Minor Matters: Watching The Kids

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The most fun at spring training is watching the hundreds of minor leaguers in camp. It's a veritable six-ring circus at times, with players here, there and everywhere -- hitting, throwing, catching ... and making mistakes. You can spend frustrating hours looking for one high-profile prospect and instead keep seeing the same low-level player cross your path again and again.

Here's some random observations on a number of players who will get to the training complex as early as 7 a.m. to get into the batting cages ... then go through rigorous drills, eat lunch, and go back on the fields for more. Take no stock in how high up in the story a player is mentioned ... it's just passing on information jotted into a notebook and presented to you fans.

Right-hander Vinnie Pestano has looked very good. Drafted in the 20th round two years ago, the stocky reliever went 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA and six saves in 2007 at Mahoning Valley.

Thus far this spring, he's commanded his fastball well on both sides of the plate and is throwing a very good breaking ball. He was regularly hitting in the upper 80s on the radar gun, but was more impressive with his pitch location, particularly his breaking ball, which he was keeping on the outer half of the plate against right-handers.

Lefty David Huff, the club's first pick (No. 39 overall) two years ago, looks very smooth with his delivery. He's only pitched 67 1/3 innings since being drafted, encountering a little arm fatigue the past two years at Mahoning Valley and Kinston, respectively.

He's got a decent fastball, usually in the 89-92 range, and has two fair breaking pitches, a curve and slider. Word is, the organization would prefer he scrap one of them, say the curve, and work on the other -- reasoning that a good fastball and good slider is better than having one good pitch and two average breaking balls. Huff can always add the third pitch after fully mastering his first breaking pitch to go with command of his fastball.

Huff, coming out of UCLA, still looks more polished than most pitchers in camp. This could be a breakout season for him, most likely at Kinston, where a good first half would probably get him promoted to Double-A Akron.

Peter (P.J.) Zocchi is a right-hander in his first spring camp after being picked in the 36th round last June out of Clemson. He is expected to make his pro debut this year. The 22-year-old from New York is stocky (5-11, 195 pounds) and throws a sharp-breaking curve. He had extreme difficulty in getting his fastball over the plate in an intrasquad game today, however, loading the bases on three walks. Then he found the plate and got ripped for a three-run triple. He went to his curve more in his second inning and did better.

Some in the organization have raved about lefty Kelvin De La Cruz and the skinny Dominican showed why on Tuesday. He hit 92-93 on the radar gun with his fastball, and threw some devastating sliders that had Houston Astros single-A minor leaguers swinging and missing. De La Cruz, at 6-5 and 187 pounds, looks a lot like Indians reliever Rafael Perez on the mound. He could be pitching at Class A Lake County this summer at age 19 ... and Indians fans should make the 20-minute drive from downtown to take a look at a lefty who definitely has big-league potential.

Paolo Espino, 21, went 4-5 at Lake County last year in his first pro season. The 10th-round pick in 2006 stands only 5-10 and weighs 190, but has a good sinker and breaking ball. He'll probably alternate as a starter and reliever in the minors, but seems to have the stuff to be a bullpen guy in Cleveland in a few years.

Steve Wright, the Tribe's second pick in 2006, is all business on and off the mound. The right-hander went a combined 7-9 at Lake County and Kinston in his first pro season a year ago. He's working on commanding his fastball on both sides of the plate right now. He's got good control, is throwing consistently in the upper 80s and has yet to stretch out enough to really start firing.

Lefty Chuck Lofgren spent some time this spring in the big-league camp and the 22-year-old is now back with the minor-leaguers, just as eager to work and learn as he was when he was Cleveland's fourth-round pick in 2004. He'll probably be one of the top three pitchers in Triple-A Buffalo's rotation. He's currently working on refining his command and at times looks very good. He needs to show consistency in order to take the next coveted step to the big leagues. The 6-3, 200-pounder has a 34-18 minor-league record, three plus pitches, and could get a look-see in Cleveland at the end of the season.

Abner Abreu is just 18 years old, in his first year in America -- and looks it. He's listed at 6-3 and 170 pounds, but appears as if he's about 130 pounds soaking wet. He hit .303 with 41 RBI in 56 games for the Indians' team in the Dominican Summer League in 2007 at age 17. He's all arms and legs at third base and in the batter's box, with a very whippy swing. He's a very raw talent, but when he makes contact in BP, he pulls line drives to left and seems to be a guy that if he fills out properly and gets in tune with the Tribe's weight program, could develop into a slugger.

Cirilo Cumberbatch is starting to show the effects of utilizing the organization's training programs. At age 21 and in his fifth year since signing with the Tribe out of Panama, the 6-2 outfielder is filling out his frame and starting to drive the ball to the gaps. He hit .300 with six homers in 82 games at Lake County last year. He looks stronger this spring and more confident in all aspects of his game, holding his head high and watching everything instead of being shy and appearing disinterested in the past.

Daryl King, 20, has gone the other way, or should we say weigh, in regards to training. An 18th-round pick in 2006, he looked chubby in 2007 spring camp, but is much more cut this year. At 6-4 and 228 pounds, the outfielder has raw strength, but he's hit only .175 in 120 at-bats for the Gulf Coast League Indians the past two years. He looks like he's starting to understand his surroundings this spring and could start producing at bat.

Adam White, probably the fastest guy in the organization, turned into Babe Ruth on Tuesday, clouting a triple and double into the teeth of a brisk wind in an exhibition game against Astros Class A players.

White, 22, picked in the ninth round last year out of West Virginia University, tore around the bases a little recklessly each time. On his triple, he nearly missed second base, stumbled a bit, and had to really turn it on to make it to third. On his double, he tap-danced the bag as he thought about heading to third again, but held up. As fast as he is, his mind was probably racing a little too fast for his legs.

White hit .260 with 22 steals in 30 attempts in 57 games at Mahoning Valley last year. If he keeps stinging the ball, with his speed, and good fielding ability in the outfield, he could rise through the system in a hurry. But he must make contact consistently.

Former Tribe catchers Einar Diaz and Tim Laker are working with the abundance of backstops in camp. Alex Castillo, 22, seems to be the most advanced defensively. Former infielders Jay Nilsson and Jerad Head are spending most of their time working in catcher's gear. Some of the younger catchers working hard are 19-year-olds Chun Chen and Rob Alcombrack, 20-year-olds Juan Aponte and Richard Martinez and 22-year-olds Doug Pickens, Biran Juhl and Michael Valadez. Along with Castillo, 23-year-old Matt McBride seems to be the best of the group, especially with the bat. Minor-leaguers Yamid Haad, Wyatt Toregas and David Wallace are among those still with the big-league camp. All of them are more advanced than the youngsters on the back fields right now.

Middle infielder Brian Finegan, whose past two seasons have been stopped by injuries, is moving well around the second-base bag. He hit .292 with nine homers at Lake County in 2005 and is trying to get back to that form.

Bo Greenwell, 19, an outfielder picked in the sixth round last year, is working on his pitch selection. The son of former Red Sox star Mike Greenwell hit only .215 with the GCL Indians in 2007. Tuesday, he showed improvement from one AB to the next. First time up, he swung at the first pitch he saw, an unhittable slider that he should have taken for strike one ... instead he grounded out weakly. Next time up, he worked the count well, fouling off a couple 3-2 pitches and gaining a walk.

It's fun to see players mature through the years. Nick Weglarz, now age 20, is starting to look like a guy worthy of being a third-round pick in 2005. The 6-3, 225-pound outfielder did little his first two years in the system, partly because of a wrist/hand injury. He hit .276 with 23 homers at Lake County a year ago and appears so much more confident in all aspects in camp this year.

Delvi Cid is one of those aforementioned guys who seems to appear on every field at any time of the day, which is just a coincidental oddity. But it makes you wonder ... who is this Cid Kid?

He's listed in the media guide as a right-hand hitting outfielder, but swung from the left side Tuesday. The 6-2, 170-pound (looks lighter) outfielder hit .302 for the Dominican Indians last year, with 21 steals in 36 attempts. He looks like a slashing-type hitter of line drives with real good speed, but doesn't know how to utilize it ... yet.

Players like that catch your eye and you try to keep up with them each year. Victor Martinez, Franklin Gutierrez, Rafael Perez and Tony Sipp all looked like future stars when they were on the back fields years ago. Then again, so did Jason Davis, Jason Cooper, Nate Panther and Argenis Reyes. You win some, you lose some.