Cleveland Indians: Top 30 Prospects Countdown, 16-20

Cleveland Indians Prospects 16-20

As we continue through the list of the Top 30 prospects for the Cleveland Indians during the 2021 season, this grouping might be the most intriguing yet and possibly overall. While every group of prospects brings intrigue, the ones that are closer to the majors draw the most interest, and this group does exactly that.

Of the five players in this grouping, four made the trip out to Goodyear with two still remaining in the picture for the Opening day roster. As for the other two, one was sent to the minors while the other was a non-roster invite from the start. Nevertheless, all five of these players could be making their impact at the major league level in the near future.

Having already completed two lists prior to this one, this grouping has something unique like the rest of the them. The first group, being 26-30, were mainly fringe players or way down the road players. As for the second group, 21-25, they were almost exclusively players of the future, with the exception of Daniel Johnson. Now, this group does a 180 with nearly all players that will be ready within the next year or two.

On the surface, this group looks like it contains two players that will be ready to contribute on Opening Day, but we’ll see how everything shakes out down the stretch as we near first pitch from Comerica Park on April 1. What we do know is that these players should at the very least be on the fringe of the majors for most of the season with more than one most likely cracking the active roster. So without further delay, we’ll get into the list for the prospects listed 16-20, a group that includes three right-handed pitchers, a utility infielder and a first basemen.

No. 19: Carlos Vargas

A 6-foot-3 right-handed pitcher, Carlos Vargas is just 21-years old and we really haven’t witnessed much of him yet with only 25 appearances in the minors. Even so, the Indians felt like they saw enough of him to add him to the team’s 40-man roster and bring him out to Spring Training. While he’s already been placed in the minors, being in Goodyear at 21-years old should be enough to turn heads.

Pitching 10 games in the Arizona Rookie League in 2018 and then 15 for Mahoning Valley in 2019, Vargas put together a strong stat line, most notably his 112 strikeouts over 112 innings pitched while walking just 48. There’s still work to be done given that he through 14 wild pitches and hit another five batters, but the framework is there for him to have success.

During Spring Training he pitched just one inning on record according to baseball-reference.com. In that inning he gave up one run on two hits while striking out one. Again, there’s plenty of time for him to improve, but the early returns both in stats and just the fact that he’s on the 40-man and in Goodyear at 21 is intriguing. He very well could become a name to watch.

No. 18: Owen Miller

Arriving as part of the Mike Clevinger trade this past season, Owen Miller was a non-roster invite to Spring Training and is a do-it-all type infielder that could very well find a spot on the roster in the near future. Predominately a middle infielder, Miller can play anywhere in the infield and surely played a role in the Indians parting with Mike Freeman.

Miller is really a jack-of-all-trades player when it comes to defense. Not only does he play everywhere, but he plays everywhere fairly well. For his career in the minors, he holds a .980 fielding percentage at second base, .974 at shortstop and .969 at third. He might not have as much position flexibility as Freeman, having not played the outfield, but the makeup of their games are very similar.

One thing that Miller has shown he can do well in the minors is hit for average. His career numbers in the minors having him slashing .307/.367/.441 while also logging 47 doubles and five triples over 805 at-bats. Being able to put the ball in play and have a steady glove is the prototype for a utility infielder. He could use some time to clean up his fielding a bit, which he’ll get, but he could very well be in the near future plans for the Cleveland Indians roster.

No. 17: Emmanuel Clase

If Bobby Bradley isn’t the most intriguing player on this list, then it has to be Emmanuel Clase, at least for the 2021 season. The main return in the Corey Kluber trade, the pressure is relatively off for Clase. Kluber only pitched one inning for Texas before ending his season with an injury and then signing with the New York Yankees this offseason. That means for Clase, he can just pitch rather than trying to live up to being the return.

Coming back from a suspension in 2020, Clase will need to prove that he can stay on the field in Cleveland. However, being a fire-throwing reliever at just 23-years old (Happy Birthday, Emmanuel!), he should have plenty of time to do that.

With Texas during the 2019 season, Clase tossed 23.1 innings over 21 games, so there’s a chance he might not be on this list for very long once his prospect status is removed. Over those 23.1 innings, he maintained an ERA of 2.31 by giving up just six earned runs while striking out 21 and logging a save.

In Spring Training, we’ve already witnessed similar numbers with him giving up two runs through his first four innings and striking out five in the process. With a bullpen that has multiple strong arms, especially in clutch situations, Clase should have plenty of time to ease back into the season. But if he can get back to his 2019 form quickly, watch out.

No. 16: Tanner Burns

While there has been a lot of info on the other players on this list, we can’t say the same for Tanner Burns. The Cleveland Indians selected Burns with the 36th pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, still a first round pick, so he hasn’t had the opportunity to suit up yet in the minors. However, we do have some stuff to go off of from his time at Auburn.

Originally a 37th round pick by the Yankees in 2017, Burns opted to attend Auburn and wow was that a good decision. Jumping from the 37th round to the first, Burns was rather impressive at Auburn.

Burns’ numbers improved each year at Auburn, including a 2020 campaign that saw a 2.42 ERA along with 32 strikeouts over only 22.1 innings, striking out nearly half of his outs. On top of that, he walked just seven batters and registered a WHIP of 0.99. Now, those numbers are from a much smaller sample size since the season was cut short, but they are impressive regardless.

With three years of college experience, maybe more like two and a half with the COVID season, it will be interesting to see where Burns starts out in the minors and how far he can rise this season.