Just to tie your last two posts together, Lovegrove's mother tweeted the Indians organization this morning and thanked them for the Mothers Day gift. (Promotion) it was cute. Good for him.

My wife got a phone call from Maryland and a text from a bus in Italy. Made her day.

Is today Mother's Day in Australia too [for Mama Lovegrove]?

Ryan Merritt - S - Indians

Ryan Merritt (knee) has been diagnosed with left shoulder inflammation and will be shut down from throwing for the next 3-5 days.

Merritt began the season on the disabled list while still recovering from offseason knee surgery, but it appears his shoulder is a bigger issue at the moment. He'll be a rotation option for the Indians once he's healthy, but when that will be is obviously up in the air.

Yes, Mothers Day is second Sunday of May in Australia just like here.

Change of plans for the Clippers, Ogando got the start and was not very good. 8 runs and a walk in 3 1/3 innings; lucky to limit that to 3 runs.
BULLPEN WATCHCole Sulser got the loss on yield of 4 runs in 1/3 inning. Atrocious veteran lefty Jack Leathersich let 2 of them in. Ben Taylor 2 runs in 1 1/3. Jordan Milbrath 1 in 1 inning.
Some hitting, though, as the final was 11-7. Melky doubled. Chang his 10th double Even MIke Papi doubled.
Nellie Rodriguez gliding through at .163, not picking up where he left off last August when he actually hit over 200 to bring the season mark to 170

Pitching and no hitting in Akron, loss was by 2-0 score. Castro a pair of singles and a steal, Bradley 2B and walk, Mathias single and walk
Lovegrove made Mom reasonably proud with 2 shutout innings although he did walk a pair which is his bete noir. [they speak French in Australia?]

Lynchburg won 6-2 behind Tati 7 4 2 1 2 2 2.25
BULLPEN WATCH Siri a scoreless inning; and Karnichak 1 with a walk and 2 more K. That makes 9 strikeouts and 3 walks in 4 1/3 in the Carolina Lg
Mitch singled and doubled.
Capel walked and singled.
Collins and Chu each with 2 singles.
Wakamatsu singled walked and played errorless ball.

I'm sure someone in Australia speaks it, but we sure as hell don't in Montana.

I think it means bet on black, which I do a lot of.

Meanwhile BA notes from Sunday

CLE AA Bradley, Bobby 1B 3 0 1 0 .195 2B (5), BB (17) [coming along]
CLE AA Castro, Willi SS 4 0 2 0 .231 SB (3) [coming along]
CLE AA Krieger, Tyler CF 3 0 0 0 .208 [going nowhere]
CLE AA Mathias, Mark 2B 3 0 1 0 .279 [the next Joey Wendle? He's doing OK for Tampa I see]
CLE AAA Chang, Yu SS 4 1 2 1 .264 2B (10) [coming along]
CLE AAA Haase, Eric C 4 0 0 0 .242 [fading]
CLE HiA Capel, Conner CF 4 1 1 1 .296 BB (16) [pretty steady]
CLE HiA Collins, Gavin DH 5 0 2 2 .254 [hoping for more]
CLE MAJ Allen, Greg CF 5 1 2 1 .118 [and he can catch]
CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik 2B 4 0 1 0 .357 BB (2) [ok, he won the job]
AGAIN: NO PITCHERS.

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Indians 12 Clippers 7
Rosales 1-3 2R HR 4RBI BB
Chang 2-4 R 2B RBI
Barnes 2-4 R 2B
Cabrera 1-4 R 2B RBI

SeaWolves 2 RubberDucks 0
Paulson 7(IP) 4H 2R 2ER 1BB 6SO
Lovegrove 2(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 2BB 2SO
Castro 2-4 SB
Bradley 1-3 2B BB

Hillcats 6 Red Sox 2
Tati 7(IP) 4H 2R 1ER 2BB 2SO
Longo 2-5 R 2B 2RBI
Collins 2-5 2RBI
Capel 1-4 R RBI BB

Here's what a Super Top Prospect looks like:

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B, Blue Jays NO. 1 on the Hot Prospect List
Team: Double-A New Hampshire (Eastern)
Age: 19
Why He’s Here: .393/.414/.714 (11-for-28), 7 R, 3 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBIs, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0-for-1 SB.

The Scoop: Guerrero’s week in some ways looks almost ordinary. He hit .393, but that’s actually four points below his average for the season, an absurd .397. He has 12 hits since he last struck out. But just because Guerrero does the inexplicable on a regular basis shouldn’t allow us to get jaded about just how impressive Guerrero’s season is. He’s a 19-year-old who is more advanced than all the 23 and 24-year-old pitchers he’s facing. Guerrero leads the Eastern League in batting, hits, RBIs and is among the league’s top five in nearly every other offensive category. He’s also the second-toughest player in the league to strike out. He’s simply unlike any hitter we’ve seen in the minors in years.

Once again we strike out on the Hot Prospect list, but clearly none of our guys has any claim. I looked at the last week for Jones and Castro and Chang and Bradley and Benson all of whom have hot days, and cold days, and no one has a remote case for the honor roll. Jones probably wins Indians Hot Prospect of the Week, going 8-21 with a homer; also struck out 7 times, drew just one walk and had no other extra base hits. Whoopee

Our window for winning a WS is closing rapidly. Just a bunch of JAGs in our minor league system and our outstanding starting pitching is approaching big paydays in FA.

Got to make a major trade or two.

I'm not the kind of guy who goes crazy over international signings, but I don't know if you guys remember, when Vlad JR was coming out I made a plea to sign that kid. I realize the Tribe can't go crazy with money but he was one that was clearly worth an investment.

Genes are genes. They do get passed down. If you're going to gamble, that should be the deciding factor.

We picked up couple very highly regarded kids in the International signings last year. Valera and Bracho . Maybe we'll get something out of them? No famous parents though that I am aware of