Indians Prospect Insider

Justin Masterson has been sensational so far this season, and while he was not on his A-game last night he still battled and worked his way through seven innings and hung around just long enough to earn the win. Asdrubal Cabrera came through with a big two-run single in the eighth inning to put the Indians up 3-2 and the Bullpen Mafia did the rest to preserve a much needed Tribe win against a division rival. The IBI's Kevin Dean shares his "second thoughts" on the game...

One thing is certain for the 2013 Akron Aeros. Every game so far has been, well, entertaining. That was little consolation for the Aeros Monday night, when they spotted the Trenton Thunder a seven-run head start, and ended up losing a high-octane shootout, 13-8, at Canal Park. The Aeros were hoping to build on the momentum of a win over Bowie on Sunday. The young Yankees prospects on the Thunder, however, had other ideas.

The Carolina Mudcats battled through the rain as they opened their series against the Potomac Nationals on Monday night with their first shutout of the season, winning 3-0 in the friendly confines of Five County Stadium.

Austin Adams made his second appearance since an injury and surgery kept him out of the entire 2012 season. Bryce Stowell continued his resurgence in Akron's bullpen, but is it too little, too late? Matt Langwell continued to dominate in his waltz through the Indians system, and Preston Guilmet followed suit. Join Jim Pete as he tours the Indians minor league system in IBI's nightly staple, Around the Farm.

Asdrubal Cabrera singled home two runs in the top of the eighth inning off Chicago reliever Matt Thornton as the Cleveland Indians beat the White Sox 3-2 in the opener of a three-game series. The win was the Indians third-straight, and kept the Indians ahead of the White Sox in the standings. Justin Masterson went seven innings, and rebounded from his only loss of the season to win his league-leading fourth game of the season.

The West Michigan Whitecaps scored two runs in the fifth and added two more in the eighth to pull away from the Lake County Captains en route to an 8-4 win on Monday night.

After losing three out of their last four to the Toledo Mud Hens, the Columbus Clippers were able to get a big victory on Monday morning, shutting out the Mud Hens for a 3-0 victory. Clippers’ starter Joe Martinez had a great bounce back start after a poor outing against the Louisville Bats on Wednesday of last week.

With nearly five months in the Indians organization under his belt, first baseman Mike McDade is finding comfort in his new surroundings. He spent all of 2012 in the Blue Jays farm system, but was put on waivers this past offseason and the Indians picked him up. The IBI's Ethan Day recently sat down to talk to him and gives the details how his adjustment is going with his new organization.

It is Monday, and that means it is time to review some of the hot and some not so hot performances from the past week in the Indians' system. In this week's Hot List, Tony looks at a few starting pitching options in the upper levels of the system with the likes of Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, T.J. House and Danny Salazar that could soon be in Cleveland, the red hot bats of Logan Vick, Eric Haase, Giovanny Urshela, some concerns about Tyler Naquin, and much more.

The Indians' offense has struggled significantly in the early going of the 2013 season, yet the team scored 26 runs in three games over the past weekend en route to a series win over the Houston Astros. Was this past weekend's performance just smoke and mirrors, or could the team's offense be ready to hit its stride? Join the IBI's Steve Orbanek as he ponders that thought in his weekly notebook, Notes from the Wigwam.

The Indians came in Sunday's game against the Houston Astros needing a win to take the series. They scored 19 runs on Saturday, which was impressive to say the least, but with Ubaldo Jimenez on the hill on Sunday, and the offense struggling overall, nothing was a given. Enter Mark Reynolds, with the bat and with the glove at third base, as the Indians took the game and the series. Join Jim Berdysz for his Sunday Second Thoughts...

The Indians minor league starting pitching had a banner night, with starters in Akron and Lake County pitching extremely well. T.J. House continued do dominate in Akron, and Jake Sisco and Dylan Baker both had outstanding nights in a doubleheader for Lake County. Which of the three were headliners in Sunday's games, and who else made the nightly ATF call here at IBI? Join Jim Pete, to find out the daily minor league scramble...

The Lake County Captains fell victim to a Sunday sweep as they lost both games of a double-header against the Great Lakes Loons. Both games were shortened to seven innings apiece, and both games featured solid pitching match-ups.

The Clippers managed only five hits on Sunday, as they were shutout 3-0 by Toledo Mud Hens starting pitcher Casey Crosby. The slumping Clippers have scored just 10 runs in the past six games, and are 1-5 in that span. Giovanni Soto, making his first start since August 7 of last year with Double-A Akron, didn’t last long.

Cleveland third baseman Mark Reynolds blasted his seventh home run of the season, one of four Tribe shots on the day, as the Indians beat the Houston Astros 5-4 on Sunday afternoon at Minute Maid Park. Reynolds hit a 3-2 pitch by former Indians reliever Hector Ambriz off the arches in left field to break a 4-4 tie.

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans scored seven runs over three innings to topple the Carolina Mudcats 9-5 on Sunday afternoon at Five County Stadium. The Pelicans take the four-game series by winning the final three. The Mudcats have dropped nine of their last 10 games.