Antonetti Deserves the Benefit of the Doubt

(Photo: AP)

Isn’t the old axiom good pitching beats good hitting?

Just a question considering the Cleveland Indians recently traded pitcher Aaron Laffey for hitter Matt Lawson.

Sure Laffey is not considered a “good” pitcher by any means.  And what kind of player is Lawson?  Most experts will say he is a fringe prospect at best; organizational filler. 

So, shouldn’t average to below average pitching still be able to beat average to below average hitting?  Shouldn’t Laffey, who still has a minor league option left, who has had some success as a Major League starter and reliever, have more value to the Indians organization than Lawson? 

Perhaps Laffey is more valuable, if you go by conventional wisdom and outside opinions. 

But to hear Tribe General Manager Chris Antonetti tell it, the Indians did not feel Laffey had a place in the starting rotation or bullpen this year.  On the other hand, because of his makeup they feel Lawson has a chance to make the big leagues at some point.  Despite what others may think.

And it is, afterall, now Antonetti’s team.  And in this, his first year as General Manager, he deserves the right to make the team over as he sees fit.  As for the pundits who think this is just the Indians doing business as usual, lets give Antonetti a little leeway to make his own mark on the industry.

The failure of the Indians to develop a strong organization over the last couple of years happened on Mark Shapiro’s watch.  The recent turn around of the farm system also began on Shapiro’s watch.  Yes, Antonetti was on the staff, but he did not pull any triggers.  Shapiro may still be in the organization, but this organization is going to be made over to reflect Antonetti’s vision; he is nobody’s lap dog.  The St. Louis Cardinals, one of the best run organizations in all of baseball, would not have been interested in Antonetti as their General Manager a couple of years ago had they believed him capable to be nothing more than Shapiro’s puppet.

Maybe Antonetti and his staff see something in Lawson that others don’t.  Maybe he’s just an Antonetti’s kind of guy and along the same lines of Travis Buck, Nick Johnson, Orlando Cabrera, and Chad Durbin.

One, or two, or all of those players might prove to be a prudent signing.  Or not.  There’s just no way to tell as of yet.  But Antonetti has been trained by Shapiro, a General Manager who will be judged by history much better than his current reputation would suggest.  Antonetti has been recruited by other clubs to be their top man, including one of the best organizations in all of the sport.  And Larry Dolan is putting more money in player development than the Indians have ever done before.

Doesn’t Antonetti deserve the benefit of the doubt his first year?  Let’s let him remake this organization in his image, give him a year or two, and then let’s debate the wisdom of all his player moves.

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2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #15 Hector Rondon

Hector Rondon – Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 02/26/1988 – Height: 6’3” – Weight: 180 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

(Photo: Ken Carr)

History: Rondon was signed by the Indians as a non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela in August of 2004. In July of 2007 at Low-A Lake County he threw six innings of no-hit ball and combined with two other pitchers to throw a no-hitter. He was also selected to the World Team as part of the Futures Game which took place at Yankee Stadium over All Star weekend in July of 2008. He had Tommy John surgery in August of 2010.

Strengths: Rondon struggled out of the gates last year as his numbers were nowhere near what was expected of him. After allowing only 11 home runs in 27 starts in 2009 and no more than 13 home runs in any season in his six year career, he allowed 12 home runs in his first seven starts last year which was a big red flag that he might be injured. He was eventually shut down in mid-May with a mild strain of his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), and since surgery is always the players’ decision and cannot be mandated by the organization he initially opted for rest and rehab to see if it would heal naturally rather than have recommended surgery. He progressed well with his rehab over the summer and began a return to throw program in August, but during a bullpen session he experienced more pain in the elbow region, so he ended up having Tommy John surgery at the end of August.

When healthy, Rondon has a dominating four-seam electric plus fastball that consistently clocks in at 92-95 MPH and has topped out as high as 96 MPH. He mainly pitches with and has tons of confidence in his fastball and relies on it heavily to attack hitters and get them out at the top of the zone. His fastball has some deception and great life the last two to three feet through the zone where it has a little bit of jump to it and gets on a hitter quickly. He maintains the velocity of his fastball well as late in games it is still up to 94-95 MPH.

Rondon complements his fastball with a slider and changeup, which are both just average pitches. He has worked hard on his average slider and it has come a long way and has potential to be more. Before going down with the elbow injury last year he had been working on tweaking his slider into more of a slurve in order to get more separation from his fastball. He and the Indians felt that some of his early issues were the result of him feeling his way through the inconsistencies with developing the slurve-like action and pulling off some velocity to have it sit in the upper 70s. His straight changeup has shown moderate improvement, and projects to
be an average major league pitch.

Rondon is a competitor that pitches with power, aggression, consistently puts the ball on the plate, and likes to challenge hitters. He has the stuff to make pitches and put hitters away and make them swing and miss, but he mostly pitches to contact since he is almost always in the zone. He has a good plan when he takes the mound, sticks with it, and shows good tempo. He has a free and easy delivery and is getting better at repeating his delivery. He is still long and lanky with room to grow, but the past two years has really started to fill out his body and has gotten stronger in his lower half which has allowed him to more consistently maintain his delivery. He is mature beyond his years with an excellent work ethic, stays calm under pressure, and controls his effort level.

Opportunities: Rondon is going to spend most of the season rehabbing his elbow and building up his arm strength for a full time return in 2012. As a result, he will not have much of an opportunity to improve several areas of his game this season. First and foremost, he needs to develop his secondary pitches because neither pitch at the moment is effective enough to get outs at the major league level. Since he is such a good strike thrower and has such a great fastball that he relies on so much, a better slider and changeup would help change the eye level of his pitches and make him less susceptible to hits. The slider is most important as it has plus potential, but it is about getting him to be more consistent with it and using it more regularly. He has to maintain more consistent shape to it, get better with knowing how to use it, more consistently throw it for strikes, and work it low and away to right-handers. His changeup is too firm, so he needs to soften it up a little bit and continue to refine it to make it into at least an average major league pitch. He needs to solidify his delivery and get better pitching out of the stretch by shortening his kick as he can be slow to the plate. He needs to continue to get bigger and stronger, something that is likely to happen after a lengthy rehab.

The Indians still plan to develop and use Rondon as a starting pitcher, but after the elbow injury his path to the bullpen looks even more likely. He can throw his fastball by guys, but when he is flipping a lineup three times he has to have more consistency. His troubles with handling a lineup a second or third time through is mostly because of his inconsistent secondary offerings. The Indians actually experimented with a move to the bullpen in May of 2009 because of an immediate need there, but after a few appearances they quickly moved him back to the starting rotation in order to keep trying to develop his secondary offerings. The general feeling is that his already very impressive arm would play up in short stints out of the bullpen, especially because of the lack of any consistent secondary pitch.

Outlook: Rondon’s injury last year was a big setback for him and the organization. When he initially came down with the injury he opted for rest to let it heal on its own. Surgery is often a scary proposition - especially one as involved as Tommy John which requires 12-18 months of recovery time – so a player usually is inclined to put off surgery if other options are available. He ultimately had to have the surgery, and because he had it so late in the season he likely will not pitch at all in 2011 except for maybe a few rehab outings late in the year with the Arizona Summer League team. His targeted return to the mound is probably Instructional League, the Arizona Fall League, or the Parallel League in late September and early October. If he can return to health, he projects as a good #3 starter in the big leagues or a dominant late inning reliever. He should open the season in extended spring training and continue his rehab and start a throwing program later in the summer.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2005	17	DSL Indians	R	3	3	1.65	15	12	65.1	60	12	2	8	55	.230	1.1	7.6	1.04
2006	18	GCL Indians	R	3	4	5.13	11	11	52.2	62	30	6	3	32	.286	0.5	5.5	1.23
2007	19	Lake County	A	7	10	4.37	27	27	136.0	143	66	13	27	113	.269	1.8	7.5	1.25
2008	20	Kinston	A+	11	6	3.60	27	27	145.0	130	58	12	42	145	.239	2.6	9.0	1.19
2009	21	Akron	AA	7	5	2.75	15	13	72.0	60	22	3	16	73	.227	2.0	9.1	1.06
2009	21	Columbus	AAA	4	5	4.00	12	12	74.1	83	33	8	13	64	.282	1.6	7.7	1.29
2010	22	Columbus	AAA	1	3	8.53	7	7	31.2	48	30	12	10	33	.343	2.8	9.4	1.83
		MiLB Totals		36	36	3.92	114	109	577.0	586	251	56	119	515	.260	1.9	8.0	1.22

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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Check out TiqIQ

You may have noticed a new ad on the site on the right hand side of the page, TiqIQ. If you have not had a chance to check them out, I encourage you do so as they offer a unique service which pools together available tickets from many sites including eBay, StubHub, Tickets Now, Ticket Network, etc.

Here is a quick rundown on what TiqIQ offers:

1. Aggregated Listings: They aggregate all major sellers in the market so you can find the best deal.

2. TiqZone Categorization: They break each venue up into TiqZones, which are groupings of sections that they’ve determined are comparable in value.

3. TiqIQ Statistics: They provide ticket-level buying intelligence through their IQ rating and TiqIQ Statistics.

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So check them out!

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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2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #16 Felix Sterling

Felix Sterling – Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 03/15/1993 – Height: 6’3” – Weight: 200 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

(Photo: Felix Sterling)

History: The Indians signed Sterling as an undrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in the spring of 2010. He finished 8th in the rookie level Arizona Summer League in ERA (3.16), 10th in strikeouts (57), and 8th in WHIP (1.17).

Strengths: Sterling is a big, strong, physically imposing pitcher whose fastball already sits at 90-94 MPH and flashes two good secondary pitches in a slurvy breaking ball and changeup. As with any young pitcher he is working on improving his command and control, but has shown a good feel for pitching and has the arsenal to remain a starting pitcher as he moves up the minor league ladder. Like most Latin kids he came into the organization as a thrower rather than a pitcher, but unlike most Latin pitchers he had some secondary pitches in place. He seemingly got better and stronger as the season wore on last year, and showed surprisingly good command in his pro debut with an ability to miss bats. With his size and pitches he has the chance to be a middle-of-the-rotation workhorse down the road.

Opportunities: Sterling is still working on the command and consistency of all of his pitches. He is also learning how to effectively use his secondary pitches as he often misses big with them, something he can get away with in the lower levels of the minors but won't as he moves up. Due to his size he lumbers around the field a little bit, so will need to develop a stronger awareness to situations in order to combat some of his deficiencies with fielding his position.

Outlook: While Sterling is very rough around the edges and will certainly be a project for the Indians the next few years, he performed well at a very young age in the Arizona Summer League and showed a ton of raw ability. He really made a lot of strides during his time out in Arizona and opened up a ton of eyes inside and outside of the organization, and is definitely a guy to keep an eye on going forward as he has big time helium potential as a prospect. Even though he will turn 18 years old in March, he will likely open the season in the starting rotation at Low-A Lake County, a sure sign as to the kind of potential and ability the organization thinks he has.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2010	17	AZL Indians	R	2	3	3.16	12	11	51.1	40	18	2	20	57	.222	3.5	10.0	1.17
		MiLB Totals		2	3	3.16	12	11	51.1	40	18	2	20	57	.222	3.5	10.0	1.17

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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New 2011 Indians Prospect Book is Goodyear Bound!

The 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects and More book is on its way to Goodyear, Arizona to be sold in the team shop at the stadium. Show your support for the book and site by picking up a copy of it there during spring training!

I can also confirm that the book will once again be in the team shops at Kinston and Lake County. I am currently working out details to have it in Akron again, and it may appear in the Cleveland team shops for the Indians provided it sells well in Goodyear. The only site that appears to be unlikely at the moment is Columbus.

Also, the book will soon be available for sale on-line at Amazon.com and other retail sites rather than having to go directly through me. In addition to that, in the next few days I will be loading a page on the site where you can buy the book on-line directly from my publisher so you will not have to go through me to order it. I understand lots of people prefer to maintain their privacy, so this will allow you to purchase it without my involvement and without me knowing who is buying the book. I'll give a heads up when this option becomes available hopefully in the next few days.

Thanks again to all who have purchased the book so far! I have already received a lot of positive feedback on it this year. Please feel free to continue to provide feedback, good or bad, so I know what works and what I can maybe improve for next year's edition.
__________________

Book Details:
The book runs $20.95 (plus shipping/handling) and in addition with the improved "look", is bigger and better than last year's version as far as content goes.  It runs 228 pages in length and is in 6x9 format and includes the following:

• Detailed and updated scouting reports for over 175 players in the Cleveland Indians system, with 60 completely new reports on players not in last year's book.
• Reports on the entire 2010 Draft class as well as the Top 15 Latin prospects coming stateside this year.
• Projected opening day rosters from Cleveland to Single-A Lake County.
• 2010 transactions and released payer listing and 2011-2014 Rule 5 Draft outlook.
• Full 2011 minor league spring training schedule and complete 2011 schedules for all affiliates.
• Career stats including college and winter ball, and over 100 player photos.
• 2011 coaching staffs, affiliate information, top prospects by position, 3-year ranking history, and more!

Those are all the same features as seen in previous editions of the book, but there are loads of new additions and enhancements to the book this year that you can ONLY see in the book:

ok:

• New individual tools grades: These are listed with the scouting report for each player in the Top 100.  This is a new feature only in the book and was added by popular request to show a quick snapshot of each player's abilities.
• Individual player transactions: This is a listing under each scouting report so you can see the movement or disabled list history in the 2010 season for a player in the Top 100.
• "Best Tools": This listing ranks the best in the system in several tools categories.
• Previous ranking: This is a small update added by popular request so people can see where prospects were ranked the previous year.
• Upside and value grades: Grades to show what kind of upside and Major League value each player in the Top 100 has.
• Latin Top 15 prospects: This was increased from 10 to 15 players this year and profiles all the top talent coming stateside this year from last year's Dominican Summer League team or who were recently signed in the past year.
• 2010 Draft scouting reports: Scouting reports for all of the players selected and signed from the 2010 Draft.
• College stats: Complete stats for all college players from the 2010 Draft.
• Remaining options: This is a detailed listing showing the options outlook for players on the 40-man roster and some who are not on the roster (this is available on the site).
• 2010 Transactions: All the transactions from 2010 in a new easy to view comprehensive listing that makes it easy to follow all the moves in order from the start of the season until the end of the playoffs.
• Payroll and player control outlook: A 7-year outlook for the Cleveland Indians 40-man roster with yearly payroll information, service time, arbitration, and free agent eligibility (this is available on the site).
• 2010 playoff and winter league stats: All the stats from the playoffs last year for Columbus, Kinston and Lake County as well as the stats for the players who played in offseason fall/winter leagues (this is available on the site).

As always, in addition to the scouting reports the book serves as a handy reference guide throughout the season not only for the minor leagues but for the big league team as well.  The book should serve as all the reference you need to follow the 2011 Cleveland Indians and their future big league players of tomorrow.

Your purchase will make a great contribution to keeping the IPI alive and well and continue the growth of the site.  For those interested, copies of the 2009 and 2010 books are also available at a discounted rate.

To order a copy of the 2011 book or any previous edition just click on the image below. Order your copy today and thanks for the support!

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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2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #17 Alex Lavisky

Alex Lavisky – Catcher
Born: 01/13/1991 – Height: 6’1” – Weight: 205 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

(Photo: Tony Lastoria)

History: The Indians selected Lavisky in the 8^th round of the 2010 Draft out of St. Edward High School (OH). At St. Ed’s he hit .450 (36-80) with nine doubles, 13 home runs and 40 RBIs while scoring 33 runs for the OHSAA Division I State Champions. He had a firm commitment to attend school at Georgia Tech University, but the Indians swooped in at the August 16^th deadline and were able to sign to a $1 million signing bonus, a bonus that was almost five times larger than the $150,000 slot recommendation set by Major league Baseball. He was the teammate of right-handed pitcher Stetson Allie who was the Pittsburgh Pirates 2^nd round pick in the same draft, and the starting second baseman on his St. Ed’s team was sophomore Tommy Mirabelli, who is the son of Indians Director of Scouting John Mirabelli.

Strengths: Lavisky has the athleticism, defensive ability, and power potential at the catching position to be a big time catching prospect for the Indians. He has good overall strength - especially in his upper body - which gives him very good power potential from the right side of the plate. He already has very good size, and as he continues to get bigger and stronger his power potential is expected to show itself even more. He has a sound, short swing where he is quick to the ball and shows an advanced ability to consistently square the ball up with the barrel of the bat. He also brings a lot of intangibles to the plate as he shows very advanced maturity, makeup and leadership qualities for a player his age. Not only is he a leader on the field, but he also maintains an excellent mature presence off the field as well.

Lavisky has good all-around ability as a catcher, but his best skill may be his ability to catch-and-throw. He has a smooth transfer, is accurate with his throws, and has very good arm strength from behind the plate. He has soft hands and with his athleticism he really moves well behind the plate. Being able to catch a pro pitching prospect like Stetson Allie in high school no doubt allowed him to really make big strides with his catching skills.

Opportunities: Like every young hitter Lavisky needs to work on being more consistent with his approach at the plate and making more consistent contact. One thing he is working on is his timing where he needs to stay on the ball better by letting it get deeper and then try and drive it the other way or up the middle. He shows good power to left and left center, but really needs to work on being able to drive the ball to right center. His swing also tends to get loopy, so his swing mechanics will continue to be refined in order to level it out. He has a long release on his throws, so the Indians will work with him to shorten it up, something that is expected to be very fixable.

Outlook: Even though Lavisky was just drafted out of high school, he is already 20 years old, so will be pushed a little more in the system than most high school players. This was the main reason that he spent about two weeks in Low-A Lake County at the end of the 2010 regular season as a non-rostered player. The idea was to get his feet wet and start building a rapport with players and coaches as well as get to know the area in Lake County since he is expected to open the season there in 2011 as the regular catcher.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2010	19	AZL Indians	R	5	15	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	.200	.200	.200	.400
		MiLB Totals		5	15	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	.200	.200	.200	.400

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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Indians Trade Laffey to Mariners for Lawson

Matt Lawson
(Photo: MiLB)

The Cleveland Indians made a trade on Wednesday evening sending left-handed pitcher Aaron Laffey to the Seattle Mariners for minor league infielder Matt Lawson.

Lawson, 25, split the 2010 season between AA Frisco (Texas) and AA West Tennessee (Seattle) batting a combined .293 (134-458) with 75 runs scored, 26 doubles, 7 triples, 9 HR and 56 RBI (.372 OBP, .439 SLG, .811 OPS) in 118 games. He started the season in the Rangers organization before being acquired by the Mariners organization on July 9 along with INF Justin Smoak, RHP Josh Lueke and RHP Blake Beavan as part of the trade that sent lefty Cliff Lee and right-hander Mark Lowe to the Rangers.

Originally drafted by the Rangers in the 14th round of the 2007 draft, Lawson hit .277 (81-292) with 48 runs scored, 16 doubles, 5 triples, 7 HR and 34 RBI in 76 games at Frisco while being named to the Texas League All-Star game. With Frisco he appeared in 60 games at second base, 13 games in left field and 1 game in centerfield. After the trade, he batted .319 (53-166) with 27 runs scored, 10 doubles, 2 triples, 2 HR and 22 RBI in 42 games for West Tennessee as he helped them advance to the Southern League playoffs. With West Tennessee he appeared in 39 games at second base and two games at shortstop. Following the season, Lawson played for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League where he hit .286 (18-63) with 10 runs scored, a doubles, a HR and 7 RBI in 20 games. In the AFL, Lawson appeared in 16 games at shortstop, 3 games at third base and 1 game at second base while being managed by current Columbus Clippers Manager Mike Sarbaugh.

The Springfield, MO native owns a career minor league average of .283 (431-1522) with 233 runs scored, 77 doubles, 15 triples, 27 HR and 165 RBI in 405 games covering four seasons. In 2009 while at Bakersfield he was named to the California League All-Star team and following the season was named as the Best Defensive Second Baseman in the California League by Baseball America while belting a career-high 10 HR to go along with a .293 average. Lawson will report to the Indians minor league camp in the coming days.

Laffey, 25, went 2-3 with a 4.53 ERA (55.2 IP, 62 H, 30 R, 28 ER, 28 BB, 28 K) in 29 games (5 starts) for the Indians in 2010 as he missed a portion of the season with left shoulder fatigue.

With Laffey leaving the roster, it creates a spot to add free agent signing Chad Durbin to the 40-man roster.

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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2011 Fan Prospect Listing

As we continue on with the 2011 IPI Top 50 Indians Prospect countdown, here is something a little different.  This is a Top 31 listing of the Indians prospects courtesy of the fans on this site where 20 die-hard message board posters put together their Top 30 and they were all averaged together to come up with one "gallery" listing.

Thanks to devoted site reader Mike B. - AKA the MadThinker on the boards - for putting this listing together.

Rank	Avg	Player
1	1.450	Lonnie Chisenhall: 3B
2	2.650	Jason Kipnis: 2B
3	3.500	Alex White: RH pitcher
4	3.950	Drew Pomeranz: LH pitcher
5	5.200	Jason Knapp: RH pitcher
6	7.250	Nick Weglarz: OF
7	8.700	Chun-Hsiu Chen: C
8	9.350	Joe Gardner: RH Pitcher
9	9.600	LeVon Washington: OF
10	11.050	Cord Phelps: 2B
11	11.350	Nick Hagadone: LH pitcher
12	14.250	Tony Wolters: SS
13	14.850	Bryce Stowell: RH pitcher
14	16.450	Kelvin de la Cruz: LH pitcher
15	17.800	Rob Bryson: RH pitcher
16	18.900	T.J. House: LH pitcher
17	21.300	Scott Barnes: LH pitcher
18	21.500	Giovanny Urshela: 3B
19	21.600	Zach Putnam: RH pitcher
20	21.900	Hector Rondon: RH pitcher
21	21.950	Josh Judy: RH pitcher
22	23.000	Matt Packer: LH pitcher
23	24.050	Kyle Blair: RH pitcher
24	25.000	Vinnie Pestano: RH pitcher
25	25.550	Corey Kluber: RH pitcher
26	27.200	Felix Sterling: RH pitcher
27	27.211	Alexander Perez: RH pitcher
28	27.400	Giovanni Soto: LH pitcher
29	27.450	Jared Goedert: 2B/ 3B
30	27.800	Zach McAllister: RH pitcher
31	27.900	Abner Abreu: OF

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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2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #18 Chen-Chang Lee

Chen-Chang Lee – Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 10/21/1986 – Height: 5’11” – Weight: 175 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

(Photo: Ken Carr)

History: Lee was signed by the Indians as an international free agent in September of 2008 out of Taiwan for a reported $400,000. He attended Taipei Physical Education College and pitched for the Taiwanese National team in the 2006 and 2008 World University Baseball Championships. He also pitched in the Asian Games and Intercontinental Cup for Taiwan in 2006, and in the summer of 2007 he pitched in the United States for the Anchorage Bucs of the Alaskan Baseball League. He was one of the top amateur college prospects from Taiwan, and was just one of three amateurs on the Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) team that competed in Beijing, China during the 2008 Olympics.

Strengths: Lee is a small framed reliever who throws from a low three quarters slot and has an advanced feel for pitching. He has a three pitch mix with a four-seam fastball that consistently sits at 91-94 MPH and has touched 95 MPH, and complements it with a slider and split changeup. He gets good movement on his fastball with good sink down in the zone. His slider is a plus offering and his go to pitch and shows good tilt and late bite that makes it very tough on right-handed hitters. His average split-changeup has shown some improvement and he gets some groundballs with it and uses mostly to attack left-handers. His ability to get strikeouts is impressive, and the Indians love his athleticism and the power to his stuff. He commands the zone well with his entire arsenal, and he gets good movement on all of his pitches.

The Indians sent Lee out to the Arizona Fall League in the offseason, and while his time was limited because of a minor arm injury, in 6 appearances he went 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA (6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 HR, 3 BB, 7 K). He is a very experienced minor league pitcher where - aside from pitching in the big leagues - he has pitched on every stage imaginable and performed well. It is very hard to make the adjustment into pro ball, and doubly tough when you have to make the adjustment to a new culture. Even with all the difficulties he has made a remarkable adjustment to pro ball and playing in the United States in such a short time.

Opportunities: Lee has little room for error with his low arm slot as when he is slightly off it will have a greater affect on his pitches than a pitcher with a higher slot, so he needs to continue to work on solidifying his arm slot. He has a tendency to drop his elbow and get underneath the ball, so he needs more work on staying on top of the ball better. He has good stuff, but he needs to know how to use it better and work on throwing inside more effectively. He is small and lacks much strength and missed some time last year due to an oblique strain, so durability could be a concern in the future. The Indians have challenged him to work on his strength and get stronger in order to help with his stamina and durability. He needs to refine the command of his secondary pitches to make them more effective, which will help play up his fastball a little more.

Outlook: Lee's season last year was really a tail of two halves. In the first half of the season he lacked much life on his fastball and it showed (4.56 ERA, .268 BAA), but the life returned in the second half and he was dominating (0.71 ERA, .115 BAA). For the second straight season he had over three times as many strikeouts as walks and averaged over a strikeout an inning. There are many around the game who think he may be the best relief prospect in the Indians system, and he certainly showed that in the second half of last season. He is definitely on the path to the big leagues and could be a bullpen option in Cleveland in middle relief by the end of this coming season. He should open the 2011 season at Triple-A Columbus, but depth in the relief corps in Cleveland and Columbus could push him down to Double-A Akron to start the year. Either way, he should pitch a majority of the season in Columbus.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2009	22	Kinston	A+	4	6	3.35	45	2	83.1	67	31	5	28	97	.220	3.0	10.5	1.14
2010	23	Akron	AA	5	4	3.22	44	0	72.2	59	26	6	22	82	.219	2.7	10.2	1.12
		MiLB Totals		9	10	3.29	89	2	156.0	126	57	11	50	179	.220	2.9	10.3	1.13

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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Indians Officially Sign Durbin

The Cleveland Indians today announced the signing of free agent right-handed reliever Chad Durbin to a one-year Major League contract for the 2011 season. He will make $800,000 this year and has incentives in his deal which could add up to $1 million more to his base deal.

Durbin spent the last three years pitching in relief with the Philadelphia Phillies and compiled a mark of 11-7 with a 3.62 ERA in 194 games (226.0 IP, 200 H, 91 ER, 109 BB, 188 K). Over that three-year span he limited batters to a .241 (200-829) average against. He also made 15 appearances in the post-season over those three seasons and was 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA.

Last year, Durbin, 33, went 4-1 with a 3.80 ERA in 64 relief appearances for the National League East Champion Philadelphia Phillies (68.2 IP, 63 H, 29 R/ER, 27 BB, 63 K) and limited Major League hitters to a .246 (63-256) average against. His 8.3 strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched established a new career-high while his 64 relief appearances were the 2nd highest total of his career. Batters hit just .200 (26-130) off of him with runners on base and right-handed hitters hit .195 (30-154).

Durbin owns a career Major League record of 36-44 with a 5.05 ERA in 308 games (691.0 IP, 735 H, 388 ER, 453 K) and pitched for the Cleveland Indians over 20 games (9 starts) during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. His career relief ERA is 3.99 in 233 games (291.1 IP, 271 H, 129 ER, 239 K, .249 AVG, 7.4K/9). The Baton Rouge, LA native was originally a 3rd round selection of the Kansas City Royals in 1996 and debuted with the Royals in 1999 at the age of 21.

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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2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #19 Kelvin De La Cruz

Kelvin De La Cruz – Left-handed Pitcher
Born: 08/01/1988 – Height: 6’5” – Weight: 187 – Bats: Left – Throws: Left

(Photo: Tony Lastoria)

History: De La Cruz was signed by the Indians as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in December of 2004. He is often referred to as "Carmona Left" because of his close resemblance to current Indians right-handed starting pitcher Fausto Carmona because of his look, skills, makeup and more. He is also very good friends with Carmona and often asks him for insight into the professional game and lifestyle. He is on the Indians 40-man roster.

Strengths: De La Cruz is a big left-handed starter who throws a fastball that sits at 91-93 MPH and touches 95 MPH, and complements it with a curveball and changeup. As he matures, his mechanics are refined, and his health improves he still has some arm strength where he could see some velocity gains. He gets good sink with his fastball and pounds it down in the zone. His curveball is a 12-6 hammer and a projectable plus-plus pitch with real good depth and a swing and miss put away type pitch that is a potential major league weapon. His curveball improved last year as it was much sharper and showed more depth. He has a good feel for his changeup, and while it is clearly behind his fastball and curveball, it has plus potential down the road. All three of his pitches are effective finishing pitches where he has shown the ability to miss bats and strike batters out.

With his big frame and stuff there is still no limit to De La Cruz’s potential. His size and strong lower half allows him to get good leverage on hitters and get the ball on a downward plane. He has an aggressive, fearless approach where he challenges hitters and goes right at them. He is a student of the game and understands how to pitch to hitters and find and exploit their weaknesses so he can attack them. He shows a lot of maturity on the mound, and just oozes confidence and loves to compete. He has made strides in learning to make adjustments in-game and better attacking hitters. He shows good athleticism and fields his position well. Aside from the elbow scare in 2009, he has been healthy and proven to be a durable pitcher who has the ability to haul innings. He has excellent makeup, speaks good English, and just loves the game.

On the positive side, De La Cruz made it through last season healthy and did not have any injury setbacks. He had strained the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his left elbow in April of 2009, and after tests did not reveal a tear no surgery was performed and instead he had several weeks of rest before going on a return to throw program late that year. He only made a handful of rehab appearances with the Arizona League team at the end of August that year, so he participated in Instructional League to make up some of the lost development time. Even after missing almost all of the 2009 season he came back last season and was able to make 26 starts and pitch 127.2 innings and was back up to 95 MPH during the season. He was so dependable and made all his starts last year that he had to sit out the final two weeks of the season because he had reached his 125-130 innings threshold. He remained with the team after his shutdown and continued to workout, throw bullpens, do delivery drills, and work on his conditioning. While the numbers were not up to the standards expected from a top pitching prospect, the Indians felt like he showed progress last season, especially off the field with his preparation and routine between each start and his mental approach to those starts.

On the negative side, De La Cruz was not very effective last year, particularly at Double-A Akron. He was still feeling his way through the setback he had the previous year and also trying to get a feel for his stuff again and with attacking hitters. He struggled with walks the last three months of the season, a problem that the Indians felt was just as much mental as it was mechanical. They worked on some things to help his composure and pace on the mound, and though the results did not show in his performance at the end of the season, he showed better composure and balance with pitching through the ball. The physical tools, stuff, and abilities are still there, it just boils down to him finding his command as it was absent for most of last year and something he really struggled with. A case can be made that his stuff and command will return this season now that he is a full year removed from injury and has a whole offseason to workout without restrictions.

Opportunities: The two biggest concerns for De La Cruz this coming season are his health and his fastball command. The Indians were careful with him last year in order to keep him healthy, so he needs to show he can stay on the field with a normal unrestricted workload. The Indians feel that if he can better repeat his delivery, solidify his arm slot, and he gets stronger in his lower half, that it will help his balance which in turn will help fix his fastball command woes and improve his secondary offerings. Confidence should also help as knowing he is healthy without fear of reinjuring himself should help him be more effective. He also needs to get more consistent in all the nuances of pitching and with his preparation. He needs to improve his daily routines and have better preparation on game days. He needs to be more efficient with his pitches so he can pitch deeper into games. He needs to improve knowing how to attack hitters and how to use his stuff. He needs to be more consistent with his mechanics and delivery. He has to control his emotions a little better.

Outlook: De La Cruz gets somewhat of a pass for his performance last season because the primary focus last year was to monitor and maintain his health. This year, however, the kid gloves will be off and he will need to show progress with his development to remain in the upper echelon of Indians prospects. With the tools, size, and makeup, everything is there for him to be a good pitcher in the big leagues though there is still a long way to go and many pitfalls to avoid in order for him to get there. Since he is already on the 40-man roster there is a good chance if he stays healthy and continues to progress that at the end of the 2011 season he could see some time in Cleveland as a September callup, but any significant time in Cleveland should not be expected until 2012. He should open the 2011 season with a return trip to Akron.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2005	16	DSL Indians	R	3	3	2.36	13	12	53.1	49	14	3	16	39	.234	2.7	6.6	1.22
2006	17	GCL Indians	R	1	2	10.98	9	4	19.2	32	24	2	13	15	.360	5.9	6.9	2.29
2007	18	GCL Indians	R	3	0	0.50	3	3	18.0	7	1	1	2	20	.117	1.0	10.0	0.50
2007	18	Mahoning Valley	A-	2	4	3.98	12	12	54.1	41	24	5	34	53	.216	5.6	8.8	1.38
2008	19	Akron	AA	1	0	7.20	1	1	5.0	4	4	1	3	4	.222	5.4	7.2	1.40
2008	19	Lake County	A	8	4	1.69	18	18	95.2	71	18	2	34	96	.207	3.2	9.0	1.10
2008	19	Kinston	A+	3	2	6.44	8	8	29.1	35	21	1	25	36	.292	7.7	11.0	2.05
2009	20	Kinston	A+	2	0	1.50	2	2	12.0	6	2	1	2	19	.146	1.5	14.2	0.68
2009	20	AZL Indians	R	0	2	9.39	3	3	7.2	10	8	1	5	5	.323	5.9	5.9	1.96
2010	21	Kinston	A+	2	2	2.91	6	6	34.0	22	11	3	8	28	.183	2.1	7.4	0.88
2010	21	Akron	AA	5	6	5.77	20	20	93.2	98	60	12	64	77	.274	6.1	7.4	1.73
		MiLB Totals		30	25	3.98	95	89	422.2	375	187	32	206	392	.237	4.4	8.3	1.37

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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