Indians Top 100 Prospects: #10 Wes Hodges

10. Wes Hodges - Third Baseman
Born: 09/14/1984 - Height: 6'2" - Weight: 205 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2007	22	Kinston	A+	104	393	60	113	22	3	15	71	44	90	0	.288	.367	.473	.840
2008	23	Akron	AA	133	504	70	146	29	3	18	97	52	105	3	.290	.354	.466	.820
		Career		237	897	130	259	51	6	33	168	96	195	3	.289	.360	.469	.829

History:  Hodges was a 2nd round pick by the Indians in the 2006 Draft out of Georgia Tech.  He would have been taken higher in the draft if he did not have some injury concerns. Going into 2006, he 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.  He basically played on one leg for almost all of his final season at Georgia Tech and finished up hitting .329 with 11 HR and 68 RBI in 219 at bats.  He fell on draft day, and the Indians gambled and selected him with their third of four second round picks.  They 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.  In 2007, Baseball America tabbed Hodges as the best power prospect and best defensive third baseman in the Carolina League.  Last year, he was named the 2008 Eastern League Rookie of the Year at Double-A Akron, and he also played for the U.S. team in the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium.  His 97 RBI last season at Akron also broke the single-season record formerly held by Chan Perry who had 96 RBI in 1997.   

Strengths & Opportunities: Hodges is a player who was born to hit.  He is a very disciplined hitter with great bat-to-ball ability, and has a nice, short line drive stroke that allows him to cover the whole plate with good power potential to all fields.  He has shown the ability to make plenty of hard contact, and has no trouble catching up to good fastballs.  He has become more relaxed at the plate and is learning to look for certain pitches early in the count.  Since coming into the organization he has made several adjustments at the plate which have helped him become a better hitter, such as shortening his swing and simplifying his approach at the plate.  He worked with Kinston hitting coach Jon Nunnally in 2007 and tinkered with his swing mechanics by learning to cock his hands back into a pre-loaded position by his right shoulder and use his legs as a timing mechanism to shift load in his bat. 

His strong offensive performance in 2008 was a result of finally being 100% healthy in his lower half where he had full use of his legs.  In addition to that he has become better at recognizing pitches, understanding how pitchers are attacking him, and making good adjustments at bat to at bat.  The Indians feel he is one of the most intelligent hardworking baseball players in the system and a true student of the game.  His aptitude is off the charts and he has an unbelievable ability to make adjustments.  He is very professional and is very committed.  He has no fear and is not intimidated by expectations. 

For the most part Hodges has remained healthy during his time with the Indians.  He did miss about three to four weeks of action the first half of the 2007 season at Single-A Kinston with a bad hamstring and broken toe in his foot, but other than that he has been able to stay on the field and so far erase the injury concerns teams had with him going into draft day.  He is about as consistent as you can get as far as production goes as he never had less than 17 RBI or more than 21 RBI in any month last season.  He did seem to wear down some in the second half as he hit .315 with an .862 OPS in 91 games before the All Star break, but in 41 games after the break hit just .238 with a .728 OPS. 

As a defender, Hodges is rough around the edges at third base.  He has good hands and a strong arm, but has displayed questionable range and ability to come in on groundballs.  He sort of regressed some at third base last year at Double-A Akron, but the feeling by those in the game is he can rebound and become solid defensively and the arm is good enough to handle the position.  It is just a matter of getting a little experience.  His hip flexors are tight, which hinders him at times to get down low on groundballs. So, this offseason he committed to an offseason strength and conditioning program where he took 15 pounds of weight off.  He spent a lot of time working out and doing Yoga to slim down and become more flexible so he could improve defensively.  As a result, his lateral quickness has improved, and he is moving a lot better at third base and shown improvement overall as a defender at third base.   

His bat profiles at first or third base, but his defense should play enough to allow him to stay at third.  His body continues to get better and more firm and along with that his agility and mobility have improved.  With more focused attention on his defense, he is expected to be at least an average defensive third baseman in the big leagues.  His success as a hitter needs to carry over to the defensive end, as he did have 28 errors at third base for Double-A Akron last year.  He suffered from some arm fatigue late in the season which resulted in some throwing errors.  Also, with the adjustments the Indians made with his footwork and throwing it resulted in a lot of errors as he applied the changes made by coaches.  While he encouraged the Indians with the strides he made at improving his defense in the Arizona Fall League this offseason, they still want to see him improve his footwork and timing, primarily his first step quickness at third base and coming in on balls.  Offensively, he needs to continue applying his relaxed, patient approach at the plate and get better at learning to recognize and hit changeups and breaking balls and lay off them early in the count.  He needs to continue thinking down and through the ball and use his legs more in his swing to help create more line drives. 

Outlook:  The Indians like Hodges athleticism at third base, and combined with his very advanced and professional bat feel he is a rare find.  There is no question he is a very gifted player offensively and is very close to being major league ready, but unless they are desperate the Indians are likely to leave him in the minors all season to finish him off defensively and be ready to compete for a big league job in spring training 2010.  If he can continue to hit and make some improvements defensively at third base to become a consistent solid-average defender, third base should be his job in Cleveland by the start of 2010 or even the end of 2009.  He will open the 2009 season at Triple-A Columbus. 

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr 

Wes Hodges MinorLeagueBaseball.com stats page 

Wes Hodges Baseball-Reference page 

Wes Hodges MinorLeagueSplits.com page 

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