Smoke Signals 4/30: Do We Really HAVE To Talk Tribe?

Tonight Paul and I are back on the cyberwaves with another edition of Smoke Signals from 9:30-10:30pm. Right-handed pitcher Brian Grening will be our guest and will call in around 10:00pm. He is in extended spring training, so we will surely touch on that experience and part of the development process as well as talk about how things are going with him. E-mail address is smokesignals@theclevelandfan.com and the call in number is 646-716-8012 for those who want to vent on what was a terrible month of April for the Indians. I'd seriously rather...

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Game Recaps: Wednesday 4/29

The Columbus Clippers were off on Wednesday.Aeros save lead lateAkron brought their bats to the yard and cracked 14 hits on Wednesday. Unfortunately, Harrisburg also brought their bats to the yard and cracked 19 hits.The Aeros struck first blood by scoring two runs in the first when Carlos Santana reached on an error, scoring Carlos Rivera. Niuman Romero followed that up with a sacrifice fly, driving in Beau Mills, putting Akron on top 2-0.Harrisburg tied it up in the top half of the third, which didn't last long. Romero doubled to right field...

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Gomez Promoted

Today the Indians announced that RHP Jeanmar Gomez has been promoted from High-A Kinston to Double-A Akron. He will move into the rotation, and RHP Steven Wright for now is expected to move to the Akron bullpen.No word yet on who is taking Gomez's vacant rotation spot in Kinston, but back in spring RHP Bryce Stowell told me he was supposed to be about ready at this time so he is a possibility to be activated from extended spring training. Also, it is possible RHP Joey Mahalic could be promoted from Low-A Lake County, and then one of RHP Danny...

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Game Recaps: Tuesday 4/28

Clippers Hang On To Win 5-3For a moment, the Clippers hearts were in their throats watching what looked like a re-run of the last two games they had played. The ball was handed over to the bullpen with a four run lead, which quickly became a two run lead with the tying run in scoring position. Fortunately, someone changed the channel and the Clippers wound up with a 5-3 win over the Toledo Mud Hens to split a two-game series at Fifth Third Field.The teams traded runs in the second inning and the Clippers broke the brief tie by scoring twice in...

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Roster Moves

As noted in the message board last night, RHP Randy Newsom was promoted to Triple-A Columbus today, and he takes the place of INF Andy Cannizaro who was transferred to Mahoning Valley. Also RHP Paolo Espino was transferred back to Low-A Lake County, and RHP Steven Wright was moved off the Mahoning Valley list. Espino had been added to the Akron roster for bullpen help and Wright was sent to Mahoning Valley as a paper move. No word yet on who is replacing Newsom on the Akron roster.Edit: Another move was announced today in Lake County as LHP Russell...

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Huff Gets Help From Brother, Coaches With Struggles

Left-hander David Huff is a high profile draft pick selected by the Indians in the 1st round of the 2006 Draft who really broke onto the scene last year. After going 11-5 with a 2.52 ERA in 27 combined starts at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Buffalo in 2008, he solidified himself as a top starting pitching prospect in all of baseball ready to take the leap to the big leagues sometime this season.In the offseason, the Indians said there would be an open competition in spring...

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Game Recaps: Monday 4/27

Akron and Kinston were off on Monday.Clippers Lose 9-6Columbus was buried early and in a 9-2 hole through seven innings, though did put up a fight late scoring four runs in the final two innings to close the scoring and put the final score into the books at 9-6.It was not a good night for right-hander Kirk Saarloos who in five innings allowed ten hits, eight runs (six earned), two walks and had three strikeouts. Righty John Meloan finished out the game pitching the final three innings and allowed a run on two hits, one walk and had four strikeouts.Designated...

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LaPorta Honored

The International League announced today that Matt LaPorta was selected as Player of the Week for 4/20-4/26. For the week, the Clipper outfielder hit .520, leading the International League with 13 hits, 10 runs scored, and a .613 on-base percentage. LaPorta hit safely in all seven games for the week, including four multi-hit efforts. He homered in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday against Indianapolis, becoming the first Clipper to homer in consecutive games this year. LaPorta finds himself near the top of the League in nearly every offensive...

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Chisenhall, Berger Take Home League Hardware

The Kinston Indians have swept the Carolina League Weekly Awards for the second straight week! Eastern North Carolina native Lonnie Chisenhall is the Carolina League Player of the Week and Eric Berger is the CL Pitcher of the Week!Newport native Lonnie Chisenhall had a monster week at the plate hitting .333 (10-30) with three home runs and 15 RBI. Chisenhall hit a home run in three straight games last week with back to back grand slams on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a three run home run on Thursday. Chisenhall is now second in the Carolina...

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Diamonds in Single A: Jeanmar Gomez

Hey, everyone. Wanted to just say thanks for reading my column and wanted to explain what this column will focus on every week. Most fans know the names of the AA and AAA players in the Indians minors, so this area will be reserved for players who are in A (hence the title). Now, I don’t get to see most of these players in person, so in general every week will be a more statistical look at prospects in the lower levels that I think deserve as much attention as the higher level players. Also, I won’t use typical stats like BA, RBI, K’s, W, etc....

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Game Recaps: Sunday 4/26

Clippers Lose Game In Late InningsThe Columbus Clippers were clear sailing to victory during the first seven and two third innings, then the seas got rough and everything seemed to go wrong. Five runs with two outs in the eighth inning by the Indianapolis Indians highlighted a 5-4 defeat Sunday afternoon.Clippers starter Tomo Ohka pitched six dazzling innings, allowing only two hits and facing one batter over the minimum. Zach Jackson came on in the seventh and recorded outs on five of the first six batters he faced. With two outs in the eighth...

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Captains/Shorebirds Saturday Game Notes

Yesterday, with the Curve/Aeros game scheduled for 1:35 p.m., the Lake County Captains had the northeastern Ohio minor-league market to themselves in the evening hours, as the Captains hosted the Delmarva Shorebirds in the final game of a three-game series. While the box score indicates that the Shorebirds prevailed, 4-1, the box score does not tell the whole story …Russell Young: In my mind, Young entered the season as the least heralded starter – not to be confused with the ‘worst’ starter or the starter with the smallest upside – of the Captains...

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Game Recaps: Saturday 4/25

LaPorta Powers Columbus To 6-3 WinMatt LaPorta and David Huff carried the Columbus Clippers to their first back to back wins at Huntington Park, defeating the Indianapolis Indians 6-3 Saturday night . Huff pitched six innings, allowing only four hits and three runs with seven strikeouts and two walks. Two hits and all three runs came in the second inning when Huff walked Steve Pearce then gave up back to back home runs to Neil Walker and Jeff Salazar. It was only the second time in Huff’s minor league career that he has allowed multiple home runs...

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Nash Looking To Turn It Around

Lake County first baseman Chris Nash is hoping to turn things around this season.Nash had a promising season in 2007 where he hit .303 with 3 HR, 33 RBI and had an .806 OPS in 63 combined games with short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley and the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Indians. He went into the 2008 season as one of the up-and-coming young prospects in the organization, but once he got to spring training last year things unraveled on him.Shortly into spring training...

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Game Recaps: Friday 4/24

Columbus Pounds Out 9-7 WinColumbus got a hard fought 9-7 win on Friday night, getting very good starting pitching and lots of offense in a game that was not as close as the final score indicated. Some bullpen issues late in the game made it a lot closer than it should have been.Right-hander Jack Cassel got the win and was very good going seven innings allowing just two runs, six hits, one walk while piling up six strikeouts. Ryan Edell and John Meloan pitched the final two frames and combined to pitch two innings and give up six hits, five runs,...

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Aeros/Curve Thursday Game Notes

Tonight, I had the opportunity to travel to Canal Park to watch the Aeros play host to the Altoona Curve in the first game of a four-game series. While the box score indicates that the Aeros prevailed, 9-5, the box score does not tell the whole story …Jose Constanza: Yes, Constanza went 1 for 3 and drove in a team- and game-high four runs, three of which came on a bases-clearing double that, unwisely, he tried to stretch into a triple. However, he also played with a combination of spirit and patience, drawing two walks and swiping second twice....

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Pontius activated

The domino effect from the Tony Sipp callup to Cleveland continues. With RHP Josh Judy being promoted from Kinston to Akron yesterday, the Indians activated RHP Mike Pontius from extended spring traini...

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Minor Happenings: Berger Is King

"Minor Happenings" covers the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that cover each team.Lots to cover this week. In case you missed them, earlier in the week I wrote articles on Mark Thompson, Tony Sipp and Huntington Park.I...

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