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Cabrera gets a hit in first rehab action
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Mahoning Valley Scrapper, Asdrubal Cabrera, a player with the Cleveland Indians recovering from an injury, reaches second base after hitting a double during the fifth inning of a game at Eastwood Field in Niles on Monday evening.
Still waiting: The Indians have still not signed any of their top eight draft picks. Ninth-rounder Jordan Cooper, a pitcher out of Wichita State, is the highest signed pick and has been with the Scrappers since the beginning of the season. First-rounder Drew Pomeranz, a left-hander from Ole Miss taken No. 5 overall, could be sent to Mahoning Valley if he signs soon, said Scrappers GM Dave Smith. “We would have a real nice shot of him coming here,” said Smith. The trend this summer — for all teams — is for draftees to sign later in the year. The deadline for major league teams to sign their draft picks is Aug. 15. “If they sign really late, they’ll likely send them to [spring training headquarters in] Arizona or shut them down,” Smith said. “After someone’s been off awhile, you don’t always know what they’ve been doing to stay in shape and you don’t want to bring them up and get injured. But if it’s a week or two before the 15th, it’s realistic that they’d send someone here for the last month of the season.” According to the Indians’ website, only five of the top 33 picks are signed. All five are playing with Mahoning Valley. The others are shortstop Tyler Cannon (12th round), catcher Diego Seastrunk (14th), outfielder Chase Burnette (18th) and pitcher Owen Dew (21st).
Crash: Scrappers catcher Diego Seastrunk fouled a ball off a light cover during the sixth inning. It shattered the glass, which fell into the stands in the club section behind the third base dugout.
Riding the lightning: This year’s team introduction song is “Enter Sandman” by Metallica, which also happens to be the entrance song for Virginia Tech’s football team. Smith is a 1995 graduate of Virginia Tech. “I had nothing to do with it,” he said, laughing. “But when I saw it on the production stuff, I was pleasantly excited.”
Joe Scalzo
By JOE SCALZO
NILES
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Scrappers shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera came up with the bases loaded, got two strikes, choked up on his bat and doubled to right field, driving in two runs.
It was a big league at-bat for a big league player who just so happened to be playing in the New York-Penn League.
“The way he adjusted during the at-bat, how he gave something up with two strikes, there’s some teachable things in there for me as an instructor,” Scrappers manager Travis Fryman said of the Indians’ regular shortstop. “OK, yeah, he’s flashy in the field and does a lot of things but let’s point out a couple things that he does really, really well.”
Cabrera, playing his first game since going on the disabled list with a fractured forearm on May 18, went 1 for 3 and played flawlessly in the field in five innings in front of 3,767 fans at Eastwood Field — 500 more than average.
Alas, it wasn’t enough as the Scrappers fell 10-5 to the Hudson Valley Renegades.
“It was positive today,” said Fryman. “He feels strong. I know things have healed up well.
“I know he’s looking forward to getting back to the big leagues and playing.”
Cabrera, who declined to talk to reporters, will be the designated hitter tonight for four at-bats before heading to Class AA Akron. The Indians want him to get 30 at-bats before they activate him, so he’ll probably need at least eight games in the minors.
In the meantime, he seemed to soak up the minor league experience, from high-fiving Scrappy as he entered the field to catching the first pitches to waving to his wife and son in the stands.
“You could definitely sense there was a little buzz around here,” said Scrappers catcher Diego Seastrunk, who homered and scored twice. “Just watching him take [batting practice] and watching him set up in his swing, you take notes on a really crafted swing like his.
“It’s nice having him around.”
Outfielder Jordan Casas “happily” gave up his No. 13 jersey for Cabrera — he wore No. 20 instead, which was his college number — and said he was impressed by Cabrera’s attitude.
“He was happy to be here and happy to get back to playing,” Casas said.
Cabrera hit a deep fly just in front of the warning track in right-center for his first at-bat, then grounded out on a jam shot between the pitcher and second base in his second plate appearance.
He also went deep six times during batting practice off Craig Antush.
“He worked on every situation and he only laid off one pitch,” said Antush. “I mean, when you get to the big leagues, it’s just a different athlete.
“Just the athleticism he has, it’s incredible.”
Cabrera had two putouts at short, including a pretty flip to second that started a double play.
“Guys like him make everything look slow motion,” said Fryman. “There’s some special athletes in the world that can make things look easy.
“Asdrubal is one of them in some respects.”