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When you’re mired in a slump, the bat can feel like a lead pipe in big situations. The Scrapper offense must have been collectively swinging what felt like a thirty pound lead pipe, and they must have exchanged the lead for an old fashioned piece of lumber Thursday, though, as the big hits finally came multiple times, and helped give the Scrappers a big come-from-behind 6-5 win against the State College Spikes.

Indians 2012 first round pick outfielder Tyler Naquin is off to a good start to his professional debut with short season Single-A Mahoning Valley. But it is not just his performance on the field with his bat, arm and hustle that makes him so endearing, it is his attitude and determination that have already earned big points with Indians staffers and fans.

It appeared that the Scrappers offense was poised to break out of their early season slump after showing some positive signs on Tuesday. Looks can be deceiving. The offense provided little positive to talk about on Wednesday, and despite solid pitching efforts, the Scrappers dropped their fifth game in six nights, losing 2-1 to the Williamsport Crosscutters.

After a five game freefall, the Scrappers hope to have put their early season struggles behind them, picking up a big 6-2 win against the Crosscutters on Tuesday night. The offense didn’t waste any time putting runs on the board, plating five in the first two innings. Juan Romero was the first to strike, driving a ball into the Scrapper bullpen in right field to give the Scrappers a 2-0 advantage.

In this week’s first edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the continued good performance of lefty T.J. McFarland and what his value may be going forward, shares tons of comments from the Indians front office on players up and down their minor league system, gives an update on the status of Jason Knapp, and provides all kinds of updates on other players like Kevin Slowey, Jeremie Tice, Russ Canzler, Loek Van Mil, Carlos Moncrief, Steven Wright, Anthony Gallas, Francisco Lindor, Ryan Merritt, Dorsyss Paulino and more.

After losing four straight, the Scrappers hoped a return to Eastwood Field would provide some much needed home-cooking. Despite a second straight strong start from Luis Dejesus , the Scrappers offense was unable to generate enough offense to give him a win as they lost 3-2 and dropped their record to 2-6 on the season.

On a perfect night at Penn State University, Mahoning Valley played its best game yet against the State College Spikes. An exciting game which came down to the final at bat, Mahoning Valley's 9th inning rally fell just short when Jairo Kelly grounded out against Spikes' releiver Pat Ludwig to end the game. The Scrappers (2-5) ended their series with the State College Spikes with nothing to show for it getting swept in four outings.

The Indians made lots of moves up and down the system from rookie level Arizona to the big league team in Cleveland, and Arthur Kinney is here to recap it all in his latest rundown of the transactions here at the IPI.

Mahoning Valley's offense struggled again on the road against the second opponent they've faced this year. The result was a 4-0 loss on Friday night to the State College Spikes, the short season Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Scrappers' lost their second straight game due to a lack of offense, and for the fourth consecutive game the Scrappers' failed to score more than two runs against their opponent.

The Radar Report is back with lots of gun readings on several Indians' prospects. This is a premium site feature which posts about once a month and provides the fastball and secondary velocities of players in the Indians' organization that I see. This week's report includes tons of information on Lake County pitchers and some of the new pitchers in Mahoning Valley.

As expected, the Indians made made several roster moves today throughout their minor league system. With the start of the second half for the full season Single-A teams and the start of short season leagues, this is usually a time where there is a lot of movement. Tony recaps the flurry of roster moves....after the jump...

The Indians short season Single-A affiliate the Mahoning Valley Scrappers have officially kicked off their 2012 season. Their season is only four games old, but "Scrapperbook" author Andrew Zajac touches on his first impressions of first round pick Tyler Naquin, some of the other notable Scrapper players, and more!

It was a picture perfect night for baseball as the Scrappers looked to take the final game of their opening home-and-home series against the Jamestown Jammers Thursday. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t a sign of good things to come for the Scrappers, as they fell to the Jammers 6-2.

After a long winter and, for many guys, an extended stay in Arizona, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers finally got to experience their own opening day majesty as they won an exciting extra inning affair 2-1 over the Jamestown Jammers. Toeing the rubber for the Scrappers was Luis Dejesus, recently assigned to Mahoning Valley after a short stint in Lake County.

Juan Romero continued his dominant streak amid a heartbreaking loss for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers on Tuesday night. The Scrappers faced off with the Jamestown Jammers in their second game of the season, but the outcome was not what the Scrappers expected as they struggled to gain offensive momentum and get on base, losing 3-1.

The Clevelvand Indians Single-A farm team, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, opened their season on Monday night against the Jamestown Jammers. Excitement surrounded the Scrappers' season opener as they signed their number one draft pick outfielder Tyler Naquin on Friday. Overwhelmed with positive emotions, Mahoning Valley started off the season the way they wanted to with an 8-5 victory over the Miami Marlins' single-A farm team, the Jamestown Jammers.