Indians Prospect Insider

On a rainy, overcast day at Five County Stadium the Carolina Mudcats (6-8) and Myrtle Beach Pelicans (8-6) took the field for the third game of the series. A heavy rain storm that came through Zebulon delayed the game after the start of the second inning for an hour and 23 minutes. The delay would ultimately cut both the Mudcats and Pelicans starters’ nights short. But the rain would not cool of the Mudcats bats as they were able to crank out seven extra base hits in a 7-2 win over the Pelicans.

An offensive outburst propelled the Columbus Clippers past the Toledo Mud Hens Saturday night. The Clippers (10-6) used a six-run fourth inning to beat the Mud Hens, 12-6, in the first game of the series in Toledo after Friday night’s game against the Indianapolis Indians was rained out. Columbus had 19 hits in the game, including seven extra-base hits. The Clippers scored eight runs off Mud Hens’ starter Ramon Garcia (1-1), who only lasted four innings, while giving up 10 hits.

The Captains’ bullpen struggles continued on Saturday night as the Captains (4-12) dropped the rubber match 8-5 to the LumberKings (5-11). The LumberKings started the game with two runs in the first inning off of Captains starter Felix Sterling. Centerfielder Jamal Austin led off the game with a single and then stole second. Designated hitter Jabari Blash took a one out walk and then first baseman Ramon Morla singled to load the bases.

IPI draft guru Jeff Ellis gets us up to speed on Major League Baseball's First Year Player Draft which kicks up on June 4th. He provides some of he significant injuries in college and high school, who may go #1 overall, and who the Indians may target with their first pick. The draft is only about six weeks away!

The Indians beat the Athletics on Friday night by a score of 4-3 and remain red hot by winning six of their last seven games and are currently 6-1 on their nine-game west coast road trip. Jim Pete chimes in with some thoughts on last night's game with his running diary of the action as it happened.

It is Saturday morning, and that means it is time to recap another week of transactions up and down the Indians' system. Highlights of the week included LHP Nick Hagadone being recalled to Cleveland (where he probably should stay) and LHP David Huff starting his rehab assignment in Akron.

After suffering through a 10-game losing streak, the Lake County Captains finally set sail with a 7-0 win over the Clinton LumberJacks on Friday. All systems were go for the Captains as they were anchored by another quality start, while the offense caught fire and the bullpen found its niche.

The Carolina Mudcats blew a 5-4 lead in the ninth inning, as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans would use a comedy of Mudcats’ errors to win the game by a final score of 7-5. T.J. House took the mound for the Mudcats, coming off being named the Cleveland Indians minor league Player of the Week. The lefty entered the night having yet to yield an earned run through his first two starts, which extended over a period of 13 innings.

Jared Goedert continues to overwhelm the Eastern League with his bat. Tony Wolters has been woeful on offense in Carolina. A starter returned tonight, to Huff, and puff, and mow down the Reading Phillies. Kevin returns to IPI's original Around the Farm, a spotlight on several top prospects in the Indians' minor league system.

Despite leading 3-0 for seven and one-third innings, the Akron Aeros lost 4-3 in extra innings to the Reading Phillies after a rare implosion by the bullpen.Center fielder Tim Fedroff tripled to start the game against Reading, later scoring on a wild pitch by opposing starter Julio Rodriguez. After the wild pitch, first baseman Chun Chen walked and left fielder Nick Weglarz was hit by a pitch. The Aeros lineup failed to post another run in the first after second baseman Ryan Rohlinger struck out on a foul tip to the catcher.

Adam McGavin makes his debut on the IPI and in his first piece gives his thoughts on the Indians' signing of Johnny Damon. Adam discusses the dynamics of the signing and how the Indians are going to fit him into the lineup and give him the required at bats he needs, and why he can help the Indians' lineup.

It is Friday afternoon, which means it is time for our weekly "IPI on Site" feature here on the site. This week High-A Carolina catcher Jake Lowery joins the show and talks about his expectations for the 2012 season, the adjustments he is making behind the plate and at the plate, and lots more.

Steve Orbanek makes his IPI debut with a look into Double-A Akron catcher turned first baseman Chun Chen. After a breakthrough 2010 campaign a lot of people were excited about his potential with the bat at a premium position, but with his recent change to first base, Steve wonders what kind of Major League future Chen has.

Looking to bounce back after a disappointing road trip in which the Carolina Mudcats went 2-4, the Mudcats (6-6) took on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (6-6) on Thursday night at Five County stadium to open a four game series. The Mudcats were able to crawl back into the game after starter Micahel Goodnight struggled early. The Mudcats were down 5-1 after the top of the fourth but were able to come back and take the lead going into the ninth 6-5. Reliever Jordan Cooper wasn’t able to close the game out as he allowed two runs in the ninth which ultimately cost the Mudcats the game as they would end up losing 7-6.

Akron was off on Thursday, but Columbus, Carolina and Lake County were all in action. In today's IPI original "Around the Farm", Tony takes a look at the early season struggles of Tony Wolters and takes a deeper look into Lonnie Chisenhall's apparent "success" at Columbus so far. In addition to those two, updates on another 15 or so players are provided!

After dropping nine straight games, seven of which were at home, the Lake County Captains looked to change their luck as they hit the road to take on the Clinton LumberKings on Thursday night. The change in venue did not help as the Captains lost their tenth straight game, falling to Clinton by a score of 2-1. Starting for Lake County was Joe Colon, who had a rough outing in his previous start on Saturday when he surrendered six runs in 2.2 innings of work. This time around Colon was locked in as he provided the Captains with a stellar start allowing one run in six innings.