Indians Confidential

From: The Indians

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has signed INF LONNIE CHISENHALL, the 29th overall pick of the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.

Chisenhall, 19, spent the 2008 school year at Pitt Junior College in Greenville, NC where he hit .410 (68-166) with 27 doubles, 8 homers and 66 RBI for the Bulldogs, who went 41-15 on the season and finished one win shy of qualifying for the NJCAA World Series. The Newport, NC native drew 38 walks and struck out just 8 times all season. Following the season the left-handed hitting infielder was a NJCAA All-District and First Team All-Region X All-Conference selection.

Chisenhall was the 11th round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006 out of West Carteret High School (NC) after batting .574 as a senior and earning Baseball America second team High School All-American honors. He played his freshman season for the University of South Carolina in 2007 (20 games, .313, 1HR, 13RBI) before enrolling at Pitt J.C. for the 2008 season.

The Indians have now signed 11 picks from the June 5-6 First-Year Player Draft, including 8 of the club’s first 14 selections.

Turns out that new Indians infielder, Lonnie Chisenhall, has a bit of a troubled past. The Akron Beacon Journal is reporting that Chisenhall was kicked off the South Carolina baseball team back in March of 2007 and charged with burglary and larceny. Chisenhall moved from SC to Pitt Junior College, where this past season he hit .410 with 8 homers and 66 RBI. The Indians are standing by the pick, but as you can read from the article in today’s edition, the pick of Chisenhalll could be a very risky one if things don’t work out.

Click HERE to read the Chisenhall story in today’s ABJ

In today draft, the Indians took infielder Lonnie Chisenhall with the 29th pick. Here is the presser with the info on Lonnie:

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has selected INF LONNIE CHISENHALL with the 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.

Chisenhall, 19, spent the 2008 school year at Pitt Junior College in Greenville, NC where he hit .410 (68-166) with 27 doubles, 8 homers and 66 RBI for the Bulldogs, who went 41-15 on the season and finished one win shy of qualifying for the NJCAA World Series. The Newport, NC native drew 38 walks and struck out just 8 times all season. Following the season the left-handed hitting infielder was a NJCAA All-District and First Team All-Region X All-Conference selection.

Chisenhall was the 11th round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006 out of West Carteret High School (NC) after batting .574 as a senior and earning Baseball America second team High School All-American honors. He played his freshman season for the University of South Carolina in 2007 (20 games, .313, 1HR, 13RBI) before enrolling at Pitt J.C. for the 2008 season.