Camp Update 3/28

Not much news today other than some roster decisions were finalized. Official rosters are not available yet, and it may be 24-48 hours before I get my hands on all four full-season rosters, but when I get them I will post them hear right away.

The most surprising news of the day is how many "vets" are going to start in extended spring training (EST). Apparently, Dan Cevette, Chris Niesel, Joe Ness, Scott Roehl and some other notably higher level guys are sticking behind in EST. Allegedly, Cevette may ask for his release.

Not 100% on this, but apparently Brian Finegan was released. Still awaiting confirmation on this, but looks like he was let go. There were a few others, but no other names at this time. Supposedly, no one who played at Akron or Buffalo last year was released.

The Kinston pitching staff unofficially to start the season will be Jim Deters, Josh Tomlin, Paolo Espino, Jeanmar Gomez, Hector Rondon, Steven Wright, Matt Meyer, Erik Stiller, Neil Wagner, Carton Smith, Austin Creps, and Luis Perdomo. Espino, Rondon, Gomez, and Wright are certain to be in the starting rotation, while it is unknown who of Smith, Tomlin or Deters will claim the final rotation spot.

David Huff, Chuck Lofgren, Scott Lewis, AND Shawn Nottingham will be in the starting rotation at Akron. Frank Herrmann and Sung-Wei Tseng are also in Akron, but it is unknown which one claimed the last rotation spot.

In other news, the Buffalo game on Thursday ended in a 1-1 tie. Both the Bisons and the Braves were held to one run and four hits each. Catcher David Wallace went 1-for-2 with and RBI and first baseman Ryan Mulhern went 1-for-4 at is hitting .385 (10-26) with five doubles and five RBI in nine games this spring. Right-hander Jeff Harris started the game and threw four no-hit innings and allowed one walk while striking out four. Right-handers Rick Bauer and Eddie Mujica each pitched a scoreless inning.

The scrimmage between Akron and Lake County scheduled for April 1st has been cancelled. Weather conditions in the Cleveland area have just made it impossible to get the field ready in time to play the game, and the organization also does not want to risk injury to their players in less than ideal conditions.

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Camp Update 3/27

Some quick updates today as camp gets ready to break in a few days:

- In Monday's Triple-A game between Buffalo and Toledo, first baseman Jordan Brown hit three home runs. Outfielder Jason Cooper went 2-for-3 with 2 2Bs and catcher Wyatt Toregas went 3-for-4 with an RBI. On the mound, right-hander Adam Miller started the game and allowed two runs on three hits in three innings and had three Ks. Right-hander Eddie Mujica pitched two shutout innings of work (2H, 1K). Right-hander Jeff Stevens pitched two innings of shutout ball and gave up a walk and had 4 Ks.

- In Tuesday's action, outfielder Trevor Crowe was 2-for-4 and left-hander Jeremy Sowers threw 5 innings and gave up 6 hits and three runs for Buffalo. For Akron, shortstop Josh Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with 2RBI, first baseman Michael Aubrey 2-for-4 with a HR and 4RBI, right-hander Brian Slocum through three shutout innings allowing one hit, and left hander Rich Rundles threw two shutout innings on one hit. For Kinston, outfielder John Drennen went 1-for-3 with an RBI, and left-hander Dan Cevette threw two shutout innings and allowed 1 hit and struckout two. And, for Lake County, shortstop Mark Thompson was 2-for-4 with 2RBI.

- Infielder Rodney Choy Foo has retired. I had heard this last week and forgot to mention it. Supposedly, he went back to Hawaii and is going to (try to) play football for the University of Hawaii.

- Yesterday was a camp day, and supposedly the entire Indians staff got together after practice to make some final decisions on cuts and assignments. Some more cuts could be coming sometime today (Thursday).

- Just an FYI, next week I will have in-depth previews for each of the four ful-season affiliates Buffalo, Akron, Kinston and Lake County. Buffalo should post Tuesday, Akron Wednesday, Kinston Friday and Lake County on Saturday. On Thursday, I plan to post me first Minor Happenings of the season.

- I am done sorting all the pictures I took while I was in Winter Haven, and now am in the process of uploading them all. I will post a link to a photo gallery sometime in the next few days. I will also have some new video to share that I shot at camp.

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Stevens Is Ready To Make An Impact

Prior to last year, the Indians had a lot of problems with developing relievers in their minor league system. While players at nearly every position had established themselves at the major league level, for various reasons the Indians went into last season without having developed an impact reliever in the five years since "The Plan" was consummated in June 2002.

That all changed quickly after several young relievers put up great seasons last year for the Indians at the big league and minor league level.

Most fans know the impact that left-hander Rafael Perez and right-hander Jensen Lewis had for the Indians last season. The emergence of Perez and Lewis were two big reasons the Indians bullpen solidified itself and the Indians were able to make the playoffs.

But, in addition to those two, several other relievers established themselves last year. What was once an organizational weakness now appears to be a strength. One reliever in particular who broke through last year was right-hander Jeff Stevens.

Stevens was moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen last year, and the move jumpstarted his career. He started off in advanced Single-A Kinston with a bang, where through May 10^th he had pitched 25 innings and only had a 0.72 ERA, 0.48 WHIP and we averaging more than a strikeout an inning. He was dominating and just blowing hitters away, and finished the year 6-3 with a 2.81 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 11.02 K/9 in 49 combined appearances at Kinston and Double-A Akron.

"I just went out there and it was going really well at the time for me," recalled Stevens in an interview last weekend. "I think knowing you are going in for one inning and you can pitch however you want because chances are you are not going to face those hitters again that night. You don't have to hold anything back against them and can show them any pitch you want whenever and not really worry about facing them a second time through."

Stevens throws four quality pitches and commands them well. His fastball has some life to it, where now that he is in the bullpen his velocity has increased from about 91-92 MPH to 93-94 MPH. His secondary stuff is very good, lead by a breaking ball that has improved a lot and been described as having the drop and movement of a "whiffle ball". He is a strike-thrower and goes right after hitters, and has the makings of a good backend reliever.

"My velocity jumped up a little bit in the bullpen," said Stevens. "When I was a starter up in Lake County I would get up to 91-92 MPH. In the bullpen I think it just went up because like I said you don't have to hold back. You can go out and give max effort and give everything you got for those 15, 20 or 25 pitches you are going to throw."

Stevens has certainly found his calling as a reliever. While he has been a starter for most of his professional career, he has had some experience in college and in the pros pitching out of the bullpen.

"In college I threw a little bit of mid-week relief," said Stevens. "In college they throw you as much as they want. My sophomore year I would close on Friday's and start on Sunday's. I had some relief work, and when I was in Dayton with the Reds before I got traded I was kind of off and on in the bullpen. But mostly I have been a starter. This past year was the first time I was a full time reliever all year."

The permanent change from a starter to a reliever is something Stevens accepts and is excited about. As a reliever, he now has a chance to pitch any night and is more involved game to game rather than just starting every fifth day when he pitched out of the starting rotation.

"I like it," says Stevens. "It is nice knowing you have a chance to pitch every night. There are certain nights when you know you are not going to pitch after throwing two days in a row. For the most part you have to be ready to pitch every single night."

More importantly, the change to the bullpen added helium to his prospect status and expedited his rise in the system to where he is a legit relief option for the Indians now. He was invited to big league camp as a non-roster player, and while he only threw a couple innings in spring training games before being sent down in mid-March, his time in big league camp allowed the Indians coaching staff to get a good look at him for possible use down the road.

"I did not throw as much as I would have liked to there," said Stevens. "Being up in big league camp the biggest advantage for me was Carl Willis and Eric Wedge have heard about me pitching but never seen me before. For me, it was only two and two thirds innings [pitched in actual games], but it gave me a chance to show them at least what kind of pitcher I was and what I can do. They saw me throw bullpens and they saw me throw live batting practice, so they have an idea how I pitch and what I am all about."

Things have not always looked so good for Stevens. Before his breakout year last year, Stevens unfortunately had the distinction of being the player that fans will forever remember as the guy the Indians received in return from the Cincinnati Reds for second baseman Brandon Phillips before the start of the 2006 season.

Since Brandon Phillips has established himself as a perennial All-Star and 30/30 player, the Brandon Phillips Debacle is often brought up by fans in on-line message forums or over the airwaves on call-in talkshows. Indians GM Mark Shapiro is often raked over the coals for the decision to trade Phillips, and at times the nastiness has indirectly carried over into dragging Stevens through the mud as well.

For the Indians to request Stevens be on the short list of players to choose from as compensation for Phillips, they obviously saw something they liked in him. The Reds also hated losing Stevens as they really liked him. Stevens was drafted by Cincinnati in the 6th round of the 2005 Draft out of Loyola Marymount University, and was not formally sent to the Indians until June 13, 2006 since he was just drafted in June of 2005 and drafted players cannot be traded for a year.

Even though it has been two years since the trade, Stevens knows there is nothing he can do but go out and pitch.

"My friends always give me a hard time at home [about the trade]," said Stevens. "An example is if Phillips hits two home runs one night I'll get a couple text messages from my friends. I mean, you gotta take it how it is. I did not choose to get traded, it is just the way the business works. My answer to that always is I will always go wherever I can and do the best I can."

Stevens will likely open the season at Akron because of so many pitchers from big league camp being assigned to Buffalo. The two pitchers who most likely will push him to Akron are Tom Mastny and Scott Elarton as both expected to pitch out of the Buffalo bullpen to start the season.

"They told me probably Buffalo, but it depends who comes down and goes where and who makes the major league team," said Stevens. "I'll go wherever, Akron or Buffalo. I don't mind."

No matter where he starts the season, he has a good chance to end the season in Cleveland.

Notes

I'll have a photo gallery up sometime in the next few days chock full of photos from my week+ stay in Winter Havem, plus I will include tons of new video footage. And, next week I will be doing full in-depth team previews for Buffalo, Akron, Kinston, and Lake County.

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Players Released

I am still settling back in after my trek back to northeast Ohio yesterday and today. But, wanted to chime in on some news regarding the release of some minor league players. Here is who I know of right now: Luis Valdez, Dan Frega, Scott Sumner, David Uribes, Mike Eisenberg, Alan Brech, Kyle Collina, and Kyle Harper. There are a few more, but I am trying to get word on who they are, so possibly more later.

As a reminder, James Brettl and Cody Bunkelman were released about a week ago.

Do note, these releases are unofficial. The Indians have not made them public yet, so until an official announcement is made (if any), take this news for what it is worth.

I know a lot of players and their families read this blog, so for those affected by these releases, I am sorry to hear of the news and wish you the best of luck going forward. This is the business side of the game I hate, and I hope you can latch onto another team and get a second chance elsewhere. Also, if anyone has some news on others who may have been released, please email me at tlastoria@gmail.com . Thanks.

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Winter Haven Update 3/23

Nash Looking To Be A Smash In ‘08

Indians first base prospect Chris Nash is about the nicest young man you will ever meet. Very soft-spoken, but extremely confident at the same time, he is a young power hitting first baseman on the rise in the Indians system.

If fans do not know about him yet, they better take notice now, because he is one of those preseason candidates tabbed to have a breakout year this season.

Of course, a lot of fans probably do not know much of Nash yet because he played last season in the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Games in the GCL draw very little, in fact you probably would find a bigger crowd down the road at a local Little League game. There is no media or fans in the GCL, and really the atmosphere when the games are played is that of a glorified practice.

"It is kind of hard to play out there at 12 o'clock every day," recalled Nash on his GCL experience from last season. "There are no fans out here, and sometimes you have a doubleheader. There is just no energy, and it just feels like a practice game to you."

It was a brutal stretch for Nash. He came to Winter Haven in February for the start of minor league spring training, stayed behind in extended spring training, and played in the GCL once games started in June. Nash finally got to leave Winter Haven when the Indians called him up to Mahoning Valley in August.

Nash was selected in the 24^th round of the 2006 Draft out of Johnson County Community College (KS), but was hurt and signed late so last year was his debut season in the Indians organization. Nash finished the season hitting .303 with 20 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 33 RBI, and an .806 OPS in 63 combined games in the GCL and at Mahoning Valley. For his first year in the system, he really had a good season.

"I was pleased actually," responded Nash about his 2007 season. "That adjustment coming from college to pro ball, it took me a little while to get started. After awhile I felt comfortable playing down here [in the Gulf Coast League]. At the end of the season I was fortunate to get moved up to Mahoning Valley and continued to play well up there. So making that adjustment was really easy for me. Now, I am looking forward to having a good year this year and keeping it going."

Nash is a very big kid at 21 years of age (6'5" 230 lbs). For a guy his size he did not hit many home runs last year, but he did pile up a lot of doubles (20 in 63 games). The feeling with Nash and the Indians is those doubles will start to translate to home runs this year now that he has become more accustomed to using wood bats and made the adjustment to pro ball. Nash had limited experience with wood before signing as he used them in the Northwoods League when he played for the Duluth Huskies (.278 avg, 2 HR, 14 RBI in 56 games).

His big frame, strength, and size at a young age make him very projectable to be a big power hitter. He is so big and athletic, that he was actually recruited in high school by Division-1 colleges as a tight end. But, one problem Nash had last year was not getting good leverage with his legs or using his lower half really well. Once he learns how to use his lower half and get better leverage with his front side and not come off the ball, the expected power explosion should come.

"The only adjustment I have made this year is widening my base and trying to get a little more leverage with my front foot," said Nash. "But, I did not really do as much this offseason as I did last year when I made some big adjustments. I came up before I got injured and was in a good spot."

The injury Nash is speaking of is a strained latissimus dorsi muscle, which he hurt earlier in camp while trying to learn a new throwing motion.

"I had strained my lat about five or six days ago just changing my arm movement as they wanted me to change from sidearm to straight over the top," said Nash. "By doing that it put a lot of strain on muscles I had not used a lot before in the past. I am supposed to be healthy and back ready to go by next Wednesday."

As a first baseman, the first question that comes to mind is why it would be so important for the Indians to overhaul his throwing technique. Throwing the baseball would seem to be the last thing you would be worried about for a first baseman, but apparently the Indians felt the correction was necessary because of the problems Nash had with throws to second base.

"With my arm angle, my ball was tailing a little bit when I was throwing to second base," responded Nash. "And so the more I get over the top the straighter the ball will be. That's why I made the adjustment."

Nash likely will not see any game action before camp breaks, but should be able to start taking batting practice before he heads out to Single-A Lake County this coming Saturday. He likely will still be bothered by the sore back muscle when the season starts, so it is possible the Indians give him a week or two off at first base and just have him in the Lake County lineup as the designated hitter until he is 100% ready to go.

While Nash says his goal is to get to Akron by the end of the year, if he stays healthy and performs well he most likely will get a late season callup to Kinston. With so many good first basemen above him in the system, he will be roadblocked somewhat until the position clears up in the upper levels over the course of the season and next offseason.

No matter what happens, though, Nash is excited at the prospects of a breakout season.

Notebook

- This just in: Nick Weglarz is pretty good. In fact, I'll make the proclamation now that by seasons end he will be one of the top five to ten hitting prospects in all of baseball and the #1 or #2 prospect in the Indians system. Yesterday, Lake County and Kinston got to play on the big league field because the minor league fields were under water. Weglarz ended up going 2-for-2 with a double, home run and walk. In his second at bat, while he was in the on-deck circle he turned to Kinston manager Chris Tremie and smiled and said "I'm taking this one out." Tremie playfully responded and said, "Do it. Don't say it. Do it." Weglarz turned to right field and said, "See that Carraba's sign over the right field wall? I'm hitting it." Tremie responded, "Tell you what, if you hit that Beef O'Brady's sign deep over the right-center wall, I'll buy you dinner." Nick smiled and walked to the plate. A few pitches later, on a 3-2 count, Weglarz blasted a home run that landed OVER the Beef O'Brady's sign. The right fielder never moved, and the ball had to of gone at least 450 feet. As Weglarz rounded third base and smiled at Tremie, Tremie responded, "Well, you didn't hit the sign." After the inning, when right-hander Paolo Espino came in, he turned to the pitching coach and said, "I threw a good pitch, low and away and he still got me." One of the coaches responded and said, "That's why we are all happy Weglarz is on our team." Great stuff.

- Right-hander Steven Wright has been bothered by shin splints for most of camp. While he has thrown some in scrimmages, yesterday was the first time he pitched in live game action. Wright is expected to start the season in the Kinston rotation.

- Left-hander and highly regard 2007 Draft pick Chris Jones has been sidelined in camp with an undisclosed arm injury. He has not thrown all camp, not even playing catch. Jones was expected to start the year in extended spring anyway, so he still has a few months before short season games start, but still the injury is concerning.

- I have made several mentions of expected cuts in camp coming down the pipeline any day. Well, from what I have learned, the reason there have not been many cuts so far this late in camp is the Indians did not bring enough players to camp this year. Last year, there was a mass exodus of players mostly because the system was being trimmed down from seven to six affiliates. In 2006, the Indians added the Gulf Coast League (GCL) rookie level team, but still had Burlington as a rookie level team as well. At the end of the year they pulled out of Burlington, and the GCL team remained as the lone rookie level team. As a result, last spring training there was something like 25-35 players cut. There still should be some cuts this spring, but now it looks like only a handful will be cut, and they may not happen until the very end of camp.

- Here is how the starting rotations in Kinston and Lake County look to be shaping up: Paolo Espino, Hector Rondon, Jeanmar Gomez, and Steven Wright should be in the Kinston starting rotation. Who fills the remaining spot is unknown at this time, but it could be any of Josh Tomlin, Jim Deters, Sung-Wei Tseng, Kevin Dixon, Ryan Edell, Carlton Smith, and Frank Herrmann. At Lake County, their starting rotation will be fronted by Kelvin De La Cruz, Ryan Miller, Santo Frias, and Ryan Morris. Who fills the final spot is unknown, but it looks like it could be any of Mike Eisenberg, Heath Taylor, Joanniel Montero, or a few others.

- Possible assignments for Kinston: Jared Head and Brian Juhl look like they will open the season at Kinston as a catching tandem, where Head often plays other positions to keep him sharp and useful as a super utility player. Matt McBride would have started in Kinston as the catcher had he not had shoulder surgery in the offseason. Beau Mills and Todd Martin will play first base, with Mills splitting time at third base. When Mills is not playing third base it appears that Jared Goedert may play there and also split time at second base. Adam Davis should also be there playing second, and Carlos Rivero will be at shortstop. The outfield should be Nick Weglarz in left field, Jason Denham in center field, and Cirilo Cumberbatch in right field.

- Possible assignments for Lake County: Adam White will be in center field, Mark Thompson at shortstop, Jeff Hehr at third base, Chris Nash and Dustin Relini at first base, and likely Doug Pickens and Alex Castillo catching at Lake County (Alcombrack probably starts in Mahoning Valley). Second base and the two corner outfield positions appear to be up for grabs, but one outfield spot should be filled by Matt Brown. Matt Willard could end up at shortstop or even second base.

Boy, it is sad to say goodbye to Winter Haven. Not because it will be the last time I am down here (well, I'll be here in July to see the GCL team), but also to go back to that great weather in Cleveland, OH. From 80+ degrees and sunny to 30-some degrees and snowy. Lovely.

Anyway, I had plans to talk to so many other players in camp like Frank Herrmann, Bo Greenwell, Heath Taylor, Robbie Alcombrack, Randy Newsom, and many others, but ran out of time and just never sync up a time to catch up with them after agreeing to talk to them. No worries though, I am sure when I make my visits to the affiliates this year I will track them all down at that point and it will be much easier to nail them down for an interview.

Just a reminder, I plan to have some sort of photo gallery at the end of this week that I will post. I have tons and tons of good pictures to share, and I also have a whole slew of video to upload and show for guys like Mike Pontius, Kelvin De La Cruz, Kyle Landis, Erik Stiller, Dan Cevette, Adam White, Jeff Hehr, Doug Pickens, Nick Weglarz, Brian Juhl, Matt Brown, Robbie Alcombrack, and more.

I hope everyone enjoyed the daily reports of the happenings in minor league camp, and I had a blast sitting back and seeing these kids get ready for the start of a new season. We are only about ten days from the start of the minor league season, and I can't wait.

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Winter Haven Update 3/22

Weglarz Likely To Play in Olympic Games This Summer

Outfielder Nick Weglarz was a late arrival to minor league camp this year, and made his spring debut this past Tuesday. His absence was not the result of an injury or for personal reasons, but because he was taking part in the Olympic qualifiers in Taiwan and Australia playing for Team Canada.

Weglarz is familiar with playing for his country, as when he was in high school he played with the Team Ontario baseball program for three years and often played in tournaments in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and other places. Last summer, Team Canada's Greg Hamilton, who is the director and coach for their national teams, saw how Weglarz was doing in the minors and asked if he would like to play. Weglarz was more than happy to say yes and was excited for the opportunity to play for his country again.

Last October and November, Weglarz went over to Taiwan and Australia and played in the World Cup and did well in limited playing time. He was asked to come back and play this past spring in the Olympic qualifiers, and this time he was a starter and put in the middle of the lineup as one of the main run producers of Team Canada.

Weglarz responded by hitting .450 in the seven games played and lead all players with three home runs. One was a tape measure shot that literally was three rows from leaving the stadium. His performance helped guide the Canadian team to a 6-1 record and they earned a berth in the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing later this summer from August 8^th to the 24^th.

The entire experience in Australia and Taiwan this spring is something Weglarz will never forget. Particularly the crazy game with Chinese Taipei that saw a tightly contested game end up in a bench clearing shouting match and near brawl as well as the Canadian team being peppered with bottles and needing a four car police escort back to their hotel.

"The Chinese Taipei game was amazing," said Weglarz. "I won't play in a better game in my life."

To reset what happened in the game, it was 5-4 Chinese Taipei in the 8^th inning with runners on first and second (Weglarz was on first) and two outs. A base hit to right field brought what Canada thought was the tying run home, but a great throw from the Chinese Taipei right fielder cut the Canadian runner down at the plate. After a big homeplate collision, when the Chinese Taipei catcher got up from being run over, he flipped the ball at the Canadian player who had just bowled him over. At that point, players started getting into each others faces and shouting, and then things really got crazy when the right fielder came in and flung the ball into the Canadian dugout.

"I was running to third at the time and I didn't really see it," recalled Weglarz. "But I saw the guy flip it and our guy get mad. And then their right fielder came in and chucks the ball into our dugout. Our pitching coach saw it and ran onto the field and that is when both benches cleared and we got the brawling going."

Play was suspended for several minutes as the two teams chest bumped and shouted at each other on the field. Things got worse as the pro-Chinese Taipei crowd littered the field with debris. Once order was restored, Canada came back and tied it in the ninth inning with a two out single, and then won it with a run in the tenth inning. The win was a pivotal game for Canada, as had they lost they would have had a hard time winning an Olympic berth.

With the Olympic Games set for play in August this year, the question now is how Weglarz and the Indians work it out to allow him to play for Team Canada again. They have not talked about it yet, but Weglarz as well as teammate T.J. Burton should be allowed to participate. If both are allowed to go as expected, they would roughly miss a month of their season as they would go early and play an exhibition series somewhere before going to Beijing from August 8^th to the 24^th. So, a good chunk of the end of the season could be eaten up, although both players would be back by the end of August to finish their seasons with whatever affiliate they are assigned to at the time.

But that is an issue that will be addressed in July. For now, Weglarz is back in camp and ready to roll. He arrived in Winter Haven at one o'clock in the morning on Monday, and got the day off on Monday before making his 2008 spring training debut on Tuesday. Now back in action and in camp, it is a big adjustment going from the raucous crowds in Taiwan to the quiet backfields of Chain of Lakes Park getting ready for the minor league baseball season.

"Spring training is a little more laid back and stuff," said Weglarz. "Going to the Olympic qualifiers and playing for your country in the Chinese Taipei game where we had something like 30,000 screaming fans, you play your best. We had a four car police escort back and they were throwing bottles at us. That kind of intensity you can't match anywhere. I know it is tough, as you can't match that kind of intensity in a spring training game."

Now that he is settled in again, Weglarz is ready to get the season going.

"Right now I am a little tired from the jetlag," said Weglarz. "I feel good. I feel strong, stronger than I have ever been. I'm trying to get my feet back underneath me here and play in a few games."

Weglarz is an impressive physical specimen. At 20 years of age, Weglarz would have towered over Jim Thome when he was the same age. The Indians media guide lists Weglarz at 6'3" and 225 pounds, but he is actually about 245 pounds and all muscle. Since last summer, he has bulked up and grown into his body more as he has gotten older and matured. And talk of him gaining weight does not imply at all he has gotten fat. That is not the case at all. His weight gain is all muscle, and the scary thing is he will only continue to get bigger.

"I worked out hard basically," said Weglarz. "I did not do anything crazy or different, but I just worked hard and ran a lot too. And I just put the weight on naturally I guess."

Right now, Weglarz will use the final week of spring training to get ready for another minor league season, which most likely will be in advanced Single-A Kinston. He has big time power and a very advanced eye at the plate for his age, but he still has things to work on this year.

"I need to cut down on the strikeouts a little bit," said Weglarz. "Defensively, I can always get better. That's one thing I have to focus on. I'd say solidifying my approach at the plate by being consistent day in and day out. My eye with the strike zone is pretty good, so just keep that up and take good approaches every at bat."

The Indians also want to see him make some strides defensively in the outfield this year, particularly in his route running to balls.

"Getting good reads off the bat in batting practice," said Weglarz when explaining how he can improve his defense. "When a guy is taking batting practice, you see where the ball is in the strike zone and if you are really good at it you can almost anticipate where the ball is going to be as he is swinging. So in batting practice, you go and watch and try to get reads off the bat and take a couple steps hard and if you can catch it you go get it. It is just repetition, that's how you get good at it."

When Weglarz was drafted in the third round of the 2005 Draft out of high school, he was drafted as a first baseman. However, since being drafted he has not played first base, but if Weglarz continues to get bigger it may make more sense down the road to move him back to first base. It is a position change Weglarz does not want to see happen.

"If I can play outfield, I'd love to stay there," said Weglarz. "But if I start gaining too much weight I'll have to get on a weight loss program to trim down a bit (joking)."

With the left field situation currently unsolved for the Indians, they would love to see Weglarz stay in the outfield as well.

Notebook

- Yesterday, the Indians accepted back infielder Matt Whitney from the Washington Nationals. Whitney was a Rule V pick by the Nationals in the December draft held in Nashville, TN. Whitney led the Indians organization with 32 homers and 113 RBI last season between Class A Lake County and Kinston. He will report to minor league camp today.

- Infielder Jason Smit is still bothered by a sore throwing arm, but expects to be back in action later next week. Smit is now 18 years old, and is starting to fill out his frame more. He looks a lot bigger than he did last year and has added roughly 10-15 pounds of good weight.

- First baseman Chris Nash is working his way back into action. He has been sidelined for the past five to six days with a sore shoulder from a new throwing motion the Indians implemented. He was back on the field yesterday but limited to just taking grounders in batting practice. I actually talked to him on Friday and will have an article up on him tomorrow. He is a nice young kid, soft spoken, and well mannered. He is also big and talented as well, and he had several Division 1 scholarship opportunities to play tight end in football. A cool thing I also learned is how he is ambidextrous where he can throw a baseball just as good right-handed as left-handed!

- Left-handed pitcher Kelvin De La Cruz is a highly regarded pitching prospect, but he is also a pretty good athlete as well. Over the past few days I have watched the Lake County team take batting practice, and while most of the pitchers are spread out and stand around shagging fly balls, De La Cruz has been active and running down balls in the gaps and looking like a natural outfielder. You wouldn't expect that type of movement from a 6'5" 187 pound pitcher.

- Yesterday I commented on what looks like will be the Buffalo and Akron starting rotation. From what I have seen in camp, it looks like first base is set to go like this: Jordan Brown and Ryan Mulhern in Triple-A Buffalo, Matt Whitney and Michael Aubrey in Double-A Akron, Todd Martin and Beau Mills in advanced Single-A Kinston, and Chris Nash and Dustin Realini at Single-A Lake County. With two first baseman at each level, when one plays first base the other will likely be the designated hitter. Mills will play a lot of third base, and Realini may also get some time there too. First base may be the deepest position in the system outside of left-handed pitching.

- Random thoughts: Third baseman Jeff Hehr, who looks like he will be the starting third baseman in Lake County, has had a good camp. He has looked good defensively at third base where he moves well and does a very good job coming in on balls. The question will be with his bat, but keep an eye out for him. He could be someone like a Goedert last year who comes out of nowhere to have a good season (not to Goedert's degree, but still good). Also, Doug Pickens has looked solid behind the plate and with the injury to Matt McBride, he could be the starting catcher in Kinston when the season starts. Brian Juhl could also figure into that mix, but I have not seen him play at all in camp. I did see him board the team bus yesterday, so he is around. I'll try to watch Juhl some today if possible.

- Today is a camp day, which means there are no games scheduled today and all the minor leaguers will be on site for practice, drills, and some intrasquad games so the pitchers can get their work in. This morning could also signal the first big cut of the spring. With less than a week before camp breaks and the teams disperse, about 15-25 players will likely be let go. Several players that know they are on the bubble are on edge, and either today or tomorrow seems like the most likely time for the first big cut to be announced to the players.

- Next Saturday 3/29 is the final day of camp. The minor league teams play early that day at 10am, and then right after the game will pack up and leave for their destination city. Most if not all of the players should know by that morning where they are being assigned.

- One of the more interesting facets of life for a minor leaguer I have learned this week is how they deal with getting their cars from Winter Haven to whatever affiliate they play for. You see, organization rules mandate that when teams break for Lake County, Kinston, and Akron that the team travels together by plane (Lake County and Akron) or bus (Kinston). Buffalo players can travel separately. What this mean is the non-Buffalo players have to make arrangements to transport their vehicle (if they even have one) to the affiliate they are going to. And, because they normally do not know until the last second where they are going, usually they have to rely on their parents to help them out in getting their vehicle to where it needs to go.

Today will be my final full day at the complex watching the minor leaguers, and then on Monday I will likely spend half the day there to get one final look before shoving off back to northeast Ohio and to the snow again. Tomorrow's update will be the last from Winter Haven, and after I return home I plan to have some sort of wrapup piece and include a big photo gallery.

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Winter Haven Update 3/21

Sipp Right On Schedule

Indians left-handed pitching prospect Tony Sipp is right on schedule in his return from Tommy John surgery last July.

Sipp threw a bullpen session yesterday where he threw 60 pitches total, with one set of 30 pitches then a five minute break and then another set of 30 pitches. He threw all fastballs and changeups in the 60-pitch session. Yesterday was a key day as he also pitched off flat ground and threw his first sliders since the surgery. The idea of throwing the sliders on flat ground before using them off the mound is to get the feel for the pitch first and then transfer it over to the bullpen. It will probably be another two weeks before Sipp starts throwing sliders in the bullpen.

"Right now I still have a long way to go to get comfortable with the slider," said Sipp at the end of practice. "Today it did not feel as comfortable, but it is my first time throwing it. They said I have five weeks to work on throwing it so it is no big rush right now."

Yes, right now the Indians have no plans of trying to push Sipp's rehab to rush him back. The timeline has always been to get him back into game action on a rehab assignment by late June or early July, and then have him pitch unrestricted by the end of July. And, to date, he is still right on course.

The Indians selected Sipp in the 45th round of the 2004 Draft out of Clemson University, and the pick was a gamble by the Indians as Sipp had only pitched in 22 career college games and many felt he would be too costly to sign. But, the Indians found a diamond in the rough and he has impressed over his short minor league career posting a 2.75 ERA in 74 games (31 starts) and an excellent 11.66 K/9.

Sipp is a power-armed pitcher with big-time stuff 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 movement and consistently sits in the 91-94 MPH range, although his quick arm action and excellent deception makes it look a lot faster. He also is still developing a changeup and has a good feel for it, and even after only over a year of using it the Indians feel it may end up being his best pitch.

The Indians love his potential as a late inning reliever down the road, and had invited him to major league camp last year as a non-roster player. He performed well, and it was believed he had established himself enough where he could become a bullpen option as soon as midseason, but that all changed once he was reassigned to minor league camp with two weeks to go in spring training last year. On the first day he reported to minor league camp, he pitched in a game and ended up hurting his arm.

"I hurt my arm in my first game when I got sent back down," said Sipp. "I had to actually walk off in the middle of the inning."

Sipp experienced discomfort in his left elbow in that start, and the Indians took the precautionary route and shut him down with a sore elbow. After a few days, Sipp was diagnosed with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain and it was serious enough where it shut him down for half the season where the Indians would re-evaluate him after the All Star break. In July, after Sipp started his throwing program he had a setback in his recovery from the injury where he experienced some pain in the elbow again. The Indians ended up sending him to Dr. James Andrews, and Sipp had to undergo Tommy John surgery.

"The downtime went really well until I re-injured it on July 7^th," said Sipp. "I knew once I did it I had to have surgery a few days later. I was almost ready. I was throwing my final bullpen for me to actually get back into games and start competing again. I re-injured it that last day, as they had said they were sending me to Akron or Buffalo the next day."

While Sipp is recovering well, unfortunately his 2008 season will be more about rebuilding arm strength and staying healthy, so his appearances and innings will be limited this year. Dreams of a major league debut seemed quite possible sometime in 2007 before he hurt his arm, but now those dreams appear to have been pushed back to sometime in 2009.

"It pushed me back," said Sipp. "But, as far as trying to predict where I could have been anything could of happened. Something worse could of happened if this injury hadn't. It's all in how you look at it. The way I look at it is I have a lot of downtime now. Right now I am using it to learn about my body and getting used to the first steps of baseball all over again. Just throwing, when your body needs to rest, and when you need to ramp it up. It's just everything all over again."

Sipp has been down for about a year now, as he recently passed the one year anniversary when the injury first came about. Since then, it has been all rehab and tests the past 365 days, and very little throwing and no game action. However, throughout the entire rehab process Sipp has kept a positive mindset.

"It's definitely like Groundhog's Day," said Sipp. "But, it's about the little things you do. Like me throwing the slider today. If you don't get pumped up for little things, then you are going to be miserable. Every little thing I do and every new exercise they bump in there it helps me out because it's all I got right now."

Sipp has the right outlook, and his makeup as a person and pitcher is one of the reasons the Indians have always been so high on him. Barring any setbacks, it appears all of Sipp's hard work and his lengthy rehab will pay off in about three months when he gets clearance to start a rehab assignment and play in some games.

"I have been feeling good, things have been going well, and it is just a matter of seeing when they want to let me go and release me to do activity," said Sipp. "Until then I'll just be sitting here with my hands in my pocket."

(Watch Sipp's bullpen session here and here.)

Notebook

- Akron and Buffalo were in action at Winter Haven yesterday. The Buffalo lineup was littered with several players from the major league squad sent down to get some at bats as Andy Marte (3B) and Jamey Carroll (LF) played the entire game. Also, non-roster pitchers Matt Ginter and Rick Bauer pitched. In the Akron game, they had what looked like will be their regular everyday lineup to start the season: Chris Gimenez (C), Michael Aubrey (1B), Brian Finegan (2B), Josh Rodriguez (SS), Wes Hodges (3B), John Drennen (LF), Jose Constanza (CF), and Lucas Montero (RF). Montero is likely not with Akron to start the season, as the right field spot will go to Cirilo Cumberbatch who was off yesterday.

- Looks like this will be the starting rotation in Buffalo: Adam Miller, Jeremy Sowers, Aaron Laffey, Brian Slocum, and one of Jeff Harris, Matt Ginter or Rick Bauer. Also, it looks like this will be the Akron rotation: Chuck Lofgren, Scott Lewis, Shawn Nottingham, J.D. Martin, and one of David Huff, Kevin Dixon, or Ryan Edell. Having Lofgren and Lewis return to Akron is a direct result of the depth the Indians have in front of them at Buffalo. Still, they should see meaningful innings at Buffalo this season.

- Like Lofgren and Lewis, it looks like Michael Aubrey and Ryan Goleski will be pushed back to Akron because of the depth at first base and outfield at Buffalo. Aubrey is all but certain to start the year in Akron as the regular first baseman, and because of the outfield situation in Buffalo where Trevor Crowe, Ben Francisco, and Brad Snyder will be the regulars, Goleski will once again be the odd man out and have to start the year in Akron.

- Outfielder Jose Constanza left the Akron game late yesterday with an apparent injury to his right hip or rib cage area. No word on the extent of the injury or how serious it is, but he had to be walked off the field in the middle of the inning.

- Infielder Jared Goedert was back in action yesterday, and played third base for Akron.

- There had been some talk that Shawn Nottingham would be moved to the bullpen this year, but right now the plan is to keep him as a starter.

- Here are some videos of several players in action during camp (click on the hyperlink to view the video): Delvi Cid, Abner Abreu (hitting), Ryan Mulhern, Jason Denham, Carlos Rivero, Wyatt Toregas, Todd Martin, Bubbie Buzachero, John Gaub, Mark Rodrigues, Chris Niesel, Matt Meyer, and Stephen Head.

- Players are stuck in the dog days of spring training right now. Everyday they get to the field first thing in the morning, are out stretching by 8:30am and run the same drills, take batting practice, shag fly balls, and play games until about 3:00-4:00pm every day. It does not leave a lot of free time to do other stuff outside of baseball as the players are usually pretty exhausted from their workouts or games and also from being out in the sun all day. Players tend to go back to the hotel and sit around and relax, go out and find some dinner, go catch a movie, read books, or play video games. Anything to take their minds off baseball for a few hours.

I'll be back down at the fields again today all day, my seventh day in a row of watching these guys for six to seven hours from 8:30am to 4:00pm everyday. I'm the only one watching these guys everyday, and this is the only place where you will get a firsthand look and report of what was seen rather than some of the other news sites and newspapers that only regurgitate what has been forwarded to them in a report.

I'm here for three more days, and when I return home late next week I will likely post a "Winter Haven Photo Gallery" that will be chock full of many of the pictures I have taken of players in camp. Also, as I have mentioned previously, if there are specific players you would like to get a firsthand report on or just some pictures, let me know and I will make it a point to search them out to watch them and maybe snap a picture or two.

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Winter Haven Update 3/20

Undrafted Stiller Now An Established Prospect

What a difference a year makes.

At this time last year, right-hander Erik Stiller was doing everything he could in spring training to stick with the organization and had no idea what his baseball future had in store for him. Being an undrafted free agent signing in June 2006, the Indians had little invested in him so Stiller had to work twice as hard as just about anyone to extend his stay in the Indians organization.

Stiller had a good camp last year, remained in extended spring training and waited for an opportunity, and finally got it when he was called up to Kinston at the end of May last year. Stiller ended up having a very good season in Kinston, pitching the first few months out of the bullpen and the last month or so in the starting rotation going 3-6 with a 2.89 ERA with a 7.08 K/9 and 1.88 BB/9. After his strong showing, the Indians sent him to their Fall Development Program for more instruction and then out to the Hawaii Winter League to get more innings and work in as a starter.

His hard work has paid off, and he is now firmly established as one of the Indians better pitching prospects in their farm system. As a result, camp has been a lot more fun and much less nerve-wracking compared to what he went through last year.

"I feel good and strong, and it has been a fun spring training so far," said Stiller after practice on Wednesday. "[I am a lot more] comfortable with what is happening here and familiar with everything."

Stiller has spent a lot of time trying to improve his overall physical strength, and came to camp about ten pounds bigger this year even though he is listed as 6'5" and 200 pounds in the media guide but looks a lot bigger than that. Stiller throws a fastball that clocks in the low 90s and tops out at 94 MPH, and he also throws a cutter, curveball, and changeup.

Stiller's best secondary pitch is actually his changeup, but he rarely used it last year because he pitched out of the bullpen most of the season. He went to the Hawaii Winter League in the offseason to dust the cobwebs off it and to refine the pitch as well as get more work in as a starter.

Stiller knows he has really no control over where the Indians assign him, so he knows all he can control is how hard he works to improve in some of the areas where he has lacked consistency. One of the biggest things he is working on is consistently getting his fastball down in the zone.

"I'm still focusing on fastball command down in the zone and working on my changeup," said Stiller. "Those came along pretty well in Hawaii and I feel pretty well about the progress out there. But I am still trying to feel comfortable with that, as it always helps to work on getting your fastball down.

With his height at 6'5" it helps him get on top of hitters and his ball moving on a downward plane, but his over the top delivery can leave very little room for error with his release point.

"I throw very over the top and so I do not get a ton of left and right movement on my fastball, my movement has to be downhill," said Stiller. "So, when you are coming up from the top trying to get it downhill it is all on the release point as far as where it ends up going. You don't have the same room for error as when you sling it from the side where the error can be left to right but the height difference is not changing much. Mine comes straight over the top so the margin for error is pretty small."

Based on the routine he is on right now in camp, it looks like he will start the season in the bullpen. The only question is where. The Indians have accumulated so many starting pitchers in the upper levels of their farm system that many pitchers in Akron and Kinston will be pitching out of the bullpen when they otherwise would be a starter. Right now, it really is a flip of the coin when trying to figure out if Stiller will start the season at Double-A Akron or advanced Single-A Kinston.

Notebook

- The GCL pitching staff looks like it will mostly be comprised of the following pitchers who were all working out together yesterday: Chris Jones (LHP), T.J. McFarland (LHP), Joey Mahalic (RHP), P.J. Zocchi (RHP), Danny Salazar (RHP), Franklin Soto (RHP), Mark Rodrigues (LHP), Sandy Mendes (RHP), Anillins Martinez (RHP), Wilfredo Ramirez (LHP), Jose Urena (LHP), Alexander Perez (RHP), and Jose Jimenez (RHP).

- It rained early yesterday morning, which resulted in all the games with the Detroit farm teams being cancelled. Also, all morning minor league practices were cancelled except for the pitchers going out to stretch and get some throwing in, and several pitchers like Chuck Lofgren, Reid Santos, Paolo Espino, Kelvin De La Cruz and others had bullpen sessions. Later in the afternoon, the Indians held several intrasquad games. In the Buffalo and Akron game, right-hander Adam Miller made his spring debut and pitched two scoreless innings while giving up one hit and striking out one. Some other highlights on the day had outfielder Trevor Crowe going 2-for-4 with two RBI for Buffalo and right-hander Jeanmar Gomez threw four shutout innings and allowed only two hits while striking out four for Kinston.

- There was some excitement and buzz around camp yesterday on the Triple-A field about two hours before the Indians game against Tampa. All of the Indians top brass in scouting were on hand as Director of Scouting John Mirabelli, Director of Latin Operations Lino Diaz, guest catching instructor Einar Diaz, minor league catching coordinator Tim Laker and others were all on hand as they worked out 17-year old free agent catcher Orlando Petit. Petit is working out for several teams, and worked out for the Indians for about 20 minutes yesterday in taking about five minutes worth of cuts in the cages and then another 10-15 minutes in the outfield throwing long toss. Petit looked very old for his age and had good size, and he hit left-handed.

- Second baseman Jared Goedert has been out of action the past few days. Today, I saw him working out with a trainer, so it appears he is being limited with an unknown injury. I'll try to confirm what and how serious it is (does not appear to be), but it is possible his chronic left shoulder problems may have resurfaced some in camp. Goedert looks strong and is one of the best hitters in the system.

- I have a ton of great pictures I have taken over the last week, and will be posting them soon. I plan to do an update with just pictures over the weekend. If there is a player you specifically would like to see pictures of, e-mail me at tlastoria@gmail.com and I will see what I can do. Chances are I already have them, and would be more than happy to forward them to you. I have already done this for a ton of family members of players, so don't be afraid to ask.

Today, regular games should pick back up again as the weather should be a lot better. The Triple-A and Double-A squads will be in Winter Haven while the Single-A squads will hit the road and play the Houston farm teams in Kissimmee. I'll be down there all day again today with another full report tomorrow with news and notes as well as more player interviews.

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Winter Haven Update 3/19

Finocchi Stays Positive, Looks To Return In June

Right-hander reliever Michael Finocchi looked to be on the fast track in the bullpen after another good season last year when he went 5-3 with a 3.27 ERA in 45 combined games in Kinston and Akron. He followed up the solid performance in the regular season with an excellent showing in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) by throwing 10.1 shutout innings in nine appearances.

But, one slip and fall on some ice in December changed his outlook for the 2008 season. A season of potential has now turned into a season of rehab, where Finocchi is found hobbling around in camp right now in a walking boot still recovering from a broken ankle he suffered from that slip on the ice.

Finocchi is expected to be fitted for an air case in the next week so he can start his throwing program, and when camp breaks he will remain in extended spring training to rehab. He is expected to return sometime in June.

"They will put me in an air cast, which will allow me to put pressure and my full body weight on it," said Finocchi yesterday afternoon. "It is going to help me get the feel for it again. I'll work on balance and strength, start some light tossing, and gradually build it up."

Finocchi has a power sinking fastball that sits around 92-94 MPH, and he compliments it with a hard slider and changeup. His slider is his best secondary pitch, and even with the ankle injury has shown in the past to be a durable reliever who gets hitters to pound the ball into the ground. Last year he had a 3.40 groundball to flyout ratio, and had a 3.72 ratio in 2006. Finocchi also has shown a sensational ability to keep the ball in the park as in 176 career innings pitched he has only surrendered two home runs.

When Finocchi gets back to full strength, he will work on the goals that he and the organization set for him this year to try and make him a better pitcher. One of the main goals was to throw more first pitch strikes.

"I went to the Arizona Fall League, and I was working on throwing my slider ahead in the count for strikes," said Finocchi. "Just continue to become more comfortable with the slider, get ahead in the count and ahead of the batters."

Even with the setback, Finocchi is keeping a positive attitude and plans to come back stronger than ever.

"I don't think the injury will set me back," said Finocchi. "If anything, after this I think I will come back stronger with the rehab and working out harder than I ever have. Everyone is pushing and pushing me to get better."

McFarland Ready To Go

The Indians selected McFarland in the fourth round of the 2007 Draft out of high school. While he showed great potential late in his senior year at high school by showcasing a low 90s fastball that topped out at 94 MPH and the makings of a good breaking ball, he did not pitch an inning for the Indians last season.

The reason McFarland did not throw was because he complained of some elbow soreness when he signed, and the Indians felt it best to be extremely cautious with their new prized top draft pick. McFarland said the soreness was the result of throwing too many innings in high school, and called it a "less severe tendonitis."

"I didn't throw right away [when I signed]," said McFarland. "The Indians and I felt it best to take a conservative route to everything. There was a little problem with soreness in the elbow, but that is all gone now. I rehabbed from August all through instructs, and this whole offseason I built it back up to 100%."

McFarland is good to go, and is participating in his first spring training camp. On Monday, he pitched a few innings in a Mahoning Valley scrimmage against a USA free agent team (WFast) and is scheduled to throw again on Saturday.

This being his first experience pitching in games, the main focus for McFarland right now is adjusting to the professional game where as a starter he follows a normal five day routine. When camp breaks, he is expected to stick around in extended spring training to continue this adjustment before he makes his professional debut later in the summer for Mahoning Valley or the Gulf Coast League Indians.

"I think going to extended spring training would be a great thing," said McFarland. "I need to develop a five day routine. It is up to me basically in how I do."

In addition to his fastball and slider, McFarland also throws a changeup. His fastball is usually more of a two-seamer so he gets more drop on the pitch, and the pitch he tends to rely on the most when he needs a strike is his slider. He will continue refining these pitches over the course of the season, and also work on several other areas of his game.

"I am just trying to work on commanding the zone," said McFarland. "Also, commanding my fastball in and out, my mechanics, and repeating my delivery."

(Here is a video in camp of McFarland in action)

Notebook

- Here is a listing of players practicing in each camp yesterday. This is not an all-inclusive list as I may have missed a few players, especially for Lake County. Also, it should be noted that some players are playing up a level or two because some minor leaguers are still with the big league club. For example, Aaron Herr and Danny Sandoval are still with the Indians but most likely will be the starting left side of the Buffalo infield, so while they are out Wes Hodges and Josh Rodriguez have been playing up a level.

Buffalo (AAA): Adam Miller (RHP), Sean Smith (RHP), Bubbie Buzachero (RHP), Ryan Goleski (OF), Ryan Mulhern (1B), Jose Constanza (OF), Nick Pesco (RHP), Scott Roehl (RHP), J.D. Martin (RHP), Michael Aubrey (1B), Danny Chaves (2B), Wes Hodges (3B), Stephen Head (OF), Jordan Brown (1B), Scott Lewis (LHP), Randy Newsom (RHP), Josh Rodriguez (SS), Nathan Panther (OF), Reid Santos (LHP), Trevor Crowe (OF), Jason Cooper (OF), Wyatt Toregas (C), Brandon Pinckney (SS), Brian Slocum (RHP), T.J. Burton (RHP).

Akron (AA): Lucas Montero (OF), Brian Finegan (SS/2B), Osiel Flores (C), Luis Valdez (RHP), Carlos Rivero (SS), John Drennen (OF), Shawn Nottingham (LHP), Mike Butia (OF), Todd Martin (1B), Jason Denham (OF), Erik Stiller (RHP), Matt Meyer (LHP), Sung-Wei Tseng (RHP), Kevin Dixon (RHP), Kyle Collina (RHP), Jim Deters (RHP), Chris Niesel (RHP), Neil Wagner (RHP), Chuck Lofgren (LHP), David Huff (LHP), Jorge Riera (RHP), Niuman Romero (IF), Chris De La Cruz (IF).

Kinston (A+): Dan Frega (RHP), Scott Sumner (RHP), Steven Wright (RHP), Austin Creps (RHP), Heath Taylor (LHP), Josh Judy (RHP), Paolo Espino (RHP), Jeanmar Gomez (RHP), Hector Rondon (RHP), Jonathan Holt (RHP), Josh Tomlin (RHP), Mike Eisenberg (RHP), Nick Weglarz (OF), Roman Pena (OF), Cirilo Cumberbatch (OF), Jerad Head (C), Doug Pickens (C), Matt Willard (SS), Dustin Realini (1B), Jansey Infante (IF), Joanniel Montero (RHP), Jared Goedert (2B), Beau Mills (1B), David Uribes (IF), Adam Davis (2B), Mark Thompson (SS), Michael Valadez (C), Ramon Hernandez (OF), Luis Perdomo (RHP), Carlton Smith (RHP).

Lake County (A-): Adam White (OF), Robbie Alcombrack (C), Isaias Velasquez (IF), Corteze Armstrong (OF), Karexon Sanchez (IF), Alex Castillo (C), Jay Nilsson (C), Rafael Vera (IF), Daryl King (OF), Cristo Arnal (IF), Jeff Hehr (3B), Ronald Rivas (SS), Chris Nash (1B), Matt Brown (OF), Jason Smit (IF), Bo Greenwell (OF), Brock Simpson (OF), Justin Jenkins (OF), Brian Juhl (C).

- Chris Nash, Jason Smit, and Matt Brown sat out of action yesterday with various injuries. Brown is expected to get clearance to return to action in the next day or so from an undisclosed injury, and Nash is mending well from a strained muscle in his right upper rib cage area. Smit is expected to be out another week or so with a bad shoulder. He hurt it throwing and heard a pop, but the injury was not as bad as originally thought when it happened.

- I caught left-hander Tony Sipp in the middle of his rehab routine. He is progressing well from his return from Tommy John surgery and slated for a late June or early July return. Check out this video of him doing some rigorous exercises to build up the strength in his arm, which went on for 20 minutes or so.

- Watched some more of young Latin third baseman Abner Abreu yesterday. He definitely has a lot of room for growth physically and as a player, but he already looks like he could be a star in the making. He displays some real soft hands and good range at third base, and has held his own at the plate. Here is a video of him taking infield.

- Beau Mills is expected to split time at first base and third base at Kinston this year. He will rotate between the two positions by playing about a week straight at first base then about a week straight at third base and keep revolving with the same rotation. The Indians still are not ruling out third base for Mills, and hope that by the end of this season they can settle on a position for him.

- Top prospect Adam Miller is scheduled to pitch in a game today. It will be his first game action of the spring, but unfortunately will be off site as the Triple-A team will be on the road. Miller is 100% and ready to go and looks on target to begin the season in the Buffalo starting rotation.

- Several players had to sit through a two hour presentation by baseball on steroid use Sunday night.

- J.D. Martin may end up being converted into a reliever.

- I have a ton of video to share on the following players: Abner Abreu, Chun Chen, Delvi Cid, Ryan Mulhern, Jason Denham, Carlos Rivero, John Drennen, Wyatt Toregas, Todd Martin, Chris Gimenez, Wes Hodges, Nathan Panther, Bubbie Buzachero, Steven Head, John Gaub, Mark Rodrigues, Chris Niesel, and Matt Meyer. Unfortunately, YouTube was down all night as I did not have a chance to upload these videos, so I will be uploading these clips the next few days and will make mention in one of the updates when they are available.

Today, I'll be following the young kids in the Single-A circuit as they are home while the Double-A and Triple-A players go on the road. I hope to see some new pitchers in action today and will keep up to date on any news that may break.

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Winter Haven Update 3/18

Cevette Working His Way Back Onto Indians Radar

A little over two years ago, left-hander Dan Cevette was considered one of the top young hurlers in the Indians farm system. In fact, some believe he still is. But these days, Cevette is trying to work his way back from injury and into the big picture he seemed so clearly in just a few short years ago.

Cevette was drafted by the Indians in the third round of the 2002 Draft out of high school (PA). After a few good showings in Burlington and Mahoning Valley in 2002 and 2003, Cevette burst onto the scene in 2004 when in 16 combined starts for Mahoning Valley and Lake County he compiled a 5-0 record with an amazing 1.91 ERA over a total of 80 innings pitched and struck out 80 while walking only 20. He used the 2004 season as a springboard into 2005 where in 17 starts he went 5-4 with a 2.73 ERA and in 82.1 innings had 85 strikeouts and gave up 30 walks.

But, while Cevette had a very good year in 2005 at Lake County, things started to take a turn for the worse as he was sidelined early in the season for two months with a broken thumb after trying to field a groundball with his bare hand. He came back from that injury well, but the most devastating injury occurred at the end of the season where he suffered a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder and had to have surgery in the offseason to correct the issue.

Cevette rehabbed almost the entire 2006 season in extended spring training in Winter Haven, and made three starts late in the year at Lake County totaling five innings. He continued his rehab through the offseason and went into the 2007 season ready to get going again, but halfway through the season his shoulder flared up on him.

"I rehabbed all offseason and came into the 2007 season feeling good to go, and the Indians had me as a starter again," said Cevette in a late afternoon interview on Tuesday. "I was throwing a lot and the volume was still high, and at the middle of the season I just crashed again. They sent me up to Cleveland to have me looked at, and the doctor said I need to be a low volume guy (innings pitched) and be a reliever."

Reportedly, the bullpen is exactly where Cevette will now need to learn to earn his keep, although the Indians still feel there is a possibility of him returning to a starting role because of his solid three pitch mix of a fastball that consistently sits around 88-91 MPH and tops out at 92, a very good changeup, and a slider that is still a work in progress.

Working out of the bullpen, it is not known if there will be any restrictions with Cevette's pitch count or how often he makes an appearance, but in any case he is excited with how he feels.

"I am not sure how they are going to do it," said Cevette. "I am just excited with how I feel, and excited about this season. My expectations are through the roof."

Cevette has every right to be excited about his potential this season as he feels he is at least back to or better than he was before his injury two years ago. He is a pitcher where his fastball is deceptive and can get in on hitters quickly because of his real easy and loose delivery. He also has a quirk in his delivery where he cocks the ball behind his head, which can make it hard for opposing hitters to pick up the ball.

"I think the Indians have been great with me as they have been patient and let me work things out," said Cevette. "Right now I feel I could compete at any level, and I don't care where you put me, I know I can go out there and get guys out. But, I would say I am back and stuff-wise as good and better as I ever was. I am definitely a more intelligent pitcher now."

The confidence is brimming with Cevette, but along the road to recovery it has been rough where he has experienced several ups and downs.

"I'll tell you, being hurt since the end of 2005 has been tough," said Cevette. "It is like a roller coaster with a lot of peaks and valleys, and you are thinking you are good then you are feeling terrible. You really sit back and have a lot of time to analyze and think about things and what you really want to do. I sat back and just decided that I am going to go 150% at this until I know I can't pitch, and until I can't compete at a good level I want to do this. I have never gone out there and felt over-matched, even when I was hurt. I think that is the key, to stay confident. No matter what people are saying, like when they say "you are off the radar" or whatever. You have to stay confident not to let that stuff bother you or it can spiral down from there."

Right now, it looks like Cevette is pegged for a bullpen role at either Akron or Kinston. Heck, who knows, he could even be one of those guys on the bubble as a candidate to be released. But, the way things look, Cevette should stick around in the Indians organization awhile longer.

That said, after this season Cevette will be a six year minor league free agent and will be able to sign with any team he chooses. As a result, if the Indians keep him it is probably in their best interest to have him get considerable time in Akron this year so they can properly see what they have in Cevette before they run the risk of losing him after the season.

Wherever Cevette lands in 2008, he knows what his strengths and weaknesses are and what he has to do to improve. One of his best attributes is his confidence and how he goes right after hitters. He is not afraid to pitch inside, and his nasty changeup can make hitters look foolish at times.

"I think I can throw pretty good inside and then my changeup away is definitely my out pitch," said Cevette. "It moves a lot. One of the guys who was hitting against me this year said the changeup never does the same thing. Sometimes it goes away, sometimes it goes down, sometimes it stays straight. It is a very deceptive pitch. Throwing in hard to righties, and then throwing something away soft can get ‘em diving a little bit."

While his changeup is his bread and butter pitch, Cevette still needs a lot of work on his breaking ball to be more successful. He has worked hard to try and develop his slider into a more consistent pitch, but is still having problems with it.

"I need a consistent breaking ball," said Cevette when asked about what he needs work on the most. "The higher up you get, if you are in the pen a two pitch combination is good but if one of those pitches is not working one day they are going to sit on you. So, I need a consistent breaking ball. Something I can throw for a strike. At times it is there, it is where it needs to be, but other times it is like I have never thrown a breaking ball before. It has been the hardest pitch for me to be consistent with. It is tough because I worked extremely hard at it in the offseason, and I worked a lot to get it down and even neglected some of my other stuff to work extra on the breaking ball but it just has not really gotten there. Sometimes it is great, but other times it looks like a high school guy pitching. I tend to fall away from it and go just to my fastball or changeup and sometimes I can get in trouble where the changeup may be flat that day and they can sit on the fastball. But, for the most part, most of my outings have been fastball first, changeup second, and then the breaking ball to show something different."

Outside of baseball, Cevette has become quite the accomplished recording artist and even has his own recording studio. He listens to a lot of alternative music and Christian rap, and was inspired by Eminem's "Infinite" album a few years ago to do some hip-hop recordings at his recording studio in his house where he worked with several big names on some recordings.

"Being left-handed, I guess I am a little more artsy than most people," joked Cevette. "I actually play piano and a pretty good guitar. I play in bars back at home and do acoustic sets, and the hip-hip thing came about as I can't sing well but I can rap and put a rhythm to the stuff I know and I understand the word schemes."

As for the recording studio, it is something Cevette is very serious about. So much so, whenever his playing days end he plans to make a career out of it.

"The recording studio is something I build on every year," said Cevette. "I have a few guys back home I work with, and also some of the bigger guys in the industry who have passed through my town. I did some work with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Blackchild, and Tony Yayo from G-Unit. It is just something fun to do, and I don't take it real serious right now. Although, when I do finish up with baseball I do want to own my own recording studio. I am really good at the engineering side of it, and I do my own producing and recording."

For now, Cevette is working his way back onto the Indians radar as a top pitching prospect in the system. So his recording career can wait.

Notebook

- Buffalo was on the road yesterday and lost to Round Rock 8-2. Offensively, they were lead by outfielder Nathan Panther who was 2-for-3 with a solo home run and third baseman Wes Hodges who also had a solo home run. Buffalo only had five hits in the game. On the pitching front, Fausto Carmona got the start as it was his regular day to pitch but the Indians were off, and he allowed three unearned runs on six hits in five innings of work while striking out five. Left-hander Shawn Nottingham and right-hander Neil Wagner combined to pitch the final three innings, with Nottingham struggling (5 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks) and Wagner impressing (0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks).

- Left-hander David Huff looked to be in mid-season form yesterday. He was brilliant in three innings, allowing no runs or walks and by my count only one hit while striking out one. There is a real difference when you see him pitch compared to the others in the Kinston and Lake County group, and you can see how much more of a polished pitcher he really is. He has excellent composure on the mound, looks like a big league starter already, and looks like he indeed is on the major league fast-track. Because of the logjam of starters at Buffalo and Akron, he is expected to start the season in the Kinston rotation. Click on his hyperlink to see a video of him in action yesterday.

- With roster cuts looming, right-hander Joanniel Montero may have punched his ticket out of Cleveland with an awful showing yesterday. He was bombed in about two innings or work and showed little command or the ability to get anyone out.

- Right-hander Luis Valdez looked solid, and is in a battle with what seems like 30 guys for a bullpen spot in Kinston and Lake County.

- Right-hander Paolo Espino looked strong yesterday, and looks like he could be a very good reliever down the road, although there still is no word whether he will stick in the rotation this year or move to the bullpen.

- Right-hander Steven Wright pitched in a Mahoning Valley scrimmage, and was okay. Click on the hyperlinks for Valdez, Espino and Wright to see videos of them in action yesterday.

- Apparently, left-handed reliever Rich Rundles has been wowing Tribe officials in major league camp. As a result, he has jumped onto the bullpen scene, and is now a depth option for the Indians possibly as the first left-hander they would turn to if Aaron Fultz or Rafael Perez go on the disabled list.

- The talk around camp is that it is all but a done deal where the Indians will move their Triple-A affiliate from Buffalo to Columbus next year. While no deal has been officially made through a press release, supposedly it is but a formality at this point and an official announcement will be made sometime during the season.

- In regard to my report yesterday about the Indians signing Edward Salcedo, I got a lot of e-mails on the subject and just wanted to clarify what I was told. This did not come from an Indians official, but from someone with ties to the Indians international dealings. I can't say more than that, as you have to keep a source in confidence. Hopefully an official announcement is made soon.

- First baseman Chris Nash has been bothered by a muscle strain of some sort in his right rib cage area and has not played the past few days. He has been working out, and is expected to be back in action soon.

- First baseman Jordan Brown and right fielder Steven Head stayed behind in Winter Haven yesterday while their Akron and Buffalo teammates went on the road to play in Kissimmee. Both have some nagging injuries they are trying to recover from and played a short scrimmage with Mahoning Valley.

- Today is a camp day for the minor leaguers. No games are scheduled, just drills and a couple of short inter-squad scrimmages. The big league club will once again be on the road today, but six pitchers will throw in the minor league scrimmages, namely Jake Westbrook, Rafael Betancourt, Joe Borowski, and Aaron Fultz.

I'll be back with a short update tomorrow because of the short camp day today. I have an interview with outfielder Nick Weglarz ready to go, so be on the lookout for that. Also, sometime in the next few days I will post a photo gallery of all the pictures of players from camp. Also, thanks to Ken Carr for the photo assistance with the picture for Dan Cevette in this article.

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Winter Haven Update 3/17

McBride Likely Out Until July

In two years, catcher Matt McBride has established himself as one of the top catching prospects not only with the Indians, but in all of baseball.  Last year, Baseball America tabbed McBride as the fifth best catching prospect in the minors, and he had been an All Star at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2006 and at Single-A Lake County last year.  It appeared that his career was blossoming quickly.

Unfortunately, a nagging shoulder injury has slowed him down some since he was drafted by the Indians in the second round of the 2006 Draft out of Lehigh University.  While he admits the shoulder had only bothered him when he threw, he would never admit his shoulder issue was a big reason that he struggled behind the plate with controlling the running game last season.

Throughout last season he worked a lot on the side with his throwing by becoming more fundamentally sound with his feet and being quicker with his release and not standing straight on his throws.  But, while he showed signs of improvement, his real problem stemmed from that lingering shoulder injury since the Indians drafted him.

The shoulder issue had forced him to start his Indians career at Mahoning Valley in 2006 as a designated hitter because he was still rehabbing from it, and this past fall he was limited in his throwing during the Instructional League because of his sore shoulder.  He finally had enough, and ended up having shoulder surgery in November to correct the issue.

"It bothered me a little bit," said McBride after working out yesterday.  "It was just a good move to get it done to put it behind me.  The shoulder is feeling really good, and now it is just about rehab and working with all the trainers down here."

The surgery will likely cost McBride at least half a year in development as he will begin the year in extended spring training to continue with the rehab on his shoulder, and then likely go on a rehab assignment sometime in June or July to ramp himself up into game shape where he plays a few games in the Gulf Coast League before being deemed game ready and being shipped off to advanced Single-A Kinston.

For now, McBride is still not practicing or even throwing yet, and is only rehabbing his shoulder and getting his range of motion and strength back so he can resume normal baseball activities.  The Indians have not set a specific timetable for him to get back on the field so he is not discouraged if there are any setbacks, but the general feeling is he will definitely get some time in at some point this season.

"I am limited," said McBride.  "Just doing a lot of the rehab stuff, strengthening the shoulder, range of motion stuff.  My range of motion is getting a lot better, but I am still working on it.  I am not throwing yet, but I'll probably be throwing some time after spring training.  They did not give any specific date, and they want to make sure my range of motion is close to a 100% before I start doing that."

Still, even though McBride was limited in the offseason with what he could do because of the shoulder injury, he came to camp this year noticeably bigger and stronger.

"We had a physical therapist back home that worked with me," said McBride.  "He was really good.  I was definitely limited with what I could do, but I could still do some different things with the legs and some pulling exercises.  I am pretty much doing the same thing down here trying to improve my strength and getting my shoulder back to 100%."

Right now, McBride's main focus is getting his shoulder completely healthy, and then using what little time is left in the season to improve his game both offensively and defensively.

"My main priority is getting my shoulder back completely healthy," said McBride.  "But, I feel there are a lot of different areas I can use work on like hitting the ball to all fields a little more, or with catching getting quicker with my hands and feet.  But yeah, I feel I have a lot of stuff I need to work on once I get healthy down here and get into the season."

Notebook

- Triple-A Buffalo defeated the Richmond Braves by a score of 11-1 Monday afternoon.  Outfielder Trevor Crowe had a booming opposite field home run to right center and finished the day 1-for-2 with a HR, two RBI, two walks, and a stolen base.  First baseman Ryan Mulhern went 2-for-3 with a double and it now hitting .700 (7-for-10) with five doubles and four RBI this spring.  First baseman Michael Aubrey had three hits, and would have had a grand slam had a laser shot by him to right not been knocked down by a stiff breeze of about 20-25 MPH blowing straight in from right field.  Right-hander Eddie Mujica pitched two shutout innings and got the win, while left-hander Ryan Edell got the start and pitched well throwing three innings and allowing one hit while striking out two.

- Those that played in the Triple-A game yesterday: Wes Hodges (3B), Abner Abreu (3B), Josh Rodriguez (SS), Brandon Pinckney (SS), Brandon Chaves (2B), Ryan Mulhern (1B), Michael Aubrey (1B), Trevor Crowe (OF), Nathan Panther (OF), Jose Constanza (OF), Ryan Goleski (OF), Ryan Edell (LHP), Eddie Mujica (RHP), Rick Bauer (RHP), Matt Meyer (LHP), and Randy Newsom (RHP).

- While the Indians have denied rumors that they signed Edward Salcedo, I have been told by someone close to the situation that he is signed and that the Indians have not officially announced the signing most likely because they are waiting for several things to be completed (his physical, verification of his vital statistics, etc).  According to the source, the $2.9 million amount he signed for as reported in El Caribe is correct.

- According to the same source, apparently the visa issues that have plagued top Dominican Republic prospect Kelvin Diaz have finally been cleared up.  If true, fans of this internet legend should finally get a chance to see him sometime this year in Lake County, Mahoning Valley or the GCL.

- Outfielder Nick Weglarz finally arrived in camp late Sunday night.  Weglarz had been playing for Team Canada in the Olympic qualifiers in Australia and Taiwan.  As one of the youngest players in the entire tournament, from what I have been told he led all players in home runs and slugging percentage, and hit near .500 for the tournament.  And, if I did not mention it already, he is huge now at 245 pounds and all muscle.

- Left-hander James Brettl and right-hander Cody Bunkelman were released yesterday.  Others have possibly been released, and more cuts are coming, but these are the two names that are known at this time.

- I'll have a bunch of pictures to share in a later report, but for now here are three videos from Monday's game action of Luis Perdomo, T.J. McFarland, and Sandy Mendez (click on the hyperlinks to view their videos).

- Today, the Buffalo and Akron squads go on the road for the first time, while the Kinston and Lake County teams enjoy some home cooking in Winter Haven.  I'll be watching the Kinston or Lake County game, as well as keeping tabs on the short-season league guys scrimmaging each other on the other fields.  Also, I'll likely be interviewing left-hander Dan Cevette in the afternoon as well as talking to several other people, so check back again tomorrow for more.

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Winter Haven Update 3/16

Okay, finally made it down to Winter Haven this morning. After spending the better part of four days in Tampa visiting family, and another two days in Disney.....I was ready to make my life simple again and just take in some baseball.

Today was a camp day, and the complex was pretty quiet as the Indians were playing away which left the minor leaguers to have inter-squad scrimmages. Things got rolling around 10am and ended pretty quickly by about 11:45ish and the players quickly dispersed as they had their whole afternoon to themselves (they play spring games at 1pm).

Here are some working rosters of some of the guys who were playing with who. Being my first day, I did not pay as much attention as I should have, but this was mostly due to the fact I was talking to several people throughout the scrimmages. The game I saw looked like a combination of Buffalo/Akron vs. Kinston/Lake County. Here are some of the guys who were on each roster I can recall at the moment:

Buffalo/Akron
Chris Gimenez (C)
Jordan Brown (1B)
Ryan Mulhern (1B)
Michael Aubrey (DH)
Brandon Pinckney (SS)
Brandon Chaves (2B)
Wes Hodges (3B)
Ryan Goleski (OF)
Trevor Crowe (OF)
Jose Constanza (OF)
Jeff Stevens (RHP)
JD Martin (RHP)
Scott Roehl (RHP)

Kinston/Lake County
Nuiman Romero (3B)
Abner Abreau (3B)
Carlos Rivero (SS)
Brian Finegan (2B/SS)
Jason Denham (OF)
Todd Martin (1B)
Mike Butia (OF)
Luis Rincon (1B)
Lucas Montero (OF)
Luis Perdomo (RHP)
Kyle Collina (RHP)

Others that played in the game who I cannot recall what team they played on: Jared Goedert and John Drennen. I'll pay much more attention to the rosters going forward.

No surprises really on the makeup of the rosters, although Abreu playing with Kinston/Lake County seems to signal he may indeed be the starting third baseman at Lake County. The organization is very high on him, and he could be another Latin kid the org pushes through the system a little more quickly. He is tall and very skinny, but definitely has a body that will allow him to gain weight and grow into it more.

Here are some random nuggets from camp today:

- Got news Justin Hoyman has called it a career. He reported to camp, but left a few days ago. Just did not have it anymore as injuries caught up with him and his fastball never recovered (reportedly around 82 MPH).

- Roster cuts are looming sometime this coming week. This is always tough to see, as several of the players in camp today will see their major league dream come to an end when the first round of cuts are announced possibly as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday. There are a lot of players on the bubble, so it will be interesting to see who stays and who goes this week and in the coming days when more cuts are made before camp breaks at the end of the month.

- Talked to Dan Cevette for a little bit. Going to officially do an interview with him possibly tomorrow or later this week. He says he is completely heathly and ready to go and believes he can get the job done and perform well. He has had injury problems in the past, and was once one of the Indians top young lefty pitchers. He most likely will pitch in the bullpen at Akron or Kinston this year. He is also a HUGE Penn State fan, but more on all that later.

- Some guys who look noticeably bigger (in a good way) and stronger are Erik Stiller and Carlos Rivero. Rivero is looks like he gained about 10-15 pounds and filled out his frame more. Stiller is rock solid and gained 15 pounds of good weight, looks strong, and has seen an increase in his fastball velocity. He worked really hard in the offseason and is someone who could be due for a breakout year. I'll be talking to him sometime this week too. Right now he supposedly will either start the year in the Akron bullpen or Kinston rotation.

- Right-hander Cody Bunkelman is still in camp. There were rumors he was about to be released from the organization last July when they sent him to the GCL. He is surely one of the guys on the bubble.

- No sign of Kelvin Diaz.....and he is not listed on a roster sheet...looks like he still has VISA issues.

- I did not see these players play at these positions, but according to the roster sheet Dustin Realini is now working out at first base, Jerad Head at catcher (more to become a super utility option), Jay Nilsson at catcher, and Stephen Head is still playing in right field.

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