Indians Top 50: #13 Jason Kipnis

Jason Kipnis - Second Baseman
Born: 04/03/1987 - Height: 5'10" - Weight: 175 - Bats: Left - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	Avg	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009	22	Mahoning Vy	A-	29	111	19	34	8	3	1	19	15	18	3	.306	.388	.459	.847
		Totals		29	111	19	34	8	3	1	19	15	18	3	.306	.388	.459	.847

History: Kipnis was selected by the Indians in the 2nd round of the 2009 Draft out of Arizona State University.  He originally enrolled and played for the University of Kentucky, but he was dismissed from the team after his red-shirt freshman season because of a rules violation, so transferred to Arizona State.  The Indians followed him extensively his three years in college and had him targeted in the 2008 Draft when he was a draft eligible sophomore but just missed out on him when the San Diego Padres selected him in the 4th round.  He did not sign with the Padres and came back for his junior season at Arizona State in 2009 and went on to win PAC-10 Player of the Year honors and was named a first team All-American.  He led Arizona State in almost every offensive category hitting .387 with 68 runs, 20 2B, 15 HR, 68 RBI, 47 walks, and 24 stolen bases.  He also had a .500 on-base average and .731 slugging percentage.  He only played 29 games for short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2009 because he did not sign until early July, but also because he had a minor elbow sprain that he suffered in the College World Series when he hyper-extended his elbow laying out for a ball in the outfield in a game against North Carolina.  He spent roughly three weeks rehabbing the injury in Mahoning Valley before he made his professional debut on August 3^rd.

Strengths & Opportunities:  Kipnis is an advanced, athletic hitter who has a nice compact, clean swing.  He has a polished approach at the plate with a discerning eye that packs a powerful punch in his small 5'10" 175-pound frame.  He has some incredible bat-to-ball ability, works counts, can hit with two strikes, gets on base, and doesn't strikeout a lot.  While he has more hit ability than power at this time, the Indians feel like he has a chance to hit with more power down the road.  In fact, his developing power may be his best tool because he has a knack for squaring up the ball and the ball just jumps off his bat to all fields.  While he is not very big he has excellent bat speed and strength to hit for power mostly because of some very strong wrists and forearms which help generate a lot of his power and whip the bat through the hitting zone.  One comparison made by an Indians official was that he reminds them some of former Texas Rangers big leaguer Rusty Greer.

Kipnis is a baseball player who is an intense competitor.  He plays the game with passion and very hard, goes all out, and is fun to watch.  While his speed is only just a tick above average, he can steal a base and shows a good success rate because of his good instincts on the bases and intelligence as a player.  Unlike most hitters, Kipnis had a lot of experience with wood bats in high school and college having used them in high school tournaments and in college summer leagues in the Virginia Valley League in 2007 and Cape Cod League in 2008.  His barrel late in the season at Mahoning Valley was getting a little slower and loopy, so an adjustment was made to shorten up his swing by keeping his hands in front of his head to provide a shorter path.  The Indians are also working on leveling out his swing as he has a minor uppercut.

The biggest question mark for Kipnis is where he fits on the field as going into the draft the past two years this was the primary concern among teams.  The Indians left him in the outfield for his professional debut in Mahoning Valley, but after the season decided to try him out at second base during the Fall Instructional League.  His performance at second base during the instructional period earned him rave reviews not only by the Indians, but from several scouts from other teams as well.  One rival scout out in Instructional League said "if he can stick there he has the bat that could make him explode as a prospect."

While Kipnis is only considered an average defender in the outfield, he is very athletic and has the versatility to play any outfield position.  He also displays good instincts and gets good jumps on balls.  His throwing arm is a tick below average, easily the weakest tool in his arsenal.  The problem is he really does not fit anywhere in the outfield as an everyday major league player as he lacks the plus range of a center fielder and lacks the big bat teams covet from a corner outfielder.  As a result, he kind of gets lots in the shuffle as an outfielder and is just another solid prospect.  As a second baseman his offensive tools play up and increase his value tremendously.  The move to second base makes him move valuable, and worst case is if he can't play there everyday it should provide some versatility for him down the road.

Kipnis has experience at second base as he played there in high school and originally enrolled at the University of Kentucky as a shortstop. He also prefers to play the position, which is a big plus when making a position switch as it always helps when the player is 100% on board with the change.  The Indians are confident he has the footwork, hands, and comfort level with turning double plays.  He doesn't have the natural actions of an infielder and he certainly needs lots of work with coaching and reps at second base, but the feeling is he can be at least an average defender there.  Such a change would boost his value as with his bat he would just be at best a fringe corner outfield prospect or an average center field prospect, but as a second baseman his bat plays up big at the position to where he becomes a potential impact player there offensively.

Outlook:  Kipnis' path to the big leagues as an everyday player looks to be second base or bust.  He was nothing special as an outfielder and just a regular guy, but as a second baseman his bat and ability there puts him in the upper-echelon of second base prospects in minor league baseball.  If he stays healthy and handles the position change well, he has the potential to be a player who can put up a high on-base percentage and plus slugging from the position.  The Indians were very encouraged with what he showed at second base in Instructional League for five weeks, and are full steam ahead at least for 2010 in keeping him there to see how he develops and adapts to the position.  He could move quickly through the system given his advanced hitting ability, though the change to second base will likely slow him down some for at least 2010.  He should open the 2010 season as the starting second baseman at advanced Single-A Kinston.

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr

Jason Kipnis MinorLeagueBaseball.com page

Jason Kipnis Baseball-Reference page

Jason Kipnis MinorLeagueSplits.com page

Jason Kipnis Hitting:

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Indians Top 50: #14 Tony Sipp

Tony Sipp - Left-handed Pitcher
Born: 07/12/1983 - Height: 6'0" - Weight: 190 - Bats: Left - Throws: Left

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2004	20	Mahoning	A-	3	1	3.16	10	0	42.2	33	15	5	13	74	.212	2.8	15.8	1.09
2005	21	Lake Co	A	4	1	2.22	13	0	69.0	47	17	5	19	71	.196	2.5	9.3	0.96
2005	21	Kinston	A+	2	2	2.66	22	2	47.1	34	14	4	23	59	.205	4.4	11.3	1.21
2006	22	Akron	AA	4	2	3.13	29	3	60.1	44	21	2	21	80	.201	3.1	12.0	1.08
2007	23	Injured	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	24	GCL Indians	R	0	0	0.00	3	0	4.0	0	0	0	1	4	.000	2.3	9.0	0.25
2008	24	Kinston	A+	0	0	1.13	5	0	8.0	4	1	0	3	10	.148	3.4	11.3	0.88
2008	24	Akron	AA	0	3	3.74	16	1	21.2	19	9	4	7	32	.235	3.0	13.6	1.23
2009	25	Columbus	AAA	1	0	3.71	12	1	17.0	17	7	1	6	22	.254	3.2	11.6	1.35
2009	25	Cleveland	MLB	2	0	2.93	46	0	40.0	27	13	5	25	48	.194	5.6	10.8	1.30
		MiLB		14	9	2.80	156	7	270.0	198	84	21	93	352	.205	3.1	11.7	1.08
		MLB		2	0	2.93	46	0	40.0	27	13	5	25	48	.194	5.6	10.8	1.30

History: The Indians selected Sipp in the 45th round of the 2004 Draft out of Clemson University.  The pick was a gamble by the Indians, as Sipp was an outfielder who had only pitched in 22 career college games and many felt he would be too costly to sign. After he impressed the Indians in the Cape Cod League they gladly paid him an unheard of $130,000 to sign for a 45^th rounder.  His career was sidetracked for two years from 2007-2008 from an elbow injury that shut him down at the end of spring training in 2007 and then resulted in Tommy John surgery in July of 2007.  He spent the rest of 2007 and 2008 rehabbing from the injury and was not 100% until the beginning of last year.

Strengths & Opportunities: Sipp is a converted outfielder who has made an exceptional transition into pitching.  He is a power-armed pitcher who has an impressive three-pitch arsenal fronted by a plus fastball and plus-plus slider that both grade out as out pitches at the major league level.  His fastball has good life and movement consistently coming in at 91-94 MPH and has flashed 95 MPH in the past and his quick arm action and excellent deception makes it look a lot faster.  His slider is a major league weapon with wipeout ability showing good tilt and late action.  He has a good feel for an average changeup, which is a good change of pace pitch so hitters can't sit on his slider and fastball.

Sipp gets a lot of swing and misses with his electric fastball-slider combo, consistently putting up some of the highest swing and miss percentages in the Indians' system since signing with them.  Not only is he tough on left-handers, but his deception in his delivery troubles right-handers who have a hard time picking up the ball out of his hand.  He does not have a traditional left-handed delivery since he is a little bit open and therefore can really attack lefties and righties the same.  He is also extremely athletic which allows him to consistently repeat his delivery and field his position exceptionally well.  He is also tough on base-runners as he controls a running game well.  He is a very aggressive, fearless pitcher on the mound, and has amazing aptitude.  Even when he is not on, he has guts and a certain toughness about him that finds a way to get outs and get out of a jam.

It all comes down to fastball command with Sipp.  He was inconsistent with his command last year, so it led to a high amount of walks.  Command is usually the last thing to return after a pitcher has Tommy John surgery, so this should surely improve this coming season since he has a full season played in the books since his surgery.  Nonetheless, it is the most important part of his development to finish him off.  If he can consistently throw it over the plate at a high percentage, then he immediately becomes even more dominating and into the special category of major league relievers.  He is a little under-sized so he still needs to prove he can be durable and stay healthy.  While he made it through unscathed with no injury setbacks last year, in addition to the elbow surgery he has a history of injuries in his past such as a shoulder issue last offseason as well as an oblique injury and left elbow inflammation in 2006.  He also needs to continue working his changeup into his pitch mix and develop more consistent command with it.

Outlook:  Finally a 100% from his elbow surgery last year, Sipp once again showed why he was thought of as one of the top relief prospects in all of baseball going into 2007.  He no longer had any restrictions and was pain free, and went out and pitched like a man with a purpose.  The Indians love his potential as a dominant late-inning reliever, a role he had several opportunities to pitch in with the big league club last year.  He has established himself as a fixture in the Indians bullpen for the foreseeable future, and will open the 2010 season in a setup role in the Cleveland bullpen.

Photo courtesy of Tony Lastoria

Tony Sipp MinorLeagueBaseball.com page

Tony Sipp Baseball-Reference page

Tony Sipp MinorLeagueSplits.com page

Tony Sipp Pitching:

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Smoke Signals 3/4: Bullpen Preview & Josh Judy

Paul Cousineau and I are back on the cyberwaves tonight from 9:30-10:30 PM EST on the eve of the start of Cactus League play.  This week we discuss the start of game action in spring training and continue our preview of the 2010 Cleveland Indians, this time taking a look at the bullpen.  We will look at how the backend of the bullpen should be setup, the plethora of intriguing young arms set to open in Cleveland as well as in Columbus, and look at some of the potential sleepers this season who could impact later in the year.  The link to listen live or to the podcast is below:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theclevelandfan/2010/03/05/smoke-signals

Also, at the halfway point of the show at 10:00 PM EST we will have right-handed relief pitching prospect Josh Judy on the show as our guest this week.  Judy is an up-and-coming relief pitching prospect in the Indians system who is now on the cusp of breaking into the big leagues, and we will talk to him about his ascension up the Indians depth charts in the minor leagues and what may be in store for him in 2010.

Feel free to call us at 646-716-8012 or e-mail us at tlastoria@indiansprospectinsider.com with any questions you may have for us or for Josh.

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Galeti Joins STO For New Call-In Show

SportsTime Ohio today announced that a new late night live call-in show will be added to the April schedule and hosted by Chuck Galeti.

Chuck’s Last Call will debut following the Indians – White Sox game on April 7th. He will take calls and emails to discuss the latest in Ohio sports.

Galeti, a Normandy High School graduate, was previously WOIO Channel 19’s sports anchor. He has over twenty years of experience covering sports in Cleveland and Youngstown, having previously worked at WKYC Channel 3 and WTAM 1100.

“I’ve been in radio and television for 23 years and to finally have my own show that puts the fans first is great. I’m thrilled to be on SportsTime Ohio and the fact that they are giving me this opportunity is fantastic,” said Galeti.

Tune in to Chuck’s Last Call beginning April 7th after the Indians game live on SportsTime Ohio.

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Indians Top 50: #15 Jordan Brown

Jordan Brown - Outfielder
Born: 12/18/1983 - Height: 6'0" - Weight: 205 - Bats: Left - Throws: Left

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	Avg	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005	21	Mahoning	A-	19	75	15	19	1	0	3	7	3	7	2	.253	.291	.387	.678
2006	22	Kinston	A+	125	473	71	137	26	7	15	87	51	59	4	.290	.362	.469	.831
2007	23	Akron	AA	127	483	85	161	36	2	11	76	63	56	11	.333	.421	.484	.905
2008	24	Buffalo	AAA	109	420	52	118	30	3	7	51	35	67	3	.281	.337	.417	.754
2009	25	Columbus	AAA	111	417	65	140	35	1	15	67	30	64	2	.336	.381	.532	.913
		Totals		491	1868	288	575	128	13	51	288	182	253	22	.308	.374	.472	.846

History:  Brown was selected by the Indians in the 4th round of the 2005 Draft out of the University of Arizona.  He won the Carolina League MVP Award at High-A Kinston in 2006, and followed that up with the Eastern League MVP Award at Double-A Akron in 2007 where his .333 batting average also won him the league batting title.  His back-to-back MVP seasons in 2006 and 2007 are only rivaled by Victor Martinez as he won the Carolina League MVP in 2001 and the Eastern League MVP in 2002 in successive years just like Brown.  Last year at Triple-A Columbus he won his second minor league batting title by hitting .336 to take home the International League batting crown.  He also finished 6^th in the league in hits (140), 5^th in doubles (35), 4^th in total bases (222), 8^th in on-base percentage (.381), 3^rd in slugging percentage (.532), and 5^th in OPS (.913).

Strengths & Opportunities:  Brown is a persistent, pure hitter with incredible hand-eye coordination and a passion for hitting.  He is a tough out as he has an exhausting approach at the plate that wears a pitcher down because he battles on every pitch and is one of the best hitters in minor league baseball at bat-to-ball ability and making hard, consistent contact.  He is very disciplined and gets on-base at a very good clip, and is a consistent performer with few long hot/cold streaks.  He has good gap power and piles up doubles at a good rate to where it is believed that he should be a .300+ hitter that can hit 15-20 home runs a year in the big leagues.  While he only has average speed, he is an intelligent, heady runner on the bases.  He is as strong-willed as they come and extremely mentally tough.  He is one of the hardest workers in the system as he is not gifted with great physical abilities, but his outstanding work ethic and intelligence help make up for it.

Adopting an approach at the plate like Brown has is very rare as few players have the ability to put the bat on the ball at a consistent rate like he does.  He actually came into the Indians system sort of as a hacker, and it wasn't until after his first year in the system he understood the value of getting good pitches to hit.  He understands that he can not do damage early in the count with marginal pitches, and he has developed into one of the best strike zone managers in baseball.  His one substandard year was his 2008 season at Buffalo, but a lot of that was the result of a poor first half where he hit .267 with a .710 OPS because he was dealing with a knee injury, but in the second half of that season he hit .311 with an .848 OPS.  Aside from that so-so first half performance to open the 2008 season in Buffalo, he has been a model of consistency over his entire five year professional career hitting around or above .300 and piling up lots of doubles.

Brown's sweet swing and approach at the plate makes him a major league ready bat right now, and he has been compared to players like Sean Casey, Mark Grace, and John Olerud because of the good gap power, sweet swing, and ability to hit for high average.  While he may hit like Casey, Grace, and Olerud, the biggest difference is all three of those players were above average or better defensive first basemen while Brown is not.  In fact, depending on who you talk to he is viewed by many as a below average to average first baseman.  For this reason alone it is why he has yet to appear in a big league game.  The Indians have moved him off of first base and have committed to him as a full time outfielder.  There is always the possibility he could go back to first base down the road and he could play there from time to time to make him versatile to the big league team, but they seem convinced his future with the team as an everyday player is in the outfield.  He came into the system with little experience as an outfielder, but played the entire 2006 season at High-A Kinston in the outfield and spent most of last season at Triple-A Columbus out there and also played every game in winter ball this past offseason in the outfield.  He has worked hard to become a fringe average defender in left field which is a testament to his strong work ethic and athleticism.  He has made a lot of strides, but he still has a long way to go and needs to tighten up his defense out there.

In addition to his issues defensively, the other thing that holds Brown back is as a corner player he does not possess the big bat teams typically like to see play at first base or left field.  For a player like Brown who hits for a high average and just average power, teams require the player to be an impact defender at one of those two positions, which obviously he is not.  For him to have any chance at an everyday job he needs to continue working on his outfield defense with his route running and jumps he gets on balls.  He has also had some injury problems throughout his professional career, which is a red flag.  He suffered a hand injury in 2005 which limited him to only 19 games at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley, he had scar tissue and bone chips in his knee which led to arthroscopic surgery after his 2007 season at Akron, he suffered from patellar tendonitis to his left knee in 2008 at Buffalo which affected him for most of the first half of the season there, and last year he had a shoulder injury in August which sidelined him for three weeks.  While there are few if any things he needs work on as a hitter, he does need to continue working on putting up consistent at bats and get better at learning to understand and identify the way opposing pitchers are pitching to him.

Outlook:  Brown was seemingly left for dead by national pundits and the fans after a so-so 2008 season which resulted in him not getting rostered that offseason or any team selecting him in the Rule 5 Draft.  However, he came back with a chip on his shoulder last year and proved all the doubters wrong that he could hit Triple-A pitching and is one of the best hitters in the minors.  He plays a position where the Indians have some depth and where the industry has some depth, so it is a hard position to crack into the major leagues.  Even still, his ability to make consistent contact is something that should get him to Cleveland at some time in 2010, but at present he is more a depth option because Matt LaPorta is expected to be the opening day first baseman and Michael Brantley the opening day left fielder.  LaPorta had offseason surgery to his toe and hip, so he could be slow to return, and if that happens perhaps Brown could open the year in Cleveland.  However, if there are no injuries in spring training, he should open the season at Triple-A Columbus.  He could also be an attractive trading chip for the Indians to use in a package to acquire a need elsewhere on the team.

Photo courtesy of Tony Lastoria

Jordan Brown MinorLeagueBaseball.com page

Jordan Brown Baseball-Reference page

Jordan Brown MinorLeagueSplits.com page

Jordan Brown Hitting:

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Looking Back at the Draft: 1986

The year is 1986.

France and Great Britain announce plans to begin construction on The Chunnel. The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster shocks the world. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union has an accident, killing over 4,000 and contaminating the area for decades. Roger Clemens strikes out 20 batters in a game, a record at the time. Len Bias is drafted #2 overall by Boston, and dies of a cocaine overdose less than 48 hrs later. Bill Buckner's error paves the way for the Mets to beat the Red Sox in the World Series. The Indians improved to 84-78, with Joe Carter, Pat Tabler, Tony Bernazard and Julio Franco all batting over .300 for the season.

Indians 1st round pick: Based on their 102 losses in 1985, the Indians were "rewarded" with the #2 overall pick in the 1986 draft. They used it on lefthander Greg Swindell out of the University of Texas. Swindell signed on July 31, and actually went 5-2 in 9 starts with the big club the year he was drafted. His best season was as a 23-year old in 1989 when he went 18-14 with a 3.20 ERA and 180 K's in 242 IP. Swindell made the all-star team that year and had 12 complete games, including 4 shutouts. Despite this success at a young age, Swindell never quite made it from "good" to "dominant" on the hill. He hung around baseball for 17 seasons, finishing his career with an almost perfectly average 123-122 record and 107 ERA+. A solid career, but somewhat disappointing considering how much promise he was showing with some really bad Indians teams in the late 80's-early 90's.

Best 1st round pick: Gary Sheffield, his 509 career HR's and his occasionally serious mental issues were selected 6th overall by the Brewers. Doc Gooden's nephew was named to nine all-star teams, and finished both 3rd and 2nd in the MVP voting 12 years apart. That's pretty impressive, even if he seemed a little...off at times. Sheff hit over 40 HR's twice and drove in 100+ runs in eight seasons.

Honorable mention: The Giants selected Matt Williams 3rd overall; he went on to win 4 gold gloves and hit 378 career HR's, including 32 as a member of the 1997 Indians...Kevin Brown had several dominant years after being taken 4th overall by the Rangers, including 6 straight years of an ERA at or below 3.00; probably best known for getting hurt just after signing one of the richest contracts in MLB history...He was pretty much washed up by the time he became an Indian, but Roberto Hernandez did save 326 career games after being chosen 16th overall by the Angels.

Indians best pick: Almost by default, it's Swindell. But you want more that just an average major leaguer with a couple of really good seasons out of the #2 overall pick in the draft.

Honorable mention: In addition to being the guy you'd most want on your side in a bench clearing brawl, MMA fighter/career RP Rudy Seanez was the pick for the Tribe in the 4th round. Seanez managed to make 544 career appearances out of the bullpen and amass a total of 12 saves. He has a career record of 41-30 to go with a 4.10 ERA. Seanez still wants to play, and signed a minor league deal with the Angels prior to the 2009 season...catcher Tom Lampkin, selected in the 11th round, hung around long enough to hit 56 career HR's, including a career-high 10 as a 38-year old member of the Padres in his final season in 2002.

Best early round picks: The Los Angeles Angels had an amazing five 1st round picks (including 2 sandwich picks).  Out of the five, Lee Stevens, Roberto Hernandez and Mike Fetters all had some success in the majors...Boston took future ace Curt Schilling in the 2nd round of the January phase of the draft...The Cubs drafted grinder and future Yankee skipper Joe Girardi in the 5th round...Kansas City's first two picks never made the majors, but they made up for it by taking and signing Bo Jackson and Tom "Flash" Gordon in the 4th and 6th rounds, respectively...Pittsburgh hit big on their 1st round pick in the January draft, selecting OF Moises Alou.  If you want to learn something really interesting about Alou, type his name into Google and read the 1st search suggestion that comes up...Toronto got a future Cy Young award winner with their selection of Pat Hentgen in the 5th round...St. Louis got a solid 3B in the 2nd round when they took Todd Zeile.

Best late round picks: OF Eric Anthony was never great, but was pretty good value for the Astros in the 34th round...Oakland took closer Rod Beck in the 13th round, may he rest in peace...SS Rey Sanchez had a 15-year career after being chosen by the Rangers in the 13th round.  In those 15 seasons, Sanchez hit 15 HR's.

The ones that got away: The Braves almost had a steal with OF Steve Finley in the 11th round, but couldn't sign him.  They were also unable to come to terms with 27th round pick Ben McDonald...The Cubs were unable to sign Ray Lankford, who they chose in the 3rd round of the January draft...The 27th round was full of future all-stars who didn't sign in 1986, as the Mets took 1B John Olerud there as well...The Mets also selected but couldn't sign future all-star closer Todd Jones in the 41st round...Philly took future headcase Chuck Knoblauch in the 18th round, but he didn't sign.

Other interesting picks: The Angels selected future Indians slugging 1B Paul Sorrento in the 4th round.  Sorrento hit 166 career HR's, including 25 for the magical 1995 Indians squad...New Indians bullpen coach Scott Radinsky was chosen by the White Sox in the 3rd round...Continuing the theme of former Clippers coaching staff being drafted, the Royals took but didn't sign Tory Luvello in the 27th round...The Reds did the Indians a lot of favors with their 3rd and 6th round picks in 1986, selecting Reggie Jefferson and Eddie Taubensee, respectively.  Both players made their way to the Indians organization, where Jefferson was flipped along with Felix Fermin for Omar Vizquel, and Taubensee was dealt to Houston for a speedster by the name of Kenny Lofton.

Indians June 1986 draft:

1. Greg Swindell, LHP

2. Kevin Wickander, LHP
3. Joe Skalski, RHP
4. Rudy Seanez, RHP
5. Bruce Egloff, RHP
6. Steve Bird, RHP
7. Tommy Hinzo, 2B
8. Greg Fowble, SS
9. Ray Williamson, OF
10. Doyle Wilson, C
11. Tom Lampkin, C
12. Kent Maggard, RHP
13. Dan Davies, LHP
14. Kerry Richardson, 3B
15. Jeff Battaglia, OF
16. Kevin Kuykendall, RHP
17. Carl Chambers, LHP
18. Mark Pike, OF
19. Steve Hosey, OF
20. Jeff Simmelink, C
21. Scott Johnson, OF
22. Tom Gamba, 3B
23. Jim Richardson, 3B
24. Keith Seifert, C
25. Phil Dillmore, LHP
26. Abraham Walker, 2B
27. Kevin Bearse, LHP
28. Riley Polk, 2B
29. Mike Twardoskoi, OF
30. John Balis, 3B
31. James Hindulak, LHP
32. Dana Schmerer, LHP
33. Jonathan King, SS
34. Brad Wolten, OF
35. Luis Martinez, OF
36. Lewis Kent, C
37. Reggie Farmer, OF
38. Tom McGraw, LHP
39. Chad Allen, RHP
40. Shawn Rohrwild, RHP

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Indians Top 50: #16 Alexander Perez

Alexander Perez - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 07/24/1989 - Height: 6'2" - Weight: 156 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2007	17	DSL Indians	R	1	2	2.90	13	10	49.2	41	16	3	13	64	.218	2.4	11.7	1.10
2008	18	GCL Indians	R	2	4	4.26	10	9	50.2	37	24	5	16	49	.204	2.9	8.8	1.06
2009	19	Lake County	A	5	4	3.04	15	15	83.0	69	28	9	24	76	.223	2.6	8.2	1.12
2009	19	Kinston	A+	1	2	2.87	8	7	31.1	32	10	1	9	31	.264	2.6	9.0	1.32
		Totals		9	12	3.27	46	41	214.2	179	78	18	62	220	.224	2.6	9.2	1.13

History: Perez was signed by the Indians as an undrafted free agent in May 2007 out of the Dominican Republic.  He allowed two earned runs or less in 20 of his 23 outings last year, and in one of those three outings he allowed only three earned runs.  His most forgettable performance of the year last season was on May 21st when he went just three innings and allowed eight earned runs and four home runs.  He was shutdown for three weeks in August because of a sore shoulder.

Strengths & Opportunities: Perez throws a standard three pitch mix of a fastball, curveball and changeup. His fastball sits at 89-91 MPH and has touched 93 MPH, and his arm is so strong and works so easy that with maturity the Indians expect he is going to add more velocity.  He locates his fastball well to both sides of the plate with some sink to it.  His curveball and changeup are much more advanced than most players his age as the way he consistently throws them for strikes and his unbelievable command in the zone is something you don't see from pitchers his age.  Both are already above average pitches and both have the potential to be plus pitches and out pitches at the major league level, especially the curveball which is already a swing-and-miss pitch for him.  The curveball is the slightly better of the two pitches and shows some good, hard break to it, and he has the confidence and ability to throw it in any count he wants on any given day.  His changeup has okay action in the zone and is still improving, but his arm action is so good that it fools the hitter right out of the hand that it gets them out on their front foot.

Perez has proven to be one of the best pitchers in the organization at controlling what he can control by limiting their walks, getting strikeouts, and putting the ball on the ground.  He shows a good feel for pitching, and with his exceptional secondary stuff, if his fastball comes and he is consistently sitting in the low 90s with it he has the potential to be a consistent major league pitcher.  He has a little bit of deception in the way he throws as he is kind of very soft when he breaks his hands and leaves the rubber and then all of a sudden has a very fast arm.  He is a very loose bodied pitcher, and has a good frame that should fill out and blow up the next two seasons.  He is still tall and lanky, but has added about 25 pounds of weight to his frame since signing with the Indians in May of 2007 and will continue to do so.  When he is between the white lines he is focused on getting the job done, and whether he has a good or bad outing he remains positive and is the same kid coming into the locker room with the same smile.  He is a very mature player, and carries himself well.

While Perez has shown the ability to throw strikes and get hitters out with plus secondary stuff, going forward it is all about developing his confidence in his fastball.  He knows his secondary stuff is so good so it is easy for him to get caught up in using it, but the Indians want him to develop the fastball and increase his usage of it since it will be a key pitch in his arsenal as he moves up to the higher levels in the system.  After a very impressive performance the first half of the season at Low-A Lake County, the Indians sent him to High-A Kinston to challenge him and get him to understand that he needs to pitch and get outs with his fastball.  Near the end of the season he started to get better and better with his fastball usage which will allow him to pitch deeper into games in the future.  With his stuff he doesn't need a lot of velocity with his fastball to be successful, he just needs to command it well and understand how to attack the swing because he can command three pitches.

In addition to paying more attention to his fastball usage, Perez is also learning to refine himself as a pitcher.  The Indians have worked with him on keeping his head straight with his follow through as sometimes his head will pull off to the side which in turn affects his command.  They also have worked with him on tightening up his mannerisms on the mound as while he is just a very confident player he sometimes comes off as being cocky.  He is still tall and lanky, so adding more strength and bulk is a must if he is to be able to handle the workload of a starting pitcher.  He is still learning to more consistently pound the zone with his fastball and refine his secondary stuff, and once he does a better job of repeating his mechanics he'll have even better command of all his pitches.

Outlook:  Perez has the stuff to potentially be a front end of the rotation starter, but is more ideal projection is as a middle of the rotation big league starter.  The Indians have been high on him from the day they signed him, and he continues to elevate his prospect status every year and is now one of the top pitching prospects in the organization.  He is the next big pitching prospect coming up from the lower levels of the Indians system who should become much more of a household name over the coming years, and he is a player to definitely watch grow and develop the next few seasons.  He should open the 2010 season in the High-A Kinston starting rotation and potentially finish the season at Double-A Akron.

Photo courtesy of Tony Lastoria

Alexander Perez MinorLeagueBaseball.com page

Alexander Perez Baseball-Reference page

Alexander Perez MinorLeagueSplits.com page

Alexander Perez Pitching:

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IPI Inbox: White To Start, For Now

It is time for the second half of last week's IPI Inbox, this time to answer questions focused more on the Indians minor leaguers.  As always, if you have a question you would like answered, please feel free to contact me.

Eric T. wrote: Are [the Indians] going to use Alex White as a starter or reliever and when do you think we could see him I remember some saying as soon as late this year?

Me: White is going to be a starter this year and open at High-A Kinston. Putting him in the bullpen is something the Indians have decided to keep in their back pocket as he is just more valuable if he can start. With three above average pitches and the draft position he was taken, they almost have to see him through as a starter for at least all of this year. At this point the relief option will only be a fallback if they don't think he will translate well to the bigs as a starter. He won't be in Cleveland this year as there is no rush, but if things go extremely well there is an outside chance he could be with the team sometime in the second half of 2011, though seems very unlikely.

Eric T. wrote: Either our system is very deep or we didn’t do that great for one of the top set-up men in baseball [in trading Rafael Betancourt for Connor Graham who is only ranked #38 on the 2010 IPI list].

Me: Aside from Betancourt’s 2007 and 2008 seasons which went to both extremes of good and bad, he has been one of the most dependable and reliable relievers in the game the past six to seven years. When the Indians traded him a big part of the trade was dumping his salary, so finding a taker was limited to who would take on all of the remaining portion of his 2009 salary ($1.5 million) plus give a prospect in return. Remember too that he was on the disabled list in July with a strained groin, so that may have hurt his trade value some. The Indians were looking for some financial relief, so to my knowledge that was the main focus of the trade. Getting back an interesting power-armed reliever in Graham was a bonus.

While Graham is by no means a top prospect, he has some intriguing stuff and really adds to the quality and depth of the system. In normal years he would probably be ranked in the 20-25 range in the Indians system, but because of the ridiculous amount of depth in the system he comes in a lot lower. It was an interesting exercise ranking out the Top 30-50 players this year in the Indians system as I almost feel I need to apologize to the guys I ranked in the 30s as they should be in the early 20s. I mean, anyone in my Top 30 this year would have probably been in the Indians Top 10 two years ago, and most definitely Top 15.

Toledobuck wrote: For what [Eric] Berger has done to date and his mental makeup, #27 seems pretty low for this prospect. He shows several good big league pitches, has good velocity on the fastball, has had excellent stats, and is our most athletic pitcher in the system. He seems more to be in the 10 – 18 range to me.

Me: I here you and mostly agree, though as I noted in a few other player comments some guys are lower than expected just by the sheer volume of talent in the organization. Had we not gone out and made all of those trades last year, Berger would probably sit somewhere in the 15-19 range right now. But when you pick up ten good pitching prospects in trades last year plus add in a #1 Draft pick, it affects the standing of guys who have been in the system the past few years. He is still viewed as a back of the rotation kind of starter with a ceiling as a mid-rotation starter, so he is lower than a lot of other guys with more upside who are considered middle of the rotation starters and potentially better.

Matt wrote: Tony, thank you for all the insight. I think you talked to a scout who had watched [Bryan] Price this year at Kinston and said he was expecting to see a blazing mid 90's fastball but only saw a 90-91 fastball from him. The scout did compliment his secondary stuff. Do we need to be concerned about his drop in velocity?

Me: Thanks Matt. I believe Price may have been going through a dead arm phase. Remember that he had just 65 career college innings over three seasons from 2006-2008, and then last year he threw 130+ innings in his first full season. So he may have been a tired pitcher, which would explain the velocity decrease at the end of the season. There was nothing that was concerning at least to this point. It will be interesting to see if they do complete the change to the bullpen for him this year and how his velocity looks late in spring.

Llama wrote: [Frank] Hermann sounds really impressive! Any idea as to whether the Tribe will leave him in the pen or continue to develop him as a rotation guy?

Me: I love Herrmann and hope he gets his shot and excels. If not, then he is going to be very successful in the business world I'll tell you that. He is being developed and looked at strictly as a bullpen guy as his stuff works better there. He could always go back to starting, but his path to the bigs is as a reliever. And no doubt, he is #35 but it doesn’t mean he is no good. He could very well be #17-19, but relievers don’t rank high unless they have dominating stuff and as I have mentioned several times it is just a deep system.

BayStateBuckeye wrote: I've always wondered about the service time calculation since there are more actual days in the season than the number that is considered 'one full year'. Can a guy accrue more service time after the 172 days to carry over? Or does the clock stop in a given year once 172 is reached?

Me: 172 days are considered one year of service. Even though the season is actually 180 days or so long, no player can accrue more than 172 days of service in one season. So, if a player starts the season with 1.037 days of service (1 year, 37 days) and then spends the entire year on the 25-man roster, then he will have 2.037 days of service going into the next season.

BayStateBuckeye wrote: You mention that the Tribe was going to spend the $2 million this year on 'someone'. Is their budget structure such that they need to spend it that year or lose it? Or is there ever a carryover to the next year's budget? It seems to me that the $2 million would be better spent next offseason to help bring in a needed FA (not necessarily a $2M FA but using that money to supplement and get someone they want).

Me: To my knowledge, the Indians and other clubs set their budgets for the upcoming season several months before the season starts, and in the Indians case theirs was set back in November. The budget is obviously made up of many parts to run the organization for the upcoming season, and two of the things determined at that time are payroll and their draft budget. As I understand it, the proposed budget is for this year only as unused budgeted money on payroll or the draft does not carry over to the next season. In almost every case, the Indians spend up to their payroll or draft budget anyway, but in the case they may not that money is not carried over to the next season. This is something I think that gets lost when fans say things like “they should have saved that money for next year to sign so-and-so”.

Again, from what I know this is not how it works as all money budgeted for the upcoming season is for that season only. Anything they don’t happen to spend or save just goes back to the team’s general fund. The only time that I am aware of where saved money comes into play where budgets cross is with July trades. In the past freed up money from July trades have not only helped the Indians bottom line, but it also allowed them to be a little more aggressive with some late draft pick signings or Latin free agent signings. An example of this was seen in August 2008 when the Indians spent around $3 million right at the August signing deadline for the likes of Zach Putnam, Tim Fedroff, T.J. House, and Trey Haley after they had dumped the $2-3 million left on Paul Byrd’s contract to the Red Sox earlier that month.

Nate wrote: I'm a little disappointed to see Jeanmar Gomez so low in the rankings, but it definitely says a little something about their depth in the minor leagues now. To have a player that threw a no-hitter at AA and only appear at #19 in the system is very encouraging.

Me: I’m not as high on Gomez as some, but the fact that he is in the top 20 is still very good as he’d be #8-12 in most organizations. The pitchers ranked above him are just better prospects as they either throw harder or have an excellent secondary pitch or two. Gomez is a solid pitching prospect, but what hurts him is he is very much like a Jeremy Sowers in that he is good, but lacks any kind of put away pitch or plus pitch in his arsenal. He will need to rely on command and control, and profiles as a back-of-the-rotation starter or at best a mid-rotation starter.

Follow Tony on Twitter @tlastoria, and his new 2010 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More book is available for purchase.

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Indians Top 50: #17 Zach Putnam

Zach Putnam - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 07/03/1987 - Height: 6'2" - Weight: 225 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2008	20	Mahoning Vy	A-	0	1	3.72	3	0	9.2	7	4	0	5	8	.206	4.9	7.8	1.30
2009	21	Kinston	A+	2	0	4.13	5	0	24.0	22	11	1	5	23	.247	1.9	8.6	1.13
2009	21	Akron	AA	4	2	4.13	33	2	56.2	59	26	2	18	57	.261	2.9	9.1	1.37
		Totals		6	3	4.08	41	2	90.1	88	41	3	28	88	.252	2.8	8.8	1.29

History: Putnam was selected by the Indians in the 5th round of the 2008 Draft out of the University of Michigan.  He was slated to go in the late first or first round supplemental and slid to the fifth round because of some minor injuries in 2008 and signability concerns, so was an extreme value pick for the Indians.  He played some third base in college and is an excellent hitter who actually projected professionally as an outfielder with an excellent arm for right field. As a hitter, he showcases raw power to all fields and very good bat speed.  He pitched in the Arizona Fall League last fall and in five games went 0-1 with a 8.76 ERA and in 12.1 innings allowed 18 hits, 3 walks, and had 18 strikeouts.

Strengths & Opportunities:  Putnam is a high impact arm with a five pitch mix led by a fastball that sits 92-93 MPH and has touched 96 MPH, and complements it with a splitter, slider, curveball, and changeup.  His fastball has heavy, late life and has shown some good arm side run.  He has great arm strength to where higher more consistent velocity may still come.  He commands his fastball well, and throws all four of his secondary pitches for strikes.  His best secondary pitch is his devastating splitter which is nasty and already considered a major league strikeout pitch, and was widely considered one of the top secondary pitches coming out of college in 2008.  The splitter sits around 82-83 MPH and gives hitters fits as it often drops out of the zone into the dirt and they still chased it.  He also throws a slider which is an effective third pitch that has really come on recently and has become another go-to pitch in his arsenal and has the makings of a third plus pitch in his arsenal.  The slider is still developing, but has shown good depth and tilt.  His slow curveball sits in the low 70s and has some good depth to it with the potential to be an average pitch.  His fifth pitch is a changeup, but is more of a show pitch just to give hitters a different look and is a well below-average major league pitch. Both the curveball and changeup are rarely used in order for him to concentrate more on refining his other much stronger pitches.

Putnam is extremely athletic with a great baseball pedigree, and is someone the Indians are excited about.  Coming out of college at Michigan, he was a very advanced pitcher and a guy who knows how to pitch.  He is a physical presence on the mound with a very strong delivery.  He has a big frame to go along with very strong legs and broad shoulders that give him an ideal body to be a workhorse in the starting rotation or bullpen. He is an aggressive, power pitcher who has a lot of confidence and shows excellent composure in tight games or when things are not going right for him.  His makeup and toughness are off the charts, and he handles adversity well.  He is a notorious big game player who has that knack of coming through in the clutch.  Not only does he have the right demeanor as a pitcher, but he also puts up a high groundball rate.  Hitters have trouble lifting the ball against him because of his heavy sinking power fastball, and he was one of the best pitchers in the Eastern League at inducing groundballs on balls hit in play.

Putnam began last season in the rotation at High-A Kinston.  If not for an injury to right-hander Bryce Stowell in spring training, he was actually slotted to open the season in the Kinston bullpen from the start, but with Stowell sidelined Putnam slid into his rotation spot which allowed for him to get more regular work before his eventual move to a priority bullpen role.  That move came on May 6th when he was promoted to Double-A Akron and officially moved to the bullpen as a reliever.  His numbers were not overly impressive at Akron, but when you scratch below the surface, you see what makes him so intriguing. He gets hitters to pound the ball into the ground (2.06 GO/AO), has surrendered just three home runs in 90.1 career innings pitched (0.3 HR/9), and has a good career 2.8 BB/9 and 8.8 K/9 rate.

Since the day Putnam signed the Indians' scouting department saw him as a guy who could help out the major league team in the bullpen, and had the potential to be very special as a bullpen pitcher and could come quick.  He has the ability to handle any role, be it starting or pitching out of the bullpen, but the Indians moved him to the bullpen early last season because they felt that the move would help his development and possibly speed up his advancement to the major leagues.  Because he has an advanced feel for pitching to go along with excellent makeup and composure on the mound and two outstanding pitches, they felt he could handle the sudden change even though he had limited professional experience and had not even been in the system for a year.  He is tenacious on the mound, much like a pit bull where he will attack and challenge hitters and go right at them without backing down.  That aggressiveness is what the Indians and scouts love about him as a reliever.

But while he transitioned well to pitching out of the bullpen, the Indians will supposedly have him pitch out of the starting rotation at least to start the 2010 season.  They do not want to abandon him as a starting pitching prospect, where with his stuff he would be more valuable, but pitching in the rotation will also give him the regular work needed to refine his pitches, delivery, and work through several game situations that otherwise could not be reproduced in a bullpen role pitching two to three times a week for a total of three to four innings.  Depending on how things go, he could be moved back to the bullpen later in the year.

Putnam still has some mechanical issues with his delivery he is working through where he doesn't use his lower half well and drags his back leg, and as a result this affects his command at times. He worked on this delivery issue and others all season, and went out to the Arizona Fall League to continue the work set up to straighten out his delivery.  While his arm action is free and easy, he has a high effort delivery which could present problems for him with his command down the road.  He is still working on developing his secondary stuff, namely developing a better feel for both his slider and curveball.  He is also still learning how to pitch and understand that he just can't blow fastballs by everyone.

Outlook:  With Putnam's athleticism, makeup, mid-90s fastball and assortment of pitches, he has the potential to be a dominant pitcher in the big leagues.  When you have a guy with that many tools and the ability to command the strike zone like he does, you have the makings of a special pitcher. The question at the moment is whether he impacts the Indians down the road as a starter or reliever, as that is an unknown at this point.  He should open the 2010 season in the starting rotation at Double-A Akron, though a move back to the bullpen at some point in the season is quite possible.  He also could see time in Cleveland by the end of the season.

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr

Zach Putnam MinorLeagueBaseball.com page

Zach Putnam Baseball-Reference page

Zach Putnam MinorLeagueSplits.com page

Zach Putnam Pitching:

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Indians Sign Mastny

The Indians today announced that they have signed right-handed pitcher Tom Mastny to a minor league free agent deal, and he will report to early apring training minor league camp on March 2nd.

Mastny, 29, returns to Cleveland after spending the 2009 season in Japan pitching for the Yokohama Bay Stars. He went 1-5 with a 5.69ERA (61.2 IP, 39 ER) in 15 games for the Bay Stars. Before going to Japan he spent the previous four seasons in the Indians system appearing in a career-high 51 games for Cleveland in 2007 (7-2, 4.68 ERA).

The Borneo, Indonesian-born righty has made 80 Major League appearances with Cleveland, going 9-5 with five saves and having an ERA of 6.13 (94.0 IP, 108 H, 64 ER, 51 BB, 85 K). Mastny was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 11th round of the 2003 amateur draft out of Furman University.

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Monday Update: More Prospect Guides Available

A few quick updates and some notes today:

I just finished a 2010 Cleveland Indians preview in a “Playing Pepper” piece with C70 At The Bat, a St. Louis Cardinals site.  Check out the writeup here.  In the piece Nino Colla of The Tribe Daily - who will also be writing about the Akron Aeros here on IPI this spring and summer - and I give our thoughts on some questions about the Indians as the 2010 season nears.

Here is just another mention that the 2010 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More book is available.  The feedback on the book has been very positive so far based on some of the e-mails I have received, and to see some of the public reaction check out the site message boards.  To order online by check or credit card, please use the order form on the site.  Or, if you prefer to pay by money order or check by mail, please contact me to place an order.  Thanks again for the support!

For fans of other prospect lists, I suggest you check out the 2010 Digital Prospect Guide which can be found at http://www.projectprospect.com/.  There are a lot of prospect guides out there - some well known and some not so well known - and they all offer up something different.  The Digital Prospect Guide is one of those top prospect guides that offers up something different, mainly because it incorporates video into the guide.  Whereas most other guides you can purchase and print, the guide is actually a digital file you download that you can purchase and save to your computer.  It is a unique prospect guide which profiles anywhere from 100-300 players depending on the guide you choose, with video for every player.  To check out a few samples, go to the site.  It’s an awesome idea which allows fans to “see” what all these scouting reports say, and is very well put together.  Check it out!

Keeping with the prospect list theme, Diamond Futures recently completed their 2010 Prospect Guide which is available for purchase electronically in PDF format.  The Prospect eGuide is a fact filled analysis of the Minor Leagues and the 2009 season which over its nearly 300 pages of analysis includes prospect profiles on nearly 600 players, prospect grades on more than 1500 prospects, 2010 rankings of the Top 500 prospects in Minor League baseball, organizational strength rankings, individual team rankings of at least 50 prospects, prospect rankings by position, a pre-season look at the Top 100 Prospects for the 2010 Amateur draft, and more.  Diamond Futures is a site that has been around for over a decade and uses a unique blend of analytical tools to strip away the ‘hype’ and uncover the substance that lies behind prospective Major League players. They have developed a probabilistic methodology that recognizes that no analytical system can accurately anticipate the unique nuances inherent in predicting future performance of human players. So they don’t deal in ‘absolutes’, rather they deal in definable ‘likelihoods’.  Be sure to check out this unique guide which offers an interesting and valuable viewpoint which differs but yet complements other guides well.

Also, the site MLB Fantasy Prospects just listed the Top 15 prospects in each of baseball's six divisions.  Feel free to check it out here.  This is a good way to see where Carlos Santana and others rank up to the rest of the AL Central.

Last, be sure to go over to http://www.seamheads.com/ for some very good baseball writing and insight.  I have started to become a contributor there, a site that was launched two-and-a-half years ago.  Seamheads.com is 64 writers strong, many of whom are members of The Society For American Baseball Research (SABR), are published authors, and have worked for newspapers, radio station, and in Major League Baseball.  As a group, the Seamheads.com writers have written 47 books about baseball and their work has appeared in 73 publications, including Baseball Digest, The Baseball Research Journal, the Boston Globe, Cincinnati Enquirer and Cincinnati Post, Detroit Free Press, Elysian Fields Quarterly, ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, ESPN The magazine, El Nacional in Venezuela, Houston Chronicle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, The National Pastime, the Oregonian, and Philadelphia Daily News, Sporting News, Total Baseball, the Washington Post and Washington Times; and on 19 web sites, including Fox Sports, Baseball-Reference.com, and Sportingnews.com.  It is an impressive stable of writers, so if you have yet to check the site out or have not bookmarked it so you check it regularly, I suggest you do.

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Indians Top 50: #18 Lou Marson

Lou Marson - Catcher
Born: 06/26/1986 - Height: 6'1" - Weight: 200 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	Avg	OBP	SLG	OPS
2004	18	GCL Phillies	R	38	113	18	29	3	0	4	8	13	18	4	.257	.333	.389	.722
2005	19	Batavia	A-	60	220	25	54	11	3	5	25	27	52	0	.245	.329	.391	.720
2006	20	Lakewood	A	104	350	44	85	16	5	4	39	49	82	4	.243	.343	.351	.694
2007	21	Clearwater	A+	111	393	68	113	24	1	7	63	52	80	3	.288	.373	.407	.780
2008	22	Reading	AA	94	322	55	101	18	0	5	46	68	70	3	.314	.433	.416	.849
2008	22	Philadelphia	MLB	1	4	2	2	0	0	1	2	0	2	0	.500	.500	1.250	1.750
2009	23	Philadelphia	MLB	7	17	3	4	1	0	0	0	3	7	0	.235	.350	.294	.644
2009	23	Lehigh Valley	AAA	63	211	32	62	13	0	1	24	30	40	3	.294	.382	.370	.752
2009	23	Columbus	AAA	28	103	10	25	5	1	1	9	10	19	1	.243	.319	.340	.659
2009	23	Cleveland	MLB	14	44	6	11	6	0	0	4	7	14	0	.250	.346	.386	.732
		MiLB Totals		498	1712	252	469	90	10	27	214	249	361	18	.274	.369	.386	.754
		MLB Totals		22	65	11	17	7	0	1	6	10	23	0	.262	.355	.415	.771

History:  Marson was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 4^th round of the 2004 Draft out of Coronado High School (AZ).  The Indians acquired him from the Phillies as part of a package of four players they received for Cliff Lee in July of 2009.  He played in the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium in 2008, and also played for Team USA in the Summer Olympics in Beijing in August of 2008.

Strengths & Opportunities:  Marson won't hit a lot of home runs, but he is a good hitting catcher with a very polished approach who has the ability to hit for average and put the bat on the ball consistently.  He does not have a lot of power, and while some more power may still come he is not going to develop much more as it is just not in his swing since his offensive game is centered around an approach to get on-base with singles and walks.  He has plenty of bat-to-ball ability, controls the strike zone well, and uses the entire field and sprays a lot of line drives.  When he came to the Indians he went right into the Triple-A Columbus and big league clubhouse in Cleveland and established his presence immediately and showed his exceptional leadership skills.  During his one month with the big league club last September he quietly put together a solid showing by hitting hit .250 with a .733 OPS in 14 games, his first extended playing stint in the big leagues.

While Marson's bat may just be ordinary or nothing special, his true value as a prospect lies in his defensive abilities and all the intangibles he possesses that come with maintaining and leading a pitching staff.  He is a solid-average defender, and while he does not have a laser of an arm, his very quick exchange and transfer of the ball and accurate throws allow him to get the ball down to second base in about 1.9 seconds which is major league average.  After being acquired from the Phillies in late July, he threw out 10 of 24 (41.7%) runners attempting to steal at Triple-A Columbus and then with the big league team in Cleveland threw out 8 of 17 (47.1%) of attempted base-stealers.  His ability to catch and throw may just be a little above average because of his consistency, but it project to get even better because of his age, work ethic, and makeup.

Marson's value is in the way he handles a pitching staff, provides more than solid defense behind the plate, shows outstanding leadership skills, and displays a good throwing arm.  He is very poised, handles a pitching staff well, and knows how to execute a game plan effectively.  He is extremely athletic for a catcher, which helps with his agility behind the plate and also how he does a good job of blocking balls.  He also takes a lot of time to get to know all of the pitchers on his staff not only with what their strengths and weaknesses are on the field, but who they are as individuals.  He is widely viewed by many in the game as a solid major league starting catcher in the making.

Marson looks to be on the verge of a solid major league career. He has the mentality for the game, now it is a matter of his skills showing themselves. His biggest drawback is clearly his lack for much punch with his bat, and really there is not much room for improvement in this area.  His swing path is not conducive to much power because he swings down on the ball which results in a lot of groundballs.  Also, while he is only 23 years old, the general feeling is that he has pretty much reached his ceiling as a player, and while that is not bad, he simply is what he is as a player.

Outlook:  For many teams, having a good hitting catcher is a luxury, something Indians fans were spoiled to have with Victor Martinez in Cleveland the past six years. Finding an elite hitting catcher is a rarity, which is why the Indians and so many fans are so excited to eventually see uber-catching prospect Carlos Santana. In the meantime, however, Marson should prove to be more than capable as the team's field general for most of this year doing all the dirty work behind the plate, handling the pitching staff, and being a leader.  The Indians are already on record as saying that they will not rush Santana and instead let him open the season as the starting catcher in Triple-A Columbus. With that in mind, Marson is set to be the everyday starting catcher to open the 2010 season in Cleveland.  When Santana finally does arrive, Marson should move to a backup role.  He would make for one of the best backup catchers in the league, so may become a trade chip to use at some point down the road.

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr

Lou Marson MinorLeagueSplits.com page

Lou Marson Baseball-Reference page

Lou Marson MinorLeagueSplits.com page

Lou Marson Hitting:

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