Only Columbus and Lake County played Thursday and both lost.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20140515

Mitch Brown continues to perform like a high round Tribe high school pitcher draft choice. He made it 4 2/3 innings, allowed 3 runs on 5 hits 2 walks and he made 2 of his own throwing errors, too.
Clint Frazier with a lousy day at the plate, 3 strikeouts and one non-strikeout-out.

Scott Barnes reminds us not to forget him as a bullpen option. All six outs he recorded were strikeouts. One hit, no walks. Austin Adams fanned 2 in his own one-hit inning.
Giovanny Urshela hot streak has ended. He has one hit in his most recent 22 at bats.

BA's lines for Thursday:

CLE AAA Adams, Austin 1 1 0 0 0 2 4.34
CLE AAA Barnes, Scott 2 1 0 0 0 6 3.86
CLE LoA Brown, Mitch 4.2 5 3 3 2 2 5.14 L (0-6)
CLE MAJ Lee, C.C. 0 2 2 2 0 0 5.40

Should have also included Aguillar's CLE MAJ 2 0 0 0 .000 (BB #1, SO #1)

Paul Hendrix (Photo: IBI)

Minor Happenings: Who is this Hendrix guy?

By Tony Lastoria

May 16, 2014

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Minor Happenings" is a bi-weekly column which recaps the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. Information in this report is compiled from my own research and through discussions with industry personnel inside and outside the Cleveland Indians organization. Unless otherwise noted, the intellectual property contained in this report is owned by IndiansBaseballInsider.com LLC, and any unauthorized reproduction of the information is prohibited.

In this week’s edition of Minor Happenings, I take a look at the impressive showing this month from Low-A Lake County infielder Paul Hendrix and provide some insight and information as to what kind of prospect he is, where his strengths lie, and whether he can keep up his torrid play. I also take a look at Low-A Lake County right-handed pitcher Adam Plutko who is having an exceptional pro debut, provide a ton of injury updates with some news of some prospects who could be on the move today, and a lot of information on players such as Justin Sellers, Tyler Sturdevant, Torsten Boss, Eric Haase and others!

Also, in case you missed it, be sure to check out this week’s edition of “IBI on Site” as Hayden Grove was in Columbus for his most recent episode!

Onto the Happenings…

IBI Minor League Hitter of the Week

(for games from May 8th through May 14th)
Paul Hendrix (Shortstop, Lake County)
.480 AVG (12-25), 7 R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K, 0 SB, 1.456 OPS

After holding reign to Player of the Week honors for four straight weeks to start the season, Triple-A Columbus finally gave way to another player this week. In fact, they had a pretty poor showing offensively where not even one player was an honorable mention this week. This week the award goes to Low-A Lake County infielder Paul Hendrix.

Hendrix, 22, is having an exceptional showing from a performance perspective at Lake County. In 29 games he is hitting .320 with 5 HR, 15 RBI and .995 OPS along with an 18-30 walk to strikeout ratio. After a so-so April where he received limited playing time hitting .244 with 1 HR, 4 RBI and .793 OPS in 15 games, he replaced Dorssys Paulino as the everyday shortstop on May 1st and has been a regular in the lineup and is hitting .382 with 4 HR, 11 RBI and 1.162 OPS in the 14 games since. Talk about taking advantage of an opportunity.

The performance is great to see and something that will be interesting to follow to see if Hendrix can maintain it over a longer duration than just two-three weeks. He’s a lower end prospect that the scouting community generally views as organizational depth – which means he really is not a prospect right now and is more of a depth guy who fills in where needed. That’s not a knock on him as generally 15 or so spots on every 25-man minor league roster are viewed as such. Only a handful of players in a system are considered prospects while a great majority of the others are essentially just organizational types used to round out rosters.

What will be important is for Hendrix to continue to perform at an above average level. Stats in the minor leagues are not the be-all-end-all they are in the big leagues, but they can help an organizational guy move into the periphery as a prospect. He is going to need to continue to overachieve and play above his scouting report to be taken more seriously as a prospect. Some that are new to the minor league game and how it works don’t realize that these kind of performances do crop up with college-level players at Low-A. We saw it with Tyler Cannon in 2011 when he hit .366 with a 1.069 OPS in 30 games at Lake County and then never really did anything else after a promotion.

To be fair, we also saw the undrafted Brian Barton impress at Lake County and hit .414 with a 1.130 OPS in 35 games in 2005 before a push to High-A Kinston and much more success after that. Barton’s story was unique and there is a reason he went undrafted, but even still, he came in as a non-prospect and quickly became a prospect by overachieving with his performance and making some significant strides with his development. That’s the question with Hendrix. Will he be just another Cannon-type player or could the Indians have struck a bit of luck and unearthed another Barton-type player? The odds are that Hendrix is more of a Cannon-type but time will tell and this is what makes following prospects so fun because there are always great stories in a system beyond the Francisco Lindor’s and Clint Frazier’s of the world.

I actually like the approach that Hendrix shows at the plate as he is a confident hitter with some bat to ball ability and is not afraid to get deep into a count. His defense is average at best by Major League standards, but what makes him so valuable defensively is his versatility as he can play anywhere in the infield and even some outfield if needed. That’s an extremely valuable skillset to have as it will help you stick around for some time even if you don’t perform. That ultimately may be best where he projects, not as an everyday player, but more as a utility type.

The beauty of all this is that Hendrix is performing so it will be interesting to see where he goes from here both offensively and defensively. It will also be interesting to see that if his performance continues how quickly the Indians push him up to High-A Carolina. There really is not an everyday position in the infield open there at the moment, so he could be at Lake County for some time – if not all season – regardless of whether or not he continues to perform at an exceptional level going forward.

Honorable Mentions:

Joe Wendle (2B, AKR): .455 AVG (10-22), 3 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 SB, 1.298 OPS
Ronny Rodriguez (INF, AKR): .348 AVG (8-23), 6 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 SB, 1.158 OPS
Tyler Naquin (OF, AKR): .360 AVG (9-25), 8 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 SB, .953 OPS
Francisco Lindor (SS, AKR): .346 AVG (9-26), 5 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 SB, .947 OPS
Jordan Smith (OF, AKR): .385 AVG (10-26), 4 R, 3 2B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 SB, .893 OPS
Tony Wolters (C, AKR): .360 AVG (9-25), 5 R, 1 2B, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 2 K, 0 SB, .867 OPS
Anthony Gallas (OF, CAR): .444 AVG (12-27), 4 R, 6 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB, 2 K, 0 SB, 1.309 OPS
Torsten Boss (2B, CAR): .375 AVG (6-16), 3 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K, 0 SB, 1.224 OPS
Erik Gonzalez (SS, CAR): .353 AVG (12-34), 6 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 SB, .813 OPS
Eric Haase (C, LC): .294 AVG (5-17), 2 R, 0 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K, 0 SB, 1.074 OPS
Grant Fink (INF, LC): .222 AVG (5-18), 5 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 6 K, 0 SB, 1.002 OPS

Previous Winners:

05/01/14 to 05/07/14 – Matt Carson (OF, Columbus)
04/24/14 to 04/30/14 – Roberto Perez (C, Columbus)
04/17/14 to 04/23/14 – Jose Ramirez (2B, Columbus)
04/03/14 to 04/16/14 - Jesus Aguilar (1B, Columbus)

IBI Minor League Pitcher of the Week

(for games from May 6th through May 12th)
Adam Plutko (Right-handed pitcher, Lake County)
1 GS, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 13 K, .115 BAA

The Indians continue to get several good starting pitching and relief pitching performances up and down the system. This may be the most encouraging development this season is how well some of their starting pitching prospects are performing and how suddenly they are starting to accrue some legit starting pitching depth in the upper levels of the system and some legit prospects in the lower levels.

One of those prospects who is legitimizing himself in the lower levels is Low-A Lake County right-handed pitcher Adam Plutko. He had about as memorable a performance as one can have on May 8th when he completely dominated Bowling Green throwing 8.0 shutout innings and allowed just three hits, no walks and piled up an astonishing 13 strikeouts. I can’t remember a more recent dominant performance by an Indians minor league pitcher over the past few years, especially in the lower levels. He unfortunately followed up that performance with a subpar outing on Wednesday when he only went 4.0 innings and allowed seven runs on 11 hits; however, his overall numbers are outstanding as even though he has a 4.58 ERA he has an exceptional 11.7 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 5.1 K/BB and 1.84 FIP.

Plutko’s performance thus far has been impressive and he is showing his polish and why he was such a big time pitcher in college. Forget the ERA, that can be deceiving, especially when a pitcher’s ERA is often reliant upon so many factors out of his control. You obviously would prefer it to be a lot lower, but the most encouraging thing is his strikeout and walk rate, the solid hit rate and his ability to limit the long ball as he has yet to yield a homer this season.

The key to Plutko’s success has been his ability to establish his fastball early and work the rest of his arsenal off of it. When you can not only throw your fastball consistently for strikes but also have confidence in it, then it just makes the rest of your arsenal so much more effective even if the velocity is only in the low 90s. He is a just a very polished pitcher who knows how to pitch, has a ton of intelligence on the mound and can throw any of his four pitches in any count for a strike. He is so polished that we just need to sit back and see how he performs as he moves up the minor league ladder. For most players it is about development first and performance second, but he kind of is what he is and should be a quick mover, so it really just comes down to seeing how he pitches from here on out. I’d imagine he gets a promotion to High-A Carolina rather soon to continue to challenge him (maybe this weekend).

Honorable Mentions:

T.J. House (LHP, COL): 1 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 2 BB, 6 K, .100 BAA
Trevor Bauer (RHP, COL): 1 GS, 1-0, 1.17 ERA, 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER, 0 HR, 2 BB, 9 K, .111 BAA
Kyle Davies (RHP, COL): 2 GS, 1-1, 2.08 ERA, 13.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R (3 ER), 0 HR, 2 BB, 4 K, .178 BAA
Travis Banwart (RHP, COL): 2 GS, 1-0, 2.25 ERA, 12.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R/ER, 2 HR, 2 BB, 10 K, .186 BAA
Joseph Colon (RHP, AKR): 1 GS, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BR, 3 BB, 2 K, .056 BAA
Toru Murata (RHP, AKR): 2 G, 1-0, 1.13 ERA, 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R/ER, 0 HR, 2 BB, 3 K, .207 BAA
Ryan Merritt (LHP, CAR): 2 GS, 1-0, 1.98 ERA, 13.2 IP, 13 H, 5 R (3 ER), 0 HR, 0 BB, 11 K, .241 BAA
Jordan Milbrath (RHP, LC): 1 GS, 0-1, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (0 ER), 0 HR, 2 BB, 3 K, .238 BAA
Mitch Brown (RHP, LC): 1 GS, 0-0, 1.59 ERA, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R/ER, 1 HR, 4 BB, 3 K, .190 BAA

Previous Winners:

04/29/14 to 05/05/14 - Robbie Aviles (RHP, Lake County)
04/22/14 to 04/28/14 - Jordan Milbrath (RHP, Lake County)
04/10/14 to 04/21/14 - Ryan Merritt (LHP, Carolina)
04/03/14 to 04/14/14 - Duke von Schamann (RHP, Akron)

Infirmary Report
Here is an update on some of the walking wounded in the organization. I have heard that the Indians have made some moves today so I would expect some movement at several levels being announced later today.

Triple-A Columbus right-handed pitcher Bryan Price is still working through his rehab from a right shoulder injury sustained late in spring training. The Indians are still hesitant to provide any definitive return date but I am hearing a callup is imminent and I would not be surprised if he is activated today.

Triple-A Columbus catcher Roberto Perez came up lame in his game on Monday and had to be removed because of a pulled left hamstring. He is out for at least a week and maybe a lot more depending on how his hamstring heals.

Double-A Akron catcher Jake Lowery continue to rehab from an orbital fracture to his right eye. Again, there is no defined return date but he is working his way back. Every player heals differently from injuries, but this is one that will sideline him at least a month, so he is right about at the end of that time period and could be close to a return so long as there are no setbacks.

High-A Carolina catcher Alex Monsalve was placed on the disabled list this week with a lower back strain. The Indians are monitoring him to determine how his week of rest goes and will re-assess him after it to determine if he comes back right away or needs a more significant amount of time off.

Low-A Lake County left-handed pitcher Kenny Mathews was placed on the disabled list earlier this week with a left forearm strain. That’s not a good injury and one which typically requires a six week shutdown so we may not be seeing him return anytime soon. The Indians are still in the evaluation process with him.

Random Notes
Triple-A Columbus shortstop Justin Sellers has really underwhelmed in his short time in the organization. In 33 games with Triple-A Columbus he is hitting .222 with 0 HR, 11 RBI and .583 OPS, and has a 14-20 walk to strikeout ratio. The Indians picked him up in early March in a trade with the Dodgers for cash to serve as utility infield depth for the big league team, but mostly to be the main everyday shortstop option at Triple-A Columbus since they really did not have anyone suited for that role at least at the outset of the season. He’s pretty much performed as expected as a guy who gives a lot of effort, plays sound defense, has some versatility to move all over the diamond, but has a very suspect bat. He’s not really much of an option to use in Cleveland except as a very short term fill in as he should not be in games with the limitations his bat brings. His standing is not very firm as Francisco Lindor is expected to be up in Columbus by mid-season and Sellers is likely one of two guys on the 40-man bubble when the Indians need to remove a player in order to add someone else. His future could be short in the organization and if he sticks with the team all season will probably be removed from the 40-man roster in the offseason.

Double-A Akron right-handed pitcher Tyler Sturdevant is having a nice comeback season. In 13 appearances he is 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA, and in 17.0 innings has allowed 12 hits, 1 homer, 5 walks and has 16 strikeouts. This is after missing half of 2012 and all of the 2013 season because of arm issues, and offseason shoulder surgery before the 2013 season appears to have fixed the issue as he came back late last season and did not pitch with an affiliate but made a few appearances in the Arizona Fall League and in winter ball. He has looked strong and the life to his fastball has returned and his cutter is still a pretty consistent and good weapon for him. He no longer looks like a pitcher who is tentative and worried about reinjuring himself, he instead looks confident, his stuff for the most part has been sharp and his command is back. He’s been up to 94-95 MPH with his fastball, still a few ticks below what he was topping out at near the end of the 2011 season, but much better than the 88-92 MPH he was showing in the Arizona Fall League this past offseason. His slurvy slider is a pitch that has been inconsistent for him over the years but is showing some improvement as it has more depth and he is throwing it for more strikes. He is 28-years old and has a long injury history, but with his fastball-cutter combination he is still an interesting guy – particularly if the velocity continues to creep back up to 2011 levels.
High-A Carolina second baseman Torsten Boss may finally be starting to settle in with his new organization after being acquired in a trade with the Orioles for Preston Guilmet last month. In 19 games with Carolina he is now hitting .194 with 2 HR, 5 RBI and .638 OPS along with a 7-13 walk to strikeout ratio. Those are some poor numbers, but are much improved from what they were after the first few weeks in the organization. In his first 11 games he was just 3-for-42 (.071) at the plate but in the eight games since is 10-for-25 (.400) and currently has an 8-game hitting streak. He was a senior signing selected in the 8th round of the 2012 Draft out of Michigan State, and the Indians believe there may still potentially be some upside to him. He does not really have any real tool that stands out and is more of a guy who is just average across the board, but he is viewed more as an offensive player with the potential to have average power and a solid approach where he is patient to draw a decent amount of walks and also wait for a pitch he can drive. The Indians have had him primarily play at second base as they believe that is the position he profiles best at, but they have also played him a little in right field and may also soon play him at third base in order to continue to try and develop his ability to handle those positions and provide some positional flexibility with him going forward.

Low-A Lake County catcher Eric Haase has had a strange season from a numbers perspective. In 28 games this season he is hitting .231 with 7 HR, 13 RBI and .858 OPS along with a 15-31 walk to strikeout ratio. From a batting average standpoint, his .231 mark is disappointing especially considering he is repeating at Lake County; however, his .249 BABIP suggest that he’s been unlucky and when you consider how hard he is hitting the ball with a .305 isolated power you have to believe as some hits fall in that his average will creep back up to around the .250 it was last season or even a little higher. What is most encouraging is of his 24 hits an astonishing 15 of them have gone for extra bases. That’s a good sign and his walk rate has jumped from 9.5% last year to 11.7% this season and his strikeout rate has declined from 27.9% last season to 24.2% this season. So while that batting average may not be pretty there is so much more going on with him that show he is having a rather encouraging season and showing some improvement with his approach and ability to hit for power. It is a testament to how hard he works and the motivation he has to make it to the big leagues. His physical attributes really stand out and he is showing the improvement with the bat to go along with the already established good job he does behind the plate as a leader and game-caller.

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

Joe Wendle makes the BA Hot Sheet, which is more objective than making the Tony Hot Sheet. I suppose Hendrix could turn out to a real deal, but he's playing the same position in Low A at the same as our starter in High A (Erik Gonzalez) and two years younger than our No. 1 prospect, in AA (Lindor, age 20)

9. Joe Wendle, 2b, Indians

Team: Double-A Akron (Eastern)
Age: 24
Why He’s Here: .444/.450/.833 (8-for-18), 3 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1-for-1 SB

The Scoop: With Jason Kipnis under contract through the 2019 season, it’s not a great time for a second baseman trying to work his way up to Cleveland. Whether Wendle projects as an everyday player anyway is still up in the air, but he continues to make his mark since signing for just $10,000 as a sixth-round pick two years ago out of NCAA Division II West Chester (Pa.). He made plenty of hard contact this week, raising his season line to .250/.325/.443 through 38 games

Friday night box scores:

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20140516

Columbus lost 6-2. Urshela 2 hits. Carson single, homer 5. Blake Wood fanned the side in his 1 inning.

Aeros won 12-7 in 11. Big day for ex major leaguer LeHair. As for the prospects, 2 doubles for C Tony Wolters, hitting 307, also walked , and threw out a basestealer. 2 hits for Bryson Myles, also a steal and an E in LF.
Giovanny Soto off the DL but ineffective, 3 runs in 1 inning. Armstrong 1 run in 2 with 3 K, blew the save.

Carolina shut twice 3-0 and 2-0. Erik Gonzalez not in the lineup. Luigi Rodriguez was, combined 0-6 4 strikeouts.
LeVon Washington shows up in game one. Ryan Merritt loses his 1st against 5 wins, not a bad line: 5-5-3-2-2-6

Captains also winners in overtime, 3-2. Nellie Rodriguez 6th homer and a single. Eric Haase 8th homer and a single. Clint Frazier two singles and his 5th steal.
Player of the day: Lake County RHP Robbie Aviles with a nearly perfect 6 innings, only flaw a hit batter, ERA 1.23; WHIP about 0.85. 22 year old has earned a promotion.

This guy sounds pretty good:

HITTER OF THE DAY: Joey Gallo, 3b — high Class A Myrtle Beach (Rangers)
Is there really anything left to say? Yes. Gallo went 4-for-4 with three homers, his second three-homer game this season and the fourth of his career, and now has 17 this season, leading the minor leagues. Gallo's on pace to become the first minor leaguer to hit 50 since Ron Kittle did it for Edmonton of the PCL in 1982.


He's a 20-year-old. Hit 38 homers last season in the SAL Lo A while batting 245 with 164 strikeouts. Those numbers sound like Russell Branyan, but this year the kid is batting 345 and his 28 walks aren't that far short of his 43 strikeouts. HIs OPS is 1.242.

Less dramatically:

CLE AA Naquin, Tyler CF 5 2 1 0 .290 BB (15)
CLE AA Wolters, Tony C 5 2 2 3 .307 2 2B (6), BB (10)
CLE LoA Frazier, Clint CF 5 0 2 0 .259 SB (5)
CLE LoA Rodriguez, Nelson 1B 4 1 2 1 .234 HR (6)
CLE LoA Santander, Anthony DH 4 0 1 0 .179 2B (5)
CLE AA Armstrong, Shawn 2 2 1 1 1 3 1.02 W (1-0)
CLE MAJ Crockett, Kyle 1.1 2 1 1 1 0 6.75
CLE MAJ Lee, C.C. 1.1 1 0 0 1 2 4.76

Saturday boxes:

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20140517

Old-timers day in the AAA and AA bullpens.

28 year old Nick Hagadone fans 4 in 1 1/3.
29 year old Frank Herrmann fans 3 in 1
28 year old Tyler Sturdevant with a perfect IP and 1 K
29 year old Adam Miller 2 perfect innings with 2 K.

Not much to note by the young prospects. For Akron Naquin singled, Lindor singled and walked and was caught stealing; Myles doubled; At Lake County Santander with two singles and a walk, Clint Frazier a single and a walk.

Pitching: Cole Sulser 5 1/3 3 runs, 4 walks in Carolina; Dace Kime not bad for him 5 innings, 2 runs on 7 hits and a walk.
Best pitching by a young arm: Luis Lugo 4 shutout frames for the Captains, 1 hit, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts.

Some good pitching by Cody Anderson: 5-5-1-0-1-7; Shawn Morimando 6-3-1-1-3-4; after poor efforts by both lately. 2 poor lines at Lake County: Milbretth 4--8-4-4-3-1 and Caleb Hamrick 1 1/3-4-5-5-3-0. Pestano 2 scoreless innings, 2 K.

Hitters:
Moncrief single, double, homer, sac; Urshela 2 hits at Columbus.
Naquin 2 hits, one a double (292), Lindor 1 hit (291), Wolters 2 hits (304, Myles 2 hits (294) at Akron
LeVon Washington played his 2nd game of the week, walked and stole a base for Carolina
Nellie Rodriguez with his 8th double and 7th homer, not bad for 19 year old at Lake County. HR total is 4th in the league.

Sunday box scores: http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20140518

Jordan Milbrath (Photo: IBI)

The IBI Hot List: Milbrath is working through first struggles

By Tony Lastoria

May 19, 2014

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It is the beginning of the week, which means it is time to recap all of the hot and cold performances in the Indians minor league system over the past week. The Hot List usually posts every Monday (or Tuesday) and showcases the Top 15 performances from the previous seven days as well as the Bottom 5 performances over the past seven days, and includes insight, information and more on each player listed.

This listing is a quick rundown through the hottest and some of the coldest players in the Indians system over the past seven days. In no way does it rank or list players based on value; it is simply a snapshot of the best and worst performances from the past week without any discrimination regarding whether a player is a prospect or not. In a way it is sort of like Around the Farm as it includes brief comments about each player, but the performances for the week are ranked.

The Hot 15

1. Todd Hankins (INF, CAR): .400 AVG (10-25), 6 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 3 SB, 1.283 OPS. Hankins has been on fire since his promotion to Triple-A Columbus last week where he got into two games there (2-for-7, 2B, RBI) and was sent back to Carolina and has been raking ever since (10-for-25). The temporary promotion appears to have brought some life into his play and he is showcasing some production with the bat to go along with his plus speed.

2. Robbie Aviles (SP, LC): 1 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 3 K, .000 BAA. Aviles has been amazingly consistent this season and is having one heck of a rebound season. He has now made eight starts and is 0-1 with a 1.23 ERA and has yet to allow more than two runs in any outing. His improved ability to locate, limit walks and get some swing and miss was on full display in his start on Friday when he went six almost perfect innings allowing one base-runner on a hit batter. This continues to be one of the most exciting developments of the season roughly a third of the way in.

3. Paul Hendrix (SS, LC): .433 AVG (13-30), 5 R, 5 2B, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 12 K, 0 SB, 1.069 OPS. Hendrix has some pretty gaudy numbers in the early going as he is hitting .327 with 5 HR, 16 RBI and .983 OPS in 32 games. He also has a .230 ISO, .443 wOBA and 173 wRC+ for all of you advanced stat fans. No matter how you put it or what numbers you look at he has been extremely productive in the early going, though a .444 BABIP and a 27.6% strikeout rate imply that a rough patch is coming at some point. Even still, he had an awful 1-12 walk to strikeout ratio for the week yet still performed exceptionally well.

4. Eric Haase (C, LC): .316 AVG (6-19), 4 R, 0 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K, 0 SB, 1.119 OPS. This guy is an organizational favorite as every time I ask about him I get nothing but positive commentary on his development and performance. The plate discipline is still something he is working through and he is still developing his catching skills and experience behind the plate, but the most impressive thing in the early going is the power he is showing. He currently has a .299 ISO, an amazing 16 of his 25 hits have gone for extra bases and he leads the Midwest League in homers.

5. Bryan LaHair (1B, AKR): .350 AVG (7-20), 4 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 SB, .935 OPS. LaHair continues to do what he should be doing to Double-A pitching as a 31-year old player with Major League experience. He is looking healthy in his return from wrist surgery and the Indians have been considering pushing him back up to Triple-A Columbus though will first need to make some room there to get him at bats.

6. Anthony Gallas (OF, CAR): .320 AVG (8-25), 2 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K, 0 SB, .993 OPS. Gallas’ remarkable season continues as he has been locked in from the start and is now hitting a blistering .338 with 6 HR, 21 RBI and .968 OPS in 38 games. If the Indians did not have such a talented group of outfielders at Double-A Akron he would already be there right now, but unfortunately he has to wait for one of them to get hurt or get a promotion to Triple-A Columbus before he gets a promotion.

7. Cody Anderson (SP, AKR): 2 GS, 0-0, 2.45 ERA, 11.0 IP, 10 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 HR, 4 BB, 12 K, .244 BAA. This was a much needed good week for Anderson and a bit of fresh air after what had really been a disastrous season for him up until the week. He is still not out of harm’s way as the struggles can certainly continue, but this showing with two solid starts in a row is something for him to build off. He needs to better repeat his delivery which will in turn help his command and fastball velocity.

8. Logan Vick (OF, CAR): .286 AVG (6-21), 5 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 5 BB, 7 K, 0 SB, .995 OPS. Vick is very slowly starting to rebuild his numbers and catch up to where they were expected to be as he is now hitting .189 with 2 HR, 9 RBI and .624 OPS in 33 games. It will take some time to get that batting average up as he really buried himself with an awful April but he is playing a little better in May. Even with all of his struggles he still has a .336 on-base percentage for the season.

9. Nellie Rodriguez (1B, LC): .269 AVG (7-26), 3 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K, 0 SB, .910 OPS. Rodriguez is showing some steady improvement in his play, first with how he performed last year at Low-A Lake County to now, how his performance has translated from short season Single-A Mahoning Valley last year to this year, and how he has gotten better from April (.225 AVG, .749 OPS, 14-27 BB/K) to May (.250 AVG, .819 OPS, 11-15 BB/K). He is a legit power hitter that the Indians are going to really try and develop and be extremely patient with.

10. Gabriel Arias (SP, AKR): 1 GS, 1-0, 2.57 ERA, 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R/ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 3 K, .259 BAA. Arias has proven to be a solid minor league free agent pickup for the Indians, and he actually still has a little upside left even though he is 24-years old and the Phillies did not attempt to resign him after last season. He is just filling a starting need for the Indians right now but with each outing is gaining more attention from the organization.

11. Carlos Moncrief (OF, COL): .333 AVG (8-24), 6 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 SB, .902 OPS. Moncrief is another guy who got off to an extremely slow start and is trying to dig his numbers out from the hole in which he dug himself. He is up to .246 with 2 HR, 10 RBI and .648 OPS in 39 games, and also has 3 stolen bases and a 9-36 walk to strikeout ratio. Part of what made Moncrief so intriguing last year was the dramatic improvement in his strikeout ratio, but that approach has yet to carry over this season.

12. Tyler Naquin (OF, AKR): .333 AVG (7-21), 4 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 SB, .872 OPS. Love him or hate him, Naquin always finds a way to get the job done. He will probably never be a guy with impressive stats, but a guy that people appreciate and gravitate to because of his toughness, consistency and drive to succeed. He is under the radar of some people because he has not really enjoyed a big hot stretch, yet he is hitting .292 with 1 HR, 11 RBI and .755 OPS in 39 games.

13. Tony Wolters (C, AKR): .333 AVG (8-24), 5 R, 2 2B, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 0 SB, .824 OPS. I am finally able to get Wolters onto the Hot List, something I have wanted to do in previous weeks but was unable to because of such stronger performances in the organization. You won’t find a more committed player who puts his head down and goes to work each day to get better and has such an even keel approach to the game and maintains consistency.

14. Travis Banwart (SP, COL): 2 GS, 1-0, 3.09 ERA, 11.2 IP, 12 H, 4 R/ER, 2 HR, 2 BB, 6 K, .267 BAA. I have been mentioning Banwart a lot over the past few weeks. For one, he is establishing himself as Major League starting pitching depth for the Indians and would be an option if a rash of injuries occur. He is also a guy some scouts keep mentioning as a guy they wouldn’t mind their organization picking up as starting insurance, so perhaps the Indians could end up dealing him before the end of July.

15. Elliott Johnson (INF, COL): .300 AVG (6-20), 3 R, 0 2B, 2 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 0 SB, .891 OPS. Johnson is proving to be that quad-A player a lot of people have pegged him as after his disappointing brief tenure with the Indians. I can’t imagine that he will be in Columbus all season as the Indians will probably need to trade, release or add him back to the roster at some point, but for now he is just utility depth stuffed away at Triple-A that a lot of fans hope never to see return to Cleveland.

The Cold 5

1. Jordan Milbrath (SP, LC): 2 GS, 0-2, 11.05 ERA, 7.1 IP, 13 H, 10 R (9 ER), 0 HR, 4 BB, 2 K, .433 BAA. Milbrath’s season has completely flipped upside down his last two times out as he really struggled to throw good strikes and limit the damage when runners got on base. He did not allow a run in six of his first seven outings, so this is more just a leveling out of his performance. Even still, he is showing improved fastball command, his secondary stuff has made a significant leap from where it was last season when he first came into the organization, and he just gets great leverage on hitters and overpowers them with his size, velocity and stuff.

2. Cole Sulser (SP, CAR): 2 GS, 0-1, 10.13 ERA, 8.0 IP, 13 H, 11 R (9 ER), 0 HR, 5 BB, 6 K, .351 BAA. Sulser’s performance has really gone in the wrong direction since his May 2nd start when he lasted one inning and had to be removed because he eclipsed the one inning pitch count threshold the Indians have set in place for their pitchers. Including that outing he has a 7.36 ERA in his last four appearances and in 14.2 innings has allowed 21 hits, 19 runs (12 earned), 10 walks and has 12 strikeouts. This is why you sometimes have to take out of nowhere performances at the short season level with a grain of salt and wait and see. Hopefully his performance kicks back up as we lead into the Carolina League All Star break.

3. Jerrud Sabourin (1B, CAR): .148 AVG (4-27), 1 R, 1 2B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K, 0 SB, .328 OPS. Sabourin has made his bones in the organization by being a team player and with some leadership qualities that has helped him fit in with younger teams the last two years. He has been fortunate that the Indians have a dearth of first base prospects in the organization so he has gotten a lot of playing time as a result and really filled in well the last few years. Unfortunately, he is going to be hard-pressed to be anything more than an organizational player thanks to his .072, .082, .079 and .084 isolated power percentages in each of his four pro seasons.

4. Duke von Schamann (SP, AKR/COL): 2 GS, 0-0, 7.71 ERA, 9.1 IP, 14 H, 8 R/ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 4 K, .400 BAA. We have really seen some leveling off with some of the early season surprises on the mound, first with Milbrath and now with von Schamann. Even with the rough last two outings he is 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA in nine appearances, and in 43.1 innings has allowed 41 hits, 5 homers, 5 walks and has 28 strikeouts. If he continues to avoid the walks and get groundballs at the rate he has he should continue to have some success. He made a spot start with Columbus on Sunday but is back at Akron and is showing he needs a little more seasoning before being pushed back to Columbus for good next time.

5. Giovanny Urshela (3B, COL): .214 AVG (6-28), 2 R, 1 2B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 SB, .491 OPS. Urshela was all over The Hot 15 portion of this listing since the start of the season, but he is going through his first rough patch of the season. After an initial hot start with Triple-A Columbus after a promotion earlier this month, he is going through the struggles that often come with a transition to a higher level as he is hitting just .225 with a .587 OPS and 2-9 walk to strikeout ratio in his last 10 games. He is young for Triple-A and is still refining his approach so it will be interesting to see where his performance goes from here over the next several weeks.

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

Dorsyss Paulino returned from his stay in Extended ST and is now a leftfielder. Team can use some offensive talent in the OF. Let's hope he can develop it.

Monday LINES Noted by BA:

CLE AA Rodriguez, Ronny 3B 4 1 1 1 .190 HR (3)
CLE LoA Santander, Anthony DH 3 1 2 1 .197 2B (6), BB (14)
CLE LoA Rodriguez, Nelson 1B 4 0 1 0 .236 2B (9)
CLE AAA Barnes, Scott 2.1 2 3 2 2 1 4.41 L (2-2) [Clippers went with all relievers last night; was House's turn]
CLE AAA Lee, C.C. 2 1 1 1 0 2 3.86
CLE LoA Plutko, Adam 7 3 2 1 1 7 4.08 [previous game was a stinker, but generally he's been very good]

Nothing too exciting here, outside of course of Bauer:

CLE AA Lindor, Francisco SS 4 0 1 0 .288
CLE AA Naquin, Tyler CF 4 0 1 1 .282
CLE AA Wendle, Joe 2B 4 0 1 0 .224
CLE AAA Moncrief, Carlos RF 4 1 1 0 .241 3B (2)
CLE HiA Rodriguez, Luigi CF 3 0 1 0 .203 BB (11)
CLE LoA Paulino, Dorssys LF 5 0 2 0 .237
CLE LoA Rodriguez, Nelson 1B 5 1 1 0 .235
CLE AA Armstrong, Shawn 1 0 0 0 1 1 0.96 Sv (7)
CLE LoA Brown, Mitch 5 2 2 2 4 5 4.95
CLE MAJ Bauer, Trevor 6 7 2 2 3 5 2.25 W (1-1)

Wednesday box scores:

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20140521

Clippers had the day off, Akron won 6-2, Lake County won 10-3, Carolina lost twice 9-4 and 3-2.

Joe Colon 5-5-1-1-1-7 2.72
Robbie Aviles 7-6-3-3-0-4 1.65
Clayton Cook first appearance in more than 24 months, 5 2/3-4-1-1-1-3

Naquin homered, singled, drove in 4.
Lindor single, 2 walks,
Myles 2 doubles
RonnieRod single, double

LeVon Washington, present and accounted for, singled twice, tripled, not injured at present, but don't hold your breath

LF Dorsyss Paulino 3 hits, one a double; he hits better than he did as a SS, but still no homers in 2014
SS Paul Hendrix, 3 hits, one his 6th homer. 22 year old at Lake County should be promoted if he's any good.
2B Claudio Bautista 3 hits, 2 were doubles.

BA HIGHLIGHTS YESTERDAY:

CLE AA Naquin, Tyler CF 5 1 2 4 .286 HR (2)
CLE AA Rodriguez, Ronny DH 4 2 2 0 .198 2B (9)
CLE LoA Paulino, Dorssys LF 5 1 3 1 .252 2B (8), CS (5)
CLE LoA Frazier, Clint CF 4 2 2 1 .246 2B (6)
CLE MAJ Crockett, Kyle 1.2 0 0 0 2 0 2.08