Marcos got into 2 games.
Burgos was never really gone, I don't think.

Lots of injured infielders. Jose Fermin is out. Ernie Clement is out. Monastarios is out. Kipnis is out [of ammunition]

But the best of the bunch [until Rocchio takes the field} is doing OK:

Indians: Tyler Freeman, SS (No. 3) -- 2-for-3, HR (2), 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB (Class A Lake County)
Freeman, 19, hit an opposite-field home run on an 0-2 pitch and reached base three times for the Captains as he emerged from a 2-for-20 skid at the plate. Even with the brief slump, he's still hitting .286/.414/.462 with 11 extra-base hits, eight steals and a Midwest League-best 26 runs scored this season.

someone named Evan Mitchell started for Columbus today. 3 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs. He's a 27 year old rescued from the Reds organization.
Mercado with his 10th double; Haase and Bradley both singled; game is half way through.

Here's an Akron pitcher I tend to overlook: Zach Plesac another solid start 6 4 1 1 3 6 o.96 ERA. Don't think he's known an especially hard thrower but he can get people out at that level, at least. Knotted 1-1 after 7.

Burgos went 4 shutout innings for Lake County. ERA 2.86. Pinto two scoreless. Game scoreless in the 6th. Holmes with one of the 2 Captains hits.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It looks like nothing can stop Cleveland Indians rising prospect James Karinchak as he moves through the club’s developmental system. Minor league hitters certainly are not putting up much resistance against the 23-year-old righty.

Karinchak tossed his second scoreless inning since joining Triple-A Columbus, striking out all three batters he faced in Sunday’s 4-3 Clippers’ loss at Toledo.
In 12 innings this season between Columbus and Double-A Akron, Karinchak is six-for-six in save opportunities with three holds. He has not allowed a run, giving up just three hits and three walks while striking out a staggering 30 batters.

Of the 36 outs he’s recorded, only six batters have put the ball in play against Karinchak. His strikeouts per nine innings is at a ridiculous 22.5.

Indians manager Terry Francona was asked about Karinchak prior to the Tribe’s game Sunday against Seattle. Karinchak was recently promoted to Columbus after dominating hitters at Double-A Akron to the tune of 24 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched.

“Looks like a video game,” Francona said. “It’s going to be interesting because of his stuff. He’s got two pitches that are just like wipeout pitches.”

Francona said Karinchak, a ninth-round selection in the 2017 draft, has “plenty of fastball” topping out around 97-98 mph. And his breaking pitch is somewhere between a hard curveball and a slider.

The impetus for promoting Karinchak to Columbus after just 10 outings in Akron is to force the 6-foot-3, 230 pound flamethrower to get consistent in the strike zone and see how his stuff plays.

“Because those numbers were stupid at Double-A,” Francona said. “I saw his first inning at AAA where he walked one and struck out three. He’s obviously an interesting kid. We’ll see how he does.”

Bobby Bradley with a pair of singles for Columbus; he's hitting 272, OPS 822, still striking out a ton, 35% of appearances, and not walking a lot [8 times]

Johnson back in the Akron lineup, but went hitless. Ducks lost 2 games; both losers were lefty relivers, Ben Krauth and Matt Whitehouse. And I see Krieger is back in Akron, too. Sandlin with a perfect inning of relief.

Lake County won on a 10 hit shutout. Tyler Freeman [maybe our No. 1 prospect now with McK injury prone and Jones not as efficient a hitter as Tyler] with a single and a double. He has 9 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers; 13 walks and 8 strikeouts [1 strikeout in his last 23 at bats].
Benson 0-4 with 3K; Naylor a sac fly, hitting 184

I've been pimping Zach Plesac, nephew of Dan Plesac, for a while now. He is one to keep an eye on. In my opinion he and Morgan are both over-looked by the so called "experts".

Plesac has the 2nd best ERA in our system among starters, 0.96. Morgan is 4th at 1.87.

Morgan is striking out almost 11 batters per 9 innings. 2nd best in our system among starters.

Morgan is sporting a .164 batting average against, 2nd best among our starters. Plesac is at .176, 4th best.

Morgan is best among our starters in strikeout percentage, 32.8%. Plesac is 24.8%.

I'll post the numbers below. Check out Karinchak, Nelson, and Bloom among relievers too. (Broom is the submariner I've mentioned here, and would bet the organization has plans for him. They like those Joe Smith and Cimber types)

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Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Akron RubberDucks RHP Zach Plesac continued his hot start to the 2019 season today vs Reading. Plesac has allowed 2 runs or less in all 6 starts and 1 run or less in 5 of the 6. His ERA now sits at 0.96 on the year.
- 6.0(IP) 4H 1R 1ER 3BB 6SO (94 pitches 64 strikes) #Indians

Columbus Clippers RHP James Karinchak with 3 more strikeouts today . In his first two AAA appearances Karinchak in 2 innings has recorded all 6 out via strikeout.
(AAA) 2.0(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 6SO
(AA) 10.0(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 2BB 24SO
Season - 12.0(IP) 3H 0R 0ER 3BB 30SO
22.50 SO/9

Lake County Captains LHP Raymond Burgos after skipping one start (elbow) precautionary. Burgos today throws 4 shutout innings on restricted pitch count. - 4.0(IP) 3H 0R 0ER 2BB 4SO (63 pitches 42 strikes)

#Indians current minor league leaders (ERA) 20+ IP
Zach Draper (Lake County) 0.46
Zach Plesac (Akron) 0.96
Asher Wojciechowski (Columbus) 1.67
Eli Morgan (Akron) 1.87
Nick Gallagher (Lynchburg) 2.38
Raymond Burgos (Lake County) 2.86
Michael Peoples (Columbus) 2.96

#Indians current minor league leaders (ERA) by RP (10+ IP)
James Karinchak (Columbus) 0.00
Kyle Nelson (Akron) 0.00
Robert Broom (Lynchburg) 0.00
Manny Alvarez (Lake County) 0.00
Aaron Pinto (Lake County) 1.10
Skylar Arias (Lake County) 1.46
Josh Smith (Columbus) 1.53

#Indians current minor league leaders (SO/9) 20+ IP
Nick Gallagher (Lynchburg) 11.51
Eli Morgan (Akron) 10.69
Juan Mota (Lake County) 10.67
Shane McCarthy (Lake County) 10.33
Adam Scott (Lynchburg) 10.08
Sam Hentges (Akron) 9.55
Raymond Burgos (Lake County) 9.53

#Indians current minor league leaders (SO/9) by RP (10+ IP)
James Karinchak (Columbus) 22.50
Kyle Nelson (Akron) 14.29
Robert Broom (Lynchburg) 13.50
Argenis Angulo (Akron) 13.19
Skylar Arias (Lake County) 13.14
Jared Robinson (Lynchburg) 12.60

#Indians current minor league leaders (AVG) 20+ IP
Nick Gallagher (Lynchburg) .134
Eli Morgan (Akron) .164
Shane McCarthy (Lake County) .175
Zach Plesac (Akron) .176
Asher Wojciechowski (Columbus) .194
Matt Solter (Akron) .213

#Indians current minor league leaders (AVG) by RP (10+ IP)
James Karinchak (Columbus) .073
Kyle Nelson (Akron) .081
Josh Smith (Columbus) .102
Robert Broom (Lynchburg) .143
Manuel Alvarez (Lake County) .143
Brooks Pounders (Columbus) .158

#Indians current minor league leaders (SwStr%) 20+ IP
Eli Morgan (Akron) 15.8%
Nick Gallagher (Lynchburg) 15.0%
Juan Mota (Lake County) 15.0%
Matt Solter (Akron) 13.6%
Sam Hentges (Akron) 12.4%
Shao-Ching Chiang 12.4%

#Indians current minor league leaders (SwStr%) by RP (10+ IP)
Kyle Nelson (Akron) 25.2%
James Karinchak (Columbus) 24.9%
Jared Robinson (Lynchburg) 18.3%
Argenis Angulo (Akron) 17.9%
David Speer (Akron) 16.7%
Luke Eubank (Akron) 15.1%

#Indians current minor league leaders (SO%) 20+ IP
Eli Morgan (Akron) 32.8%
Nick Gallagher (Lynchburg) 30.5%
Shane McCarthy (Lake County) 28.7%
Juan Mota (Lake County) 26.2%
Zach Plesac (Akron) 24.8%
Adam Scott (Lynchburg) 24.6%

#Indians current minor league leaders (SO%) by RP 10+ IP
James Karinchak (Columbus) 68.2%
Kyle Nelson (Akron) 47.4%
Skylar Arias (Lake County) 36.7%
Robert Broom (Lynchburg) 36.4%
A.J. Cole (Columbus) 35.1%
Brooks Pounders (Columbus) 33.9%
Jared Robinson (Lynchburg) 33.3%

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Sean Brady Jr @SeanMBrady8
Thank you @Indians for the last 7 years, glad to have been apart of such a great organization! Now it’s time for the next chapter. Thank you @Pirates for the opportunity! Go Bucs!

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Some injury updates:

RHP Aaron Civale set to throw 5 innings today in extended spring training. Civale should be in Akron soon.

LHP Kirk McCarty is throwing a bullpen today. McCarty Hope's to be back by early June.

#Indians

By the way, speaking of the submariner Robert Bloom.he has a unique living situation. He has a camper on the back of his pick up that he leaves parked at the ballpark and lives out of. As an outdoor guy I can dig it.

https://www.milb.com/milb/news/hillcats ... -306870838

Noted by BA

CLE AA Johnson, Daniel PH 1 0 0 0 .230
CLE AAA Bradley, Bobby 1B 4 0 2 1 .274
CLE AAA Haase, Eric C 4 1 1 0 .241
CLE AAA Mercado, Oscar LF 5 1 1 0 .279 2B (10)
CLE LoA Benson, Will LF 4 0 0 0 .253
CLE LoA Freeman, Tyler SS 4 0 2 1 .299 2B (9)
CLE LoA Holmes, Quentin CF 3 0 1 0 .149
CLE LoA Naylor, Bo C 2 0 0 1 .177
CLE AA Sandlin, Nick 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 1.42

And of course James Karinchak continues his streak of Not being selected for the Hot Prospects List

only the Captains in action and they won big: 9-1. That sounds like a familiar score.

Naylor, surprisingly hitting leadoff, singled and walked. He's not bad at drawing walks, so far showing virtually no extra base hit power.
Freeman 10th double and walk.
Benson double
Shane McCarthy 5 3 1 1 2 5 3.09 for the righty
But where's lefty Kirk McCarty who came on strong late last season and on some prospect lists had bypassed Eli Morgan?

I literally just posted an update on McCarty (and Civale) just a few posts back.

Zach Draper with another 3 shutout innings last night as well. No hits or runs, 7 K. He's been killing it.

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Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Lake County Captains LHP Zach Draper with another terrific outing tonight throwing three shutout innings while striking out seven. On the year Draper has only allowed just two runs (one unearned) in 21.1 innings pitched. Season - 21.1(IP) 19H 2R 1ER 7BB 18SO 0.42 ERA #Indians

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#Indians RHP prospect Zach Plesac over his last 17 starts dating back to the 2018 season:
- 101.2 (IP) 87 (H) 32 (R) 24 (ER) 21 (BB) 104 (SO) 2.13 (ERA)

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Tale of two talented #Indians bullpen prospects since the beginning of the 2018 season.

Kyle Nelson
IP 57.0
ERA 1.26
FIP 1.03
WHIP 0.86
SO 85
SO/9 13.42

James Karinchak
IP 60.2
ERA 1.04
FIP 2.07
WHIP 1.17
SO 111
SO/9 16.47

somehow I missed the McCarty update. Look forward to McCarty and McCarthy in the same rotation and trying to distinguish them. Although physically they are very different.

And just to complete the trifecta of injury updates on our pitching prospects, @indiansPro posted a video today of Triston McKenzie throwing on flat ground, beginning his rehab of his upper back injury. Didn’t give a time table, just started throwing. But if I were to guess, looks like he’s a bit behind McCarty, who looks to be back in early June. You can spitball it from there.

Oops, I forgot about the 4th, who is needed in Cleveland immediately. But must make a AAA start or 3 first I guess.

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Columbus Clippers transactions

RHP Adam Plutko activated off 7-day IL
RHP James Hoyt activated off 7-day IL
RHP Evan Marshall assigned to Mahoning Valley roster

Keep them coming, Hillbilly.

And today, Plutko is now on the board as Columbus starter.
And the other starters:
Tully in Akron
Garza in Lnchburg
Oviedo in Lake County: in fact he started and won the game already. With a terrific line: 6 4 0 0 1 9
When he's on his game, he's terrific. When he's not, he's gone early.
Benson with a single; Naylor and Freeman had the day off.