Tribe Happenings: Indians 2011 season comes to a close

Manny Acta reflects on the Indians' 2011

season and looks ahead to 2012 (Photo: AP)

Some news, notes and thoughts from my Indians notebook…

Hope springs eternal

The Indians had a successful 2011 campaign. Yes, they did not win a World Series, make the playoffs, or finish with a winning record, but they showed they are ready to make a leap forward next year and contend.

They certainly still have lots of question marks, but they have built a strong foundation from which to build upon going forward. For the first time in awhile they go into an offseason with a positive vibe among the fans that they could contend next year. There is also a more positive feeling among the fans that the Indians will make some moves this offseason to improve the team.

Along with some expected moves this offseason in free agency or on the trade front there is excitement to see the growth of this young team and what it can do with better health next year. The Indians finished the season with the third youngest roster (27.5 years old) in the Major Leagues behind only the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros, and finished the season with eleven rookies on the Major League roster.

The Indians also used the disabled list 22 times in 2011 - second most in the American League to Minnesota’s 25 – and lost 826 player days to the disabled list. In contrast, they only used the disabled list 14 times in 2010 and lost 673 player days to the disabled list. This season their top four established hitters Travis Hafner, Shin-Soo Choo, Grady Sizemore, and Asdrubal Cabrera were only in the same lineup 17 times all year (they won ten of those games).

The Indians will not be in on mega free agents like Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols this offseason, but they should be in on just about any other player available in free agency or trade. It is the combination of a growing, youthful roster, improved health, and some noteworthy offseason additions that make the possibilities with this team exciting for 2012 and beyond.

Coaching carousel

The Indians announced a flurry of coaching moves at the conclusion of the season with pitching coach Tim Belcher and bench coach Tim Tolman both stepping down. The news of both Belcher and Tolman leaving their roles was unexpected, but both will remain with the organization in a more limited capacity.

Belcher stepped down so he could spend more time with his family. He will go back into the role he had with the Indians as a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations prior to being named pitching coach two years ago. Tolman stepped down for health reasons as he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease two years ago. He will transition to another capacity within the organization that will be determined in the coming weeks.

With Tolman’s departure, first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. will become the bench coach in 2012. The move to bench coach does not limit Alomar’s pursuit for any manager openings. He is a top candidate for several openings, most notably the one with the White Sox after Ozzie Guillen was let go this week.

The Indians also announced that they have picked up the 2013 club option on manager Manny Acta. Acta led the Indians to a second place finish in the American League Central this year with a record of 80-82 (.494), an 11-game improvement in terms of wins over the previous season. He is now signed through the 2013 season and owns a two-year record of 149-175 as Indians manager.

Wanted: Coaches

The pick up of Acta’s option was but a formality, and is just a show of confidence in ownership and the front office that he is doing a good job. He now has to work on adding three new coaches to his staff as he has to fill the voids left at first base coach, pitching coach and hitting coach.

Jon Nunnally was fired as hitting coach back in June and Bruce Fields took over on an interim basis. It is not known whether he will continue in the role full time, but the Indians will surely look at all options to fill the role. Jim Thome returned to the Indians this year and may decide to retire, and if so he would surely be a leading candidate if he was open to it.

At the outset of the pitching coach search the three main candidates will likely come from within as Indians bullpen coach Scott Radinsky, Triple-A Columbus pitching coach Ruben Niebla, and Minor League Pitching Coordinator Dave Miller will all likely get first consideration for the job opening before looking outside the organization. Niebla is highly regarded for the work he did this year with his pitchers in Columbus and has done a great job in previous years. Radinsky has done a great job with the bullpen in Cleveland the last two years, so both seem to be the top candidates right now.

The first base coach could come down to any number of people in the organization. The top candidate would appear to be Triple-A Columbus manager Mike Sarbaugh. He is very deserving of a Major League coaching opportunity and this would be a great way to add him to the mix, especially considering so many of the players on the roster played under him the past few years. Another possibility could be Minor League Fielding Coordinator Travis Fryman, but the unknown is whether or not he is ready to be more involved since his current role allows him more time with his family.

Mixed results for Pomeranz and White

Former Indians’ left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz and right-handed pitcher Alex White had mixed results in their final starts to finish what was a chaotic 2011 season for both of them.

Pomeranz had a solid Major League debut for the Rockies where in four starts he finished 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA (18.1 IP, 19 H, 5 BB, 13 K). After a sensational big league debut on September 11th where he threw five shutout innings he was very mediocre at best in his final three starts, but overall it was a very good foundation for him to build on for next year. At this point it looks very much like barring injury that he should open the 2012 season in the Rockies’ opening day starting rotation.

On the other hand, White’s future is not so certain. He was awful in his seven starts for the Rockies going 2-4 with an 8.42 ERA (36.1 IP, 48 H, 16 BB, 24 K). His numbers were horrific in that he put up a 1.76 WHIP and one-quarter of the hits he gave up were home runs (12). He averaged close to one home run allowed every three innings!

I said it at the time of the trade that White was not 100% healthy, and he certainly pitched like an unhealthy pitcher the rest of the season. It will be an interesting offseason to see if additional issues with his finger cropped up and if more surgery occurs to “correct” things. There definitely has to be some concern on the Rockies front about his future.

For those wondering, the other two players in that deal right-handed pitcher Joe Gardner and first baseman/outfielder Matt McBride both had mixed results as well while playing for the Rockies’ Double-A Tulsa affiliate. Gardner made six starts and went 3-3 with a 2.48 ERA (36.1 IP, 31 H, 8 BB, 22 K), and McBride struggled through injuries and played just six games and hit .235 with no homers, two RBI and a .513 OPS.

The Indians paid a pretty hefty bounty to acquire right-handed pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez from the Rockies back on July 30th. Some may wonder why updates on Pomeranz and White are necessary since both are no longer in the organization, but considering the magnitude of that deal it is very relevant to provide the information on the performances going forward of all the players involved in that deal. Whether we admit it or not, we will all be keeping an eye on White and Pomeranz to see how their careers end up in relation to what impact Jimenez has for the Indians.

Indians get #15

With the regular season coming to a close the Indians draft slot for next year’s draft was finally determined. The draft slot is determined by taking the worst record in the league and awarding them the #1 pick and so on, and the Indians ended up with the #15 pick.

While controlling where a team selects in the draft is not a goal a team shoots for, there was a bit of drama on the final day as with the Indians loss and the Washington Nationals win the Indians “earned” that #15 pick. Had the Indians won or the Nationals lost the Indians would have finished with the #16 or later pick, a difference that has some significance.

By getting the #15 pick the Indians now have a protected first round pick. Picks at #16 or later in the first round are unprotected. What this means is for a team with an unprotected pick that signs a Type-A free agent they lose their first round pick as compensation to the team they signed the player away from. Teams that have a protected first round pick do not lose the first round pick when signing Type-A free agents and instead lose their second round pick.

Of course, the Indians will never really be big players in free agency for the marquee free agents; however, being designated a “Type-A” free agent does not always mean such a player is a high profile free agent. The Indians have some interest in first base/left field right-handed bats this offseason, and two names that get brought up a lot are Michael Cuddyer and Josh Willingham. Both are Type-A free agents, so at least the Indians now know what the cost will be in draft picks going into any possible bargaining sessions for either player.

LaPorta to visit Haiti

First baseman Matt LaPorta will join with SportsTime Ohio’s efforts to aid earthquake relief in Haiti. Many remember the devastation caused by the January 12, 2010 earthquake that resulted in an estimated 300,000 deaths or over 3% of the nation’s total population and left the small nation completely devastated.

SportsTime Ohio has been heavily involved in various fundraising efforts immediately following the earthquake and has raised $175,000 thus far. LaPorta will join the SportsTime Ohio team on October 6, 2011 to visit Gressier Haiti, an area approximately ten miles from the epicenter of the earthquake. It is also home to Christianville, a mission that has a school with four campuses and 1200 students, a medical facility and several feeding programs feeding as many as 4500 people per day. The campus was decimated in the earthquake but now has rebuilt the schools and actually increased the feeding programs as well as being the home to Haiti’s only malaria lab.

LaPorta will be in Haiti for four days, and while there will tour the schools, support facilities and orphanages that have benefited from the funds raised in North East Ohio. LaPorta will see all of the relief efforts first hand and will be showcased as part of a SportsTime Ohio program to air in January of 2012, the second anniversary of the earthquake.

Henry has surgery

There was some unfortunate news on the minor league front this week. Double-A Akron outfielder Jordan Henry had right knee surgery on September 22nd for what was supposed to be a surgery to clean the knee out and repair cartilage in the knee. The recovery time was expected to be six weeks.

Unfortunately for Henry, during the procedure the damage was found to be more extensive so his doctor ended up performed micro-fracture surgery to repair it. The possibility of micro-fracture surgery was known going into the surgery, but was not known for certain until doctors went in and started operating on his knee.

The recovery time is expected to be five to six months and Henry is already out in Arizona rehabbing the knee. He should be ready by the start of minor league spring training in March, but the Indians will likely be conservative with getting him back into full time game action next year.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

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Thoughts on the Ubaldo Jimenez trade

Ubaldo Jimenez (Photo: AP)

Here are some quick thoughts on the Indians trade last night getting right-handed pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez from the Colorado Rockies for prospects left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz, right-handed pitcher Alex White, right-handed pitcher Joe Gardner, and first baseman/outfielder Matt McBride.

What the Indians got

- There are a lot of people either all for the deal or completely against it, and it is usually because those for or against the trade are non-prospect fans or prospect fans. On one side you have those people who are not into prospects saying that such a high percentage of prospects flame out, so this is a deal well worth taking a gamble on for a sure thing. On the other side you have the prospect fans worried that the Indians gave up two potential front-of-the-rotation pitchers in a deal for one pitcher.

- I’m a prospect guy, but I have to say that in this case, as long as Jimenez is healthy and checks out, I am with the non-prospect fans on this one. Anytime you have a chance to pickup not only a proven front of the rotation pitcher but one who is under control for another few seasons and cost effective, you have to make the move. Sure, Pomeranz and White *could* end up as good as Jimenez down the road, but the big thing is Jimenez is doing it now, has proven it over time, and is still young, cheap, and controlled.

- You also have to consider what mode the Indians are in. Are they rebuilding, building, or contending? If they were rebuilding, then this deal would make no sense at all, but they are not rebuilding. The question is what mode are they currently in? Building or contending? They are actually doing a little bit of both right now, so a deal like this makes sense as Jimenez gives them a chance to contend and win now and he is another building block for a potential run at a World Series the next few years.

- One thing to consider is the Indians window for contention is now with the current set of players like Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, Rafael Perez, and Joe Smith who are all free agents after 2012 (Sizemore) or 2013 (the rest). Also Justin Masterson and Chris Perez are free agents after the 2014 season. Jimenez will also coincidentally be eligible for free agency after the 2013 season, so the Indians are taking a shot to now and the next two years to make the playoffs and do something during this current window of contention from 2011-2013 with the older group of core players on hand.

- Their postseason chances may appear slim this year, but they just set themselves up as strong contenders the rest of this season in the AL Central and in 2012 and 2013 with this deal. Yes, they need bats, something which could be addressed this offseason, but in the end the main goal is to win, and that was the focus with this trade. That makes this Jimenez deal worth it if you ask me for two “potential” big league pitchers.

- That’s the key word: “potential”. The Indians are acquiring a piece in Jimenez not just for this year but for at least the next two years to help the big league team win now. Pomeranz and White could potentially help now an beyond, but they were still unknowns. With the significant middle finger injury White suffered it is a huge red flag for him going forward. Who knows how effective he will ever be after he returns from the injury or if other injuries result from him compensating for the finger. Injuries quite often ruin the careers of “can’t miss” prospects, and there is never a guarantee a top rated pitcher will fare well when and if he gets to the big leagues. Pomeranz has made just three appearances at the Double-A level, so there is no guarantee that he will not get injured or hit a wall as he pitches more in Double-A, gets to Triple-A, and ultimately the big leagues. There are still several levels to achieve success at before he even reaches the level Jimenez already has. That’s why getting the sure thing trumps potential.

- Aside from dealing for Jimenez, I would not have been happy with a trade for any other player said to be available where we included Pomeranz and White. This includes bats such as Carlos Beltran and Hunter Pence. This was a two pitchers for one sale, and one I can live with. Two potentials for one sure thing. Now, had the Indians substituted Jason Kipnis or Lonnie Chisenhall for one of White or Pomeranz, I would have been much less excited about the deal because we would be dealing from a position of weakness (position players) than strength (pitching).

- That’s another key. The Indians are loaded with pitching in the minors. This is why making a play for Jimenez is not such a bad thing as they have the arms to adequately replace the departed Pomeranz, White, and Gardner. Now, yes, there are no other arms currently in the system like Pomeranz and White, but there are lots of guys now on the immediate horizon who can help cover up their loss. Pitchers like lefty Scott Barnes for one, a guy some scouts have said could be a “Pomeranz-lite”.

- With Jimenez, Justin Masterson, Josh Tomlin, Carlos Carrasco, Fausto Carmona, Jeanmar Gomez, David Huff, and Zach McAlliser all under control for several seasons past this one, the Indians have a very strong, deep core of starters to go with the next several years. This is why the loss of White and Pomeranz does not hurt as much. With the starting rotation seemingly strong for the next few years, it gives the organization time to develop or draft the next Pomeranz and White so they are ready in 2013 or 2014.

- Speaking of drafting and developing, two of those future stud arms could be right-handed pitcher Dillon Howard (2nd round) and left-handed pitcher Dillon Peters (20th round) from the this year’s draft. Both are unsigned, and while Howard was expected to sign, Peters was not a sure thing. After this trade it would surprise me to see the Indians do what it takes to ensure they get both of them into the system to replenish some of the top level pitching talent they lost.

What the Indians gave up

- The big loss in the deal is Pomeranz, a pitcher who has come on like gangbusters this year and been everything the Indians hoped he would be when they took him #5 overall in last year’s draft. He was the unquestioned #1 prospect in the Indians system at the time of the trade, and for many evaluators is a Top 20 prospect in all of baseball. Losing a prospect of that caliber is something that is hard to sit with, especially being that he comes from the left side with power stuff with the potential to be a dominating front of the rotation pitcher. He looked to be on the path to being a big league option at some point next year, and a very successful pitcher for the Indians for a long time. I believe he will have a very good, long Major League career.

- Alex White is no doubt a very talented pitcher who has unbelievable makeup and is tough. Indians fans saw all of that firsthand when he was called up in May and made a few appearances before being sidelined with the finger injury. There is no doubt in my mind that prior to the finger injury he would have been a good number two or three starter for years to come for the Indians. With his fastball, splitter and slider combination he has the goods.

- That all said about White, I would be very nervous if I were the Rockies. The finger injury he suffered is an uncommon one in baseball, and is the same one which ruined former Indians top prospect Adam Miller’s career. Several surgeries and three years later Miller is making a miraculous comeback this season. Time will tell on White if the finger injury was serious or just a minor blip, but anytime a pitcher gets a significant injury to their hand, arm or shoulder I am concerned.

- It should be noted that when Miller initially was hurt he went through almost exactly the same rehab program where he was back pitching in a few months. But then he developed an elbow issue, something that may have come about because of concerns pitching with the finger. This is what could happen with White, and why the Indians are smart to maybe trade a potentially damaged goods pitcher now at peak value before anything else happens.

- I know there was legitimate concern about White’s finger, and knowing that scouts and other teams read the papers and such the Indians have been openly putting out his rehab progress a lot the last month. It is no coincidence that he went to Akron on Saturday for a rehab outing the day before the trade deadline. If teams balked about a deal not knowing he was healthy, by sending him on a rehab outing it was a way to “show” he was healthy and making great progress. So even though White was in fact on a rehab assignment and on his way back to the Indians at some point, it definitely looks like the Indians played some poker there with his true health status.

- Joe Gardner is a solid pitching prospect that the Rockies are getting in the deal, but he is not the higher level prospect he was claimed to be at the start of the season when he was included in several Top 10 lists. He has dropped significantly (I’d put him #25-30 now), but he is still a workhorse with a very good sinker he consistently runs in the low 90s and has touched 95 MPH and throws a high percentage of the time. His problem has been that both secondary offerings his slider and changeup are below average pitches, which is what has hurt him some this year when facing more talented hitters at the Double-A level.

- Gardner was a hot prospect at this time last year because of his high groundball and strikeout rates, but he has struggled this year in his first taste of Double-A. He sported a very good 3.8 BB/9 and 8.7 K/9 rate last season in Single-A, but that has changed significantly this season where he has a 4.3 BB/9 and 5.5 K/9 this year. On top of that he also held batters to a .197 BAA and had a 3.29 groundball rate (GO/AO), which is what made him very exciting with his ability to miss bats and get players to pound the ball on the ground. But this season hitters are batting .287 off of him and he has dipped to a 1.91 GO/AO. While the Rockies will surely continue to develop him as a starter, all of this points to his struggles with being a once pitch pitcher as a hard sinker can only take you so far, which is why he will likely end up in the bullpen if he makes the big leagues.

- Matt McBride was just inventory to the organization, something that was clearly on display this year when they assigned him to Double-A Akron to start the season and after a midseason promotion to Triple-A Columbus he was recently sent back to Akron. That kind of movement for a 26-year old prospect was a clear sign that he was not a priority prospect for the organization and was viewed more as organizational depth. He has good power and some versatility to play left field, first base and catcher, but he is considered a below average defender in the outfield.

- The Rockies may explore playing McBride at catcher again, a position he played prior to shoulder surgery at the end of 2007, but everything I have heard say his catching days are behind him. He may get a cup of coffee in the big leagues, especially now considering he was included in a major deal, but is not expected to stick around long. He is a guy who could have a nice career and play a long time bouncing back and forth between Triple-A and the big leagues.

Final thoughts

- As they often say though, to get something you have to give up something. Initially I will admit, I was upset about losing Pomeranz for any player. But if you look at the deal objectively, if Pomeranz ends up being anything close to what Jimenez has been as a Major League pitcher we would all have been elated. The Indians are trading the potential of Pomeranz in the future for a guy doing it now. That’s a tradeoff that helps the Indians now. A team looking to win right now.

- I know that some of us hate to deal prospects because we often get attached to them since we follow them and grow fond of what they could be. This is the tough part for me as I get to know a lot of these guys not just by looking at box scores and from conversations with organizational personnel and scouts, but also personally as well. I’ve gotten to know all of these players over the years, especially McBride who is a class guy. All are great young mean on and off the field, and I wish them nothing but the best.

- Overall, the only two pieces to be concerned about losing in this deal are Pomeranz and White. Gardner and McBride are more filler in the trade with limited Major League futures. So the question you have to ask is this: are Pomeranz and White worth Jimenez? For me, the chance to shore up the rotation with a front of the rotation pitcher is a no-brainer to win now and for the next few years. With Pomeranz and White not being guarantees going forward, I think a two-for-one sale to acquire a sure thing makes perfect sense. But that’s just me, as I am sure others value all four players the Indians gave up in this deal differently.

- Whether you like the trade or not, I think one thing all Indians fans will agree on is it is nice to see the Indians be a buyer for once at the trade deadline, or in any trade for that matter. Quite often they are the one trading the Ubaldo Jimenez’s of the world for prospects, but this time they are the ones making a move to win now rather than for the future. This is the biggest trade deadline deal in their history as far as them getting a Major League player in return. Kudos to Antonetti and company for having the guts to risk some of their future for a chance to win now.

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 Scouting reports for Pomeranz and others

Going into the season I had Alex White as my #3 Indians prospect, Drew Pomeranz my #4 prospect, Joe Gardner as my #10 prospect, and Matt McBride as my #56 prospect. At the midpoint of the season Pomeranz was the unquestioned #1 prospect, White still #3 or #4, Gardner more #25-30 and McBride lower than his #56 coming into the season. All of these scouting reports and 170+ more on Indians prospects are in my book this year.

I posted the 2011 Top 50 Indians prospects earlier this year, so the 2011 scouting reports for Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, and Joe Gardner are available by clicking on their hyperlinks. The 2011 Matt McBride report was not on-line....until now.  I have provided it below (remember, this was written before the season):

56. Matt McBride – First Baseman/Outfielder
Born: 05/23/1985 – Height: 6’2” – Weight: 215 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

Matt McBride

History: McBride was selected by the Indians in the 2nd round of the 2006 Draft out of Lehigh University. He had surgery on his shoulder (right labrum) after the 2007 season to correct a lingering shoulder issue that had plagued him since he was drafted, and the recovery forced him to miss most of the 2008 season. He played in the Arizona Fall League in 2009 and in 22 games hit .378 with 4 HR, 18 RBI and a 1.159 OPS. Last year he finished the season 2nd in the organization in home runs (21) and 4th in RBI (75). He went out to winter ball in the offseason and put on an impressive showing in the Dominican Winter League hitting .282 with 8 HR, 26 RBI and a .899 OPS in 28 games. He only played winter ball for about five weeks, but at the time he left he was in the top two in the league in home runs and RBI.

Strengths: McBride is a big, strong hitter with good power and solid bat-to-ball skills. His strength is to his pull side as he can drive the ball into left field and the left center gap as well as anybody. Even though he is a power hitter he does a good job limiting the strikeouts and consistently puts the ball in play. During his rehab from shoulder surgery he added a lot of strength and improved his physical makeup, and it has shown the past two years with the amount of doubles and home runs he has piled up. As the health of his shoulder has improved it has also allowed him to gain more confidence and be more consistent at the plate, and he showed an improved ability to cover the outer half of the plate last season. He has also adopted a more simple approach where he just tries to be productive every at bat and stick to his plan. He is athletic and runs well for his size. He is a warrior who has excellent work ethic, and is sort of a throwback that hustles on every play and does not showboat.

Last year McBride was only hitting .255 with 4 HR, 32 RBI and a .686 OPS in 68 games at Double-A Akron through June 27th; however, from that point he finished the season hitting .308 with 17 HR, 43 RBI and a .964 OPS in 59 combined games at Akron and Triple-A Columbus. His midseason spike in performance can be attributed to a small change in his swing where he started using his hands much better and was not using so much of his body when he swung which allowed him to see the ball better. In addition to that he was just trusting his abilities, putting up better quality at bats, and was more confident.

Before McBride's shoulder surgery three years ago he was always viewed as one of the top catching prospects in the game because of his good catch-and-throw skills, above average arm, and leadership qualities behind the plate. In his return from surgery he attempted to catch in 2008 and 2009, but the carry on his throws was no longer there and his shoulder was not strong enough to handle the everyday rigors of catching, so to keep him healthy the Indians moved him to first base and left field full time in 2010. His shoulder is fine but just not strong enough to catch. At this point, his future is as a versatile player who can play first base, left field, right field and designated hitter. His days as an everyday catching option are gone as he is now viewed as nothing more than an emergency option there. His conversion to first base and left field started in winter ball in Hawaii in 2008, and in the last two seasons he has shown improvement and has started to settle in at both positions. He continued his development at first base and the outfield in the offseason out in the Dominican Winter League as he split time between first base, left field and right field. He has worked hard on his footwork both at first base and the outfield, and has become a slightly below average defender at both positions. His arm is solid average in the outfield, and by playing a lot of first base it saves some wear and tear on his shoulder.

Opportunities: McBride is about as streaky as a player can get as he follows up long cold spells with extreme hot streaks and vice versa, so he needs to be a more consistent performer where his performance is not so slanted to one extreme or the other. He is also very much a dead-pull hitter as he has a tendency to want to pull everything and has trouble lying off inside pitches. He did a better job last year of handling the outer half of the plate and working up the middle, but he still needs more work there as he still slides back to his tendency of trying to pull everything. While he does a solid job of limiting strikeouts, he could show a little more patience at the plate to help improve his walk rate. Defensively, he still needs to work on becoming more acquainted with first base and the outfield. There is still a lot to learn with getting better reads and jumps in the outfield and with his footwork around the bag at first base, so experience and playing time should help.

Outlook: McBride has now had two very productive seasons in a row, and while the Indians have always known he can hit his power spike is encouraging. The big problem for him is he no longer fits at any one position, which hurts his value as an everyday player. Right now there is a large bottleneck of like players in the outfield and first base between Cleveland, Columbus and Akron, so it appears a long shot for him to get that coveted big league opportunity with the Indians. But, if he continues to produce like he has the last two years and continues to improve defensively and stay healthy, at some point someone is going to give him a shot. He should open the 2011 season at Columbus.



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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Around the Farm: June 15

Around the Farm takes a quick look at some of yesterday's performances by Indians prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday's game.

Joe Gardner - SP, Akron: 8 IP, 6 H, BB, 3 K. (W, 4-5) Gardner finally bounced back from two straight ugly outings where he pitched a combined 7.2 innings, allowing 15 hits, 8 ER/13 R, walking 5 and only striking out 2. Between those two starts, he averaged only pitching 3.2 innings, allowing 8 hits, 4 ER/7 R, walking 3, and striking out 1. (Note: .5 on stats were rounded up.) While Gardner still didn't dominate his opponent, it was a quality outing that was much needed. His strikeout-to-walk ratio this year is alarming: 24 BB/28 K. Opposing hitters have a .286 against him and have hit him around for 53 hits in 48.1 innings. He's been somewhat of a disappointment this season.

• Tim Fedroff - LF, Akron: 2-4, R. Fedroff continues to hit and continue his push for a call up to Columbus.
• Jason Donald - DH, Akron: 1-3, BB. In a somewhat surprising move, Donald was assigned to Akron, rather than Columbus, and with a crowded infield in Columbus, Donald has something to prove in Akron.
• Cory Burns - CP, Akron: IP, H, K. (S, 17) The dominance of Cory Burns continues!
• Adam Abraham - 3B, Kinston: 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, K. Three homeruns and four RBI in his past two games has ignited the sleeping K-Tribe bats.
• Anthony Gallas - DH, Kinston: 1-3, RBI, BB, K. The well deserved promotion has had no effect on Gallas and his hot bat.
• Marty Popham - SP, Kinston: 7 IP, H, ER/R, 6 K, HR. (W, 1-0) One of Popham's best appearances as a pro, aside from his starts in Mahoning Valley. He was brilliant against the hitters of the New York-Penn League.
• Jesus Aguilar - 1B, Lake County: 2-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K. Aguilar continues to flex his muscles and power and may give Nick Weglarz a run for his money.
• Alex Lavisky - DH, Lake County: 3-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI. The most amazing stat? No strike out. Kudos, Alex!
• LeVon Washington - CF, Lake County: 3-5, R, HR, 3 RBI. An impressive offensive explosion from Washington, whose homer was a legit bomb.

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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Around the Farm: May 19

Around the Farm takes a quick look at some of yesterday's performances by Indians prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday's game.

Tim Fedroff - LF, Akron: 5-7, R, RBI.
Fedroff's bat is simply on fire. In his past ten games, he's hitting a staggering .488 (20-41), with 4 doubles and a triple, and driving in 10 runs. On the season, he's hitting .364, with a line of .404/.488/.893. He's second in the league in batting average, fifth in hits, sixth in OBP, and ninth in OPS. The one knock to Fedroff, at this point, is his lack of extra base hits. Of his 47 hits, ten of them have gone for extra bases (6 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR). Regardless, Fedroff is finding ways to get on base and contribute heavily to the Aeros offense.

• Beau Mills - DH, Akron: 1-5, R. Freshly activated off the disabled list, Mills managed a hit in his return.
• Joe Gardner - SP, Akron: 6 IP, 4 H, ER/R, BB, 5 K. Gardner returned to his normal form and pitched a solid outing, earning himself his third win of the season.
• Cory Burns - CP, Akron: IP, 2 K. Burns is also another guy who is returning to form and returning to be the reliable closer for the Aeros.
• Casey Frawley - SS, Kinston: 2-4, R, RBI, K. Every now and then, you'll hear about Frawley. He's a guy who flies under the radar for some people.
• Abner Abreu - RF, Kinston: 1-4, R, 2B. Abreu lacks consistency to this point and can't seem to put it all together.
• Cole Cook - SP, Kinston: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 2 ER/3 R, 5 K. Cook has been far from impressive this season, but that's not to say he's been terrible. He's been very average and falling back to Earth, in terms of his potential.
• Ronny Rodriguez - SS, Lake County: 1-9, R, HR, RBI, K. An interesting prospect to watch. He's an 18-year-old kid who's still very raw, but has tons of ability and upside.
• Giovanny Urshela - 3B, Lake County: 3-9, R, RBI, K. Urshela has been struggling at the plate recently, but faired decently well in the double header.
• Anthony Gallas - RF, Lake County: 4-7, 2 2B, RBI, 2 BB, K. Gallas continues to shine and impress this season, who raised his batting average to .364.
• Kyle Blair - SP, Lake County: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 8 ER/R, 6 BB, 2 K, HR. What an outing to forget for the young pitcher Blair. Had problems with his command all game and it really came back to haunt him.
• Trey Haley - RP, Lake County: 2 IP, 2 K. It seems like Haley has been in Lake County for what seems like ages now. Haley is finally starting to show some consistency this season.

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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Game Recaps 5/19: Gardner returns to form in Akron split

Joe Gardner (Photo: T. Lastoria)

Aeros Split Doubleheader with Curve

The Akron Aeros split a doubleheader with the Altoona Curve Thursday at Canal Park winning game one 6-1 and dropping game two 2-1.

The Aeros (20-20 following the doubleheader) won game one behind a solid outing from right-handed pitcher Joe Gardner.

Gardner earned the win tossing six innings, giving up one earned run on four hits, walking one and striking out five.

Left-hander Aaron Thompson suffered the loss for Altoona lasting just two thirds of an inning, giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits, walking one and striking out one.

The Aeros got five runs in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Tim Fedroff and Juan Diaz had back-to-back doubles to make it 1-0. Later in the frame with the bases full and two outs, Donnie Webb walked to force home a run. Karexon Sanchez followed with an RBI single that made it 3-0 and Juan Apodaca capped the inning with a two-RBI single.

The Curve (19-19 following the doubleheader) got a run in the top of the fifth inning, but the Aeros answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth on a Sanchez solo homer as they went on to the win.

In game two, the Curve scored single runs in the top of the second and third innings to earn the win.

Right-hander Marty Popham got the loss for the Aeros pitching 5.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits, walking two and striking out two.

Jared Hughes picked up the win for Altoona logging 5.2 scoreless innings, scattering four hits, walking two and striking out two. Michael Dubee picked up the save for the Curve.

The Aeros got a run in the seventh inning, but that was all as the Curve avoided the three-game series sweep.

The Aeros and Curve will both head to Altoona to begin a four-game series Friday. Akron will give the ball to right-handed pitcher Austin Adams, who is 4-2 with a 2.36 ERA in 2011. The Curve have yet to announce a starter for Friday’s game. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. The game can be heard on Fox Sports 1350 AM or online at sportsradio1350.com. Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m.

Clippers Game Suspended, Resumes Tomorrow

Thursday's game between the Clippers and Paw Sox was suspended due to inclement weather. The game will resume at 5:05PM on Friday, May 20th in the bottom of the 4th inning with the Clippers ahead 2-1. The regularly scheduled game will follow no earlier than 7:05PM and will last seven (7) innings.

Kinston Hangs On For Series Win

The K-Tribe won their third straight contest, putting down Lynchburg 4-3 Thursday night at Historic Grainger Stadium.

Down 2-0 going into the bottom of the first inning, Kinston started to chip away at the Hillcat lead. Tyler Holt starter the bottom half with a walk. With the walk, Holt increased his consecutive on-base streak to 19 games and his hit streak to ten games. Holt advanced to second base on a balk and scored on an RBI single by Casey Frawley. Kinston tied the score in the second inning when Justin Toole reached on an error, stole second base and then scored on a double by Roberto Perez. The K-Tribe took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third inning, when Frawley led off with a single, then scored on a two-out, run scoring single by Chase Burnette. The Indians added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Abner Abreu started things with a double. After advancing to third on a fly-out, he scored on a sacrifice fly from Burnette. Burnette had two RBI on the night, including that game winner. Casey Frawley went 2-for-4 for Kinston. Chris Masters (3-2) took the loss for Lynchburg, giving up four runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Kinston starter Clayton Cook (3-3) was solid in the win, giving up eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up three runs (two earned) and struck out five while not walking a batter. Toru Murata and Chris Jones combined for 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief. Preston Guilmet got his seventh save in as many attempts. Guilmet has given up just eight hits in 14 2/3 innings of work, while not allowing a run this season.

The K-Tribe hits the road for six days, starting Friday night in Frederick, Maryland. Game time 7:00 pm as Giovanni Soto gets the start for Kinston. Kinston returns home to Grainger Stadium for a holiday homestand May 26th through June 2nd.

Captains Throw Away Two

Fort Wayne took both games of the doubleheader on Thursday night at Classic Park. The TinCaps won game one 9-2. In the second game, Fort Wayne took advantage of to Captains’ errors to win in extra innings 4-3.

Fort Wayne took it to the Captains in the first game, winning 9-2. Lake County pitching struggled walking a season high nine hitters, six of which came into score. The big blow came in the first inning, when TinCap Jose Dore hit a three run homerun with two outs to make it 4-0.

The Captains scored a run in the fourth inning, when Alex Monsalve hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Giovanny Urshela.

Ronny Rodriguez hit his first homerun of the season in the bottom of the seventh to make it 9-2. It was also the first professional for Rodriguez.

Keyvius Sampson (6-1) earned the win for the TinCaps allowing a run on three hits, walking three and striking out four. Kyle Blair (2-2) suffered the loss for the Captains going just 3.2 innings, allowing eight runs on six hits, walking a career high six, striking out two. Nate Striz went 2.1 innings, allowing a run, on two hits, walking three and striking out three.

In game two, Lake County scored the first run in the second inning, as Alex Monsalve crossed the plate on a throwing error made by TinCap Jake Blackwood to make 1-0.

The Captains made it 2-0 in the third with an RBI ground out by Giovanny Urshela scoring LeVon Washington.

Fort Wayne tied the game at two in the fourth inning, Captains’ starter retired the first ten he faced, and then the next four reached. Luis Domoromo doubled in a run, as well as an RBI single by Jake Blackwood.

Lake County and Fort Wayne exchanged runs in the sixth, to keep the game tied at three. Blackwood drove in his second run of the night with a single to center for the TinCaps. Anthony Gallas extended his on-base steak to 20 straight games doubling in Jesus Aguilar.

In the top of the eleventh, Dale Dickerson walked the leadoff batter Rico Noel. Noel stole second base, went to third on an Alex Lavisky throwing error and scored when Washington over ran the throw in center to put the TinCaps in front 4-3.

Dieber Sanchez (1-0) gets his first win of the season throwing three scoreless innings in relief, giving up just one hit, one walk and striking out one. Adam Dominic picked up the save his sixth of the season pitching the eleventh. Dale Dickerson (0-1) suffered his first loss of the year, giving up a run on one walk, striking out two in just one inning of work. Clayton Ehlert was excellent in relief, tossing four scoreless, hitless innings striking out four.

Lake County begins a seven game road trip Friday night in Dayton at Fifth Third Field at 7:00PM. The Captains start RHP Cole Cook (1-4) against RHP Daniel Renken (1-4) for the Dragons.

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On Drew Pomeranz, Joe Gardner and IPI guest columnists

Pomeranz leaves game with hamstring tightness

Drew Pomeranz left last night's Kinston Indians game with tightness in his right hamstring.  According the Pomeranz and manager Aaron Holbert, the injury isn't serious, and the big lefty will not miss his next start.

Pomeranz landed funny during his first batter of the game, which prompted K-Tribe trainer Jeremy Heller to come out and check the Kinston ace's leg.  Pomeranz would stay in the game through the third inning, and for the most part, looked every bit as good as he has in his first two starts.  He did give up his first home run of his professional career, but still struck out five, without walking a batter.  He even struck out the batter he was facing when he tweaked the leg.

Pomeranz took himself out of the game after his last out (a strikeout) in the third because he wasn't able to maintain his delivery.  His big concern was injuring his arm and shoulder compensating for the tweak.  The good news is that the "injury" seems to just be a cramp gone bad.

Perhaps it's another reason for the Indians to remain cautious with one of their top prospects.

Joe Gardner shut down, but back soon

Joe Gardner wanted to start off the 2011 season where he left off at the end of the 2010 season. While his first two starts weren't of the dominating variety, he was still exhibiting the stuff that puts him in the top tier of Tribe prospects.

Gardner was showing signs of shoulder fatigue, so the 6'4" lefty was temporarily shut down so he could regain his arm strength. Gardner is responding well, and according to Ross Atkins, the vice president in charge of player development for the Indians, he should be back within the next couple of weeks, if not sooner.

Indians Prospect Insider to welcome guest columnist series

Over the next several weeks, the Indians Prospect Insider will be proud to host several guest bloggers to help fill in for the immense hole that is left while Tony Lastoria recuperates from his recent surgery. I'm not talking about any ole' bloggers, but the best of the best in Indians blogdom.

You'll be reading columns from WFNY, Let's Go Tribe and The Diatribe, just to name a few. Please make sure that you click those links to support preeminent Cleveland Indians sites on these here internets.

Tomorrow, our first guest spot will hit the pages of IPI when one of the chief scribes and editors over at Let's Go Tribe, Andrew Humphries (afh4), sends out his take on following the Tribe farm system.

Thanks Andrew, and to all the writers that have offered their services. We here at IPI can't thank you enough.

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: #10 Joe Gardner

Joe Gardner – Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 03/18/1988 – Height: 6’5” – Weight: 225 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

(Photo: Ken Carr)

History: Gardner was selected by the Indians in the 3^rd round of the 2009 Draft out of the University of UC-Santa Barbara. He played summer ball in 2008 in Alaska for the Kenai Peninsula Oilers and went 6-0 with a 0.92 ERA, and then later went 2-0 with a 0.69 at the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas. His pitching coach while with the Oilers was UC-Santana Barbara pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Tom Myers, who ended up offering Gardner a spot on the UC-Santa Barbara team where he transferred for the 2009 season. Last year he finished 4th in the organization in ERA (2.75), 1st in wins (13), and 1st in strikeouts (142). Even though he did not join High-A Kinston until mid-May, he finished 1^st in the Carolina League in wins (12), 2^nd in ERA (2.65), 13^th in innings pitched (122.1), 9^th in strikeouts (104), and 3^rd in WHIP (1.11).

Strengths: Gardner is a big, strong, physical pitcher who throws a 91-94 MPH two-seam sinking fastball that touches 95 MPH with late heavy sink and excellent movement down in the zone that produces a ton of groundball outs. He relies on the hard boring action of his sinker heavily, throwing it 80-90% of the time, and is clearly the best pitch in his arsenal and arguably the best sinker in the minors. His low-three quarters slot and smooth arm action allows for a lot of sink and good tailing life to it. He has good command of his sinker by consistently throwing it for strikes, and really eats up right-handers because of his fearless approach of working in on their hands and feet. The sinker is hard and heavy and he consistently keeps it down in the zone which makes it hard for hitters to lift the ball off of him and really limits home runs.

Gardner complements his two-seam fastball with a slider and changeup. Both pitches are not expected to be major league weapons and project as only average offerings. His hard biting slider is solid-average and it sits around 80-81 MPH. The slider is the better of his two secondary offerings and has been adequate so far as a professional, and is expected to see improvement as he becomes more comfortable with it. He shows a feel for an average changeup with decent fade. He does a good job of keeping hitters off balance with it, particularly left-handers, and has seen more success and improvement with it. He also picked up a four-seam fastball once he signed with the Indians as they wanted him to have a variation to his fastball to have movement away and something to elevate and use when ahead in the count.

Even though his numbers last year were spectacular, Gardner is not a strikeout pitcher. Instead he relies on more of a pitch to contact approach and uses his sinker to limit extra base hits and get quick outs via the groundball. He is very aggressive and very confident on the mound and goes right after guys, and is not afraid to pitch inside to both left-handers and right-handers. The Indians really like him as a starting pitching prospect because in addition to his excellent sinker they believe both his changeup and slider will at least become major league average pitches, and he projects as a solid middle of the rotation pitcher who can haul innings.

Even though he was drafted in 2009, Gardner made his professional debut last year because of an injury he sustained in his last start in college which resulted in him not pitching with the Indians in 2009. After a complete game shutout against Long Beach State on May 9, 2009 he left his next start after two innings with an injury and then missed his final start of the season. The injury was a strained right serratus anterior muscle, which is a muscle located in the upper-torso region near the armpit that is largely responsible for the protraction of the shoulder bones. The Indians were aware of the injury when they drafted and signed him, though the injury was not expected to linger as long as it did. As a result, instead of making his professional debut and getting some quality work and innings at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2009, he in turn spent his first pro summer on a rehab assignment in Goodyear, Arizona and then made his organizational debut in Instructional League in September of 2009.

Gardner was consistent all last season from outing to outing and really did a good job keeping his routine in line and adjusting to the day-to-day grind of being a professional baseball player. He was so effective because he mixed in his slider and changeup well where a lot of times hitters were so geared up for his sinker with two strikes that he often went to his slider and rung up many hitters with it. He threw strikes and consistently filled the bottom of the zone with all three pitches to keep hitters off balance. He had no adjustment period when he was promoted to Kinston as he settled in there right away and dominated all year. He had some midseason struggles where he was trying to be a little bit too fine with his pitches and was having a lot of big misses, but was able to quickly correct the issue. After reviewing some video tape coaches found he was using his secondary pitches in favorable counts rather than going to his bread and butter pitch – his fastball – to put hitters away. Further study revealed that his delivery was being rushed which caused his front side to fly open a little bit and resulted in his fastball flattening out. After a few bullpen sessions he was able to work things out and slow things down which were instrumental in getting him back on track. The organization was extremely pleased with what he showed last year, and while he still has a long way to go, the progress he has made in such a short amount of time is impressive and exciting.

Opportunities: Since Gardner relies on his sinker so much, the development of his slider and changeup are really going to be the key in making him a more complete pitcher and also help him stay in the rotation as he continues to move up in the system. His slider and changeup are not projected to be plus pitches, but if he can get them both to where they are average to a tick or two above average major league pitches, they will go a long way at making his sinker so much more effective as he moves up the ranks in the minor leagues. He can get by with his sinker alone at the Single-A level against young, inexperienced hitters, but as he gets to Double-A and higher where hitters are much more patient and have much better plate discipline, his changeup and slider will become big keys to what kind of pitcher he ends up being and how far he goes. He needs to work on tightening up his slider as he has a tendency to get around it too much, and he needs to more consistently throw it to both sides of the plate, especially away from right-handers. His arm slot can sometimes lead to some sweeping action to his slider, which can lead to trouble against left-handers. His changeup is too firm and it tends to flatten out, so he needs to work on softening it up a little.

Even though his sinker is an excellent pitch, Gardner lacks a true swing and miss pitch which could present problems as he moves into the higher levels of the minors and potentially the big leagues. His sinker is a lot like Fausto Carmona’s in that it moves so much that he has trouble consistently keeping it in the zone, so he needs to continue to work on consistently commanding it down in the zone. He tends to have an inconsistent arm slot where at times it can end up more sidearm which leads to him elevating the ball. He is also not very athletic for a pitcher as his delivery is kind of funky and uncoordinated. He needs work on controlling the running game and holding runners better. He is still raw on the mound and really just needs to pitch and gain experience so he can better understand what he can and can’t do on the mound. The Indians think there is still some untapped velocity in his arm, so if his delivery is cleaned up and his mechanics improve he could see an uptick in his velocity.

Outlook: Gardner had about as good of a pro debut as you can possibly have last year with some very impressive numbers to go along with some interesting stuff. His awesome showing in Instructional League the previous fall really served as a springboard to some spectacular numbers last year as he had an outstanding groundball rate (3.21 GO/AO), opposing batting average (.197) and missed lots of bats (8.7 K/9). His emergence as an innings eating, sinker-balling, middle-of-the-rotation big league pitching prospect was one of the biggest stories to come out of the 2010 season. He showed he can dominate at both levels of Single-A, and one of the more intriguing stories to follow for the 2011 season will be how he adjusts and his stuff translates at Double-A against some top level competition. It’s still unclear what kind of prospect he will be, so this season will go a long way at proving that. He should open the 2011 season at Double-A Akron. If things continue to go well, he could enter into the Indians big league pitching plans sometime in 2012.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2010	22	Lake County	A	1	0	3.24	6	6	25.0	17	9	2	11	38	.185	4.0	13.7	1.12
2010	22	Kinston	A+	12	6	2.65	22	22	122.1	85	36	4	51	104	.199	3.8	7.7	1.11
		MiLB Totals		13	6	2.75	28	28	147.1	102	45	6	62	142	.197	3.8	8.7	1.11

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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2010 Tony Awards: Biggest Breakthrough

Photo credit: Lianna Holub

We continue on with the final few year end Cleveland Indians minor league player awards.  To recap, here are the awards so far:

Offensive Player of the Year: Jason Kipnis
Pitcher of the Year: Joe Gardner
Reliever of the Year: Cory Burns
Defensive Player of the Year: Roberto Perez
Comeback Player of the Year: Jared Goedert
Rookie of the Year: Felix Sterling

Today we continue the postseason awards with the announcement of the Biggest Breakthrough performer.  This award goes to the player who may not have been is highly touted coming into the season on prospect lists, but by the end of the season is definitely on the prospect map and should be ranked as a Top 50 ranked prospect going into next season.

This is an award that the nominees are 100% based on performance as prospect standing is not factored in; however, when deciding a winner among the nominees their prospect standing after the season is certainly factored in.  Again, these awards are simply for fun to hand out at the end of the year.  Also, the Cleveland Indians in no way whatsoever had any input in these awards.  In the coming days the Biggest Disappointment and the All-Tony Team will be announced.

Biggest Breakthrough Nominees:

Austin Adams (RHP – Lake County/Kinston)
8-5, 2.49 ERA, 26 G, 112.0 IP, 90 H, 12 HR, 36 BB, 112 K, 1.13 WHIP, 3.6 BB/9, 9.0 K/9

Maybe not a huge breakthrough as I had Adams as a Top 50 prospect coming into the 2010 season, but I would still expect him to move up around the 25-30 range for next season.  He pitched in a piggyback role in 2010 and may continue that role next year, though at some point is expected to move into the bullpen which is where he has always been projected to pitch when he reached the higher levels.  He was pretty raw and inexperienced as a pitcher coming into the pros but has shown a lot of development and is a legit bullpen prospect going forward.

Cory Burns (RHP – Lake County/Kinston)
1-2, 1.96 ERA, 42 S, 54 G, 55.0 IP, 43 H, 2 HR, 14 BB, 81 K, 1.04 WHIP, 2.3 BB/9, 13.3 K/9

You will be hard pressed to find any publication coming into the season who took Burns very seriously as a relief prospect, but that is no longer the case after the year he had in 2010.  His funky delivery, good command, and nasty knuckle-curveball gave opposing hitters fits all year.  He still lacks dominating stuff and has relied a lot on deception at Single-A, so he still needs to prove himself at a higher level before he truly jumps into the bullpen prospect discussion.  That said he has certainly jumped into the Indians Top 50 prospect listing for next year.

Chun Chen (C – Lake County/Kinston)
.315 AVG, 58 R, 38 2B, 3 3B, 12 HR, 69 RBI, 55 BB, 74 K, 5 SB, .924 OPS

Chen went from a guy who going into 2009 was viewed as an up-and-comer to a forgotten guy going into 2010 because of the poor season at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2009.  In 2010 his impressive stroke and approach at the plate returned, and he probably more than exceeded expectations for even the Indians themselves.  While he showed growth as a catcher this year, it remains to be seen if he stays there and does not end up at first base down the road.  He should be ranked somewhere in the Top 30 next year.

Joe Gardner (RHP – Lake County/Kinston)
13-6, 2.75 ERA, 28 GS, 147.1 IP, 102 H, 6 HR, 62 BB, 142 K, 1.11 WHIP, 3.8 BB/9, 8.7 K/9

Gardner had about as good of a pro debut as you can possibly have with some very impressive numbers to go along with some interesting stuff as his hard sinking fastball was trouble for opposing hitters all year.  It’s still unclear what kind of prospect he will be, and next year will go a long way at proving that at Double-A Akron against some top level competition.  Even still, he has improved his stock immensely from a prospect ranked in the 50s coming into the season to one who will definitely be in the Top 20 going into next season.

Jared Goedert (3B – Akron/Columbus)
.283 AVG, 80 R, 37 2B, 1 3B, 27 HR, 83 RBI, 53 BB, 112 K, 4 SB, .890 OPS

Goedert actually was nominated for this award after the 2007 season.  It may seem a bit strange to nominate him for the same award again, but considering where he was coming into the season barely holding onto a job to where he is now as a potential big league option next year, it seems perfectly acceptable to nominate him again.  He showed the biggest power in the farm system this year, which is something the Indians can certainly use at the big league level if they can find a position for him.  He should now be ranked somewhere in the Indians Top 30 next year.

Matt Packer (LHP – Lake County/Akron)
9-7, 2.04 ERA, 30 G, 132.2 IP, 112 K, 7 HR, 22 BB, 123 K, 0.99 WHIP, 1.4 BB/9, 8.5 K/9

Packer had a completely out of nowhere performance this season.  For an unheralded 33^rd round pick, it would have been impressive had he done what he did this year in a bullpen role, but considering he did it mostly as a starter since about late May it makes it ten times more impressive.  He even skipped High-A Kinston altogether and finished the season at Double-A Akron where he more than held his own, which is where he should open the season next year.  He was unranked as a prospect coming into the season, but will be in the Top 20 next season.

Bryce Stowell (RHP – Kinston/Akron/Columbus)
3-1, 2.14 ERA, 42 G, 7 S, 67.1 IP, 42 H, 4 HR, 36 BB, 102 K, 1.16 WHIP, 4.8 BB/9, 13.6 K/9

Stowell was always considered a hard thrower coming out of college, but I am not sure the velocity spike he had this season was ever expected as he was consistently in the upper 90s and actually touched 100 MPH in his last appearance at Double-A Akron before a promotion to Triple-A Columbus.  Coming off a poor 2009 season where he struggled with health and inconsistency, he came into the season as a lowly ranked prospect in the 50s; however, his stock jumped big time this year where he will find himself in the Top 20 next year.

And the 2010 Tony Award goes to…Matt Packer

Gardner was a 3^rd round pick in 2009, and while Stowell was a 22^nd rounder in 2008 he came with a $725,000 price tag, so it is hard to consider them true breakthrough players since both were highly regarded pitchers coming out of the draft.  Adams had a very nice season, though his ceiling is as a reliever so it hurts him in this case when comparing him to the other nominees.  Chen and Goedert had great offensive seasons, but were overshadowed here by some outstanding pitching performances.  Burns also had a very good season, but like Adams his ceiling is as a reliever and there are still some question marks on his true value as a prospect.

When it comes down to it, Packer’s outstanding season mostly as a starter and now projected as one going forward makes him a clear runaway winner for this award.  His excellent command, ability to command four different pitches, and his very promising showing at Double-A Akron has him now being considered as a legitimate big league pitching prospect.

As a 32^nd round pick in 2009, Packer came into this season as an afterthought to many outside of the Indians organization, but no more.  He opened the season in the bullpen, but showed some impressive stuff in his bullpen sessions and in games to where the Indians decided to move him to the rotation to see how he would do…and the rest as they say is history.  His emergence as a starting pitching option for the Indians in the near future was one of the biggest stories of the year.

Packer very likely will open the 2011 season in the starting rotation at Akron, but where things go from there is unknown.  The Indians will likely give him most of next season at Akron both because of development reasons and also because of an expected backload of starters at Columbus to start the season.

Remember, it was just one great season, so Packer will need to put together another good year next season from a development and performance perspective to truly be considered the real deal.  He may see some time at Columbus later in the year, and if things go well could be a starting pitching or bullpen option for the Indians sometime in 2012.

Up Next: Biggest Disappointment

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI.  His latest book the 2010 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is also available for purchase on his site for a special year end closeout sale of $10.00 (including shipping and handling).

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2010 Tony Awards: Pitcher of the Year

Photo credit: Lianna Holub

Yesterday we kicked off the Cleveland Indians year end awards with the announcement of the Offensive Player of the Year.  Today we continue the postseason awards with the announcement of the Pitcher of the Year.  In the coming days the Reliever of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Biggest Breakthrough, Biggest Disappointment and All-Tony Team will be announced.

As a quick reminder, these awards are awarded 100% based on performance as prospect standing is not factored in.  So just because a guy is or is not listed does not mean anything from a “prospect” status.  These awards are simply for fun to hand out at the end of the year.  Also, the Cleveland Indians in no way whatsoever had any input in these awards.

Onto the nominees...

Pitcher of the Year Nominees:

Austin Adams (RHP – Lake County/Kinston)
8-5, 2.49 ERA, 26 G, 112.0 IP, 90 H, 12 HR, 36 BB, 112 K, 1.13 WHIP, 3.6 BB/9, 9.0 K/9

Adams did a fantastic job all year considering he is still in the process of his conversion to a full-time pitcher as well as being limited to four to five innings an outing due to a piggyback role.  He opened the year at Low-A Lake County and went 2-4 with a 3.54 ERA in 13 appearances, and then at the midpoint of the season moved up to High-A Kinston where he was dominating going 6-1 with a 1.53 ERA in 13 appearances.  Even though he was limited with just 112 innings pitched, he finished 3^rd in the organization in ERA (2.49).

Carlos Carrasco (RHP - Columbus)
10-6, 3.65 ERA, 25 GS, 150.1 IP, 139 H, 16 HR, 46 BB, 133 K, 1.23 WHIP, 3.4 BB/9, 8.0 K/9

Carrasco had an inconsistent year in 2009 where in 26 Triple-A starts between the Cleveland and Philadelphia organizations he went 11-10 with a 4.64 ERA (157.0 IP, 149 H, 45 BB, 148 K).  He came back this season and had a near carbon copy performance with all of his peripheral stats, but his ERA dropped a full run because he may have gotten over his issues with being susceptible to the big inning.  He finished 10^th in the organization in ERA (3.65), tied for 4^th in wins (10), and was 2^nd in strikeouts (133).

Joe Gardner (RHP – Lake County/Kinston)
13-6, 2.75 ERA, 28 GS, 147.1 IP, 102 H, 6 HR, 62 BB, 142 K, 1.11 WHIP, 3.8 BB/9, 8.7 K/9

Gardner made his professional debut this season, and made it a memorable one where he opened at Low-A Lake County and went 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA in six starts before quickly moving on to High-A Lake County in mid-May where he went 12-6 with a 2.65 ERA in 22 starts.  He showed an incredible ability to get groundballs (3.21 GO/AO), limiting hits (.197 BAA), and missing bats (8.7 K/9).  He finished 4^th in the organization in ERA (2.75), 1^st in wins (13), and 1^st in strikeouts (142).

T.J. McFarland (LHP – Kinston/Akron)
11-5, 3.37 ERA, 25 G, 130.2 IP, 130 H, 10 HR, 42 BB, 97 K, 1.32 WHIP, 2.9 BB/9, 6.7 K/9

McFarland opened the year in the High-A Kinston bullpen in a piggyback situation because of the abundance of starters at Kinston and Double-A Akron to start the season.  As callups and injuries occurred, he found himself permanently in the rotation by mid-May and put together a very good season.  Led by a high groundball rate (2.25 GO/AO) and a pitch to contact mentality, he has established himself as an interesting pitching prospect going forward.  He ranked 7^th in the organization in ERA (3.37) and 3^rd in wins (11).

Matt Packer (LHP – Lake County/Akron)
9-7, 2.04 ERA, 30 G, 132.2 IP, 112 K, 7 HR, 22 BB, 123 K, 0.99 WHIP, 1.4 BB/9, 8.5 K/9

Packer (and Gardner) had one of the most dominating years for an Indians minor league pitcher in some time, one that no one saw coming.  Like McFarland at High-A Kinston, Packer opened the year at Low-A Lake County in the bullpen, but soon found himself in the starting rotation and in 24 appearances (13 starts) there he went 8-5 with a 1.60 ERA.  The Indians moved him up to Double-A Akron in August and he did not slip one bit going 1-2 with a 3.16 ERA in six starts.  He posted a 2.58 GO/AO on the year, and finished the season 1^st in the organization in ERA (2.04) and 5^th in strikeouts (123).

Josh Tomlin (RHP - Columbus)
8-4, 2.68 ERA, 20 G (17 GS), 107.1 IP, 83 H, 11 HR, 33 BB, 80 K, 1.08 WHIP, 2.8 BB/9, 6.7 K/9

Tomlin was called up to Cleveland for the final two months of the season, but prior to the promotion he left behind a pretty impressive three and a half month body of work at Triple-A Columbus.  He opened the year in the bullpen before moving into the rotation after the injury bug hit the starting staff a few weeks into the season.  Upon moving into the rotation he was sensational and was arguably the ace of the Columbus staff the first half of the season.  His numbers are not sexy by any means, but he proved to be consistent at getting people out.

Alex White (RHP – Kinston/Akron)
10-10, 2.45 ERA, 26 GS, 150.2 IP, 123 H, 12 HR, 46 BB, 117 K, 1.12 WHIP, 2.7 BB/9, 7.0 K/9

White had a very good professional debut across two different levels of the organization where he spent about the first six weeks at High-A Kinston going 2-3 with a 2.86 ERA in eight starts before finishing the year at Double-A Akron going 8-7 with a 2.28 ERA in 18 starts.  He lived up to everything he was billed to be when he was taken in the 1^st round of the 2009 Draft as a groundball machine (1.91 GO/AO) with the ability to miss bats and an exceptional work ethic.  He finished 2^nd in the organization in ERA (2.45) and tied for 4^th in wins.

And the 2010 Tony Award goes to…Joe Gardner

Unlike with the Offensive Player of the Year award, this came down to two pitchers who set themselves apart from the pack in Matt Packer and Joe Gardner.  As great a season as Alex White had, the duo of Packer and Gardner bested him in almost every category imaginable.  Also, for all the positive steps Carlos Carrasco made this year, Gardner and Packer were just that much more impressive from a performance perspective.

When looking at the year both Packer and Gardner had, very little can be looked at to separate them.  Packer had a groundball rate of 2.58 while Gardner had a 3.21 GO/AO.  Packer had a .231 batting average against while Gardner had a .197 BAA.  Packer had a 2.04 ERA while Gardner had a 2.75 ERA.  Packer had an 8.3 K/9 while Gardner had an 8.7 K/9.   Packer allowed 7.6 hits per nine innings while Gardner had a 6.2 H/9.  Packer allowed just 7 home runs in 132.2 innings pitcher (0.5 HR/9) while Gardner allowed just 6 home runs in 147.1 innings pitched (0.4 HR/9).

While Packer had an impeccable 1.5 BB/9 and Gardner a still solid 3.8 BB/9, ultimately Gardner was just better in all the main peripheral stats like home run rate, strikeout rate, and hit rate, and on top of that led the entire organization in wins.  While both could have been co-Pitcher of the Year, I am not one of those who chicken out and do this, so in the end Gardner wins out because he was just a little more dominating across the board.

Gardner’s season and his emergence as an innings eating, sinker-balling, middle-of-the-rotation big league pitching prospect was one of the biggest stories to come out of the 2010 season.  He showed he can dominate at both levels of Single-A, and one of the more intriguing stories to follow for the 2011 season will be how he adjusts and his stuff translates at Double-A Akron where he is expected to open next season in the starting rotation.  If things go well, he could enter into the Indians big league pitching plans sometime in 2012.

Up Next: Reliever of the Year

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI.  His new book the 2010 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is also available for purchase on Amazon.com or his site.

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Gardner, Burns sweep Carolina League pitching awards

High-A Kinston right-handed pitchers Cory Burns and Joe Gardner were both named to the Carolina League year-end All-Star Team on Thursday. It is the first time a pair of Kinston pitchers have swept both pitching spots on the end of year All-Star team since Bartolo Colon and Danny Graves did it for the 1995 Kinston squad. It is the first time a sweep has happened in the Carolina League since Sean Burnett and D.J. Carrasco took the spots for Lynchburg in 2002.

Kinston starting pitcher Joe Gardner was named the Starting Pitcher for the Carolina League year end All-Star Team. Cleveland's 3rd round draft pick in 2009, Gardner leads the Carolina League in wins (12) and is third in the CL with a 2.69 ERA. Gardner also leads the Carolina League in batting average against with a .202 mark. The UC-Santa Barbra product is 12-5 with Kinston, striking out 103 in 117 innings with the K-Tribe this season. The California native leads all Cleveland Indians prospect with 13 wins and 141 strikeouts this season (Gardner started the year in Low A Lake County and was promoted to Kinston on May 8th).

K-Tribe closer Cory Burns was named the Carolina League year-end All-Star Team Relief Pitcher. The University of Arizona product leads the Carolina League with 27 saves. Burns (1-2, 1.49) also leads the CL with 36 games finished. Burns has struck out 51 batters in 36 1/3 innings with the K-Tribe this season. The Arizona native is 39-for-42 in save situations between Low A Lake County and Kinston this season (he was promoted to Kinston on May 21st). His 39 total saves are the third most in all of Minor League baseball.

The K-Tribe's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is three with six games
to go. The Indians are currently on an end of season roadtrip and will finish the regular season on Monday.

courtesy of the Kinston Indians

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K-Tribe names 2010 Award Winners

In a season that appears to have been saved by a late playoff run, it seems appropriate that the Carolina League saves leader would be named the Kinston Indians 2010 MVP. Kinston Indians closer Cory Burns was given the Pat Crawford MVP award this past Saturday.

Burns joined the K-Tribe on May 21, and since then, he's been nothing short of exceptional. Burns has gone 1-2 with 26 saves since joining Kinston. Add the 12 saves from Lake County, and Burns' 38 saves rank him third overall in the entire MLB minor league system. Burns has done nothing but save games since being drafted in the eighth round of the 2009 MLB June amateur draft. In his late season work in 2009, he saved 11 games for Mahoning Valley, before making his huge jump in 2010. He's not your prototypical closer, and anyone that sees him may think he's taken notes from Nuke Laloosh, the fictitious fireballer from the movie, Bull Durham.

Burns not only incorporates a pause in his delivery, but then completely turns his back to the hitter. While I'm not sure if he's using Fernando's 'primal eye,' when he delivers his pitches, they appear to be coming out of nowhere. He throws a low 90's heater that seems a couple of miles faster. That, combined with his unreadable changeup, make any lack of heat a non-issue. Burns' bread-and-butter comes from his knuckle curve. If he's got command of it, it's flat, and drops off a table. If he doesn't have control, it's even more effective, moving like a knuckleball. It has moved in, out and down. In other words, it always works, at least so far at this early juncture of the young pitcher's career.

It's worked well enough to earn a much-deserved MVP award for the Kinston closer.

T.J. McFarland was given the Steve Olin Pitcher of the Year award. McFarland started the year off tethered to Nick Hagadone, and only started once Hagadone was promoted. There really was no doubt that McFarland was the best pitcher in the Carolina League through much of the first half of the season, and was the only Indians player to make it to the All-Star team.

Joe Gardner was likely also considered, and arguably has been the better pitcher. Gardner was called up during the first week of May, and ironically enough, started his first game for Kinston before McFarland moved from the pen to the starting rotation. While McFarland led the league in wins and ERA for much of the season, Gardner has passed him in wins (12-10) and ERA.

Donnie Webb, who has battled injuries all season, but has rebounded nicely, was given the Tex Drake award for overcoming adversity. Catcher Doug Pickens received the Gaydek Sportsmanship Award for his leadership in the clubhouse.

The awards are selected and given out by the coaching staff. Congrats to all the 2010 award winners.

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