Cleveland Indians: Four Minor Leaguers Named to Baseball America All-Star Teams

The Cleveland Indians are well-represented on Baseball America’s minor league all-star teams.

On Monday morning, Baseball America released its 2016 Minor League Classification All-Star teams, and the Cleveland Indians are represented by four players. The teams, which separate players by level of minor league ball, differ from an earlier all-star team selected by the publication that lumped all MiLBers together.

Yandy Diaz was named to the Triple-A team after having slashed .325/.399/.461 with 22 doubles, seven home runs, and 44 RBIs in 95 for Columbus in the International League. In total, the 25-year old had a .318/.408/.446 slash line in 121 games between the Clippers and Double-A Akron, with a strikeout rate of under 20 percent and a strikeout-to-walk ratio that was nearly equal.

Though Diaz does not appear in line for a September call-up to the big league club, his year certainly put him on the map as a player who could compete for a roster spot next spring training.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

At the High-A level, two members of the Lynchburg Hillcats made the cut for BA in first baseman/designated hitter Bobby Bradley and outfielder Anthony Santander. The Hillcats are still playing in the Carolina League playoffs, but as of this writing, Bradley has slashed .235/.344/.466 in 131 games, establishing himself as one of the premier power hitters in the organization with 23 doubles, 29 homers, and 102 RBIs.

The lesser-known Santander, an international free agent signing out of Venezuela at the age of 17 in 2012, has steadily advanced through the Indians’ system, and put up the best season of his pro career yet. In 128 games for Lynchburg, he has slashed .290/.368/.494 with 42 doubles, 20 home runs, and 95 RBIs. Just 21, Santander is an intriguing prospect to keep an eye on, as his 2016 campaign is sure to have him rising in organizational prospect rankings.

At Low-A, perhaps the most impressive minor league season in Cleveland’s system was put in by right-handed pitcher Triston McKenzie. The No. 42 pick in the 2015 tossed 83.1 innings between Mahoning Valley and Lake County, and basically annihilated opposing hitters at every turn. In 15 starts, McKenzie posted a 1.62 earned run average, a 0.96 WHIP, and limited the opposition to a .195 batting average while striking out better than 11 batters per nine innings and a nearly 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

That dominance from the No. 7 prospect in the organization not only landed him on Baseball America’s Low-A all-star team, but earned him the title of Pitcher of the Year for his level. While just 19 years old, McKenzie has thus far performed like a future ace in the making in his pro career.

The one interesting omission from BA’s all-star teams is Lynchburg catcher Francisco Mejia, he of the 50-game hitting streak and near-trade to Milwaukee in the Jonathan Lucroy deal. Mejia was named the first-team catcher on the publication’s earlier minor league all-star team thanks to a .342/.382/.514 slash line, 29 doubles, 11 homers, and 80 driven in, but he is conspicuously absent from this more recent team.

Next: What's the Impact on the Tribe of Salazar's Latest Injury?

Despite that strange omission, it is clear that the Tribe organization has become increasingly adept at not only identifying talent, but in developing that talent once within the system. That bodes well for the future of the franchise, and for these four MiLB all-stars, in the years to come.