MWL notes: Marabell making strides

Offseason work is usually unseen by Major League organizations. The self-discipline to grind in solitude and work on adjustments out of the view of instructors will eventually reveal itself.

In the case of Lake County outfielder Connor Marabell, offseason effort is evident in the numbers he is putting up this season.

A 6-foot-1, 195-pound outfielder, Marabell hit .222 in 61 games last season for Class A Short Season Mahoning Valley with one homer, five doubles and 18 RBIs. He exited the New York-Penn League with a .283 slugging percentage.

Fast forward to this season with Class A Lake County in the Midwest League.

The Jacksonville University product is hitting .305 in 78 games with five homers, 24 doubles and 45 RBIs. His slugging percentage has rocketed to .462.

Marabell, who was selected in the 25th round of the 2015 Draft, is getting noticed in the Indians organization.

"Anytime you improve that much, you're going to open a lot of eyes," Lake County hitting coach Kevin Howard said. "Where he was drafted, not a lot of people get to play every day in the outfield. The things he did in Spring Training already changed his status in the organization. The organization is trusting him more with playing time, and that means probably the most to a kid in his position."

The 22-year-old said he focused on consistency at the plate and squaring up more balls. He made sure he paid attention to the mental part of the game as much as getting ready physically.

"I think it's an approach, going up to the plate with a good approach, trying to hit something hard up the middle," Marabell said of his improvement. "I'm trying to stay up the middle and not get too pull-happy. I'm basically trying to stay within myself."

Marabell said he grew up as a student of the game. His father, Scott Marabell, played Minor League Baseball for four seasons.

"You always have to look at a pitcher and figure out what he's trying to do with you," Marabell said. "My dad played professional baseball, and he's been a big mentor in my life. He's always given me pointers. My dad always taught me to come to the park the same guy every day and to play the game hard.

"I think a lot of people underestimate the mental part of the game. Baseball is a grind. You play every day. You have to have a good mentality and come to the park ready to play. These numbers aren't a big thing to me. I expect to do this. That's my mentality."

Howard said Marabell's work ethic has been a key factor toward his rise on the Indians' prospect list, but that he's also been able to listen to instruction and figure out adjustments on his own.

"First and foremost, it's a tribute to his work ethic and the time he put into changing his bad habits," said Howard, who was also Marabell's hitting coach last season in Mahoning Valley. "I think he realized a lot of things he was doing in his swing that were making him inconsistent. I think he went home in the offseason and worked on a lot of things to make himself more balanced, to make his timing better, and the biggest thing, improve his strike-zone discipline. I think last year he chased a lot more pitches. This year, he swings at a lot more strikes. That's the biggest difference."

Lake County manager Tony Mansolino sees Marabell's breakthrough season as a product of several factors.

"Connor is a good player," Mansolino said. "I think like a lot of players when they get their first taste of pro ball, maybe not coming out of the highest level of college baseball, you get in and it's easy to struggle a little bit. I do know that he worked hard in the offseason and made quite a few swinging adjustments. You can see in his second taste of professional baseball that he's getting experience at a high level, and the adjustments he made have pushed him in the right direction.

"He's always been a solid outfielder, and with the baseball bloodlines he comes from, he's definitely the type of player that coaches want on their team. He plays the game hard, and he does a lot of the little things that you expect, and I'm sure that was taught by his dad growing up."

In brief

Fourth fizzle: The Fourth of July continued to fizzle for the Bowling Green Hot Rods, who suffered a 3-2 loss to Lake County. The Hot Rods were stung by a hidden-ball trick with the potential tying run on second base. Angel Moreno slugged a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth for the Hot Rods. After Captains closer Billy Strode -- who was promoted to Class A Advanced Lynchburg on Wednesday -- struck out Jake Cronenworth, the Captains infield gathered on the mound, where Strode slipped the ball to second baseman Angel Miguel. After the meeting on the mound broke up, Strode appeared to go into pitching mode, and when Moreno took a lead, he was tagged out by Miguel to end the game. Bowling Green is now 0-7 in Fourth of July games and has lost its last four July 4 games by one run each.

Offensive outburst: Offense was center stage Tuesday night in a battle between West Michigan and Great Lakes. The Loons took a 4-0 lead in the second inning, only to have West Michigan counter with nine runs in the bottom half. The Whitecaps then saw their edge disappear as Great Lakes surged to a 10-9 lead in the fourth. A two-run blast by Omar Estevez produced the tying and go-ahead runs for the Loons. Derek Hill's two-run single put West Michigan back on top, 11-10, in the seventh, and the Whitecaps scored four runs in the eighth to produce the 15-10 final.

Homer encore: Clinton's Logan Taylor supplied the lumber for the LumberKings in consecutive nights against Burlington. Taylor snapped a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning Monday night with a solo homer that helped the LumberKings score a 2-1 victory. On Tuesday night, Taylor smacked a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh that supplied the only run in Clinton's 1-0 victory over the Bees.