Indians Prospect Insider

The Lake County Captains made the long bus ride from Comstock Park, MI. to Bowling Green, KY. after defeating the West Michigan Whitecaps 9-2 Friday night. The team knew it would be traveling without shortstop Francisco Lindor, who instead went to Kansas City to take part in the Futures Game. Unfortunately, the Captains also forgot their bats on the ride south.

On what was a hot, sticky Saturday evening, the Scrappers were able to pick up an opening series win against the Connecticut Tigers, winning 5-3.Indians 2012 tenth round pick Josh Martin took th e bump to make his first professional start. Martin was called on to spot start in place of Robbie Aviles, who was away from the team addressing family issues.

After the Akron Aeros got on the board early in the first inning, the Bowie Baysox scored seven unanswered runs to defeat the Aeros, 7-1, in the opener of a three-game series at Prince George’s Stadium. Akron continued its struggles just games before the Eastern League All-Star break. The Aeros have now dropped nine of their last 12 games and have just a 2.5 game lead in the EL Western Division.

Jacob Lee and Louis Head continue to dominate the New York/Penn League and are making a case to be considered elite relievers in the system. Steven Wright's knuckleball needs to start knuckling again. Jeremie Tice has hits now in 12 of his 13 total games. Tonight's ATF leader is a guy that many probably have never heard of, but he's been playing well of late, and makes his first headlining appearance under my watch...after the jump...

The Indians middling at or near .500, and July has turned into a battling ground to find out whether or not they are a legit contender, or just a small market failure. With Grady Sizemore and Roberto Hernandez out of sight/out of mind, and with Carlos Santana in site and struggling, can the Tribe stop being a .500 team, and become something more? Join Jim Pete for his weekly rendition at the Corner of Carnegie and Ontario...

With all of the trade speculation swirling in Tribe nation about the best right-handed hitting options on the trade market, few have given much thought to targeting a starter or reliever. However, there is a better chance of the Indians landing a middle-reliever or middle of the rotation starter in a savvy, understated trade, than fleecing an unsuspecting seller who has a power-hitting righty for sale.

The Indians signed another player yesterday, which puts them up to 22 players that have been signed or agreed to terms (only 20 have "officially" signed). Tony gives the 411 on the new signing as well as an update on another player that is expected to soon sign, some stuff on their unsigned high profile picks, and more.

The Indians entered Friday Night's contest coming off a big opening series win and with their staff ace on the mound. The Tampa Bay Rays were struggling, and everything seemed pointed towards another victory. Of course, that's why they play the games. The Rays, given a big advantage by Masterson's lack of command, dominated the contest from the start. Check out Jim B's "Second Thoughts" on Friday Night's game action.

While there weren't many moves, there were certainly some moves of substance throughout the week. Tyler Holt finally made a progression, as did Alex Monsalve. The headliner had to be the return of Travis Hafner to the big league club. Take a look at our weekly transaction rundown from the entire Indians organization with Arthur Kinney...and did I fail to mention, Pronk is back?

In another trip "Around the Farm", Tony notes the big game Triple-A Columbus outfielder Tim Fedroff had last night as he was just a single short of hitting for the cycle, and also Low-A Lake County third baseman Leonardo Castillo arguably had his best game of the season with four hits. In addition to them, several others are noted including players like Chen, Canzler, Ramirez, Paulino and others who all hit homers last night.

The rubber match between the Carolina Mudcats (10-5) and Salem Red Sox (4-11) was delayed 41 minutes due to rain, but the Mudcats probably wish it had just been cancelled as they were walloped by the Red Sox 16-2. The Mudcats will look to get back on track as they hit the road to take on the Potomac Nationals on Sunday night at 6:35.

The Lake County Captains sailed to a 9-2 victory on a trio of home runs and a total of 18 hits against the West Michigan Whitecaps on Friday night. Left-hander Shawn Morimando (3-2, 3.90) started for the Captains, besting West Michigan’s Jeff Ferrell (2-3, 5.40).

Despite leading late, the Scrappers suffered their ninth defeat of the season Friday night, losing 7-6 to the Aberdeen Ironbirds. With the loss, the Scrappers lost the series and moved to 10-9 on the season. They will look to regain some of the lost ground over the weekend when the Connecticut Tigers come to town for a three-game set.

The Erie SeaWolves fought back from a three-run deficit, riding six unanswered runs to a 6-3 win over the Akron Aeros in the final game of a three-game series Friday night at Jerry Uht Park. The Aeros (50-37) lost two of three against the SeaWolves (42-43) to complete the first half of their current road trip.

For most of the season, the Indianapolis Indians have been the class of the IL West and the league as a whole. One game doesn’t change much of that, besides a mark in the standings, but the Clippers proved in game one of their series against the Indians Friday night that they can play with the league’s best, winning 10-6.

The Indians short season affiliate the Mahoning Valley Scrappers wrapped up their third full week of baseball on a roll. They swept two series' on the road and returned home this week to Eastwood Field for a long homestand. Site columnist Andrew Zajac analyzes the week that was for the Scrappers, recapping the good and bad in his "Scrapperbook".