the Lou Boudreau Award as the organization's top hitter by hitting .315 with 32 HR, 94 RBI and a 1.030 OPS in 112 combined games at Kinston and Akron. Mulhern took a step back in 2006 and struggled at Akron hitting .268 with 15 HR, 69 RBI and a .773 OPS in 121 games.

Strengths & Opportunities: Mulhern has very good power, but lacks good plate discipline. For his career, he averages a strikeout every 3.7 at bats. On top of that, for a player who strikes out so much he does not draw very many walks as he has a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio for his career. As with any power-hitter, a lot of his problems center around a lack of aggressiveness early in the count in not attacking fastballs, and then late in the count being over-aggressive when the pitchers are throwing more breaking balls.

Last spring and throughout the season, the Indians worked with Mulhern on his shaky defense and wanted to see improvement in his defensive play. They worked on his mental approach to playing the position, and he responded well to the additional instruction and showed improvement by season's end. Going forward, one of the Indians primary areas of focus for Mulhern in 2008 will be working with him on improving his plate discipline and getting him to work counts to draw more walks.

Outlook: The Indians were very pleased with his performance in Buffalo being that it was his first taste of Triple-A. At 27 years of age, Mulhern has pretty much maximized his potential and is a player at a position where there is no immediate need at the major league level for the Indians. He arguably is good enough to be a serviceable first baseman at the major league level, but as long as Garko et al are in Cleveland, Mulhern will never get a shot in Cleveland. He will open the season at Buffalo again, and could be someone the Indians move during the season to fill a need at the major league level and create roster room at one of the most crowded positions in the system (first base).

Video: Mulhern hits a home run.

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