Month: March 2014

More capsule summaries and updates from Goodyear. Enjoy.

UPDATE Josh Tomlin: Super encouraging outing. Very good command and deception with all pitches. Looked like Tomlin at his best before injury. I think two homers at end might have been fatigue. Although we do know Josh is prone to solo homers. He needs to make staff somewhere. If not, first call up when pitching needed.

UPDATE Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw: Sharp again and I am confident baring injury that they can lock down 7th and 8th innings. I assume Shaw 7th and Allen 8th with situational lefty as needed.

David Aardsma: Threw well today and earlier also. He has high level ML experience and is a long shot to make the club. But it would not be completely shocking if he did depending on other factors moving forward. He is solid depth, but I think if Indians cut him he will sign with another team.

Yan Gomes: This young man is fundamentally sound in every way. He has a solid approach at the plate and I think his hitting will be an asset. More importantly, he calls a good game and is awesome at controlling the running game. Thank you Toronto and Esmil Rogers!

Jason Kipnis: Has been sharp in the field and not at the plate. Seems to be struggling with his plate discipline. He goes through stretches like this and it seems to be a pattern. But the flip side is that he gets red hot and hits everything in sight. If you watch Kipnis enough you can see if he is locked in by how many off speed pitches in the dirt he lays off. When he doesn’t swing at those, he is usually hitting well. I am not concerned and I don’t think you should be either.

Asdrubal Cabrera: He looks good and is showing good plate discipline. When he does that, he gets more than his fair share of hits. I expect in this contract year Asdrubal will do well.

Nick Swisher: Hitting the ball fairly well but many are “atom” balls. He did not hit one ball in the games I saw with any power. So that might be a slight concern but it is too early to tell.

Michael Bourn: Struggling at the plate but not in the field. He has shown good speed but still no inclination to steal bases. I still think Michael will come back with a stronger offensive year and more disruption on the bases. He is coming off minor leg surgery so building slowly this spring is logical.

Expect more on Sunday. None for tomorrow. Traveling back home.

Here are some new capsule profiles for your review and a couple of updates. Hope you enjoy them.

UPDATE – Vinnie Pestano: He threw again today and seemed to be working on his fastball command. He threw a few 80 MPH breaking balls but his focus was clearly on the fastball. His speed was between 90-91 MPH and more often at 91. This is still about 2 MPH below his previous springs but he could catch up by the end. His main problem was fastball command with the velocity being less important. He still has some work to do. I am rooting for him.

UPDATE – CC Lee: Still throwing well and looking good. He is right on the edge of being ready. I would still like to see better fastball command. If sent down (which is likely), he will be near the top of the list when call-ups are needed.

Carlos Santana: As you have been hearing, Carlos is beginning to find his mojo at third base. He is playing with excellent skill, soft hands, and a cannon for an arm. His arm had been inconsistent but that seems to be changing with many excellent throws lately. I think he has a great chance to win the job.

Justin Sellers: This diminutive bundle of energy acquired from the Dodgers earlier this spring has been very impressive. His fielding has been solid but not spectacular. His hitting has been excellent showing good swing to contact and an ability to take the ball where it is pitched. He has gap power and a very lackluster major league hitting performance in his career. Great depth for the minors but it will be very difficult for him to break camp with the ML club.

David Murphy: He has done nothing to diminish his reputation as a solid fielder. However, his hitting has not been very good and he seems to be pressing a bit. A year like last year is enough to shake anyone’s confidence and I fear that his confidence has not fully recovered. Still 2 more weeks to go so there is still time.

Matt Carson: Matt’s performance at the end of last year and this spring makes it very difficult to cut him from the roster. His age and lack of a great minor league track record are strikes against him considering he is going up against the likes of Jeff Francoer and others. He is hitting well now and his defense has been solid.

I will try to get some more capsules up on the site soon.

Here are some more brief capsules on Indian players during spring training. We will explore more position players over the next couple of blogs.

Lonnie Chisenhall: I remain concerned about his long term future with the Indians. He is frustrating for devoted Indian fans to watch because of his immense promise. Way too much talent to give up on but way to much inconsistent performance to count on. He has tried to adjust to his repeated 1-2, 0-2 counts by swinging at the first pitch. That may work for awhile but most scouting reports will catch up to that and he will see breaking balls in the dirt on pitch one. He would be better off simply seeing the ball and hitting it instead of developing a tendency. I see the same over anxiousness this spring that we see during the season. He had a nice day at the plate yesterday but several poor days as well. His fielding remains inconsistent making him tough for Terry to count on. But Francona clearly has not given up on him. He had another nice double today as well but still doesn’t look comfortable at the plate. I wish I was as optimistic as Terry.

Francisco Lindor: As all Indian fans know, he has a major league glove right now. The Indians are trying to get him a good number of At Bats this spring. That is a good strategy. He was a DH yesterday, a position he will likely never play at the ML level. His swing is aggressive making him prone to off speed pitches down but that is also what results in extra base power. So his job going forward is balancing his aggressive swing with good plate discipline. Often those two don’t go together but, when they do, potential .300 hitters with gap power result. That is probably Lindor’s upside. But combine that with a fine defender and the Indians will have one heck of a player.

Jesus Agular: Do not be fooled by his long no-hit streak this spring. This young man brings a fairly nice discipline to the plate along with pure power. He does not seem to over swing. Even with this frustrating spring in his first big chance with the big club, he looks controlled and disciplined. Not easy when you are 0 for 16. I like his approach and I saw him hit some nice balls that were turned into outs. Certainly one to watch going forward. I think he has an excellent chance to emerge within two years. I was not able to see enough defensive plays to be sure there but he looks a bit stiff. Would like to see more but he is probably sent down by the time you read this.

Carlos Montcrief: I like what little I saw of him this spring. He has power and reasonable plate discipline. He has an aggressive swing and makes good contact. His fielding is not elegant looking but effective. He made some nice plays but I think he might have made them look harder than they were. A work in progress but he is a solid prospect.

I will have more available late tonight. Going to check out the Cavs now. Ttyl8r.