The Cleveland Indians have rebounded from last season’s debacle and sit in first place in the AL Central with a 27-16 record just after the first quarter of the season has passed. GM Mark Shapiro has added some veterans in free agency, but many of the big contributors to the ballclub are products of the farm system. Players such as C.C. Sabathia, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, Ryan Garko, and Tom Mastny have spent their entire professional life in the Tribe organization. Others such as Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, and Josh Barfield were all acquired for talent developed by the Cleveland farm system. There is more good news coming from the minor league system in 2007. Here’s a look at the top two levels, Class AAA Buffalo and Class AA Akron.
Buffalo Offensively, many of the Bison prospects have already had some exposure in Cleveland with the big club. Ben Francisco and Franklin Gutierrez have paced the Buffalo attack. Francisco, who was here for a few days in April, is batting .348 with a .902 OPS. Gutierrez is no longer technically a rookie since he spent about half of last season with the Tribe is hitting .340 with an .879 OPS. A down note is the performance of Shin-Soo Choo who has struggled with a .208 batting mark. The best power bat has been the 26 year old Ryan Mulhern, who has slugged 8 HR and leads the Bison with 31 RBI. Since he is not regarded as a major prospect, the right handed hitter has done much of his damage from lower in the order.
The Tribe’s #1 prospect, Adam Miller leads the pitching staff, but there have been some other noteworthy performances as well. Miller is 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA and has struck out 39 hitters in 45 innings. If not for a finger injury, he might be replacing the struggling Jeremy Sowers in the big league rotation soon. Sean Smith, the Tribe’s representative in last year’s Futures Game, has also done a good job going 4-1 with a 1.77 ERA, which leads the International League. Also a right hander like Miller, Smith has appeared in relief and as a starter. Lefties Rafael Perez and Jason Stanford have done well too, and Perez gave the Tribe three innings of relief in a mop up role in Baltimore. Stanford looks like he has recovered from shoulder problems, is now 30 years old but could get a spot start in Cleveland later in the season.
Lefty reliever Juan Lara has been disappointing with a 6.16 ERA after showing well in a September call up last season. But former major leaguer Mike Koplove has been very effective with a 2-0 record an an ERA of 1.00 in 17 appearances. Koplove would have to be added to the 40 man roster to be called up to the bigs.
Akron The biggest story for the Aeros so far has been the non-performance of a prospect. Trevor Crowe, the Indians’ first round pick in 2005, and ranked in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects is off to a dismal start. The former Arizona standout is batting just .172 thus far and has been dropped out of the lead off spot. Brian Barton, an outfielder also ranked in that list is hitting .284 with 4 HR and 23 RBI. A big surprise has been the hitting of SS Asdrubal Cabrera. Cabrera, who came over from Seattle for Edwardo Perez last season and spent most of last season in AAA, is hitting .324 with 6 HR. Although he is known for his defense, his offense has improved greatly. And he is just 22 years old. Last year’s Carolina League MVP, Jordan Brown (OF/1B) is batting .303 with a .391 on base percentage.
On the mound, lefty Chuck Lofgren is drawing raves. He recently took no hitters into the sixth inning in consecutive starts and overall is 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA and 46 punch outs in 44 innings. Another southpaw, Scott Lewis is 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA with 33 K’s in 38 frames. Jensen Lewis has also been impressive in relief with a 2.39 ERA and 34 whiffs in 29 innings. Righty J.D. Martin is coming back from elbow surgery and has been up and down with his performance. Overall, he has a 2-3 mark with a 4.54 ERA. He should continue to get stronger as the season progresses.
Next week, we’ll take a look at the lower levels of the minors, Kinston and Lake County. The Captains boast one of the best offenses in minor league baseball. Remember that not only will some of these players be impact guys for the Tribe, they may also be involved in deals at the trade deadline to help the Indians add a piece for the stretch drive. Shapiro has always put an emphasis on player development, and it is continuing to pay off for the organization.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 