Around the Farm: August 25

Around the Farm takes a quick look at some of yesterday's performances by Indians prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday's game.

Jason Knapp-SP, Lake County: W, 5 IP, H, 6 K
Knapp now has 13 K in his 9 Midwest League innings, and has allowed just one hit and walked two. Did I mention that Knapp's 20th birthday is next Tuesday? He's making a pretty strong case for top overall prospect in the Indians system, as no one else can match his ceiling. The only question mark is his health. If he continues this level of dominance for the rest of the season and stays healthy through the AZ Instructs, it will be tough to put anyone else ahead of him.

Brian Heere-OF, Mahoning Valley: 2-2, 2 BB, R
Heere was selected in the 41st round out of Kansas, and is having a nice year for short-season Mahoning Valley. After last nights effort, he has a 8 game hitting streak going during which he's hitting .590 (13-22). He's walked (40) more times than he has struck out (32), always nice to see in a player's first taste of pro ball. He's not hitting for much power (.333 SLG on the season) but at worst he's a late-round sleeper worth keeping an eye on.

• Yohan Pino-SP, Columbus: 6 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 10 K, BB. Lots of missed bats for Pino, but didn't translate into a win.
• Zach Putnam-RP, Columbus: 2 IP, H, 3 K, BB. Now at 9 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings, with 11 K's. Allowed just 5 baserunners over that span.
• Vinnie Pestano-RP, Columbus: IP, K. Six straight scoreless appearances for Vinnie, during which he has struck out 9, walked zero, and allowed just one hit. Yeah, I'd say that's pretty good.
• Eric Berger-SP, Akron: 6 IP, H, 2 K, 2 BB. First start for Akron since July 22, and he clearly hasn't missed a beat in AA.
• Jason Kipnis-2B, Akron: 3-5, 2B, 2 R, K. Reports of his demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated.
• Lonnie Chisenhall-3B, Akron: 2-5, 2B, RBI, 2 R. Chisenhall should be driving in Kipnis about 45 min North on I-77 for a long time.
• John Drennen-OF, Akron: 2-4, 2B, RBI, BB, R, 2 K. Those are Drennen's only two strikeouts in his last 10 games.
• T.J. McFarland-SP, Kinston: 5 IP, 3 H, 7 K, 4 BB. Back in Kinston after a spot start in Akron, McFarland continued to carve up the Carolina League.
• Cory Burns-RP, Kinston: W, IP, K. Coming off a rare blown save (in which he didn't allow an earned run), Burns picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief.
• Casey Frawley-SS, Lake County: 2-4, HR (11), RBI, R, CS. Now at .324/.375/.568 over his last 10.
• Adam Abraham-3B, Lake County: 2-4, HR (13), 2B, RBI, R. Abraham and Frawley went back-to-back in the 4th.
• Takafumi Nakamura-RP, Mahoning Valley: 2 IP, 3 K. Solid outing for the lanky righthander out of Tokyo. Now has 31 K in 37 1/3 IP.
• Tony Wolters/Alex Lavisky-AZL Indians: 0-8, 5 K. Growing pains for the 2010 high profile draftees. The AZL squad combined for 2 hits yesterday, so its not like they were the only two who struggled.

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