Say hello to your first place Indians. That's right ladies and gentlemen, after taking two of three from the first place Detroit Tigers, the Cleveland Indians have joined Detroit at the top of the standings in the A.L. Central with a 20-15 record. The Indians are 6-1 since last week's episode of CSI, which matched their 6-1 record the week prior. With Michael Bourn returning, are we finally seeing who this Cleveland Indians team really is, or have they yet to reach their ceiling?
We are about a month until the 2013 MLB Draft and things are starting to crystallize. The top two picks are all but confirmed to be Mark Appel and Jonathan Gray, though the order they are taken is yet to be determined and won't be known until draft night. Both Appel and Gray will be redrafts, and IBI draft guru Jeff Ellis discusses four former Indians picks that should be redrafts in the top ten rounds this year.
The Indians are rolling as they have won 11 of their last 13 games, and one of the players that has had a big impact to their strong play has been the powerful bat of Mark Reynolds. Tony discusses the impact he has made and what options (if any) the Indians have of resigning him. He also takes a look at how Brett Myers is progressing in his return from injury and how the Indians may reinsert him into the rotation, he catches us all up on some old friends, and more.
It was a nail biter in the heart of Motown Saturday night, as the Tribe snuck by their Central Division rival Detroit Tigers, 7-6. What looked to be an easy win against ace Justin Verlander with Cleveland up 6-1 in the seventh inning, ultimately fell apart late by the Indians bullpen.
There was plenty of action to recap Saturday night in the various Indians minor league affiliates. Carlos Carrasco and Dylan Baker both had impressive starting pitching performances for their respective clubs while Cord Phelps continued to show signs that he could be coming around at the plate. Join the IBI's Steve Orbanek as he recaps all the action and takes you Around the Farm.
ROCHESTER, NY – The Columbus Clippers took two games against the Rochester Red Wings in a doubleheader Saturday—taking a 2-0 lead in the series with their third game tomorrow.
BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY- The Lake County Captains (12-20) used two home runs and a two-hitter by the pitching staff to take game one over the Bowling Green Hot Rods (21-12) by a final score of 6-1 on Saturday night.
ZEBULON – The Carolina Mudcats lost a heartbreaker to the Lynchburg Hillcats at Five County Stadium on Saturday night 9-8. Carolina grabbed a big lead early, allowed the Hillcats to tie it up by the middle of the game, and allowed Lynchburg to take the lead late. The Mudcats led 5-1 before allowing eight unanswered runs. The loss dropped the Mudcats record to 13-22 on the year.
READING- The Akron Aeros got their night started off with, what else, a rain delay. After last night’s game was suspended after seven innings due to rain, the Aeros and Fighting Phils were set to make up the final two innings in at 5:35 ET. The start of that game was delayed until about 6:40 pm, but eventually they were able to complete the seemingly endless affair.
The IBI Digest catches you up on anything you might have missed over the past week at Indians Baseball Insider and also notes some of the more popular columns posted at the major news sites and blogs.
In the second week of May one thing is clear, Mark Reynolds was one of the five best acquisitions in baseball this past offseason. Just based on WAR value to date, Reynolds’ 1.3 wins would be worth $6.3 million dollars. More importantly, Reynolds has been one of the best players in baseball through the first month which raises a few questions that should be addressed: how long will this rate of production continue, should the Indians extend him, at what cost, and how will his line look at the end of the season? The IBI's Michael Hattery touches on that as well as a few other topics!
The Indians came into the Motor City riding a four-game winning streak and coming off a sweep against the A’s. They were turning some heads nationwide having won 10 of their last 11 games and leading the league in many statistical categories rocketing them up to one game behind division-leading Detroit. And what happened? Well, the Tigers let the high-flying Tribe know why they are leading the division. The IBI's Jake Dungan provides his second thoughts on the Tigers thumping of the Indians.
It was a quiet night in the farm system as two games were washed away and another was suspended late in the game leaving just Carolina who managed to play a complete nine inning game. The IBI's Arthur Kinney recaps the night and touches on some of the performances in Carolina and what happened in Akron before their game was delayed.
Coming off a double header sweep of the Salem Sox on Thursday, the Carolina Mudcats returned to Five County Stadium on Friday night to face off against the Lynchburg Hillcats looking to extend the winning streak to three games. With the stars of Lizard Lick Towing in attendance, the Mudcats were not able to do that however, falling to the Hillcats by a final score of 10-3.
Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera both slugged home runs off Cleveland starter Corey Kluber as the Tigers beat the Indians 10-4. After Cleveland held a 1-0 first-inning lead, the Tigers plated three runs in the bottom of the second and never looked back. The game was the first of several matchups on the year between the two clubs, and the Tigers took round one.
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!
