Rayl Is One To Keep An Eye On

Photo Credit: Lianna Holub

?If you are looking for a good sleeper candidate to breakout as a prospect next year for the Cleveland Indians, left-handed pitcher Mike Rayl is someone you may want to consider.

Rayl, who turns 22 years old in less than two weeks, has spent most of his first one and a half seasons in the lower levels of the Indians organization since being drafted in the 15th round of the 2009 Draft out of Palm Beach Community College (FL). He decided to forgo his final two years of college eligibility where he was set to pitch for the University of Florida to instead chase the dream of pitching in the major leagues.

So far, the decision to go pro early has worked out for Rayl. In his debut at rookie-level Arizona in 2009 he went 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA (33.2 IP, 36 H, 10 BB, 41 K) in 10 appearances (8 starts). This past season he moved up to short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley and in 14 starts went 2-4 with a 2.81 ERA (67.1 IP, 57 H, 21 BB, 56 K) before moving up to Lake County the final weekend of the season where he made one appearance out of the bullpen (3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R/ER, 4 BB, 4 K).

"Things went pretty good,