Cleveland Indians: 3 prospects it’s too early to give up on

3 Cleveland Indians prospects it’s too early to give up on

It’s no secret that the Cleveland Indians have a factory somewhere along the Cuyahoga River that churns out elite pitching talent on a conveyor belt. Wait, that’s not how they do that? Could have fooled me, considering three starting pitchers from the same draft in 2016 all debuted within a year of each other between 2018 and 2019.

Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale have a combined career ERA of 3.42, with Shane Bieber producing an All-Star appearance in 2019 and the 2020 AL Cy Young Award.

Hitting talent has been fewer and further between, but not entirely nonexistent for Cleveland. The fanbase’s prayers for Bobby Bradley this season have exceeded expectations as the slugging first baseman and notorious three true outcomes ballplayer has slashed a very solid .260/.367/.600 since being called up June 5. Over the past decade, the best example of Cleveland’s ability to develop hitting is far and away Jose Ramirez.

Even more recent for the Indians, the team has seen prospects stuck behind a log jam of roster depth move on and develop elsewhere. Yandy Diaz, Gio Urshela and Francisco Mejia are just a few names that come to mind over the past five or so seasons.

Baseball is a business first and foremost and Cleveland viewed themselves as championship contenders in 2018. So acquiring Brad Hand and Carlos Santana for Francisco Mejia and Yandy Diaz, respectively, wasn’t necessarily a bad move at the time.

Still, one can’t help but wonder what Cleveland would look like today if they’d kept their still developing prospects. In 2021, Carlos Santana and Brad Hand have both moved on from the Tribe, while Urshela, Diaz and Mejia are all finding growth and playing time in the AL East.

It may be unfair to say Cleveland “gave up” on any one of these players considering the window the team was in, but all three were nearly major league ready with offensive output the 2021 club could certainly use.

At 40-31 so far in 2021, with 30 games remaining between now and the July 30th trade deadline, the pace the Tribe is currently on would lead one to believe the team should be buyers at the trade deadline, parting with prospects who have had a taste of the big leagues and profile similarly to Urshela, Diaz and Mejia.

There are exactly three of those prospects that come to mind who have limited major league exposure, mixed results and are far too early in their respective careers to give up on for rental veterans.

Daniel Johnson, OF, Cleveland Indians

First up among this aforementioned trio is outfielder Daniel Johnson, acquired in November 2018 as the primary return piece from the Washington Nationals for Yan Gomes.

At the age of 25, Johnson, nicknamed “Jet”, has played seven games at the major league level for Cleveland, hitting  2-for-21 in those games, drawing just one walk and striking out 10 times. Those numbers definitely aren’t lighting the world ablaze, but the sample size is small and the playing time inconsistent.

Johnson owns a career slash line of .279/.341/.459 across five seasons in the minors, showcasing the ability to hit for average and solid contact. In 38 games with Columbus this season, Johnson is hitting .227 with 10 doubles and seven home runs.

Having played every station in the outfield during his time in the minors, Johnson presents himself as a flexible corner outfielder that can be moved around based on matchup and need. However, there has been a log jam in Cleveland’s outfield with Jordan Luplow, Josh Naylor, Bradley Zimmer and the February acquisition of Harold Ramirez, who has slashed .273/.312/.485 in 42 games this season with the Indians. Look familiar?

As a left-handed batter, Johnson has shown the ability to hit both right and left-handed pitching during his time in the minors, presenting an advantage over a player like Jordan Luplow who owns a career batting average of .251 against lefties, but hits just .195 off righties over the course of his five year career. In 2019, Johnson’s last full uninterrupted season in the minors, he slashed .255/.386/.532 in 47 at-bats against southpaws and .253/.312/.535 in 99 at-bats versus right-handed pitching.

Considering Johnson will be turning 26 in July, he’s still at a prime age for a prospect to fine-tune and develop his skills. The entirety of Cleveland’s outfield is currently arbitration eligible and under team control for low cost for several more seasons, with the exception of left fielder Eddie Rosario’s one year deal, making it difficult for Johnson to break through. But should the Indians suffer another injury this season, Johnson deserves an extended look into what he’s capable of.

During spring training this season, Johnson showed out, hitting .368 in nine games with a double and two home runs. At the very least he will get another spring invite in 2022 and may very well earn himself a spot on next year’s Opening Day roster.

Oscar Mercado, OF, Cleveland Indians

It should come as no surprise that the first two prospects highlighted here are outfielders, a position of constant flux for the Indians since the departure of Michael Brantley.

Cleveland has attempted to plug-and-play with older or aging veterans over the past few seasons to the tune of Carlos Gonzalez, Domingo Santana and Ben Gamel, to very little success. Oscar Mercado was the most stabilizing presence in the outfield for the Tribe in 2019, after being acquired from the Cardinals at the 2018 trade deadline for Connor Capel and Jhon Torres.

After being called up on May 14th, 2019 at the age of 24, Mercado was an instant impact for Cleveland, playing 115 games that season and slashing .269/.318/.443 while hitting 25 doubles, 15 home runs and collecting 15 stolen bases.

In that season, Mercado was one of just 20 major leaguers who put up at least 25 doubles and 15 home runs while swiping 15 bags, joining a list of names that includes Christian Yelich, Bryce Harper, Ozzie Albies, Whit Merrifield and teammates Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor. That campaign landed Mercado eighth in the AL Rookie of the Year Award voting and the future seemed incredibly bright.

However, Mercado fell off a cliff in 2020, a pandemic shortened season that was complete chaos for much of the league. Mercado played in 36 games for Cleveland in 2020, slashing an abysmal .128/.174/.174 before being optioned to the team’s alternate training site in August. He was invited to 2021 spring training where he hit just .214 over 10 games, failing to make the Opening Day roster.

Mercado has yet to return to the majors during his age 26 season, but he’s currently slashing .225/.324/.413 through 41 games with Triple-A Columbus and showing some signs of life with 13 doubles, five home runs and nine stolen bases for the Clippers.

The type of potential that Mercado flashed in 2019 definitely didn’t feel like a fluke, being a significant contributor on a 93-win Cleveland team that included Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor and Carlos Santana. He likely holds a very high trade value, but given his All-Star potential, Mercado can not be ruled out of the Tribe’s future plans and will hopefully return to the big league roster in the near future.