Winter important for Gutierrez, Denney
11/18/2005CLEVELAND -- Think the baseball season is over this year for players in the Indians organization?
Then think again. For outfielder Franklin Gutierrez, right-hander Kyle Denney and 14 other prospects in the Tribe's farm system, the '05 season has continued long past September and October.
Their season has continued on fields south of the United States. They all are playing winter ball somewhere this offseason. And why?
"Winter ball provides players the opportunity to continue their development through playing additional games or pitching additional innings," said Chris Antonetti, assistant general manager. "There are a multitude of factors that play a part in the decision of whether or not we encourage a player to participate in winter ball."
One example of a player whom the Indians organization did encourage to continue to play ball after September was Gutierrez, who got a late-season call up to the big leagues, but did not play much.
The Indians are hoping Gutierrez, one of their premium prospects, will be able to get enough repetitions at the plate to improve his hitting, a weakness that has kept him down on the farm.
In 15 games in the Venezuelan League, he's shown the kind of bat the Indians have been looking for in him. He's hitting .392 with two homers and nine RBIs. He's a teammate of second baseman Joe Inglett, another prospect who needed more swings. He's hitting .333 for Caracas.
Denney's situation isn't much different from theirs. He, too, needed the extra work. Denney lost innings last season after being injured in a freak accident, so winter ball is his chance to catch up and put himself in a better position to make the Tribe's 25-man roster on Opening Day.
Pitching for Aguilas in the Dominican Republic, Denney sports a 5.40 ERA in the three games he has worked. He's on the same team as infielder Ryan Mulhern and pitcher Justin Miller.
Other Indians prospects of note who are playing winter ball are second baseman Eider Torres and shortstop Ivan Ochoa in Venezuela; and outfielder Ben Francisco in Mexico.
Source: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/
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