Indians' Depth Shows Well in All-Star Game — College Baseball, Mlb Draft, Prospects

Sheffield, the Indians’ first-round pick in 2014 and BA’s No. 81 prospect in the Top 100, entered in the sixth inning and sat 93-94 with the fastball but had trouble locating. He was bailed out by his catcher, fellow Lynchburg teammate Daniel Salters, who threw out back-to-back runners trying to steal second base for the first two outs of the inning. Salters registered pop times of 1.88 and 1.97 on the throws.

“Salty all year long has been back there backing me up,” Sheffield said. “He’s a great catcher to have back there and he backed me up tonight. I had a pretty good time. I was out there laughing joking around with him. It was good to see.”

Shortstop Yu-Cheng Chang was the final Indians player to enter, coming up as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning and promptly lacing a line drive into left field to bring home another run to make it 6-1 Carolina League.

The California League rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth, highlighted by back-to-back RBI doubles by the Giants’ C.J. Hinojosa and Chris Shaw, but Cubs righthander Jake Stinnett got Athletics outfielder James Harris to fly out for the final out with runners on second and third to end it.

In the end, Indians farmhands had a hand in five of the six runs scored by the Carolina League, and ultimately the Lynchburg sextuplet made the difference in propelling the league to victory.

“It’s great,” Allen said. “Obviously when you come into a game like this, some playing time can be limited so you’re not always sure the impact that you’re going to be able to make. So to be able to influence the game like (that)—Salty threw out two guys, Jules had a great first inning, Bobby with the big home run—just to be able to contribute the way we were able to was huge.”

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

• Nationals No. 8 prospect Andrew Stevenson hit two RBI triples, demonstrating the ability to drive the ball to both gaps and impressive speed flying around the bases. He finished 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI was named MVP.

In his most impressive feat of the night, the lefthanded-hitting Stevenson took a 96 mph fastball from Giants righthander Reyes Moronta in the fifth inning and drove it the other way into the left-center gap, and then reached third standing up.

“Guys that throw hard like to throw hard so I was expecting fastball,” Stevenson said. “He threw one elevated and I was able to put a good swing on it.”

In Stevenson’s next at-bat in the seventh, he turned on an inside fastball and drove it into the right-center gap, and again flew around the bags to reach third standing up.

• Giants rigthander Rodolfo Martinez, the Cal League leader in saves with San Jose, flashed the top velocity of the night, hitting 101 mph on his final fastball of the night to strike out Chang in the ninth. He sat 98 mph consistently with his fastball and struck out two in a quick 1-2-3 inning.

“It was an elite fastball,” said Stevenson, who grounded out against Martinez. “One of the top guys you’ll see. He was pumping it.”

Fellow Giants reliever Moronta sat 95-97 mph with his fastball but left it over the plate and was tagged for three hits and two runs in his lone inning of work.

• Rangers No. 28 prospect Travis Demeritte showed both his good and bad in the game. In his first at-bat he swung wildly at multiple offspeed pitches, often lunging at them as they fell out of the strike zone, and struck out quickly. In his second at-bat he turned out a hard fastball high and tight and ripped it down the left-field line for a double. It was reflective of a season in which Demeritte leads the Cal League with 18 home runs but is also first with 93 strikeouts.

• Orioles 6-foot-5 righthander Matthew Grimes pitched the second inning for the Carolina League and made quick work of the middle of the Cal League order, flashing a 93-94 mph fastball and 83 mph slider with late bite. One evaluator who knows the Orioles system well said he considers Grimes one of Baltimore’s top 10 prospects, and he looked it, mowing down Giants slugger Shaw, home run derby champ Kyle Petty, and Demeritte in just seven pitches, all strikes.

• Dubon, the Red Sox’s No. 13 prospect, showed an ability to get the barrel to the ball, flying deep to right twice and lining an RBI single in his final at-bat against a 95 mph fastball from Moronta.

• Padres lefthander Brad Wieck stands 6-foot-9 and sat 94 mph with his fastball. He also showed a 84 mph slider and backed down his changeup to 73 mph to keep hitters off balance. His long limbs make at-bats uncomfortable, and he showed he is an intriguing lefty relief arm to keep an eye on.

• Braves righthander Max Povse from the Carolina Mudcats sat just 90-92 with his fastball but used his 6-foot-8 frame well, hiding the ball and coming down and delivering the ball from a lower arm slot to throw hitter off. Similar to Chris Young, the 2014 third-round pick may have his stuff play up because he knows how to use his size to his advantage.