As the season winds down for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, site columnist Andrew Zajac recaps the week that was, including notes on Luis DeJesus, Dorssys Paulino, Joe Wendle, Aaron Siliga, Jake Sisco, and more.
For Joe Sever, it was about more than just getting a big hit in the eighth inning with his team down a run. It was about pride. Just one batter earlier, the Scrappers best hitter Joey Wendle was intentionally walked with first base open to load the bases for Sever. That made it personal.
In today’s Minor Happenings, Tony looks at the very strong season that High-A Carolina third baseman Giovanny Urshela has had and the jump he has made as a prospect. He also touches on the season that Carolina right-handed pitcher Jordan Cooper has had and what it may mean for his future, provides lots of comments from Ross Atkins on some of their rising young Latin American stars, and provides injury updates and more on players like Lars Anderson, Adam Abraham, Carlos Moncrief, Tyler Naquin, and others.t
The days are getting shorter, the nights longer, the air crisper and cooler. You wouldn’t be wrong if you mistook it for football season. But before the men of autumn claim center stage for themselves, the boys of summer have a few finishing touches to put on their respective 2012 campaigns.
A night after a rain-soaked Eastwood Field forced a delay of the last Scrapper home stand, a clear and breezy August evening provided the perfect backdrop for a double dip with the Doubledays. For the Scrapper faithful, it may have looked like a different team than the one that they saw hit the road a week ago.
For the second straight night, the Scrappers fell in walk-off fashion as the Batavia Muckdogs used a 2-1 extra inning victory to finish off their sweep Thursday night.
This week in Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the conservative approach used by the Indians with Danny Salazar and why he has been impressive this season, the strides at the plate made by shortstop Ronny Rodriguez and why he has solidified himself as a top prospect, provide quotes from the front office on players at the rookie level Arizona level, and lots of insight and info on other players like T.J. McFarland, Preston Guilmet, Bo Greenwell, Jake Lowery, Aaron Siliga, Hector Rondon and many more.
Short season Single-A Mahoning Valley catcher/first baseman Charlie Valerio has had a breakout season as a prospect this year. He's proven to be a good performer and as a switch-hitter he offers up something unique as a prospect in the Indians' system. He is still learning all the nuances that go into catching, and he shares how that is going and more in Stephanie Metzger's latest.
The Scrappers just keep finding new ways to lose. After dropping the first in their series against Batavia Monday, it looked like they would squeak by in the second as they carried a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth. It wasn’t to be, however, as a Muckdog rally aided by a costly error was enough to propel them past the Scrappers 3-2.
Tony chimes in with a new edition of the IPI Hot List, a piece that will become a weekly staple next season and ranks the top 20 performances in the Indians' system from the past seven days. In no way does it rank or list players based on value; it is simply a snapshot of the top 20 performances from the past week without any discrimination regarding whether a player is a prospect or not. In this week's list Tony provides insight and updates on players like Cord Phelps, Danny Salazar, Dorssys Paulino, Mitch Brown, Mason Radeke, Rob Nixon, Ronny Rodriguez, David Huff, Anthony Santander, and lots of others.
A four run second inning was all the Muckdogs needed Tuesday, winning 4-1 and delivering the Scrappers their fifth loss in six days. Luis Morel got the start for the Scrappers, and pitched well were it not for the disastrous second inning.
The IPI has learned that the Indians have promoted rookie level Arizona shortstop Dorssys Paulino to short season Single-A Mahoning Valley. The move has not yet been made official by the Indians, he supposedly left Arizona yesterday and should join Mahoning Valley this week, likely in Batavia today or tomorrow.
Just a night after the Scrappers emerged walk off winners in a fourteen inning half-marathon, the Scrappers delivered a decidedly lackluster outing, losing 8-4 to the Jamestown Jammers The fan of zany stats could have had a field day with this one. The Scrappers had five hits on the night, which is also the number of errors they committed.
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!