Winter League Sunday Round-up

Arizona Fall League

Since the last update the Surprise Rafters have gone 2-2 to put their overall record at 2-3 for the season; in the early going they stand 1 game back of the Peoria Javelinas who top the AFL National Division with a 3-2 record.

Player Updates (10/8 - 10/11): -

LHP Chuck Lofgren - It's been a disastourous start to the AFL for Lofgren; a continuation of a very disappointing 2008. Lofgren made his AFL debut on 10/8 and retired only 1 of the 7 hitters he faced en route to allowing 6ER in just 0.1IP (3BB, 3H). Lofgrens second appearance was much improved working a full inning on 10/11 allowing 1ER (1H, 1BB). For the season, Lofgrens line is ugly, holding a 47.25ERA (1.1IP, 4H, 7R/ER, 4BB, 0K).

RHP Erik Stiller - Stiller made his AFL debut on 10/9, his only appearance thus far, allowing 3ER off 4H in 1IP. Stillers ERA sits at 27.00 on the season.

RHP Josh Tomlin - Tomlin continues to march up the Indians prospect rankings and his performace to date in the AFL has done nothing to hurt that. Tomlin got the start for the Rafters on 10/8 and worked 3 scoreless innings allowing on 2 hits with 5Ks. Tomlin is taking the spot of Tony Sipp in the AFL, not because Sipp is hurt, but as Tony alluded to in one of his Minor Happenings articles, Sipp wanted to challenge himself in the Dominican this winter (more on that later).

RHP Neil Wagner - Since the last update Wagner made his second AFL appearance and it didn't go nearly as well as his first appearance (1.1 perfect innings). Wagner allowed 3ER in just 1IP on 10/10 to give his overall line of 7.71ERA, 2.1IP, 3H, 2R/ER, 2BB, 1K.

3B Wes Hodges - Hodges is off to a flier in the Fall League! Since the last update Hodges has mashed to the tune of a 3-for-5, HR, 3RBI night on 10/9 and 2-for-4, HR, 3RBI night on 10/10. So far for the season, Hodges holds a .385(5-for-13)/.385/.846/1.231 line with 2HR and 6RBI - The 6RBI are first and the 2HR are tied for first in the entire AFL in the early going.

1B Beau Mills - Mills has seen limited action thus far - understandable for a guy coming from A Ball to this level of competition. He made his only appearance on 10/9 going 0-for-3 with 2BB and 2K.

INF Josh Rodriguez - Rodriguez continues to see time at 2B in the AFL. Since the last update, Rodriguez was 1-for-4 on 10/9 and 0-for-3 on 10/11 to put his line for the season at .200(2-for-10), .385/.200/.585

OF Stephen Head - Being on the "Taxi Squad", Head is only activated on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He made his only AFL appearance to date on Wednesday (10/8) and got off to a good start finishing the day 2-for-5 with a 2B and RBI to give him a sample-size aided .400/.500/.600/1.100 line for the season.

As it stands there is still no news on whether or not newly acquired OF Michael Brantley will be playing in the AFL. As he mentioned on Tony's radio show this week, he is working out at the Indians new spring training complex in Goodyear, Arizona and if he isn't able to play in the AFL he will just be going home for the off-season.

Hawaii Winter League

The North Shore Honu have run their overall record to 4-8 for the season by compliling a 2-2 record since the last update.

Player Updates (10/8 - 10/11): -

LHP Matt Meyer - Meyer made one appearance since the last update (10/9) working a scoreless inning with a strikeout. For the season Meyer holds a 5.79ERA (4.2IP, 7H, 6R, 3ER, 1BB, 5K).

LHP Shawn Nottingham - Nottingham made two appearances this week, working a scoreless inning on 10/8 and 2 scoreless innings on 10/11. Nottinghams for the season now has a 5.14ERA (7IP, 7H, 7R, 4ER, 5BB, 8K).

LHP Heath Taylor - Made his only appearance since the last update on 10/10 and allowed his first runs of the season; working 2.1IP allowing 2ER off 4 hits with 3BB. Taylor now has a 2.35ERA in 3 appearances for the season (7.2IP, 8H, 2R/ER, 3BB, 5K).

C Adam Davis - Davis made two appearances since the last update going 2-for-4 on 10/9 and 0-for-2 on 10/11. For the season Davis holds a .167(3-for-18)/.375/.278/.653 line.

3B Dustin Realini - Realini hasn't played since 10/3 and so far is 0-for-13 for the year.

INF Ron Rivas - Rivas appeared twice since the last update, going 2-for-4 with 2K on 10/10 and 0-for-3 with 2K on 10/11. For the season, Rivas has made only 3 appearances going a combined 2-for-11 (.182) with 6Ks.

OF Matt McBride - McBride continued his hot-hitting on 10/8 with a 2-for-4 night, including his first HR of the season, to give him his 5th straight multi-hit game. Since then McBride has taken an 0-for-3 (10/9) and 0-for-4 (10/10) collar to put his numbers for the season at .300(12-for-40)/.408/.500/.908 as he continues to play every game in LF.

Meanwhile, 2008 18th round pick LHP Kaimi Mead is still pitching for his home town Honolulu Sharks and since the last update worked a scoreless inning on 10/10 against the Honu. For the season Mead has a solid 3.38ERA (8IP, 8H, 7R, 3ER, 5BB, 5K).

Caribbean Winter Leagues

As announced earlier in the week by Tony, the Indians participants in 3 of the 4 Caribbean Winter Leagues have been named: -

VENEZUALAN WINTER LEAGUE (starts Oct. 14th)
RHP Randy Newsom (Caracas)
1B/OF Matt LaPorta (Caracas)
INF Asdrubal Cabrera (Lara)
OF Franklin Gutierrez (Caracas)
RHP Edward Mujica (Caribes)
INF Niuman Romero (Caribes)
INF Karexon Sanchez (Caracas)

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE (starts Oct. 15th)
INF Jordan Brown (Aguilas)
CA Chris Gimenez (Aguilas)
RHP Adam Miller (Aguilas)
LHP Scott Lewis (Aguilas)
LHP Tony Sipp (Aguilas) - he got his wish about going to the DR as opposed to the AFL
RHP Fausto Carmona (Aguilas)
INF Andy Marte (Los Toros del Este Romana)
LHP Rafael Perez (Gigantes)
CA Carlos Santana (Escogido)
OF Jose Constanza (Los Toros del Este Romana)
OF Lucas Montero(Gigantes)
CA Alex Castillo(Gigantes)
RHP Joaniel Montero (Escogido)
INF Chris Dela Cruz (Aguilas)

MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE (starts Oct. 11th)
OF Roman Pena (Aguilas de Mexicali)

OF Roman Pena got off to a very impressive start in Aguilas first game yesterday (10/11) finishing the night 2-for-3 with 2 2B.

The Puerto Rican Winter League is scheduled to get under way on Nov 6th, so as yet rosters have not been announced. One thing to remember with all these Caribbean Leagues is that the rosters are very "fluid". Established Major Leaguers generally have agreed to participate for a set period of time and, due to the extreme competitive nature of the league, minor leaguers who do not perform will be released and replaced on the rosters without any hesitation. We will do our best to keep you updated throughout the season as and when roster moves are made involving Indians and Indians prospects.

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