Cleveland Sports Forum

Clippers with 3 in the top of the first of game 1; and Mike Peoples allows 3 in the bottom of the first on two homers.

lake County in the playoffs, too. Down 2-0 in the 3rd behind Shane McCarthy who also has been tagged for two homers.

After arguably the best overall season of Bobby Bradley's career, the slugger took advantage of the opening of the playoffs.

Cleveland's No. 7 prospect doubled, singled and drove in two runs to help Columbus edge Gwinnett, 5-4, on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the International League Governors' Cup semifinals.
Bradley contributed to the Clippers' three-run first inning by doubling to center field for a 2-0 lead. The hulking first baseman swiped third base on the front end of a double steal and scored when Gwinnett shortstop Jack Lopez committed a throwing error. It was Bradley's first stolen base since May 17, 2018 and the 14th of a career that began six seasons ago.

The 23-year-old came through again in the third with an RBI single to left that snapped a 3-3 tie, giving Columbus a lead it would not relinquish. Bradley was retired in each of his last three at-bats
It was a tale of two seasons for the 2014 third-round pick, who made his Major League debut June 23 and amassed 45 at-bats for the Indians. Although he finished with a career-high and league-best 33 homers in 107 Triple-A games, the slugger hit .214 in the second half after posting a .292/.358/.658 slash line with 24 roundtrippers in 67 first-half contests.

Bradley bounced back this season after batting a career-low .224 between Double-A Akron and Columbus in 2018. Overall, the 6-foot-1, 225-pounder compiled a slash line of .264/.344/.567 with 56 extra-base hits and 74 RBIs in the Minor Leagues.
Mark Mathias, Ka'ai Tom and Andrew Velazquez joined Bradley with two hits apiece. Ryan Lavarnway and Mathias added RBI singles for the West Division champions, who are in the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Michael Peoples (1-0) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Kyle Nelson, Jefry Rodriguez combined for three strikeouts over 2 1/3 hitless frames. Indians No. 21 prospect James Karinchak struck out three and issued a walk in the ninth to notch the save.

I could see Tom being called up after Columbus is done. And Karinchak.

and Johnson and Bradley.

Of course to make room for Tom, Karinchak or Johnson they'd have to clear space on the roster. I don't know if Danny Salazar can be eliminated now or if they have to wait for waiver period in the off season. There's still at least one 60 day DL option with JC Mejia but I don't know why that was not done long ago.

Captains made a game of it but fell 6-4. Q Holmes of all people was the hitting star, with a single double and 2 rbi. Valera single double and one RBI. Delgado and Lavastida each drew a walk. Naylor nothing.

Sometimes the best way to handle a challenging situation is the less-is-more approach. Count Daniel Johnson among those who subscribe to that theory.

Cleveland's No. 16 prospect doubled, singled and drove in two runs as Triple-A Columbus defeated Gwinnett, 7-3, in Game 2 of the International League Governors' Cup semifinals on Thursday night at Coolray Park.
The Clippers lead the best-of-5 series, 2-0, and can advance to their first Finals appearance since 2015 with one more win. Johnson knows that last victory can often be the hardest to get, but he has no doubt his team will come out ready to play.

"It's another game. At least that's the way we're looking at it," he said. "We're not going to do too much and play the game the way we always do. As long as everyone keeps doing what they're doing and playing hard, we should be fine. Let's just go get that win."

After going 0-4 in the opener, Johnson provided a pair of key hits for Columbus, which ended the regular season with five straight wins and a league-best 81-59 mark. The 24-year-old flied out in his first at-bat, but drove in his club's first run with a single to left field before scoring on Dioner Navarro's three-run homer later in the fourth.

"You have games when you take an 0-fer and others where you have four hits," Johnson said. "It's the name of the game. Even though it's the playoffs, I'm not trying to do anything differently. Your mind-set might change slightly, but you still go out and play the same game. I don't want to change anything. I tried to keep the same approach and it worked out."
After Gwinnett cut the lead to 4-3, Johnson ripped an 0-2 offering off the fence in right-center field for a double that plated Mark Mathias with an insurance run. Navarro added a fourth RBI to his ledger with a two-out single in the eighth and Andrew Velazquez went deep in the ninth.

"It was nice to get it going," Johnson said. "I knew I'd come through eventually. We did a great job as a team getting on base, scoring and getting those clutch hits. It was a really good team win."

It was the type of performance that has become the norm for Johnson, who enjoyed an All-Star caliber season in his first year with the Indians. A fifth-round pick by the Nationals in 2016, the California native burst onto the prospect scene a year later when he batted .298/.356/.505 with a career-high 22 homers and 72 RBIs in 130 games between Class A Hagerstown and Class A Advanced Potomac.

Johnson was traded to Cleveland last November in the deal that sent All-Star catcher Yan Gomes to Washington.
The Indians assigned the outfielder to Double-A Akron to begin the season. He was promoted to Columbus on May 25 and made an immediate impact, hitting safely in 12 of his first 13 games. Johnson participated in the All-Star Futures Game at Progressive Field in Cleveland and finished the year hitting .306 in 84 games for Columbus. Between Double-A and Triple-A, the New Mexico State product batted .290/.361/.507 and set career bests with 60 extra-base hits, 77 RBIs and 76 runs in 123 games.

Starter Logan Allen (1-0) turned in a solid performance for Columbus. The No. 3 Indians prospect [Not that high on my list] allowed three runs -- two earned -- on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Cam Hill and Josh D. Smith combined for 3 2/3 scoreless frames out of the bullpen.

MILB player of the month for August in the NYPL

Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Indians) catcher Bryan Lavastida led the New York-Penn League in batting average (.413), hits (38) and on-base percentage (.486), was second in doubles (eight) and OPS (1.040) and third in slugging percentage (.554). He posted only two games in August during which he did not reach base, beginning the month with a 19-game on-base streak from Aug. 1-24. Lavastida recorded 14 multi-hit games, and he walked (13) more times than he struck out (10). Lavastida, 20, was selected by Cleveland in the 15th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Hillsborough Community College.

[He and Y Diaz both can hit; not sure they can catch; and with Naylor a step ahead of them I assume that they will be working elsewhere as they climb into full season ball]

lake County evened their series winning 4 - 0, Hankins joined with 2 relievers for the shutout. I guess these stats will not be included in their final season totals, so the 8 strikeouts registered by Hankins in 3 1/3 innings will not be added to the 10 in 4 innings in his last start in his career history. He wasn't perfect, walking 3 and allowing 3 singles. Marman and Miednik finishing the shutout. Each fanned 4 more.
Offense: Valera single and walk; Naylor nothing; Delgado walk; Fermin double; Holmes 2 walks.

Top of BA highlight listings

Daniel Johnson, OF, Indians. Johnson had two hits in four at-bats for Triple-A Columbus in their victory over Gwinnett. He had a base knock and a double while driving in two runs and scoring once as well. Johnson hit well across two levels of the upper minors this year, batting .306/.371/.496 during the regular season with Columbus.

My Lord, the homer Bradley hit last night. He should be charged with abuse of a baseball. He tomahawked a high fastball and it is probably the fastest I’ve ever seen a ball leave the park.

https://mobile.twitter.com/indiansPro/s ... 2949079040

Johnson and Tom, quite the outfield for Columbus this year.

Now there is one; the Captains were eliminated last night, the Clippers lost but are still ahead 2-1 in a best of 5.
Naylor finished the three game set hitless; Valera with a hit in each game;

10-6 loss for Columbus; Bradley slugged his homer; Clement two singles; Tom single double walk [OPS for the series is 929 just about exactly his mark in the regular season; Johnson single and walk; Zimmer hitless. Home team has lost all 3 games in the series to date. Kyle Dowdy for the Clippers today hopes to break that streak and wrap up the series at home.

AZ fall league opens for business next week, Wednesday the 18th. Still 2 pitchers needed from Cleveland to fill the roster. A couple of relievers I'd guess to supplement Kirk McCarthy and Brock Hartson. Candidates could include Delbert Siri, Robert Broom, Skylar Arias, Aaron Pinto

Clippers take game one in Governor's Cup. the unknown Hawaiian leads the way

Ka'ai Tom looks back to his up-and-down April as a turning point this year. It got him to focus on the mechanical portions of his swing in May, and he's reaping the benefits of those adjustments in the Governors' Cup Finals.

The Cleveland outfield prospect blasted his second playoff homer -- a three-run shot -- to power Triple-A Columbus to an 8-3 victory over Durham in Game 1 of the best-of-5 series Tuesday at Huntington Park.
"It started in Double-A in May," Tom said of his improvements at the plate. "I was communicating with my hitting coach at the time -- Justin Toole. I didn't have a really good April and I communicated with him. He didn't barge me to 'you need to do this,' he was just kind of listening. I just felt like I needed to get to a certain spot on my front side a little better because I get stuck on my back side. ... Since May, it's kinda been working for me."

On the final day of the regular season, Tom smashed two dingers and recorded four RBIs. He continued swinging a hot bat in the International League semifinals against Gwinnett, totaling eight hits and compiling a 1.222 OPS in four games. The 25-year-old Hawaii native was at his best in the series clincher, when he finished a triple shy of the cycle.

In the Finals opener, Tom led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk and came around to score when seventh-ranked Indians prospect Bobby Bradley smashed a three-run homer, his second of the postseason
Columbus' Michael Peoples (1-0) recorded his second postseason win, allowing three runs on nine hits without a walk and three strikeouts over six innings.

"It feels great, just ultimately being able to contribute, being part of the team and taking it one pitch at a time," Tom said. "It's just having fun with the guys. Like this is the postseason -- the Governors' Cup -- so we're just keeping it light. On the field, it's just great to just contribute and win with the ball team."

De Leon surrendered seven runs -- six earned -- on six hits and four walks while fanning two in three innings.

Game 2 will be at 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday in Columbus.