Minor League Thread
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Santana's now at four straight games with a homer. On the year he has 19 homers and 69 RBI, with a .930 OPS. It seems like he might be getting tired of being walked, July is the first month this year he's struck out (19) more than walked (10). He'll probably stay in Akron all year, but he definitely seems ready for the next level.
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Carrasco, Clippers hang loss on Martinez
http://blog.dispatch.com/clippers/2009/07/...his_debut.shtmlCarlos Carrasco won his debut with the Clippers tonight against his former teammates and helped Columbus salvage a split in the four-game series with a 9-6 victory over Lehigh Valley in Coca-Cola Park.
The Clippers also hung a loss on Pedro Martinez, who made his first rehab start for the IronPigs as he attempts to return to the major leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies. Michael Brantley led off the game against Martinez (0-1) with a home run for the Clippers.
The parent Cleveland Indians acquired Carrasco, shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson on Wednesday in a trade that sent Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to the Phillies. He worked 5 1/'3 innings against his former teammates and allowed eight hits and four runs.
The Clippers took the lead for good in the fifth inning. Stephen Head doubled and Jason Donald walked. Niuman Romero drove in both runners with a triple. After Brantley walked, he stole second and Romero scored on a throwing error by catcher Paul Hoover. Brantley took third and came home on a Josh Barfield sacrifice fly.
In the eighth inning, Jordan Brown doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Tony Graffanino single. Graffanino then stole second and Head drove him in with a single Barfield added a two-run double in the ninth.
Rafael Perez allowed a run in the ninth inning. He had not allowed a run in his first 13 appearances with the Clippers.
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Good day in Columbus...at least for Tribe fans.
Clippers starter Hector Rondon and Gwinnett starter James Parr each took a shutout into the fifth inning.
http://blog.dispatch.com/clippers/2009/08/...tor_rondo.shtmlRondon cruised through the first two batters in the inning before running into his first difficulty of the game. He was ahead of Alvin Colina 1-and-2 in the count but wound up walking him. Clint Sammons followed with a two-run home run, only the third hit of the game for Gwinnett.
Columbus answered against Parr in the bottom of the inning. Wes Hodges led off with a home run that hit three-quarters of the way up the batter's eye in dead center field. Michael Brantley later tied the game at 2-2 with a two-out RBI single that scored Jason Donald from second base.
Rondon left after six innings and 94 pitches with the game still tied. Jess Todd relieved and retired Gwinnett in order in the seventh and eighth innings with four strikeouts.
Team lost in 10... but Rondon going 6 innings with 7 Ks, 4 hits, 2 walks, and only 2 runs on a 2-run homer. Todd with 2 perfect innings and 4 Ks.
I know everyone's clamoring for LaPorta, but he's in a slump, batting .167 in the last 10 games. Not to mention that Marte and Crowe definitely deserve a (probably final) chance to show what they got before we move onto LaPorta, who's obviously a huge part of this team going forward.
In the same span, Brantley's batting .205 with 8 hits, but he's still drawing walks (7) and scoring runs (8).
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Jeanmar Gomez tied a season-high with eight strikeouts and Akron used a pair of sacrifice flies to squeak past Binghamton 3-2 before 2,250 fans at NYSEG Stadium Sunday night. The Aeros improved to 68-41 with the victory, tying a season-high with their seventh straight win and also getting back to their high-water mark of the season at 27 games over the .500 mark. Akron also notched its second straight series sweep and moved seven games ahead of second-place Reading in the Southern Division. The B-Mets dropped to 40-66. Gomez (9-3) worked into the sixth inning for his second straight victory, allowing just four hits and two walks in 5.2 shutout frames. He recorded eight strikeouts for the second straight start and fourth time this year.
http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com/2009...-sunday-82.htmlSo anyone boycotting the Tribe should definitely head out to an Aeros game. Rondon may be gone, but that has to be a great team to watch.
Jeanmar Gomez is now 9-3 with a 3.27 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 87 Ks in 99 innings. Amazing how many exciting right handers we have in the system these days.
And a few various updates, with Lastoria talking to an unnamed AL scout.
During a long rain delay on Friday night I also had the chance to talk to a professional scout for an AL team for about 15 minutes about a lot of various players on the Kinston roster and in the organization. It was not a formal interview as nothing was written down or recorded while we spoke, though afterwards I frantically wrote down a bunch of things on the players we talked about. Here is a quick rundown on some of the players we talked about with his comments summarized:
http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com/2009...of-updates.htmlLonnie Chisenhall: A baseball player, best swing he has seen all year, and defense at third is coming along. Uses entire field well when hitting, and is the top hitting prospect in Indians system outside of Santana.
Carlos Santana: An electric bat and arm with an unbelievable ability to square up the ball and hit it hard. Rifle arm, though still working on nuances of game behind the plate. Clearly a top ten prospect in all of baseball.
Cord Phelps: Good on-base ability and a very good defender at second base. With his versatility, he mostly projects as a good utility type player in bigs, though there is some room to grow to become an everyday player.
Tim Fedroff: Not impressed with his play in the outfield and doesn’t think he can stay in center. Too small and too light of a bat for the corners. Fourth outfielder at best. Given the signing bonus the Indians paid him, he’ll get every chance to prove scouts wrong.
Eric Berger: Kind of a funky delivery which creates a little deception. Not too high on him and feels he at best is a backend rotation starter in bigs.
Nick Weglarz: Unbelievable size for his age. Light tower power and an advanced approach at plate. So-so in the outfield, but with the bat he has a team could live with that. Needs to be more aggressive attacking pitches in the zone.
Hector Rondon: Huge leap this year, and has been great in the outings he has seen him. Feels the Indians may have really found something with him and called him the best pitcher in the organization.
Carlos Carrasco: Great stuff, but very inconsistent. Loads of potential but has a hard time maintaining focus entire game, especially when he gets into jams.
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LaPorta, Carrasco key Clippers win
Matt LaPorta drove in four runs on three hits and Carlos Carrasco pitched into the eighth inning of his home debut for the Clippers tonight n a 9-6 victory over Buffalo in Huntington Park.
Carrasco retired the first eight Buffalo hitters before former Columbus shortstop Wilson Valdez singled in the third inning.
Carrasco headed into the eighth inning for the first time this season with a two-hitter. Javier Castillo led off with a single and raced home on a double by Andy Green. Ground ball outs by Valdez and Reyes scored Green. With two outs, Carrasco walked Jesus Feliciano and Nick Evans knocked him out of the game with a two-run home run that cut the deficit to 7-5.
http://blog.dispatch.com/clippers/2009/08/..._gave_the.shtml
And from the "tribe insider" twitter...
Nick Hagadone organization debut last night (3.0IP, 3H, 1R/ER, 0BB, 5K) for Lake County
Coming off Tommy John surgery, Hagadone is on a 3 innings or 50 pitches limit. The 5 Ks is a nice start.
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Not a lot of big happenings lately....so here's a catch up on some of the big names while I have some time.
Columbus
Matt LaPorta had been in a mini-slump, but has 9 hits, a double, a homer, and 7 RBI in 8 games in August. On the year he's batting .297 with 14 homers and a .893 OPS.
Michael Brantley has improved his batting average every month so far. On the year he sits at .262 with a .348 OBP, and has 38 stolen bases...and has supposedly been playing a mean center field.
Hector Rondon is still tearing up, through 6 starts and 35 innings in Columbus, he's struck out 35, has an ERA of 2.57 and a WHIP of 1.20. For the year (Akron and Columbus) he's 10-7 with a 2.69 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and has struck out 108 in 107 innings.
Josh Barfield apparently doesn't have any Marte in him. Sporting a .252 OBP in Columbus, his future is definitely elsewhere.
Lou Marson and Jason Donald haven't inspired much confidence either. Marson is batting .272 in his 8 games since joining our organization, Donald is sitting at .222 with a double and a homer.
Carlos Carrasco's stats (9 ER in 13 innings) don't look good. But he took a 1-run, 2 hitter into the 8th inning in his second start before getting knocked out of the game. Still has a 2-0 record for the Clippers, and the 11 Ks aren't bad either.
Akron
Lonnie Chisenhall finally got the call up as the Aeros season winds down. He's still manning 3rd, played two games, got 2 hits, 1 double and a walk. His Kinston line (18 homers and 79 RBI in 99 games) is obviously much more impressive.
Carlos Santana keeps raking. Shapiro says his bat is major league ready, just needs to work on his game calling. He hit .311 in July, and is sitting at .320 in August. On the year he has a .284 average with 20 homers and 82 RBI...and a fantastic .943 OPS.
Nick Weglarz still looks to be a ways off Cleveland's radar. Oozes potential, but had a dreadful April, followed by a great May and June (each with an OPS over 1) followed by a July where he hit .217 (but still managed a .800 OPS)...and currently he's hitting .087 in August. Should need at least one more full year of seasoning, but I still love him as a prospect. On the year he's hitting .233 with 16 homers and 65 RBI.
Connor Graham has been pretty hit our miss since coming over from Colorado. Pitched in 3 games (2 starts) since coming to Akron, going 12.1 innings, giving up 6 earned, 11 hits, 11 walks, and 14 Ks.
Jeanmar Gomez has been fantastic, but still hasn't gotten much recognition. Currently 10-3 in Akron, with a 3.18 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and has struck out 94 in 104 innings. Only 21 years old, seems like he should be a factor in the rotation in a couple years.
Beau Mills still hasn't shown much of his power, but has 26 doubles to go with his .266 average, 10 homers and 61 RBI.
The lower guys, mainly Nick Hagadone and Jason Knapp haven't done much (if anything) yet, I'll keep it posted when they start piling up some stats.
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Carlos Carrasco goes 8 innings, giving up 1 run, 4 hits, walking none, and striking out 10 tonight. Take out the 8th inning collapse in his last start, and that's back to back great outings for him.
- overall line for his 3 starts in Columbus: 21 innings, 17 hits, 3 walks, 21 Ks.
Jason Knapp in his Tribe debut goes 2 innings (remember, he's on a strict pitch count of 50 pitches or 3 innings), gives up a hit and 2 walks, with 2 Ks.
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Ross Akins shares via Lastoria
On Nick Hagadone: "He has a really impressive arm. Every scout that sees him, every person you talk to be it a Red Sox official or a scout for a different organization the first thing that jumps out is he is left-handed and throws 99 MPH. The more you talk to people the more you find out about Nick, and the more you talk to Nick you realize that all those things that are very important that you don't really know until you start digging in on an individual. His intangibles are off the charts. From the Boston Red Sox to our scouts to our own assessment, everyone talks about him as being someone who sets the standard, sets the benchmark very high for work ethic, discipline, and passion for baseball. Those are things that are always a nice bonus to a guy who throws 99 MPH, is left-handed, and strikes guys out regularly."
On Hagadone's Tommy John surgery: "We had all of the information and we are equipped to handle [his recent Tommy John surgery]. There are many pitchers in the game who have gone through that process before. It certainly increases the risk somewhat, but when you know them and feel like you are prepared to handle them, and then you factor in what the reward is, it is worth taking that risk. We are following a plan that was put together by doctors and rehab therapists. We are sticking with a plan that was put in place months ago based on the Red Sox opinion and now our opinion. All the things we want to see we see, all the things he is saying is what we want to hear. He is also very realistic about it. He is feeling things that are normal to feel when you come off Tommy John. He has some stiffness and tightness that he is working through. But he is still overpowering hitters, he is still showing the velocity he showed before, and he is getting back to commanding his pitches at the rate he was before that. Really impressive to see him, and he really stands out on the field. He is just a big, physical, strong, left hander who puts the ball over the plate and has some presence about him."
On Jason Knapp: We are extremely excited. All the names and all the arms, they are all very exciting. You look at those young A-ball pitchers Hagadone and Knapp, guys that are in the upper-90s, very disciplined, very hard-working, and very physical. One is left-handed and one is right-handed and they both throw 95 MPH and above. Knapp is young, durable, and extremely driven and very hard-working as well. [He had] bicep tendonitis, which is near where the bicep connects to the shoulder. He has a dull ache where his bicep connects to his shoulder, and that is very typical of all pitchers, especially of young pitchers when their velocity is increasing and climbing. It is just something we have to monitor and make sure we don't push through. He is ready to go and we are just going to honor the progression he was on with the Phillies and make sure we respect the process. We are going to err on the side of caution and let him work through that and not push him through it. He is a very impressive young, strong, physical right-handed power pitching prospect that really could end up being one of the larger pieces of that deal. He is a little bit more physical, so his delivery is a little bit more aggressive.
http://www.theclevelandfan.com/article_detail.php?blgId=4972
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So I think Carrasco is working out okay.
Clippers down Indianapolis behind Carrasco
Carlos Carrasco pitched into the eighth inning for a third consecutive start and Stephen Head hit a two-run home run to lead the Clippers to a 4-2 victory over the Indianapolis Indians today in Huntington Park.
Carrasco (10-9) is 4-0 in four starts for Columbus since being acquired by the Cleveland Indians in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. He pitched 7 2/3 innings in his latest outing and checked Indianapolis on five hits and two runs, one earned.
In the eighth, Carrasco had one on with two outs when he walked Brian Myrow. Reliever Jose Veras entered and retired Jeff Clement on a fly to Barfield in left to end the inning.
So in his time in Columbus, that's now 4 wins in 4 appearances, 28.2 innings, 11 earned runs, 22 hits and 5 walks...27 Ks.
Also...
Scott Lewis is activated and optioned to Columbus.
Lonnie Chisenhall is batting .100 through 8 games (30 ABs) in Akron.
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Columbus starter Hector Rondon limited the Indians to three hits over the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. Pedro Lopez opened the inning with a single and went to third on Brian Myrow's double. Jeff Clement then tied the score at 1-1 with a ground ball to Romero at shortstop.
http://blog.dispatch.com/clippers/2009/08/...the_first.shtmlRondon pitched a scoreless seventh but left with a no decision when the Clippers couldn't score in the eighth. Columbus threatened in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings but couldn't push across a run.
Josh Barfield was the hero, with the game winning home run in the 12th inning.
Rondon is now 4-2 in 9 starts in AAA, pitching 53.2 innings, giving up 57 hits and 10 walks, with 50 strikeouts and a 2.68 ERA. His .352 BABIP means he should be even better.
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