Indians Prospect Insider

The Carolina Mudcats just haven't been able to find any sort of consistency in the first quarter of the season, and are slowly creeping down in the standings. This week's edition of Fishing for Mudcats takes a look at who's stepping up, and who's not, as we speed towards to all-star break...

It is Wednesday, which means it is time to take stock on some of the players in the Indians’ minor league system that are increasing their value and others that are dropping in value. In today's premium feature, Tony provides prospect stock tips on 20 players, including David Huff, Matt LaPorta, Jared Goedert, Eric Berger, Bryan Price, Kyle Bellows, Nick Weglarz, Trey Haley, Will Roberts, Michael Goodnight, Bryson Myles, Zach MacPhee and more!

Lake County was off, and Columbus, Akron and Carolina all got beat up pretty good. That said, this system has a slew of solid prospects, and as always, they performed well. At the top of ATF is a guy that is a bit of a sleeper at this point, but could still prove valuable as a right-handed bat. Jim takes a look at a player that's turned into a deep sleeper after a couple of years as a top prospect in another organization.

Playing at an unusually early time amidst bleak and dreary weather, the Columbus Clippers got off to a slow start Tuesday morning against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and didn’t get much better as the game went on. Columbus (21-24) fell to the Yankees, 6-2, in the finale of a four-game set between the two clubs. In defeat, the Clippers lose the series, 3-1, and are yet to win a series this month.

Scott Copeland held the Carolina Mudcats at bay through six innings, enough time for the Frederick Keys to pull away in a 6-1 victory on Tuesday night at Harry Grove Stadium. Copeland (2-3) held the Mudcats to one run, despite six hits. The right-hander walked two and struck out four. The Mudcats fall back to .500 at 22-22 with the setback. Frederick improves to 15-26.

The Trenton Thunder snapped the Akron Aeros’ four-game win streak with a 3-2 win at Waterfront Park on Tuesday. Right-hander Paulo Espino got the start for Akron against Trenton’s Vidal Nuno, who was making his debut with the Thunder. The Thunder struck first as centerfielder Abraham Almonte laced a lead-off single to center and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

Round 1 of the heavyweight battle between the two main contenders in the AL Central went to the Indians last night as they beat the Detroit Tigers by a score of 5-3. Ubaldo Jimenez dodged and weaved all night and got a win, but it was yet another dominant performance from the bullpen and some patient, timely hitting that led to another Indians win.

The Indians will be in first place at the end of June. Matt LaPorta should be on the 25-man roster. Choo should stay in the leadoff spot all year. Johnny Damon will stay with the Indians all season. Those are four hot talking points fans have discussed about the Indians of late, and Adam McGavin chimes in with why each of those statements are "right on" or "way off" in his latest.

In this week’s Minor Happenings, Tony provides a ton of updates on the walking wounded in the Indians system, players like Austin Adams, Tyler Sturdevant, Matt Packer, Chen Lee, and more. Also, he discusses how lefty T.J. McFarland looks ready for Triple-A, he provides some comments from the front office on some players at Low-A Lake County and extended spring training, and gives updates on several players like Ronny Rodriguez, Lonnie Chisenhall, Shawn Morimando, Michael Goodnight, and Thomas Neal.

Now with quotes! Jim Piascik takes a look once again at the dominant Akron Aeros, this time with assists from manager Chris Tremie and third baseman Kyle Bellows. They help him analyze a team that got help from surprising places and once again dominated the Eastern League.

Smoke Signals is back on the cyberwaves tonight from 10:00 – 11:00PM EST. Tonight, Tony and Jim will give some thoughts on round one of the Tigers-Indians battle which will go several rounds this season, discuss the recent inflammatory comments made by closer Chris Perez, talk about the hot button topic that is attendance, analyze the team at the quarter pole, and give some minor league updates.

The Carolina Mudcats scored 10 runs over the final four innings to pull away from the Frederick Keys 10-6 in front of 1,823 on a rainy Monday night at Harry Grove Stadium. The Mudcats improve to 22-21, and drop the Frederick Keys to 14-26 in the process. Will Roberts (2-2) earned his second winning decision by holding the Keys to four runs over six innings.

With speculation running amok with regards to Matt LaPorta, the beat goes on for the rest of the Indians' system here at ATF. In today's daily fix, Tony Wolters is slowly but surely creeping out of the offensive dungeon found in the Carolina League. Matt LaPorta is busy getting beaned multiple times, while Loek Van Mil has been rumored to have gained four inches and four MPH on his fastball. Our top spot on ATF goes to an apparent power-hitting third baseman, who's just lately found it. Check out who, after the jump...

The Akron Aeros downed the Trenton Thunder 5-1 on Monday thanks to the bat of Kyle Bellows and the formidable arms of the Aeros’ bullpen. Right-hander Brett Brach (1-1, 4.26) took the bump for Akron in his third start with the team against Trenton’s Brett Marshall (4-2, 2.98).

It took 11 innings on Monday night, but the Captains (22-22) finally broke through against the first-place Lansing Lugnuts (31-13), winning by a score of 2-1. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Lake County only hit one ball out of the infield. That play also resulted in their only out of the inning, a lineout to left field by shortstop Francisco Lindor.

Second inning heroics by the Scranton/WB Yankees put the Columbus Clippers in too much of a hole to climb back, and they lost on Monday night 9-6. After the Clippers tied the series with the Yankees on Sunday, they went into Monday night’s game looking to take command of the four game series. The Clippers sent right-hander Corey Kluber (3-4) to the mound and attempted to win consecutive games for the first time since May 5-8.