Indians Prospect Insider

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.

Behind a strong outing by right-hander Chris Seddon, the Columbus Clippers got back in the win column Thursday afternoon. The starter threw six scoreless innings, leading the Clippers to a 4-0 victory over the Indianapolis Indians at Victory Field in Indianapolis. Columbus and Indianapolis split the first two games of the series, 5-1 and 3-4, respectively. Seddon (2-0) struck out five batters and walked none in his six innings of work.

It's time for another edition of the Happenings in the Cleveland Indians farm system. Today Tony talks about the hot hitting Jared Goedert and what he needs to do get a big league opportunity, has lots of quotes from Ross Atkins on the Low-A Lake County roster, gives an update on the health of LeVon Washington and others, and discusses lots of other players like House, Barnes, Diaz, Chisenhall, Tice, Sterling, Stowell and more!

The Captains are taking on water fast and sinking quickly during a current 9-game losing streak. The offense and pitching are in a funk where on the recent homestand they allowed 57 runs and scored only 23 runs in 7 games. Lianna Holub sorts it all out in her weekly review of the Lake County Captains.

Cord Phelps continues to hit well against Triple-A pitching, Mike Rayl put forth one of the best starting pitching performances in the Indians' system in the early stages of this season, Wright dazzled with his knuckleball, and lots more! It is the IPI's original "Around the Farm" which provides a snapshot of all the highlights from yesterday's minor league action.

The Akron Aeros completed a three-game series with the Bowie Baysox by celebrating a 4-3 win on Wednesday. Right-hander Steven Wright (2-1, 1.56 ERA) started for Akron. In his previous start against the Trenton Thunder last Friday he went a solid 5.2 innings and picked up a 2-1 win for the Aeros. In Wednesday night's game Wright allowed the first three Bowie batters to reach base in the first, but leadoff hitting right fielder Buck Britton was caught stealing third for the first out.

The Carolina Mudcats finally defeated the Wilmington Blue Rocks early on Wednesday after losing two straight games at Frawley Stadium. With a 1-0 shutout victory, Carolina improved to a record of 6-6 gaining some ground in the Southern Division of the Carolina League. The Mudcats’ solitary run came in the top of the fourth inning off Blue Rocks’ starting pitcher Jason Adam. Through three innings of work Adam had only allowed one hit while recording a strikeout and two walks. The first Mudcat Adam faced in the fourth inning was center fielder Tyler Holt who managed to reach base on an error by Blue Rocks’ third baseman Angel Franco.

The first week of the season brought an offensive onslaught that was unfamiliar to many frequent visitors to the Carolina League. Enter week two, which for the Mudcats, was a rough re-introduction to the pitching heavy league. Jim Pete returns with his weekly dose of 'Fishing for Mudcats,' the weekly Carolina Mudcats' notebook.

The West Michigan Whitecaps defeated the Lake County Captains 8-5 on Wednesday afternoon in Eastlake. The big inning was the ninth inning. The Whitecaps scored four runs in the ninth. The big hit in the inning was a one out double by Brandon Loy that gave West Michigan the lead 6-5. The Whitecaps tacked on two more and took the game 8-5. During the seven game home stand (all losses by the Captains) Lake County gave up twenty runs in the final frame.