Back to Blog
![]() I'm going to learn every day, every time I step onto the field." "Even, God willing, I play in the bigs for a long time and bring the Indians a lot of championships - help the Indians to a lot of championships - I'm still going to be learning then. ![]() "I feel I'm good at it, but I definitely have some work to do," Lindor said of his development. Making the routine as well as difficult plays.Timing his internal clock for throws to first base.Positioning himself for hitters and per situations.Each seems achievable through experience. Those who watched his year with the Captains pointed to three areas needing improvement. 968 fielding percentage was good for third among Midwest Leaguers with at least 100 games at short. Over the course of Lindor's first full season in 2012, a 122-game campaign at Class A Lake County, he was charged with 18 errors. He's got this quote he likes to say, 'Little things take care of themselves over the course of a long season.'" Not moving my glove too much, bringing the ball back to my core. "Then bring it back to my core," Lindor finishes, "and the rest is history. When the ball nears, field it in the middle of a set stance.After the ball is struck, work your way toward it.Before the pitch is thrown, keep your feet moving. ![]() Travis Fryman, now a special assistant in the organization, shared the basics of turning a ground ball into an out. to improve, Francisco?Īfter signing in August of his Draft year and around the time of his quick five-game stint at short-season Mahoning Valley, Lindor started forming an answer with the help of a former Indians shortstop/third baseman. So the conditional query became: What would you do. Scouts, both in and out of the Tribe's front office, took note of those instincts to play the infield's most arduous position - and play it well. Besides the front of the house, that was where baseball was born for me."įrom Caguas to Cleveland, with a stop at a Florida high school in between, Lindor was seen initially as a plus defender. To me, that was where everything started, Villa Blanca. "The infield was dirt and the outfield was grass and the fans, I loved the fans. That's where I used to play, on the little field, and my brother and my cousin used to play on the big field," added Lindor, who practiced there every day and played as many as three or four games a week. "I remember it was two fields, one big and one little one. Retreating further, to the very beginning: When he was 5, Lindor took up the game for good, following the older kids in his family from position to position - with stops in center field and behind home plate - until they all settled at shortstop. "My dad would always play this game with me when I was younger and we were sitting down watching a game, or we could be in the car and he would tell me about a play and he'd say, 'What would you do?' And I'd just tell him."ĭespite his age (19 years), pedigree ( eighth overall Draft slot in 2011) and potential ( 14th overall prospect ranking in 2013), Lindor looks back on those days like they were his best. "The most important thing they taught me was instincts," Lindor said. Whether he was being coached up by his father or, just as likely, following around his brother at Villa Blanca ballfield, Lindor was always expected to respond. ![]() Those were the words that Indians farmhand Francisco Lindor heard often while growing up in Caguas, Puerto Rico. After identifying a keeper at catcher, we move to shortstop, where the D-backs' Didi Gregorius, the Astros' Jiovanni Mier and the Red Sox's Jose Iglesias were narrowly edged by the Indians' Francisco Lindor. In deciding which players to focus on, this reporter polled six scouting directors and relied on his own research. Over the next seven weeks, we will feature a top prospect at each position who also happens to be an elite defender. With this in mind, continues its "Defensive Gems" series. As documentarian Ken Burns noted, baseball is the one game in which the defense - not the offense - possesses the ball.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |