Today's Minor Happenings is stuffed with lots of updates from Tony on several players up and down the Indians minor league system. He talks about the red hot Russ Canzler and what his play of late may mean for a big league opportunity, the good pitching from Brett Brach, the pro debut of Tyler Naquin, and what is going on with Dillon Howard. He also provides several updates on the walking wounded in the system and updates on some of the things many other players are working on.
The Carolina Mudcats are halfway home, and trying to find their way. After a first half in which they got stuck int he mud, the Mudcats will be looking forward to a second half resurgence. Will the Muddies get some fresh blood moving forward, or will they continue to hunt for that right combination with the players they have? Take a look at the first half top fives, as Jim Pete goes fishing with the mudcats...
In this week's IPI Stock Watch, with the first half of the season coming to close Tony reviews the season to date and notes which players have improved or hurt the stock they had at the start of the season. In today's piece he makes note of several players at every level of the Indians' system, namely Cody Allen, Corey Kluber, Tim Fedroff, Steven Wright, Nick Weglarz, Tony Wolters, Will Roberts, Jordan Smith, Robel Garcia, Felix Sterling and many more.
Tony chimes in with his weekly "3 Up, 3 Down" feature with a different twist this week by noting his three “up” and three “down” performances at the Indians’ Single-A level this season, plus a few bonus players. As always, insight gathered from talking with scouts, coaches and executives inside and outside the organization are used when talking about each of these players: Cody Anderson, Shawn Armstrong, Kyle Blair, Alex Lavisky, Jake Lowery, Carlos Moncrief, Jeremie Tice, and LeVon Washington.
Seemingly out of the game, down five, the Carolina Mudcats put together a rally for the ages to beat the Salem Red Sox 14-8 on Sunday afternoon at LewisGale Field. The Mudcats scored 10 runs in the eighth, eight of those runs on eight hits with two outs. Tyler Sturdevant tossed a scoreless seventh for the win. The Mudcats finish the first half of the season 32-38, while Salem comes to the halfway point at 41-27-1.
Salem Red Sox produced several clutch hits en route to an 8-6 win over the Carolina Mudcats on Saturday night at LewisGale Field. Of their eight runs, six scored on two-out hits from Red Sox’s hitters. Salem improved to 9-1 against the Mudcats, and clinched the weekend series with one to play.
The Salem Red Sox scored six runs in the first two innings and defeated the Carolina Mudcats 10-4 on Friday night at LewisGale Field. Salem improves to 40-27, and remain two games back of Winston-Salem with two games left in the first half.
The Indians have been quite busy on the transactions front the past few weeks from the big league team down to Low-A Lake County. Several players have been promoted/demoted while others have been activated from injuries. Arthur Kinney is here is recap all of the activity...
Maybe a day late, but never a dollar short, Tony has another Minor Happenings update that takes a look at the play of Jordan Smith at Low-A Lake County as well as the return of outfielders Bo Greenwell and Jordan Henry. He also gives updates on the adjustments, struggles, and improvements happening with other players like Russ Canzler, Adam Abraham, Mike Rayl, Zach MacPhee and others.
With a first half crown hanging in the balance, the Salem Red Sox scored four early runs, and held on for a 4-3 win over the Carolina Mudcats on Thursday night at Salem Memorial Ballpark. Carolina drops to 31-36 with the setback. Matt Barnes (5-1) once again shined for the Red Sox (39-27) who move to within two games of Winston-Salem for first place in the Southern Division. Barnes fanned nine hitters over five innings. The right-hander allowed one run on two hits.
Kyle Blair stifled Lynchburg hitters, and the Carolina Mudcats’ offense pulled away for a 7-2 victory on Wednesday night at Lynchburg City Stadium. Three players had multi-hit efforts in the win for Carolina (31-35). Blair (5-1) earned his fourth straight winning decision, holding the Hillcats (35-31) to one run on two hits over five innings.
The Mudcats just can't put together a week in which it all clicks. They are close, yet so far away. With the all-star break on the horizon, the Mudcats are likely trying to figure things out going forward to make a run at the second half title. Check out this week's edition of Fishing for Mudcats with IPI's very own Jim Pete...
It is Wednesday, which means it is time to take stock on some of the 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. This week's report has 20 players and features the likes of David Huff, Tim Fedroff, Trevor Crowe, Kyle Bellows, Steven Wright, Bryce Stowell, Jeremie Tice, Jake Lowery, Will Roberts, Jordan Smith, Grant Sides, Shawn Morimando and others.
The Lynchburg Hillcats swept a twin bill from the Carolina Mudcats on a Tuesday night that featured delays for a threat of weather and a power outage at Lynchburg City Stadium. It marks the third time Carolina has dropped both games of a doubleheader.
A bit of a catch-up posting today in Minor Happenings as this bi-weekly column was absent last week due to the insane amount of draft coverage on the site. In today’s Happenings, Tony takes a look at the recent hot performances from right-hander Mason Radeke and designated hitter Jeremie Tice, gets some more post-draft comments from Brad Grant, and provides some updates on players like Tyler Holt, Shawn Morimando, Nick Weglarz, and others.
After a short hiatus due to the Memorial Day holiday and last week’s MLB Draft, it is time for another Monday edition of “3 Up, 3 Down”. This is a weekly premium feature on the site that focuses in on a few of the good and not so good performances from the past week in the Indians’ minor league system. Insight gathered from talking with scouts, coaches and executives inside and outside the organization are used when talking about each of these players. Today's featured players are Ezequiel Carrera, David Huff, Mason Radeke, Jerrud Sabourin, Giovanny Urshela, and Nick Weglarz,
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!
