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| Cole Cook (Photo: Lianna Holub) |
Another season has come and gone….I swear it that just yesterday I was boarding a plane for spring training to get ready to kickoff the 2011 coverage. Wow how this year flew.
And with that so did another season of Minor Happenings. This will be the last installment of Minor Happenings until next April, but things will continue to be busy up until then with lots of stuff to cover from Instructional League, the Arizona Fall League, winter leagues, roster moves, the Rule 5 Draft, and of course the new 2012 Indians prospect rankings. If things work out I may also have one more Minor Happenings late next week with a year end review with Vice President of Player Development Ross Atkins. Plus the 2011 Tony Awards will start to be unveiled next week!
I also want to take this time to thank everyone for the continued support with the site and for reading. I also want to give an extra special thanks to everyone for their support back in April when I learned of my cancer diagnosis, and for their continued words of encouragement, thoughts and prayers.
As I alluded to last week some changes are coming to the site….I am getting closer to unveiling those changes. Maybe by next weekend, and certainly in the next two weeks.
As a side note, I will be making my final baseball trip of the season from October 11th to October 15th to catch the end of Instructional League and see a few games in the Arizona Fall League. So be on the lookout for some direct reports from Arizona soon, but in the meantime I will continue to chime in with near-daily updates on the happenings in Instructs and everything else.
Onto the Happenings…
Cook sidelined late in the year
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| Cole Cook |
This was not the kind of pro debut the Indians probably envisioned from Cook, a player they invested a 5th round pick and paid a handsome bonus to last year. He actually was showing signs of coming around and was pitching better in the second half as even with the blow up in his last game he still managed to go 3-3 with a 3.89 ERA in seven starts after the All Star break. But the elbow injury ruined any opportunity for him to try and continue that success into August and the rest of the season.
Cook’s improved performance in the second half was the result of him becoming more comfortable and focused on the mound. Early in the season he was still adjusting to the five day routine as a starter in the pros versus the seven day routine starting pitchers have in college. He was also working through some delivery adjustments to help him be more consistent with repeating his delivery so his fastball command and his secondary pitches would improve.
Cook has a lot of confidence in his fastball and changeup, but in addition to improving his fastball command his slider needs more work to become a more dependable, effective third pitch. He is a pitch-to-contact guy so he will likely never be a high strikeout pitcher, so commanding all of his pitches is vital to his future success. He has some very good work ethic and is very intelligent – some would say sometimes to a fault. He is a tall, skinny pitcher who has a lot of moving parts in his delivery, something that in the past he has described as Ichabod Crane on the mound and a “bowl of spaghetti” coming at you.
Cook recently had some more tests on the elbow, but the results on whether or not the damage is more extensive and whether any surgery will be involved is unknown at this time. The performance this season and the elbow injury to end it are very concerning, but provided he checks out he is still pretty raw and there is a lot to like about him going forward. With his first season in the books and lots of downtime this offseason to get healthy and prepare for next year, the hope is that next season things start to come together for him.
Cook looks like another Gomez
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| Clayton Cook |
Cook’s numbers were not as eye-catching as his previous efforts with the rookie level Gulf Coast League Indians in 2008 (2.52 ERA, .217 BAA), short season Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2009 (2.79 ERA, .224 BAA), and Low-A Lake County in 2010 (3.35 ERA, .244 BAA), but nonetheless it was another solid season. It is interesting to note that he allowed four runs or less in 21 of his 25 starts this year, three runs or less in 19 of his 25 starts, and two runs or less in 17 of his 25 starts.
Cook’s poor numbers are the result of four terrible outings where he allowed 9 runs in 1.0 inning on April 27th, 7 runs in 4.0 innings on July 11th, 6 runs in 2.1 innings on August 21st, and 6 runs in 0.2 innings on September 2nd. He allowed 26 of his 62 earned runs (42%) in those four starts covering 8.0 innings, and without those four outings he would have had a 2.83 ERA on the year.
As Cook mentioned in an article for the IPI two weeks ago he wants to work on his consistency in order to best avoid those big blow ups. He struggled some down the stretch with his command and suffered from a small bout of wildness, but in the end he still finished with another strong season. The Indians often compare him to right-hander Jeanmar Gomez, and for comparison sake when Gomez was in Kinston at the same age back in 2008 he went 5-9 with a 4.55 ERA (138.1 IP, 154 H, 46 BB, 110 K). There are definitely a lot of similarities both in performance but also in stuff and ability.
Director’s Cuts
Indians Vice President of Player Development Ross Atkins spent a lot of time going back and forth between Triple-A Columbus and High-A Kinston the last two weeks watching them in the playoffs. Here are some recent comments on the teams and players there:
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| Ross Atkins |
On Clayton Cook, Michael Goodnight, and Mike Rayl: “Those three guys are all solid Major League prospects. They have a long way to go and have a lot of work to do with their consistency that still needs to come, but all three are interesting. Cook has the youth on his side, has a solid three pitch mix, and reminds me a lot of Jeanmar Gomez when he was a young player. Goodnight is a guy who has a really, really strong projectable delivery. Rayl has an incredible feel to pitch and is a left-hander with the ability to get a strikeout. All three have the intangibles to potentially become Major League starters.
On Jared Goedert: “He had a relatively quiet year, but it has been a good, solid year for him. He was in the middle of that lineup and was probably the biggest threat that they had. He made some progress at third base because of the opportunities that were created for him and he took advantage of them. He really had consistent at bats and really a solid year. We are certainly glad to have him on the roster and in the mix as part of this organization.”
On Beau Mills: “Beau is that guy that over the course of the year has not performed quite at the level he would like or we would like, but when the game is on the line there is not a staff member in the organization that would not want him at the plate because of his fight, his confidence, and with him wanting to be the guy. Hopefully that intangible for him can turn into more consistency and become one of the best players in the world because that is what it will take to crack into the big leagues to play first base at the Major League level.”
On Nick Johnson: “He has been an incredible influence on all of those young hitters and all of the guys transitioning now. He has helped the guys transitioning back and those transitioning back up and really been a positive influence. All the while he has been dealing with a very, very frustrating injury. As a hitter to have something going on with your wrist has to be one of the most challenging issues to deal with because hitting is such a fine motor skill and there is such an importance to have a feel for your hands and an awareness of the bat. A wrist is integral in that. He has absolutely powered through it. He is not 100%, but he has not looked back. He doesn’t need to play as he is playing for his love of baseball. He has been an unbelievable professional to our organization this year.”
On Corey Kluber: “He has finished strong. He pitched exceptionally well in August and had a fine Major League debut and he will get another opportunity to show what he can do in the Major Leagues at some point. We are hopeful that the fastball command will come so that he can get to the slider and changeup that are very good Major League weapons.”
On Mitch Talbot: “He is an interesting story. He has found some things that are helping him be more consistent right now. He really is a pitcher that is better than Triple-A. He needs to be more consistent to be a solid Major League pitcher, and he knows that. I think health has had a lot to do with that and his overall durability. We really have had no issues this year with players not handling transitions up and down well. It really is a testament to the job that scouting does and that Chris and baseball operations have done to get in not just quality baseball players but quality people. It certainly makes our lives in player development a lot easier when we are dealing with the consummate professionals, and Mitch has certainly been that.”
Holt shows promise
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| Tyler Holt |
Holt, 22, is a tablesetter and he did that this season with a .365 on-base percentage which ranked 2nd best in the league thanks to his league leading 78 walks. When he got on base he created havoc for pitchers by getting in their heads because of his ability to go from first to third or home and his ability to steal bases. His 34 stolen bases ranked 3rd in the league, and he was caught only six times all season (85% success rate).
The Indians worked with Holt earlier in the year to get him to relax his front elbow in his stance to create a better bat angle so he could hit breaking balls better. The subtle change allowed him to see the ball better and have a more consistent swing path through the zone on all pitches. He is an instinctive, aggressive player that works counts well and is not afraid to take pitches and fall behind in the count, so if the consistency with his bat-to-ball and his swing improves he could make a leap forward next season.
Martinez impresses late
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| Joe Martinez |
Martinez, 28, pitched in any role needed this season where he pitched in the bullpen, made spot starts, and eventually finished the season as a starter. He also saw a velocity increase this year where coming into the year he was pitching more at 88-91 MPH but by season’s end was consistently at 91-94 MPH all year. The velocity spike was a result of him becoming more comfortable on the mound and working to stay behind the ball and not spinning off so much. He showed good ability to sink the ball to both sides of the plate and has a good feel for his changeup and breaking ball.
Martinez is not much of a prospect anymore but has proven to be good Major League depth pitching at the Triple-A level. He does not have an arsenal that allows him to get away with mistakes, and he has a tendency to flatten out at the top of the zone which is when he really gets hurt. That said he has all the intangibles to be a solid depth arm for a Major League organization. He is a minor league free agent this offseason so will probably look around for better big league opportunities in other organizations, but there is a chance he could return to the Indians next year.
Random Notes
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| Marty Popham |
High-A Kinston right-handed pitcher Preston Guilmet had an outstanding season closing games this season and for his efforts was named the Carolina League’s Reliever of the Year. He finished 48 of the 52 games he appeared in and went 35-for-36 in save opportunities. He went 1-1 with a 2.16 ERA, and in 58.1 innings allowed 43 hits, 11 walks, and had 60 strikeouts. He does not have dominating stuff, but he comes from a unique straight over the top angle that helps him get great leverage on hitters and he throws strikes. He is also very composed and thrives on pitching in tough situations and just battles when he is on the mound.
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| Mike Rayl |
High-A Kinston first baseman Jesus Aguilar had one of the best seasons offensively in the entire Indians’ minor league system. In 126 combined games between Kinston and Low-A Lake County he hit .284 with 23 HR, 82 RBI, and a .865 OPS. He has a lot of power and the Indians believe that he can also become a very good defender at first base. There is a lot to be excited about with him going into next year where he will likely open the season at High-A Carolina.
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). Use discount code 2Z6F362B to receive 40% off the book through the site store!
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