Indians Prospective @indiansPro

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Dragons 2 Captains 1

Gallagher 5(IP) 5H 0R 0ER 1BB 4SO
Friis 1-3 R HR RBI 2BB
Gonzalez 2-5 2B
Vicente 1-3 BB

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Pelicans 4 Hillcats 3

Tati 5(IP) 5H 1R 1ER 3BB 4SO
Carter 1-4 3B 2RBI
Capel 1-4 RBI
Persinger 2-4 R

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RubberDucks 1 Thunder 0

Plesac 5.2(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 1BB 8SO
Milbrath 2.1(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 5SO
Angulo 1(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 2SO
Salters 2-3 R HR RBI

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Mud Hens 9 Clippers 7

Chang 2-4 R HR 2RBI
Stamets 3-4 2R HR RBI
Rodriguez 2-5 R 2B HR 2RBI
Barnes 2-4 R 2B BB SB

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Akron RubberDucks transaction
LHP Sean Brady assigned from Columbus
(was just brought up for spot start)

Couple things that I almost over-looked because of Plesac.

This was Milbrath's first outing back, and he struck out 5 of his 7 outs.

Jordan Mibrath - 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

And RHP Nick Gallagher made just his second start yesterday, and it was pretty darn good. - 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K

Mark Mathias activated off 7-day DL for Ducks

Just when you think the guy cannot get better, Bieber goes out and throws a rain shortened 7 inning no hitter.

He would have had a perfect game but Stamets committed an error. But he ended up picking off that guy to face the minimum.

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Clippers beat Stripers 7-0

Bieber 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K
Chang 2-4 3 RBI
Papi 2-4 2 RBI

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Indians Prospective @indiansPro
6 minutes ago
Columbus Clippers RHP Shane Bieber only getting better moving up levels. First 5 starts at each (AA) Akron & (AAA) Columbus:

(AA) - 31(IP) 26H 6R 4ER 1BB 30SO 1.16 ERA

(AAA) - 34.1(IP) 17H 4R 4ER 2BB 31SO 1.05 ERA

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Rubber Ducks beat the Flying Squirrels 14-6

Chisenhall went 1-2 with a double, 2 walks, and 2 RBI
Guyer 0-4
Slick Willi Castro busting out in a big way. 4-5 with 3 doubles and 5 RBI.
Mitch Brown a scoreless inning, 2 K. 0.84 ERA now.
Eubank a perfect 1.1 IP. 1 K. 0.54 ERA now.

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Hillcats fell to Batters 5-1

Longo 1-5
Tully lost again. 4 earned on 8 hits in 6 innings tonight. 2-4 on season now, 4.68 ERA. He's falling off.

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Captains beat the Loons tonight 4-3.

Cantu hit a walk off homer.
Oscar G 1-4
Jones 0-3
Benson 0-3
Hillman finally has a decent night. 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

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Columbus Clippers RHP Shane Bieber has not allowed a walk over his last 33.0 Innings Pitched. Numbers during this streak:

- 33(IP) 16H 3R 3ER 0BB 29SO 0.82 ERA #Indians

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Columbus Clippers (SS) Yu-Cheng Chang over his last 6 games:

8-20 5R 1(2B) 2HR 10RBI 2BB .400 AVG #Indians

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Columbus Clippers transaction

RHP Alexi Ogando sent outright from Cleveland

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Lynchburg Hillcats transaction

INF Jorma Rodriguez assigned from Akron

Clippers' Bieber hurls rain-shortened no-no

Indians No. 8 prospect faces the minimum over seven innings

Shane Bieber has a 0.70 WHIP and .183 opponents' batting average across two levels this season.

By Gerard Gilberto / MiLB.com | May 25, 2018 9:51 PM ET

Few have been able to do damage to Shane Bieber in his brief International League tenure. And although Mother Nature presented herself as a potential adversary, even the weather had his back Friday night at Coolray Field.

"I was kind of able to have [the rain] in the back of my head and it was just that much more important to get ahead early in the count," the Indians' No. 8 prospect said. "Fortunately, I was able to do that and try and combat that weather by just getting ahead an being aggressive early. Things ended up panning out."

Bieber allowed one baserunner and faced the minimum over seven soggy innings en route to a rain-shortened no-hitter as Triple-A Columbus beat Gwinnett, 7-0. He fanned seven and threw 61 of 80 pitches for strikes while lowering his ERA to 1.05 in five starts since a promotion from Double-A.

"I've never thrown a no-hitter before, but that's not exactly how you draw it up," the right-hander said.

The no-hitter was the eighth in franchise history and the first since Tyler Cloyd was one hit batter away from perfection on July 30, 2014. Bieber's gem came exactly one year since the IL's last no-no: Charlotte's Lucas Giolito kept Syracuse out of the hit column for seven innings.

"It's different," he said. "It was definitely cool though. It was a unique experience today."

The 2016 fourth-round pick retired the first seven batters before shortstop Eric Stamets misplayed Xavier Avery's grounder in the third. Going back to the fourth inning of his previous start, Bieber had recorded 20 consecutive outs before Avery reached.

Bieber (2-1) kept his line clean and connected with Stamets to pick off Avery before coercing a groundout from Sal Giardina to end the inning. The UC Santa Barbara product was perfect through the next four frames, at one point registering four consecutive strikeouts, before rain halted play while the Clippers batted in the eighth.

Once the tarp came onto the field, Columbus manager Chris Tremie and pitching coach Steve Karsay delievered some bad news.

"[They] came up to me and said, 'You're going to hate me for this, but we got to sit you down,'" Bieber said. "It wasn't the healthiest to go back out there, but I wanted to -- I really wanted to. I think any pitcher would rather try and test their luck and go out there for a nine-inning no-hitter."

The game was called nearly an hour later.

"I'm not going to get too picky. I'm just going to take it as it comes and enjoy it while I can," Bieber said.

Indians No. 6 prospect Yu Chang and Mike Papi powered the Clippers' offense, delivering RBI singles in a four-run fifth before Chang knocked in a pair and Papi added an RBI in a three-run sixth. Bieber said the two long rallies presented a tougher challenge than the rain.

"With those long turnarounds, just trying to manage that and stay locked in and try to take things pitch by pitch and at-bat by at-bat was definitely the hardest thing," he said.

The 22-year-old has been downright dominant in 10 starts between Columbus and Double-A Akron in his second full Minor League season. He opened the year with the RubberDucks and allowed four earned runs over 31 innings (1.16 ERA) before being moving up a level on May 3. Bieber caught on quickly in the IL but really hit his stride the past two starts.

"Consistency is a key thing and it's not an easy thing to do, but I'm starting to find that and find out what I want to be and what I want to do," he said. "Going out there and being aggressive and picking my strengths and trying to fill up the zone early and then expand late is what's been going well."

Facing Gwinnett for the first time on May 15, Bieber yielded his lone run with one out in the first before cruising through 6 2/3 innings. He followed that performance with eight scoreless frames against Charlotte, yielding three hits and striking out eight to earn his first Triple-A win.

Bieber, who credited much of the success in his scoreless effort against Charlotte to his ability to work down in the zone, recorded 10 outs on the ground on Friday. He also faced just one three-ball count and threw first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 21 batters he faced.

"I changed eye level when I needed to," the California native said. "I was able to settle down and be able to refine my pitches as far as commanding them at the bottom of the zone and then changing eye level and throw fastballs up or whatever it may be. I was able to kind of harness that as the game went on."

Bieber extended his scoreless streak to 21 1/3 innings, during which he's allowed six hits while striking out 21. The right-hander has issued three walks all season, none in his last 33 frames.

Stamets also chipped in three singles and scored twice for the Clippers.

Eli Morgan today ... 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K.

Had a great holiday weekend, now to catch up on what has happened last couple days.

My one stop shop, Indians Prospective ...

Sundays games and news ...

Stripers 4 Clippers 2
Sulser 2(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 3SO
Mejia 1-3 RBI
Hankins 1-3 RBI
Rodriguez 2-4 R 2B

RubberDucks 8 Flying Squirrels 3
Chiang 6(IP) 3H 2R 2ER 1BB 7SO
Chisenhall 1-3 R HR 2RBI
Haggerty 1-3 R HR RBI BB SB
Loopstok 1-3 R HR RBI

Astros 1 Hillcats 0
Garza 4(IP) 4H 1R 1ER 1BB 6SO
Miniard 4(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 4SO
Wakamatsu 1-2 BB
Miller 1-3

Loons 7 Captains 3
Perez 6(IP) 3H 2R 2ER 2BB 5SO
Cantu 2-3 R HR RBI BB
Gonzalez 2-4 R 2(2B)
Eladio 1-4 2RBI

Columbus Clippers transaction
RHP Luke Eubank promoted from Akron

Akron RubberDucks transaction
RHP Luke Eubank promoted to Columbus
RHP Jon Edwards Promoted from extended spring training

Lake County Captains transaction
LHP Kyle Nelson placed on the 7-day DL
RHP Jordan Scheftz promoted from extended spring training

Akron RubberDucks OF Andrew Calica
First 13 games .156 AVG
Next 23 games .424 AVG
Season: .331 Avrerage (Leads team) (7th in Eastern League)

Akron RubberDucks (SS) Willi Castro over his last 14 games:
19-53 11R 4(2B) 1(3B) 11RBI 6BB 2BB .359 AVG .442 OBP

Lynchburg Hillcats RHP James Karinchak has not allowed a Run over his last 18 innings pitched:
- 13(G) 4SV 18(IP) 13H 0R 0ER 9BB 30SO 0.00 ERA 15.0 (SO/9)

Current Lynchburg Hillcats RHP Eli Morgan #Indians organizational ranks:
1) SO 68
1) SO/9 10.9
1) SO% 31.3%
2) SO/BB 6.8
2) ERA 2.08
2) FIP 2.99
2) xFIP 2.75
2) WHIP 0.91
2) AVG .200
3) BB/9 1.6
3) BB% 4.6%

Indians RHP prospect Shane Bieber will make his MLB debut this Thursday vs the Minnesota Twins. Bieber this season has made a meteoric rise between AA & AAA now off to Cleveland.
- 65.1(IP) 43H 10R 8ER 3BB 61SO 1.10 ERA

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Todays action. (Monday)

Clippers scheduled off

Flying Squirrels 5 RubberDucks 3
Milbrath 2(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 3SO
Haggerty 1-3 2B RBI
Bradley 1-4 RBI
Castro 2-4 R 2B

Hillcats rained out.

Loons 14 Captains 5
Jones 1-4 R HR 3RBI
Isaacs 1-4 R 3B BB SB
Berardi 1-4 R 2B RBI

Could you post a link to that HB?

TFIR, it isn't a web site, it is a Twitter account. And he is a must follow for any Indians fan.

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

https://twitter.com/indiansPro


Indians Prospective @indiansPro
6 hours ago
#Indians (SS) prospect Willi Castro over his last 162 games between Akron & Lynchburg:
181-625 102R 35(2B) 4(3B) 13HR 80RBI 41BB 26SB ,290 AVG .341 OBP

back from holiday travel. Thanks for running the show on your own.

Did anyone notice a vaguely familiar name who's joined the Clippers: Mitch Talbot? I knew he heard of him somewhere and I find he was with the big league Indians back in 2010 and 2011, with a combined record of 12-19. Then hurt, to the minors, to the far east, to independent baseball and now signed as a starter by the Indians for Columbus.

More signs of a franchise without pitching depth:

Jon Edwards who pitched in the bigs with Texas and San Diego 2014-15 inked for the Akron bullpen. He pitched 1 inning in 2016, none in '17 and now on board with the Ducks. A Duck out of water his first game back: 3 runs in 2/3 inning for an ERA of 40.50, that puts some of the gruesome marks by Indian relievers to shame.

But speaking of AA relievers, Milbrath, Martinez and Brown are all showing some actual promise.

Martinez 11 2/3 Innings, 12 hits, 4 runs, but only 2 earned, 2 BB, 10 K.

And my "breakout pitcher" of 2017 is perhaps finally breaking out in 2018: Mitch has pitched 22 1/3 innings and allowed only 8 hits; 9 walks could be better but has been much worse for him; 29 strikeouts. ERA 0.81; HIP 0.76. The 9 wild pitches are either: a} cause for concern that his command is still uncertain; b] proof that he's got a great breaking ball that his AA catchers can't handle. He should be in Columbus any day now, I hope!

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

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Clippers 7 Bison 5

Wilk 6.2(IP) 8H 4R 4ER 2BB 6SO
Chang 3-5 3R 3(2B) 2RBI
Rosales 1-1 R HR RBI
Mejia 1-4 3B RBI BB

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RubberDucks 3 Curve 0

Plesac 6(IP) 3H 0R 0ER 0BB 4SO
Pasquale 2(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1SO
Angulo 1(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 0SO
Calica 1-3 R RBI BB SB

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Mudcats 7 Hillcats 0

Siri 1(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 3SO
Pantoja 2-3 2B
Chu 1-1

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Lugnuts 10 Captains 1

Isaacs 3-4 R HR RBI
Friis 2-4 2B
Benson 2-4
DeJuneas 1(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 1SO

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Akron RubberDucks RHP Zach Plesac has yet to allow a run since being promoted to (AA) in two starts:

- 11.2(IP) 5H 0R 0ER 1BB 12SO 0.00 ERA

Over his last 3 starts between Akron and Lynchburg:

- 17.2(IP) 8R 0R 0ER 2BB 15SO 0.00 ERA

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Columbus Clippers transaction
RHP Myles Jaye added to roster (acquired from Twins in trade)
RHP Stephen Fife placed on 7-day DL

Lynchburg Hillcats transaction:
Gavin Collins placed on the 7-day DL
Dillon Persinger promoted from Lake County

Lake County transactions
INF Ernie Clement activated off 7-day DL
INF Dillon Persinger promoted to Lynchburg

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#Indians Draft Picks by year (2012-2017) who have reached MLB

2017 - none
2016 - Shane Bieber (Thursday)
2015 - none
2014 - Bradley Zimmer, Greg Allen
2013 - Cilint Frazier, Kyle Crockett, Adam Plutko, Ben Heller
2012 - Tyler Naquin, Joey Wendle

It has not been a good start to the season for a large number of the top prospects. Mejia and Bradley can't hit .200. McKenzie hasn't got into a real game. Jones and Benson have lousy batting averages too but at least are drawing walks, striking out less, and hitting homers.
Bieber of course if the main execption.

but shortstops Castro and Chang have had very solid months of May. I wonder if they deserve to be rated ahead of Mejia? they are both considered solid defenders at a prime position, and can hit.

Castro in April: 205/275/289 7 walks 27 strikeouts
Castro in May: 304/383/431 11 walks 21 strikeouts
Career prior to 2018: 1 walk every 24 at bats. Castro in 2018: 1 walk every 11.5 at bats.

Chang in April: 271/342/400 six doubles 1 homer
Chang in May: 380/347/488 eight doubles, 3 homers.