In his weekly Sunday morning notebook, Tony talks about the emergence of right-hander Zach McAllister as a viable starting pitching option for the Indians and how he helps add some much needed length (and insurance) to the rotation. He also touches on the injuries that are starting to mount up, whether it is time to cut bait on Damon, why Perez was right and wrong about what he said last weekend, and more!
Jared Goedert is proving to be some sort of minor league freak while Jeremie Tice continues to absolutely destroy the ball in the Carolina League and Tony Wolters has nearly completely his 2012 May resurgence. While all three shined brightly, and with Matt LaPorta knocking on ATF's door again, a catcher climbed atop Saturday's ATF mountain, and may be a hidden gem afterall. Jim Pete returns for his ATF stretch with Saturday's edition...
In the first game of a Memorial Weekend series on the road against the Lansing Lugnuts, the Lake County Captains were victorious, downing the first-place Lugnuts in a nail-biter 4-3. Right-hander Cody Anderson started on the hill for the Captains
The Akron Aeros fell behind early and the Erie SeaWolves (24-23) added on often to beat Akron 7-3. Brett Brach struggled out of the gate, failing to keep runners off base in his three and two-thirds innings of work, and the Aeros lead in the Western Division fell to three games, with second-place Harrisburg breathing down their neck.
The White Sox took the series in one of the craziest run-scoring games of the season. While the Indians offense never gave up, seven runs turned out to be less than half of what they needed, as the White Sox defeated the Indians, 14-7. Jim Berdysz returns to give his "Second Thoughts" on Saturday's ballgame.
Aside from a few starts, Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez have been anything but aces for the Cleveland Indians. With Derek Lowe, Jeanmar Gomez, Josh Tomlin and Zach McAllister carrying much of the load during the first quarter of the season, Adam McGavin takes a look at the identity forming, or lack thereoff, of the Indians' starting rotation.
Today the Indians announced that catcher Carlos Santana has been placed on Major League Baseball’s new 7-day disabled list for concussion. They purchases the contract of Triple-A Columbus catcher Luke Carlin and added him to the roster. To make room on the 40-man roster for Carlin, left-handed pitcher Rafael Perez has been transferred from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day Disabled List.
With a sweep of the Detroit Tigers fresh in their rearviewmirrors, the Cleveland Indians headed to Chicago for their next "most important series of the season." The White Sox entered Friday Night's game 3 1/2 games behind the Indians, in second place, and playing good baseball. The Robin Ventura-led White Sox showcased that play in a 9-3 defeat of the Indians. Jim Berdysz brings his Saturday Morning "Second Thoughts" on last night's ballgame.
The Columbus Clippers topped the Syracuse Chiefs Friday night 9-6 after stringing together nine runs on twelve hits. Columbus started LHP David Huff (3-1) picked up the win for the Clippers in Fridays game, and the Chiefs countered with LHP John Lannan (3-5). Centerfielder Jason Donald lead off the game in strong fashion hitting a leadoff homerun to give the Clippers the early lead.
The Carolina Mudcats (22-23) returned home following a rough road trip, where the Mudcats lost both series and compiled a 2-4 record, to take on the Winston Salem-Dash (25-19). The Mudcats fell to the Dash 7-5. Mudcat starter Francisco Jimenez found it hard to retire the lead off hitters in innings as three straight lead off home runs...
The Erie SeaWolves washed over the Akron Aeros as T.J. McFarland struggled to keep the Erie line-up at bay on Friday. McFarland, who was coming off an impressive start against Richmond in which he allowed 12 hits, but only one run, was looking to earn his ninth win of the year.
The Lake County Captains (24-23) used the fuel from two ejections in the first inning and a great pitching performance to win the final game of a three game series with the West Michigan Whitecaps (21-27), 7-4. Lake County loaded the bases in the first inning off of Whitecaps’ starter Tommy Collier (2-4, 3.04 ERA) with two hits and a walk. Rightfielder Jordan Smith was called out on strikes.
Jared Goedert is on one heck of a run this season and has quickly put him squarely back on the Major League radar. Even though he is learning a new position he has hit as good as he ever has in his career, and Tony talks about his hot start to date in today's Around the Farm. In addition to Goedert, an update on Thomas Neal and over 20 other players are also provided.
We are 11 days away and counting from the MLB Draft. With that in mind, over the next week and a half several draft related articles will be posting to the IPI with thoughts on the draft, mock drafts, and conversations with Brad Grant and others. Today, resident draft expert Jeff Ellis touches on what the Indians are predicted to do with their first pick and why it would be okay, and also who else he may consider there.
The 2013 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!
