Wolters' talents showing at Mahoning Valley

Tony Wolters (Photo: Lianna Holub)

Things are finally getting back to normal for short season Single-A Mahoning Valley shortstop Tony Wolters.

Sidelined in the spring with a broken hamate bone to his right hand, Wolters had surgery to remove it and rehabbed before playing in extended spring training games out in Arizona in May. When Mahoning Valley's season kicked off on June 17th, the Indians assigned him there to get his first true exposure to pro ball. He has responded well so far hitting .300 with 1 HR, 7 RBI, and a .852 OPS in 23 games.

Wolters, who just turned 19-years old in June, admits that the hand is still not a 100% and that there was initially some apprehension on his part when he first came back in fear of reinjuring it. All that having been said he is glad to be out playing again and for the most part injury free.

“Yeah, I am past it as I don’t even think about it anymore," Wolters said about the injury. "It is still a little tender, but I am feeling good, it is gone, and it is never going to happen again. Hopefully we don’t take a chance with the other hand (laughs).”

It has been a little over a year now since the Indians selected Wolters in the third round of the 2010 Draft fresh out of high school. With the injury behind him and almost a full year living the life as a pro ball player under his belt, he feels he is finally starting to settle in.

"I love playing baseball every day," Wolters beamed. "I still get kind of nervous and excited before every game, but I am starting to feel normal. I am just trying to get back into the swing of things and getting consistent.”

The Indians are obviously very high on Wolters as you do not often see a player a year out of high school and barely 19 years old playing in the NY-Penn League. It is a league often loaded with college players who are much more experienced, and a lot of times has a lot of the top college talent from the most recent draft.

Even with the age disadvantage Wolters' talents are showing. He brings a lot of potential as a defender and hitter, and his early numbers are impressive. He has nine extra base hits in 90 at bats, nine stolen bases, has demonstrated a good approach walking 12 times while only striking out 13 times, and has a very good .396 on-base percentage. Those kind of peripheral numbers are expected more from a more advanced college player and not from a young, inexperienced high school player such as him.

Some of the success can be attributed to Wolters and the Indians revamping his swing since turning pro.

“I changed my whole swing as it is now 100% different," Wolters explained. "Just everything with my hands and how I am using my legs. It was kind of a mutual agreement [to make the change]. I recently talked to [hitting coach] Tony Mansolino and he said he wanted me to find something and stick with it and be consistent and become comfortable with it. I have been doing that and feeling good lately, hitting the ball hard and solid, and getting backspin on it. I feel like I am getting that consistency and I just need to stick with it and keep the approach.”

It is not very common for a highly regarded player to make such a drastic change with their swing so early in the process as a professional, but Wolters believes it was a necessary change

“It was everything," Wolters said. "[It was] my steps as I was always out in front, my hips were leaking, my hands were diving down, and I wasn’t getting inside the ball. Everything was just kind of going wrong and I was trying to do too much. So we simplified it by adding a leg kick to get a little more power and to get my rhythm going.”

While Wolters is going through the adjustment process with his refined swing, nothing has been changed with his defense. Defense is something he loves to do, and he shows all the actions and ability at this point in his career to be a Major League quality middle infielder.

“Defense is my thing and what I like to do," Wolters said. "I'm having a lot of fun playing with Todd Hankins our second baseman. I feel good defensively and just want to play my game and relax.”

Wolters and most of his Mahoning Valley teammates have been playing a game every night for almost four weeks straight as last night was their first off night since the start of the season. Wolters has been a staple in the lineup, appearing in 23 of Mahoning Valley's 25 games. Learning to play every day is something players new to pro ball learn to do at the short season and rookie level. It is a tough adjustment to make as many players begin to tire out by mid-to-late July because they are not used to the grind of playing every day.

"So far I am feeling great and I am not feeling tired," Wolters said. "I am actually getting good sleep so my body is rejuvenating itself well. I am feeling good but I think in the next month or so I will really feel it. I think playing for USA Baseball really has helped me with that too as we played every day.”

The 2011 season is going very fast as we are already in the middle of July. In about eight weeks Wolters will be packing his bags in Mahoning Valley - or Lake County if promoted there - and getting set for Instructional League in the fall. Between now and then he just wants to work on becoming a more consistent hitter and defender.

“I want to stay consistent with my swing and take the same approach into every at bat and not lose focus," Wolters said. "That is the main goal. Defensively I want to try to be as perfect as I can be. Also to have fun. If I don’t keep it fun it is not going to be a good year.”

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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