2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #19 Kelvin De La Cruz

Kelvin De La Cruz – Left-handed Pitcher
Born: 08/01/1988 – Height: 6’5” – Weight: 187 – Bats: Left – Throws: Left

(Photo: Tony Lastoria)

History: De La Cruz was signed by the Indians as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in December of 2004. He is often referred to as "Carmona Left" because of his close resemblance to current Indians right-handed starting pitcher Fausto Carmona because of his look, skills, makeup and more. He is also very good friends with Carmona and often asks him for insight into the professional game and lifestyle. He is on the Indians 40-man roster.

Strengths: De La Cruz is a big left-handed starter who throws a fastball that sits at 91-93 MPH and touches 95 MPH, and complements it with a curveball and changeup. As he matures, his mechanics are refined, and his health improves he still has some arm strength where he could see some velocity gains. He gets good sink with his fastball and pounds it down in the zone. His curveball is a 12-6 hammer and a projectable plus-plus pitch with real good depth and a swing and miss put away type pitch that is a potential major league weapon. His curveball improved last year as it was much sharper and showed more depth. He has a good feel for his changeup, and while it is clearly behind his fastball and curveball, it has plus potential down the road. All three of his pitches are effective finishing pitches where he has shown the ability to miss bats and strike batters out.

With his big frame and stuff there is still no limit to De La Cruz’s potential. His size and strong lower half allows him to get good leverage on hitters and get the ball on a downward plane. He has an aggressive, fearless approach where he challenges hitters and goes right at them. He is a student of the game and understands how to pitch to hitters and find and exploit their weaknesses so he can attack them. He shows a lot of maturity on the mound, and just oozes confidence and loves to compete. He has made strides in learning to make adjustments in-game and better attacking hitters. He shows good athleticism and fields his position well. Aside from the elbow scare in 2009, he has been healthy and proven to be a durable pitcher who has the ability to haul innings. He has excellent makeup, speaks good English, and just loves the game.

On the positive side, De La Cruz made it through last season healthy and did not have any injury setbacks. He had strained the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his left elbow in April of 2009, and after tests did not reveal a tear no surgery was performed and instead he had several weeks of rest before going on a return to throw program late that year. He only made a handful of rehab appearances with the Arizona League team at the end of August that year, so he participated in Instructional League to make up some of the lost development time. Even after missing almost all of the 2009 season he came back last season and was able to make 26 starts and pitch 127.2 innings and was back up to 95 MPH during the season. He was so dependable and made all his starts last year that he had to sit out the final two weeks of the season because he had reached his 125-130 innings threshold. He remained with the team after his shutdown and continued to workout, throw bullpens, do delivery drills, and work on his conditioning. While the numbers were not up to the standards expected from a top pitching prospect, the Indians felt like he showed progress last season, especially off the field with his preparation and routine between each start and his mental approach to those starts.

On the negative side, De La Cruz was not very effective last year, particularly at Double-A Akron. He was still feeling his way through the setback he had the previous year and also trying to get a feel for his stuff again and with attacking hitters. He struggled with walks the last three months of the season, a problem that the Indians felt was just as much mental as it was mechanical. They worked on some things to help his composure and pace on the mound, and though the results did not show in his performance at the end of the season, he showed better composure and balance with pitching through the ball. The physical tools, stuff, and abilities are still there, it just boils down to him finding his command as it was absent for most of last year and something he really struggled with. A case can be made that his stuff and command will return this season now that he is a full year removed from injury and has a whole offseason to workout without restrictions.

Opportunities: The two biggest concerns for De La Cruz this coming season are his health and his fastball command. The Indians were careful with him last year in order to keep him healthy, so he needs to show he can stay on the field with a normal unrestricted workload. The Indians feel that if he can better repeat his delivery, solidify his arm slot, and he gets stronger in his lower half, that it will help his balance which in turn will help fix his fastball command woes and improve his secondary offerings. Confidence should also help as knowing he is healthy without fear of reinjuring himself should help him be more effective. He also needs to get more consistent in all the nuances of pitching and with his preparation. He needs to improve his daily routines and have better preparation on game days. He needs to be more efficient with his pitches so he can pitch deeper into games. He needs to improve knowing how to attack hitters and how to use his stuff. He needs to be more consistent with his mechanics and delivery. He has to control his emotions a little better.

Outlook: De La Cruz gets somewhat of a pass for his performance last season because the primary focus last year was to monitor and maintain his health. This year, however, the kid gloves will be off and he will need to show progress with his development to remain in the upper echelon of Indians prospects. With the tools, size, and makeup, everything is there for him to be a good pitcher in the big leagues though there is still a long way to go and many pitfalls to avoid in order for him to get there. Since he is already on the 40-man roster there is a good chance if he stays healthy and continues to progress that at the end of the 2011 season he could see some time in Cleveland as a September callup, but any significant time in Cleveland should not be expected until 2012. He should open the 2011 season with a return trip to Akron.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2005	16	DSL Indians	R	3	3	2.36	13	12	53.1	49	14	3	16	39	.234	2.7	6.6	1.22
2006	17	GCL Indians	R	1	2	10.98	9	4	19.2	32	24	2	13	15	.360	5.9	6.9	2.29
2007	18	GCL Indians	R	3	0	0.50	3	3	18.0	7	1	1	2	20	.117	1.0	10.0	0.50
2007	18	Mahoning Valley	A-	2	4	3.98	12	12	54.1	41	24	5	34	53	.216	5.6	8.8	1.38
2008	19	Akron	AA	1	0	7.20	1	1	5.0	4	4	1	3	4	.222	5.4	7.2	1.40
2008	19	Lake County	A	8	4	1.69	18	18	95.2	71	18	2	34	96	.207	3.2	9.0	1.10
2008	19	Kinston	A+	3	2	6.44	8	8	29.1	35	21	1	25	36	.292	7.7	11.0	2.05
2009	20	Kinston	A+	2	0	1.50	2	2	12.0	6	2	1	2	19	.146	1.5	14.2	0.68
2009	20	AZL Indians	R	0	2	9.39	3	3	7.2	10	8	1	5	5	.323	5.9	5.9	1.96
2010	21	Kinston	A+	2	2	2.91	6	6	34.0	22	11	3	8	28	.183	2.1	7.4	0.88
2010	21	Akron	AA	5	6	5.77	20	20	93.2	98	60	12	64	77	.274	6.1	7.4	1.73
		MiLB Totals		30	25	3.98	95	89	422.2	375	187	32	206	392	.237	4.4	8.3	1.37

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