Cleveland Indians Minor League Report: 3 players who were cold in May

Nolan Jones, 3B, Triple-A Columbus

After entering the season as one of the most intriguing talking points on the Tribe’s roster, Nolan Jones struggled through the month of May for the Columbus Clippers. The offseason saw talk of how Jones could fit in with Cleveland’s roster, but now the club’s No. 1 prospect, and the No. 29 prospect on MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects list, could be fighting to stay in Triple-A Columbus and not go down to Double-A Akron.

We’ll start with a positive for Jones before we dive into the negatives. He did lead the Columbus Clippers in walks with 16 over the course of 22 games played as well as being tied for third in Triple-A East for the stat. However, the rest of his offensive production was a bit underwhelming for a team’s No. 1 prospect.

In 74 at-bats, Jones logged just 14 hits for a batting average of .189. The walks along with five doubles helped improve his other numbers, but his slash line was still just .189/.341/.297. He also tallied just one home run and only six RBI while striking out a team-high 39 times, also tied for the most in all of Triple-A.

Maybe part of the issue is finding a rhythm. Jones has played three different positions in Columbus, being third, first and right field. Being moved around and at a new level could just be culminating for a difficult adjustment. Hopefully, he improves his stats in June.

Next: Oscar Mercado

Oscar Mercado, OF, Triple-A Columbus

Staying in Triple-A Columbus, we move from a prospect to a player that has previously showed a lot of potential in Oscar Mercado. After a strong 2019 campaign that saw him receive American League Rookie of the Year votes, Mercado struggled in 2020 and is now appearing to have those struggles carryover to the 2021 season as well.

Playing in 22 games for the Columbus Clippers, Mercado has logged just 15 hits in 88 at-bats for the lowest average on the team among qualified players at .170. Unlike Jones, he hasn’t been able to load up on walks to help his slash line much, coming in at .170/.263/.227. The low slugging percentage is also due to only five doubles, no triples and no home runs with just five RBI.

Mercado was also applauded for speed in Cleveland during the 2019 season, swiping 15 bases. With Columbus, he has three so far. Now, part of that is due to his struggle to get on base since it’s hard to steal bases when you can’t get on base in the first place.

One good sign for Mercado is that he only has 17 strikeouts, meaning he is putting the ball in play. Hopefully, more of those balls will begin to fall in the field and he can start turning a corner and raising those numbers in June.

Next: Aaron Bracho

Aaron Bracho, 2B, High-A Lake County (No. 8 Prospect)

Moving back to the prospect list of the Cleveland Indians, we come to the No. 8 prospect and member of the High-A Lake County Captains, Aaron Bracho. A 20-year old infielder, Bracho only had eight games of experience above rookie ball entering the year, all being at Low-A in 2019 with Mahoning Valley. Now, he’s have some troubles adjusting to the new level in the early going.

Playing in 17 games for the Captains, Bracho has struck out 17 times which is second on the team while logging just 11 hits in 61 at-bats. Now, Bracho has been able to log five doubles, one home run and 10 RBI for Lake County to get his slash line up a bit to .180/.257/.311.

The positive with Bracho is that half of his hits were either doubles or home runs. The problem there was that he only had 11. If he can start to find a bit more consistency at the plate he could become one of the better players in the minor leagues for the Tribe, which is why he’s on the list for the club’s top prospects. He’s also a strong infielder. If he can just start to find some better production at the plate that could be a huge gain for the Cleveland Indians minor league system.