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| Steven Wright (Photo: Tony Lastoria) |
Lots and lots to talk about this week in the Cleveland Indians farm system. With that in mind, Minor Happenings will be split up into two pieces this week as part two will post tomorrow. Today the focus is on an update for over a dozen walking wounded in the organization as well as updates on several other players who have struggled or performed well this season.
Be sure to check out the team reports that post here on the Indians Prospect Insider on a weekly basis. Nino Colla writes up the Double-A Akron report every Tuesday, Jim Pete the High-A Kinston report every Monday, and Lianna Holub the Low-A Lake County report every Friday. These are good reports to get caught up with all the specific movement with transactions for each team and noteworthy news and developments.
By the way, now that I am four weeks removed from my surgery I am hoping to get the clear on Monday from my doctor in my post-op to get out of the house and FINALLY start seeing some games and interviewing players for some articles. My goal is to make it to Lake County next Friday, so if all goes well maybe I will see some of you there!
Onto the Happenings…
Indians Minor League Player of the Week
(for games from May 12th to May 18th)
Steven Wright (Right-handed Pitcher – Lake County)
1-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA, 12.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 6 BB, 12K, .105 BAA
Wright has now made six starts for Lake County going 1-0 with a 1.71 ERA, and in 31.2 innings has allowed 24 hits, 17 walks, and has 24 strikeouts. His best start came on Wednesday when he pitched six shutout innings and allowed one hit, three walks, and had three strikeouts. In his last two outings he has thrown 12.0 shutout innings and allowed four hits, six walks, and has 12 strikeouts, which shows it is about time he moves up to High-A Kinston to be challenged at a higher level.
With left-hander Drew Pomeranz ready for a callup, I’d expect Pomeranz to be promoted to Double-A Akron and for Wright to slide into Pomeranz’s spot in Kinston very soon. With right-hander Mitch Talbot about ready to come off the disabled list in the next five to seven days his activation will likely cause a domino effect of moves throughout the system, which is when Pomeranz and Wright could be on the move.
With each start Wright is gaining more comfort and confidence with the knuckleball since he has only been throwing it in games for a couple months now. He is showing a better feel for the pitch by not throwing it as hard and letting it work its way through the zone, and most importantly has developed a better feel for the knuckleball delivery and throwing his other pitches in that delivery, which is critical.
Even though Wright was armed with a low 90s fastball and a good slider he did not really have anything that separated him from the relief pitching prospect pack. With the knuckleball he now has that pitch. He is throwing all of his pitches, though the focus is mostly on the knuckleball. Going forward the Indians want to see him get more consistent with his strike throwing ability with it and miss more bats, and they are going to give him every chance to succeed as a knuckleballer as they are excited by what they may have found. The knuckleball has once again made him an interesting starting pitching prospect for the Indians.
Honorable Mentions:
Jerad Head (OF – COL): .318 (7-22), 7 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 6 K, .990 OPS
Tim Fedroff (OF – AKR): .462 (6-13), 4 R, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K, 1.149 OPS
Chun Chen (C – AKR): .316 (6-19), 4 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K, .965 OPS
Kyle Bellows (3B – AKR): .313 (5-16), 2 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB, 1 K, .976 OPS
Giovanni Soto (LHP – KIN): 1-0, 1 G, 0.00 ERA, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, .125 BAA
Director’s Cuts
Indians Farm Director Ross Atkins has been around to see players at various levels the past two weeks, and here are some comments on several of the players in the system:
On Steven Wright: “Wright is a former high round draft pick for us in 2006 that has been tinkering with a knuckleball for the past year. This year in spring training we had him go full bore with the knuckleball and now he is a knuckleball pitcher that has done relatively well in Lake County in the Midwest League. The subjective comments have been even better than his stats. Tom Candiotti has been very involved in his development and has actually spent some time with him. His comments about his knuckleball are it is as good or better than any other knuckleball he has seen. Now that’s the first step. The second step is learning how to use it, learning how to pitch with it, and learning how to be consistent with it over 100 pitches over the course of an entire game and season. We are going to give him every opportunity to do it and it is an unconventional, creative approach, but we have the right athlete and resources we feel to hopefully make something come with it.”
On Candiotti’s importance working with Wright: “It is absolutely imperative. Really without him the only direction we would be able to give him is the strength and conditioning and mental component. From a fundamental side you have to have experience there and have to have adjustments and suggestions you can make and we did not have it. So without Tom Candiotti’s input [it would be a lot harder].”
On Michael Goodnight: “A great start to his season. He has had a great start statistically and he is doing some great things and giving them the best chance to win probably of anyone in that rotation. His fastball is up to 95 MPH, his breaking ball is a very good pitch, and his competitiveness is real. As a 21-year old out of Houston he is very much on our radar and a very good young pitching prospect for us.”
On Nick Hagadone: “We couldn’t be happier for him because last year was a long year for him. Coming over and trying to make an impression last year he was extremely frustrated he was not knocking on the door last year. He is certainly knocking on it now. He is dominating Double-A hitters and is absolutely showing he belongs to get out of there at some point and hopefully will make a contribution in Cleveland this year. He has a ton of ability and has a great head on his shoulders and is one of our favorite guys to pull for in the system. He is primarily working in the bullpen, and not to say it is said and done and he will never start again, but more than likely he will contribute [in the big leagues] as a reliever.”
On Zach McAllister: “Similar to Lonnie Chisenhall he is younger than anyone [in Columbus] as he just turned 23 years old. He is a really strong physical kid that grew up in the game as his dad is a scout. He is adamant that this is going to happen for him and that he is going to make a contribution and be a Major League starting pitcher for a very long time. The progress he has made since the time we acquired him has been really fun to see. The fastball is better, the slider is better, and the split-changeup is a weapon. He does all the little things and is a great athlete and a lot of fun to pull for.”
On Drew Pomeranz: “We put in a lot of time with Drew before the season talking about what would be best for him and his development, and we felt that going into Kinston he should really focus on using his changeup because it was a pitch he didn’t use [in college] because he didn’t need it. He has done that. Now we are focusing on helping him controlling the running game, and as soon as he shows us he has done that and knocked that off of his things to do we will move him out of there. He has a similar track record and path projection to Alex White as someone who could move quickly.”
Infirmary Report
Lots of injury updates this week on pretty much all of the walking wounded in the Indians minor league system:
Right-handers Hector Rondon and Alexander Perez are still progressing through their rehab from Tommy John surgery last year. Both are progressing normally on their return to throw program and on track. There is no estimated time when either will see any game action this year, but that likely will not occur until sometime in July at the earliest and only with the rookie-level Arizona team. Do not expect either to pitch at any other affiliate this year as most of their work on the mound will likely come in fall/winter league action.
Right-handed pitcher Bryce Stowell is doing well out in extended spring training and working his way back into the mix. He is supposedly healthy, but the delay to the start of his season is personal in nature which resulted in him having to leave the team for a little bit. He is throwing again and being built back up to get ready for activation.
The Indians are still continuing to monitor the innings workload of right-handed pitcher Jason Knapp on the front end. Rather than start him at the beginning of the season and then shut him down in July or August, by activating him in late May or mid-June he will be able to pitch through the end of the season. He is supposedly ready to go and feels good, and the Indians are looking to get him out to an affiliate very soon.
Shortstop Tony Wolters recently returned to game activity after being sidelined with a broken hamate bone in his right hand. He is slowly progressing up to full nine inning games and getting ready for the season. When he is ready will dictate where he goes.
Double-A Akron right-handed pitcher Bryan Price is recovering well from right shoulder inflammation which sidelined him a few weeks ago. He threw a sim game earlier in the week and is close to being activated.
Double-A Akron right-handed pitcher Connor Graham is throwing sim games and working his way back in rehab from some shoulder discomfort that came down just before the start of the season. He is still a few weeks away from returning to action.
Right-handed pitcher Hector Ambriz is progressing well from his Tommy John surgery he had back on October 1st. He has had no setbacks and still in the rehab stage and not close to any game activity. He likely will not pitch anywhere in the Cleveland organization this year.
Triple-A Columbus catcher Paul Phillips has been limited of late because of a hamstring strain, but has been able to get into a few games of late.
Triple-A Columbus right-handed pitcher Joe Martinez took a line drive off his wrist last Thursday, but is okay and missed little time as he was back in action on Wednesday.
High-A Kinston catcher Roberto Perez missed a few days because he was hit in the face by a thrown ball during batting practice on Monday. He returned to the lineup on Wednesday.
Mills returns
Mills, 24, is looking to rebound from not only the injury but also two sub par seasons at Akron the past two years. In 2009 he hit .267 with 14 HR, 83 RBI, and a .724 OPS and in a return trip to Akron last year hit just .241 with 10 HR, 72 RBI, and a .689 OPS.
The Indians have challenged Mills to improve upon his performance. He shows flashes of his very good potential, but they want to see it more consistently over the course of the season. The Indians love his professionalism and maturity, and his defense is adequate at first base, but right now it is all about finding a way to jumpstart his powerful bat and getting his once promising career back on track.
Adams keeps improving
Adams, 24, is a former shortstop with loads of athleticism. At 5’11” 185 pounds he comes at hitters from a small, compact position, but is armed with a plus fastball which has touched 99 MPH this year and has a very good power curveball. He is very aggressive on the mound where he pitches with no fear and goes right after hitters. He is one of the most competitive and disciplined pitchers in the entire organization.
Adams is still working on developing as a pitcher since this is only his second season as a full time pitcher. He has come a long way, but is still developing a feel for pitching as he mostly relies purely on stuff and his aggressive mentality rather than on location and command. As he develops that feel for pitching and continues to pick up all the nuances that come with being a pitcher his future is unlimited. He was pegged as a Major League late inning reliever going into the season, but now has a chance to develop into a starter if he continues to improve on his strike throwing ability and develops at least one average pitch to go along with his very good fastball-curveball combination.
Kluber finally has good outing
Things did not get off to a good start for Kluber on Monday as he struggled through a 32-pitch first inning and it appeared that the start would be another rough one like the six previous outings, but he found a rhythm and started attacking the strike zone by throwing all of his pitches for strikes and keeping the ball down in the zone. His effective showing from the second inning on could be attributed to some of the work he and Triple-A Columbus pitching coach Ruben Niebla have done recently to work on his mechanics.
It was Kluber’s best start of the season by far, and maybe a building block to help him right the ship on what has been a tough season for him so far. Not only is he struggling on the mound, but he is also coming back from a scary incident late in spring training when he was hit in the head with a line drive off the bat of Jason Kipnis.
Diaz has some potential
But for Diaz, 22, to make it to the big leagues he is going to have to improve upon his offensive abilities. In 36 games for Akron he is hitting .245 with 3 HR, 15 RBI and a .696 OPS. He has good size at 6’4” and 200 pounds and he is a switch hitter, so there are some things to like from both a physical and versatile standpoint. He shows a good feel for hitting from both sides of the plate and has some pop where he could be a solid doubles hitter down the road.
The biggest key for Diaz as a hitter is to develop his approach at the plate, mostly with his plate discipline to strikeout out less and walk more as he has 34 strikeouts and 11 walks in 147 at bats this season.
Drennen suspended
In 36 games for Akron this season Drennen, 24, is hitting .256 with 3 HR, 15 RBI, and a .811 OPS. This no doubt is an unfortunate situation for him and is a mistake he will learn from going forward. It will be interesting when he returns if it has tainted his standing in any way with the Indians, and maybe even other teams as the timing of the incident is terrible considering he is a minor league free agent this offseason.
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).
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