It wasn’t even a contest last week as Triston McKenzie steamrolled the competition with 75 percent of the vote, thanks to his 14 strikeout performance over six shutout innings.
This week, some young lower-level talent make themselves known with some strong games while a few veterans show they still have plenty of tricks left up their sleeves.
Without further ado, here are the Tribe's top minor league performers from the past week:
Trenton Brooks (A, OF) - .375/.423/.542
A 17th round pick last year out of Nevada, Brooks was promoted from extended Spring Training when Gabriel Mejia went down with an injury and he’s done an admirable job in his first taste of full-season ball for Lake County.
After a bit of an adjustment period, Brooks is now leading off for the Captains and he had a big week, reaching base safely 11 times in total over six games while hitting a double and his first professional home run. He also only struck out four times, which is always a good sign from the top of the batting order.
Todd Isaacs (A, OF) - .400/.438/.867
A 19th round pick in the 2015 draft, Todd Isaacs blasted off with two home runs on opening day this year for Lake County. He cooled off quite a bit after that, but has made up for it with 10 stolen bases thus far this season on 11 attempts.
Isaacs turns 21 years old next week, and he celebrated early by going 6-15 in four games with four of those hits going for extra bases this week, two doubles, a triple and a home run.
Strikeouts are certainly an issue for Issacs, as he’s whiffed 43 times already this season in 33 games compared to just five walks, and he struck out seven times this week in his four games, so that’s definitely something he’ll need to work on if he wants to make an impact at the upper levels.
Willi Castro (A+, SS) - .400/.400/.600
A native of Puerto Rico, Willi Castro is one of the youngest Indians position prospects according to his level, having just turned 20 years old three weeks ago and currently playing for High-A Lynchburg.
Castro started slow this year for the Hillcats, batting below the Mendoza line over the first three weeks of the season while at the bottom of the order, but he definitely has picked things up in May.
The switch-hitter slugged two doubles and a home run this week as part of org-leading 10 hits. The home run was a big one, tying the game as part of a five-run ninth inning in a Lake County win.
Julian Merryweather (AA, RHP) - 0.00 ERA, 15 K/9, 0.50 WHIP
Merryweather is a bit old for a prospect at 25 years old, but there’s a reason the Indians were still willing to use a fifth round pick on him as a college senior back in 2014, and that’s because his arm is outrageous.
The Oklahoma Baptist alumni has the highest graded fastball in the system and he used it to great use this past week, setting a career high in strikeouts with 10 spread over six innings without giving up an earned run. He only allowed two hits and walked one batter. He lowered his season ERA to 2.89 in the process
It should be only a matter of time before he’s promoted to Triple-A Columbus and he’s a sleeper candidate to make a spot start for the Indians this year should they need some help down the line.
Eric Stamets (AA/AAA, SS) - .368/.429/.737
Eric Stamets’ season could not have started out any worse, as he only picked up one hit over his first 14 games of the season, getting demoted from Columbus to Akron in the process.
Something finally clicked for the glove-first shortstop the past 10 days or so as he’s been hitting the ball with authority, raising his Akron batting average back to nearly .300 before earning a promotion to Columbus when Erik Gonzalez was called up to the Major League club.
In six games this past week spread over Double-A and Triple-A, Stamets collected seven hits with five of them going for extra bases, and he’s still hitting after being promoted again, collecting a double and a home run for Columbus over the past two days.
Shawn Morimando (AAA, LHP) - 0.00 ERA, 9.0 K/9, 0.92 WHIP
After an extremely slow start this year, Shawn Morimando seemingly has started to figure things out again.
The former 2011 19th round pick gave up 12 runs in his first two starts, but has settled down nicely, throwing a quality start in five of his last six outings for Triple-A Columbus, more than proving why he deserves to be on the 40-man roster.
Morimando was in rare form this past week, throwing 13 innings over two starts without giving up a run. He struck out 13, walked just two and gave up 10 hits in the process, but somehow was left with a no decision in both starts.
Poll
Who was your minor league player of the week in the Tribe system?
This poll is closed
-
3%
Trenton Brooks (A - 6G, 9-24 for .375, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 SO)
(3 votes) -
3%
Todd Isaacs (A - 4G, 6-15 for .400, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 1 RBI, BB, 7 SO)
(3 votes) -
17%
Willi Castro (A+ - 7G, 10-25 for .400, 2 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 2 SO)
(14 votes) -
31%
Julian Merryweather (AA - 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K)
(25 votes) -
8%
Eric Stamets (AA/AAA - 6G, 7-19 for .368, 4 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SO)
(7 votes) -
34%
Shawn Morimando (AAA - 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 10 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 13 K)
(27 votes)
Previous Winners
Triston McKenzie (75%) - Week of 5/5-5/12
Thomas Pannone (33%) - Week of 4/28-5/4
Tyler Naquin (28%) - Week of 4/21-4/27
Erik Kratz (31%) - Week of 4/14-4/20
Conner Capel (35%) - Week of 4/6-4/13
Most Nominations
Triston McKenzie - 3
Sam Haggerty - 2
Thomas Pannone - 2
Mike Papi - 2