The minor league season is now in full swing as all 120 full-season affiliates are now underway. The last six teams, including Indians High-A affiliate Carolina Mudcats, opened their season Friday. Join the IBI's Arthur Kinney as he takes a look back at the best and worst performances of the first night of full-bore, four-team Tribe minor league action...
The Akron Aeros experienced déjà vu Thursday, falling to the Binghamton Mets 2-1 for the second consecutive night at Canal Park. Once again, Akron's bats were quiet, combining to go 6-for-31 with four walks and 11 strikeouts. The team is now 11-for-63 with 21 strikeouts on the year, but manager Edwin Rodriguez is not worried just yet with the slow start.
The Akron Aeros dropped their season opener at Canal Park 2-1 to the Binghamton Mets. Highly-touted right-handed starter Danny Salazar went five innings, striking out five, walking two, and allowing two hits, and second baseman Jose Ramirez had two hits in the loss.
Opening night is here for the minor leagues. The Minor League Baseball season kicks off tonight as all of Triple-A Columbus, Double-A Akron and Low-A Lake County open their seasons. High-A Carolina has to wait a day as they open their season on Friday. We polled several of the site writers to get their take on things as the season gets ready to begin. Which affiliate and prospects are the most exciting? Who is due for a breakout? All of that and more are shared in the annual IBI roundtable...
The Akron Aeros will take the field at Canal Park Thursday night at 6:35 looking to repeat as Eastern League champions with a new owner in tow, a new state-of-the-art scoreboard and a new team loaded with young top prospects. Jim Piascik walks you through the team's very exciting outlook with quotes from Manager Edwin Rodriguez, as well as the players themselves.
Spring training wrapped up for the Indians on Saturday. Not only has the big league team broken camp and are on their way to Toronto for their opening day series which gets started on Tuesday, but about 100 minor leaguers are also in transit to Columbus, Akron, Zebulon and Eastlake to begin their minor league seasons which kick off on Thursday next week. Here are the rosters!
Finishing his series of looking at the Cleveland minor league system with varying adjectives, Jim Piascik lists the most intriguing prospects as we head into the 2013 season. Sometimes a pitcher lacks raw stuff but always seems to get results anyway. Sometimes prospects have ridiculous tools that simply have not translated into game action yet. Sometimes it's something else entirely. Find out who Jim thinks the most intriguing prospects are after the jump.
Continuing his series of looking at the Cleveland minor league system with varying adjectives, Jim Piascik lists the most impressive prospects as we head into the 2013 season. Some players are impressive with one or two standout tools, while others impress with their all-around game. What is most important is that these players can make you leave the park thinking about their performance more so than the rest of the team. Find out who Jim thinks these players are after the jump.
Continuing with the series he started last week, Jim Piascik lists the most exciting prospects in the organization headed into 2013. There are many ways to define exciting, but Jim looked all around the minor league system for players that simply jump off the field at you. Find out who made the list (along with the obvious, Jim's favorite minor leaguer, Dorssys Paulino) after the jump.
Minor league spring training is in full swing, and over the next few weeks players will work their way to make a full season roster. With the new season on the horizon, Tony takes a look at the upcoming decisions with players and how several players will be handled this season. From that you can really get a good feel for their prospect value and who may stick around in the organization this season.
Life in the pros consists of day-to-day opportunity. Each day a player treads across the dirt of the diamond, new opportunities surface. For Cleveland Indians’ right-hander Shawn Armstrong, opportunities lie in overlooked places. He had a banner season last year across three levels, and going into this season he is well on the Major League radar. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger recently sat down and talked with him and shares what he said in here latest.
The Akron Aeros celebrated an Eastern League Championship win last fall, and with a new season on the loom, they’re looking to win over fans with some ballpark improvements. One is the installation of a new state-of-the-art HD video scoreboard. Stephanie Metzger shares the details.
Rob Bryson has been creating some buzz this winter thanks to his outstanding performance in the Puerto Rican Winter League, but he is hardly ever mentioned when discussions arise about Major League relief pitching options. What does the future hold for Bryson, and does the right-handed pitcher have a future with the Indians? The IBI's Steve Orbanek looks back on Bryson's career in this week's edition of Then & Now.
The IPI's Steve Orbanek returns with the latest edition of Then & Now. Steve looks at promising left-hander Giovanni Soto, who is coming off a strong 2012 season with the Akron Aeros. Steve looks back at Soto's career and also touches on how Soto may be able to impact the Major League team moving forward.
The IPI's Steve Orbanek returns with a new edition of Then & Now. Thomas Neal put together a brilliant performance for the Akron Aeros this past season and was rewarded with a call up to Cleveland in September. However, Neal's playing time was quite limited, and there's no guarantee that the outfielder is in the Indians plans moving forward. Steve looks back at Neal's career and ponders the California native's future after the jump.
The IPI's Tony Lastoria recently had a chance to sit down and have a conversation with former Double-A Akron pitching coach and new Triple-A Columbus pitching coach Tony Arnold about some of the pitchers he had at Akron this past season. They talked about the strides made by the likes of T.J. House, Trey Haley, Preston Guilmet, Rob Bryson, Shawn Armstrong, Danny Salazar, Brett Brach, Toru Murata and others.
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!