Cleveland Indians: Top 30 Prospects Countdown, 6-10

No. 10 Ethan Hankins

A 6-foot-6 right-handed pitcher, Ethan Hankins is a name that a good portion of Indians’ fans are probably already familiar with. Being the first round pick by the Tribe during the 2018 MLB Draft, Hankins already had the attention of the league after being a member of the USA U18 team during 2017, including a 14 strikeout performance.

In total, Hankins has pitched in 16 games, starting 15, since joining the Indians’ organization, spanning across Rookie ball, Low-A Mahoning Valley and Single-A Lake County. He’s been able to maintain a 2.71 ERA while averaging 11 strikeouts per nine innings. Those two statistics are promising, especially considering he’s still only 20-years old, turning 21 in May.

As it currently stands, the Cleveland Indians have four of the five rotation spots locked in for the future with Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale and Triston McKenzie. Depending on how quickly he can move up through the minors, Hankins has a strong shot at becoming the fifth member of that rotation. It might not happen this season, and if it does it would be the second half, but the opportunity is very clearly there. It’ll just all depend on where he begins the 2021 season and if he can continue his sample of work that we saw in 2018 and 2019.

No. 9 Aaron Bracho

The first of three middle infielders in this grouping, Aaron Bracho was actually at the Alternate Site for the Indians during the 2020 season, which might give him a bit of a leg up in the race. He wasn’t the only one on this list there, but just getting the invite shows that the Indians have high hopes for him.

For Bracho, he’s set to turn 20 in April, so there’s still plenty of time to develop. However, at 18-years old during the 2019 season he showed some promising flashes that get him in the Top 10 of this list. Playing in 38 games, he registered a slash line of .281/.402/.570 along with eight home runs, 33 RBI and 28 walks. He also added two triples and four stolen bases.

From that sample size, you can see he has speed along with contact and bursts of power. His weakness, though, is his fielding. Playing second base exclusively, Bracho had eight errors on 111 chances over 252.1 innings for a .928 fielding percentage.

If he can improve his fielding, then his value will obviously increase. His offense is really intriguing, making him a candidate to watch progress in a crowded middle infield room that has nine players on the Top 30 prospect list.

No. 8 Brayan Rocchio

Just turning 20-years old this past January, the switch-hitting Brayan Rocchio got an invite to Spring Training with the Cleveland Indians, despite not having played since 2019. Part of the reason for Rocchio’s invite is his extra year of experience over guys like Aaron Bracho, given that Rocchio joined the club in 2018.

In Spring Training, Rocchio performed well, playing in six games according to baseball-reference.com. In those six games he saw just three plate appearances, having a walk and a base hit, scoring both times he reached the bases.

Those numbers are a decent representation of his sample size as a whole spanning across the 2018 and 2019 seasons with the Tribe’s organization. Over 129 games played as a member of the club, Rocchio slashed .290/.348/.406 with seven triples, 36 stolen bases, 35 walks and 73 runs scored. He also had seven home runs with five of them coming in 2019.

Rocchio’s glove is a bit better than Bracho’s at the moment and Rocchio has the better slash line. Both of them will be vying for a spot in the crowded middle infield in Cleveland that could very well turn into a log jam within just a couple seasons with Rocchio, Bracho and many others that are either on this list or already in Cleveland.

No. 7 Daniel Espino

A first round pick by the Cleveland Indians during the 2019 MLB Draft, going 24th overall, Daniel Espino has only a little bit of experience in the minors with the loss of the 2020 season. Another player that just turned 20 in January, Espino was drafted out of high school by Cleveland before making nine appearances in the minors.

Those nine appearances were a bit of a mixed bag of results. He pitched at both the Rookie level and Low-A. Over six appearances in Arizona he pitched well, logging a 1.98 ERA with a 0.88 WHIP and 10.5 strikeouts per nine. However, when he made the move up to Single-A, his stats shifted. In just 3.2 fewer innings, his ERA jumped to 6.30, his WHIP to 1.40, but his strikeouts per nine improved to 16.2.

Getting a full season of Espino will be very telling of where he projects. The lack of success from moving up to Single-A is a bit discouraging, but he’s had a long time to work on his craft, so we should see a better version of him this season. The Indians’ rotation is rather set for the time being, so there’s no rush to get him to the majors at this point.

No. 6 Gabriel Arias

The oldest of this bunch at the old age of 21-years old, having just had a birthday in February, Gabriel Arias came to the Cleveland Indians in the Mike Clevinger trade and almost immediately became the presumed double-play partner for Tyler Freeman, who we’ll get to on the next list. Arriving in the middle of the pandemic season, we haven’t been able to see much of Arias in a Tribe uniform, but he was placed on the 40-man roster and invited to Spring Training.

In Goodyear, he played in eight games and had 13 plate appearances, slashing .615/.615/.692 thanks to eight hits in those 13 opportunities. Of those eight hits, one was a double and they resulted in five RBI while he struck out just three times. Now, that’s a small sample size and the level of competition in Spring Training games can be hazy at times, but it’s promising nonetheless.

In the minors, Arias has careers numbers of .270/.319/.396 when he was part of the Padres’ organization, so if he can build on that and improve a bit after seeing his time in Arizona, then he could be on a fast track to get to the majors, maybe even later this year depending on how the season works out in Cleveland.