In today’s week ending edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the blazing hot return of Low-A Lake County outfielder LeVon Washington, what the plan is for him, and what areas he is making some strides. He also recaps Double-A Akron first baseman Chun Chen’s impressive month and looks at when and how he can be promoted to Triple-A Columbus, shares tons of comments from the front office on several position players at Akron, reviews the great Double-A debut by Will Roberts, the good recovery Tyler Holt has made after some early struggles, the growing legend of Anthony Santander, and more.
The Columbus Clippers finished their fourth week of the season capturing four wins in the six games played and now stand at 14-12 on the year. The Clippers offense has struggled in the early going as they have scored five runs or less in 20 games this season, and are 5-0 when scoring more than five runs. The best news from the week was the recovery of right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco who was hit by a line drive on April 25 against the RailRiders. Go "sailing" with Cameron Weimer in his weekly Clippers notebook...
The Indians entered Wednesday’s game on a three-game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 33-5 in that span. For seemingly the first time all season the team has been able to get their offense and pitching staff on track at the same time. Bauer was not perfect Wednesday, but he kept the Phillies off of the board and Cleveland won again. Join Michael Goodman as he gives his Second Thoughts on the win and the team's sudden surge toward .500.
After a week hiatus, The Inside Pitch returns for a condensed half hour version of the show. Andrew and Jeff will discuss the Tribe and the hot bats in the lineup. They'll discuss the recent NFL draft and making sense out of the Browns selections. With any time remaining, they'll jump into the upcoming MLB draft.
What could top another dominating day from the man known as #WashTime, the top prospect in the system continuing to make his case for a quick promotion to Double-A, and even a former top prospect doing his best to mash his way back into the major league picture? How about winning a game in extra innings at the plate and behind it? To find out who our late-inning hero is tonight and to find the rest of the action from around the minor leagues, join Jim Piascik as he goes Around The Farm.
With a forecast that called for a potential Bauer outage, there was no short of electricity in the air at Progressive Field on Wednesday. The Indians offense powered their way to their fourth straight win as they shutout the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-0 to complete the two-game series sweep. In a matchup that featured former Tribe lefty Cliff Lee in one corner and Indians top prospect Trevor Bauer in the other, the past essentially met the future. Join Jim Berdysz as recaps Cleveland's 6-0 win.
The Lake County Captains posted a 3-5 record since last Wednesday, but things are looking better as the offense is starting to come alive and the bullpen has provided some good outings. The warmer climate seems to be helping the starting pitchers a bit too, as the rotation crafted some better outings. The bullpen, however, hasn’t been able to hold opponents back as too many leads have been blown by the relievers. Join the IBI's Stephanie Metzger in his weekly Captains notebook....
The Cleveland Indians can be really, really good and really, really bad, seemingly at the drop of a hat. With a pitching staff that has more questions than the riddler, and an offense that scores in bunches, or not at all, can this team put together enough to be a contender? Jim Pete takes a look at this enigmatic team from the Corner of Carnegie and Ontario, and what it may take to take the next step.
Today is the first “stock watch” of the 2013 season for players in the Indians’ minor league system. This report is a snapshot of a few players up and down the system and how their value may be decreasing or increasing as prospects. In today's report, Tony looks at all four levels in the Indians system and touches on the likes of Jeremy Hermida, Mike McDade, Preston Guilmet, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Moncrief, Jerrud Sabourin, Jordan Smith, Dorssys Paulino, Nellie Rodriguez and more.
The Cleveland Indians last night defeated their third straight Cy Young winner this season. Two-time award winner Roy Halladay took the mound for the Phillies at Progressive Field, but his stay would be brief as the hot-swinging Tribesman tagged the right-hander for eight runs and three homers in only three and two thirds innings of work. The Indians didn’t settle for that as they went on to score six more runs and hit four more bombs in a 14-2 blowout of the Phillies in their first interleague matchup of 2013.
Five games, 47 innings, and an aircraft carrier-load of notable performances. It wasn't easy, but, after exactly three and a third hours, the IBI's Arthur Kinney has boiled this crazy day in the Indians' minor league system down into this extended trip Around the Farm. Francisco Lindor, Cord Phelps and Will Roberts all had strong performances, so join Arthur as he recaps all the action in today's edition of ATF.
So much for that lack of offense, right? The Indians exploded for seven home runs as they earned a 14-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies Tuesday. The offense was not the only part of the team that impressed though as Zach McAllister pitched seven strong innings while only allowing two runs. Jojn the IBI's Jim Berdysz as he recaps all of the night's action from what proved to be a very memorable Tribe win.
The Akron Aeros began to turn around their season over the past week, winning four out of six and moving their overall record to 10-14. Sure, the team is still in last place in the Eastern League, but they did begin digging themselves out from their slow start. The pitching was a big key for Akron, though they also got some key contributions from the offense. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks it all down and go Launching Off With The Aeros.
In this week’s first edition of Minor Happenings this week, Tony takes a look at several pitchers throughout the organization. Right-hander Jordan Cooper has used last season’s late success as a springboard to a good start to this season and is starting to round into form as a solid pitching prospect, and he touches on where he has improved and what kind of future he may have. In addition to that he provides an update and outlook on Diasuke Matsuzaka, shares some comments made by the front office this past week on the likes of T.J. House, Trey Haley, Austin Adams and others, and also some insight and updates on the progress of the likes of Giovanni Soto, Bret Brach, Jacob Lee, Luis DeJesus and others.
Smoke Signals is back on the cyberwaves tonight from 10:00pm – 11:00pm EST. In tonight's episode, Tony and Jim discuss the Indians just completed 11-day nine-game road trip that they went 5-4 on, the Indians keystone combination of Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera and if they can get things going, Carlos Santana's breakout month and if his start is sustainable and if it is time to move him up in the lineup, Ubaldo Jimenez's and Corey Kluber's excellent outings the last two nights, and more.
Who was that masked man? That was not the Ubaldo we have all come to loathe, and to his credit he pitched a wonderful ballgame and helped the Indians cruise to a much needed 9-0 win and more importantly finish the road trip with a 5-4 record. Ryan Raburn got into the action and clubbed two home runs, Carlos Santana continues to sizzle, and Asdrubal Cabrera looks to be heating up. All of that and more in today's "second thoughts"...
The 2013 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!