Captains' Capel leads Players of the Week

Few would have described Conner Capel as a power hitter entering his first full season. He did not go deep in 153 plate appearances in the Arizona League last season, producing a .290 slugging percentage in his first taste of pro ball.
It might be time to update the scouting reports.

The Indians' No. 30 prospect was named Midwest League Offensive Player of the Week after going 12-for-25 (.480) with three homers, one triple, two doubles, eight RBIs and eight runs scored over seven games for Class A Lake County. His 25 total bases and 1.581 OPS were both tops among all Class A batters.
"It's a good honor to have," Capel said of his first career Player of the Week award. "I'm excited about what it means, and hopefully we can start getting things going as a team because I feel like we've all been swinging the bat well lately."
Though the 20-year-old outfielder was rewarded just for his performance from May 29-June 4, the power switch was turned on before then. Capel entered May 17 with a .183/.281/.325 line and only one home run over his first 35 games with the Captains, but in that day's matinee, he went deep twice for his first career multi-homer game. Including that breakout performance, he's produced a .313/.405/.781 line with eight homers over his last 18 contests.
• View the Pitcher of the Week winners »
The power increase started with a mechanical change that Capel made with help from the Captains' and Indians' staffs.
"I went in early one day and started working with my hitting coach [Justin Toole] and hitting coordinator [Jim Rickon], and we did a lot of work with the lower half," said Capel. "That night, I started hitting balls really hard. They weren't necessarily hits, but they were hit hard and that's all that matters. I felt really good with the changes from day one."
The left-handed slugger began adding more drills that are aimed not only at utilizing his back hip in his swing but also making sure he does so consistently.
"It was more about using my whole body," he said. "I'm trying to do a lot more with my lower body, and I can feel it working. I'm trying to drive it with my legs more, hitting with help from my legs instead of just using my arms."
That adjustment paid off in a big way last Thursday when Capel went 3-for-4 with a homer, a triple and a career-high five RBIs in a 15-9 loss to Lansing. The Texas native is now hitting .222/.317/.450 with nine homers, three triples and eight doubles in 52 games this season. Despite entering June with an average below the Mendoza line, he's become an above-average hitter in the Midwest League with a 116 wRC+, and his .228 ISO ranks eighth in the Class A circuit. 
The Indians grabbed Capel, who had committed to the University of Texas, in the fifth round of last year's Draft with a slot-value $361,300 signing bonus, knowing it might take some time before he started hitting for power. The 6-foot-1 outfielder has been lauded for his fielding and arm tools across all three outfield spots and was given a 65 on the 20-80 scouting scale for his speed by MLB.com. Now that the power appears to be arriving, Capel has a chance to be a well-rounded prospect at the lower levels for Cleveland.
But even as his average failed to meet expectations, Capel didn't doubt that his first full season would turn around at some point.
"It was a big change, of course, going from last year to this year," he said. "But all you can do is trust yourself and keep swinging it. It's going to get better. Even when times are tough, I'm going to learn from it and try to stay positive."
Here is the full list of Minor League Offensive Players of the Week for the week of May 29-June 4: