Weekend Update: 1/3

Here is a quick rundown of the happenings in the week that was in the Indians farm system:

- By now, everyone should know that the Indians have acquired infielder Mark DeRosa from the Cubs for minor league pitchers Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer, and John Gaub. For more info on the deal and very detailed scouting reports of the players the Indians sent out, check out my writeup a few days ago when the deal went down.

- Speaking of the players given up in the DeRosa trade, all three will be on my radio show Smoke Signals this coming Thursday January 8th, 2009 from 9:30-11:00 p.m. EST. I talked to Archer and Gaub on Friday, and both are in good spirits after the trade and ready to move on and agreed to come on the show to talk about the trade and the change in direction their careers have taken. I am still awaiting confirmation from Stevens to come on the show, but he should be good to go.

- Our last edition of Smoke Signals which aired between Christmas and New Year’s on Monday December 29th, 2008 centered around the Indians need for a reliable, veteran starting pitcher to fill out the starting rotation. We discussed the options remaining in free agency, and then had on-air interviews with player agent Josh Kusnick and Indians minor league left-hander Ryan Morris.

- Something of interest that I learned over the past week is that minor league players who wish to go to Goodyear to workout and train early have to pay for their expenses out of their own pocket. Until minor league camp opens in spring training, attendance at the new Goodyear facility is considered voluntary and players are responsible for paying for their own hotel rooms, meals, and anything else. Sometimes agents or endorsement deals pay for this extra expense, but for a lot of players they don’t have this option for the extra money to afford going to spring training early. It may not seem like a lot, but the cost of staying in a hotel and eating runs about $100 a day in Goodyear, which is a lot for a player living on a minor league salary.

- As discussed in a conversation with first baseman Todd Martin near the end of August, he had surgery this past September on his knee to correct a previous surgery to repair a tear in the meniscus in his right knee in June that did not go well. The surgery was performed by Dr. Parker who also happens to be the knee specialist for the Cleveland Cavaliers. After some rehab time in Goodyear, Martin is back home in Knoxville, Tennessee working out with a personal trainer to get ready for spring training.

- As mentioned earlier in the week, the upcoming Indians prospect rankings are set to start on Sunday January 11th. The list will be a countdown of the Top 100 Indians prospects, with #100 and #99 kicking things off on the 11th, #98 and #97 on Monday January 12th, #96 and #95 on Tuesday January 13th, and so on. Do note, the scouting reports for the players the Indians traded to the Cubs are a good representation of what to expect from players ranked #1-50 and for some players ranked from #51-100. Most players ranked from #51-100 will have a scouting report about half the size for those from #1-50. You won't see ore detailed, in-depth scouting reports and for so many Indians prospects anywhere. And more details on the prospect book will be coming soon as I am down to the final few scouting reports to finish before I can begin work on formatting and editing for the book.

- Outfielder Nick Weglarz will be playing for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic this coming March, and will be a fixture in the middle of the lineup.

- Former Tribe farmhand right-hander Sean Smith has signed with the Pirates.

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Indians Acquire Mark DeRosa, Trade Jeff Stevens

No official word on this at the moment, but the Indians have traded minor leaguers RHP Jeff Stevens, RHP Chris Archer, and LHP John Gaub to the Chicago Cubs for infielder Mark DeRosa. No word on who the other prospects are the Indians are giving up, but it sounds as if the deal is in fact centered around Stevens.

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A Scout's Take On The Indians

One of the cool things about going around to the different affiliates to check in on the players and teams each month is not only do I get a chance to see the players and talk to them, but every visit I meet someone new outside the Indians organization. Some of these people I have remained in contact with, and in this piece one of those contacts is a major league scout I have spoken to on several occasions.

I recently had the chance to sit down and talk on the phone with a major league scout who has the Indians as one of the teams he scouts for trades from Single-A Lake County all the way up to the major league team. It was a near 45-minute conversation where the scout was staying overnight in a hotel room out in the Midwest getting ready for his next pitstop in another minor league city.

This scout is one of the top scouts for the organization he scouts for. He has five organizations that he scouts, Cleveland being one of them, and will spend five days in each of the five organization's minor and major league cities to see their four full season minor league teams and major league team. He only sees each team once and does not come back the rest of the year. For example, he was in Lake County in early May and Kinston in mid-May, saw each club for five days (to see the five-man starting rotation make their starts), and will not be back to see them this year. This is the way it works for most clubs, if not all of them. Once the amateur staff is done with the Major League Draft, his organization will send crosscheckers out to see the guys again later in the year.

It should be noted that the scout in this piece has not been to Buffalo, so we did not spend any time talking about the few prospects that are on the team other than ones he may have seen in Akron earlier in the year. Bottom line, when the scout is evaluating talent he is scouting for tools and skills, and not so much performance. Guys who perform and don't have tools he said better really perform. The only performance that is considered is that which supports his projection. For example, if he says this guy will be a groundball pitcher he better show stats that he is a ground-baller down the road. It is not maybe and can-be, it is either they are or they are not.

In the interest of keeping the scout's comments direct and to the point, as well as keep his anonymity as he requested, this is but a raw article that pretty much takes what the scout said word for word on about a dozen players in the system. Some players we talked about for several minutes, while others for only a few seconds.

Anyway, here are the comments on each player we talked about:

Indians Top Prospects: "These are the top guys I have: Beau Mills, Mike Pontius, David Huff, Wes Hodges, Nick Weglarz, Hector Rondon, and Kelvin De La Cruz. There are others and they might jump into the mix. A couple under the radar type guys. That is the grouping so far."

Kelvin De La Cruz (LHP - Lake County): "Based on what I saw, he is a middle of the rotation starter on a championship club. He has enough velocity, and he may develop more. His stuff and pitch-ability support the role of a starter. I like his no fear aggressive approach. He has a simple fastball, curveball, changeup attack plan. I think he will at some point establish the major league order of command first, movement second, and velocity third. I think he is on the right career path. He pounds the zone. Good sink down in the zone. His curveball was fringy when I saw him, but it is a projectable plus-plus pitch with real good depth and a swing and miss put away type pitch. He showed the feel for the changeup, and I think that projects to be a plus pitch too. He is athletic as he handled all the bunts and all the comebackers. I think there is room there for more growth, usable strength and weight. You have to use your imagination a little bit with projection, but I like the kid. I really do."

Ryan Miller (LHP - Lake County): "He is a performer. He showed a solid-average fastball and a projectable average breaking pitch. His breaking ball is kind of a hybrid, it wandered back and forth between a slider and curveball. He showed a feel for a change and looks like it can develop into an average pitch. He is a medium frame performer type of guy. I think he will refine his secondary stuff to allow him to have major league value in at least a specialist role. If he tightens the slider, he could throw several of those in a row consecutively and retire left-handed hitters. I'd like to see him remain a starting pitcher, but I think the left-handed specialist role is an option for a championship organization. He'd be more a Triple-A starter or a left-handed specialist."

Chris Archer (RHP - Lake County): "Now this guy is really interesting. For me, he would be a notch above Miller. He was 89-93 MPH, 91 average. His curveball was 79 MPH. He has a projectable plus fastball. His curveball projects as a 55 for me, and his change as solid-average. He is a guy who I can see going bullpen or starter. His body type, there is room for more there and he is going to probably gain more. He has control and command issues, but my projection is based on flashes from what I have seen of him. His delivery and arm action faults are definitely correctable. In doing so, he will see an immediate command and control spike and then his projectable stuff will play up. When the stuff plays, he will see immediate improvement in four categories: K/9, HR/9, BB/9 and groundball percentage. He worked out of a bases loaded jams, has a live arm, plus velocity, projectable plus curveball, and a projectable average three-fingered straight change. His delivery he kind of rushed, he is rotational, and short in stride with the touchdown. He is just kind of a bad delivery kind of guy right now. Once that get straightens which is correctable and coachable because he is so young, when he stays on-line he flashes all that stuff you look for. Flash is his middle name right now, and he is a guy I see in the big leagues someday. I think the performance spike will come with the delivery cleanup and modifications. I like his on the field makeup. He is content and grinds through his wildness. He hangs in through his wildness, so you see the mental makeup there. He is young for the league and needs to repeat Low-A. I like this guy."

Mike Pontius (RHP - Kinston): "I like Mike a lot. I saw him in Lake County and in Kinston. Of all the people we have discussed, to me he has the highest projection. Moreso than De La Cruz, Miller, Archer, all of them. I learned he was a football player, from you actually. He lost a bunch of weight and he was under the radar, and he is now on the radar that's for sure. I have him as a late game setup type guy. He has major league late game setup man all over him. The velocity is there with a plus-plus fastball, and he has a projectable plus-plus curveball. He has the mental skills for the setup role, and the football mentality plays into it. There is no reason to rush him as he was young for the Sally League as it is a 21.9 average league. He is too good for the Sally League though, so it was good he was moved to High-A. He has a collection of tools and skills. Shades of a Rafael Betancourt type guy, but I feel he goes beyond that. He is kind of like a John Wetteland where he might end up being like a closer. I see him at least as a setup man. He has the Joe Borowski type curveball, but he has the Wetteland type velocity. That is a pretty good combo there. He pitches at an over-the-top angle so he leverages down on hitters well ands creates a good angle. His curveball comes out of the same slot so there is no chip off involved. I like his delivery, it is compact, correctional, and he repeats it. He does a good job reading bats, when he sees the hitter scuffling he goes right after that weakness. He pitches to his strengths, and he gets groundballs. He has some natural cutting action and movement on his fastball even though he is not a three-quarter angle guy. Curveball is a swing and miss pitch. To me, he needs innings pitched. It is hard to find faults with the guy. He just needs to get out there and pitch and stay healthy."

Luis Perdomo (RHP - Kinston): "That guy, he is interesting. I saw him last year, and he is definitely better this year. He has done some things that are pretty interesting. To me right now he would be a middle reliever guy and not a setup guy or closer. He pounds the zone with the fastball and slider. So goes his slider, so goes his upside. This year the slider has spiked and it is a lot better. He would be a good middle relief guy to come in and wipeout righties with that two-pitch plan. The slider is a swing-and-miss under the bat type pitch, so he can get lefties out too. Because of his velocity, guys will have to amp up on that and then they will get tricked with the slider. Command and control is the key with him. The mentality is there. He really flourishes in that role. He is aggressive and pounds the zone. He is 24 and right at the league average of 23.1, so he is a little old for the league. I like his velocity and slider, which is a swing and miss put away pitch."

Wes Hodges (3B - Akron): "I think he is better this year than last year. His bat profiles at first or third base, but I think he will play enough to stay at third. His body is better this year and it appears he has firmed it up. In instructional League in 2006 he had just signed and I heard good things about him in college and had never seen him, and when I saw him I thought ‘oh gosh he is going to have to firm up the body a little bit and show a little more agility and mobility', and he has done that. He has done a lot better this year than last, and he is going to play third base. He has enough agility and he makes all the plays, and I think he stays there. If I had to make the decision, I would not move him."

Jeanmar Gomez (RHP - Kinston): "To me, he will be an up and down type guy. He has a live arm with room for more velocity. His breaking ball is the missing part, and I think he needs to eliminate the slider and develop a curveball or splitter to compliment the overhand fastball. He is an over-the-top guy, and he needs another vertical pitch like the overhand breaking ball or split. Forget the slider because it does not work up there and it is very hittable. If he develops a top to bottom vertical pitch to go with his fastball, there is some hope there."

Hector Rondon (RHP - Kinston): "He is 20 years old, so he is 2.9 years young for the Carolina League. I have him as a #4/5 starter. He is an upgrade from 2007, and he has enough velocity to challenge with a power pitch. He also flashed for me a lot of touch and feel for finesse that is needed. He throws a fastball, breaking ball and changeup. I think he is an undervalued guy. There is a guy I like who is under the radar a bit. A definite upgrade from 2007."

David Huff (LHP - Buffalo): "I like him as a middle of the rotation guy. He has a veteran attack plan. It is all about command, movement and velocity. His fastball plays up because of his plus changeup. His changeup is a legitimate weapon against lefties and righties. He is in the upper echelon of the system."

Steven Wright (RHP - Kinston): "For me he is not a big league guy, I have him as an organizational guy."

Chuck Lofgren (LHP - Akron): "He has had a very rough year and been very inconsistent. I think with delivery work, the old Lofgren will re-appear."

Nick Weglarz (OF - Kinston): "I really like him a lot. The plate discipline is off the charts good, and the power is surely there."

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Minor Happenings: Archer Turns It Around

"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.

I was in Akron over the holiday weekend and had a chance to talk with a lot of different people, from players, to family members, and to scouts. Some of those conversations will be included in today's piece, and the players I talked to were a trio of right-handed relievers in Jeff Stevens, Randy Newsom, and Erik Stiller who I will have feature pieces on soon.

I was going to go to Buffalo today to see Adam Miller pitch as he was scheduled to start today prior to going on the disabled list, but with him out I decided not to go as there is no one worth seeing pitch tonight. In lieu of going to Buffalo, I will likely be conducting a phone interview with Jordan Brown sometime this weekend, so I will have that coming down the pipeline as well.

Since I am not going to Buffalo tonight, I decided to go to Lake County instead. I'll be there tonight to see Kelvin De La Cruz pitch again, but I'll spend more time focusing on some of the relievers and hitters and interviewing a handful of them for upcoming pieces. And, I still have a piece on left-hander Ryan Miller that is near ready that got put on the backburner because of the busy holiday weekend. The Ryan Miller piece should be up sometime this weekend, likely Sunday. If you missed it last weekend, I did a piece on speedy outfielder Adam White.

Also, one final reminder to mention that the MLB Draft commences this coming Thursday June 5^th. Dennis Nosco will be all over the draft with a preview the day before it, a live two-day blog on my site, and then a wrap on this site after the draft. Be sure to check it out, and if you missed it he did a write-up this week on the draft. Also, Director of Amateur Scouting Brad Grant will be in studio on STO this Tuesday at 6pm on the Indians Minor League Magazine show to talk draft. When it comes to the MLB Draft, SportsTime Ohio and The Cleveland Fan have you covered!

Indians Minor League Player Of The Week
(for week of May 22^nd to May 28^th)

Chris Archer (Right-handed Pitcher - Lake County)
0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 starts, 11 IP, 0 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 10 K

What a fantastic week for Lake County right-hander Chris Archer who just dominated the competition in the South Atlantic League. There were many fans who questioned why the Indians have stuck with Archer for so long in the rotation at Lake County given his struggles with walking people before this week (39 walks in 33 innings pitched), but after his performance in two starts this week, I think everyone can now see what the Indians and scouts see in him that make him so highly regarded.

Last Thursday, Archer pitched six strong shutout innings giving up only three hits, striking out five and only walking one. Archer left the game after six innings with a 1-0 lead, but the bullpen was unable to hold the lead to get him the much deserved win. On Tuesday, Archer's follow up act was just as good as he threw five shutout innings and allowed just four hits, one walk and struck out five. He did not factor into the decision as the game was scoreless until the eighth inning, and he was long gone before Lake County put up two runs in that inning to win the game 2-0.

Archer has a live arm and a devastating curveball that many in the organization consider as the best breaking ball in the system. With two plus pitches, good makeup, and still only 19-years old, the sky is the limit for Archer. He is a legit pitching prospect in the organization to follow going forward, and his struggles and successes will be a lot of fun to watch in the coming years as he grows into his body and matures as a player. More later on Archer below in an interview I had recently with Lake County pitching coach Ruben Niebla.

Honorable Mentions: Dustin Realini, 1B, Lake County (.440 AVG, HR, 7 RBI); Jared Goedert, 2B/3B, Kinston (.350 AVG, 2 HR, 8 RBI); Wes Hodges, 3B, Akron (.414 AVG, 0 HR, 5 RBI); Brad Snyder, OF, Buffalo (.471 AVG, 0 HR, 4 RBI); Hector Rondon, RHP, Kinston (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 K)

Previous Winners:

5/15 to 5/21: David Huff (LHP - Akron)
5/8 to 5/14: Steven Wright (RHP - Kinston)
5/1 to 5/7: Jeremy Sowers (LHP - Buffalo)
4/24 to 4/30: Jose Constanza (OF - Akron)
4/17 to 4/23: Hector Rondon (RHP - Kinston)
4/10 to 4/16: Wes Hodges (3B - Akron)
4/3 to 4/9: Kelvin De La Cruz (LHP - Lake County)

Coaches Corner

A week back when I was in Lake County I had the chance to sit down with pitching coach Ruben Niebla and talk about several of the outstanding, promising arms he has had to work with this year there. Here is a rundown on what was said:

On Kelvin De La Cruz: "Confidence has never been an issue with Kelvin. I think he is coming into his own as a pitcher. He is a three-pitch mix guy and he loves to compete. He is probably the most polished of the starters on the staff as far as three pitches in the zone. He gets after it and does a pretty good job at attacking hitters. He has an understanding on how to attack them and sticks to his strengths well. I think with De La what I have seen is that more than anything at times he tends to lose his focus, and then when he has runners in scoring position he gets his focus back and executes his pitches. For example, I have seen him pitch out of more situations than any of the other guys with runners in scoring position and less than two outs. When he is able to maintain his focus throughout the game I think he is going to be a pitcher to reckon with."

On Mike Pontius: "If he was not on your radar last year, you messed it up (laughs). Mike came up here for the final third of the season last year. We saw the stuff. We knew why he was inconsistent and he was able to apply instruction. So, coming into spring training this year we were able to see he had already made adjustments to get the ball in the zone, throw the ball downhill, and tighten up that breaking ball for strikes. When he came here at the beginning of the season he just took off with it. The thing about Mike is he is able to apply instruction and that is a quality you can't overlook. Also the fact that he throws in the mid-90s and has a plus breaking ball. It has some depth and bite to it. He is special. He is someone I think could definitely help us in the near future at a higher level."

On Ryan Miller: "Bottom line, he has good stuff. He can spin a breaking ball, has good feel for a changeup, and he has good deception to his fastball which is a good combination to have. Some of the things he is working on is polishing those strengths of his and getting more consistent in the strike zone."

On Chris Archer: "I think we are solidifying his delivery right now more than anything. Archer has gone through some adversity during some of his games. That is only going to make him better because when he starts getting consistent in the strike zone - and we are confident he will - he has electric stuff through the zone. It is just a matter of being patient and waiting for it to come."

On Ryan Morris: "He is a strike thrower and sinks the ball well. He pitches to the bottom of the zone, which is a formula for a lot of groundballs. Our infield I think is leading the league in fielding percentage and that is just a good combination for him as it allows him to throw a lot of groundballs and let the defense play behind him."

On Joey Mahalic: "I think what I am trying to do with him is making sure that he stays on top of the ball with consistency. He has a tendency to get under pitches and when he does his ball sails from side to side. He has a nice loose arm with good arm strength and able to sink the ball at 88-89 MPH. But when he stays on top of his pitches he is able to sink it with a downhill angle and get a lot of groundballs. That is what he has done."

Another Scout's Take

When I was in Akron over the weekend, I had a chance to talk to several baseball people outside of the Indians organization. One in particular was a scout for an American League club who I had the chance to speak to for about 15 minutes and run down a laundry list of players in the system. This was not nearly as in-depth of a conversation as I had with the scout in Akron a month back where we talked for over an hour, but still it was an interesting conversation to say the least. (Note, these opinions are those of the scout and not necessarily mine).

The AL scout said there is not a lot of major league quality guys at Akron as the team is mainly depth guys or players who are complimentary players to a big league club. His job is to look for starters and guys that are an improvement over what they have in their system. He likes some of the arms and a few bats, but aside from that thinks many of the players there are forgettable.

We talked about outfielder Trevor Crowe, and he pointedly said "he just doesn't see it....where is he going to play?". He was not big at all on Crowe and doesn't see a consistent bat to be an everyday player and would not recommend his club trade for him or pick him up. On third baseman Wes Hodges he said that while his bat is impressive, he does not see him sticking at third base. He does not feel like he is good defensively at third and believes he ends up at first base eventually. He said he really likes shortstop Josh Rodriguez in that he moves well at short and has a promising bat. Also, he really, really likes catcher Chris Gimenez's bat. On the pitching front, left-handed starter David Huff and right-handed reliever Jeff Stevens are two guys he would love to have in his organization and are guys he thinks have a lot of value.

We also talked about some of the Indians players, namely third baseman Andy Marte and outfielder Ben Francisco. He is yet another scout I have talked to who claims to love Francisco much more than what he termed as the "over-hyped" outfielder Franklin Gutierrez. He said it is not even close and that "yeah, Gutierrez has more tools. But, those tools have not changed one bit since he was in Double-A in 2004. Francisco on the other hand needs some work on defense, but aside from that has improved every year. It is no contest. I'd take Francisco on my team any day over Gutierrez". He also said that Andy Marte has fallen off the prospect map and that if he were to be put on waivers his club would likely pass. Just too many holes in his game, and defensively he is not very good. He also mentioned that right-handed starter Paul Byrd has more trade value than people think. Many teams would love to have the reliable Byrd to fill a #4-#5 spot in the rotation for the stretch run, and believes the Indians could get a good promising bat or bullpen arm in return for him.

Miller Injured Again

The big news of the week was right-hander Adam Miller going on the disabled list because of a broken callous on the middle finger of his right hand, and then having what very well might be season ending surgery to correct this serious issue. It was a crazy week, as the injury seemingly came out of nowhere as in six starts on the season Miller was looking strong and had a 1.88 ERA. It was a wild 48 hours from the point he was scratched from his Sunday afternoon start, to being put on the disabled list on Monday, to having surgery on the finger Tuesday. In the span of 48 hours he went from a great trading chip or bullpen option for the Indians to possibly being shelved for the season.

The problem with Miller's middle finger on his pitching hand came about last year, and it was felt with rest the issues he had with his tendon may correct itself on its own. But, the issues with his finger cropped up again, this time because he had developed two calluses on it and between the calluses the skin had become soft and developed into a hole in his skin which put Miller's finger at serious risk of infection. The calluses were a result of Miller's strained pulley system in the finger last year. Team hand specialist Dr. Tom Graham performed the surgery on Tuesday and surgically repaired the pulley system in the middle finger. During the surgery, Dr. Graham found that Miller's tendons in the finger were starting to fray and that the pulley system in the finger was not working properly.

So what is next for Miller? He is expected to be out for about eight weeks, and if all goes well during his recovery he will go on a return-to-throw program sometime in late July. Since he will be coming back late in the season, they could work him back more into a bullpen role which would shorten the throwing program required before he could return to Buffalo possibly by mid-August. While Buffalo's season will be wrapped up by the end of August, it is possible if he performs well in his return that he could pitch the final month of the season in Cleveland.

Time To Make A Pitch For Hitting

The Indians are loaded with pitching at the major league and minor league level. It is an obvious surplus that even with the impending free agency of ace C.C. Sabathia and reliable starter Paul Byrd they have more than enough to turn to and replace those two potential losses. Yes, replacing Sabathia is nearly impossible, but they have quality arms that could step in and not be such a big drop-off from Sabathia. Byrd is replaceable, and would it really be that much of a drop next season to have Aaron Laffey replace Sabathia and Jeremy Sowers replace Byrd? What I am getting at here, is the Indians need to go one of two directions and either way they go they have to go in one of those directions.

Option #1 should be to seriously consider trading Sabathia and Byrd. According to the scout I talked to over the weekend, Byrd has value as a dependable back of the rotation starter teams look for when they are trying to round out their staff for a stretch run, and that means we could probably get a good prospect for him, particularly one who may be major league ready. Sabathia is a few months away from free agency and almost certain to leave, so why not get as much as you can for him now? By trading Sabathia in no way would it wave the white flag on the season, it actually may be the deal that gets this team going as they Indians could plug in Laffey into his spot in the rotation (when Carmona comes back) and there would be minimal drop in performance, but where it would really pay off is the help we would receive in return for Sabathia. Sabathia could probably net the Indians two to three very good young impact hitters. Maybe two hitters and a bullpen arm, but in any case the Indians should look around for a team willing to part with some major league ready premium talent for Sabathia.

Option #2 calls for Shapiro to go the distance with Sabathia and Byrd, and instead look to trade Laffey, Sowers, or any other young pitcher in the farm system. This is a route that helps short term as it will be easier to land a veteran bat or two to help the lineup, but it could seriously hurt the Indians in 2009 and beyond. The problem here is it will be hard to give up on a Laffey or a David Huff, which are two guys at the top of the list when teams talk to the Indians about trades. Before Adam Miller went on the disabled list, even he would have been considered in a deal.

The Indians have a lot of good young pitching stocked throughout the farm system, and are overstocked with it. On the flipside, the Indians lack many impact bats, so it is time to maybe tip the scales more in the hitting direction to balance the system out and use some of the pitching surplus - be it at the major league or minor league level - and get some bats in here to help this team out in 2008 and beyond. Scouts love our pitching, especially the young arms, but Shapiro has to be willing to take a gamble and start using that pitching as currency to buy some much needed upgrades to a Tribe offense that is holding the team back.

Stevens The Next Callup?

Akron right-handed reliever Jeff Stevens is on the verge of a callup to Cleveland. With the way things are going in the bullpen with the parent club, there is a need for quality relief pitching and since trade options are limited for at least another month the Indians may look in-house like they did with Jensen Lewis last year to find that solution. Stevens so far this season is 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA, .200 BAA, 10.80 K/9, and 3.03 BB/9.

Stevens went into this season as one of the highly thought of bullpen arms in the farm system, and to date he has not disappointed. While he did get off to a slow start, he has simply been awesome the last month. In April, Stevens was 3-1 with a 4.20 ERA, .259 BAA, 10.2 K/9, and 2.4 BB/9 in nine appearances out of the bullpen. Those were solid numbers, but he was a little inconsistent and was still learning to throw a slider that he just started throwing to give hitters a different look. In May he has been spectacular going 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA, .108 BAA, 11.57 K/9, and a 3.9 BB/9 in seven appearances out of the bullpen. In his last five appearances covering a total of eight innings, Stevens has yielded just one hit, walked three and struck out 11.

Stevens has settled into a grove, is pitching with a ton of confidence again, and is ready to be challenged at the next level. He could be on the move to Buffalo anytime in the next few days, and there is a remote chance he could skip Buffalo altogether and go right to Cleveland. However, the likely course of action will be for the Indians to move him to Buffalo, have him get a few appearances there, and then consider him for a callup to Cleveland by mid-June.

Wild Thing

It has been a rough year so far for Akron left-hander Chuck Lofgren (1-3, 5.94 ERA). After a slow start to the season, he seemed to be getting things going with two excellent starts to kick off the month of May going six one-run innings on May 1^st and seven one-run innings on May 6th. But, after a nightmare road trip in early May where many off days and rainouts had the starters go about ten days without pitching in a game, the momentum Lofgren had built with those two starts in May was gone.

In his last three starts, Lofgren is 0-0 with a 6.91 ERA and again the alarming numbers are the hits (13) he has given up and all the walks (15) he has piled up in those three starts (14.1 innings). He is walking too many batters this year (6.5 BB/9), and on top of that has hit four batters and thrown several wild pitches. In his start last Thursday, Lofgren was visibly upset to where he had to be removed in the middle of the fifth inning and he walked off the mound steaming the entire way to the dugout where he threw his hat and glove against the wall.

Bottom line, Lofgren is frustrated. He knows he is better than this, the Indians know it, I know it, and so do the scouts. Sometimes it is just one of those seasons a pitcher goes through, as luck has not been on his side so far this year. That said, it is time for him to find a way to get things together and go out there and perform. Lofgren has great makeup and in the past has shown the ability to focus and bear down when times get tough, and there is no reason he can't do it again. Lofgren knows what he has to do, and that is to keep his focus, keep the ball down in the zone and start throwing more strikes.

They Call Him Mr. Clutch

Akron third baseman has had a very good year at the plate so far this season, and to date he is hitting .316 with 7 HR, 41 RBI, and an .870 OPS. He leads the team in hitting, RBI, and home runs, and he currently ranks 1^st in the Eastern League in RBI. Hodges has been extremely hot of late, as he is hitting .421 (16-for-38) in his last ten games. While he has piled up his 41 RBI in just 51 games, which is a pace of 112 RBI over a 140 game season and would destroy the Akron record of 96 RBI in a season set by Chan Perry in 1997.

Digging deeper and looking at his situational stats, Hodges is also having a terrific season in clutch situations. He has been red-hot hitting .386 (22-for-57) and a 1.094 OPS with men in scoring position this year. He has been hot all month, hitting .371 in May and his 21 RBI for the month leads the next closest player by 11 RBI (Gimenez is 2nd in May with 10 RBI). His home run production has dropped this month as he only has hit one in May after hitting six in April, but his RBI production has increased because he has been so clutch with men on base.

Full Season Adjustments

For a lot of players at Lake County, and some at Kinston, this year is their first experience playing a full season. Many of the players on these rosters played on short-season rosters at Mahoning Valley or the Gulf Coast League last year. Both Kinston and Lake County have played over 50 games, and were this a short-season the players would be about two to three weeks from wrapping up their season. But, as full-season players, they still have over three months to go.

According to Lake County outfielder Adam White it is an adjustment in learning to deal with a much longer season. "It is different playing everyday. Last year playing at Mahoning Valley you only had two and a half months. Now I have five months. In short-season you just get started and then you end, and if you don't get off to a good start you are done for, whereas with a full season you have five months to regroup."

Many of these players are only used to the 40-60 game schedule they played each year in high school, college, and professionally in short-season leagues. Now, they have to get used to a grueling 140-game schedule of a full season.

"Mahoning was basically just a learning thing and to get accustomed," said White. "I don't know what it is going to be like hitting in July or August [after playing for three months already]. I heard from guys in spring training it is a grind. Just stay completely focused and you should not have a problem with it."

Getting On Track With iTrac

Stephanie Storm of the Akron Beacon Journal had a nice piece on the iTrac system the Indians have setup in their batting cages at Progressive Field as well as other places like Winter Haven and Akron. The Indians are one of five major league organizations who are using the machine, and it is a machine which helps train the vision of hitters to where they can better recognize pitches and their location. As Storm wrote, "The system is designed to improve a player's vision and ability to track a ball by conditioning and strengthening the eye muscles. In doing so, players improve their depth perception, enhance hand-eye coordination and improve reaction time. This happens as the system breaks down the ball path into three sections: the recognition zone, the decision zone and the attack zone."

According to studies, hitters lose sight of a pitch about six to eight feet from home plate, which means they are guessing the final location of the ball as they make contact. The iTrac system helps train the eyes of the hitters to follow the ball all the way up until the point of contact and eliminate this blind spot. The system has become a tool to help minor league hitters become better adept at keeping their head down and looking through the ball and also keep their front side in as they swing. The past few years the Indians have integrated the iTrac machine into the daily routines of the minor leaguers during spring training, and they continue to use it when available throughout the season.

Transactions Log

It was a busy week for transactions, particularly in Buffalo. On Monday, the Indians signed outfielder Todd Linden and infielder Jorge Velandia to minor league deals and assigned them to Buffalo. Linden hit .333 (26-for-78) with 3 HR and 12 RBI in 22 games with Triple-A Sacramento (Athletics), and Velandia hit .287 (27-for-94) with 3 HR and 12 RBI in 28 games with Triple-A Syracuse (Toronto) before playing in a brief two-game stint with Toronto (0-for-7). To make room for Linden and Velancia, outfielder Bronson Sardinha was re-assigned to Double-A Akron and infielder Danny Sandoval was transferred to extended spring training. In addition, the Indians optioned right-hander Jensen Lewis to Buffalo on Saturday and right-handers Eddie Mujica and Scott Elarton were called up to Cleveland.

With right-hander Adam Miller going on the disabled list on Monday, right-hander Joanniel Montero was promoted to Buffalo but quickly reassigned to Akron. Montero's stay in Akron should be short-lived as right-hander Bubbie Buzachero is expected to move back down from Buffalo to Akron in the next few days. Also, with Sardinha being sent from Buffalo to Akron, Akron outfielder Nathan Panther was transferred to Mahoning Valley.

Infirmary Report

Some quick news on the injury front. When I was in Akron over the weekend I learned that several pitchers in extended spring training are very close to being activated or sent on rehab assignments. These timelines are always fuzzy and setbacks can always crop up, but three of the Indians top pitching prospects should be in action by the end of June.

Left-hander Tony Sipp (Tommy John surgery) is expected to begin his rehab assignment in Kinston sometime in mid-June, and if I had to guess he'll be rostered there right after the Carolina League All-Star break (June 23-25). Right-handed reliever Michael Finocchi (broken leg) and left-handed starter Scott Lewis (strained lat) both are expected back in Akron sometime in the next two to three weeks.

Affiliate Notebook

Buffalo Notes (25-29, 4th place, 8.5 GB): Former Buffalo Mayor Jimmy D. Griffin passed away at the age of 78 on Sunday morning. Griffin was a huge supporter of the Buffalo Bisons, and through work with city leaders and using his own money, the city purchased a struggling Jersey City Double-A team and moved them to Buffalo in 1979. He was also instrumental in the construction of the downtown ballpark Dunn Tire Park. ... Outfielder Jason Cooper is setting many Buffalo hitting records this season. On Saturday, Cooper hit his fifth home run of the season and his 45th as a Bison tying him for 7th on the all-time list with current manager and former player Torey Lovullo. On Tuesday, he racked up his 200th career RBI as a Bison, good for fourth on the all-time list. The only other Bisons in the modern era to collect 200 RBI are Bill Selby (245), Jeff Manto (207) and Russell Branyan (202). ... First baseman Jordan Brown has shown no lingering affects from being on the disabled list for three weeks (5/1 to 5/19). Since being activated, Brown has hit well by hitting .322 (10-for-31) in eight games. On the season he is hitting .283 with 0 HR, 11 RBI, and a .742 OPS. ... On Tuesday, left-hander Jeremy Sowers tossed another gem going six shutout innings with five strikeouts and one walk. On the season he is 3-3 with a 2.18 ERA in nine starts. ... The Buffalo pitching staff has made a steady climb up the International League rankings. Buffalo is now ranked 7th in ERA (3.84), 3rd in fewest home runs allowed (38), and 6th in strikeouts (380). ... Hitting-wise, Buffalo has been just as inconsistent and painful to watch at times as the parent club. Buffalo is ranked 13th in the International League in hitting (.247), 9th in home runs (36), and 12th in runs (207).

Akron Notes (27-24, 3rd place, 3.5 GB): Outfielder Ryan Goleski was out of the lineup for three days last week from Thursday through Saturday to attend to the birth of his first child. After a long labor, Ryan and his wife Rachel gave birth to a baby girl on Friday. Congrats to the Goleski family, and let's hope with the arrival of the little Go-Go that big daddy Go-Go gets going at the plate. ... First baseman/outfielder Stephen Head has had a hot bat of late. Head put up consecutive three-hit games from May 23-24 and in the last ten games is hitting .361 (13-for-36). On the season Head is hitting .321 with 1 HR, 11 RBI, and a .798 OPS in 24 games. ... Catcher Chris Gimenez is still off to a very good start. Gimenez is 3rd in the Eastern League in on-base percentage (.459) and 1st in walks (36). Gimenez had his 11-game hitting streak snapped on Tuesday night when he went 0-for-2 but had two walks. On the season Gimenez is hitting .303 with 4 HR, 16 RBI and a .967 OPS. ... Shortstop Josh Rodriguez has quietly put together a solid season, and has shown much improved plate discipline (30 walks). On the season he is hitting .260 with 2 HR, 13 RBI, 7 stolen bases, and a .711 OPS. ... Left-hander David Huff is 4-1 with a 1.98 ERA in ten starts. ... Right-handed reliever Randy Newsom is 2-0 with 15 saves and a 0.79 ERA in 23 appearances.

Kinston Notes (25-27, 2nd place, 7.5 GB): Outfielder Cirilo Cumberbatch was the Carolina League Player of the Week for the week of May 19th - 25th. For the week, Cumberbatch went 11-for-18 at the plate, with five runs, four RBI and a home run. The Panama native hit .611 with a .889 slugging percentage. ... On Friday, Akron right-hander Frank Herrmann returned to Kinston for a spot start. With Indians right-hander Jake Westbrook pitching in Akron on Friday in his final rehab assignment, the Indians wanted Herrmann to pitch on normal rest, but more importantly with Kinston playing back-to-back doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday they needed an arm for a spot start. ... Outfielder Nick Weglarz continues to rack up the walks. While his walk-rate has slowed down some since the ridiculous pace he was on the first few weeks of the season, he now has 45 walks on the season which leads the Carolina League and is 2nd in all of Minor League Baseball. On the season, Weglarz is hitting .264 with 5 HR, 20 RBI, and an .843 OPS. ... On Sunday, right-hander Hector Rondon was brilliant going seven shutout innings and allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out eight batters. It was Rondon's first win since July 14, 2007, a span of 18 winless starts where he gave up three or less earned runs 14 times. On the season Rondon is now 1-3 with a 3.88 ERA in ten starts. ... Kinston pitchers lead the Carolina League in most home runs allowed with 43 on the season. On the flip-side, Kinston hitters are 5th in the league in home runs (29).

Lake County Notes (34-20, 1st place, 4.5 GU): With 16 games left before the end of the first half, Lake County's magic number is down to 13. The 140-game Single-A season is broken up into two halves of 70 games each where the winner of the division from each half qualifies for the playoffs in September. In the event a team wins both halves, the second place team in the second half qualifies for the playoffs and plays the division winner of both halves and does not play a home game. ... On Saturday, right-hander Joey Mahalic put up his best effort as a professional going five shutout innings allowing three hits, no walks and three punchouts. On the season he is 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA in four starts. Left-hander John Gaub followed him out of the bullpen and was sensational, throwing two shutout innings and striking out six batters. Gaub has 24 strikeouts in 14.2 innings, and is 0-1 with a 4.30 ERA in eight appearances. ... Infielder Dustin Realini has been swinging a hot stick of late. After playing very little the first month of the season, Realini has been a regular in the lineup the last few weeks and he has made the most of it. In May he is hitting .329, and has reached base in 16 straight games. On the season, Realini is hitting .314 with 3 HR, 25 RBI, and an .859 OPS. ... On Sunday, left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz tossed six scoreless innings scattering two hits, walking three and striking out seven. On the season he is 4-2 with a 1.57 ERA. ... On Monday, left-hander Ryan Morris pitched five scoreless innings scattering three hits, walking one and striking out five. On the season he is 6-0 with a 2.01 ERA. ... Lake County starters have been on a role all season and been the backbone of the team, but this past week they have been spectacular. In their last ten starts, the starters have pitched 45.1 innings and allowed just one earned run. ... Lake County has been in 1st place all but ten days of the season and have had sole possession of first place since April 22nd.

Photos courtesy of Ken Carr, Lake County Captains, Kinston Indians, Akron Aeros, and Buffalo Bisons.

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Minor Happenings: Huff Showing His Stuff At Akron

"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.

This week I was in Lake County on Sunday and Tuesday, and got to see top left-handers Ryan Miller and Kelvin De La Cruz in action again. During my visit, I was able to talk to De La Cruz and Miller, and will be having feature pieces on them soon. Also, I talked to speedy outfielder Adam White and will have a piece on him sometime in the near future.

I'll be in Akron on Saturday night, so if anyone that reads this will be in attendance feel free to say hi. I'll be the crazy guys bustling all about taking video and pictures of guys, as well as talking to several people connected with the team. Speaking of Akron, if you missed it, I did a feature piece on catcher Chris Gimenez's transition to catcher over the weekend.

Indians Minor League Player Of The Week
(from May 15th through May 21st)

David Huff (Left-handed Pitcher, Akron)
2-0, 0.64 ERA, 14 IP, 1 R, 7 H, 1 BB, 8 K

Last Thursday, he was sensational in tossing a complete game seven inning three-hit shutout only throwing 68 pitches. In the start, he only allowed one runner to reach second base and had one walk and two strikeouts. The game marked the first complete-game shutout of three hits or less for an Akron starter since right-hander Bear Bay tossed a nine inning two-hitter on June 9th, 2006.

He followed up that start with another outstanding effort last night going seven innings allowing just one run on four hits while walking no one and striking out six. In his last seven appearances, Huff has allowed just five earned runs in his last 45 innings (1.00 ERA), and on the season he is 4-1 with a 2.03 ERA in nine starts. He leads the Eastern League in ERA (2.03), WHIP (0.83), and is third in strikeouts (49). Huff was also named the Bank of America Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending May 18th.

With his dynamite start to his season, Akron left-hander David Huff has cemented his standing as one of the Indians top pitching prospects. In fact, if he keeps this up, by season's end he just may be THE top pitching prospect in the system. If not already. When the Indians look to make a deal here in the next month or so for an impact bat to help rejuvenate an offense stuck in a season long slide you better believe that Huff will be at the top of every team's wish list.

Honorable Mentions: Carlton Smith, RHP, Kinston (1-1, 0.69 ERA, 13 IP, 1 R, 7 H, 0 BB, 7 K); Adam Miller, RHP, Buffalo (0-1,1.64 ERA, 11 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 5 BB, 6 K); Ryan Morris, LHP, Lake County (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 12 IP, 2 R, 10 H, 6 BB, 10 K); Chris Gimenez, C, Akron (.412 AVG, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 4 BB); Niuman Romero, IF, Kinston (.450 AVG, 2B, HR, 3 RBI)

Previous Winners:

5/8 to 5/14: Steven Wright (RHP - Kinston)
5/1 to 5/7: Jeremy Sowers (LHP - Buffalo)
4/24 to 4/30: Jose Constanza (OF - Akron)
4/17 to 4/23: Hector Rondon (RHP - Kinston)
4/10 to 4/16: Wes Hodges (3B - Akron)
4/3 to 4/9: Kelvin De La Cruz (LHP - Lake County)

Director's Cuts

Indians Farm Director Ross Atkins was once again in Buffalo this week to get a look at some of the players there, and offers up some comments on a few players there as well as in Akron:

On Shin-Soo Choo: "When I was there on [Tuesday], he looked like [Ichiro] Suzuki. I mean the guy was doing it all. He hit a home run, he was filleting doubles into the gap on changeups, looked good defensively, stole a base, tagged up and went second to third on a backdoor sacrifice, and really was all-world. If that is an indication of how the rest of his rehab is going to be, he might be speed that rehab process up in quite a hurry. He looks very much like a big league player. The fact he is back is a testament to our medical staff and our strength and conditioning staff. He is sticking to the process of a plan and being patient with it and seeing it through. He spent a lot of time in spring training, so he is fired up and as happy as I have ever seen him and can't wait to see him up in [Cleveland].

On Oneli Perez: "He has had incredible numbers everywhere except until this year in Triple-A. It looks like he has had some struggles. We saw him as he pitched against us in Buffalo, and he opened our eyes there. It is a creative acquisition process as we have to put him our roster and the White Sox have to take him off theirs. It is another depth major league arm that we are very glad to have. He has power-sink, a very impressive breaking ball that has a lot of depth to it, so those two combinations if we can get him to be consistently on the plate is a great combination to have. I also believe he was the Pitcher of the Year in the Dominican Winter League this year. So hopefully we can tap into that and get him back onto the major league radar."

On Chris Gimenez: "Chris is one of our favorite guys in the organization. He is just extremely committed, is a natural leader, he has no problem taking charge in a clubhouse or game, and is extremely strong and durable. He can handle injuries and blow at catcher. Last year he played a day after having a significant injury to his wrist that typically in our system is a two week shutdown and he was ready to go the next day to catch. The toughness, the durability, and the skill with the bat is the most important. He probably is our most productive minor league bat in the system this year, so that is very exciting and a nice bright spot in our system. It is obviously a huge challenge [converting to catcher]. He has answered the call. I think the final thing for him will be consistently throwing to second base. We are making sure that he can keep control of a running game."

Gimenez's New Approach

Akron catcher Chris Gimenez has not only been working hard on adapting to catching full time, but he has also been working hard on improving his approach at the plate. One of the big positive changes for him so far this season is his much improved plate discipline where he has 26 walks and 23 strikeouts in 97 at bats, where coming into the season for his career he had only 170 walks to 310 strikeouts in 1355 at bats.

This year, Gimenez has focused on being more selective at the plate. By being more selective, he realizes that it will help him get into better hitter's counts and improve his on-base percentage with more walks. It took awhile for Gimenez to become comfortable with the approach as he was very nervous at first, but now he has settled in and his confidence continues to grow after every at bat.

"In spring training, one day I said to myself 'I wanna make this pitch be right there and if it is not I am not even going to attempt to swing at it'," said Gimenez in a recent interview I had with him at Canal Park. "I just kept doing that, and once we started playing games I really starting doing it. I can't tell you how many better hitters' counts I have gotten into. The best thing about it is other teams see it and scout it and know 'hey, we are going to have to pitch this guy in the zone to get him out.'

The strikeout rate has increased some for Gimenez, but this is something which probably will drop to career levels as he continues to get more acquainted with his new approach. He credits a lot of his newfound success to former teammates Michael Aubrey and Jordan Brown who helped him realize you can fall behind 0-1 and still put up a productive at bat.

"I've always been a guy who strikes out 80-90 times, and I bet you a good 75% of them were just because I was getting myself out," said Gimenez. "Swinging at a 0-0 slider that starts at the edge of the plate and breaks off and swinging at it and getting myself down 0-1 as opposed to 'who cares' if it is not right where I want it I am comfortable hitting 0-1. And that is something that when I was a little younger I would get nervous because I would think I was already in the hole at 0-1 and I don't want to go 0-2 and that is the worst thing you can think about. And being around older guys like Michael Aubrey and also Jordan Brown has helped me a ton because they have great strike zone discipline. All it is, is you are making them throw it where you want to hit it. Last year I was getting slidered to death, especially last year when I got up here they kind of figured me out. I did not make the adjustment, and I told myself this year I was not going to let that happen. The thing is I am so comfortable now being able to take 2-0. For me that was like I didn't care where you were throwing it I was swinging. As soon as I started coming up with that mentality, even on 3-1, I will spit on a pitch that is maybe borderline that normally I might swing at and take 3-2 or ball four."

The Fantastic Four

Lake County has been the only team in the entire Indians organization, including the major league team, that has played consistently well all year. While there have been some good performances offensively, the backbone of the team has been its exceptional starting rotation led by left-handers Kelvin De La Cruz, Ryan Morris, and Ryan Miller as well as right-hander Chris Archer. The three lefties have experienced the most success while Archer has struggled with his command, but nonetheless the Indians are very excited about all four starters and all four of them have very high ceilings.

Miller has been the ace of the staff going 7-0 with a 1.02 ERA in eight starts this season, and has been backed up by strong starts from other members in the rotation with De La Cruz (3-2, 1.77 ERA), Morris (5-0, 2.22 ERA), and Archer (1-6, 5.18 ERA). The Indians are very pleased with Miller's outstanding start to his season. The key to Miller's success has been his ability to throw strikes, and while he seems ready for a promotion, the Indians want to see him put together another few starts where he shows better command of his fastball around the zone. He has electric stuff, but he has gotten a lot of hitters out on pitches that were not even close to the zone and it is something he needs to hone in on because as he moves up the minor league ladder hitters will start to lay off those pitches.

Morris is a more of a pitch-to-contact pitcher and as a 20-year old has held up well in the league (more on him later). The same goes for De La Cruz who is just 19-years old who the Indians feel may have the highest ceiling of any pitcher in the system. His 6-5 frame, youth, and durability makes him very projectable, and his stuff and build has many calling him "Lefty Carmona" after former Lake County great and current Indians ace Fausto Carmona.

Archer's numbers have not been overly impressive, and he has struggled with his command (39 walks in 33 innings), but he is the classic example that it is not all about the stats in the minor leagues. It is about projection, and Archer has a ton of it. The Indians love his live arm and feel he may have the best breaking ball in the system. When he is on, his stuff is unhittable. Archer is only 19 years old and he is a work in progress and the Indians staff is working with him diligently to become more consistent throwing strikes. The Indians really believe that once Archer grows into his 6'3" 180 pound frame, he is going to take off and things will start to fall into place for him.

Three Players, Two Spots

First baseman Jordan Brown was activated from the disabled list and returned to the Buffalo lineup on Monday. Brown had been on the disabled list since May 1st and missed almost three weeks with patellar tendonitis to his left knee, and the injury was to the same knee he had arthroscopic surgery on in the offseason.

The pain started in a game on April 27th, and after that game he ended up sitting out the next two games to rest it before returning to the lineup on May 1st. But, after two at bats the knee was still bothering him and getting worse, so he was taken out of the game early and put on the disabled list. Brown was 2-for-20 before going on the disabled list, and the Indians decided to not push it and gave Brown a lot of time off to rest the knee in order to help ensure the injury would no flare up and jeopardize the rest of the season. Since his return, in two games Brown is 4-for-7 and on the season is hitting .291 with 0 HR, 10 RBI, and a .746 OPS.

With Brown's return to the lineup as well as first baseman Michael Aubrey's likely return when outfielder Shin-Soo Choo is activated in Cleveland, it presents an interesting quandary in Buffalo at first base. With Brown needing to play everyday, and also Ryan Mulhern and Aubrey both hot at the plate of late, getting three first baseman ample playing time is going to be tough, even with one of them filling in nightly at designated hitter. Brown and Mulhern have experience in the outfield, so it is possible they could get a few starts here and there out there, especially once Choo is called up. However, Brown is still recovering from his knee injury, so Mulhern would be the likely option to play out there if needed. In any case, if Aubrey does return to Buffalo, there could be some roster movement looming as it does not seem possible all three could get enough playing time to stay sharp. Mulhern could very well be the odd man out.

Crowe-ing Once More

On Saturday, Akron outfielder Trevor Crowe was activated from the disabled list and infielder Chris de la Cruz was sent to Kinston. Crowe had been sidelined since April 6th with a strained back, and missed a total of 35 games. In four games since his return, Crowe is 3-for-15 and in six games overall on the season is hitting .182 with 0 HR, 1 RBI and a .697 OPS.

Crowe's season stopped just as soon as it started as he succumbed to pain in his back just two games into the season. The back had bothered him throughout spring training, but he thought it was just typical aches and pains players go through during the spring as they get their bodies ready for another long and grueling season. Things took a turn for the worse when he started having sharp pains shoot down the back of his legs. The Indians ended up shutting him down, and had him rehab in Cleveland for two and a half weeks and then sent him out to extended spring training the last week of April to continue his rehab and play in some games to get back up to game shape.

Crowe may not be in Akron for long regardless of how he performs. With roster movement on the horizon in June, Crowe may finally get his first taste of Triple-A now that Ben Francisco is gone. Francisco's return to the Buffalo outfield at the end of spring training pushed Crowe back to Akron, and once Shin-Soo Choo is done with his rehab assignment in Buffalo do not be surprised if Crowe is moved up to Buffalo at that time (provided he is healthy).

Morris Locked In At Lake County

Lake County left-hander Ryan Morris continues to put up quality starts and notch wins. Fellow left-hander Ryan Miller has put up some incredible stats early on and sort of overshadowed Morris, but Morris has almost matched Miller pitch for pitch early in the season. On the season Morris is 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA and .211 batting average against, and Lake County is 9-0 in games he starts. Last year at in 14 starts in the Gulf Coast league and at Lake County, Morris went 3-2 with a 3.90 ERA and was certainly on the top prospect radar (he was 31st in my listing), but this season has been a breakout campaign for him so far.

Morris is a 20-year-old North Carolina native who the Indians picked up in the 4th round of the 2006 Draft. He goes about things a little differently than Miller, as he is more a pitch to contact pitcher because he does not have an overpowering fastball. He is what many would call a crafty lefty who relies on hitting his spots and getting off to roll over on balls and put them in play. Morris likes to use his fastball to get ahead in the count and then work the corners with his changeup and curveball, and so far he has had success with this approach. He is a competitor on the mound, creates very good deception in his delivery and does a good job pitching away to left-handed batters and especially right-handed batters.

Goedert Is Silent, But Deadly

Kinston infielder Jared Goedert is extremely quiet by nature and keeps a low profile. Last year, Goedert burst onto the scene when he hit .364 with 16 HR and 51 RBI at Lake County in just 46 games in April and May. The power outburst came as a surprise to everyone in the Indians organization and scouts everywhere, and was especially a surprise to Goedert himself. Goedert's numbers so far this season have not been as impressive as last season as he is only hitting .269 with 2 HR, 22 RBI and has a .688 OPS, but nonetheless he is someone who is clearly on the Indians prospect radar.

Goedert's big power numbers early in the year last season were more an aberration than anything as he is not a power hitter, but instead more as a line drive gap-to-gap hitter. Goedert certainly has power and is strong, but he more likely projects to be a 15-20 home run hitter in the big leagues.

He has had a solid year so far mostly hitting cleanup in the Kinston batting order. Goedert's best strength at the plate might be his patience and ability to lay off marginal pitches to force pitchers to fall behind in the count and bring more pitches into the hitting zone. Most importantly he is healthy. He was bothered by a sore shoulder for most of the second half of the season last year as he re-aggravated his shoulder he had surgery on the previous offseason.

Herrmann Continues To Grow

Akron right-handed starter Frank Herrmann has made quite an ascent up the minor league ladder for a player who went undrafted and ended up signing as an undrafted free agent in August 2005. The Indians now view him as a starting pitching prospect on the rise and very much on the organization's radar. The Indians love his exceptional strength, athleticism and durability on the mound, and like his ability to control his fastball to both sides of the plate. He is a sinker-baller who throws in the low 90s, but he pitches more to contact and relies on groundballs. He is a Jake Westbrook-type who has shown an ability to be an innings eater, show great presence on the mound, and get quick outs with his sinker.

Herrmann is extremely intelligent, which goes without saying as he is a graduate from Harvard with an economics degree. But, he is still learning the game of baseball and how to pitch. His aptitude is off the charts, and in just two and a half seasons he has adjusted well to the professional game and made huge strides in learning how to pitch. He came in raw and with little understanding of how to "pitch", and once he gets some of the intricacies of pitching down, the Indians really feel he could take the next step and be high level prospect for them.

Dixon Turns It Around

Akron right-hander Kevin Dixon did not let an 11-day layoff affect him in his start on Tuesday night. Because of a bunch of rainouts last week, Akron starters pretty much missed an entire trip through the rotation. Still, Dixon was as sharp as he has ever been and easily put up his best start of the season by tossing eight shutout innings on 99-pitches allowing only two hits and no walks while striking out five. He finished the night by retiring the last 13 batters he faced, and it was his fourth straight quality start.

The turnaround for Dixon has been considerable, and it all points back to a start on April 30th when he escaped a bases-loaded jam. That start was the turning point in his season, and if you include that April 30th start Dixon now has now thrown four straight quality starts and is brimming with confidence. In those four starts he is 2-0 with a 2.36 ERA, with 23 strikeouts against only seven walks in 26.2 innings of work. He has lowered his ERA be almost a full run, and on the season is now 2-3 with a 4.34 ERA in eight starts. In 45.2 innings he has allowed 48 hits and walked 15 while striking out 32.

Pena Nearing Promotion

Lake County outfielder Roman Pena has been one of the hottest hitters in the system this month. Pena got off to a slow start the first few weeks of the season, but has turned it on the last five weeks. On the season Pena is hitting .308 with 2 HR, 28 RBI and an .801 OPS. He leads the team in hitting, RBI, and hits (48), and is ranked 10th in the South Atlantic League in batting average and RBI. On Tuesday he went 0-for-5, which snapped a modest 10-game hitting streak.

Pena is a 21-year-old California native, and is in his third professional season and in his second tour of duty at Lake County. While it was a disappointment for him to have to return to Lake County this year, he had some things to work as he only hit .240 with 7 HR, 70 RBI and a .698 OPS last year. Also, more importantly, the Indians want him to play everyday. If he were in Kinston he would not play as often because of outfielders like John Drennen, Nick Weglarz, and Cirilo Cumberbatch who are staples in the lineup every night. When Drennen eventually moves up to Akron, which could come sometime in June when rosters throughout the system will see a big changeover, Pena would likely be the first Lake County position player to move up.

Bauer Big League Bound?

Right-handed closer Rick Bauer continues to impress in Buffalo. In 18 appearances, Bauer is 0-0 with 11 saves and a 1.93 ERA. He may have found his calling as a reliever, and could be someone the Indians look at as a middle reliever at some point this season. Or, it is possible another club may trade for Bauer if they think he can help them. Either way, Bauer most likely will not be in Buffalo much longer.

The key to his success has been him throwing strikes and having excellent command of his fastball to all four quadrants of the zone. He constantly attacks hitters and goes right at them, and so far the results have been very positive. He blew a save on Tuesday night and was tagged for three runs in an inning of work, so hit ERA ballooned from 0.51 to 1.93 after the appearance. It was his first rough night of the year and blown save, so it will be interesting to see how he bounces back from it. Indians GM Mark Shapiro has always said it is how a closer reacts to a blown save which shows what they are truly capable of accomplishing.

In his 11-year career, Bauer has pitched almost exclusively as a starter or in middle relief. This is the first time he has ever been used as a full-time closer. Right-hander Eddie Mujica was the closer earlier in the season, but he has struggled some and the Indians also want him used more in middle relief to have him ready for that potential role in Cleveland. Bauer is a versatile arm, and can throw multiple innings out of the bullpen which can make him a good option down the road in middle relief or as the long man.

Draft Reminder

Just another reminder, the 2008 First-Year Player Draft commences on Thursday June 5th at 2 p.m. at The Milk House at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, FL. ESPN2 will broadcast the first round and compensation picks, and the rest of the draft will be aired exclusively on BaseballChannel.TV. Day 2 of the draft gets underway on Friday June 6th at 11:30 a.m. and will go a maximum of 50 rounds.

The Indians will be sending Mahoning Valley manager Travis Fryman and Gulf Coast League Indians pitching coach Steve Lyons to represent them and make their first round selection. The Indians pick 29th in the first round, 76th in the second round, 107th in the third round, 141st in the fourth round and then make a pick every 30 spots thereafter.

Things are still being worked out, but the plan is to have draft guru extraordinaire Dennis Nosco run live updates all day on my blog for both days of the draft. And, he will likely have a recap here on this site post-draft. Also, we are in works with prospect site for other teams on a big mock draft sometime before the draft, and if we do it Dennis would serve as virtual GM of the day making picks for the Indians. More on that as details come in.

Affiliate Notebook

Buffalo Notes (21-25, 4th, 8.5 GB): On Monday, first baseman Ryan Mulhern's eight game hitting streak came to an end. During the eight game tear Mulhern hit .483 since (15-for-31) and raised his average 75 points to .262 going into Monday. Mulhern is currently hitting .252 with 4 HR, 15 RBI and a .732 OPS. ... Right-hander Adam Miller put up another very good outing on Tuesday night throwing five shutout innings and allowing two hits and walking three while striking out four. In six starts so far this season, Miller is 0-1 with a 1.88 ERA (28.2 IP). ... Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo is supposed to be re-evaluated in the next few days and may get a callup to Cleveland as soon as this weekend. So far, Choo has looked great and in five games is hitting .353 with 1 HR, 2 RBI, and a 1.009 OPS (small sample size be damned). ... With left-hander Jeremy Sowers and newly acquired right-handed reliever Oneli Perez being activated in Buffalo on Wednesday, right-hander Bubbie Buzachero was reassigned to Akron and left-hander Jason Stanford was released. ... Outfielder Brad Snyder is hitting .211 with 4 HR, 17 RBI and a .670 OPS. ... Catcher Wyatt Toregas is hitting .196 with 1 HR, 13 RBI and a .548 OPS. ... Left-handed reliever Reid Santos is 2-2 with a 6.95 ERA and 1.95 WHIP in 14 appearances out of the bullpen.

Akron Notes (21-21, 3rd, 5.5 GB): Sunday's 14-1 loss was the worst loss of the season for Akron. Because of a slew of rainouts last week, Right-hander Frank Herrmann was pitching for the first time in ten days, and the rust showed. Herrmann was pounded in 2.1 innings of work for nine runs and a dozen hits. On the season, in eight starts Herrmann is 4-3 with a 5.23 ERA. ... Left-hander Ryan Edell battled his way through his last start on Monday, going five innings and giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out two. After giving up three runs in the first, Edell stranded six runners (five in scoring position) over the next four innings. On the season Edell is 1-3 with a 5.57 ERA. ... Infielder Brandon Pinckney is in the midst of an 11-game hitting streak. Pinckney is hitting .385 (15-for-39) with four multi-hit games over his streak and it is the longest hitting streak for an Akron player this season. Overall, Pinckney is hitting .286 with 1 HR, 6 RBI and a .673 OPS. ... With right-hander Bubbie Buzachero being re-assigned from Buffalo to Akron on Wednesday, right-hander T.J. Burton was re-assigned to extended spring training. ... Third baseman Wes Hodges is hitting .294 with 7 HR, 37 RBI and an .847 OPS. ... First baseman Matt Whitney is struggling and hitting only .219 with 3 HR, 10 RBI and a .658 OPS in 41 games. ... Right-handed closer Randy Newsom continues to mow 'em down, and in 19 appearances is 1-0 with a league leading 13 saves and a 0.95 ERA.

Kinston Notes (19-23, 2nd, 5.5 GB): Last Thursday, right-hander Carlton Smith put up an excellent outing in giving up just four hits and one earned run in seven innings pitched. He followed that up last night with his fourth good start in a row going six shutout innings and giving up three hits with a season high six strikeouts. On the season, Smith is 2-2 with a 3.88 ERA in nine starts. Opponents are only hitting .216 against him and he has a 0.98 WHIP. ... Right-hander Jim Deters made a spot start on Saturday and made the most of it by throwing five shutout innings and giving up four hits, no walks and piled up three strikeouts. In 14 appearances (one start), Deters is now 2-1 with a 3.54 ERA, and opponents are hitting .269 off him. ... In a double-header on Saturday, utility infielder Niuman Romero got to play in both games and had a big day at the plate by going a combined 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI in the double header. ... Rain stopped what might have been a historic start by right-hander Steven Wright on Sunday. The game was suspended in the bottom of the fifth inning because of rain, and Wright was cruising along with a no-hitter through four innings and had six strikeouts. The only baserunner allowed was a hit batter in the third inning. On the season, Wright is 1-2 with a 2.41 ERA in seven starts. That ERA is actually lower as he has two starts suspended by rain totaling seven innings that he has not allowed a run, but until those games are completed the stats do not count. ... Shortstop Carlos Rivero hit his first home run this week, and is now hitting .263 with 1 HR, 17 RBI and a .640 OPS. ... Outfielder Nick Weglarz is hitting .275 with 5 HR, 15 RBI and an .890 OPS. ... Infielder Beau Mills is hitting .242 with 4 HR, 24 RBI and a .773 OPS.

Lake County Notes (30-16, 1st, 5 GU): The Captains have 24 games left in the first half of the season, and if they finish the first half of the season in first they will clinch a playoff berth in September's South Atlantic League four-team playoff. Up five games with 24 to go, their magic number to clinch the first half division title and playoff berth is 20. ... Indians right-hander Jake Westbrook made a rehab start on Sunday throwing 3.2 innings, and left-hander Ryan Miller followed him and came in and pitched the rest of the game after a 45 minute rain delay with two out in the bottom of the 4th inning. Over the last 5.1 innings, Miller did not allow a run and gave up four hits and one walk while piling up eight strikeouts. In all, he threw 79 pitches, got the win and is now 7-0 with a 1.02 in eight starts. He leads the league in both those categories. ... Outfielder Matt Brown hurt his left wrist on Saturday night on a play in the outfield and has been sidelined since. He had an MRI on the wrist on Tuesday and the results are still unknown at this time how severe the injury is or how long he will be out, but after talking to him on Tuesday he expects to be back in there very soon. As a precaution, outfielder Ramon Hernandez was called up from extended spring training. ... First baseman Chris Nash is also battling the injury bug and had been out with a triceps issue for a few games, but was back in the lineup yesterday. On the season, Nash is hitting .261 with 3 HR, 24 RBI, and a .714 OPS. ... Through Wednesday, Lake County ranks 3rd in the league in ERA (2.93), 1st in fewest runs allowed (157), 1st in fewest hits allowed (290), but are 1st the league in walks allowed (180). Also, the Captains are the best defensive team in the league with a .976 fielding percentage.

Photos courtesy of Ken Carr, Carl Kline, Lake County Captains, Kinston Indians, Akron Aeros and Buffalo Bisons.

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Archer Is Young And In Charge

The Lake County Captains pitching staff is loaded with many promising pitching prospects from the front of the rotation to the back of the bullpen. It has been the strength of the team and been the catalyst to their 15-7 fast start putting them in first place of the South Atlantic League's Northern Division.

One of the key components to that hot start has been right-handed starter Chris Archer. At age 19, Archer is the youngest player on the team, and is one of the youngest players in the league period. So far, his youthfulness and inexperience has yet to be a roadblock for him. In four starts this season for Single-A Lake County, Archer is 1-2 with a 2.60 ERA and in 17.1 innings has allowed only five hits but walked 18 while striking out 13.

Archer has a live arm with a fastball that consistently sits around 90-92, although according to Archer he has topped out as high as 95 MPH. He is still very young, so as Archer matures his velocity is expected to increase. He compliments his fastball with a sharp slider that has good bite, and it sits around 80 MPH and has the makings of being a plus pitch. Some scouts felt his power breaking ball was the best of any high school pitcher in the draft. He also throws a changeup that he is still working on refining. At 6'3" and 180 pounds and still growing, Archer has a projectable body to handle the rigors of being a starting pitcher.

Archer's best pitch is his slider, although these days he has more confidence in his fastball. He is getting a lot of groundballs with the slider, but he is getting a lot more strikeouts than he used to with his fastball. His fastball does not sink, but he does a good job of getting his fastball on a downward plane and his command and location of the pitch continues to improve.
Archer was a 5^th round pick in the 2006 Draft out of high school (NC). As a high school draft pick, Archer had the option of agreeing to terms with the Indians and getting a head start on his professional baseball career, or going on to college where he had already accepted to play baseball at the University of Miami, FL. Archer choose to get his baseball career started right away with the long bus rides, bad food, and cramped living conditions as a minor leaguer, rather than the fun of college life as a student athlete.

"When I got drafted, I said I would rather develop in the minor leagues than in college because you never know what will happen," said Archer in an interview last weekend.

Archer's assignment to Lake County to start the season was sort of a surprise. Not only is he very young, but he had not been overly impressive his first two seasons in the system coming into this year. In 2006, Archer signed quickly after the draft and went right to work at rookie-level Burlington and the Gulf Coast League (GCL). In eight combined appearances there, Archer went on to go 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA and in 21 innings allowed 17 hits, 17 walks, and struck out 21. He followed that up last year by going back to the GCL and making one spot start in Lake County, and in 12 combined appearances was 1-7 with a 6.35 ERA and in 56.2 innings allowed 61 hits, 24 walks, and struck out 53.

So, with a career record of 1-10 with a 6.37 ERA in two minor league seasons and just turning 19, it was one of the bigger surprises to see Archer as part of the Lake County opening day roster this year. However, it is not always about the statistics, and the fact that Archer was placed on a full-season roster at his age shows how highly the Indians organization thinks of him and the confidence they have in his abilities. Archer's exceptional athleticism, attitude and confidence also likely played into the decision, and it is sort of a reward for how hard he has worked over the last two years.

"Right now I am 19 and most 19 year olds are freshmen in college," said Archer. "I graduated young at 17. I was drafted in 2006, but really I am the same age as the 2007 Draft. Most of those guys from the 2007 Draft are still in extended, and unless you are a top notch first round guy you are not going to go to A-ball right out of the draft at 19. So, I am 19 now and in A-ball."

One of the things that has helped Archer in the early stages of his career is how quickly he has adapted to the professional game. In extended spring training last year, Archer took instruction well and while the changes the Indians made to his mechanics did not bear fruit immediately, it carried over to this spring where he had a great camp.

"Extended is tough mentally because you feel like you can play at the next level but really physically you are not ready," said Archer. "I have changed so much from when I was 17 and I thought I was ready when really I was not. Extended is a good time to work on your mechanics because it is real relaxed so there is no pressure and you just do what you need to work on and get out of there. If you go into it with a good attitude, you can get really good results out of it."

The results have shown so far with Archer's early season success. He has been effectively wild holding opposing hitters to a .091 batting average and has yet to allow a home run, but the 18 walks in 17.1 innings pitched (9.35 BB/9) is a concern.

"I really have been putting myself in some bad situations, but being able to pitch out of them is what has helped me a lot," said Archer. "I have always struggled a little bit with the walks. Just some mechanical flaws I have been working on. I have just been getting better and better. Sometimes I will be really good, but other times I will let the game speed up on me and get ahead of myself and forget what I am working on. It is a work in progress."

Anytime a pitcher is walking more than a batter an inning they are going to get themselves into trouble. It is a recipe for disaster, and eventually it will catch up with them. The wildness is nothing new with Archer as going into the draft his command was a concern for teams, and it is something that he will need to continue to work on. Improving his command is the main focus for him at the moment, and Archer knows what he has to do. At this point it is all about applying what he has been taught by the Indians the last few years.

"It is just little things like getting the ball out my glove quicker," said Archer about improving his command. "Mostly just focal point and not trying to overthrow the ball because when you overthrow it you are going to leave it way up. I also need to repeat the same delivery I use for my fastball. Whenever I want to throw my breaking ball I need to start at the hitter and not the mitt. Just little things like that."

Archer loves baseball, and whether or not he succeeds it will not be for a lack of effort or hard work. He is committed to doing what he needs to do to improve and take that next step as a prospect to possibly reach the majors someday.

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr

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