Indians public Relations guru Bart Swain just passed along Baseball America’s top 20 prospect list for the Carolina League and South Atlantic League, a few Indian farm hands made the list:
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CAROLINA LEAGUE |
| 1. Jason Heyward, of, Myrtle Beach (Braves) 2. Brian Matusz, lhp, Frederick (Orioles) 3. Pedro Alvarez, 3b, Lynchburg (Pirates) 4. Freddie Freeman, 1b, Myrtle Beach (Braves) 5. Lonnie Chisenhall, 3b, Kinston (Indians) 6. Casey Kelly, rhp, Salem (Red Sox) 7. Mike Montgomery, lhp, Wilmington (Royals) 8. Mike Moustakas, 3b, Wilmington (Royals) 9. Ryan Kalish, of, Salem (Red Sox) 10. Danny Espinosa, ss, Potomac (Nationals) 11. Danny Duffy, lhp, Wilmington (Royals) 12. Anthony Rizzo, 1b, Salem (Red Sox) 13. Chase D’Arnaud, ss/2b, Lynchburg (Pirates) 14. Jordan Danks, cf, Winston-Salem (White Sox) 15. Zach Britton, lhp, Frederick (Orioles) 16. David Lough, of, Wilmington (Royals) 17. Luis Exposito, c, Salem (Red Sox) 18. Che-Hsuan Lin, of, Salem (Red Sox) 19. Jeff Bianchi, ss, Wilmington (Royals) 20. Brent Morel, 3b, Winston-Salem (White Sox |
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SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE |
| 1. Martin Perez, lhp, Hickory (Rangers) 2. Casey Kelly, rhp/ss, Greenville (Red Sox) 3. Matt Moore, lhp, Bowling Green (Rays) 4. Derek Norris, c, Hagerstown (Nationals) 5. Tim Beckham, ss, Bowling Green (Rays) 6. Jordan Lyles, rhp, Lexington (Astros) 7. Jason Knapp, rhp, Lakewood (Phillies)/ Lake County (Indians) 8. Jared Mitchell, of, Kannapolis (White Sox) 9. Manny Banuelos, lhp, Charleston (Yankees) 10. Wilmer Flores, ss, Savannah (Mets) 11. Rudy Owens, lhp, West Virginia (Pirates) 12. Tony Sanchez, c, West Virginia (Pirates) 13. Anthony Gose, of, Lakewood (Phillies) 14. Tim Federowicz, c, Greenville (Red Sox) 15. Dexter Carter, rhp, Kannapolis (White Sox) 16. Nick Barnese, rhp, Bowling Green (Rays) 17. Travis D’Arnaud, c, Lakewood (Phillies) 18. Alex Perez, rhp, Lake County (Indians) 19. Trevor May, rhp, Lakewood (Phillies) 20. Melky Mesa, of, Charleston (Yankees) |
Chisenhall earned all Carolina League honors despite being promoted to Double A Akron in early August. In his 99 games at Kinston he hit .276 and had a team-high 18 home runs and 79 RBI. In 24 games with the Aeros, Chisenhall hit .183 with four homers. With little else to prove on the Class A level, Chisenhall may start next season at Akron.
Knapp, who is best known as (perhaps) the key player in the Cliff lee Trade, had 17 starts this season with the Lakewood BlueClaws before joining Lake County. In 85.1 innings with the BlueClaws Knapp struck out 111 and limited the opposition to a .208 average. Right bicep tendinitis limited Knapp following the trade, although he did pitch 11.2 innings, striking out 12.
Baseball America deemed his Fastball the best in the South Atlantic League. Knapp turned 19 on August 31.
Perez split the season between Lake County and Kinston. Starting the year with Lake County he was 5-4 record with a 3.04ERA (83.0IP, 69 Hits, 28 earned runs, 76 strikeouts) in 15 starts. After joining Kinston in July 10 he finished the season 1-2 with a 2.87 ERA (31.1 innings pitched, 32 hits, 10 earned runs, 31 strikeouts.) Perez limited left handers to a .200 average.
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Chisenhall is the real deal. Most ‘experts’ mocked the indians pick of him over hte much hyped Casey Kelly (who went 1 pick later). Signed for almost $3M less and already at AA? Peratla has this year and an option……and Chisenhall is the 3B then. Chis, Santana, Wegz, and LaPorta in the middle of the lineup reminds me a LOT of Baerga, Belle, Thome, and Ramirez…….
LaPorta and Santana are obviously bonafide blue chip guys, but Chis and Weglarz have a long way to go before earning a shot in the big leagues, let alone drawing comparisons to the Tribe greats of the 90’s. But the bigger problem has long been pitching development. Forget about these Jamie Moyer wanna-bes they’ve been touting. The best chances they have to develop big league pitching come in he form of a reasonable collection of Latin righties.