Around the Farm: August 9

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.

Jerad Goedert - 3B, Columbus: 3-4, 2 2B. Goedert has swung a hotter bat than Phelps as of late, hitting .414 in his past ten games. After a rough stroke for much of the season, it's nice to see Goedert starting to heat up.

• Cord Phelps - 2B, Columbus: 1-4, 2 K. Hitting .405 in his past ten games, Phelps has done nothing to hurt his chances of being called up come September. The Indians want to see him get regular playing time, though, so he may stay for the Clippers playoff run.
• Luis Valbuena - SS, Columbus: 1-4, R, HR, 2 RBI. Something has to give with Valbuena. He kills pitching in AAA, yet can't hit a beach ball in the bigs. The Tribe have a big decision to make with him with the log jam of infielders at their disposal. You have to wonder where Valbuena ranks in their minds.
• Nick Hagadone - RP, Columbus: 2 IP, 2 H, K. Hagadone is inching closer to becoming major league ready, though a few relievers still are ahead of him in terms of major league ready. Certainly, though, you'll be seeing Nick sooner rather than later.
• Ben Copeland - RF, Akron: 2-4, 2B. After hitting the seams off the ball for much of the season, Copeland has cooled at the plate, lowering his batting average to .275 on the season and hitting just .200 in his past ten games.
• Nick Weglarz - DH, Akron: 0-3, R, BB, 2 K. At what point to you begin to worry that Weglarz won't live up to hit potential? He's had his fair share of injuries, but he's yet to live up to all of the hype he's been given.
• Matt Packer - SP, Akron: (L, 5-11) 5.1 IP, 11 H, 6 ER/R, BB, 4 K, HR. It seemed as if Packer had finally turned the corner and his early season struggles were behind him. While I wasn't at the game to watch this start, I don't think the stats from this one lie. The one good thing about this outing, if there is one, is that despite the 11 hits and 6 runs he gave up, he only allowed one walk.
• Jesus Aguilar - 1B, Kinston: 0-3, K. Since being promoted, Aguilar has not been the same hitter that he was in Lake County. Surprisingly enough, however, is the fact that his strike outs aren't the core problem of his struggles in Kinston. While his walk to strikeout ratio is 3:8 and not impressive, it's not terrible either. His OBP since being called up sits at just .238 and his SLG is all the way down to .205. He's a young hitter and may have been better served staying in Lake County for the remainder of the season, though he did deserve the promotion.
• Kinston Offense - 2-30, 0 BB, 9 K. Earlier in the season, I posted something similar to this for a game that Kinston couldn't hit the side of a barn yard. Well, things still haven't changed.
• TJ House - SP, Kinston: (L, 6-10) 5 IP, 9 H, 9 ER/R, 6 BB, K, 2 HR. Another player who we thought may have turned the corner from his early season struggles was House, who unlike Packer, demonstrated no control and when he did, hitters didn't miss.
• Trey Haley - RP, Kinston: IP, BB, K. Haley has fallen off the map of many fans after a rough (to say the least) start to his career in which it seemed like he was in Lake County for an eternity.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Posted in: Around the Farm