Cleveland: Are You Ready For This?
May 14, 2009Thanks Adam Caplan – Browns Number 27!
May 14, 2009
Photo from Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer
I am the Media Relations Intern for the Akron Aeros and on Tuesday, after dining at Swenson’s Drive-In with my boss Rob Sinclair, we heard back from Aeros manager Mike Sarbaugh that there were a couple of changes in the roster. First of all, Matt McBride (.405, 6 HR, 36 RBI) was coming to town after absolutely tearing up the Carolina League, and secondly, newly minted reliever Ryan Edell (26 starts in 2008 with Akron) would come down from Columbus to make the spot-start in place of ace Hector Rondon.
Rondon, as reported by Scott earlier this week, was phenomenal in his first five starts with the Aeros going 5-0 with a 1.23 ERA. He led the Eastern League in wins, and was second in ERA leading up to his scheduled start on Tuesday. In the end, however, Edell made the start after the demotion, and Rondon made his first ever professional appearance out of the bullpen. The 21-year-old native of Venezuela is supposedly being moved to the pen in order to give him a faster route to the Major Leagues, as scouts are saying his fastball already has MLB potential. His first outing, however, did not go as everyone planned…
The Aeros lost Tuesday night, falling to 22-7 on the season yet maintaining the best record in baseball. Edell lasted just three innings as he was on a strict pitch count, and Rondon came into the ball game in the fourth inning with Akron up 1-0 over the Bowie Baysox. In his two innings of work, Rondon allowed season highs with six hits, three runs, and walked one while striking out a pair. He took the loss, and with the outing his ERA jumped up to 1.72 for the season. Sure there were errors by shortstop Carlos Rivero and first baseman Beau Mills that made two of his runs unearned, but in the end, Rondon took the loss and the first test of this switch to the bullpen did not turn out so well.
Take a look here at the starting pitchers and their ages that seem to be in the way of Rondon making it to the Indians in the starting rotation:
Cleveland: Cliff Lee (30), Jake Westbrook (31), Fausto Carmona (25), Anthony Reyes (27), Scott Lewis (25), Carl Pavano (33)
Columbus: Jeremy Sowers (25), David Huff (24), Tomo Okha (33)
Pavano is on a short-leash, while who knows how well Westbrook could do in 2010. David Huff (5-1, 4.35 ERA) should be with the parent club shortly, but besides him there are definitely a lot of question marks on down the line. Outside of Cleveland and Columbus, only Jeanmar Gomez (21), Josh Tomlin (24) and Chuck Lofgren (23) in Akron, and Kelvin de la Cruz (21) and Eric Berger (23) in Kinston are on the present Major-League radar.
So with the Indians taking a gamble with Rondon, look at the future of the rotation. Are there any can’t miss prospects coming up? Is there somebody who could dominate at the top of the rotation for many years to come? Along with maybe Carmona and Huff, what other guys do you think could be dominant in 2011 or 2012?
The answers to those questions are not apparent anymore, as Hector Rondon was the best starting pitching prospect in the organization, and at 21, still has a ton of potential for many productive Major League seasons. If he can recover shortly and turn things around in the bullpen, then things should be all right in the end for his future. Until then however, I will be scratching my head about possibly turning Rondon into a new Jason Davis.
Indians Prospect Insider: http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com/2009/05/rondon-to-bullpen.html
Akron Beacon Journal: http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/44847802.html
16 Comments
love Swenson’s!!! I live in Boston and frequently fly into the ‘kron when heading home (cleveland) and usually stop on my way up
This is such a panic move…Lets hope he doesnt get screwed up as this guy is the future of the top of our rotation.
This makes very little sense and just goes to show the panic that currently exists within the organization. Rondon is showing that he has the potential to be a #2-3 starter and perhaps a future ace, but his development track is being altered so he can potentially fix the leaky bullpen of a last-place ball club?
This is like converting Charles Nagy to a reliever in order to help the ’91 Indians.
Jacob: I totally agree.
I think the amount of flip-flopping they do can stunt a young player’s development. They sometimes do it in the name of “flexibility to plug holes or find places (Rondon, Davis, Barfield) or to justify top picks or money expended (Guthrie, Baez). Not saying a change is always bad, but it would be better to identify the best position early and stick with it.
Re the starters in front of Rondon, guessing a few aren’t yet in the organization but will come when we trade Cliff Lee next year.
I’m all for breaking young starters into the majors as relievers. Keith Law (formerly of the Blue Jays Front Office and Baseball Prospectus, currently a writer with ESPN’s Scouts Inc) is a big proponent of this method.
See: Price, David; Tampa Bay for a great recent example of this.
@5 – I am pretty sure the Indians do not have the mindset of returning Rondon to the rotation in the immediate future. For example, in 2008 with three different minor league teams Price made 19 starts and no relief appearances. It is unlikely that Rondon would be moved to the pen in the minors with Akron now, then make the club in the pen and eventually be moved back to the rotation. The only way he will probably be turned back into a starter is if he doesn’t respond well to coming out as a reliever, and he instantly becomes the next Jason Davis.
It’s one outing!
So his first appearance in a relief role doesn’t go well, and the world is over? Give me a break.
Talk to me after five more appearances before the white flag on this kid’s career — let alone the entire Indians farm system — is raised.
Talk about a “panic move” — assuming this kid’s demise is what reeks of panic.
If Rondon stays in AAA as a starter, maybe he’d be brought up late in the season to make a couple spot starts. That’s a big maybe.
If Rondon shows any promise as a reliever, he could be in Cleveland in two weeks. He could always be converted back into a starter in spring training in 2010.
You wanna bet Rondon prefers the latter scenario?
“So with the Indians messing up with another prospect’s psyche …”
Hey Jacob, as someone who has worked in PR for the past 15 years, can I offer you a bit of professional advice? As the media relations intern, you might want to think twice before publicly writing disparaging comments about the parent company of your current employer.
People making much more and with many more years of experience have been fired for much less.
There are times professionally when you have to separate your personal opinions from your professional obligations.
But then again, I’m in PR, which means I’m also full of BS, so take the advice for what you think it’s worth.
Hey Florida, I was trying to be careful with this post and I definitely appreciate the professional advice. As the media relations intern, I hope that this would not offend the Cleveland Indians as a piece of journalism. I would never intend to take for granted the incredible opportunity the Aeros have given me, and definitely did not intend to disparage the parent club or its management in any way.
I was just trying to report on some things from the Aeros here. A lot of people were scratching their heads at the decision, and he did not perform very well in his first outing from the pen. Thanks for the comment.
No worries, mate. Always trying to keep an eye out for my fellow PR brethren.
Good luck in your career.
@6 – I disagree. I really, really don’t feel like this is a “sky is falling” move. If they have designs on breaking Rondon into the majors as a reliever it makes sense to get his arm ready for that type of work in the minors now while seeing how he handles the shorter stints.
If he does, it’s pretty simple to stretch his arm back out in Spring Training ’10 and get him ready to start games (which would be the obvious move since a starter pitchers more innings IE has greater leverage than a reliever.)
See: Chamberlain, Joba
Obviously it makes the most sense to do this in ST, rather than a month into the year but I think the collapse of Raffy L, and Jensen Lewis and the injuries to Joe Smith, and Adam Miller really forced their hands.
im sorry what was this article about….you lost me have swensons and all i can think about is a dble hamburger with everything, fries and a peanut butter shake.
Needs less PR!
john (mpls): Keith, one Indians question for the road! What do you think of Shapiro moving Rondon to the pen to help the MLB team in 09. I’m not a fan.
SportsNation Keith Law: Breaking him into the majors as a reliever is fine with me. I was surprised that they converted him in AA – is there anything to indicate that moving a guy to the pen before recalling him leads to a better/faster transition? I don’t know.
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