mid-game Clippers up 4-2. Holt has walked all 3 times; that's something he can show Tito to improve his chances; Francona seemed very unimpressed with Holt's last time in Cleveland.

Merritt 5 7 2 2 2 4. I assume we he will not be promoted although he is on the 40 man roster.

Last time up Holt was asked to sacrifice in his last at bat but couldn't get the bunt down. He was sent down the next day.

Zimmer and Frazier best two things that have happened in the minors this year by far.....

another debut on the Scrapper mound: Meister fares better than Hentges: 4 3 2 2 2 1

Mejia has a single and walk and his 3rd NYPL steal in 2 trips to the plate. His 37 steals leave him behind Allen's 42 and Zimmer's 41 in less than half as many games.

Another hit for Mejia while I was typing; that makes him 7 of 11 this weekend.

for Akron, 12-2 losers, none of the prospects pitched. Zimmer with a single. Diaz two of them. Ronnie Rodriguez with a trio of doubles. Hitting 296 and OPS'ing 844.

Lynchburg lost, but Frazier had a good day with a double, a single and a pair of walks. That's 33 doubles
Mike Papi is finishing up the way he started; in his last 10 games he's 5 for 28.
Luis Lugo ends a hot streak; 4 5 3 3 4 4

and finally for Lake County, Allen had a single; fellow CF Silento Sayles single and double; and good old reliable Bobby Bradely singled and doubled and hit by a pitch and drove in league leading 90th run.

Bradley has been on base in 23 straight games and has hits in 21 of them. That's awesome consistency for a slugger. In fact in August he had one game he didn't get on base. His line: 100-20-35-38 11 homeruns 6 doubles 1 triple. 17 walks, 35 strikeouts. OPS merely 1202

Farewell appearance by Kieran Lovegrove, 4th year man, 3rd pick finishes his pre-release season at 1-7 5.50.

Hoping it will get them to Cleveland next week, Jesus Aguillare bangs out a single, double, homer [17th] and walks; Michael Choice 3 hits include a double.

Zimmer singles and steals his 11th in AA, 42 overall. Avg at 250
Yandy D singles and walks, hitting 314
NRod 0-4 with 2K .127 at Akron
Closer Jeff Johnson with another shutout inning; ERA 1.12 WHIP 0.91 53K/48IP

Sayles 2 doubles, 3 rbi
Allen 2 singles
Santander 2 singles

@tribeinsider: Arizona Fall League participants for the #Indians
+OF Bradley Zimmer
+OF Clint Frazier
+INF Yandy Diaz
+C Jeremy Lucas
+3-4 pitchers TBD

Jeremy Lucas?? But the others are a very nice group.

I think they often use the AFL as a way to gauge whether some guys should be placed on the 40 man roster. But none of the first named have enough years under their belts to have to be placed on the roster. Pitchers could include some relievers like Johnson and Martin who warrant further study. Shawn Morimando ought to go. He's marginal as a prospect. I don't think Plutko needs any more work. I wouldn't put more innings on Clevinger's arm either. Dylan Baker was healthy enough to pitch opening day and never returned; if he's healthy he's be in Goodyear. Maybe Rob Kaminsky if he's physically fit.

Michael Choice (RF, Columbus): 3-for-4, 2B, RBI, K, SB. Choice is enjoying quite the revival with the Indians as in eight games with Columbus he is 10-for-29 (.345) at the plate with a .241 isolated power. The Indians picked him up because of his right-handed power and prospect pedigree and perhaps they get lucky for once and he turns his career around with them and lives up to that promise.

Yandy Diaz (3B, Akron): 1-for-3, BB. Of surprise to no one Diaz reached base twice in this game. He’s had a fantastic season posting a .314/.412/.404 line and also chipped in with 7 homers and 8 stolen bases. That 77 walk to 65 strikeout ratio is special.

Nellie Rodriguez (1B, Akron): 0-for-4, 2 K. On the positive side, Rodriguez has ripped four homers in 19 games with Akron, but on the flip side he has just 9 hits in 71 at bats and has struck out in 29 of them. He’s always been a notorious slow starter, so hopefully that’s the case here as he adjusts to Double-A.

Jeff Johnson (RP, Akron): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. Johnson is putting the finishing touches on a great comeback season. His consistency this season has been amazing and in 48 appearances he has a 1.12 ERA and 24 saves, .153 BAA, and 53:19 K/BB ratio over 48.1 innings. If Akron misses the playoffs I would expect him to get a shot to pitch with Triple-A Columbus in the playoffs.

Greg Allen (CF, Lake County): 2-for-6, R, A. Allen now has hits in nine of his last ten games and is hitting .325 over that span. He’s had an exciting showing as not only does he have a solid line (.273/.367/.382), but he has a nice 57:52 B/BB ratio, 42 stolen bases and plays very good defense in center. He’s also ripped 36 extra base hits – including 7 homers – which has been a nice surprise this season.

Minor Happenings: An Interesting Choice

Tony Lastoria

Yesterday at 3:45 PM

The Indians picked up outfielder Michael Choice from the Rangers two weeks ago and the IBI's Tony Lastoria provides insight how he is a potentially interesting fit for the roster and how he can help. He also provides comments from Farm Director Carter Hawkins on a few new players to the organization, looks at the adjustments Nellie Rodriguez has made, and more.

Here is the first of three planned Minor Happenings articles this week from myself and Jake Dungan…

IBI Hitter of the Week

(for games from August 21st through August 27th)

Michael Choice (Outfielder - Columbus)
.313 AVG, 5 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K, 1.164 OPS

The Indians had a host of good performances over the past week, but no true standout performance. When looking at the overall impact at the plate the one player who was a cut above the rest was newly acquired Triple-A outfielder Michael Choice.

Choice, 25, has played in just seven games with Columbus since being acquired in a small trade from the Texas Rangers on August 21st. Since his arrival he has gone 7-for-25 (.280) at the plate with 3 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 9 K and .920 OPS. It’s a solid new beginning for what the Indians are hoping a change of scenery brings out the talents that they as an organization felt so strongly about when he was coming out of the 2010 Draft. It was well known industry-wide that the Indians really liked Choice coming out of the draft that year, but in the end they opted to take a pitcher with the fifth overall pick (Drew Pomeranz) while Choice ended up going 10th overall to the Athletics. That interest continued over the past few seasons and they took advantage of the opportunity to acquire from the Rangers for cash two weeks ago.

Choice got off to a good start in his minor league career with good seasons in 2010 (.964 OPS) and 2011 (30 HR, .911 OPS), a solid showing in 2012 while at Double-A (.779 OPS) and a good season in 2013 at Triple-A (.835 OPS). The success culminated in a brief call up late in 2013 where he played nine games with the Athletics (.278 AVG, .649 OPS), but he was never a serious Major League option until 2014. That’s when the wheels fell off as in his first extended exposure at the big league level he endured his first true struggles as a professional hitting just .182 with 9 HR, 36 RBI and .570 OPS in 86 games. He did play well in 43 games at Triple-A that season (.267 AVG, .839 OPS), but the struggles at the Major League level over 253 at bats set him back. Since then he’s received just one Major League at bat and except for that one game has spent the entirety of the season at Triple-A where he hit .244 with 12 HR, 60 RBI and .708 OPS in 110 games at Round Rock before being sent to the Indians.

Not only does Choice have a history of performance and development, but he also has the pedigree as a top hitting prospect. Those reasons alone make him interesting and worth the Indians taking a shot on him to see if they can make the adjustments needed with his swing and more importantly bring about more confidence from him at the plate. The loss of confidence is something which has weighed on him heavily, so if the Indians are able to rekindle some of that confidence in his approach and swing they may have the potential for an interesting power hitting corner outfielder.

What makes Choice intriguing is just 18 months ago he was one of the Top 100 prospects in baseball and was a top two or three prospect in the Rangers system. He features some good plus right-handed power from a corner outfield position, which is something the Indians desperately need. While he will strikeout at a good clip, he has the makings of a good approach – an approach which was much more pronounced when he was with the Athletics than the last two years with the Rangers. This makes you wonder if there was an adjustment the Rangers made which he simply did not take to very well, which is something the Indians will study film of him playing for both teams to see what is different and can be corrected in order to build him back up and get him more consistent at the plate.

Choice plays a solid outfield and has some athleticism and arm strength which makes him versatile to play left or right field and even center field in a pinch, but he’s someone who the Indians are going to take a look at as a possible right field option for them down the road. He has one option remaining so should start out next season at Triple-A Columbus and could be there all season if needed, something which looks likely as long as he survives any 40-man roster cuts this offseason. Considering he brings right-handed power to a position of need, you can bet the Indians will do whatever it takes to hold onto him as long as possible and see what the change in voice and philosophy does for him.

Honorable Mentions:

Tyler Holt (OF, COL): .391 AVG, 4 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 5 BB, 6 K, 1.065 OPS
Audy Ciriaco (INF, COL): .348 AVG, 5 R, 0 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K, .929 OPS
Bryson Myles (OF, AKR): .320 AVG, 4 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K, 3 SB, .957 OPS
Carlos Moncrief (OF, AKR): .348 AVG, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K, .923 OPS
Yhoxian Medina (INF, LYN): .412 AVG, 2 R, 2 2B, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 1.006 OPS
Mike Papi (OF, LYN): .278 AVG, 4 R, 0 2B, 2 3B, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 3 K, .917 OPS
Dorssys Paulino (OF, LYN): .333 AVG, 4 R, 3 2B, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K, 1 SB, .892 OPS
Bobby Bradley (1B, LC): .357 AVG, 3 R, 0 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 13 K, .973 OPS
Greg Allen (OF, LC): .375 AVG, 3 R, 1 2B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 SB, .899 OPS
Mark Mathias (2B, MV): .333 AVG, 2 R, 3 2B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 0 K, 1.033 OPS
Ka’ai Tom (OF, MV): .357 AVG, 6 R, 5 2B, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, .936 OPS
Juan De La Cruz (INF, MV): .381 AVG, 0 R, 1 2B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K, .863 OPS
Todd Isaacs (OF, AZL): .375 AVG, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 SB, 1.037 OPS

Director’s Cuts

I recently sat down with Indians Director of Player Development Carter Hawkins to get some quick thoughts on a few newcomers to the organization…

On Rob Kaminsky: “We were elated to be able to pick up him up from St. Louis. To get a first round talent like him is pretty exciting. He’s had some good performance over his career up to this point. He puts the ball on the ground and has an ability to miss bats. He was a guy with a really good curveball coming out of high school and continues to have that now, but has also developed a changeup over the course of his professional career. It is a good three pitch mix from a left-hander that is young and with the maturity and mindset that Rob has that’s definitely a guy that we will bet on every time and are glad to have in the organization.”

On Jayson Aquino: “Jayson is another left-hander who has some plus stuff. He has been on a couple of different teams over the last year because of the musical chairs with waivers, but obviously a lot of teams like what he has and feel like he can contribute at the Major League level. We really want to see where he is at and what we can help him with. Just help him be more consistent throwing strikes and attacking hitters and see if that is a guy that we are going to be able to develop to help a Major League team here in the future.”

On Eric Stamets: “Eric is obviously a great defender and someone who can play Major League shortstop right now. We feel like he still has some potential with the bat as well, so we are very excited to be able to get him on board. We definitely feel like he is a guy who could help out a Major League team down the road.”

Nellie is MVP

Congrats are in order for Double-A Akron first baseman Nellie Rodriguez. Not for what he has done in the 18 games with Akron since his promotion there (.134 AVG, 4 HR, 11 RBI, .552 OPS), but what he did at High-A Lynchburg before his August 11th promotion.

Rodriguez, 21, only played in 108 games with Lynchburg, but hit .275 with 17 HR, 84 RBI and .852 OPS and that performance up to the middle of August earned him Carolina MVP honors, the first time an Indians player has won the Carolina League MVP award since Beau Mills (2008) and Jordan Brown (2006). Even though he hasn’t played a game with Lynchburg in almost three weeks, he still leads the league in home runs (17), RBI (84), extra-base hits (51) and slugging percentage (.495). At the time of his promotion he also led the league in doubles (32) and total bases (196).

It is a remarkable turnaround when you consider Rodriguez was hitting just .211 with a .672 OPS after the first month of the season. But as the weather warmed and he started to gain comfort at the High-A level the bat took off. What really helped was an adjustment he and his coaches made where after watching film of him last season at Lake County when he had success they found his hands were higher, so they raised them a little bit so they don’t drop and it has allowed him to stay through the ball better. He also really honed in on an approach to work the middle of the field and drive the ball the other way, and the results speak for themselves.

Now, Rodriguez needs to continue to refine that approach. He’s had a rough start at Double-A, which is to be expected, but he’s going to have to really develop that approach to be even more patient to wait for a pitch he can drive and really gain an understanding of how pitchers are pitching to him. The key is to get himself into good counts so that he can unleash his power and impact the baseball. He’s not a guy who screams tools when you see him as he’s just a big guy and looks like he should be an offensive guard for an NFL team, but he works hard and with that power he is going to get every opportunity to live up to his promise.

Where Rodriguez goes from here will be interesting to watch. He’s very similar to older first base prospect Jesus Aguilar from a size and strength standpoint, and has put up similar numbers over his career to date. He might be a little ahead of where Aguilar was at this stage of the game and is also a little younger, so there is more upside at this point in time. He's going to be one of the key bats to watch in the upper levels next season to see if the development and performance continue.

I like this classic Tony-ism on Choice who has had

"quite the revival with the Indians . . . in eight games"

I think most of us call that a small sample.

Star of the night was Mark Mathias on Mahoning Valley who drove in 6 runs with a homer, a triple and 2 walks.

Gabriel Mejia had a couple hits, stole his 4th base for his new team. Avg again in the mid-300s. Hasn't drawn a walk in his first 30-some at bats.

Justus Sheffield aims for double figures in wins with his probably last regular season start today.
Sam Hentges tries to bring his NYPL ERA down into single figures in his 2nd and probably final start after his promotion

Civ ... first of all, you took some liberties with the exact quote. And secondly, that quote was not from Tony. It was from a separate article, "Around The Farm", by one of the other writers at Scout.

I don't know why you complain about Tony yet pay money to BA. I used to subscribe to BA back in the day, but I cancelled years ago. No reason to pay them money now when I get more & better information far quicker from Twitter.

I subscribe to Scout.com because of their coverage of College Football Recruiting and The Orange & Brown Report. But I get to read the Indians page as part of my subscription, and to me it is just as good or better than BA, as far as specific Indians information, which is all I care about. But to each their own.