Indians Prospect Insider

Change is inevitable in the game of professional baseball, and for Double-A Akron outfielder Quincy Latimore, the changes started from the bottom – literally. Latimore, who was formerly a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, was required to wear his pants down over his socks before he joined the Cleveland Indians’ farm system. Now, he’s done away with the high socks and joined a new team.

On Monday, the Cleveland Indians sent third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall down to Triple-A Columbus. The move came across as somewhat surprising, but should it have been? Chisenhall has struggled mightily so far in his Major League career, so maybe we should have all seen it coming. Join the IBI's Steve Orbanek as he looks back at Chisenhall and his demotion in this week's edition of Orbiting Cleveland.

The Crushers are ready to start the regular season after two weeks of spring training. They will be taking on the Gateway Grizzlies in the home opener tonight, and will be doing so with an almost entirely different roster. Just as with any offseason in the Frontier League, the Crushers’ roster faced a lot of turnover as only seven of the ten players in camp from last season made the final roster. The IBI's Kyle Ferrara previews the 2013 version of the Lake Erie Crushers...

Is it time to start believing in this Indians team or should we wait to see whether or not this is just another optical illusion as we've seen at the start of the last two seasons? Was sending Lonnie Chisenhall and Nick Hagadone to AAA Columbus the right move? Is Trevor Bauer close to a permanent big league call-up? Will Brett Myers have any significant impact when he returns from injury? All this and more will be answered in this week's episode.

Manager Jeff Isom and his 24 Lake Erie Crushers players will drive up to All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon Friday, just like they have for the past two weeks. They will loosen their arms, stretch and listen to music. Just like they have for the past two weeks. But unlike the past two weeks, the team will take the field at 7:05 in front of a packed house on fireworks night to welcome baseball back to the community.

Setting aside a few torturous offensive performances at the beginning of the week including both parts of the doubleheader against the Yankees as well as the first game in Philadelphia, the Indians have been absolute must-watch television. With the Indians reaching the quarter pole tonight, it is time to reflect back on what the Indians have shown this season compared to the fool's gold from last season. The IBI's Michael Hattery shares his second thoughts on an Indians off day...

Wednesday night, Jim Piascik complained about the lack of pitching throughout the minor league system. The pitchers in Columbus used that as fuel Thursday night, turning in a dominant collective appearance as they led the Clippers to victory. Okay, while using it as fuel is unlikely, the dominant pitching did happen. That effort was not enough to take the top spot, however, as a few top prospects in Carolina continued their push to get promoted quicker than anyone expected. Find out who these top prospects are and everything else that happened in the minors last night and go Around The Farm.

After falling to the Lugnuts on Tuesday 7-4 and dominating them 13-4 on Wednesday, the Captains could not close the series with a victory Thursday and fell to the Lugnuts 6-2.

The Columbus Clippers needed eleven innings to pick up their second win of the series against the Syracuse Chiefs 4-2 on Thursday Night. The win gives the Clippers the lead in the series, 2-1.

The Carolina Mudcats may have been down late in the bottom of the ninth, but they were not ready to roll over and extend their losing streak just yet. With Naquin on third and Lindor standing on second, backup catcher Ryan Battaglia singled to shallow left field and both Naquin and Lindor were waved around to score to give Carolina the 5-4 win.

A sports hernia is an often-misdiagnosed tearing of the oblique abdominal muscles. At least that is what the good people at sportshernia.com tell me. Akron Aeros right-hander Trey Haley managed to pitch through the pain of a misdiagnosed sport hernia over parts of the previous three seasons -- in particular last season. When he was shut down for surgery in early June, he owned a 1.26 ERA in 14.1 innings. After finding a way to perform with great amounts of pain, Haley told Jim Piascik that he is happy to be in Akron and is just looking to be consistent in 2013.

In this week’s week-ending edition of Minor Happenings, Tony provides a bevy of updates on the walking wounded in the Indians system with players such as Alex Monsalve, Chen-Chang Lee, Shawn Armstrong, Joey Wendle and a half a dozen others. On top of that he provides several comments and insight from the Indians front office on players at Low-A Lake County like Anthony Santander, Eric Haase and others. He also touches on the recent good play of outfielder Tim Fedroff and his big league chances, and provides insight and analysis on the likes of Jeremy Hermida, Jesus Aguilar, Cody Anderson, Jeremy Lucas and others.

The Columbus Clippers finished their sixth week of the season capturing five wins in the seven games played. The Clippers are 22-18 on the year and had their best week of the season posting a 5-2 record. The IBI's Cameron Weimer recaps the week that was for the Clippers.

After a week hiatus, The Inside Pitch returns. Andrew and Jeff will discuss the recent successes of the Tribe, what to do with Trevor Bauer and Lonnie Chisenhall, and the season looking forward. They'll also discuss the upcoming MLB draft. Who are players on the rise? What will the top five look like? Finally, what players are potential targets for the Indians at number five?

The Indians had either won or tied eight straight series heading into Wednesday’s game against the Phillies. Needing a win to keep that streak alive, the Indians relied on Corey Kluber, who was coming off a start in which he gave up eight runs in only 4.2 innings against the Detroit Tigers. Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels made his second career start against the Indians and faced a lineup that was without starters Michael Bourn and Michael Brantley. Join Michael Goodman as he gives his Second Thoughts on the win.

If you like great pitching performances, then you might want to avert your eyes from last night in the Cleveland organization. The pitching at each of the affiliates left something to be desired, leaving the onus on the offense to make something happen. Some teams did better than others, especially a sometimes-forgotten outfielder in Lake County. To find out who this is and all you need to know about what happened in the minor leagues last night, join Jim Piascik go Around The Farm.