Checking In On The Kids

I Thought I would take a few minutes to break down the first two weeks of those Indians that aren’t quite “Indians” just yet. I haven’t had a chance to analyze much, but to save you a trip from finding some of these stats on your own, here’s a quick run-down of some notable players within the minor league franchises thus far:

AAA Buffalo Bisons

Josh Barfield: .306/.375/.361, 2 2B, 4 R
Jordan Brown: .257/.333/.343, 3 2B, 5 RBI
Andy Gonzalez: .393/.500/.679, 1 HR, 5 2B, 6 BB
Ben Francisco: .172/.314/.172, 9 Ks, 1 SB
Jeremy Sowers: 0-2, 3.75 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 7/4 K:BB
Aaron Laffey: 1-1, 5.40 ERA, 1.90 WHIP, 7/2 K:BB
Reid Santos: 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 8/0 K:BB

Thoughts: Obviously, Francisco isn’t off to the start that we would have hoped – especially given our well-documented outfield issues. Barfield hitting over a .300 clip is excellent news. Andy Gonzalez slugging .679 thus far is bound to taper off, but looks pretty good thus far. Looking at the metrics, you’d think that Sowers would be 2-0 instead of the opposite, and I added Santos in there simply due to his K:BB ratio.

AA Akron Aeros

Wes Hodges: .343/.361/.571, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 8 R, 6 K
Trevor Crowe: .143/.400/..429 (7 AB), 2 K, 3 BB, 1 3B
Josh Rodriguez: .133/.235/..267, 1 HR, 5 K, 4 BB
Matt Whitney: .324/.378/..559, 2 HR, 2 2B, 6 R
Chuck Lofgren: 0-1, 5.79 ERA, 2.14 WHIP, 4/7 K:BB
Jeff Stevens: 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 8/0 K:BB

Thoughts: Hodges continues to rake at the minor level. The 23-year old is a extra-base hit producing machine, but his six strkeouts is second on the team. If he brings this down a bit, he’s primed for a decent career in the bigs. Crowe’s struggling out of the gate, but only has seven at-bats on the season – plenty of time to turn things around. Lofgren’s totals are bogged down by his opening game, but Stevens’ first start made up for it. Let’s see what he can do next time out.

A Kinston Indians

Carlos Rivero: .429/.429/.524, 2 2B, 4K, 0 BB
Beau Mills: .389/.478/.611, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 K, 3 BB
Jeanmar Gomez: 0-0, 1.80 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 9/0 K:BB

Thoughts: Mills is likely the most well-known of the A-ballers. I placed him here below Rivero for a reason: Rivero’s OBP will fall through the floor once his average does. No way he can maintain a .400+ OBP without taking bases on balls. Mills, however is right there with three walks to his four Ks. Gomez was dealing in his first start, striking out nine in only five innings. If he replicates this next time out, look for the 19-year old to move up the list really quick.

(Just an aside: What do you think the chances are that those offended by Chief Wahoo have never seen the Kingston Indinas logo?  I’m willing to bet that would start a whole new debate.)

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