The AZL Indians split a doubleheader with the AZL Dodgers last night, winning the first game 4-2 and dropping the second 3-1. Pitching was the name of the game for the Indians, as the starters were both high draft picks for the Tribe in the 2012 draft (2nd round pick Mitch Brown and 3rd round pick Kieran Lovegrove).
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.
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.
The AZL Indians officially began their post-Dorssys Paulino phase with a win on Tuesday night as they defeated the visiting AZL Dodgers by a final score of 7-6 in 11 innings. Paulino was called up to Mahoning Valley on Tuesday, but his former teammates put forth a strong effort to get the win.
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.
The minor league season is winding down, and the first of those season's that will end is the rookie level Arizona League Indians season who wrap up play in a little over a week. Sean Mahon chimes in with his second to last notebook of the season with observations and information from scouts on players like Mitch Brown, Dorssys Paulino, Caleb Hamrick, and lots more.
On Saturday night, two top Indians' prospects are finding their groove after struggling starts to the 2012 season as the Indians beat the Royals 5-1. Dillon Howard led off with his second straight promising start in August, while Felix Sterling rolled out his fourth straight dominating outing in relief of Howard. The AZL Indians need a run to make it to the playoffs, but boy, that pitching is starting to look really good. Check out how good, after the jump...
In this week’s second edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the outstanding season to date from shortstop Dorssys Paulino and ponders if he should be the Indians #1 rated prospect. In addition to that he runs down a gauntlet of injuries in the system with updates on LeVon Washington, Clayton Cook, Hector Rondon and others, plus a look at Matt LaPorta’s fade, Giovanny Urshela’s improved power, Matt Lawson’s future, the overlooked but impressive debut of Anthony Santander, and lots more!
The AZL Indians stayed hot with the bats on Thursday night resulting in an 8-4 win over the visiting AZL Brewers. Young right-hander Kieran Lovegrove got the start for the Indians and he bobbed and weaved around trouble all night allowing six hits and two walks in four innings, but only yielding two runs, one of which was earned.
The AZL Indians had a dominating 8-1 win over the visiting AZL Royals on Wednesday night. The offense was clicking with 15 hits, the pitching was great allowing one run on three hits, and the defense was sound not having any miscues.
In this week’s first edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at Tyler Sturdevant's return to form, where he is at in his recovery from injury, and his Major League potential in the near future. He also looks at the progress being made by promising young lefty Luis Lugo in Arizona, why Giovanni Soto was shut down, provides lots of comments from Ross Atkins on the trade deadline decision-making process, plus updates and information on players like Matt Langwell, Chun Chen, Ronny Rodriguez, Jose Ramirez, Robbie Aviles, Claudio Bautista, and more.
The youthful Tribe had all gears in motion on Monday night in a 10-2 beat down of the AZL Diamondbacks. Sean Mahon once again provides a firsthand update on the game action out in Arizona with insight into the performances of Doryss Paulino, Eric Haase, Tyler Booth, Claudio Bautista, Luis Lugo, Felix Sterling and others. Plus he has the news on when talented draftee Caleb Hamrick will make his pro debut out in the AZL.
The predominantly teenage Tribe went 4-2 on the week and while their defense was stagnated with errors early in the week, they cleaned their act up later with a pair of errorless showings. The offense was rolling, per usual, though the bullpen and eventually dropped games to the AZL Giants and A’s late in the week.
The AZL Indians bullpen couldn’t throw the shutout innings they needed in a back-and-forth game on Friday night. After starter Kieran Lovegrove threw 3 shutout innings, each pitcher after him surrendered at least a run. However, from an offensive standpoint, second baseman Claudio Bautista kept his hot hitting up with two hits and his 4th homer of the season.
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!