Cleveland Indians 2017 Top Prospects: 10 more names to know

Thomas Pannone – LHP

Thomas Pannone was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the ninth round in 2013 out of the University of Southern Nevada. He’s never been one of the more heralded prospects in the Tribe system, but the 6-foot tall lefty had a breakout 2016 season.

He’s always been great at limiting base hits, but he posted a 2.57 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 133 innings this summer. He began the season repeating Class-A but eventually found himself at Advanced-A Lynchburg, where his numbers actually improved.

After a hot spring, where he was one of two minor league starters to allow zero runs (Adam Plutko being the other), Pannone will return to Lynchburg to begin the 2017 season. His stuff still makes it hard to project him as a big league starter but there’s value in getting outs and keeping guys off the bases. The 22-year-old will attempt to reach Double-A this summer.

Eric Stamets – INF

Eric Stamets made our “just missed” list in 2016 but I couldn’t quite fit him on the list again this year. Still, he’s one of the best defensive infielders in the system.

A natural shortstop, he played some third base and second base in 2016 after getting called up to Triple-A Columbus. He will never be a big league starter but his defense is good enough that he could potentially be a big league utility infielder. He will open in Columbus once again and depending how things go, could find his way to Cleveland (though an injury or two would likely have to occur).

The Dublin, Ohio native will head back to Columbus to open the 2017 season. With Erik Gonzalez returning as well, Stamets won’t likely get much time at shortstop, but rather get time as the utility infielder and possibly starting second baseman.

There are even more names I could throw out at you (Daniel Salters, Sean Brady, Marcos Gonzalez, etc) as this Cleveland Indians system is just that deep. I strongly encourage our readers that if they live near any of the Tribe’s minor league affiliates to make at least one trip to see some of these kids.

Next: A positional breakdown of the AL Central

Each level could compete for a league championship again this season and few organizations can make that claim. The system is definitely not the best in baseball but is still arguably one of the deepest.