The Cleveland Indians suffered a major disappointment as a franchise in 2021.
The Indians had 2021 to forget. While there were no major scandals with the organization that plagued them in 2020, the Tribe suffered from a lack of viable and healthy talent all year long. While the team had the talent to qualify for the playoffs, the best of them kept getting hurt all year long it seemed.
The major league squad wasn’t the only one who saw disappointments, as the Triple-A affiliate Columbus Clippers were also a team that couldn’t seem to get it together all year long. That said, the RubberDucks (Double-A) and Captains (Single-A) both had good years as an organization
Each of the four minor league teams has players on it the Indians have high hopes for but four of them had absolutely awful years. That’s who we’re looking at today.
INF Aaron Bracho (A)
Ranked No. 9 in Prospect1500’s list of the Indians’ top minor league players.
Aaron Bracho made his debut in 2019 hitting .281 across the Arizona rookie league and lower-A ball. his performance and skillset had him considered to be a top prospect in the Indians organization. Able to play anywhere on the infield, the multi-faceted fielder was shown to have an incredible arrange of talents.
His rookie year splits were .281/.402/.570 with an OPS of .973. Pretty incredible. He hit eight home runs, 11 doubles, and two triples in just 38 games. He put up 33 RBI in the same span and walked (28) almost as much as he struck out (29).
Bracho looked to be the real deal. The only problem was, that in his first season with the Lake County Captains, he completely regressed. No, his splits were .176/272/303, with an OPS of just .574. In nearly double the games, he had less production than as a rookie. Across 69 games so far, he’s hit just seven home runs, with just 27 RBI, and has completely lost his plate vision. He had just 32 base-on-balls so far, with a staggering 87 strikeouts.
With regards to his standings in the minors, he’s going to fall pretty hard.
C Bo Naylor (AA)
Ranked No. 8 in Prospect1500’s list of the Indians’ top minor league players.
Now in his third (technically fourth) year in the minors, Bo Naylor, the 21-year-old catching prospect was expected to take a major step this year and at least crack Triple-A. In 2018, Naylor had a great rookie year, with splits of .274/.381/.402, with a .783 OPS. Solid stats for a rookie
His numbers took a slight step back in year two, no longer in rookie ball, posting splits of .243/.313/.421 but seeing his stats take a nice jump. He had 18 doubles, 10 triples, 11 home runs, 65 RBIs, and 43 walks. The big problem with Naylor in his sophomore year was his leap in strikeouts. Naylor struck out 24% of his at-bats as a rookie but as a sophomore that stat rose to 26%.
This leads us to his third year with the Akron RubberDucks. He’s bottomed out the whole year. He had the worst offensive splits of his career so far as a pro, .194/.287/344 and an OPS of just .631. The biggest problem is his strikeouts have increased yet again. While only one strikeout more in 2021 (105) than 2019 (104) it’s against 105 fewer at-bats. Meaning that Naylor strikes out 36% of his at-bats.
With Naylor another Top 10 prospect that’s been struggling, it’s hard to imagine he’s anywhere close to the Majors. That would be bad enough but with the decline and injury issues facing Roberto Perez, fans were hoping Naylor would be closer to joining the club. After this season, however, he seems as far from ever of being Major League-ready.
OF Will Benson (AA/AAA)
Ranked No. 26 in Prospect1500’s list of the Indians’ top minor league players.
Will Benson has been a top guy in the organization’s minor league systems for some time. Never being too high on the list but always being high enough to warrant consideration by the scouts.
The problem with Will Benson is that historically he’s never shown much. He’s got power, and that’s the reason people pay attention to him. A player like Jose Ramirez will have close to 600 at-bats in a full year. For Ramirez, his best season home run-wise saw him hit a home run in 6% of his at-bats. A good clip for a high-end power hitter. Benson hit around 5% in back-to-back-to-back years. He would be hitting around 30-home runs per year in the Majors at that clip.
The problem is his home runs are almost a quarter of all of his hits. In 2017, Ramirez only had 16% of his hits be home runs. He was far more likely to put the ball in play than pulling something for a home run. That’s the sign of a complete hitter. He also only had 69 strikeouts that year or about 12% of his at-bats. Benson, for all of his power, has no plate vision at all. He’s had three straight seasons of 130+ strikeouts and strikes out 37% of the time.
His splits for this year are .211/.359/.446 with an OPS of 805. This is actually a good year batting-average-wise for the 23-year-old outfielder. He’s got tremendous power but very little plate discipline and considering that’s the problem facing the major league lineup, that means Benson is far from ready to call up.
3B/OF Nolan Jones (AAA)
Ranked No. 1 in Prospect1500’s list of the Indians’ top minor league players.
The man who inspired this list is Nolan Jones himself. He’s had a good run in the minor leagues so far, hitting .257, .317, .283, and .272 in each of his first four seasons with the Indians minor league team. In 2021, however, he completely forgot how to hit at the plate.
Jones is hitting just .238 so far in 2021. His on-base and slugging aren’t great either, with a .356 OBP and a .431 SLG. That has brought his OPS down to .787. The lowest of any full season he’s had since 2016. His saving grace for this year has been the fact his power numbers have all stayed on pace or improved but for the number one overall player in the minors, he has to be better than staying on pace.
Jones’ biggest issue since getting called up to High-A ball has been strikeouts. He strikes out at an obscene rate. He’s striking out 35% of the time at the plate and while that’s about 5% more than average, his walks have declined as well. He’d average a base-on-balls around 20-22% of the time. In 2021, that’s fallen to 17%.
With his declining ability to stay patient at the plate, his higher rate of strikeouts, and his declining average, Jones’ 21 has been one of the more dreadful parts of the season regardless of player or team.
Many thought Jones would be ready to be called up for the 2021 season but he’s far from ready as of right now.