2011 Akron Aeros Thread

[TonyIBI]

Ok, time to start rolling these official threads out. Let's try to keep all talk with the team to this thread. Separate threads for specific issues/players are welcomed, but the daily banter of the season and the team should be kept here.

Hopefully we get some roster info for the teams by the end of the weekend.

[martyinnewyork]

Jeez, did Jordan Henry really have 3 doubles in two games Thursday and Friday? Has he filled out a bit or were those "speed" doubles?

[TonyIBI]

Jeez, did Jordan Henry really have 3 doubles in two games Thursday and Friday? Has he filled out a bit or were those "speed" doubles?

I'm thinking more speed related. He's still wire thin.

[elrod enchilada]

We can always hope Jordan Henry will get a little more beef... a la Henry Jordan.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... rdHe00.htm

[Upper Box Woodchuck]

I called the team shop re: publications and was told that the yearbook and scorecard are being replaced by a handout program (a la the Tribe and Captains). It sounds like there will be scoring blocks in the handout and it will be updated each "homestand" (the guy I talked to didn't know if it would be an insert or a new issue each time or if "homestand" meant homestand or series). I'm not entirely sure how visiting rosters will work. Bring your own scorecard (and rosters if they're updated on the team websites) for the exhibition as there may be nothing for that game.

[TonyIBI]

No idea who is making the roster yet, but have heard Connor Graham will be in the bullpen at Akron.

[Upper Box Woodchuck]

I've heard that sizemore is playing in Akron tomorrow night. I wonder if they'll have him playing for Akron (the home team). I could see him playing both Aeros/Clippers games and playing for the home team (as a marketing move) in each (heck, since the OSU game is an exhibition, is there any way to have him throw on a Buckeye uniform and DH for them without breaking every NCAA bylaw ever written? ).

[TonyIBI]

As an FYI, Matt McBride will be opening in Akron. Likely at 1B it seems. I hinted at this a week ago.

[TonyIBI]

Here is your Akron roster:

CC Lee (RHP)
Connor Graham (RHP)
Scott Barnes (LHP)
Nick Hagadone (LHP)
Kelvin De La Cruz (LHP)
Joe Gardner (RHP)
Matt Packer (LHP)
Austin Adams (RHP)
Eric Berger (LHP)
Cory Burns (RHP)
Matt Langwell (RHP)
Bryan Price (RHP)
Chun Chen (C)
Juan Apodaca (C)
Matt McBride (1B/OF)
Karexon Sanchez (INF)
Cristo Arnal (INF)
Dan DeGeorge (INF)
Matt Lawson (2B)
Juan Diaz (SS)
Kyle Bellows (3B)
Jordan Henry (OF)
John Drennen (OF)
Tim Fedroff (OF)
Donnie Webb (OF)

[InsaneJedi]

Tony, I noticed that the Akron roster has an extra player, just like the Kinston and Lake County rosters. Any idea on who is likely to be left off the "active" roster in Akron?

[TonyIBI]

Not sure who is put on 7-day DL or "in Mahoning" for Akron to start to get to 24 players...but will probably be one of the position players. Cid will open on DL in Kinston and I think Childs "in Mahoning" for Lake County.

[Rocky55]

Here is your Akron roster:

CC Lee (RHP)
Connor Graham (RHP)
Scott Barnes (LHP)
Nick Hagadone (LHP)
Kelvin De La Cruz (LHP)
Joe Gardner (RHP)
Matt Packer (LHP)
Austin Adams (RHP)
Eric Berger (LHP)
Cory Burns (RHP)
Matt Langwell (RHP)
Bryan Price (RHP)
Chun Chen (C)
Juan Apodaca (C)
Matt McBride (1B/OF)
Karexon Sanchez (INF)
Cristo Arnal (INF)
Dan DeGeorge (INF)
Matt Lawson (2B)
Juan Diaz (SS)
Kyle Bellows (3B)
Jordan Henry (OF)
John Drennen (OF)
Tim Fedroff (OF)
Donnie Webb (OF)

That is one Hell of a pitching staff for AA ball. When Pomeranz is promoted it might be better than the Cbus staff. Those high upside specs are creeping closer to the Big League level.

[catfish]

Where is miller?

[buck84]

John Sickels has almost every pitcher on the staff ranked as a prospect

CC Lee (RHP) c+
Connor Graham (RHP)
Scott Barnes (LHP) C+
Nick Hagadone (LHP) B-
Kelvin De La Cruz (LHP) C+
Joe Gardner (RHP) B
Matt Packer (LHP) C+
Austin Adams (RHP) C+
Eric Berger (LHP)
Cory Burns (RHP) C/C+
Matt Langwell (RHP)
Bryan Price (RHP) C+ (Based on write up)

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2010/11/ ... s-for-2011

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/2/2 ... arm-system

[TonyIBI]

Miller was pitching for Kinston late in camp. Have a feeling the Tribe is sending him to a warm weather desination (Kinston) or staying behind in Arizona in order to avoid the cold temps in Akron and COlumbus. He's done so well with the rehab, would be terrible to send him to Akron and Columbus right now and have it go awry because of the cold temps. He will have to pitch in the cold at some point....but we can worry about that down the road.

That's my take. Not official word yet, but I am willing to bet that's it.

[InsaneJedi]

RHP Connor Graham is no longer listed on the Akron roster per the MiLB site. Likely a paper move like the Bellows transaction, but I'm not entirely sure. Roster is now at 24.

[TonyIBI]

Graham got hurt in the exhibition game yesterday....complaining of discomfort in pitching shoulder. No idea how serious it is yet.

[dazindiansfanuk]

Looks like the best and worst of DLC today.... 5IP, 1H, 1R, 4BB, 7K

Wild but effective so far.

[criznit2009]

I'm really liking the Akron roster. Gonna see great seasons from some of these guys! Lots of interesting pitchers in particular, but guys like Diaz, Henry, Bellows, Chen (duh) look promising too . My fav minor league roster this season, gets even better when they have to bump up Pomeranz because he is crushing single A batters.

[ChadS17]

Hagadone seems like he is being used as a true reliever. Not a piggyback situation?

[osueddy]

It seemed like De La Cruz was throwing a little harder than he did last year when I saw him. The walks were a killer and so was the wild pitch he threw that bounced 2 feet in front of the plate. He really didn't throw many balls, he just bunched them together into those 4 walks.

Chen and McBride are going to have to hit for Akron to ever score more than 4-5 runs.

[TonyIBI]

Yep, Hagadone is a true reliever now (still always subject to change down the road).

Gotta like his clean two nnings of work last night....good sign.

[Edible14]

Yep, Hagadone is a true reliever now (still always subject to change down the road).

Gotta like his clean two innings of work last night....good sign.

Well... I guess at least they're giving him a definite direction. Barring setbacks, he's got to end up in CBus at some point this year, I would think.

[Upper Box Woodchuck]

Graham got hurt in the exhibition game yesterday....complaining of discomfort in pitching shoulder. No idea how serious it is yet.

Was he DLed or "sent to Mahoning Valley"?

[Hermie13]

Yep, Hagadone is a true reliever now (still always subject to change down the road).

Gotta like his clean two innings of work last night....good sign.

Well... I guess at least they're giving him a definite direction. Barring setbacks, he's got to end up in CBus at some point this year, I would think.

CBus...heck if he's healthy I think Cleveland is a real posibility if he is 100% a reliever all year. Already on the 40-man so blowing an option year. We've seen guys go from AA to the MLs in the same year several times out of the pen.

[indianinkslinger]

Yep, Hagadone is a true reliever now (still always subject to change down the road).

Gotta like his clean two innings of work last night....good sign.

Well... I guess at least they're giving him a definite direction. Barring setbacks, he's got to end up in CBus at some point this year, I would think.

CBus...heck if he's healthy I think Cleveland is a real posibility if he is 100% a reliever all year. Already on the 40-man so blowing an option year. We've seen guys go from AA to the MLs in the same year several times out of the pen.

Good point Hermie. Not sure I would expect much more than a late season callup unless one of the two lefties go down but he is just as likely as any reliever who is 40 eligible in 2011 IMO.

[npc29]

I think this team is going to have to use their stacked pitching to win games.. Kinda like the Captains have in the past. That was pretty evident watching last night.

It was damn cold last night though.

[npc29]

I called the team shop re: publications and was told that the yearbook and scorecard are being replaced by a handout program (a la the Tribe and Captains). It sounds like there will be scoring blocks in the handout and it will be updated each "homestand" (the guy I talked to didn't know if it would be an insert or a new issue each time or if "homestand" meant homestand or series). I'm not entirely sure how visiting rosters will work. Bring your own scorecard (and rosters if they're updated on the team websites) for the exhibition as there may be nothing for that game.

Yep.. The scorecard is in the program, but it simply is all blank. You have to fill out the rosters and what not...

And they did that to increase the value of their advertisements... Long story short, they got a marketing budget this year, so Akron may be doing some wild stuff this year.. Well, they already are, but... Yeah, definitely trying to give fans more bang for their buck.

[Upper Box Woodchuck]

I called the team shop re: publications and was told that the yearbook and scorecard are being replaced by a handout program (a la the Tribe and Captains). It sounds like there will be scoring blocks in the handout and it will be updated each "homestand" (the guy I talked to didn't know if it would be an insert or a new issue each time or if "homestand" meant homestand or series). I'm not entirely sure how visiting rosters will work. Bring your own scorecard (and rosters if they're updated on the team websites) for the exhibition as there may be nothing for that game.

Yep.. The scorecard is in the program, but it simply is all blank. You have to fill out the rosters and what not...

And they did that to increase the value of their advertisements... Long story short, they got a marketing budget this year, so Akron may be doing some wild stuff this year.. Well, they already are, but... Yeah, definitely trying to give fans more bang for their buck.

Whoa! "Aeros" and "marketing budget" in the same sentence? YES!!!!!

[ChadS17]

Grady still playing in the 7th inning today. Good to see.

[ChadS17]

A little surprised to see Juan Diaz hitting third for the Aeros the last couple days. Is this a matter of the Indians being higher on him than I thought or that Akron's lineup is not exceptionally strong? Or both?

[Upper Box Woodchuck]

A little surprised to see Juan Diaz hitting third for the Aeros the last couple days. Is this a matter of the Indians being higher on him than I thought or that Akron's lineup is not exceptionally strong? Or both?

A weak lineup in Akron has to be a part of it. I know it's early, but I've seen very little from this lineup. Through 8 innings in the opener, the Aeros were losing a one-hitter.

[Pork Chop Pough]

The Aeros offense is even uglier than I feared. De La Cruz falls to 0-2 with a 0.90 ERA... he's literally had zero run support in his first two starts.

[Lloyd Christmas]

Burns now has 11 K in 4 IP, hah

[Pork Chop Pough]

Burns now has 11 K in 4 IP, hah

Those Burns numbers are ridiculous... who says you need velocity?

I'm also really happy to see Nick Hagadone not allowing a walk (while still holding opponents to 2 hits) in his first 6 innings... almost happy enough to disregard my disappointment that he's not starting.

On those rare occasions that the Akron offense builds an early lead, I don't think the bullpen is going to let many of them slip away.

[npc29]

Early summation.

Pitching = Good

Hitting = Bad

Feels like Lake County has come down to to Akron, haha.

[Pork Chop Pough]

The Aeros are finally rallying in the 8th inning thanks in part to a poor fielding decision by former Aero Carlos Rivero. Former Aero Ryan Edell had shut them out on two hits over the first seven innings. Scott Barnes also with a 2-hit shutout through 7 with 10 K's and no walks. The Aeros bats are finally doing some damage –– Chun Chen broke a press box window with a foul ball, but struck out on the next pitch.

[daingean]

Early summation.

Pitching = Good

Hitting = Bad

Feels like Lake County has come down to to Akron, haha.

This wave of players have been like that. Last year at Kinston, 2 years ago at Lake County. Even the guys that have hung around at AA for a couple of years are there because they haven't pushed through offensively yet. I do think Mills will get it going when he recovers (if he does this year).

[GeronimoSon]

I don't see the Aeros getting much offense going the entire year.. They just aren't good enough, as a whole nor do they have an inkling of anyone who can jack one over the fence in fair territory. In nearly 275 AB's as a team, the Aeros have 3 homers. Maybe it's the cold?.. maybe it's the adjustment period needed for these kids in their new digs at Canal Park.. There just isn't a lot of impact offense with this club.

The pitching staff, on the other hand, has the gumption to keep the club in most games throughout the year. This is a talented staff.. Other than Matt Packer's one lousy start and Chen Lee's meltdown, the staff hasn't given up much. This is going to be a "learning" season for the AA club as these pitchers feel the weight of pressure needed to be more perfect as they know they won't be getting a lot of run support.

[TonyIBI]

Below Columbus we are seeing how the Indians really lack much impact hitting. We have loads of pitching at all levels but really lack the bats at AA and below. I know that you never have enough pitching and you always draft BPA but kind of hoping we focus on bats with first few picks this year. Especially power.

As for Akron there are some interesting guys in the lineup but few who have shots at big league opportunity. Only ones I see are Chen and Henry and maybe bellows because of defense. Others like McBride, drennen, Diaz, fedroff, etc I see maxing out at AAA.

[TitoFrancona]

Below Columbus we are seeing how the Indians really lack much impact hitting. We have loads of pitching at all levels but really lack the bats at AA and below. I know that you never have enough pitching and you always draft BPA but kind of hoping we focus on bats with first few picks this year. Especially power.

As for Akron there are some interesting guys in the lineup but few who have shots at big league opportunity. Only ones I see are Chen and Henry and maybe bellows because of defense. Others like McBride, drennen, Diaz, fedroff, etc I see maxing out at AAA.

Which is why I am advocating Springer for their 1st pick. They would be drafting for need and still be drafting (arguably of course) the best player available.

[Upper Box Woodchuck]

Below Columbus we are seeing how the Indians really lack much impact hitting. We have loads of pitching at all levels but really lack the bats at AA and below. I know that you never have enough pitching and you always draft BPA but kind of hoping we focus on bats with first few picks this year. Especially power.

As for Akron there are some interesting guys in the lineup but few who have shots at big league opportunity. Only ones I see are Chen and Henry and maybe bellows because of defense. Others like McBride, drennen, Diaz, fedroff, etc I see maxing out at AAA.

I highly doubt the org sees much in Bellows. "Paper moving" a guy to the mythical Mahoning Valley Scrappers roster (as they did with Bellows to start the season), especially in order to keep Dan DeGeorge on the roster, reeks of "org soldier" (I'm really hoping there was something, like a minor and/or nagging injury or conditioning issues, that I'm missing regarding this move.)

[TonyIBI]

I highly doubt the org sees much in Bellows. "Paper moving" a guy to the mythical Mahoning Valley Scrappers roster (as they did with Bellows to start the season), especially in order to keep Dan DeGeorge on the roster, reeks of "org soldier" (I'm really hoping there was something, like a minor and/or nagging injury or conditioning issues, that I'm missing regarding this move.)

They are quite high on Bellows actually. The paper move with Bellows I hear was more because of a minor injury.

[Hermie13]

I know a few of us had Barnes as our breakout candidate this year....

Thru 2 starts and 11 innings.....1-0 with a 1.64 ERA, .139 BAA, 0.64 WHIP, and a 17-2 K-BB ratio!


I know some like him in the pen, and he may end up there....but really hope he is starting in C-bus at some point this summer. Oddly enough too, it's the lefties that have given him trouble so far this year (hitting nearly .400 off him, righties under .100).

[Upper Box Woodchuck]

I highly doubt the org sees much in Bellows. "Paper moving" a guy to the mythical Mahoning Valley Scrappers roster (as they did with Bellows to start the season), especially in order to keep Dan DeGeorge on the roster, reeks of "org soldier" (I'm really hoping there was something, like a minor and/or nagging injury or conditioning issues, that I'm missing regarding this move.)

They are quite high on Bellows actually. The paper move with Bellows I hear was more because of a minor injury.

Thanks! I had a sinking feeling I was missing something there.

[Upper Box Woodchuck]

By the way, no word on a move to make room for Espino yet. Will let you know when I hear one.

[TonyIBI]

By the way, no word on a move to make room for Espino yet. Will let you know when I hear one.

Unless someone is hurt, I am willing to bet Pino is on his way out...either out of the org or "on reserve".

[petes999]

I may have missed something but I thought it was De La Cruz and Packer today but they started Packer in the 1st game and listed Berger in the 2nd... so maybe they are going with De La Cruz to replace Gomez and let Berger stretch it out?

[TonyIBI]

I may have missed something but I thought it was De La Cruz and Packer today but they started Packer in the 1st game and listed Berger in the 2nd... so maybe they are going with De La Cruz to replace Gomez and let Berger stretch it out?

No, just a doubleheader today so as often happens a chance in the second game to get some extended work for relievers. De La is pitching tomorrow, and Barnes on Tuesday.

[bmonnig]

I may have missed something but I thought it was De La Cruz and Packer today but they started Packer in the 1st game and listed Berger in the 2nd... so maybe they are going with De La Cruz to replace Gomez and let Berger stretch it out?

No, just a doubleheader today so as often happens a chance in the second game to get some extended work for relievers. De La is pitching tomorrow, and Barnes on Tuesday.

Any chance Barnes gets called up to replace Gomez?

Edit: I now see that Joe Martinez is scheduled to start Tuesday for Columbus but I don't understand it. Barnes has over 30 starts in AA and seems to be pitching well. I'd rather see them be aggressive in this case instead of running someone like Martinez out there.