Indians Promote LHP Pomeranz to Double-A

Just a day after the Padres announced the promotion of their 2011 first-round pick, Cory Spangenberg, to Low-A, the Indians have promoted another former top-10 pick, lefty Drew Pomeranz, the fifth overall selection in 2010.

Pomeranz will be making the jump from High-A Kinston to Double-A Akron–an impressive achievement in his first pro season.

The lefthander, known for his big curveball, posted a 1.87 in 77 innings in High-A, justifying his draft spot.

Pomeranz probably didn’t deserve that ERA; he was in a pitcher’s park in a pitcher’s league, after all, and walking 32 batters in 77 frames is something of a blemish. But his 95 Ks showed that his big curve and good velocity are drawing plenty of swings and misses, and Pomeranz has allowed just two homers this season, showing that the diving curve is just getting beaten into the ground when it’s hit.

There’s no question that Pomeranz has the ability to be an excellent starting pitcher in the big leagues. The 22-year-old is clearly on the fast track to Cleveland, and the Indians are counting on him to be a major presence at or near the front of their rotation.

There’s some question about Pomeranz’s changeup and his ability to get righties out. His curveball has helped him put up some astouding numbers against lefties (32/2 K/BB in 15 2/3 IP!), but he’s still got some work to do with the opposite-handed batters. The fastball/curve combination plays well enough against them, and Pomeranz has been able to strike out 63 in 61 1/3, but his 30 walks indicate that he’s pitching away from contact to them. Upper-level righties are more likely to lay off the high fastballs and curves in the dirt, so he’s going to have to get more precise with his location and/or develop the third pitch to reach his ceiling.

But it’s unreasonable to expect him to make that much progress this early in his career, so Indians fans should be happy with Pomeranz’s performance thus far. It’ll be interesting to see how he adapts to the upper minors in 2011’s second half.