McBride Promoted To Columbus

The Indians have promoted Double-A Akron outfielder/first baseman Matt McBride to Triple-A Columbus today. To make room for him in Columbus, outfielder Ezequiel Carrera was placed on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.

Outfielder Lucas Montero was promoted from High-A Kinston to Akron to take McBride's spot on the roster. There is no word at this time who may be taking Montero's roster spot in Kinston, though it likely will be one of the five outfielders currently playing in Low-A Lake County.

McBride earns his well-deserved first-ever promotion to the Clippers today and is one of the hottest hitters in all of the minor leagues. Dating back to the beginning of a series against Richmond on June 28th, the native of
Bethlehem, PA batted .364 with 11 doubles, 13 home runs, 24 runs scored, 32 RBI and an MiLB-leading .869 slugging percentage in just 26 games played.  For the season, McBride had a .285 batting average in Double-A and easily led the Aeros in doubles (25), home runs (17) and RBI (64). He was on a similar hot streak with Class A Kinston last year before earning the promotion to Akron on May 12th, 2009 and finished the season with 99 RBI, the most in the Cleveland Indians Player Development System. The Indians selected the 25-year-old McBride in the supplemental second round of the June 2006 Draft out of Lehigh University and the versatile first baseman/outfielder is actually a converted catcher.

Montero, on the other hand, moves up to Double-A today for the first time in his five-year minor league career in the Indians organization. The speedy outfielder has played the entirety of the past two seasons with the K-Tribe and starred last year, ranking second in the Carolina League in triples (nine), third in walks (70), fourth in runs scored (81) and fifth in stolen bases (35). He previously earned a promotion from Class A Lake County to Kinston in July 2008 after stealing 47 bases with the Captains in just 83 games played. He is a 25-year-old native of Bani, Dominican Republic and joined the Indians organization as a non-drafted free agent in 2004.

Also, rehabbing reliever Kerry Wood will be making the start for Akron tonight, going one inning.  Right-hander Alex White will take over in the second inning.

Posted in: Ezequiel Carrera,Lucas Montero,Matt McBride