Around the Farm: August 8

Beau Mills

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.

Beau Mills – 1B, Columbus: 3-for-5, 2 R, HR, RBI.
Everyone keeps asking when Nick Johnson will be ready to join the Indians in Cleveland this year to help out at first base, but what about Mills? He is having a renaissance kind of season where after two disappointing season in Akron in 2009 and 2010 he is living up to his promise as a former 1st round pick in 2007 and Carolina League MVP in 2008. The Achilles injury he had to start the season may have actually ended up helping him in the long run as it gave him time to reflect on his game and make the necessary improvements to make himself a big league option again. So far so good as in 76 combined games between Akron and Columbus this year he is hitting .295 with 14 HR, 56 RBI, and a .871 OPS.

Cody Allen – RP, Lake County: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
You could not ask for a better Captains debut than what Allen did last night. After being promoted from short season Single-A Mahoning Valley he came in relief for Michael Goodnight to start the 6th inning and just mowed down Dayton hitters. His rate stats have all been excellent so far this year is in addition to his 1.96 ERA in 15 combined games between Mahoning Valley and Lake County, he also has a 0.93 WHIP and 6.1 H/9, 0.2 HR/9, 2.2 BB/9, 10.8 K/9, and 4.89 K/BB rate.

• Cord Phelps – 2B, Columbus: 4-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, BB. A perfect game offensively for Phelps who is proving to be a good handcuff to Kipnis at second base.
• Chad Huffman – RF, Columbus: 3-for-5, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, 1 K. After a long cold spell he has been on fire his last two games going 6-for-9 with 2 2B, 2 HR, and 6 RBI. Streaky hitter!
• David Huff – SP, Columbus: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR. Solid outing and a tune up for his expected return to Cleveland this Saturday to be inserted back into the rotation as the fifth starter.
• Matt Langwell – RP, Columbus: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K. Much better outing compared to his first two Triple-A outings where he allowed 5 hits and 5 runs in 2.0 combined innings.
• Adam Abraham – DH, Kinston: 2-for-4, R, BB, K. Having a very good under the radar season at Kinston hitting .252/.369/.431 in 105 games.
• Jesus Aguilar – 1B, Kinston: 2-for-5, R, K. As expected, the Carolina League has been an adjustment and much tougher for him, though there is still time to finish strong.
• Roberto Perez – C, Kinston: 0-for-0, 4 BB. With his approach and abilities defensively, the Indians may be forced to roster him this offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
• Marty Popham – SP, Kinston: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 4 K. Has made 23 appearances this year (14 starts) mostly with Kinston and has a nice 18-87 BB to K ratio in 93.2 innings.
• Michael Goodnight - SP, Lake County: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 4 K. A solid outing and easily his best start since the beginning of July.
• Moises Montero – C, Lake County: 3-for-3, 2B. He was the Captains only offense all night as his three hits were all they could muster as a team.
• Chase Burnette – 1B, Lake County: 0-for-3, 3 K. A forgettable year for him as in 84 combined games between Kinston and Lake County he is hitting .220/.277/.312
• Bryson Myles – CF, Mahoning Valley: 2-for-5, R, RBI, K. One of the most exciting prospects from the 2011 Draft. Indians need his right-handed bat to blossom.
• Jake Lowery – 1B, Mahoning Valley: 2-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K. He’s been as advertised with a great approach (32 BB, 35 K) and powerful (21 XBH).
• Alex Lavisky – C, Mahoning Valley: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB, K. Showing the raw power with 21 2B and 12 HR this year, but significant discipline issues with 110 strikeouts in 366 at bats.
• John Barr – LF, Mahoning Valley: 3-for-5, 2 R, K. First three hit game of his young career.
• Aaron Siliga – RF, Mahoning Valley: 2-for-3, 3B, RBI, BB, K. Young and talented, but struggling of late hitting just 14-for-79 (.177) since July 1st.
• Joseph Colon – SP, Mahoning Valley: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R/ER, 1 BB, 4 K. He’s had a very good season considering he is coming off of a severe elbow injury last year.
• Nate Striz – RP, Mahoning Valley: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. Since being reassigned to Mahoning Valley he has pitched much better (2.25 ERA, 4.2 BB/9, 9/6 K/9).
• Charlie Valerio – C, Arizona: 2-for-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI, BB, SB. Hitting .294/.409/.529 in five August games.
• Leonardo Castillo – 1B, Arizona: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2B, 2K. One of the Indians top Latin players to debut stateside this year, and living up to it hitting .318 with 4 HR, 20 RBI and a .828 OPS.
• Chia-Ching Lin – RF, Arizona: 2-for-3, R, 2B, 2 RBI, K. He has really struggled in his first pro season, but his first pro multi-hit game should add some confidence.
• Danny Salazar – SP, Arizona: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 0 K. His second rehab outing from Tommy John surgery. Progress will be slow, but good to see him on the mound.
• Kyle Blair – RP, Arizona: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R/ER, 0 BB, 2 K. His first outing since injuring his knee, and could be on way back to Lake County after two to four more outings.
• Elvis Araujo – RP, Arizona: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 8 K, HR. He did not start because of the two rehab guys going in front of him, but picked up his 6th win with another good outing.

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).

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