Indians Prospect Insider

Justin Masterson is the staff ace, and his finally starting to look like it. Masterson dominated for seven, then gave the game to Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez. Two words for the resurgent Pittsburgh Pirates: GAME OVER. Michael Brantley also continues his MLB high hit streak to 22 games. Join Jim Berdysz for his "Second Thoughts" on Friday Night's masterpiece.

While the system got beat-down last night with four losses, a bunch of under-the-radar guys took center stage. Tyler Cannon continued his resurgence as a catcher in Carolina. Jordan Smith may be the least mentioned prospect in Lake County, but there's reason to believe he's be the first in Carolina. Today's headliner is a Cleveland native that just won't go away, and shouldn't. Check out Friday's Around the Farm, after the jump...

The Columbus Clippers lost a pair of games to the Gwinnett Braves Friday night. After winning the series opener Thursday, the Clippers lost a double header to the Braves, falling behind early in both games. Columbus lost game one of the double header, 4-0, in a shortened seven-inning contest. In game two, also seven innings, the Clippers fell, 8-3.

The Salem Red Sox scored six runs in the first two innings and defeated the Carolina Mudcats 10-4 on Friday night at LewisGale Field. Salem improves to 40-27, and remain two games back of Winston-Salem with two games left in the first half.

The Indians have been quite busy on the transactions front the past few weeks from the big league team down to Low-A Lake County. Several players have been promoted/demoted while others have been activated from injuries. Arthur Kinney is here is recap all of the activity...

Although the Captains (30-37) provided the post-game pyrotechnics Friday night at Classic Park, the in-game fireworks were courtesy of the Dayton Dragons (29-39). The Dragons cruised to a 9-3 victory, their eighth win in their last 12 contests.

The Reading Phillies scored five times in the seventh inning Saturday night to break open a tie ball game, easing their way to a 7-2 win over the Akron Aeros at First Energy Stadium. With the score tied 2-2, the Phillies (36-27) batted around in the fifth, scoring five runs on five hits off Akron starter T.J. House (4-2, 3.55), including a solo homer by catcher Sebastian Valle and a two-run double by right fielder Leandro Castro.

On Friday afternoon the Cleveland Indians announced that they have signed first round pick outfielder Tyler Naquin and second round pick right-handed pitcher Mitchell Brown to minor league contracts.

Maybe a day late, but never a dollar short, Tony has another Minor Happenings update that takes a look at the play of Jordan Smith at Low-A Lake County as well as the return of outfielders Bo Greenwell and Jordan Henry. He also gives updates on the adjustments, struggles, and improvements happening with other players like Russ Canzler, Adam Abraham, Mike Rayl, Zach MacPhee and others.

The Indians recently picked up a reliever off waivers from the Rockies who had an 8.06 ERA in 23 games and currently have 13 pitchers on the roster. They called up and then sent down Matt LaPorta after just 11 at bats. Lonnie Chisennall is struggling at third base and the outfield trio of Duncan, Damon and Cunningham have performed poorly all season. Adam McGavin chimes in with some thoughts on fixing the roster...

The Indians continue to be busy on the post-draft front as they have agreed to terms with two more players, one of which signed his contract yesterday and another that is expected to sign his today. Tony provides updates on those two players and also a few other players from the draft.

Triple-A Columbus right-handed starting pitcher Corey Kluber had another very good outing yesterday, High-A Carolina outfielder Bo Greenwell returned to active duty, and the Akron lineup just continues to find ways to win games even without the presence of a big prospect. Tony touches on all of that and more in today's "Around the Farm".

The Lake County Captains (30-36) had their hearts broken by the South Bend Silver Hawks (34-33) for the second consecutive night. One game after South Bend officially eliminated Lake County from playoff contention, the Silver Hawks, who are vying for the wild card spot themselves, won in extra innings 9-7.

On Thursday the Indians ended a once promising road trip in disappointing fashion as the Reds finished off a three-game sweep with a 12-5 mauling of the Tribe. Josh Tomlin was banged around, the bullpen got touched up again, and Votto-Phillips continued to torment the Indians. Kevin Dean shares his "second thoughts" on the game...

On a night where the game was long, hits were plentiful, and runs were few and far between, the Akron Aeros found a way to scrape past the New Britain Rock Cats 3-2 in 12 innings on Thursday night. The Aeros notched their second consecutive win behind a balanced attack from their offense, as eight of the ten Aeros batters had a hit, none bigger than the two delivered by Ben Copeland and Roberto Perez in the game’s final frame.

With a first half crown hanging in the balance, the Salem Red Sox scored four early runs, and held on for a 4-3 win over the Carolina Mudcats on Thursday night at Salem Memorial Ballpark. Carolina drops to 31-36 with the setback. Matt Barnes (5-1) once again shined for the Red Sox (39-27) who move to within two games of Winston-Salem for first place in the Southern Division. Barnes fanned nine hitters over five innings. The right-hander allowed one run on two hits.