Minor League Week 11 Games Thread

[MadThinker88]

Ok, its time for another week of games to begin. The CLE affiliates had an interesting Week 10 going 11-11 with a run diff of 0 after a couple of rain-outs on Sunday. Ontoi the Week 11 games

AAA: Columbus (27-31) at St. Paul (28-31, Minnesota affiliate)
AA: Akron (34-24) at Harrisburg (22-37, Washington affiliate)
High A: Lake County (32-28) at Lansing (29-31, Oakland affiliate)
Low A: Lynchburg (28-30) hosts Fredericksburg (19-41, Washington affiliate)
Note: Fredricksburg has 3rd worst record among the 120 full season minor league teams
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Info from various twitter sources (Indians Prospective/ Justin Lada/ TribeInsider/ Team Accounts/ etc):

Starters for Tuesday games:
#Indians minor league probable starters for Tuesday

Columbus - RHP J.C. Mejia Akron - LHP Logan T. Allen (AA debut) Lake County - RHP Alex Royalty Lynchburg - LHP Jaime Arias

ACL Indians - RHP Jhon Vergara DSL Indians Blue - RHP Victor Garcia DSL Indians Red - RHP Yorman Gomez

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AAA Columbus Lineup:

AA Akron Lineup:

High A Lake County Lineup:

Low A Lynchburg Lineup (if posted)


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Other notes:
#Indians OF Jordan Luplow set to begin a (rehab) assignment with the Arizona Complex League team out in Goodyear Arizona.
LHP Raymond Burgos assigned from Lake County to ACL Indians (rehab)
1B/OF Micah Pries assigned from Lynchburg to Arizona Complex League (Rehab)

#Indians have transferred the following players from the Dominican Academy to Arizona:

OF Wuilfredo Antunez RHP Reny Artiles LHP Yeury Gervacio

INF Henyer Gomez C Alan Romero

#Indians minor league releases:

RHP Dalbert Siri released. He had been at AAA Columbus C Lahiorne Diaz INF Jesus Maestre OF Alan Meza

OF Luis Ostos INF Joseph Paulino RHP Andy Rubio C Aldaberto Vargas

Roster Movement:
#Indians minor league transactions

• LHP Ben Krauth assigned to Akron from Columbus
• RHP Daniel Espino promoted to Lake County from Lynchburg
• (C) Jonathan Lopez assigned to Lake County from Arizona
• RHP Nick Mikolajchak placed on the 7-day IL at Akron
• (C) Mike Amditis placed on the 7-day IL at Lake County (Hand soreness)
• RHP Jacob Forrester promoted to (Low A) Lynchburg from ACL Indians

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As a personal request: please keep this thread focused on the week 11 games!

 

[MadThinker88]

Tuesday game updates:

AAA Columbus is scheduled to start in a little bit (at St. Paul, MN)

AA Akron leads 1-0 bottom of the 5th at Harrisburg
Nice AA debut for Logan T Allen: 4 IP, 2 hits, no runs, no walks, 6 ks.. 56 pitches/ 37 strikes.
Before people ask about the length of the start, remember that AA & AAA use 5 man rotations while High & Low A operated this season with 6 man rotations.. By going today, he is slated to pitch again on Sunday (against the same opponent). With the reduction in rest, they are likely playing it safe with him.

High A Lake County leads 4-0 in the bottom of the 3rd at Lansing

Low A Lynchburg trails 4-3 after 5 innings vs Fredericksburg.
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Edit:
AAA Columbus is underway... JC Mejia continues to struggle in the 1st inning. Clippers trail 2-0 after 2 batters in the bottom of the 1st..
*Lineup change* Trenton Brooks is now batting second and playing 1B, Owen Miller starts at 2B. Andres Gimenez was originally slated to start but was pulled before the game got started..

Low A Lynchburg now leads 5-4 thanks to 2 solo shots in the bottom of the 6th inning.

 

[cliffdawg]

Somebody tell me if I’m way off base, but watching Logan T Allen pitch a few times this year , his makeup reminds me of Jamie Moyer……I understand Moyer fastball tops off at around 84/85 ? Watching Allen pitch seen like he was topping off at around 88/89 both like to mix the slow stuff a lot……

 

[MadThinker88]

Tuesday game updates/ finals:

Low A Lynchburg wins 7-5

AAA Columbus is getting shelled or more accurately JC Mejia is getting shelled. 4 homers allowed (scoring 7 runs) & its only the bottom of the 3rd.
Clippers trails 7-1 bottom of the 3rd (the Clippers run via a Yu Chang solo shot in the 3rd)...

FYI: After a HBP to the next guy after the 4th homer allowed, JC is removed. Brad Peacock now on in relief..

AA Akron leads 6-1 in the bottom of the 8th

High A Lake County leads 8-0 (weather delay in the top of the 6th)...
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Edit #1:

AA Akron wins 8-3
High A Lake County still in delay (leading 8-0 in the top of the 6th)..

Egads.... its gotten WORSE for the Clippers with Peacock on the mound.
Francisco Perez into pitch in the 4th but the horses are out of the barn..

Clippers trail 17-1

JC Mejia pitching line: 2.2 IP, 4 hits (all homers) 3 walks allowed, 7 runs all earned with 2 ks & 1 HBP ... 71 pitches, 37 strikes

Brad Peacock line: 0.2 IP, 6 hits (1 homer), 2 walks, 2 HBP, 9 runs all earned, no ks .... 30 pitches, 18 strikes
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Edit #2:

High A Lake County wins rain shortened game 8-0 (called in top of the 6th)..

AAA Columbus is still losing 17-1, now entering bottom of the 7th. Sam Hentges coming into pitch..
Decent night by Francisco Perez to settle things down: 2.2 IP, 1 hit (homer), 1 run/ earned, 1 walk, 2 ks 42 pitches, 27 strikes

 

[MadThinker88]

Tuesday game update:

Time to wrap it up. AAA Columbus loses 19-1.
Hentges pitches a 1-2-3 7th but Broom brought another gas can to the mound in the 8th...

On the night CLE affiliates go 3-1 with a run diff of -3...

 

[Mcreek]

Wil benson has 43 hits on the year with 25 of them for xtra bases. 42 walks in 165 ABS is very encouraging. Either the result of good plate discipline or AA pitchers pitching around him.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Columbus gets hammered by a team that came in 28-31.

This is basically spring training for Peacock. Let's see what happens in his next couple of starts.

I assume they're making Mejia work on changing something, which would account for all the home runs. With the Indians he averaged one home run per six innings - the same rate as Plesac. He kept everything down in the zone. They may be asking him to work on throwing fastballs up to make his knee level stuff play up, which can be very dangerous until you perfect the art of it.

I'm more than OK if Logan T. turns into the next Jamie Moyer; 27 years, 269 wins...I'll take that all day long, although realizing that no decent pitcher will ever pitch more than five years with the Indians unless another Carlos Carrasco comes along and wants to lock in long term money early due to a heart condition.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Wil benson has 43 hits on the year with 25 of them for xtra bases. 42 walks in 165 ABS is very encouraging. Either the result of good plate discipline or AA pitchers pitching around him.

Up until now I figured Benson was a Bradley Zimmer clone; 6'5" left-handed hitting outfielder, first round pick, real toolsy, fast as hell, but has trouble putting the bat on the ball. IOW, an impressive batting practice player. After he failed to hit higher than .238 in four years in the low minors I wrote him off.

In 2019 he hit .189 in high A with 2 home runs in 217 AB's. But it appears the Indians may have had a Come to Jesus talk about not chasing bad pitches with him after that season. He spent 2020 on the sidelines as I did not see his name on the alternate site roster.

Something is different because after floundering at high A they suprisingly moved him up to Akron and he is flourishing. HIs OBP has jumped from .290 to .427; really impressive considering the higher level of competition. His home run rate is the same and his K rate is actually up, but his rate of hitting doubles is up 50% and triples are up over 150%. It doesn't look like his launch angle has changed because doubles and triples happen mostly on line drives. His walk rate is up 66% so he is clearly being more selective, putting him ahead in the count and getting him pitches he can hit.

With the high rate of strikeouts and walks plus all those extra base hits (25 of 43 - can you believe that?) he looks like a three true outcome guy except for one thing; not a ton of home runs compared to doubles and triples. Most TTO guys are so slow that it's either a home run or a single or walk. They also tend to have low batting averages. But Benson is hitting for average and getting tons of doubles and triples - more than singles. To top it off he stole 27 bases in 31 attempts in 2019.

Even more exciting is the trend line in Akron. He hit .185 in May, .243/.396/.471 in June, and in 10 July games he's blowing it out of the water at .469/.564/.906. After an adjustment period he's killling it.

Having just turned 23 he seems to be back on track from what you'd expect from a high draft pick. Comparing him to Bradley Zimmer, at 23 Zimmer also played in Akron, hitting .253/.371/.472/.842 in 340 AB's. He was actually seven months older than Benson that year. Currently Benson is at .265/.427/.549/.976 at a slightly younger age at the same level. So we're seeing a big advantage for Benson and those numbers include his miserable May coming off a year of inactivity, or at least no competitive baseball. Zimmer didn't have that disadvantage when he played at Akron.

It's almost like Zimmer wasn't working out so the Indians decided to try again five years later. Anyway, in the space of the last six weeks Benson has catapulted to one of the most intriguing prospects in the organization, IMO. Drafted out of high school this is his fifth year of professional baseball if you don't count 2020. It's looking like something has clicked. I would move him up to Columbus where they currently only have three outfielders; Marabell, Call, and the newly arrived Oscar Gonzalez. The first two are not prospects. I assume either Zimmer or Mercado will be sent down once Luplow and Rosario get back, but I would send one of the first two down to Akron and go with an outfield of Benson, Gonzalez, and Zimmer (I like they way Mercado is swinging the bat).

 

[DickyLeftridge]

I could not be more excited about Will BensGOAT finally arriving.

3. Jose
4. Franimal
5. BradGOAT
6. BensGOAT

until 2025 or whatever.

 

[Kevalier]

Up until now I figured Benson was a Bradley Zimmer clone; 6'5" left-handed hitting outfielder, first round pick, real toolsy, fast as hell, but has trouble putting the bat on the ball. IOW, an impressive batting practice player. After he failed to hit higher than .238 in four years in the low minors I wrote him off.

In 2019 he hit .189 in high A with 2 home runs in 217 AB's. But it appears the Indians may have had a Come to Jesus talk about not chasing bad pitches with him after that season. He spent 2020 on the sidelines as I did not see his name on the alternate site roster.

Something is different because after floundering at high A they suprisingly moved him up to Akron and he is flourishing. HIs OBP has jumped from .290 to .427; really impressive considering the higher level of competition. His home run rate is the same and his K rate is actually up, but his rate of hitting doubles is up 50% and triples are up over 150%. It doesn't look like his launch angle has changed because doubles and triples happen mostly on line drives. His walk rate is up 66% so he is clearly being more selective, putting him ahead in the count and getting him pitches he can hit.

With the high rate of strikeouts and walks plus all those extra base hits (25 of 43 - can you believe that?) he looks like a three true outcome guy except for one thing; not a ton of home runs compared to doubles and triples. Most TTO guys are so slow that it's either a home run or a single or walk. They also tend to have low batting averages. But Benson is hitting for average and getting tons of doubles and triples - more than singles. To top it off he stole 27 bases in 31 attempts in 2019.

Even more exciting is the trend line in Akron. He hit .185 in May, .243/.396/.471 in June, and in 10 July games he's blowing it out of the water at .469/.564/.906. After an adjustment period he's killling it.

Having just turned 23 he seems to be back on track from what you'd expect from a high draft pick. Comparing him to Bradley Zimmer, at 23 Zimmer also played in Akron, hitting .253/.371/.472/.842 in 340 AB's. He was actually seven months older than Benson that year. Currently Benson is at .265/.427/.549/.976 at a slightly younger age at the same level. So we're seeing a big advantage for Benson and those numbers include his miserable May coming off a year of inactivity, or at least no competitive baseball. Zimmer didn't have that disadvantage when he played at Akron.

It's almost like Zimmer wasn't working out so the Indians decided to try again five years later. Anyway, in the space of the last six weeks Benson has catapulted to one of the most intriguing prospects in the organization, IMO. Drafted out of high school this is his fifth year of professional baseball if you don't count 2020. It's looking like something has clicked. I would move him up to Columbus where they currently only have three outfielders; Marabell, Call, and the newly arrived Oscar Gonzalez. The first two are not prospects. I assume either Zimmer or Mercado will be sent down once Luplow and Rosario get back, but I would send one of the first two down to Akron and go with an outfield of Benson, Gonzalez, and Zimmer (I like they way Mercado is swinging the bat).

Great analysis here on Benson. It's starting to look like he'll be in Columbus by August and will be added to the 40 man roster this offseason if he continues to perform.

 

[BimboColesHair]

Up until now I figured Benson was a Bradley Zimmer clone; 6'5" left-handed hitting outfielder, first round pick, real toolsy, fast as hell, but has trouble putting the bat on the ball. IOW, an impressive batting practice player. After he failed to hit higher than .238 in four years in the low minors I wrote him off.

In 2019 he hit .189 in high A with 2 home runs in 217 AB's. But it appears the Indians may have had a Come to Jesus talk about not chasing bad pitches with him after that season. He spent 2020 on the sidelines as I did not see his name on the alternate site roster.

Something is different because after floundering at high A they suprisingly moved him up to Akron and he is flourishing. HIs OBP has jumped from .290 to .427; really impressive considering the higher level of competition. His home run rate is the same and his K rate is actually up, but his rate of hitting doubles is up 50% and triples are up over 150%. It doesn't look like his launch angle has changed because doubles and triples happen mostly on line drives. His walk rate is up 66% so he is clearly being more selective, putting him ahead in the count and getting him pitches he can hit.

With the high rate of strikeouts and walks plus all those extra base hits (25 of 43 - can you believe that?) he looks like a three true outcome guy except for one thing; not a ton of home runs compared to doubles and triples. Most TTO guys are so slow that it's either a home run or a single or walk. They also tend to have low batting averages. But Benson is hitting for average and getting tons of doubles and triples - more than singles. To top it off he stole 27 bases in 31 attempts in 2019.

Even more exciting is the trend line in Akron. He hit .185 in May, .243/.396/.471 in June, and in 10 July games he's blowing it out of the water at .469/.564/.906. After an adjustment period he's killling it.

Having just turned 23 he seems to be back on track from what you'd expect from a high draft pick. Comparing him to Bradley Zimmer, at 23 Zimmer also played in Akron, hitting .253/.371/.472/.842 in 340 AB's. He was actually seven months older than Benson that year. Currently Benson is at .265/.427/.549/.976 at a slightly younger age at the same level. So we're seeing a big advantage for Benson and those numbers include his miserable May coming off a year of inactivity, or at least no competitive baseball. Zimmer didn't have that disadvantage when he played at Akron.

It's almost like Zimmer wasn't working out so the Indians decided to try again five years later. Anyway, in the space of the last six weeks Benson has catapulted to one of the most intriguing prospects in the organization, IMO. Drafted out of high school this is his fifth year of professional baseball if you don't count 2020. It's looking like something has clicked. I would move him up to Columbus where they currently only have three outfielders; Marabell, Call, and the newly arrived Oscar Gonzalez. The first two are not prospects. I assume either Zimmer or Mercado will be sent down once Luplow and Rosario get back, but I would send one of the first two down to Akron and go with an outfield of Benson, Gonzalez, and Zimmer (I like they way Mercado is swinging the bat).

No "come to Jesus", nothing crazy at all as a matter of fact.

Mechanics, mechanics, mechanics. As simple as that.

The amount of swing and stance changes he has made since he was drafted is staggering. But with all that change comes fighting muscle memory. For the last few years he has been like a novice golfer after a few weeks of lessons; looks great on the driving range, smooth swings without max effort, consistently striking the ball well and hitting it where they want to, but once they're on the course and it matters the bad habits and flaws show themselves and effect their scoring.

He has struggled to bring all of his mechanical changes into the game. The year off allowed him to do nothing but muscle memory exercises without reverting back to his old mechanics since there were no games. He was able to get a trial run in "game action" with Roger Clemens' independent league team for a few weeks but still struggled to bring it into the game and was still struggling in Spring Training as well, specifically with his pre-pitch head movement.

The mechanics have finally clicked in game. I still need to see it stay and withstand a slump to feel like they're here to stay, but he looks so smooth and simple in-game like he has in batting practice for 3 years now.

Still has the loudest tools in the system. He's a great kid too, he deserves a year like this.

 

[Kevalier]

Without getting too hyperbolic, if BOTH Will Benson and Nolan Jones end up becoming at least solid major league contributors, is the 2016 Indians draft class among the greatest of all time from any organization?

 

[33Y0]

Without getting too hyperbolic, if BOTH Will Benson and Nolan Jones end up becoming at least solid major league contributors, is the 2016 Indians draft class among the greatest of all time from any organization?

Within our organization, sure. Any organization? That’s probably a stretch so far.. when someone gets in the HoF, then that’s a discussion.

 

[Kevalier]

Within our organization, sure. Any organization? That’s probably a stretch so far.. when someone gets in the HoF, then that’s a discussion.

 

[33Y0]

View attachment 6088

I mean, if he performs the way he is for many years to come, absolutely, but he’s still a young kid and anything can happen. I just think you’re a little too quick to classify it…