Gonzalez blasts off twice for Scrappers

After seeing the way Oscar Gonzalez has been swinging the bat through five games, Class A Short Season Mahoning Valley manager Luke Carlin knew it was a matter of time before he'd see something extraordinary.
The Indians' No. 26 prospect bashed two homers and drove in all five runs to power the Scrappers to a 5-4 victory over Auburn on Friday night at Eastwood Field. He's 8-for-21 in the first week of the season, but the long balls were his first two extra-base hits.

"He's been swinging it well, so we kind of saw it coming. It was just a matter of time before he connected for a couple of those," Carlin said. "It's impressive. He had a good extended [spring training], he was swinging it well down there in Arizona, so it's nice to see him get a little comfortable today and get a couple extra-base hits."
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The five RBIs matched a career high for the 19-year-old, a feat he first accomplished in the Rookie-level Arizona League on June 21, 2016. Gonzalez also had a two-homer game in the AZL last July 5.
"He fits right in, so age isn't as big of an issue as it seems -- we see big leaguers at 20 years old," Carlin said. "I think that Oscar is right where he needs to be right now"
In 116 games since signing with Cleveland in 2015, Gonzalez has 14 homers and 71 RBIs. He played one game with Mahoning Valley last September and the 36-year-old skipper has been impressed by the way the young outfielder carries himself on the field and in the clubhouse.
"His process is great and he's coming to the field and working hard every day," Carlin said. "He's with a good group of guys. I think that it's a little bit contagious."
Gonzalez took his first three at-bats against Auburn starter Ben Braymer. He went down swinging on four pitches in the opening inning and flied to center in the third. 
The native of the Dominican Republic came up with one out in the fifth following Tyler Friis' single and Samad Taylor's walk and ripped a liner over the fence in left-center field for a three-run shot, his first of the season.
"Obviously, he hits the fastball well. He's done a good job adjusting," Carlin said. "With runners in scoring position, he's looking for a ball up and he got a couple of them. So I definitely think that he's aggressive in his zone."

That aggressiveness carried into his fourth at-bat against reliever Joseph Baltrip. After Taylor led off the seventh with a triple, Gonzalez attacked the next pitch and homered to left.
"We got a guy on third base and he was looking for a ball up there and he got it," Carlin said. "We're anticipating where we want it to be and when it's there, we hammer it."
Taylor went 2-for-3 with a triple, double and two runs scored for Mahoning Valley. Zach Plesac, the nephew of former Major League reliever Dan Plesac, started for the Scrappers and allowed a hit while striking out three over three scoreless frames.