Diamonds in Single A: Matt McBride

This week I decided to focus on a hitter, given that last week’s column looked at a pitcher (Jeanmar Gomez). For those following league transactions, you might have noticed that Gomez got the call up to AA this week. I thought I would pick another candidate who could soon make the jump to AA, Matt McBride. McBride is on a tear for high A Kinston currently, and there has been much speculation that he could quickly find a place in AA. At nearly 24, you would expect him to be in AA already, and he likely would be if not for a torn labrum that caused a late start to his season last year.

Matt McBride was originally a second round pick for the Tribe back in 2006 from Lehigh University. He was the 75th player chosen and the 4th player the Tribe selected. The other players selected – David Huff SP, Steven Wright SP/MR, Josh Rodriguez 2B/SS, and Wes Hodges 3B – have all seen time at AA and above, and luckily for the tribe all look like they should make contributions of varying degrees for the Indians in the future.

McBride’s injury to his shoulder caused him to shift from catcher to first base and outfield. In the Hawaiian Winter League McBride began the transition by playing outfield, but this season he has mainly played first base and has quickly reestablished why many thought he was a top ten prospect for the Indians. Now for a look at the stats:

Year LVL OBP 2B HR BB/SO SLG OPS

2006 A SS .355 12 4 .73 .402 .758
2007 Low A .353 35 8 .70 .432 .780
2008 R/A-/A+ .367 28 3 .95 .429 .796

I know the inclusion of doubles might seem odd, but especially for players at lower levels doubles is considered a great indicator of future power potential as a lot of those doubles will turn into home runs. It is a lot harder to take apart McBride’s data, because two of those three years he played in only about 50 games. I also did not include the data from the two games he played for Akron in 2007, though they would have improved all of his rates.

I have never been McBride’s biggest supporter - I didn’t have any issue with him - I just never knew enough about him. Looking deeper at his stats, however, I knew I had slipped not putting him in my top 25. To me, his double power shows potential 20-25 home run power. His BB/K rate is right about the same as what Grady Sizemore does every year: it is a pretty steady rate. It’s a lot higher than Peralta or a lot of the other current Indians power bats. All three of his rates – OBP, SLG, and OPS – are solid. Those aren’t all star level, but they could be someday because of the natural increase in SLG percentages through the minors.

To explain, the major issue with OPS is that it over values SLG as typically it ends up being 60% of the total. SLG typically increases through the minors as hitters grow into their power and become better hitters, and so in turn there can also be a solid jump in OPS. While this is seen more typically with kids straight out of high school, McBride could still have a jump because he came out of a smaller program with fewer resources. Now he has pro coaches, pro training regiments, and pro medical facilities, which could help growth, strength, and development.

One of the other nice things about McBride’s OBP is that it shows a level of consistency. There have been no breakout numbers, but also no major down years. He is just steadily progressing and getting on base at a consistent rate. I really feel that if not for injury McBride would have been in the 10-15 discussion for Indians prospects, especially if he can return back behind the plate. Even if he doesn’t, his bat looks strong enough to make him a likely starter in the big leagues some day.

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Game Recaps: Sunday 5/3

Clippers Offense Quiet In Loss

It was a battle of pitching in the final game of the four-game series between Columbus and Durham, but the Bulls were a bit better en route to a 4-2 win over the Clippers to earn the series split.

Durham scored three runs in the second against Kirk Saarloos on only two hits, taking advantage of a walk and a hit batter. Half an inning later, Columbus answered for two runs with Wes Hodges and Andy Marte drive runs home. That was all the Clippers could scrape across against starter Wade Davis and the Bulls 'pen.

Davis went five innings, giving up six hits and three walks. Jason Isringhausen entered in the six inning throwing a 1-2-3 frame and making way for Randy Choate. Choate allowed a one-out double to Jordan Brown, but Winston Abreu came on to strike out the next two batters and pitch a perfect ninth for the save.

Saarloos pitched a complete game in the loss, allowing four runs, three earned on seven hits, while walking two and striking out two.

The Clippers head to Norfolk Monday for a four-game series with the Tides. Jeremy Sowers looks for his second win of the season as he faces off with Norfolk left-hander Rich Hill.

Aeros and Baysox Rained Out Sunday

BOWIE, MD – The Eastern League tilt between Akron and Bowie was rained out Sunday afternoon, thus denying the Aeros a chance at their second straight series sweep. No makeup date was immediately announced.

Akron continues its weeklong road trip at 6:35 p.m. Monday evening in Altoona, as Hector Rondon (4-0, 1.17 ERA) will take on Jared Hughes (0-3, 2.35 ERA) at Blair County Ballpark.

K-Tribe Comes back to beat Lynchburg 6-3

A three-run home run by Kinston’s backup catcher Richard Martinez in the top of the eighth inning erased a one run defecit, as the K-Tribe defeated Lynchburg 6-3 in comeback fashion Sunday afternoon in Virginia. With the win Kinston (13-11) stays in first place in the Carolina League Southern Division. Kinston takes the series from Lynchburg (14-10) winning the final two games of the three game set.

Soggy conditions highlighted the day as both teams struggled through steady rain with the score tied at two until the bottom of the seventh inning. In the seventh Lynchburg’s Miles Durham led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Maiko Loyola to put the Hillcats up 3-2. Kinston would comeback in the top of the eight, as Matt McBride led off the inning with a single. Still at first base with two-outs in the inning, McBride was pushed to third base on a two-out single by Roman Pena. The hit extended the inning allowing catcher Richard Martinez to step in and hit a three-run home run one batter later. It was the first long ball of the season for Martinez, giving Kinston a 5-3 lead. The Tribe would then add some insurance with an RBI single by Cord Phelps later in the inning. Every K-Triber in the lineup reached base safely as Kinston banged out eleven hits on the day. Matt McBride extended his hit streak to 17 games, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored; he is now hitting .404 on the season. Kinston is now 5-0 in day games this season.

Kinston starter Zach Putnam put in a gutsy performance, pitching through rain for six innings, giving up three hits and just one earned run in the no decision. Heath Taylor (1-1) picked up the win in relief, giving up one hit and one earned run in two innings. Dallas Cawiezell picked up his second save of the season, pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

Kinston continues their roadtrip heading to Salem, Virginia for four games against the Red Sox. It will be a battle for first place in the Carolina League Southern Division starting Monday at 7:07 pm. Ryan Morris is scheduled to make the start for the K-Tribe.

Captans Race By Intimidators 4-3

Donnie Webb had three hits and drove in two runs to lead the Lake County Captains to a 4-3 defeat of the Kannapolis Intimidators on Sunday. The Captains and Intimidators split the four game series with three of the four games decided by one run. The Captains went 4-3 on the road trip.

The Captains took the lead in the top of the third inning when Matt Willard doubled and then scored on a double by Donnie Webb. Webb scored on a single by Walter Diaz and the Captains led 2-0. The Intimidators cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third inning when Sergio Morales singled home Eduardo Escobar and it was 2-1. The Captains answered with a run in the top of the fourth inning when Webb singled home Willard to make it 3-1.

The Captains added another run in the top of the fifth inning when Adam Abraham singled home Abner Abreu to up the lead to 4-1. The Intimidators inched closer scoring a run in the fifth inning when Tyler Kuhn scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Escobar and it was 4-2. The Intimidators made it 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning when Joe Persichina singled home John Curtis.

Captain’s starter Alexander Perez got his first win (1-0) going five innings and allowing two runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out four. Steve Smith pitched a scoreless ninth inning and got his fourth save.

Intimidator’s starter Charlie Leesman took the loss (3-1) lasting 4.2 innings allowing four runs on eight hits, walking four and striking out three.

The Captains return to Classic Park on Tuesday for an eight game home stand beginning with four games versus the Hickory Crawdads, the class A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. On Tuesday, the Captains will have T.J. McFarland (0-0, 7.13) on the mound against RHP Carlos Pimentel (0-1, 3.92).

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Game Recaps: Saturday 5/2

Columbus Slugs Out Another Win, 10-6

Outfielder Matt LaPorta, infielder Luis Valbuena, and infielder Josh Barfield may be gone, but Columbus is still red hot at the plate. The Clippers pounded out 13 hits and 10 runs, winning their second straight game and putting up double digit runs in the second straight game as well.

Third baseman Andy Marte led the way going 2-for-4 with 2 HR and 3 RBI and is now hitting .345 on the season for the Clippers. Newcomer George Lombard joined the roster on Saturday, and responded by going 3-for-3 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI on the night. The steady Jordan Brown went 2-for-5 with an RBI and and Wyatt Toregas went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI.

Right-hander Tomo Ohka put up another quality start going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks and had 2 strikeouts.

Herrmann, Weglarz Lead Aeros to 5th Straight

BOWIE, MD – Frank Herrmann turned in his team-leading third quality start and Nick Weglarz slugged a three-run homer as the Aeros doubled-up Bowie 6-3 before 7,750 fans at Prince George’s Stadium Saturday night. The win was Akron’s fifth straight and moved the club to 18-4 on the year, keeping them tied with Class AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre for the best record in professional baseball. Bowie slipped to 9-12.

The Aeros got on the board first thanks to Carlos Rivero’s sacrifice fly in the top of the third, but the Baysox responded with an RBI single from Ambiorix Concepcion in the bottom of the fourth to tie it at 1-1. The tide turned for good in the fifth however, as Akron struck for five two-out runs to take the lead. Beau Mills delivered the first blow, scorching an RBI double over Joe Nowicki’s head in right field as Jose Constanza scored all the way from first. Carlos Santana then walked on four pitches, and Niuman Romero followed with a sinking liner that a diving Nowicki couldn’t haul in on the fly as Mills came home to make it 3-1. That brought the suddenly hot Weglarz to the plate, and he hammered a 1-1 fastball just to the left of dead center field to push the advantage to 6-1.

That was plenty of support for Herrmann (2-1), as he worked into the seventh before giving way to Steven Wright for the last seven outs. Herrmann allowed just two runs and scattered eight hits in 6.2 innings, and was helped by double plays to end the first and fourth innings. He walked one and struck out three. Sean Gleason (0-2) took the loss for Bowie, allowing all six runs and all nine Akron hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out two. Weglarz finished 2-4 with his third home run of the year and three RBI, and is 7-17 with four extra-base hits and six RBI over his four-game hitting streak after starting the year just 3-48. Constanza and Mills matched each other with 2-5 nights, and both are tied for the team lead with seven multi-hit games this season.

Akron will look for its second straight series sweep Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m., in what should be an outstanding pitchers duel. Akron will send Hector Rondon (4-0, 1.17 ERA) to the hill while the Baysox counter with Jake Arrieta (2-0, 2.00 ERA).

Kinston Beats Lynchburg 6-2

Kinston got another clutch performance from their bullpen as the Indians clipped the Lynchburg Hillcats 6-2 Saturday night in Virginia.

Kinston starter Eric Berger was cruising into the fifth inning when trouble hit. Berger walked the first four batters of the fifth inning, leaving the game with the bases loaded, nobody out and Kinston clinging to a 4-1 lead. Indians reliever Chen-Chang Lee took over, getting a groundball, strikeout and pop up from Lynchburg to escape the fifth inning with Kinston leading 4-2. Lee would get his first win of the season with the effort, giving up just two hits and no earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Matt Meyer would come in next to bail Lee out of a jam with runners at the corners in the seventh. Meyer would need just three pitches to strikeout heavy hitter Pedro Alvarez and end the inning. Garrison Campfield finished the game with a no run ninth inning. Kinston’s bullpen has now given up just two earned runs in their last four games (19 innings). Started Berger got the no decision, with the two run fifth inning ending his consecutive scoreless inning streak at 15 (four starts). Berger went four innings, giving up three hits and two earned runs while striking out six.

The K-Tribe got clutch hitting in the first inning as Matt Brown knocked home Tim Fedroff with an RBI double. Brown hit his first home run of the year, a solo shot; in the third inning to give Kinston a 3-0 lead. After an RBI single by Cord Phelps in the fourth inning, Kinston would add two more runs in the top of the eighth with RBI singles from Adam Davis and Matt McBride. McBride extended his hit streak to 16 games (second longest in the Carolina League this season), with a 2-for-5, one RBI night. Fedroff, Brown, John Allman and Lucas Montero also had two hits for Kinston.

The K-Tribe (12-11, first place in the Southern Division) looks to win the series in game three of the matchup with Lynchburg on Sunday afternoon. Game time 2:05 pm as Kinston’s Zach Putnam will take the bump for the Indians.

Big Inning Costs Captains

One big inning did in the Lake County Captains as they were defeated 5-4 by the Kannapolis Intimidators on Saturday. The Captains are now 1-5 in one run games.

The Intimidators jumped on the Captains in the bottom of the second inning scoring five times. Joe Persichina singled home a run. Justin Greene walked with the bases loaded to add another run and the third run scored on a wild pitch. The final two runs scored on a two run triple from Eduardo Escobar and the lead was 5-0. The Captains got a run back in the top of third when Donnie Webb singled to center field and the ball got past the center fielder and Webb circled the bases to cut the lead to 5-1.

The Captains rallied for three runs in the sixth inning when Karexon Sanchez hit his fifth home run of the year, a two run blast and Jeremie Tice added a RBI single and it was 5-4.

Captain’s starter T.J. House took the loss (1-2) going six innings and allowing five runs on five hits, walking one and striking out three. Mike McGuire pitched two scoreless innings striking out two. Intimidator’s starter Greg Infante picked up the win (2-0) lasting 5.2 innings allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits, walking two and striking out one. Nate Jones hurled the last two innings to notch his first save of the year.

The series and the road trip concludes on Sunday at 5:05 PM with the Captains sending RHP Alexander Perez (0-0, 1.99) to the mound to oppose LHP Charlie Leesman (3-0, 1.78).

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Columbus Roster Moves

Everyone knows that OF Matt LaPorta, INF Luis Valbuena, and INF Josh Barfield were all called up today to Cleveland. To fill their open roster spots, OF Trevor Crowe was optioned out from Cleveland, INF Andy Cannizaro was activated off the Mahoning Valley roster, and OF George Lombard was activated off the disabled list.

Also, OF/1B Stephen Head was reportedly hurt in last night's game. No word on the severity of the injury, but I will try and verify.

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Willard Activated

Infielder Matt Willard was activated from extended spring training and added the the Low-A Lake County roster today. He fills the vacant spot on the roster left when RHP Kyle Landis was promoted to High-A Kinston yesterday. With this move, it appears that RHP Paolo Espino will stay in the rotation for now and a starter from extended spring training will not be brought up yet. That said, this should only be viewed as a temporary situation in the rotation as Danny Salazar, Chris Jones, and Bryce Stowell are all expected to be activated soon.

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Minor Happenings: McBride On Quite A Ride

"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.

Today is part two of this week's installment of Minor Happenings. Yesterday, part one posted, and if you missed it be sure to check it out as it has a nice long recap of a conversation I had with Farm Director Ross Atkins on Wednesday night. Also, the piece included a recent conversation with Columbus Manager Torey Lovullo about some of his players.

Also, be sure to check out Akron closer Vinnie Pestano's blog post yesterday. He is writing a blog on my site and is looking for some feedback and ideas on some things to write about. So, feel free to chime in with your suggestions via the comments section at the bottom of his post or email me at tlastoria@indiansprospectinsider.com and I will forward them to him.

Onto the Happenings, again.

Indians Minor League Player Of The Week
(for games from April 23^rd to April 29^th)

Matt McBride (First Baseman - Kinston)
.480 AVG (12-for-25), 6 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K

Boy, Double-A Akron may be off to the hottest start in the win-loss column among all the Indians affiliates, but High-A Kinston has almost all of the red hot players on the mound and at the plate in the system. For the third straight week a Kinston player takes home Player of the Week honors, and did first baseman Matt McBride ever deserve it. He is currently in the midst of a 14-game hitting streak and is as hot as you can get at the plate as he has a string of five multi-hit games in a row as well. He capped off his hot week on Wednesday going 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI.

McBride was a 2^nd round pick in the 2006 Draft out of Lehigh University, and after a nice start to his career in 2006 and 2007, he battled through a rough season in 2008 recovering from shoulder surgery. The Indians made the move this offseason to get him out from behind the plate and spare his shoulder, moving him to the outfield and first base because they love his bat. So far, the decision to move him out from behind the plate is making the Indians look like geniuses. His success at the plate so far is a combination of good health and a simple approach where he is just trying to be productive every at bat and stick to his plan.

On the season, McBride is now hitting .412 with 5 HR, 27 RBI, and a 1.186 OPS, and he has displayed good plate discipline with 10 walks and 9 strikeouts. In his 21 games played he has multi-RBI games in ten of them. His .412 batting average ranks 2^nd in the Carolina League, and he is 1^st in RBI, hits (35), doubles (11), extra base hits (16) and slugging percentage (.718). He is second in home runs (5), runs scored (18) and fourth in on base percentage (.468).

What a hot start.

Honorable Mentions:

Matt LaPorta (OF - Columbus): .381 AVG (8-for-21), 7 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 3 K
Luis Valbuena (2B - Columbus): .381 AVG (8-for-21), 4 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 5 K
Jose Constanza (OF - Akron): .393 AVG (11-for-28), 6 R, 2 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 7 SB
Jeanmar Gomez (RHP - Akron): 1-0, 0.75 ERA, 2 games, 12.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K
Chuck Lofgren (LHP - Akron): 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 game, 6.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 7 K
Hector Rondon (RHP - Akron): 1-0, 1.35 ERA, 1 game, 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K

Previous Winners:

04/16 to 04/22: Eric Berger (LHP - Kinston)
04/08 to 04/15: Kelvin De La Cruz (LHP - Kinston)

Coaches Corner: Mike Sarbaugh

I had a chance to sit down with Double-A Akron Manager Mike Sarbaugh before the game on Wednesday. Here is what was said about a few of his players:

On Carlos Santana: "His approach on both sides of the plate has been really good. The one thing I have been really happy with is his defense. He has really done a good job blocking balls in the dirt, calling a good game, and he really works well with the pitching staff. He knows how to hit and has a good feel for it. I think too they are careful when they pitch to Carlos, so at times I think he may be a little over aggressive and chase a pitch out of the zone, but he will make those adjustments. He still has a long ways to go with the English, and we have been trying to help him to talk a little more in English to help him with that. It is not going to happen over night, but I have been really happy with how he is communicating so far."

On Nick Weglarz: "He has been having a little bit of tough luck, but I think he is definitely pressing a little bit. Especially coming up here this year I know he wanted to make a good impression and get off to a good start. I think he is just trying to do a little bit too much. We just talked to him about taking one at bat at a time, and just put a quality at bat up and no matter what happens just move on to his next at bat. It is just part of his development, and I have talked to him and said 'You know what, you are going to look back and what you are going through now is going to help you down the road'. He is staying very positive, he is working hard, and he'll come through."

On Carlos Rivero: "I think the thing with Carlos is getting adjusted to the cold weather. It is just part of his development as it is really his first time in cold weather. He has swung the bat okay, and he has been really good situational-wise and had some really big hits for us. He has been working on some things with [hitting coach] Lee May Jr. trying to shorten his swing up a little bit and staying more in the middle of the field. I have been happy with how Carlos has played early on. I am sure that he would want to be hitting a little bit better, but I am pretty happy with what he is doing. It is 50-60 at bats, so it is still too early."

On Hector Rondon: "He is establishing his fastball and has good life through the zone consistently at 92-93 MPH. He has really been working hard on his slider, which has been real good, and he throws a good changeup. Sometimes the pitching is a little ahead of the hitters at this point, but having said that he has been very good. Guys don't seem to get very good swings on him."

On Josh Tomlin: "He's been good so far. His last outing he did not have his good stuff, but he got us through five innings. He knows how to pitch, change speeds, and keep the ball down in the zone. He is an athlete out there on the mound, and he looks like a shortstop out there."

Miller Done For the Year, Maybe His Career

Right-hander Adam Miller's season has officially ended after he underwent reconstructive surgery to the right long (middle) finger on Tuesday in Baltimore, MD. Reputed hand surgeon Dr. Tom Graham performed what is just the first stage of a multi-stage reconstruction at the Curtis National Hand Center. Graham repaired the flexor pulley system in Miller's long finger in a two and a half hour procedure by replacing two pulley ligaments in the finger with a tendon from his wrist. The second stage of the procedure will be performed in approximately three months at which time the flexor tendon will be reconstructed.

Miller's recovery and rehabilitation from the surgeries is expected to take six to nine months, and he will immediately begin rehab in Goodyear, Arizona once the reconstruction is complete. This is the second surgery on the finger, as he previously had a surgery last year to repair a broken callous and seal a gap in his finger that resulted from it. The callous came about from a ligament in his finger causing his skin to sag up against the baseball.

News of the needed surgery surfaced last Friday as Miller had some issues in his last bullpen session a few days before where he experienced pain in the finger again. Miller had a setback in spring training where the finger was giving him pain and he could not bend the tip of it, so he had spent the better part of the last six weeks trying to alter his delivery and work on a new release point. He experienced some success in the early going and things seemed to be going well as soon as just two weeks ago, but the recurrence of the pain made it necessary to have the career-threatening surgery.

The reason the surgery to the finger is career threatening is because he will likely develop scar tissue, which will mean yet another surgery down the road to remove it. Scar tissue would hinder his ability to perform and rehabilitate the finger because of the small area, and this would affect the strength of the finger and range of motion. But there is no guarantee scar tissue will even occur, which is why Miller's status in the future is such an unknown. It is a rare injury and the surgery itself is innovative and really the first of its kind, so no one really knows what to expect going forward and how much recovery time will be needed or what kind of roadblocks will pop up.

This is a pretty big blow to Miller and the Indians. The Indians planned on Miller being a big part of the bullpen this year, and Miller's dreams of pitching in the big leagues have been ended before they could ever be started.

Kinston Sweeps Awards Again

High-A Kinston once again swept the weekly awards in the Carolina League this week as third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall was named the Player of the Week and left-hander Eric Berger was named the Pitcher of the Week. It is the second straight week they have swept the awards as outfielder Matt Brown was the Player of the Week and left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz was the Pitcher of the Week the previous week. So, two weeks into the weekly awards in the Carolina League, and so far Kinston has swept each week, and this week the Indians have two good candidates in right-hander Jeanmar Gomez and first baseman Matt McBride to take home the honors again!

Chisenhall had a monster week at the plate hitting .333 (10-30) with three home runs and 15 RBI. He hit a home run in three straight games with back to back grand slams on Tuesday (4/21) and Wednesday (4/22) followed by a three run home run on Thursday (4/23). To date, Chisenhall is 4th in the league in RBI and is hitting .274 with 4 HR, 20 RBI and a .785 OPS in 20 games. Berger was sensational on the week going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two starts. He gave up only four hits in ten innings of work, striking out 13 and not giving up a run. His 1.42 ERA and 25 strikeouts both are ranked 2nd in the league. Both Berger and Chisenhall are natives of North Carolina, with Chisenhall living there his whole life and Berger being born in Goldsboro, NC. Berger was born into a military family and moved to California at age two.

Everything Not So Hot In Akron

When you consider Double-A Akron's torrid record-breaking start where they are 16-4 through 18 games, you would think they are hitting on all cylinders as a team. While the pitching has been spectacular and leads the 12-team Eastern League with a sparkling 2.71 team ERA, the hitting has been so-so as they rank 7^th in hitting with a .248 team average. The one saving grace for the offense has been the walks which they currently rank 1st in the league (86), as well as some timely hitting.

Like many of his teammates, first baseman Beau Mills is off to a slow start offensively hitting just .266 with 1 HR, 10 RBI and a .665 OPS in 20 games. His problems in the early going have centered mostly around him being a little too aggressive at the plate (2 BB, 12 K), which is natural at this time of the year when players tend to press at the plate because of some ugly numbers posted on the scoreboard. Early season problems aside, when you look at him and the way he carries himself on the field, his build and body language absolutely scream baseball player. He has certainly benefitted from being a part of the game since his childhood because of his dad Brad Mills' involvement in the professional game, and his intelligence as a player is something that the Indians really like about him.

Some other players who are off to some very rough starts are shortstop Carlos Rivero (.208 AVG, 1 HR, 12 RBI, .588 OPS), outfielder John Drennen (.180 AVG, 1 HR, 9 RBI, .616 OPS), and outfielder Nick Weglarz (.089 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .386 OPS). Rivero and Weglarz are probably the two most disappointing performers to date in the entire system, Weglarz especially. Though he only has 56 official at bats in 19 games, he has struck out 19 times and walked 10 times, which means in almost half of his at bats he is not even putting the ball in play. Weglarz is widely praised because of his advanced approach and plate discipline at a young age, and it still very young in the season, but it may be time for Weglarz to be a little more aggressive up there.

LaPorta Honored

Earlier this week the International League announced that Triple-A Columbus outfielder Matt LaPorta was named as the Player of the Week for the week of 4/20 to 4/26. For the week, LaPorta hit .520 with an International League leading 13 hits, 10 runs scored, and .613 on-base percentage. He hit safely in all seven games for the week, including four multi-hit efforts. He also homered in back-to-back games last Friday and Saturday becoming the first Clipper to homer in consecutive games this season. At the moment, LaPorta is tied for 4th in the league in home runs (5), tied for 10th in RBI (14), 8th in batting average (.368), 9th in on-base percentage (.436), 3rd in slugging percentage (.706), and 4th in OPS (1.142).

LaPorta's excellent start to the season where he is currently hitting .368 with 5 HR, 14 RBI and a 1.142 OPS through 19 games has many people thinking he could be Cleveland bound very soon. Indians manager Eric Wedge downplayed that to the media earlier in the week, but it is a legit possibility given the inconsistent way the offense has performed so far, especially Ben Francisco and Trevor Crowe in the outfield. I was able to talk to a National League scout recently, and he says that LaPorta is "ready for the big leagues" and that "he is hitting everything hard". Do not be surprised if LaPorta is called up sometime before Memorial Day. And yes all you Super-2 honks, it has little bearing on when he is called up.

The Vin Man

Akron right-handed closer Vinnie Pestano continues to do what he does best, which is come into games in the ninth inning and shut the door ensuring victory for his team. Pestano has been closing since he played ball at Cal State-Fullerton, and since becoming a professional he has been the closer at every level of the Indians system be it at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2007, Low-A Lake County and High-A Kinston in 2008, and now Double-A Akron in 2009. After saving a combined 30 games for Mahoning Valley, Lake County and Kinston from 2007 to 2008, Pestano is off to a hot start at Akron with nine saves already this year. In ten appearances he is 0-0 with a 1.93 ERA and in 9.1 innings has allowed just 5 hits, 4 walks and has 8 strikeouts.

It is a role he has always flourished in because of his excellent makeup and strong will. When he comes sprinting out to the mound from the bullpen, he comes out with a purpose and focus many relievers lack. He may not have the heat-seeking 95+ MPH fastball or fall off the table curveball teams and fans like to see out of a late-inning pitcher, but you can't argue with the results and the intestinal fortitude he possesses. His strong mental approach combined with his ability to throw strikes and a quirky sidearm delivery has become a true separator for him. His slider may be his best pitch, but he pounds the zone well with his fastball and creates a lot of deception with his delivery and hides the ball well. When you are only throwing 88-90 MPH, you need all the advantages you can get.

Getting A Little Help From His Friends

Double-A Akron right-hander Hector Rondon continues to cruise in the early going this season. On Tuesday night, Rondon went 6.2 innings allowing just 1 run on 6 hits, 1 walk and had 9 strikeouts. As has been the case in his three prior starts, Rondon was dominant for all of the game before tiring late and yielding a run in his final inning of work. He struck out seven of the first 11 hitters he faced en route to setting a new Aeros season-high with nine strikeouts in the game, and worked into the seventh for his first quality start of the season. On the year, Rondon is now 4-0 with a 1.17 ERA and in 23.0 innings has allowed 19 hits, 4 walks, and has 22 strikeouts.

Things got a little dicey in the seventh inning for Rondon as he gave up a lead off home run to former tribe farmhand Matt Whitney and then got two quick outs before allowing a hit and walk. Right-hander Erik Stiller was summoned in from the bullpen and he closed the door on the potential rally and preserved the 3-1 lead by retiring the first batter he faced on a groundout. Stiller was even more impressive in keeping the lead in the eighth as he allowed the first two batters to reach base with singles, and a bobble by right fielder Jerad Head put the tying runners at second and third with no out. The next batter hit a fly ball to Mickey Hall that he dropped which allowed a run to score and make it 3-2 and put runners back on second and third with no outs. Stiller recovered to strikeout Whitney for the first out, and after intentionally walking the next batter to load the bases with one out, he came back to punch-out the next two batters to escape with the lead intact. Right-hander Vinnie Pestano then worked a drama-free ninth retiring the side in order and recording the save.

Infirmary Report

High-A Kinston left-handed pitcher Kelvin De La Cruz is out indefinitely with what team officials have categorized as "left forearm tightness". The situation appears to be serious enough where the Indians went out of their way on Wednesday to have him flown into Cleveland for a medical evaluation by team doctors at Progressive Field on Thursday. As of this writing, there is no word or comment from the Indians on how that evaluation went, but one team official did comment that the purpose of the evaluation was to make sure there was no ligament damage. Due to HIPPA provisions, the Indians are not allowed to talk about it. In two starts so far this season, De La Cruz is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and in 12 innings of work has 19 strikeouts and just two walks.

High-A Kinston right-handed pitcher Zach Putnam was struck with a ball on his throwing hand on Tuesday night. After he had completed his warmup tosses at the top of the third inning, Kinston catcher Alex Castillo threw wildly down to second and clipped Putnam in the hand with the ball on the way by. Apparently, Putnam will be okay, though may be held out for a start just to make sure. He had some bleeding, soreness and a broken fingernail as a result, but disaster appears to have been averted.

Second baseman Josh Rodriguez left the game on Wednesday in the seventh inning with a hamstring injury. No word yet on the severity of the injury, and he is day-to-day at the moment.

High-A Kinston backup outfielder and first baseman John Allman injured his hamstring last Thursday. He has not played since, but the injury is not considered serious at the moment and he is day-to-day.

Transaction Rundown

Last Thursday, right-handed pitcher Greg Aquino was placed on the Triple-A Columbus disabled list and left-handed pitcher Zach Jackson replaced him on the roster from Cleveland. Also, with RHP Scott Roehl leaving Akron and joining Columbus a few days earlier, the Indians filled his vacant spot in the Akron bullpen by promoting right-handed reliever Josh Judy from High-A Kinston. Right-handed reliever Mike Pontius joined High-A Kinston from extended spring training, filling the spot in the bullpen left open by the departure of Judy.

Last Saturday, right-hander Paolo Espino was summoned from Low-A Lake County and promoted to Double-A Akron to provide some much needed bullpen relief to a taxed Akron staff which had pitched 39 innings over three days from Wednesday through Friday because of double-headers. To make room on the roster, right-hander Steven Wright was placed on the Mahoning Valley roster (paper move).

On Tuesday, right-handed reliever Randy Newsom was promoted to Triple-A Columbus and infielder Andy Cannizaro was transferred to Mahoning Valley. Also, right-handed pitcher Paolo Espino was transferred back to Low-A Lake County and right-handed pitcher Steven Wright was moved off the Mahoning Valley reserve list. Right-handed pitcher Eddie Burns was also called up to Low-A Lake County from extended spring training.

On Wednesday, right-hander Jeanmar Gomez was promoted from High-A Kinston to Double-A Akron. Left-hander Russell Young was called up from Low-A Lake County to Kinston to fill Gomez's spot on the roster and in the rotation. Right-handed pitcher Steven Wright was taken out of the Akron rotation and inserted into the bullpen to make room for Gomez in the rotation.

On Friday, right-handed pitcher Kyle Landis was promoted from Low-A Lake County to High-A Kinston and right-handed pitcher Mike Pontius was put on the Kinston disabled list with an undisclosed injury.

2009 MLB Amateur Draft

We are getting closer to yet another MLB First-Year Player Draft, which kicks into action five weeks from this coming Tuesday. The draft itself will now be a three day long event, with day one occurring on Tuesday June 9th at 6:00 PM in Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucos, NJ. Day one will consist of three rounds, and then the rest of the rounds will be broken up over the final two days on Wednesday June 10 and Thursday June 11 and be conducted as they were in the past via a conference call from MLB headquarters in New York City.

Affiliate Notebook

Columbus Notes (9-12, 4th place, 3.0 GB): Second baseman Luis Valbuena saw his five game hitting streak end on Tuesday at Toledo, but he did have an on-base streak of 13 games to start the year. His 13 game streak ranks tied for 10th in the International League this season. On the season, Valbuena is hitting .311 with 2 HR, 10 RBI, and a .927 OPS in 21 games. ... First baseman Michael Aubrey is starting to cool off some as in his last eight games he is only hitting .200. On the season he is still hitting a red-hot .404 with 2 HR, 11 RBI and 1.066 OPS in 16 games. ... Catcher Wyatt Toregas has had a nice, quiet start to his season. In limited playing time, he is hitting .281 with 3 HR, 8 RBI and a .945 OPS in 10 games played. ... Clippers manager Torey Lovullo managed his 1,000th regular season game on April 24th vs. Indianapolis, winning the contest 9-7. ... In 2009, the Clippers sit at dead last in the International League in fielding percentage (.968), having committed 22 errors in 20 games. After playing flawlessly on opening day, the Clippers made errors in ten straight games until April 20th. They currently project out to 158 errors in 144 games, and the all-time record is 178 errors in 1978.

Akron Notes (16-4, 1st place, 3.0 GU): Right-hander Steven Wright threw a gem last Friday in what was to be his final start of the season going 6 innings and allowing just 1 run on 3 hits, 1 walk and striking out 2. Wright has officially been moved to the Akron bullpen, and was awesome in his debut as a reliever on Wednesday night going 2.2 shutout innings allowing 4 hits with no walks while striking out 3. In four total appearances on the year Wright is 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA, and in 17.2 innings has allowed 18 hits, 4 walks, and has 10 strikeouts. ... One may take a quick look at catcher Carlos Santana's batting average of .262 and say he is only hitting so-so, but this is not the case as he is hitting into some loud outs, 10 of his 16 hits have gone for extra bases, and he has demonstrated excellent patience at the plate with 15 walks to 11 strikeouts. He has a .405 on-base% and 1.028 OPS, and his 6 home runs and 19 RBI are tied for 1st in the Eastern League and his 1.028 OPS is 2nd in the league. ... Outfielder Jose Constanza had three three-hit games in the span of four games last week, boosting his average almost 100 points in the process. Constanza is now hitting .323 with 0 HR, 6 RBI, 10 stolen bases, and an .819 OPS. His 10 stolen bases lead the Eastern League. ... Second baseman Josh Rodriguez and utility man Jerad Head are off to good starts. Rodriguez is hitting .314 with 0 HR, 5 RBI and an .831 OPS in 18 games, while Head is hitting .350 with 2 HR, 9 RBI, and a .972 OPS in 13 games.

Kinston Notes (11-10, 1st place, 0.0 GU): Third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall's three consecutive games with a home was the first time a Kinston player had accomplished that since infielder Josh Rodriguez put together a four game streak in August 2007. His modest 11-game hitting streak came to an end on Sunday. ... Outfielder Matt Brown has 22 hits, but just two have gone for extra bases (both are doubles). Still, he has displayed excellent plate discipline in the early going drawing 15 walks to 11 strikeouts, and on the season he is hitting .349 with 0 HR, 7 RBI and an .855 OPS. ... Left-handed starter Ryan Miller has been hard to hit so far this season, as in 12.1 combined innings pitched between Low-A Lake County and Kinston he has yielded just 5 hits and held opposing hitters to a .122 batting average. His problem has been the walks, as in those same 12.1 innings he has allowed 15 walks. ... Second baseman Cord Phelps had an 11-game hitting streak snapped on Tuesday. On the season he is hitting .303 with 0 HR, 9 RBI and an .884 OPS. ... With right-handed closer Josh Judy being promoted to Double-A Akron, the new closer in Kinston will be right-hander Dallas Cawiezell. While they do go with a closer-by-committee approach, he will be afforded the majority of the opportunities. On the season Cawiezell is 0-0 with 1 save and a 2.53 ERA. In 10.2 innings he has allowed 6 hits, 3 walks, and has 12 strikeouts. ... Kinston is 2nd in the Carolina League in team hitting (.293 AVG), 2nd in OPS (.818), 2nd in doubles (40), and 1st in walks (106). On the pitching front Kinston is 1st in team ERA (3.42, 80 points better than the rest of the league!), 1st in strikeouts (177), and 1st in WHIP (1.23).

Lake County Notes (8-12, 6th place, 4.5 GB): Left-hander T.J. House picked up his first professional win on Monday going 6 innings and allowing just 1 run on 4 hits, no walks and had 4 strikeouts. In four starts so far this season he is 1-1 with a 1.53 ERA and in 17.2 innings has allowed 13 hits, 11 walks, and has 16 strikeouts. ... Outfielder Donnie Webb has reached base in 16 straight games. Even with the long streak, his on-base percentage is still only .330 and on the season he is hitting .244 with 2 HR, 7 RBI and has a .650 OPS. ... Right-handed reliever Dave Roberts has been impressive in the early going for the Captains. He has made six appearances on the season and in each one of those outings he pitched at least two innings out of the bullpen. He got the win in relief on Tuesday pitching 2.1 innings of relief and allowing one run while striking out five batters. On the season he is now 1-0 with a 2.30 ERA and in 15.2 innings has allowed 14 hits, 2 walks, and has 16 strikeouts. ... The Captains offense has struggled mightily the first month of the season, but the two bright spots to date have been first baseman Nate Recknagel and second baseman Karexon Sanchez. Recknagel leads the team in hitting with a .327 batting average and he also has 1 HR, 9 RBI and a .860 OPS in 13 games. Sanchez has been the big bopper in the early going, and is hitting .268 with 4 HR, 11 RBI, and an .835 OPS. ... Outfielder Abner Abreu is happy the calendar has turned to a new month as in 72 at bats he has 29 strikeouts and only 2 walks. He is hitting .208 with 0 HR, 3 RBI and a .532 OPS in 17 games.

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Game Recaps: Friday 5/1

Columbus Wins, Several Players Called Up To Cleveland Afterward

Columbus pounded Durham 14-1 on Friday night. But the news of the night was the Indians announcing after the game that OF Matt LaPorta, INF Luis Valbuena, and INF Josh Barfield have been called up to Cleveland. OF Trevor Crowe has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus, INF Tony Graffanino designated for assignment, and RHP Joe Smith has been placed on the 15-day disabled list.

As for the game, lefty Davis Huff was back to his 2008 form going six shutout innings and allowing four hits, two walks and had four strikeouts. Right-hander Randy Newsom made his Columbus debut in the 9th innings and allowed a run on two hits in his one inning or work.

Infielder Luis Valbuena split time at third base and shortstop, in a final tune-up for his callup to Cleveland, and went 2-for-4 with a HR and 3 RBI on the night. Matt LaPorta also got his first start at first base to get him ready for the call to Cleveland, and he went hitless in four at bats. Designated hitter Michael Aubrey went 3-for-5 with a double and RBI, left fielder Jordan Brown went 4-for-5 with a double, HR, and 3 RBI, catcher Chris Gimenez went 3-for-5 with a HR and 3 RBI, and third baseman Andy Marte went 2-for-3 with a HR and 4 RBI.

Aeros Rebound, Blast Baysox 8-6 in 10

BOWIE, MD – Nick Weglarz and Jerad Head launched solo home runs in the top of the 10th as Akron bounced back after blowing a five-run lead to clip Bowie 8-6 in 10 innings before 8,778 fans at Prince George’s Stadium Friday night. The Aeros improved to an Eastern League best 17-4 and won their fourth straight game while the Baysox slipped to 9-11 on the year.

Weglarz got Akron on the board first with an RBI double in the second, and after Bowie tied it in the third, the Aeros posted four runs in the fourth. Beau Mills and Carlos Santana both walked on four pitches to open the frame, and after Baysox starter Bobby Livingston recorded the next two outs Damaso Espino ripped a two-run single to left to push Akron back in front at 3-1. Mickey Hall followed with a fly ball to center that Ambiorix Concepcion dropped to put runners at second and third, and Head then delivered another two-run single to make it 5-1.

Hall’s sacrifice fly in the sixth made it 6-1, but the Baysox came roaring back in the bottom of the eighth. Concepcion started a run of five straight hits that led to four runs and cut the Akron lead to a single run, and Bowie then capped the comeback in the ninth off closer Vinnie Pestano. Melvin Dorta started the rally with a two-strike single to center, and after Paco Figueroa popped up Concepcion added a two-strike hit of his own to put runners on the corners. Miguel Abreu then tied the game at 6-6 with an RBI single to right, but Pestano did well to get to the 10th. He walked Jonathan Tucker intentionally to load the bases, and the strategy paid off when Guillermo Rodriguez tapped back to the mound and Pestano took the force at the plate for the second out. Milwaukee native Joe Nowicki then flied to left to end the inning.

It didn’t take long for Akron to retake the lead in the 10th, as Weglarz drilled the third pitch he saw over the wall in left-center to put the Aeros back in front to stay at 7-6. Head then added some insurance with a blast of his own, going deep the opposite way to right field to account for the final margin. Josh Judy worked the bottom of the 10th to earn his first Eastern League save, striking out Figueroa on a nasty slider to end it.

Chuck Lofgren started and battled through five innings for the Aeros, departing after five innings of one-run baseball but ultimately getting a no-decision. He has allowed just two runs and six hits over his last three starts, covering 17.0 innings. Pestano (1-0) got the win but blew his second save of the year, while Ryan Rodriguez (0-2) took the loss for Bowie. Weglarz, who began the season mired in an awful slump, continued to show signs of breaking out as he finished 3-5 with two doubles, a homer, and two RBI. It was his first three-hit game of the season, and he set a new Aeros season-high with eight total bases. Both of his home runs this season have come at Bowie. Head finished 2-4 with a walk and three RBI while hitting his third home run of the year, and Espino’s base hit in the fourth pushed his hitting streak to a season-high five games.

Game two in this three-game series is set for 7:05 p.m. Saturday, as Frank Herrmann (1-1, 3.00 ERA) takes on Sean Gleason (0-1, 11.57 ERA).

Lynchburg Hands Kinston an 8-3 loss

Lynchburg hit three home runs on their way to an 8-3 win against Kinston Friday night at City Stadium in Virginia.

The Hillcats started the hitting in the bottom of the first inning when Pedro Alvarez hit a solo home run off of K-Tribe starter Russell Young. Young was called up from Lake County on April 29th and made his Carolina League debut. Young settled down and did not allow another hit until the fourth inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, Kinston took a brief 3-1 lead behind four straight one out hits from Lonnie Chisenhall, Matt McBride, Matt Brown and Ronald Rivas. The hit by Rivas was good for an RBI, as was the single by Alex Castillo one batter later. Rivas was the only K-Triber with multiple hits on the night going 2-for-4 in the game.

In the bottom of the fourth the Hillcats ripped the lead back with a six hit, two walk, five run inning highlighted by a two-run home run from Kent Sakamoto. Sakamoto would add a solo home run in the eighth inning off of Kinston reliever Kyle Landis for Lynchburg’s third home run of the night. It was the most home runs given up by the K-Tribe pitching staff in a single game this season, as Kinston’s staff came into the game having given up just 13 home runs all season; the lowest mark in the Carolina League. Kinston reliever Kyle Landis, making his first K-Tribe appearance of the season after being called up from Low A Lake County Friday afternoon, gave up just one hit and no runs in three innings of relief work.

The K-Tribe stays on the road for game two against Lynchburg Saturday night in Virginia. Kinston’s Eric Berger will take the hill for the 7:05 pm start.

Captains Intimidate Kannapolis 8-4

The Lake County Captains erupted for a season high eighteen hits on their way to an 8-4 win over the Kannapolis Intimidators on Friday. Every Captain in the line up had at least one hit.

The Captains scored their first run in thirteen innings in the first inning of the game when Walter Diaz doubled and scored on a double by Karexon Sanchez and the Captains had an early 1-0 lead. The lead was upped to 2-0 in the third inning when Abner Abreu singled home Karexon Sanchez. The lead went to 4-0 in the top of the fourth inning when Diaz singled home Adam White and Donnie Webb.

The Intimidators got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when Sergio Morales tripled and then scored on a ground out by Jorge Castillo to make it 4-1. The Captains got the run back and then some in the top of the fifth inning when Nate Recknagel tripled and scored on another triple by Abreu. Jeremie Tice doubled allowing Abreu to score and Tice scored on a sacrifice fly by White and the Captains extended their lead to 7-1.

The Intimidators added three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a three run home run by Morales and it was 7-4. The Captains added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly by Tice.

Captain’s starter Paolo Espino got the win (2-1) going five innings and allowing four runs on eight hits and striking out four. David Roberts pitched three perfect relief innings striking out three. Steve Smith pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

Intimidator’s starter Garrett Johnson took the loss (1-3) lasting four innings allowing four runs on ten hits, walking two and striking out five.

Game three of the series is Saturday 7:05 PM with the Captains sending LHP T.J. House (1-1, 1.53) to the mound to oppose RHP Greg Infante (1-0, 0.75).

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LaPorta, Valbuena Called Up

The Indians announced after the game tonight in Detroit that OF Matt LaPorta, INF Luis Valbuena, and INF Josh Barfield have been called up to Cleveland. OF Trevor Crowe has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus, INF Tony Graffanino designated for assignment, and RHP Joe Smith has been placed on the 15-day disabled list.

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The Blog......by Vinnie Pestano

First off let me apologize to Tony, I agreed to do a blog a week and this is only my second in April or my first of May by the time this gets posted. So Tony again I apologize. I am finding it a lot harder than I originally thought to write these things. Someone very close to me I will not name names….Michelle…cough, told me the problem with some blogs is that some of them come off as people trying to be too smart or trying to be too funny. So this is my attempt at trying to be neither of those things which I should find pretty easy cause I don’t claim to be too smart or too funny. What do you write about? Do you talk about all the games in the week? Or how you did in the games? Do you try to give some insight into the inner workings of Double-A ball?

I have no idea, but I know you can write comments about the blogs so I leave it to you the readers to name some suggestions about what you want to hear about. If there are no comments I will resort to weekly movie reviews and other things of that nature until you get tired of it and give me something to talk about. So as of now this will be the first annual Meet An Aero week. I will try to interview one of my teammates a week and post the interview in this blog. Since I just thought of this ground breaking idea your first guest will be…..me ‘cause my roommate is sleeping (we’re on the road in Bowie).

First I must get this off my chest, I have been cheating the system for awhile now….and I will be the first and possibly the only one to come clean and admit it. I am not 6’1” 195 pounds, I know I know this comes as a shock but I am tired of all the forged media guides. I am actually barely over 6 feet and closer to 215 pounds. The guilt was eating away at me I just couldn’t take it anymore. So now that I have come clean I hope you can accept me for what I am.

I am from Southern California with a brief stint in Olathe, KS. I am the second child of Bill and Anne Pestano, and younger brother to Melissa Pestano. I have a girlfriend her name is Michelle and I have to admit she is the better pitcher in the relationship. I would be nowhere without my excellent supporting cast of friends and family as they keep me grounded through every day of my life. I played high school baseball at Canyon High in Anaheim and my college ball at Cal State Fullerton. According to my rookie/Mahoning Valley Scrappers baseball card I was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 200th round of the 2006 draft. I was a bullpen guy my whole stint in college closing my sophomore and junior year. On May 10th 2006 I tore my UCL in my right elbow in a mid week save opportunity against USC. I was drafted in June, had Tommy John Surgery in July and signed in August. I have been trying to work my way up the minor league ladder one rung at a time ever since.

So now that we are all caught up, how about some baseball talk? The Akron Aeros are 16-4 and off to a great start in 2009. If I would have to say one thing about our team it would be that we are doing a great jog of picking each other up on both sides of the ball. If the pitching staff is having a rough night the offense is there to pick us up and vice versa. We have a good team chemistry which is very important and everyone has a thirst for winning. It is hard to lose when you have confidence in yourself and others around you and I think we have that. I am looking forward to May and what it will bring, hopefully another good month for this club and its fans. See you in a week.

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Landis Promoted

Today the Indians promoted RHP Kyle Landis from Low-A Lake County to High-A Kinston. No word on who Landis is replacing in Kinston, and who is replacing Landis in Lake County.

My speculation: Landis may be taking the spot of RHP Mike Pontius in Kinston who may have tweaked something the other night and may be hurt. No confirmation on that yet. Also, the Lake County bullpen was overloaded, and with the departure of Ryan Miller and Russell Young recently there is an open rotation spot. When talking to Ross Atkins the other night he mentioned that RHP Bryce Stowell and RHP Danny Salazar would be pushed up soon, so expect one of those two to get the call from extended spring training here in the next day or so.

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Minor Happenings: The Return Of The Big Swede

"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.

Boy, what a week for news. So much news, that this week's Minor Happenings was ridiculously long and it has been broken up into two parts. Part II will post tomorrow and will have some of the other usual features like the Indians Minor League Player of the Week, a Coaches Corner with Akron Manager Mike Sarbaugh, the Affiliate Notebook, an Infirmary Report, and much more. Today though, I wanted the focus mostly on a huge rundown of players from a near 30-minute conversation I had with Farm Director Ross Atkins at the Akron game on Wednesday night.

Also, in the pipeline I still have articles to come n Chris Gimenez, Jordan Brown, and Josh Tomlin, so look out for those pieces over the weekend and early next week. I also have a large piece on extended spring training I plan to post. Finding time to complete all of these pieces while working a regular full time job, carting my kids to gymnastics/baseball/swimming/karate, and visiting the affiliates themselves.....but I will get them out there eventually!

In case you missed them, I had feature articles on Chris Nash and David Huff this past week. Also, last night on Smoke Signals we had right-hander Brian Grening on to talk about how things are going with him and to also give some insight into extended spring training and how he is handling that.

With that, onto the Happenings....

The Return Of The Big Swede

Akron left-hander Chuck Lofgren often goes by the nickname of "The Big Swede", and he pitched every bit of the word big on Saturday throwing six no-hit shutout innings in what easily was his best performance of the young season. It was also probably his best outing since his great year at High-A Kinston in 2006 where he went 17-5 with a 2.32 ERA.

Lofgren was locked in the entire game, and was largely effective because of the way he changed the eye level with his pitches. He retired the first two batters of the game and then walked a batter and hit another, but got out of the jam in the first inning by striking out the final batter with a high fastball. The strikeout started a string of 16 consecutive batters he would retire in a row before he had to be removed after six innings for pitch count reasons. When the dust settled, his seven strikeouts in the game were the most he has had in a game in almost a year as he had seven strikeouts last year in a game against Altoona on May 6, 2008. He was at 85 pitches through six innings, and with most pitchers at Double-A and Triple-A on a strict 90-pitch limit this early in the season, Aeros manager Mike Sarbaugh felt it best to take him out instead of pushing him into another inning where he would likely have to be removed anyway after one or two batters.

The outing was yet another impressive start so far on the young season for Lofgren. In three starts this year, he is now 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA, but more important he has just six walks in 16 innings pitched and is holding opposing hitters to a .111 batting average. His start on Saturday was a carryover from another stellar outing in his previous start on April 19th where he retired the first 10 batters of the game and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning of that game as well. His success so far is a byproduct of improved command and him pounding the zone with his fastball, but the other big factor is his much improved confidence. With each outing his confidence continues to grow, and with that he continues to get better and better. It also helps that his secondary stuff has been crisp and effective.

Director's Cuts

I went out to Akron on Wednesday night to see the team play, and it was a pleasant surprise to see Indians Farm Director Ross Atkins in the Akron clubhouse before the game. As the game played on, I made my way over to his seat a few rows behind homeplate and took in some of the game action with him for roughly 30 minutes talking about various topics and players. Here is are the players we touched on:

On Lonnie Chisenhall: "I think since day one of spring training Lonnie has been one of the most exciting pieces of the puzzle this year. He came into spring training and opened eyes further. Our eyes were already open and we were already excited and the expectations were high, but he has taken them to another level. From the beginning of his career with us last year at Mahoning Valley and his work with Travis Fryman in his transition to third base and how easy that was for him, and then now watching him come into spring training and seeing how his swing has adjusted to pro ball, it has really been impressive. He has shown us the ability to do things like a David Huff as a pitcher where it is very easy for him. I think anyone who has seen him, whether it is Sean Casey coming in from the MLB Network or Johnny Goryl our advisory in player development who has been here well over 20 years, he lights you up. He has an impressive swing that is very low maintenance, it's very short, and he is right to the ball. He is still young and he is still developing physically since he is only 20-years old. I think there is no question his bat is going to play. We just looked at it and feel he has a chance to be an above average defender at third base with no doubts in the production of the bat. Travis Fryman was integral in his transition to third base, and he is exceptional at third base. It is not just he gets the job done and can make all the plays. He makes all the plays and makes the exceptional plays look easy. Now, who knows what the home run total will be or what the OPS will be, we definitely think it is going to be a good productive number that plays well at third base. But whether it is .800 or 1.000, Lonnie will tell us that. He is extremely talented at third base, and it is a very easy position for him to play. He was a college shortstop who has plenty of arm, and he has the actions in the hands. It has just been a really easy transition for him. And really, you'll see. It is clear he is going to be a major league player, there are no doubts. Injury would be the only thing that would prevent that. With his swing, his power, and his approach, the plan will be how quickly can we get this guy to the major leagues. That's how talented this guy is."

On Michael Brantley and Matt LaPorta: "They both are off to good starts. Brantley had a little bit of a hiccup with the hamstring, but really they have settled into this organization nicely, especially with LaPorta having come in a little sooner than Brantley. We took full advantage of this past offseason to get them integrated into the system and get them aware of the things that are important to us. Let them get to know us a little bit, and we certainly have gotten to know them and we couldn't be more pleased. Matt has really been impressive defensively. I mean he has an 1.100 OPS, so that speaks for itself. He is hitting in the 4-hole in Triple-A for the first time and is obviously not overmatched at all. Brantley plays the game exceptionally hard. He is a great defender and made an outstanding catch the other night where he really made it easy. He has a great whole field approach. They are bother really two great athletes that are off to great starts and really we feel they are already Cleveland Indians."

On Matt LaPorta's immediate future: "You just want to make sure you are going to get a player at their best and you are going to get their best major league at bats and best major league play. Then of course there is the position issue with him, where is the need and when is it? If the need is at first base we would like for him to get a little bit more first base exposure. If the need for him is in the outfield then he is probably a little bit closer to ready, but I think he is going to benefit from more at bats at Triple-A though. We don't have a current need at first base, but if all of a sudden we had a need we would put him over there."

On Luis Valbuena: "He is has been even better than advertised. We read our scouting reports throughout the Winter Meetings and got to know him as well as we could. He came in here as well here in January for the Winter Development Program. Luis is an exceptional defender. He no doubt can handle second base, and he has also played some shortstop and third base for us already this year. He has shown us the ability to use the bat, and he has really taken advantage of his winter ball experience. He is a smart player, and plays the game at a higher intensity than most 23-year olds do. He is very impressive and very encouraging so far."

On David Huff: "He had an incredible year last year. I don't think you could really have a better minor league year than he had. Every time out it was almost like Cliff Lee in the minor leagues as you knew he was going to have a great outing. He came into spring training with a lot of expectations and he was solid. Still last year was just his first full season, so here we are and he is in Triple-A. He is throwing the ball well and I think here shortly he will be back into the form he was in a year ago and be heavily in the mix for our major league team. There is no question about it he has the best delivery in our minor league system. He is very athletic and he is powerful. For guys where it is a little easier to repeat their deliveries and to execute their pitches it makes it a little bit easier to get those outs at the major league level."

On Cord Phelps: "Cord is a switch-hitting second baseman with a lot of strength and has a great pedigree coming out of Stanford. He is a very hardnosed, very serious player. He takes the game very seriously. He is a really strong individual. The power, the strength, the ability to play in the middle of the diamond, he is an average runner, he is already producing early in his career are all good signs that he is definitely an individual who will get the most out of his ability."

On Matt McBride: "You can talk about it either way with Nick Weglarz's start and McBride's start. On the Weglarz front it is unfortunate, and on the McBride front it is great. I think it is much more significant when you look at halves and seasons when you talk about performance, but that is a very good month he has had. We have always known he has had the ability to hit. He was injured and out for about a year. He is a big strong guy and he is extremely athletic, so I think we are going to start moving him around and play him some in the outfield. With the approach he has right now it is very encouraging.

On McBride's recent position changes: "I don't want to say catching is done as we could re-open that case. He is an emergency guy for sure, but if the arm strength came back to where it was before then it might be something we talk about again, but most likely not. [The move to first base late in spring] is because that was where the at bats were. You have Roman Pena, Matt Brown and Tim Fedroff in the outfield, and we like those guys too. All four are playing well."

On Chuck Lofgren: "I think it is a combination of things. He is in much better shape physically. It is incredible how much better shape he is in as his total body fat and weight are all down. I think that helps him repeat his delivery. I think with his maturity he has settled into a more consistent routine. He is a little more consistent with his release point and he is locating his fastball, and he is 88-91 MPH with his velocity. It is just easier to repeat with what he is doing, and it is really encouraging."

On Hector Rondon: "I think he has taken a big jump from last July until now. I mean we put him on the roster, so you don't put a lot of 20-year olds on your roster out of A-ball. He is too talented to [pitch in the bullpen]. For a lot of reasons. One, is he has a chance to start. Two, is his clock. You want to get his best innings. You want to get him at his best when his development is done not just when he can compete."

On Vinnie Pestano: "Vinnie has been really impressive. He is a guy who has great pedigree out of Cal-State Fullerton. He came into us after an arm injury, and we were a little cautious with him to make sure he could handle the workload of a 162 game season. And now he is showing us that he is really for the competition. He has a little bit of an unorthodox delivery as he is down lower than normal. He is easily one of the best competitors we have in the system."

On Jeanmar Gomez's callup: "It was just more a matter of having a spot for him here in Akron open up. Secondarily, we wanted to make sure the subtle adjustments he had made were going to take and he was going to have success with those adjustments. We would rather him do that in a little bit lower level to play and a bit of warmer weather too. A little bit less change as he was making just a little bit of a subtle change to his arm swing, making his circle just a little shorter."

On Steven Wright: "He is going into the bullpen. We have liked him as a relief pitcher for a long time, we just developed him as a starter knowing that it was very likely that a move to the pen would happen. As an amateur his velocity has played up to as much as 95 MPH when he was in Hawaii, so we just felt like the timing was right for him."

On the Kinston rotation: "[Bryce] Stowell will be there eventually. Danny Salazar is going to be coming up eventually [to Lake County], so there will be some push soon. Currently Ryan Miller stays in the rotation and Russell Young has been added to it."

The Masters

The Indians High-A affiliate in Kinston is loaded with a lot of good young starting pitching prospects, many of whom that have put forth several masterful outings so far this season. Left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz is the ace of the staff and one of the best young left-handed pitching prospects in the game. But there are several other promising arms in the rotation, such as right-handers Zach Putnam and Jeanmar Gomez, or lefties Eric Berger, Ryan Morris, and Ryan Miller. The scary thing is another high upside right-hander Bryce Stowell is not even on the team yet because he is nursing an injury, but is expected to be in Kinston sometime soon.

This past week, Gomez and Berger shined in the rotation. On Saturday, the 21-year old Gomez pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just four hits, a walk, and had six strikeouts. The six strikeouts were a new season high, and the shutout brings his scoreless streak to 13.1 innings and counting. Over the final six innings of his outing, he faced just two batters over the minimum. His success in the early going is the result of some extra work with Kinston Pitching Coach Greg Hibbard with being more aggressive with all of his pitches and throwing more strikes. He has displayed better command and control of his fastball and changeup, and his slider has been kept down in the zone and away from right-handers and in on the feet of left-handers. Prior to his Akron debut on Thursday, Gomez was 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA in four starts, and in 24.0 innings has allowed 17 hits, 5 walks, and has 15 strikeouts.

On Sunday, Berger picked up right where Gomez left off as he threw five shutout innings allowing just three hits, no walks, and punched out five batters. He was in cruise control the entire afternoon as only one batter reached second base. Berger really did an excellent job pounding the zone with strikes, had a good feel for all of his pitches, commanded the zone to both sides of the plate, and changed speeds well. Berger was an 8th round selection in last year's draft who has often been overlooked because of the big money signings like Trey Haley, Zach Putnam, Bryce Stowell, and T.J. House, but he is every bit as much of a prospect. He was actually one of the top pitching prospects in college at Arizona before Tommy John surgery sidelined him a few years ago, which is why he was available for the Indians to pick last year in the 8th round. He is first or second round talent the Indians took a gamble on that is now starting to pay off. On the season he is 2-1 with a 1.42 ERA in four starts, and in 19 innings has allowed 13 hits, 8 walks, and has 25 strikeouts.

Coaches Corner: Torey Lovullo

The 2009 season is the fourth straight year that Columbus Manager Torey Lovullo is managing a Triple-A affiliate for the Indians. Lovullo is widely considered an up-and-comer who should be managing in the big leagues some day, and for now the Indians are very happy and comfortable with him in charge of managing their Triple-A talent. They love his communication skills and positive energy, which have been on display since he started his managing career in Columbus, GA in 2002 for the Indians then Low-A affiliate. During my visit to Columbus over a week ago, I had a chance to talk about a few of his players:

On David Huff: "If you look at his numbers, I am sure they are not as good as he wants them to be. But he is 3-0, and he has kept us in the ballgames that he has pitched in. He has made big pitches when he has had to. When his back is against the wall he has that one main ingredient that you can count on. He is not gonna back down; he is going to execute his game plan. His fastball command has just been okay. We want to see him get ahead of hitters, we want to see him be aggressive on both sides of the plate with his fastball, and then work in that secondary stuff. The secondary stuff has always been there. He is always constantly tweaking and moving some things around, but we are looking for him to get into a little bit of a rhythm and finalizing his delivery."

On Michael Brantley: "It was one of those situations were I had had enough, I couldn't stand seeing how he was playing at the pace he was playing at because that is just not him. He has been nursing a tight hamstring, not a pull or anything too serious. With the weather changing from hot and cold and a couple bus trips in between there it just stiffened up coming in from Toledo [before the start of the last homestand]. It is nothing too serious, just a little bit of over-use and a little bit of fatigue."

On Jeremy Sowers: "I saw a couple 93s up there [on the scoreboard], and he's got that in his arsenal. That's an intangible that we are looking for out of Jeremy where if he has to really reach back and get after it that it is going to be there. He has that 92-93 in him, but he is going to sit at 89-91 and reach back when he needs to. There is one thing to have it and not know how to use it and the ball is going to get away from you because you overthrow, and it is another thing to use it and attack down in the zone like he has."

On Chris Gimenez: "You know what, Chris will tell you his one and only job is to take care of a pitcher each and every night. He has done that. He is back there behind the plate reading swings and running the ball game, so we have to evaluate him two different ways. According to Wedge, the most important thing is if the catcher is taking care of the pitcher and the team. He is offensive, and we know that is coming. To get that first hit, get it out of the way, I think it was really a relief for him, and he will be on his way offensively. We were not concerned about it whatsoever. He was probably wearing it a little bit more than he should have, but he got a few hits and we look for that to continue."

On Jordan Brown: "We have ten game swings where we are going to give guys playing time. He is going to play six or seven days out of those ten, just about every day. That's going to be the role for him right now to play designated hitter, first base and left field. The reason why we are doing that is not to diminish his ability to play one position, it is about creating some value for the major league team. If they need a left fielder we can then evaluate him and get him up there to help them out if needed. We want to make sure he can do that comfortably. Once the recommendation comes down to me, I can say that he is out there playing a variety of positions and it is only going to help him get to the big leagues quicker."

On Matt LaPorta: "He is just going to stay in the outfield, [no first base]. For right now the plan is to keep him in left and right and keep developing him there. He is doing a great job, he has been solid out in the outfield. [He has been better than many expected], myself included. I wasn't sure what to expect. He works his tail off and he has a great pre-game routine where he doesn't take any time off. He is always working during batting practice to get better, and it is translating well right now."

On playing time: "To the Indians credit we are player development and we have to understand that we have to provide guys for help and depth for the big leagues. They just want to make sure that if they reach down to this level that they have a handful of guys to pick from to fill voids. The fastest way to the big leagues is to play a variety of positions because what are the chances that if you only play first base and you are looking for a first baseman to go down with an injury to get that call? If you are moving around it just gives you the ability to get there and help out a little bit quicker."

Wax On, Wax Off

As talked about in an article I posted earlier in the week, Triple-A Columbus left-hander David Huff is working with his coaching staff and brother to get back on track after a few minor hiccups in spring training and early in the season. Huff is all business on the mound, and is also a pretty quiet and somewhat shy guy when off the field.

That said, having had the chance to talk to his brother Tim for a good length of time over a week ago when I was in Columbus, he shared some funny stories about his younger brother that show the fun and creative side of the Indians prized lefty. You see, Dave was very much into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the movie The Karate Kid when he was a little tyke. So much so, he actually believed he was the Karate Kid.

His brother Tim recalled one of the more classic Karate Kid moments from Dave's childhood.

"This one time he is jumping on the couch and at the time my parents had this beveled glass table, it was a really thick piece of glass," recalled Tim. "And he is jumping and all of a sudden goes head first into the glass and cuts his head wide open. So we rush him to the emergency room and wait for him to get sutured up. He comes out with this gauze-like bandana around his head. Well, he thinks he is now the Karate Kid, so he busts through the emergency doors and comes running at my dad and does a flying kick right into his stomach. Knocked the wind right out of my dad. Dave could care less about his head or stitches, because he really felt like he was the Karate Kid!"

Now, in fairness to Dave, I actually believed I was Sylvester Stallone as a kid, acting out his parts as Rocky Balboa, John Rambo, and Marion Cobretti from some of his famed 80s movies. I even wrote war stories of me and Rambo as part of a strike force when I was a young teenager, about 100 or so of them (still have them). And yes, as a kid in the backyard or on the playground even I re-enacted the famous fight scene at the end of The Karate Kid about a thousand or so times where Daniel LaRusso gives the ultimate jerk Johnny Lawrence a swift kick to the chops. Shoot, at one time I could quote that entire movie and just about any Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger move line for line.

Ah, to be young again, full of innocence and with such imagination!

(Something tells me that if/when those guys in the Columbus clubhouse catch wind of this, they'll never let it die. Sorry Dave!)

More Happenings tomorrow in Part II

All photos courtesy or me or the affiliate media departments except Chuck Lofgren photo courtesy of Carl Kline

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Game Recaps: Thursday 4/30

Columbus pitching falters

On a warm, 73 degree night, the Clippers scored early when Wes Hodges hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Michael Brantley. However, Durham would score three off Jack Cassel in the bottom of the first, giving them a 3-1 lead.

Josh Barfield singled in the fouth to score Matt LaPorta, putting Columbus within one.

Then, in the sixth, Stephen Head singled to right, scoring Chris Gimenez, to tie the game up at three.

Jack Cassel (2-1 6.61) pitched six innings, allowing eight hits and three earned runs. He also walked five and struck out two.

In the seventh, Columbus went with Zach Jackson (0-1 10.38), which proved to be costly. He pitched two-third of an inning, allowing a hit and a walk, while giving up three earned runs. Jackson would eventually take the loss on the night, as the Clippers fell to Durham 6-3.

Long ball paves way to Aeros win

Down a run in the bottom of the fourth, Akron hit back-to-back long balls to start the inning off the bats of Beau Mills and Carlos Santana. With two outs, Jerad Head doubled to left, scoring John Drennan.

Jeanmar Gomez (1-0 1.80) pitched five strong innings, only allowing two hits and an earned run, while only surrendering one walk and striking out five.

In the seventh, Akron struck for another two runs. With no outs, Carlos Rivero doubled to left field, scoring Jerad Head and Jose Constanza.

Then, in the eighth, the Aeros hit their third home run on the day off the bat of Carlos Rivera, scoring Damaso Espino and Jose Constanza.

Akron would go on to win the game 9-3.

K-Tribe fall in 13

The K-Tribe got off to an early lead when Matt McBride singled in Cord Phelps in the first, giving them an early 1-0 lead.

Salem would tie the game in the second and pick up three more runs in the third, giving them a 4-1 lead.

Kinston fought back in the fifth when Alex Castillo led off the inning with a home run to center. Then, Lucas Montero and Tim Fedroff hit back-to-back singles to put two runners on with no outs. Cord Phelps then struck out and Lonnie Chisenhall grounded out, putting two down with two on. Matt McBride would come through and singled to left, scoring Montero. Matthew Brown and Ron Rivas each hit back-to-back RBI singles, putting Kinston back on top 5-4.

Ryan Miller (0-1 3.46) went five innings, giving up six hits on four earned runs. He only walked one and struck out four.

Salem would tie the game up in the top of the eighth inning off Heath Taylor.

The K-Tribe and Salem would go blank until the 13th inning when Garrison Campfield (0-1 7.71) surrendered a leadoff single, threw a wild pitch, had a pass ball, and then gave up a costly single, giving Salem a 6-5 lead. Kinston went quitely in the bottom half of the inning, giving Salem a 6-5 win.

Captains strike out in loss

The Lake County bats were no where to be found on Thursday, striking out a remarkable 21 times and only walking once. They also only managed three hits on the day.

Joseph Malic (0-1 1.00) went four innings allowing three hits and a walk, while striking out five.

The game went in extas, but in the 10th, Steve Smith (1-2 3.00) walked two before allowing a game winning single, dropping Lake County to Kannapolis 1-0.

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