Indians Prospect Insider

It took extra innings, but the Columbus Clippers fell to the Scranton/Wilks-Barre Yankees Thursday afternoon, 4-3. The Clippers (17-16) dropped the finale of a four-game set with the Yankees (17-16), and with the loss, Scranton/WB took the series, 3-1. Columbus’ lone win came on Tuesday, 1-0, before the club dropped three-consecutive games for just the third time this season.

The Captains had their first winning week since their 10-game slide - all thanks to the pitching staff - and the team is coming closer to the .500 mark which seemed almost impossible a few weeks ago. Lianna Holub recaps the week that was for the Captains in her weekly notebook "On-Deck with the Captains".

In today’s week ending edition of Minor Happenings, Tony gives us an update on the happenings out in extended spring training with lots of information from the front office on some players currently playing out there. Also, Tony takes a look at the continued improvements being made by Jesus Aguilar and T.J. McFarland, Joe Colon’s value, Trevor Crowe’s health, the debut of Shawn Morimando, the impressive start for Adam Abraham and Jeremie Tice, and lots more.

Jeff Ellis is not happy. The Indians are 17-13, in first place, and just took a series over the weekend against the best team in the American League the last three years....yet no one is showing up for the games as the Indians are dead last in all of baseball in attendance. And by a LARGE margin. Jeff opines on the situation and why support goes hand-in-hand with fielding a competitive team.

The Indians were beat pretty good by the White Sox last night 8-1. The game was over early when the White Sox put up a 6-spot in the fourth inning, and with the red hot Jake Peavy pitching, the game was essentially over. Before the Indians move on to Boston today for the start of a four-game series, Charlie Adams has some "second thoughts" on last night's game.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby Carolina, as the Mudcats' rainout leaves tonight's ATF a game short. With that said, there was still time for a Luigi to take over the show in Lake County, while Francisco Lindor continues to make a case for Carolina. A starting pitcher named Colon makes an eight-inning statement, and he doesn't weight 350 lbs. But the headliner of tonight's Around the Farm was just about prospect royalty for the Tribe before injuries stole that away, or did it? Jim Pete showcases that very player, after the jump...

The Lake County Captains opened a seven game homestand with a 4-1 win over the Dayton Dragons on Wednesday night. Starter Joe Colon (3-3, 3.32) pitched eight strong innings, his longest outing of the season. He allowed one run on four hits. He walked three and struck out three batters. The Captains scored first in the second inning. Dragons’ starter Daniel Tuttle allowed a leadoff single to designated hitter Jordan Smith.

The Columbus Clippers faced the Scranton/WB Yankees Wednesday in their third game out of four in the series, and the Clippers fell to the Yankees in a close one, 2-1. Columbus was only able to put together two hits all night. The Clippers got a spot start from lefty Eric Berger (0-1) as the Yankees countered with Dellin Betances (2-2). Columbus struck first in this game, as in the top of the first inning with no outs second basemen Cord Phelps led the game off with his second homerun of the season to put the Clipps up 1-0.

Akron’s Nick Weglarz hit a pair of home runs and finished with four RBIs, Wednesday, but the Aeros fell to the Erie SeaWolves, 7-5, in the final game of a three-game series at Canal Park. The SeaWolves (14-17) avoided the sweep, and dealt Aeros starter Giovanni Soto (3-1) his first loss of the season. The Aeros (21-9) had a four-game winning streak snapped. Erie built a 7-0 lead in the game, starting with three runs in the fourth off Soto.

It's raining in Carolina, and it seems as though every other night has another Mudcats' game postponed. So tonight, as the Mudcats sit in their hotel rooms during the latest rainout, I give you another edition of Fishing for Mudcats. It's been a dominating week for the Muddies, as their 5-1 record has brought them within' 2 1/2 games of first place. Now, if we could just stop that rain...

It is Wednesday, which means it is time to take stock on some of the players in the Indians’ minor league system. In today's premium feature, Tony provides prospect stock tips on 20 players, including Cord Phelps, Russ Canzler, Jeremy Accardo, Corey Kluber, Chun Chen, T.J McFarland, T.J. House, Bryson Myles, Jordan Smith, Nick Bartolone, Rob Nixon and many more.

Justin Masterson is off to a slow start following his breakout 2011 campaign and changes to his delivery seem to be the cause. Brian La Shier examines the potential impact of Masterson’s mechanical adjustments and how they may help or hinder Cleveland’s ace.

You can never have too much quality starting pitching in any minor league system, and the Indians are starting to show some nice depth. On Tuesday night, several starters made an impact. Elvis Araujo had a crisp, short start for Lake County, while Francisco Jimenez went six strong for Carolina. David Huff threw a complete game shut out for Columbus, but was nudged out of the top ATF slot by another top pitching prospect here at IPI. Find out who, and a whole bunch more at IPI's Around the Farm, after the jump...

The Akron Aeros held the Erie SeaWolves to one run in 14 innings of baseball Tuesday night, capturing both ends of a doubleheader, 1-0, and 4-1, at Canal Park. The Aeros (21-8) won for the fourth straight time and improved to a season-high 13 games over .500. The friendly confines of Canal Park have also been favorable for the Aeros, who have won 13 of 16 at home. In the nightcap, the Aeros scored four runs in the first inning off Erie starter James Avery (4-2). Jared Goedert clubbed a two-run double, and Davis Stoneburner added a two-run triple, for a 4-0 lead.

The Columbus Clippers fell to the Scranton/WB Yankees 4-3 despite stringing together fourteen hits in the ball game. The Clippers sent Kevin Slowey (2-3) to the mound, and Scranton/WB countered with Adam Warren (2-1). Slowey picked up his third loss of the season after throwing five innings, giving up four runs, and striking out three Yankees batters.

The Lake County Captains rallied in the eighth inning to win the final game of the series against the Bowling Green Hot Rods 4-3 on Tuesday afternoon. It was a left-handed starter matchup with Elvis Araujo starting the game for the Captains against Felipe Rivero for the Hot Rods.