Indians Prospect Insider

As noted in the message board last night, RHP Randy Newsom was promoted to Triple-A Columbus today, and he takes the place of INF Andy Cannizaro who was transferred to Mahoning Valley. Also RHP Paolo Espino was transferred back to Low-A Lake County, and RHP Steven Wright was moved off the Mahoning Valley list. Espino had been added to the Akron roster for bullpen help and Wright was sent to Mahoning...

Left-hander David Huff is a high profile draft pick selected by the Indians in the 1st round of the 2006 Draft who really broke onto the scene last year. After going 11-5 with a 2.52 ERA in 27 combined starts at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Buffalo in 2008, he solidified himself as a top starting pitching prospect in all of baseball ready to take the leap to the big leagues sometime this season.

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Akron and Kinston were off on Monday.
Clippers Lose 9-6
Columbus was buried early and in a 9-2 hole through seven innings, though did put up a fight late scoring four runs in the final two innings to close the scoring and put the final score into the books at 9-6.
It was not a good night for right-hander Kirk Saarloos who in five innings allowed ten hits, eight runs (six earned),...

The International League announced today that Matt LaPorta was selected as Player of the Week for 4/20-4/26. For the week, the Clipper outfielder hit .520, leading the International League with 13 hits, 10 runs scored, and a .613 on-base percentage. LaPorta hit safely in all seven games for the week, including four multi-hit efforts. He homered in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday against Indianapolis,...

The Kinston Indians have swept the Carolina League Weekly Awards for the second straight week! Eastern North Carolina native Lonnie Chisenhall is the Carolina League Player of the Week and Eric Berger is the CL Pitcher of the Week!
Newport native Lonnie Chisenhall had a monster week at the plate hitting .333 (10-30) with three home runs and 15 RBI. Chisenhall hit a home run in three straight...

Hey, everyone. Wanted to just say thanks for reading my column and wanted to explain what this column will focus on every week. Most fans know the names of the AA and AAA players in the Indians minors, so this area will be reserved for players who are in A (hence the title). Now, I don’t get to see most of these players in person, so in general every week will be a more statistical look at prospects...

Clippers Lose Game In Late Innings
The Columbus Clippers were clear sailing to victory during the first seven and two third innings, then the seas got rough and everything seemed to go wrong. Five runs with two outs in the eighth inning by the Indianapolis Indians highlighted a 5-4 defeat Sunday afternoon.
Clippers starter Tomo Ohka pitched six dazzling innings, allowing only two hits...

Yesterday, with the Curve/Aeros game scheduled for 1:35 p.m., the Lake County Captains had the northeastern Ohio minor-league market to themselves in the evening hours, as the Captains hosted the Delmarva Shorebirds in the final game of a three-game series. While the box score indicates that the Shorebirds prevailed, 4-1, the box score does not tell the whole story …
Russell Young: In my...

LaPorta Powers Columbus To 6-3 Win
Matt LaPorta and David Huff carried the Columbus Clippers to their first back to back wins at Huntington Park, defeating the Indianapolis Indians 6-3 Saturday night . Huff pitched six innings, allowing only four hits and three runs with seven strikeouts and two walks. Two hits and all three runs came in the second inning when Huff walked Steve Pearce then...

Lake County first baseman Chris Nash is hoping to turn things around this season.
Nash had a promising season in 2007 where he hit .303 with 3 HR, 33 RBI and had an .806 OPS in 63 combined games with short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley and the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Indians. He went into the 2008 season as one of the up-and-coming young prospects in the organization, but once he...

Columbus Pounds Out 9-7 Win
Columbus got a hard fought 9-7 win on Friday night, getting very good starting pitching and lots of offense in a game that was not as close as the final score indicated. Some bullpen issues late in the game made it a lot closer than it should have been.
Right-hander Jack Cassel got the win and was very good going seven innings allowing just two runs, six...

Tonight, I had the opportunity to travel to Canal Park to watch the Aeros play host to the Altoona Curve in the first game of a four-game series. While the box score indicates that the Aeros prevailed, 9-5, the box score does not tell the whole story …
Jose Constanza: Yes, Constanza went 1 for 3 and drove in a team- and game-high four runs, three of which came on a bases-clearing double that,...

The domino effect from the Tony Sipp callup to Cleveland continues. With RHP Josh Judy being promoted from Kinston to Akron yesterday, the Indians activated RHP Mike Pontius from extended spring training.

"Minor Happenings" covers the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that cover each team.
Lots to cover this week. In case you missed them, earlier...

Clippers lose lead late
Indianapolis scored a run in each of the first two innings before Columbus tied it up in the bottom half of the second inning. Jordan Brown and Chris Giminez hit two straight singles with one out and then Josh Barfield hit a double, driving in Brown. Stephen Head also hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Giminez.
Indianapolis took the lead again in the top half of the...

Today, RHP Greg Aquino was placed on the Columbus disabled list and LHP Zach Jackson replaced him on the roster. With RHP Scott Roehl leaving Akron and joining Columbus, the Indians filled his vacant spot in the bullpen by promoting RHP Josh Judy from Kinston to Akron.