Lavisky has star potential



(Photo: Tony Lastoria)

 If you could look into a crystal ball and see the Cleveland Indians future, one player who may come into focus the most is catcher Alex Lavisky.

Lavisky, 20, is part of the Indians’ hopeful future. He is a young baseball player with all the tools to be a great player, and all the intangibles to be a star.

Of course the future is always unpredictable, especially when you are dealing with a young player who is on the verge of just his first full pro season. At this point his career can go in any direction.

The Indians appear to have something special brewing in Lavisky. He is the complete package. He has all the tools to be an above average receiver someday in the big leagues, and he has the raw power in his bat to one day strike fear into opposing pitchers. In addition to that he has all the intangibles with the looks, charisma, personality, and attitude to be one of the most popular players for the Indians in a long time.

Lavisky was selected by the Indians in the eighth round of the draft last year out of St. Edwards High School. He is a local product who is getting a chance to live his dream by playing for the organization he grew up following as a fan.

With all his potential and playing for his hometown team, Lavisky is no doubt under a lot of pressure coming into his first full season. Add to that a way over slot $1 million signing bonus, and there are certainly a ton of expectations for him to live up to.

"There is a little bit of hype coming in with me being a higher pick guy, so I have come out here to show that I am worth everything the Indians have put in me and to give them the confidence that I am one of their prospects of the future,” said Lavisky. “I just want to go out and play my hardest everyday and take full advantage of the opportunities that this organization has given me. There are 30 teams out there, and I am lucky to be with one of them, so I really have to take advantage of this opportunity and soak everything in and give it everything I got."

For a young man fresh out of high school it can be hard to handle such expectations. But Lavisky is a different kind of player as he is well composed, educated, and just has a sparkling personality that endears him to his teammates and will eventually become adored by fans. That mature approach is a byproduct of his upbringing.

"Initially it was pretty cool with me being 19 years old [to get a big signing bonus], but I think my parents have done a great job with keeping me in line,” said Lavisky. “My parents are awesome as they raised me the right way and I surrounded myself with the right people throughout high school. I am a pretty humble guy and I just like to have fun like everybody else. Everyone is sweating and doing the same drills no matter how much [of a signing bonus] you got."

To prepare himself for his first pro season Lavisky spent most of the offseason living at home and going to Progressive Field almost every day to work out. Living in Lakewood, he is just a hop, skip and a jump from the big league field and was sure to take full advantage of it.

"I got to be home and see my family a lot,” said Lavisky about his offseason. “It was convenient as most of my workouts were down at the stadium. I was able to go down there and stay close and get my work in so it was kind of cool getting to do everything there as I was able to wake up early in the morning and get everything done, and by three or four o'clock I was able to do whatever I wanted to do. Having a resource like the stadium was great. Being in Lakewood I can just hop on the shoreway and be there in five minutes.”

One of the first things Lavisky has already learned is there is certainly a lot of down time when you are a professional baseball player. While growing up baseball was always an extracurricular activity to his school work, but now that baseball is his job he has a lot more time to dedicate to working out and improving his game.

"It was a big change, and it definitely allows you a lot of time to get things done,” said Lavisky. “You are able to get all the stuff you need to get done and still be able to do what you want to do. It's kind of like being in college as you have to manage your time well. You are not obligated to do it, but you have to show up anyway. Also, being at home I was able to keep on track with everything, and if I didn't feel like doing something one morning my mom was up there dragging me out of bed to go do it (laughs)."

Lavisky has now been out in Arizona for about a month and is getting ready for the season. He has been one of the most impressive players in camp so far as he seems to get at least one extra base hit every game and he has shown some amazing light tower power.

Literally.

Last week Lavisky hit a bomb of a home run off of right-hander Clayton Cook to dead left center and hit the steel pole of the light tower about five feet below the lights. It was an impressive blast, and showed the raw power the Indians salivated over when they selected him in the draft.

With his performance in camp to date, there is no question that Lavisky has had little trouble adjusting to his first spring training.

"I think it has been a little easier for me to get adjusted,” said Lavisky. “I was down here a week early [for early camp] and there were only 30 guys so it was kind of like Instructional League and close knit. But once everybody got here it was ridiculous as we have 30 people at each station and we went from three catchers to like thirteen. So far spring training is going well and I think it is doing its purpose to get me and the other guys ready to play wherever we are going to play this season."

Lavisky has some impressive pull side power, as evidenced by his big poke last week. Last fall he really worked hard on getting better hitting with power to all fields, and it has continued to be one of the main things he has worked on at the plate this spring.

"I think the main thing is to just improve my lower half,” said Lavisky. “I have a lot of stuff going on with my swing, so I just need to work on getting my back hip through and allow myself to get power to all fields instead of just to left field. They are really emphasizing to me to be able to drive the ball to the right field gap and down the right field line and over the wall as well. I am always working on getting better at catching with receiving, hands, blocking, throwing, footwork and all that good stuff, but I think right now the main part of my game that needs improvement is taking that outside pitch and hammering it to right field."

New Indians Catching Coordinator Dave Wallace has worked a lot with his catchers this spring on framing techniques. It is one of the tricks of the trade for catchers to get a call for their pitcher on a borderline strike.

"Wallace has been great,” said Lavisky. “We have been working on that ball right on the left knee with the hard sinker from a righty or a lefty slider. It is a tough pitch to hit and we have really been focusing on getting my hand around the ball and being able to stick it there and just do my main job which is make the pitcher look good. Hitting for catchers is a secondary option as if you can hit it is great, but my main focus [in the game] is to make the pitchers look good."

Spring training wraps up next Saturday and most of the players will depart for one of the Indians’ four full season minor league affiliates. At the moment it looks very likely that Lavisky will open the season at Low-A Lake County, which he would obviously welcome as he would be just minutes from home. He knows nothing is for certain and welcomes whatever destination the Indians decide to send him to this year.

"Wherever I end up this year is going to be dictated by how I play,” said Lavisky. “Your play is going to dictate where you belong, so I am just hoping to go out there and do the best I can."

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Posted in: Alex Lavisky