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Indians take 'throwback' Clement in Round 4 By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | June 13th, 2017 + 0 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- This is the era of strikeouts. As power numbers rise across the board for hitters, swing-and-miss rates have also escalated to all-time levels. There is a growing obsession with launch angle, and batters are doing all they can to increasingly drive pitches airborne. Ernie Clement is cut from a vintage cloth. "He's a throwback," said Brian O'Connor, the head baseball coach for University of Virginia. In the fourth round of the MLB Draft on Tuesday, the Indians grabbed Clement -- a middle infielder for the Cavaliers -- with the 132nd overall selection. Ranked as the 114th best Draft prospect by MLB.com, Clement features a quick-strike swing that generates a high rate of contact. His calling card is being a nuissance for opposing pitchers, who rarely put him away with a strikeout. This past season with Virginia, the 21-year-old Clement, who is viewed as a second baseman by Cleveland, struck out only seven times in 285 plate appearances. Over his three collegiate campaigns, the right-handed hitter struck out 31 times in 841 plate appearances, which equates to a 3.7-percent strikeout rate. Right now in the Majors, the league's 21.6-percent strikeout rate is on target to establish a single-season record for the 10th straight year. "Those are things that we obviously value and look for," said Brad Grant, the Indians' senior director of amateur scouting. "You don't see it very often, but it's a great, great trait to have." Clement takes a lot of pride in spoiling a pitcher's best pitch, and fighting his way through an at-bat until he gets something he can handle. "That's always been the way I played," Clement said on Tuesday. "I didn't strike out much in high school. I do see all these guys striking out a ton and taking a bunch of pitches, and that was just never how I went about the game." During his career at Virginia, Clement used his aggressive approach to post a .306/.345/.376 slash line under O'Connor. This past season, he hit .315, churned out 80 hits in 58 games, while scoring 56 runs, collecting 34 RBIs and stealing 14 bases. Clement played short this year, but spent time between second and center field in the previous two seasons. Clement was named the Cape Cod League MVP in 2016 after hitting .353 in 40 games. "He's tough as nails," O'Connor said. "I talked to a lot of scouts that watched a lot of our games that said they wouldn't be surprised if he's the one who makes the big leagues and stays there the longest. So, I think the year that he had, the summer that he had in the Cape Cod League, he climbed up peoples' boards from that." The Draft concludes on Wednesday, with exclusive coverage of Rounds 11-40 beginning on MLB.com at noon ET. Clement had an inkling that he was on the Indians' radar, given the conversations he had with representatives from the team dating back to last fall. So, when his phone rang a few minutes ahead of being taken in the fourth round, Clement was not surprised that Cleveland planned on picking him. He told his advisor that he wanted to jump at the chance to join the Indians' system, but kept the news quiet. Clement then waited to watch the reaction of his parents, sister and both grandmothers when his name was called. "I wanted them to kind of be surprised," Clement said. "We were just so excited. It was probably one of the coolest moments of my entire life. I'm just so, so lucky and so humbled and I'm so glad I got to experience it with them." Tribe's Day 2 highlighted by OF Rodriguez By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | June 13th, 2017 + 0 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- Francisco Lindor spent a lot of time around veteran Carlos Beltran this spring, while they both suited up for Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic. The Indians' shortstop wanted to dive into the wealth of knowledge that Beltran possesses. While Beltran served as one of the faces of Puerto Rican baseball for several years, Lindor and a crop of other young players are emerging as the latest wave of stars from the island. On Tuesday, Cleveland hoped it found another future star in the third round (No. 102) of the MLB Draft, taking raw outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico. "That's special. I wish him nothing but the best," Lindor said. "I will probably call or text him at some point [soon] to congratulate him, because getting drafted by our organization is always special. It's always an honor. I definitely will reach out to him. "I have never been to [the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy], but it's a good school back home. There's three baseball academies over there that are helping the kids. I'm looking forward to meeting the kid. It's a dream come true." On Monday night, Cleveland grabbed high school outfielder Quentin Holmes (pick No. 64) and prep shortstop Tyler Freeman (pick No. 71) on the first night of the Draft. The Draft concludes on Wednesday, with exclusive coverage of Rounds 11-40 beginning on MLB.com at noon ET. Rodriguez, who will turn 18 in November, hails from Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, and is listed as a 6-foot-3, 180-pound outfielder. The switch-hitter boasts a strong arm (already deemed a 60 on the scouting scale, per Baseball America) and has offensive upside. Rodriguez was named a 2017 Rawlings-Perfect Game second-team All-American and made the Canada-Puerto Rico All-Region first team. "What we really like about Johnathan is just his age," Indians senior director of amateur scouting Brad Grant said. "He's the second-youngest player in the Draft this year, a guy that we're very excited to be able to get with a third-round pick and a guy that we think can come on with the bat and eventually hit for a lot of power in the future." Round 4 (132nd overall): 2B Ernie Clement, University of Virginia Cleveland's first collegiate draftee of this class was one of the hardest hitters to strike out in the nation this past season. Clement, 21, was ranked 114th in MLB.com's Top 200 Draft prospects and likely benefited from scouts heading to UVA to watch first-round teammates Pavin Smith and Adam Haseley. "Ernie was a stand-alone player," said Virginia head coach Brian O'Connor. "I talked to a lot of scouts that watched a lot of our games that said they wouldn't be surprised if he's the one who makes the big leagues and stays there the longest. So I think the year that he had, the summer that he had in the Cape Cod League, he climbed up people's boards from that." What evaluators saw was a high-contact hitter who struck out only seven times in 254 at-bats this year. For his career, the right-handed-hitting Clement fanned just 31 times in 745 college at-bats. In 58 games, he posted a .315/.345/.366 slash line with eight extra-base hits, 14 steals and 80 hits. Clement was the 2016 Cape Cod League Most Valuable Player and was named third-team All-ACC in both '16 and '17. Round 5 (162nd overall): OF Austen Wade, Texas Christian University The Indians grabbed their fifth position player of the Draft in Wade, who has shown strong strike-zone discipline throughout his career at TCU. In three seasons with the Horned Frogs, Wade amassed 113 walks compared to 93 strikeouts. This past season, the corner outfielder (6-foot-1, 185 pounds) hit .342/.453/.504 with five homers, 16 doubles, three triples, 37 RBIs and 15 steals. "We like the versatility in the outfield," Grant said. "He's a plus runner who can move around. He's playing right field now, but he can play center. He has the tools to be able to play center. He can play left. And he's another guy we like the contact ability with." Round 6 (192nd overall): C Michael Rivera, University of Florida Rivera, who is ranked 172nd on MLB.com's Top 200 Draft prospects list, missed a chunk of the 2017 campaign due to a broken hamate bone in his hand. While healthy, the catcher threw out 8-of-10 would-be basestealers and was an above-average defender. Offensively, Rivera hit .241/.344/.346 in 41 games for the Gators, but it is his skills behind the plate that are his calling card. "[He's] an elite catch-throw prospect," Grant said. "He's a very good framer. He has a very good understanding of how to call a game. He works extremely well with the pitchers. A great leader and a guy we're excited about defensively behind the plate." Round 7 (222nd overall): LHP Kirk McCarty, University of Southern Mississippi It took seven rounds for Cleveland to take a pitcher in this year's Draft. In McCarty, the Indians are getting a 5-foot-10, 185-pound southpaw who averaged 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings this past season. In 17 starts, McCarty went 10-2 with a 3.52 ERA, striking out 103 and walking 22 in 99 2/3 innings.

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