Wes Hodges

Wes Hodges - Third Baseman
Age: 23 Height: 6'2" Weight: 180 Bats: Right Throws: Right

	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	OBP	SLG	OPS
2007 Kinston	.288	104	393	60	113	22	3	15	71	44	90	0	.367	.473	.840
Career	.288	104	393	60	113	22	3	15	71	44	90	0	.367	.473	.840

History: Hodges was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2006 Draft out of Georgia Tech, but did not play in 2006 with the Indians since he was still mending from a stress fracture in his foot. Even though he basically played on one leg more almost all of his final season at Georgia Tech, Hodges still hit .329 with 11 HR and 68 RBI in 219 at bats. Last year, Baseball America tabbed Hodges as the best power prospect, the best defensive third baseman, and having the best tools in the Carolina League. He was also named Team MVP at Kinston, and was a Carolina League Post-Season All Star.

Strengths & Opportunities: Hodges is a player who was born to hit. When he broke the hamate bone in his left wrist his senior year in high school, instead of missing the year he taught himself to hit from the left-side of the plate and hit .430 that year. Hodges is a very disciplined hitter with great bat-to-ball ability, and has a nice line drive stroke with good power potential to all fields. Hodges handles fastballs well, although he has to go through the growing period with learning to recognize and hit changeups and breaking balls and making adjustments. He should be able to as his aptitude is off the charts and he has an unbelievable ability to make adjustments.

As a defender, Hodges does it all with good hands, a strong arm and very good range at third base. The Indians like his athleticism at third base, and combined with his very advanced and professional bat feel he is a rare find. He was okay last year at third base, but the feeling by those in the game is he can become even better and the arm is good enough to handle the position. It is just a matter of getting a little experience. The Indians are in no rush to push him, and feel he is one of the most intelligent baseball players in the system and a true student of the game.

Hodges has the potential to be the biggest impact player from the Indians 2006 Draft, and would have been taken higher in the draft if he did not have some injury concerns. Going into 2006, Hodges was ranked as a preseason Top 10 college draft prospect and surefire first round pick, but that ranking took a hit when he came down with a stress fracture in his left leg. Hodges fell on draft day, and the Indians gambled and selected Hodges with their third of four second round picks. The Indians signed him for $1 million and to a 2007 contract to hold him out of action the rest of the season and give him more time to mend from the injury. Hodges came back from the injury well, but he was sidelined with two other injuries the first half of last season with a bad hamstring and broken toe in his left foot that saw him miss just short of a month of action. Hodges played the last half of the year with a sore foot as the broken toe did not require surgery and could heal on its own, but was bothersome while it healed. It remains to be seen if the injury issues he has had the last two years is a chronic issue to be concerned about.

Hodges hamstring injury and broken toe injuries last year may have been a blessing in disguise. While out with the injury, it gave Hodges time to step back, take a deep breath, and make some early adjustments since it was his first professional season. It gave him extra time to work with Kinston hitting coach John Nunnally on shortening his swing and simplifying his approach at the plate. Early in the year, Hodges swing mechanics were somewhat erratic as he held his hands close to his chest and as the pitcher went into his delivery he would slide them back to generate load in his bat. This hitting style gave Hodges fits against pitchers with quick deliveries and slide steps from the stretch. Nunnally did some tinkering where he cocked Hodges hands back into a pre-loaded position by his right shoulder and use his legs as a timing mechanism and to shift load in his bat. Hodges became more relaxed at the plate and began to look for certain pitches early in the count.

There was talk last year of moving Hodges up to Akron around the Carolina League All Star break in late-June, but the Indians decided against it as they did not want to rush Hodges and still felt there were some things he could better work on in Kinston with hitting coach John Nunnally. While Hodges work ethic is second to none, he is still adapting to the everyday grind of professional baseball and learning to be more consistent. Going forward, Hodges needs to continue applying his relaxed, patient approach to the plate as he had a real hard time jumping after off-speed pitches too soon last year. He also needs to continue applying what Nunnally taught him in thinking down and through the ball to help create more line drives. This past fall, the Indians worked on getting Hodges legs more into his swing and his first step quickness on defense. He also needs to get stronger.

Outlook: With Kevin Kouzmanoff being sent packing to San Diego in the Josh Barfield trade last offseason, and Andy Marte struggling to stay in Cleveland, Hodges is the top third base prospect in the system. If he can stay healthy and on the field he will move through the system quickly, and is someone who could push for a major league job sometime in 2009. There is no one above him at Buffalo blocking him, so if he impresses the first half of the season at Akron he could move to Buffalo by mid-season and possibly even be a September callup for the Indians. Hodges will start the year at Akron.

Video: Hodges at the plate.

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