Cleveland Indians Roundup: Draft Recap; Abraham Almonte’s Suspension

Abraham Almonte will return to action soon – what does this mean for the Cleveland Indians?

With yet another day closed on the Major League Baseball draft, our own Matt Bretz recapped the action from Friday. With the team’s first pick of the day, the Cleveland Indians selected Aaron Civale in the third round. Civale, a right-handed pitcher from Northeastern University, pitched in the starting rotation on a consistent basis for the first time this past season. The college junior posted impressive results, with an absurd strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.1 leading the way.

Another player with a high strikeout-to-walk ratio was Andrew Lantrip. A college junior from the University of Houston, Lantrip struck out 84 batters in 90 innings while only allowing five free passes. While he lacks velocity, he does bring solid command and could become a good depth piece if his breaking pitches shape up a bit more.

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On a separate note about the draft, the Cleveland Indians drafted Zach Plesac, nephew of former major-league pitcher Dan Plesac, in the 12^th round yesterday. The younger Plesac underwent Tommy John surgery back in late April, so the Indians probably won’t see any return on their selection for the next year or so. The 21-year-old put up a few impressive seasons with Ball State before missing all of this year with the elbow injury.

From the future to the present, Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com touched on several outfield topics in his latest piece. Perhaps most notable was the fact that Abraham Almonte, who received an 80-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs, will be able to return to minor-league action in just ten days.

Almonte entered the season with the general expectation that he would serve as the Cleveland Indians starting center fielder. Now, he finds himself looking in on the picture, as Tyler Naquin, Jose Ramirez, and Rajai Davis have all had respectable seasons in the outfield. Also of note is Lonnie Chisenhall, who – while not a center fielder – has also had a good season so far.

More from around the American League Central:

Cleveland Indians 2016 MLB Draft Day Two Roundup – Wahoo’s on First

Cleveland Indians Roundup: All-Star Game Vote Examination; Series Preview – Wahoo’s on First

Cleveland Indians Mount Comeback But Fall to Angels 4-3 – Wahoo’s on First

Cleveland Indians Have Terry Talkin’ Tyler Naquin, Abraham Almonte and Help for Outfield – Terry Pluto – Cleveland.com

Dan Plesac Text “Go Tribe” to Draftee and Nephew Zach – Indians.com