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The Carolina Mudcats don't look all that good on paper, but Francisco Lindor makes it all better in the land of Carolina. Lindor has exploded offensively, and while there are some that says he still needs seasoning, the #1 prospect is making a case to be moved now. Join Jim Pete with his weekly Carolina Mudcats notebook, as he takes a close look at Lindor, and the rest of the Mudcats week.

A back and forth contest got out of hand late, as the Carolina Mudcats lost to the Frederick Keys 7-4 on Saturday night. The loss was the Mudcats third straight and their seventh out of their last ten, which dropped their record to 11-18 on the season.

It's only two games, but Matt LaPorta is doing his best to prove that he is all the way back after years of disappointment and injuries. The first baseman is making waves at Columbus and starting to turn some heads. On the other side of the spectrum, Francisco Lindor just continues to impress day-in and day-out, stating his case to move up with each great performance. For all this and more, join Arthur Kinney as he goes Around The Farm.

The Carolina Mudcats and Frederick Keys decided nine innings wasn’t enough time to decide a winner so they went extra innings. Unfortunately, the Mudcats were on the short end of a 4-3 loss to the Keys in 11 innings on Friday night at Five County Stadium.

On Thursday, Matt LaPorta came back to action in a big way, while one of the top pitching prospects in the Indians farm system had a huge day in Akron. On the opposite side, there was a rough outing in Columbus, but the bullpen was able to limit the damage. Contributor Andrew Zajac recaps all the minor league action from around the organization and takes you Around the Farm, after the jump...

The Carolina Mudcats fell behind early and did not get going offensively until it was too late to fall to the Potomac Nationals 5-1 on Thursday night. The loss drops the Mudcats record to 11-16 after the Nationals took three out of four games. Mudcats starting pitcher Cody Anderson struggled early but settled down to throw six innings, giving up 11 hits, five runs, all earned, with five strikeouts, one hit batsmen, but no batters walked.

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.

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.

Carolina Mudcats catcher Charlie Valerio’s second home run of the year came at just the right time. His tenth inning, game-winning home run lifted the Mudcats past the Potomac Nationals 3-2. With the win on Wednesday night, Carolina stopped a four-game slide. Owen Dew earned the win in relief for the Mudcats. The right-hander tossed a scoreless eighth inning and allowed just one hit. Jeff Johnson closed the ninth for his fifth save.

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.

Michael Taylor lined the game-winner off the left field wall in the bottom of the seventh as the Potomac Nationals rallied past the Carolina Mudcats 4-3 in game two. The walkoff, coupled with a 5-0 shutout in game one, earned a doubleheader sweep for the Nationals (12-13). The Mudcats (10-15) have lost four straight.

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.

The IBI Hot List is back for another week and ranks the hot (and some cold) performances in the Indians system over the past week. Last week saw LeVon Washington return with a fury with five hits on Saturday, Diasuke Matsuzaka looked to turn a corner, Preston Guilmet is squarely on the big league radar, Jordan Cooper is rising, Cord Phelps’ struggles continue, and much more. Tony ranks the good and bad performances and provides some commentary on each player.

The Carolina Mudcats took the field on Sunday afternoon in hopes of winning the weekend series against the Frederick Keys, but walked out 10-5 losers Sunday afternoon at Harry Grove Stadium.

FREDERICK- A back-and forth-battle got away from the Carolina Mudcats, who lost to the Frederick Keys 5-4 Saturday. Mudcats closer Jeff Johnson surrendered a one-out walk and a two-out double in the bottom of the ninth inning. With runners on second and third, Johnson gave up a two-out two RBI walk-off single. Those were the first runs surrendered by Johnson this year, and this was also his first blown save of the year.

Jordan Cooper tossed his best outing of the season as the Carolina Mudcats dominated the Frederick Keys 10-2 at Harry Grove Stadium on Friday night. The win is Carolina’s fourth in five games, and improves their record to 10-11. The Keys fall to an equal record, and under .500 for the first time this season.