Tigers prospect Bruce Rondon recorded another save, but he did give up a run in this outing, despite striking out three.
Double-A
Adam Conley earned his sixth win of the season after striking out eight batters over seven innings of work. The Marlins left-hander got all the run support he would need from a pair of home runs by Jake Marisnick and Kyle Jensen.
Mike O'Neill continues to defy logic as the Cardinals prospect reached base five times, going 3-for-3 with a pair of walks, raising his batting average to .332 and his on-base percentage to .442 on the year.
High-A
Courtney Hawkins continued to show off his power potential despite his propensity for striking out, as the White Sox prospect blasted his 12th home run of the season.
Chris Stratton continued his winning ways in the South Atlantic League on Friday night, advancing to 7-3 after striking out 9 batters in six innings of work. The Giants first-round pick from 2012 out of Mississippi State is having no problem adjusting to full-season ball, working his ERA down to 3.56 while striking out over a batter per inning.
Another 2012 first-rounder, Nick Travieso, earned his first win as a professional, allowing just one run over five innings of work. Travieso was supported by fellow Reds prospect and 2012 draftee Jesse Winker, who hit his ninth home run of the season.
Perhaps Trevor Bauer needs to spend more time working on his command and less time rapping. The Indians right-hander got roughed up on Wednesday, allowing seven runs in 4 2/3 innings, thanks to four walks and four home runs. Reds speedster Billy Hamilton stole two more bases in the game, giving him 29 on the season, despite not being on base nearly as often as he was last season.
Recently promoted Mariners prospect Brad Miller went 3-for-7 with a double and a home run as his teammates put up a 25-spot on Wednesday, notes Raymond. Miller was moved up to Triple-A as a subsequent move to Nick Franklin's major league call-up.
Double-A
Xander Bogaerts have the breakout power performance that we've been expecting from the Red Sox shortstop all season, blasting two home runs on Wednesday to give him four on the season. The offense came in support of Anthony Ranaudo who threw seven innings of one-hit ball and struck out eight in the win. Both of Bogaerts home runs came off of Blue Jays 2012 first-rounder Marcus Stroman, who allowed eight runs (seven earned) in just an inning of work. It was Stroman's first loss after two solid outings to begin his professional career.
Angel Villalona hit his 12th home run of the season and his third in the past two nights. The Giants first base prospect is still hitting just .235 on the season, but is hitting .342 over his past nine contests.
Twins second baseman Eddie Rosario hit his fourth home run of the season as part of a 3-for-5 night on Wednesday. He is now hitting .324/.365/.503 on the season.
After acquiring him this off-season from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-team trade, it was generally assumed that Trevor Bauer would be a part of the Cleveland Indians big league rotation at some point this season, if not at the onset. After all, Bauer made four starts in the majors last season to go along with 14 starts in Triple-A.
But there wasn't too much issue being taken when the Indians decided to begin Bauer in the minors after a spring that wasn't terrible, but didn't exactly see him go out and win a spot in the team's rotation. Additionally, Bauer is going through a change in his unique mechanics in order to better repeat his delivery and cut down his walk numbers. As much as I'd like to see Bauer in the majors, I applauded the Indians patience in this process, despite the pressure to show something for their off-season trade.
Apparently I'm going to get my wish, although I wish I wasn't getting it so soon.
The Indians have announced that Bauer will be added to the major league roster and will start for the team on Saturday in place of injured fifth starter Scott Kazmir, reports Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
There are a few aspects of this that I take issue with. First, I find it hard to believe that Bauer, who is notoriously meticulous with his preparation, has his new mechanics where he wants them after only a few weeks of working on them. I don't happen to know exactly what changes he's making to them, but his previous mechanics were unique (Tim Lincecum-esque, if you haven't seen them) and any adjustment will take at least a little bit of time. Perhaps even some live game action in which to try things out.
Again, I'm not in Indians camp, so I don't have all the details behind what changes are exactly taking place, exactly how long Bauer has been working on them, and where he is in his progress. I'm just skeptical that he's already gotten his changes to where he believes they need to be to be effective in the major leagues.
But that's not my biggest issue here.
For whatever reason, at the end of spring training, the Indians decided that Trevor Bauer wasn't ready for the majors. I can't disagree with them. I wasn't there. But what, in the two weeks since the time he was cut, has Bauer done to change the Indians mind, while throwing in nothing but bullpens, intersquad games, and perhaps minor league spring training games? If he wasn't ready for the majors on March 21st, how can he be ready now?
There is the logic that, even if he's not ready, he's the Indians next best option now that Kazmir is injured and the team, which expects to be competitive, needs him whether he's ready or not. That may be true to a certain extent, but it's not like the Indians don't have any other options.
Corey Kluber is currently in the Columbus Clippers rotation and is scheduled to pitch on Friday. I'm sure he'd be willing to wait one more day to make that start in the majors. He hasn't been great in his time in the majors, but he's 15 appearances under his belt and would give the Indians a chance to compete. Also in the minors is Daisuke Matsuzaka who would have to be added to the 40-man roster but is presumably still in the organization for a reason just like this.
Bauer certainly has more long-term upside than either Kluber or Matsuzaka, but if the team has any hesitation about his readiness to pitch in the majors, which they expressed just two weeks ago, then they both work as a better immediate option.
The worst thing the Indians can do with Bauer is to move him back and forth from the minors to the majors all season. The Diamondbacks called Bauer to the majors quickly despite concerning minor league walk rates and those issues were only magnified against better competition. The Indians need to be careful not to yo-yo Bauer back and forth and do the same thing.
This should have been the case anyway, long before Bauer began tinkering with his mechanics. If he really is making any kind of significant changes, which if you listen to him it sounds like he is, then he's going to need to make those out of the spotlight of the major leagues.
The Indians have suspended starter Carlos Carrasco coming back at the end of the weekend, so this start may be a one-day cameo in the majors. That's all the more reason to go with Kluber. Bauer needs to be in the minors, working on his new mechanics, until he is prepared to unleash them on the American League.
If he was ready for the majors, he would have beaten Scott Kazmir, who hasn't been an effective major league starter since 2008, out for a job this March. That didn't happen, and there's no way that's changed in the past two weeks.
If Bauer is in the majors for just one start, it probably won't damage anything but his psyche. If he pitches well and sticks around (which I'm not ruling out), then the Indians need to take a serious look at their self-evaluation, because he probably should have made the team out of spring training over Kazmir or number four starter Zach McAllister. But if Bauer stays in the majors and isn't truly ready to do so just yet, it could have a lasting effect on his development.
And for the Indians long-term success, none of those outcomes are good.
Instead of getting to watch Travis d'Arnaud, Buffalo fans will get Anthony Gose, who returns to Triple-A. He can be very exciting to watch, but the reason he's back there is to work on hitting lefties.
Simon Castro, Andre Rienzo, and Charlie Leesman make for an interesting rotation, and Jared Mitchell can be exciting in the outfield. Trayce Thompson will provide some power, but will have to cut down on the swins and misses if he wants to be able to use it in the majors.
Perhaps no prospect in the IL will be more polarizing than Trevor Bauer, who is working on new mechanics. How much time he spends in Columbus will depend on how well he takes to the changes.
The Bulls feature a starting rotation that may actually be better than some of the bottom-end major league rotations, including prospects Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, and Alex Colome. They also feature Wil Myers in the outfield, one of the best hitting prospects in the minors, and former first overall pick Tim Beckham.
Despite graduations to the majors and trades, the Braves still have some talent in Triple-A. Former first-rounder Sean Gilmartin headlines the rotation while Joey Terdoslavich should be the team's most potent hitter while learning to play the outfield.
The best player in the IL, and certainly the best pitcher, should be Gerrit Cole, who won't be in the league too long after Memorial Day. Tony Sanchez will get one more chance to prove he's more than a backup catcher and Kyle McPherson will stay ready for when the Pirates need pitching depth in the majors.
Darin Ruf will try to back up his breakout 2012 season while also trying to learn how to play a non-disastrous outfield. Ethan Martin has an exciting arm and will try to stick as a starter, and Tommy Joseph has leaped over Sebastian Valle on the organizational depth chart behind the plate. Plus they have video game urinals in the men's rooms.
The Reds say that Billy Hamilton will spend the entire season in Louisville so he can learn the nuances of center field, but we'll all believe it when we see it. Tony Cingrani will work as a starter in the minors, but he'll get called up to bolster the Reds bullpen at some point in the season.
This team is all about Jonathan Schoop for the time being, at least until Dylan Bundy gets promoted and Shoop gets overshadowed within his own organization once again.
Allen Webster would have been the talk of Red Sox spring training had it not been for Jackie Bradley, and he should be the talk of Pawtucket with his power arm. It will also be interesting to see how Bryce Brentz comes back from shooting himself in the leg, literally.
Kyle Gibson will get his arm in shape and work on regain his command post-Tommy John surgery until he gets the call from the Twins. Oswaldo Arcia is a talented but still raw outfielder who factors into the Twins rebuilding plans.
Beware of errant fastballs from Dellin Betances, who returns to Triple-A after a disastrous stretch there last season. Melky Mesa was in the running to fill in for Curtis Granderson but needs to refine his offensive game.
I give Nick Castellanos a hard time, but he's still the Tigers best prospect. He'll be working on his outfield defense. Bruce Rondon will be closing games for the Mud Hens and working on his command in hopes he can close games in the majors this fall.
The Cleveland Indians have optioned Trevor Bauer to Triple-A to begin the 2013 season, reports Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Bauer was a long-shot to crack the Indians starting rotation this spring, as the team still has six potential starters competing for five spots, even after sending down Bauer.
Acquired in the off-season in a three-team deal with the Reds and Diamondbacks, Bauer has seen his stock drop over the past year due to the combination of erratic performance and his unique mechanics and methods for pitching, despite the fact that these were the same mechanics and methods that led him to being the 3rd overall pick in the 2011 draft. Part of the decision to send him to the minors, however, is that Bauer is working towards changing these mechanics in order to improve his strike-throwing ability.
Any time a pitcher changes his mechanics, it's a risk. That holds especially true for a player like Bauer whose mechanics were unique and who spent a great deal of time analyzing the science behind them. Bauer is a smart player and doesn't make decisions like this without a great deal of thought and planning. but his command issues (4.2 BB/9 in the minors, 7.2 BB/9 in the majors) are significant enough, however, that they threaten to derail him off his path to becoming a potential ace.
The Indians are smart to send Bauer to the minors to work things out and Bauer is smart to look in the mirror and realize that what he's been doing clearly isn't working in the majors. Whether it's his mechanics that need refinement, or simply his mental approach to attacking hitters, remains to be seen, but the one thing we know about him is that he can't continue to pitch to major league hitters the way he did with the Diamondbacks last season.
Bauer still has the talent that got him drafted 3rd overall, but if the Indians want their off-season trade to be the steal many have called it, they need Bauer to figure out how to use that talent in the majors. Whatever he's working on may not be the answer, but it's a good sign that he's at least willing to work on it, and that the Indians are willing to let him do it out of the major league spotlight.
