Cleveland Indians Minor League Player of the Week: June 9 - June 15

It was a two-man race last week, with Francisco Mejia edging out Triston McKenzie as both talented prospects combined for nearly 90 percent of the vote.

This week features several repeat performers as players who were hot last week stayed hot, plus the first nomination from the Dominican Summer League.

Without further ado, here are the Tribe's top minor league performers from the past week:

Jonathan Lopez (DSL, Util) - .434/.458/.696

Still just 17 years old, Jonathan Lopez doesn’t have a set position for the DSL Indians just yet, having played games at all four infield positions thus far this season, but that hasn’t stopped him from raking at the plate.

On the season, Lopez is batting .389 with a .667 slugging percentage thanks in part to three games already where he collected at least three hits.

This past week, Lopez blasted off for 10 hits in 23 at bats with two doubles, two triples and a stolen base while scoring five runs and knocking in five.

Luis Jimenez (A, RHP) - 1.50 ERA, 16.5 K/9, 0.67 WHIP

Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2013, Luis Jimenez has taken the long road through the Tribe system, one level at a time each year since pitching for the DSL Indians in 2014.

Jimenez hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire throughout his career, but the 22-year old had one hell of a performance for Single-A Lake County this past week. In six strong innings, he struck out a career-high 11 batters without walking any while giving up just one earned run on four hits.

Perhaps this is a sign he’s turning the corner, perhaps it’s just a flash in the pan. There’s plenty of regular season left to find out.

Aaron Civale (A+, RHP) - 1.13 ERA, 4.5 K/9, 0.25 WHIP

A third round pick by the Indians in last year’s MLB draft, Aaron Civale continues to put up big numbers despite new challenges. After earning a promotion to High-A Lynchburg, Civale has been even better than he was in Lake County, holding a 1.96 ERA through three starts for the Hillcats.

This past Monday, he was better than ever, tossing a career high eight innings while giving up one run on just two hits without walking a batter and striking out four. At the time he was pulled, he only had 84 pitches thrown, which means he probably could have gone the distance if the development staff wasn’t worried about overextending him.

Regardless, Civale is quickly becoming one of the best starting pitchers in the Tribe system.

Francisco Mejia (AA, C) - .458/.462/.833

Not once, not twice, but three times in a row the red-hot Francisco Mejia has earned a POTW nomination.

Mejia’s power dropped off a tiny bit this week, but the top prospect continued to scorch the baseball, collecting 11 hits in 24 at bats in six games for Double-A Akron, which raised his season batting average to .369.

Of those 11 hits, Mejia had four doubles, a triple and a home run. He scored five runs, knocked in three more and even stole two bases. This kid is downright special.

Shawn Morimando (AAA, LHP) - 0.57 ERA, 4.6 K/9, 1.02 WHIP

Perhaps he was miffed by seeing fellow Triple-A starter Ryan Merritt earn a spot start this weekend because Shawn Morimando pitched the hell out of the baseball this past week.

The 24-year old southpaw kicked things off with a strong 6.2 inning start last Friday, giving up just one run and striking out seven.

He then followed that start up with his first career complete game shutout last night, giving up five hits and three walks while striking out two in the process. After a very slow start to the season, Morimando looks like he’s back to his old self as the shutout dropped his ERA below 4.00 for the first time this year.

Richie Shaffer (AAA, LF) - .416/.481/.875

Fresh off winning International League offensive player of the week, Richie Shaffer stayed red hot for the Columbus Clippers.

The 26-year old former first round draft pick by Tampa Bay had a big week, collecting 10 hits in six games, with five of those hits going for extra bases. He had two doubles and three more home runs, which pushed him to number one overall out of every player in the Tribe organization, major or minor leagues, with 14 on the season.

When not bashing bombs, Shaffer also found time to walk twice and steal a base. If and when the Indians need some extra power, the former Clemson product is waiting in the wings.

Previous Winners
Francisco Mejia (60%) - Week of 6/2-6/8
Eric Stamets (63%) - Week of 5/26-6/1
Conner Marabell (34%) - Week of 5/19-5/25
Shawn Morimando (34%) - Week of 5/13-5/18
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 - 4
Francisco Mejia - 4
Julian Merryweather - 3
Thomas Pannone - 3
Richie Shaffer - 3