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Sweet-swinging outfielder George Valera is our No. 6 Cleveland Indians prospect for 2020, dropping three places from his No. 3 ranking in 2019.
Tribe fans finally got a decent look at Valera in 2019 after he only played six games in 2018 before injuring his hamate bone, and they liked what they saw.
Valera showcased power to all fields during his 46-game stint with Low-A Mahoning Valley, where he led the league in home runs before missing two weeks with an injury and then getting promoted to Lake County.
The 19-year-old put up an impressive 142 wRC+ with the Scrappers, combining his elite power with a career-best 15.4% walk rate.
Defensively, most scouts predict Valera will be a corner outfielder, but he played the majority of his games at center field in 2019, racking up an impressive nine outfield assists over 46 games.
Valera is still looking for consistency, but when he’s on, like his four-hit, six RBI game June 24, he shows flashes of superstardom.
Look for Valera to begin his 2020 season in Single-A Lake County, where he’ll hopefully have a full season to show what he’s capable of.
Logan Allen, LHP (Age 22)
2019 (AAA): 18 GS, 80.0 IP, 22.3 K%, 9.3 BB%, 5.85 ERA, 5.57 FIP
2019 (MLB): 4 GS, 27.2 IP, 13.4 K%, 10.2 BB%, 6.18 ERA, 5.49 FIP
Headlining piece of the Trevor Bauer trade, Allen was a top 100 MLBPipeline prospect at the time of his acquisition. Allen had a great MLB debut (7.0 shutout innings vs Milwaukee), but struggled in many of his other 2019 appearances in both MLB and Triple-A.
Aaron Bracho, SS (Age 18)
2019 (R): 137 PA, .296/.416/.593, 6 HR, 4 SB, 16.8 BB%, 15.3 K%, 162 wRC+
2019 (A-): 32 PA, .222/.344/.481, 2 HR, 0 SB, 15.6 BB%, 25.0 K%, 141 wRC+
Injury kept him from debuting in 2018, but the DR native made up for it in 2019, rebuilding his hype by posting incredible numbers in the AZL and earning a promotion to Mahoning Valley.
Bobby Bradley, 1B (Age 23)
2019 (AAA): 453 PA, .264/.344/.567, 33 HR, 0 SB, 10.2 BB%, 33.8 K%, 125 wRC+
2019 (MLB): 49 PA, .178/.245/.356, 1 HR, 0 SB, 8.2 BB%, 40.8 K%, 51 wRC+
A career best 33 home runs at Triple-A earned the slugging first baseman his first cup of coffee with the Indians. He hit the hardest home run for the Tribe in the statcast era, but also whiffed in 40% of his at bats. Will need to cut down on the Ks if he wants to stay in the show.
Daniel Espino, RHP (Age 19)
2019 (R): 6 GS, 13.2 IP, 30.2 K%, 9.4 BB%, 1.98 ERA, 4.20 FIP
2019 (A-): 3 GS, 10.0 IP, 40.0 K%, 11.1 BB%, 6.30 ERA, 2.60 FIP
2019 first-round pick struck out a third of the batters he faced in Rookie ball and only got more deadly in Low-A as a 19-year-old. Fastball sits in upper 90s, occasionally touching triple digits. He. Is. 19.
Ethan Hankins, RHP (Age 19)
2019 (A-): 8 GS, 38.2 IP, 27.9 K%, 11.7 BB%, 1.20 ERA, 3.22 FIP
2019 (A): 5 GS, 21.1 IP, 29.8 K%, 12.8 BB%, 4.64 ERA, 4.28 FIP
2018 first round comp. pick blew away hitters at short season ball and earned a late promotion to full season Lake County. His strikeout rate is impressive, but he’ll need to cut down on walks as he moves through the system.
James Karinchak, RHP (Age 24)
2019 (R): 3 G, 3.0 IP, 72.7 K%, 18.2 BB%, 0.00 ERA, 0.94 FIP
2019 (AA): 10 G, 10.0 IP, 66.7 K%, 5.6 BB%, 0.00 ERA, -1.03 FIP
2019 (AAA): 17 G, 17.1 IP, 53.9 K%, 16.7 BB%, 4.67 ERA, 2.53 FIP
2019 (MLB): 5 G, 5.1 IP, 36.4 K%, 4.6 BB%, 1.69 ERA, 0.78 FIP
Possibly the scariest reliever to ever come through the Tribe system, Karinchak didn’t just strike out batters in a dominant 2019 that saw him earn a late season promotion to the Tribe, he humiliated them. Yes, he really had a negative FIP at Akron.
Brayan Rocchio, SS (Age 18)
2019 (A-): 295 PA, .250/.310/.373, 5 HR, 14 SB, 6.8 BB%, 13.6 K%, 107 wRC+
Venezuelan signed in 2017, held his own as one of the youngest players in the New York Penn League in 2019 while improving his walk rate and power.
Poll
Who should be the No. 7 Indians prospect?
This poll is closed
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4%
Logan Allen
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8%
Aaron Bracho
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6%
Bobby Bradley
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9%
Daniel Espino
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17%
Ethan Hankins
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36%
James Karinchak
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17%
Brayan Rocchio