Tony%20Lastoria Archive

Coach's Corner returns to the IBI today for the 2013 season, and is a piece where Tony sits down with a coach in the Indians minor league system and really breaks down and discusses several players on the roster. He recently had a chance to sit down with High-A Carolina manager Dave Wallace and they talked in detail about the transition that Tony Wolters is making to catcher, his timeline, what he has impressed with so far, and what his early challenges are with the change. They also talked about the impressive work ethic of Francisco Lindor, the rapid growth of Cody Anderson, the showing to date of Tyler Naquin, the potential of Shawn Morimando, the pitching role changes for Michael Goodnight and Jordan Cooper, and more.

We settle in with the first Tuesday edition of Minor Happenings of the season today, and with that comes a pretty large update on several players in the system. Tony breaks down the encouraging start to the season by lefty T.J. House, how he has looked, what he needs to work on, and what the rest of the season may hold for him. In addition to that he has several comments and insight from the front office on players such as Jerrud Sabourin, Joey Wendle, Shawn Morimando, Bryson Myles, Rob Whitenack and more as well as a litany of injury updates on players such as LeVon Washington, Mason Radeke, Alex Monsalve, and more.

Smoke Signals is back on the cyberwaves tonight from 10:00pm – 11:00pm EST. In tonight's show, Tony and Jim will discuss the early returns in free agency for the Indians and how they have performed to date, the struggles of Jason Kipnis and what to do with him, the evolution of Justin Masterson that is happening right before our eyes, and some minor league talk with regard to the starting rotation options the Indians could maybe turn to at Columbus or even Akron.

It is Monday, and that means it is time to review some of the hot and some not so hot performances from the past week in the Indians' system. In this week's Hot List, Tony looks at a few starting pitching options in the upper levels of the system with the likes of Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, T.J. House and Danny Salazar that could soon be in Cleveland, the red hot bats of Logan Vick, Eric Haase, Giovanny Urshela, some concerns about Tyler Naquin, and much more.

The Indians have placed right-hander Brett Myers on the 15-day disabled list with a right arm injury and have called up right-hander Fernando Nieve from Triple-A Columbus. Corey Kluber has also been inserted into the rotation.

The Indians exploded for 19 runs on 22 hits on Saturday night against the Astros. It was a performance that was much needed, but going into the game there were several concerns with the offense. Tony touches on the offensive woes the first two weeks of the season, why today's start is a big one for Ubaldo Jimenez, what is going on with Brett Myers, Travis Hafner's hot start, and more!

Today’s Happenings focus in on the hot start of High-A Carolina second baseman Joey Wendle and Triple-A Columbus right-handed pitcher Fernando Nieve. How much is Wendle rising up the prospect ranks? Could Nieve be an option in Cleveland? Tony touches on that and also looks at the impressive approach that Low-A Lake County first baseman Nellie Rodriguez is showing, the clutch performance of Double-A Akron first baseman Jesus Aguilar, and much more on players like Tim Fedroff, Chun Chen, Owen Dew, Ryan Merritt and more.

The "Radar Report" returns this week, and Tony shares almost three dozen radar readings from players in the Indians' system that he has recorded over the past few weeks. This is a premium site feature which will post about once a month and provide the fastball - and at times the secondary velocities - and in this report he has the readings on several players such as Cody Anderson, Dillon Howard, Dylan Baker, Jacob Lee, Mitch Brown, Shawn Armstrong, Trevor Bauer, and almost 30 others.

On Wednesday afternoon the Cleveland Indians announced that right-handed pitcher Corey Kluber was recalled from Triple-A Columbus and outfielder Michael Bourn was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a lacerated right index finger (retroactive to April 15).

On Tuesday afternoon the Indians announced that they have recalled infielder Cord Phelps from Triple-A Columbus and optioned catcher Omir Santos to Columbus. The Indians also announced that right-handed pitcher Robert Whitenack cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Double-A Akron.

The IBI Hot List returns this week with the first edition recapping the hot performances to date in the Indians system. This listing is a quick rundown that ranks the hottest and some of the coldest players in the Indians system over the past seven days. Tony chimes in and provides some insight into the performances of players like Jerrud Sabourin, Joey Wendle, Trevor Bauer, Luis Morel, Preston Guilmet, LeVon Washington, Mitch Brown and many, many more.

Smoke Signals is back on the cyberwaves tonight from 10:00pm – 11:00pm EST. In tonight's show, the Tony and Jim discuss what transpired in the series opening game between the Indians and Red Sox, take a look at two pitchers going in different directions in Justin Masterson and Carlos Carrasco, the struggles of Jason Kipnis, what we have learned through the first two weeks of the season, and more!

With the minor league season coming up on the completion of its second week (already?) there are a lot of players not assigned to a full season affiliate at the moment that are either nursing injuries, rehabbing, or waiting around for an opportunity. In this re-post of a piece from last year, Tony provides all the details on what extended spring training is and what the players there can expect.

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Today the Indians announced that they have transferred right-handed pitcher Matt Albers from the paternity list to the family medical emergency list. They also announced that they have traded lefty Eric Berger in exchange for some much needed catching help in the upper minors.

Indians righty Carlos Carrasco is as talented as any pitcher in baseball, but his antics on Tuesday night show why he has yet to live up to his hype. Tony takes a look at his composure issues on the mound and his chances of pitching any meaningful innings in Cleveland this year, and he also touches on Jason Kipnis' struggles and if a change may be in store at second base, the catching carousel and more.