A Tale Of Two Halves For Abraham

If you were to pool together a list of hitters in the Cleveland Indians’ farm system who have been the hottest at the plate in the second half of the season, Low-A Lake County third baseman Adam Abraham would be on the short list.

Abraham, 23, played at Lake County in 2009 and in 104 games hit .257 with 6 HR, 31 RBI, and a .724 OPS. His numbers and development did not warrant a promotion to High-A Kinston to start this season, so the thought was that in repeating the Low-A level in Lake County that it would give him more time to develop and hone his craft which would eventually result in a spike in his performance.

In the early going that plan did not work. In the first half of this season, Abraham hit just .182 with 2 HR, 11 RBI, and a .518 OPS in 44 games through the All Star break in late June. However, since the All Star break, he has been a completely different player and found his name in the lineup card more often, and has since responded by hitting .308 with 11 HR, 45 RBI and a .900 OPS in 59 second half games.

"Yeah, I have picked it up in the second half,” said Abraham in a recent interview for the IPI. “I think I just got more of an opportunity to play and stay in the lineup everyday in the second half. I think that has helped a lot as it is just easier to hit that way. Mechanically nothing has really changed as everything has stayed the same. I think just going through the struggles and knowing it is going to happen, but staying with it mentally and not getting too far away from what I know I can do is mostly what is going on in the second half. Hopefully I can finish strong and keep it going now."

Whether Abraham’s struggles in the first half of the season were because of a hangover affect from the disappointment of going back to Low-A or because he was not playing everyday, bottom line he was quickly sliding to irrelevance status as a prospect. His recent surge can only help his standing.

"Obviously I am not thrilled to be back in Low-A, but I am just trying to make the best of the situation,” said Abraham. “Just making someone's decision a little harder in spring training [next year] is my goal now, and just making the best of being here. We will see how it finishes up now."

Abraham is not a high profile prospect by any means, but he has some value as an organizational player because he can play third base, first base and catcher. His versatility, pop in his bat, makeup, and work ethic make him an attractive player to have in the system, and who knows maybe one day a potential option for a Major League team.

One of the things the Indians worked extensively with Abraham on last year was a transition to catching, something he had never done prior to Instructional League in 2008. He has not caught a game this year and has played at first base, third base, and designated hitter for Lake County, but it is still something that he has in his back pocket now as a position option down the road.

One bonus though of not catching is Abraham’s body has taken much less of a beating.

"I feel fine as not catching this year is different from last year, so my body this year compared to last year is a lot different,” said Abraham. “I think at the beginning of the year last year I didn't notice it as much as I do now with being healthier this year as the decline last year was gradual and you don't notice it as much. This year I just feel a lot healthier going into the last few weeks of the season."

Last year being his first time catching, Abraham’s performance suffered a little bit as so much of his focus was on the transition to catching and picking up all the nuances of the position. He went into spring training this year as a catcher still, but late in camp was told he would be switching back to third base. Now that he is no longer catching and has settled into playing everyday at a position he is familiar with, he has started to perform better

"I am not sure what [the Indians] have in store for me,” said Abraham. “In spring training I went in catching, and the last week or so they told me to start taking ground balls at third base and they told me they weren't exactly sure what was going to happen, so I am here playing third everyday here. I guess we will see what happens now and [catching] is always in the bag if I ever needed it as I held my own back there."

With the season wrapping up in the next few days, Abraham plans to take some time off and head down to Florida to spend some time with his girlfriend who is in medical school at Florida State University. While down there he will workout, and may also work towards completing his bachelor’s degree in general studies. If the baseball thing does not work out he wants to be a teacher.

"I like my routine that I did last offseason,” said Abraham. “I came into spring training and felt good going in, so I think what I did last year I will do again this year. I will take a couple of weeks off and slowly get back into working out again [at the University of Michigan]. I won't do too much baseball stuff until more the winter time. I am hopeful to be graduating from school this year, so hopefully I can get that out of the way."

Abraham is not only looking forward to some much needed time off in the offseason, but he is very much looking forward to the start of football season as well. He is a hardcore fan of the University of Michigan Wolverines as he was born, raised and still lives there, and of course went to school there before being drafted by the Indians in the 13th round of he 2008 Draft.

Michigan’s recent slide and poor performance on the gridiron has Abraham about all out of patience with the Rich Rodriguez era.

"I don't know, but they gotta do something,” said a disappointed Abraham. “They have to win at least eight or nine games, and they have to win some big games. They have to beat Ohio State. I am so sick of losing to those guys. It is going on like seven years now that we haven't beaten them. If we don’t do that, we are going to be in trouble."

Like Abraham’s hopes that a good season can help the morale of the Wolverine fanbase, maybe his strong finish to his season this year will help his confidence as he works this offseason for what is a big season for him next year.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI.  His new book the 2010 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is also available for purchase on Amazon.com or his site.

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