Indians’ Depth Shows Well In All-Star Game

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif.—The Cleveland Indians are in a very good place right now.

They are in first place in the American League Central and, if Tuesday night’s Carolina-California League all-star game was any indication, their future appears bright as well.

Bobby Bradley hit a towering home run, fellow Indians farmhand Greg Allen scored three runs and stole two bases, and the Carolina League all-stars beat the California League 6-4 in the 20th annual all-star meeting between the two leagues in front of 4,535 fans at the Diamond in Lake Elsinore.

“I think our team as a whole, the Lynchburg Hillcats, there’s a plethora of guys I think could have been on this team,” said Allen, the Indians’ No. 28 prospect. “So to be able to not only represent them, but to represent the Carolina League as well, it’s a huge honor and something that we’re definitely grateful for and we don’t take lightly. And when you have a few guys there to enjoy it with, it makes it that much more special.”

Allen set the tone immediately, working back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk to lead off the game, stealing second and third on back-to-back pitches, and trotting home easily on Mauricio Dubon’s sacrifice fly to right to give the Carolina League the lead just three batters in.

Bradley added on in the third inning, pulverizing a 94 mph fastball from Rockies righthander Ryan Castellani well over the 36-foot tall wall in right field and deep into the southern California night to make it 2-0, and the Carolina League rolled from there.

“Just during BP today I was kind of getting a feel for that wall and what was going over and what wasn’t,” said Bradley, who is ranked BA’s No. 93 prospect in the Top 100. “Just in the game it was an automatic thing after that. I kind of realized it, I was like, ‘Hey, that one’s gone.’”

Allen and Bradley were just two of six Indians representatives from Lynchburg in the game, and all made an impact.

Righthander Julian Merryweather and lefthander Justus Sheffield each pitched a scoreless inning as the Carolina League staff held the Cal League to just three hits through the first seven innings.

Merryweather, who was 8-2, 1.03 in the first half for the Hillcats, drew the start and flashed a fastball up to 96 mph and biting 85 mph slider in a perfect first inning. He struck out Astros outfielder Bobby Boyd from Lancaster on three pitches to lead off the bottom of the first.

“I was definitely a little nervous,” said Merryweather, the Indians’ fifth-round pick in 2014. “One of the better crowds I’ve seen all year and obviously being an all-star game you’re more amped up, only getting one inning out there too. I was just trying to take it all in.”

Sheffield, the Indians’ first-round pick in 2014 and BA’s No. 81 prospect in the Top 100, entered in the sixth inning and sat 93-94 with the fastball but had trouble locating. He was bailed out by his catcher, fellow Lynchburg teammate Daniel Salters, who threw out back-to-back runners trying to steal second base for the first two outs of the inning. Salters registered pop times of 1.88 and 1.97 on the throws.

“Salty all year long has been back there backing me up,” Sheffield said. “He’s a great catcher to have back there and he backed me up tonight. I had a pretty good time. I was out there laughing joking around with him. It was good to see.”

Shortstop Yu-Cheng Chang was the final Indians player to enter, coming up as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning and promptly lacing a line drive into left field to bring home another run to make it 6-1 Carolina League.

The California League rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth, highlighted by back-to-back RBI doubles by the Giants’ C.J. Hinojosa and Chris Shaw, but Cubs righthander Jake Stinnett got Athletics outfielder James Harris to fly out for the final out with runners on second and third to end it.

In the end, Indians farmhands had a hand in five of the six runs scored by the Carolina League, and ultimately the Lynchburg sextuplet made the difference in propelling the league to victory.

“It’s great,” Allen said. “Obviously when you come into a game like this, some playing time can be limited so you’re not always sure the impact that you’re going to be able to make. So to be able to influence the game like (that)—Salty threw out two guys, Jules had a great first inning, Bobby with the big home run—just to be able to contribute the way we were able to was huge.”

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

• Nationals No. 8 prospect Andrew Stevenson hit two RBI triples, demonstrating the ability to drive the ball to both gaps and impressive speed flying around the bases. He finished 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI was named MVP.

In his most impressive feat of the night, the lefthanded-hitting Stevenson took a 96 mph fastball from Giants righthander Reyes Moronta in the fifth inning and drove it the other way into the left-center gap, and then reached third standing up.

“Guys that throw hard like to throw hard so I was expecting fastball,” Stevenson said. “He threw one elevated and I was able to put a good swing on it.”

In Stevenson’s next at-bat in the seventh, he turned on an inside fastball and drove it into the right-center gap, and again flew around the bags to reach third standing up.

• Giants rigthander Rodolfo Martinez, the Cal League leader in saves with San Jose, flashed the top velocity of the night, hitting 101 mph on his final fastball of the night to strike out Chang in the ninth. He sat 98 mph consistently with his fastball and struck out two in a quick 1-2-3 inning.

“It was an elite fastball,” said Stevenson, who grounded out against Martinez. “One of the top guys you’ll see. He was pumping it.”

Fellow Giants reliever Moronta sat 95-97 mph with his fastball but left it over the plate and was tagged for three hits and two runs in his lone inning of work.

• Rangers No. 28 prospect Travis Demeritte showed both his good and bad in the game. In his first at-bat he swung wildly at multiple offspeed pitches, often lunging at them as they fell out of the strike zone, and struck out quickly. In his second at-bat he turned out a hard fastball high and tight and ripped it down the left-field line for a double. It was reflective of a season in which Demeritte leads the Cal League with 18 home runs but is also first with 93 strikeouts.

• Orioles 6-foot-5 righthander Matthew Grimes pitched the second inning for the Carolina League and made quick work of the middle of the Cal League order, flashing a 93-94 mph fastball and 83 mph slider with late bite. One evaluator who knows the Orioles system well said he considers Grimes one of Baltimore’s top 10 prospects, and he looked it, mowing down Giants slugger Shaw, home run derby champ Kyle Petty, and Demeritte in just seven pitches, all strikes.

• Dubon, the Red Sox’s No. 13 prospect, showed an ability to get the barrel to the ball, flying deep to right twice and lining an RBI single in his final at-bat against a 95 mph fastball from Moronta.

• Padres lefthander Brad Wieck stands 6-foot-9 and sat 94 mph with his fastball. He also showed a 84 mph slider and backed down his changeup to 73 mph to keep hitters off balance. His long limbs make at-bats uncomfortable, and he showed he is an intriguing lefty relief arm to keep an eye on.

• Braves righthander Max Povse from the Carolina Mudcats sat just 90-92 with his fastball but used his 6-foot-8 frame well, hiding the ball and coming down and delivering the ball from a lower arm slot to throw hitter off. Similar to Chris Young, the 2014 third-round pick may have his stuff play up because he knows how to use his size to his advantage.