Cleveland Sports Forum

Jesse English is a 25-year-old LHP who made 7 relief appearances for the Nationals last season. His minor league stats:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minor ... glis001jes

His major league stats:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... je01.shtml

Here's what we've all been waiting for. At least a few of us have been.
[are my comments]

Indians Minor League Opening Day Rosters
Posted by Tony at 9:35 AM
UPDATE: Triple-A Columbus, Double-A Akron, High-A Kinston, and Low-A Lake County rosters are all official. There may be some minor tweaks between now and opening day on Thursday, but these are the official rosters:

Columbus:

Paolo Espino (RHP)
Jeanmar Gomez (RHP)
David Huff (LHP)
Josh Judy (RHP)
Corey Kluber (RHP)
Jensen Lewis (RHP)
Joe Martinez (RHP)
Zach McAllister (RHP)
Adam Miller (RHP) (Disabled list, finger....but he is not hurt)
Yohan Pino (RHP)
Zach Putnam (RHP)
Carlton Smith (RHP) [still around, I's surprised]
Jeremy Sowers (LHP) (Disabled list, shoulder)
Jess Todd (RHP)
Alex White (RHP)
Luke Carlin (C)
Paul Phillips (C)
Lonnie Chisenhall (3B)
Wes Hodges (1B)
Jason Kipnis (2B)
Cord Phelps (INF)
Luis Valbuena (INF)
Bubba Bell (OF)
Jordan Brown (OF)
Ezequiel Carrera (OF)
Jerad Head (OF)
Chad Huffmann (OF)
Nick Weglarz (OF) (Disabled list, knee)

Akron:

CC Lee (RHP)
Connor Graham (RHP)
Scott Barnes (LHP)
Nick Hagadone (LHP)
Kelvin De La Cruz (LHP)
Joe Gardner (RHP)
Matt Packer (LHP)
Austin Adams (RHP) [expect big things]
Eric Berger (LHP)
Cory Burns (RHP)
Matt Langwell (RHP)
Bryan Price (RHP)
Chun Chen (C) [I expected him in Kinston; he's moving fast]
Juan Apodaca (C)
Matt McBride (1B/OF) [sorry Joe]
Karexon Sanchez (INF)
Cristo Arnal (INF)
Dan DeGeorge (INF)
Matt Lawson (2B)
Juan Diaz (SS)
Kyle Bellows (3B) [my co-breakout candidate]
Jordan Henry (OF)
John Drennen (OF) [here yet again!]
Tim Fedroff (OF)
Donnie Webb (OF)

Kinston:

Drew Pomeranz: (LHP) [to Akron soon, I hope]
Preston Guilmet (RHP)
T.J. House (LHP) [to Akron soon, I hope]
T.J. McFarland (LHP)
Giovanni Soto (LHP)
Clayton Cook (RHP)
Brett Brach (RHP)
Chris Jones (LHP)
Joey Mahalic (RHP)
Marty Popham (RHP)
Tyler Sturdevant (RHP)
Travis Turek (RHP)
Jose Flores (RHP)
Bo Greenwell (OF)
Tyler Holt (OF) [moving up fast]
Abner Abreu (OF) [great spring training]
Delvi Cid (OF) (open on DL)
Roberto Perez (C)
Doug Pickens (C) [old catchers never die, nor do they fade away]
Chase Burnette (1B) [moving up fast]
Casey Frawley (SS)
Ronald Rivas (SS)
Justin Toole (INF)
Jeremie Tice (1B) [moving up very slowly]
Adam Abraham (3B)
Greg Folgia (OF)

Lake County:

Kyle Blair (RHP) [any of these first 4 may have a big season]
Cole Cook (RHP)
Michael Goodnight (RHP)
Tony Dischler (RHP)
JD Reichenbach (LHP)
Clayton Ehlert (RHP)
Nick Sarianides (RHP)
Owen Dew (RHP)
Dale Dickerson (RHP)
Trey Haley (RHP) [making no progress at all since his 2nd round selection]
Francisco Jimenez (LHP)
Mike Rayl (LHP)
Nate Striz (RHP)
Alex Lavisky (C)
Alex Monsalve (C)
Dwight Childs (C)
Argenis Martinez (INF)
Tyler Cannon (INF)
Kyle Smith (INF) [here again!]
Jesus Aguilar (1B)
Nick Bartolone (SS)
Giovanny Urshela (3B) [future Hall of Famer]
Brian Heere (OF)
Jason Smit (OF) [Australian Class A lifer]
Anthony Gallas (OF)
Carlos Moncrief (OF) [my former breakout pitcher]

Also, here are some noteworthy guys confirmed to be opening in extended spring training:

Extended:

Jordan Casas (OF) (cracked fibula from hit by pitch, out a bit)
Elvis Araujo (LHP) [big kid who throws hard]
Steven Wright (RHP) (staying being to work on knuckleball)
Felix Sterling (RHP) [had a great debut in Arizona summer league]
Aaron Fields (INF)
Ronny Rodriguez (SS)
Aaron Siliga (OF)
Jason Knapp (RHP) (staying behind to monitor inning workload this year)
Jared Goedert (1B/3B/OF) (rehab from oblique)
Tony Wolters (SS) (coming back from broken hamate)
Kyle Landis (RHP) (continueing rehab, then should be with team)
Henry Dunn (OF)
Levon Washington (OF) (coming back from hip/knee issues, and when ready should go to Lake County)
Beau Mills (1B) (still being assessed with foot/leg issue)

And here are some releases late in camp:

Releases:

Brian Grening (RHP)
Ryan Gardner (RHP)
JD Goryl (RHP)
Matt Cusick (INF)
Preston Mattingly (OF)


[Notable by his absence from any list is Bryce Stowell, my successful breakout pick of 2010]

is the old forum officially dead?

I like the Captains pitching staff, but the hitting is questionable. Lavisky, Urshela and Aguillar will be big bats in the middle of the order. But like most Indians' teams there's not much interesting in the outfield, until Levon Washington is ready to go. When Washington and Wolters are added to the lineup this can be an impressive offense and the Captains could have a good chance to repeat their MWL championship. [Of course by the second half of the season, or at least by playoff time, some of those 2010 drafted college pitchers may likely be working in Kinston.]

Here are the final statistics from all the Indians minor league spring training games this spring. Players are listed in alphabetical order.


Batters AVG SLG OBP OPS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB E
Adam Abraham .256 .395 .298 .693 43 2 11 3 0 1 7 3 8 1 0
Abner Abreu .319 .596 .396 .992 47 13 15 3 2 2 9 6 8 1 1
Jesus Aguilar .316 .649 .369 1.018 57 10 18 7 0 4 14 6 10 0 0
Juan Apodaca .280 .400 .276 .676 25 4 7 3 0 0 3 1 2 0 0
Juan Aponte .167 .250 .231 .481 12 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 4 0 0
Cristo Arnal .258 .290 .294 .584 31 1 8 1 0 0 4 1 5 0 0
Trent Baker .091 .091 .160 .251 22 1 2 0 0 0 2 2 3 3 0
Nick Bartolone .217 .304 .255 .559 46 7 10 2 1 0 3 4 10 1 1
Ryan Battaglia .071 .286 .300 .586 14 3 1 0 0 1 1 5 5 0 0
Kyle Bellows .400 .667 .449 1.116 45 9 18 3 0 3 11 4 5 0 0
Marcus Bradley .278 .333 .381 .714 18 2 5 1 0 0 2 3 4 1 0
Jordan Brown .500 .500 .500 1.000 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mark Brown .083 .111 .220 .331 36 1 3 1 0 0 0 6 11 0 0
Chase Burnette .263 .342 .356 .698 38 6 10 1 1 0 0 6 9 2 1
Tyler Cannon .410 .641 .477 1.118 39 8 16 6 0 1 2 5 14 0 0
Ben Carlson .250 .375 .273 .648 8 2 2 1 0 0 2 1 5 0 1
Ezequiel Carrera .333 .500 .467 .967 12 2 4 0 1 0 1 3 2 1 0
Jordan Casas .353 .353 .316 .669 17 5 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0
Chun Chen .355 .774 .415 1.189 31 5 11 2 1 3 12 6 7 0 1
Dwight Childs .235 .529 .250 .779 17 2 4 2 0 1 3 1 4 0 0
Lonnie Chisenhall .233 .433 .273 .706 30 4 7 3 0 1 7 2 5 1 0
Delvi Cid .214 .214 .389 .603 14 0 3 0 0 0 1 3 3 3 0
Matt Cusick .286 .286 .333 .619 7 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Dan DeGeorge .341 .439 .333 .772 41 4 14 2 1 0 7 1 9 0 0
Juan Diaz .361 .806 .368 1.174 36 7 13 6 2 2 6 1 2 0 1
John Drennen .233 .500 .273 .773 30 5 7 2 0 2 4 2 5 0 0
Henry Dunn .235 .294 .222 .516 17 2 4 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0
Tim Fedroff .333 .417 .500 .917 24 7 8 2 0 0 2 8 3 1 0
Aaron Fields .385 .692 .429 1.121 13 2 5 2 1 0 2 1 6 0 0
Greg Folgia .333 .521 .353 .874 48 6 16 2 2 1 3 2 8 0 0
Kevin Fontanez .344 .438 .419 .856 32 5 11 1 1 0 3 7 5 1 2
Casey Frawley .231 .282 .326 .608 39 5 9 2 0 0 3 5 7 0 2
Anthony Gallas .265 .429 .328 .756 49 5 13 3 1 1 9 6 11 0 0
Jared Goedert .286 .714 .375 1.089 7 1 2 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0
Bo Greenwell .317 .415 .404 .819 41 10 13 1 0 1 4 5 5 1 1
Jerad Head .296 .444 .345 .789 27 4 8 4 0 0 5 2 7 0 0
Brian Heere .216 .324 .364 .688 37 3 8 4 0 0 3 8 7 1 0
Jordan Henry .298 .404 .382 .786 47 10 14 5 0 0 2 7 4 3 0
Wes Hodges .286 .429 .350 .779 35 6 10 2 0 1 3 4 9 0 0
Tyler Holt .133 .133 .278 .411 15 1 2 0 0 0 1 3 2 1 0
Chris Jones .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hunter Jones .091 .091 .154 .245 11 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 0
Jason Kipnis .364 .636 .410 1.047 33 8 12 3 0 2 7 4 4 3 2
[/b]Alex Lavisky .333 .762 .370 1.131 42 7 14 6 0 4 14 3 15 0 0
Matt Lawson .143 .286 .269 .555 21 1 3 0 0 1 2 4 9 0 2
Chia-Ching Lin .000 .000 .000 .000 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Lou Marson .000 .000 .200 .200 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0
Argenis Martinez .200 .240 .355 .595 25 2 5 1 0 0 0 6 5 2 1
Jorge Martinez .400 .400 .412 .812 15 3 6 0 0 0 3 1 2 1 1
Preston Mattingly .200 .200 .273 .473 30 1 6 0 0 0 0 3 8 1 1
Matt McBride .200 .433 .212 .645 30 7 6 4 0 1 5 1 8 0 1
Carlos Moncrief .159 .227 .269 .497 44 7 7 3 0 0 2 7 15 0 0
Alex Monsalve .381 .619 .407 1.026 21 6 8 2 0 1 5 3 4 0 1
Moises Montero .357 .429 .389 .817 14 0 5 1 0 0 2 2 1 0 0
Mitch Nilsson .333 .444 .538 .983 9 0 3 1 0 0 1 4 1 0 0
Roberto Perez .214 .357 .371 .729 28 2 6 4 0 0 2 7 7 0 0
Cord Phelps .222 .333 .273 .606 9 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
Doug Pickens .317 .561 .400 .961 41 9 13 7 0 1 4 5 2 0 0
Ronald Rivas .440 .700 .451 1.151 50 8 22 7 0 2 15 1 6 0 3
Luigi Rodriguez .182 .182 .217 .399 22 2 4 0 0 0 0 1 8 0 1
Ronny Rodriguez .281 .406 .257 .663 32 4 9 2 1 0 1 0 6 0 3
Juan Romero .259 .370 .333 .704 27 5 7 0 0 1 2 3 8 0 0
Kevin Rucker .250 .438 .333 .771 16 3 4 0 0 1 2 2 5 1 0
Karexon Sanchez .200 .320 .231 .551 25 4 5 1 1 0 3 1 7 0 1
Diego Seastrunk .286 .333 .333 .667 21 2 6 1 0 0 1 2 6 0 0
Aaron Siliga .368 .526 .429 .955 19 5 7 1 1 0 1 2 2 2 1
Grady Sizemore .200 .200 .273 .473 10 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Jason Smit .321 .607 .424 1.031 28 5 9 3 1 1 7 4 9 0 0
Kyle Smith .265 .294 .324 .618 34 5 9 1 0 0 4 3 11 1 1
Logan Thompson .111 .111 .158 .269 36 4 4 0 0 0 1 2 11 0 3
Jeremie Tice .381 .548 .388 .935 42 7 16 1 0 2 11 3 12 1 1
Justin Toole .324 .459 .419 .878 37 2 12 1 2 0 2 6 4 2 0
Joel Torres .000 .000 .231 .231 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 0 0
Giovanny Urshela .200 .400 .222 .622 50 5 10 2 1 2 7 2 9 1 3
Luis Valbuena .500 1.000 .500 1.500 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Charlie Valerio .211 .211 .286 .496 19 1 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0
Levon Washington .143 .143 .250 .393 14 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 0
Donnie Webb .173 .231 .208 .438 52 6 9 1 1 0 4 2 13 2 1


Pitchers ERA WHIP IP H R ER BB SO
Austin Adams 5.02 1.53 14.1 18 8 8 4 14
Omar Aguilar 5.40 3.00 1.2 3 1 1 2 1
Elvis Araujo 0.00 0.67 3.0 1 0 0 1 1
Scott Barnes 0.00 0.75 8.0 3 0 0 3 11
Eric Berger 9.00 2.50 8.0 15 8 8 5 7
Kyle Blair 2.77 0.92 13.0 9 5 4 3 5
Brett Brach 3.38 1.38 8.0 11 3 3 0 9
Cory Burns 6.75 1.05 6.2 5 6 5 2 7
Ramon Cespedes 10.80 2.40 3.1 4 4 4 4 3
Clayton Cook 3.09 1.20 11.2 11 5 4 3 13
Cole Cook 8.76 2.19 12.1 19 12 12 8 9
Jordan Cooper 17.05 2.68 6.1 16 14 12 1 6
Kelvin De La Cruz 3.46 0.92 13.0 5 6 5 7 17
Owen Dew 3.86 0.75 9.1 7 4 4 0 6
Dale Dickerson 4.50 1.50 8.0 8 5 4 4 6
Tony Dischler 5.73 1.64 11.0 12 7 7 6 5
Chad Durbin 0.00 2.00 1.0 1 1 0 1 1
James Ehlert 3.38 1.38 8.0 11 3 3 0 7
Luis Encarnacion 0.00 1.25 4.0 1 0 0 4 5
Paolo Espino 3.00 0.50 6.0 3 2 2 0 7
Jose Flores 0.00 0.33 3.0 0 0 0 1 1
Joe Gardner 6.43 1.93 14.0 21 11 10 6 11
Ryan Gardner 1.42 1.26 6.1 3 2 1 5 2
Casey Gaynor 1.80 0.80 5.0 4 1 1 0 4
Justin Germano 0.00 0.00 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
Jeanmar Gomez 3.60 1.00 5.0 4 2 2 1 2
Michael Goodnight 3.65 1.38 12.1 6 5 5 11 14
J.D. Goryl 4.76 1.59 5.2 5 4 3 4 7
Connor Graham 3.00 1.33 3.0 4 1 1 0 3
Brian Grening 1.69 0.94 5.1 4 1 1 1 6
Harold Guerrero 5.40 1.60 5.0 4 3 3 4 3
Preston Guilmet 3.86 1.43 7.0 9 3 3 1 9
Nick Hagadone 8.10 1.70 10.0 11 10 9 6 12
Trey Haley 8.38 2.17 9.2 11 10 9 10 8
T.J. House 5.63 2.13 8.0 11 5 5 6 9
Daniel Jimenez 3.00 0.67 6.0 3 3 2 1 5
Francisco Jimenez 2.25 0.88 8.0 4 4 2 3 6
Jeremy Johnson 0.00 3.00 1.0 0 0 0 3 3
Chris Jones 4.50 1.63 8.0 11 5 4 2 7
Josh Judy 3.00 1.33 3.0 4 1 1 0 3
Alex Kaminsky 3.00 1.50 6.0 4 2 2 5 5
Nick Kirk INF. INF. 0.0 1 2 2 3 0
Corey Kluber 4.82 1.50 9.1 8 5 5 6 12
Kyle Landis 3.00 2.33 3.0 3 3 1 4 1
Matt Langwell 0.00 0.90 6.2 5 3 0 1 3
C.C. Lee 1.29 1.00 7.0 5 2 1 2 13
Lewis, Jensen 0.00 0.00 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
Joey Mahalic 4.50 1.38 8.0 6 5 4 5 3
Joe Martinez 3.00 0.83 6.0 5 2 2 0 3
Justin Masterson 1.80 1.80 5.0 6 3 1 3 7
Zach McAllister 0.00 1.00 7.0 5 0 0 2 11
T.J. McFarland 1.29 1.00 14.0 10 2 2 4 10
Adam Miller 0.00 1.00 4.0 2 0 0 2 2
Alexander Morales 0.00 0.50 2.0 1 0 0 0 2
Toru Marata 3.00 1.67 6.0 8 2 2 2 4
Takafumi Nakamura 3.38 0.94 5.1 5 2 2 0 5
Vidal Nuno 3.00 0.67 6.0 3 2 2 1 1
Matt Packer 8.18 1.91 11.0 18 10 10 3 11
Rafael Perez 0.00 0.00 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
Kyle Petter 6.75 1.75 4.0 4 3 3 3 6
Yohan Pino 3.60 1.00 5.0 5 2 2 0 5
Drew Pomeranz 2.57 0.86 14.0 5 4 4 7 23
Marty Popham 1.13 0.88 8.0 3 1 1 4 4
Bryan Price 1.29 1.00 7.0 6 1 1 1 3
Zach Putnam 8.44 1.88 5.1 7 5 5 3 9
Julio Ramirez 12.00 4.67 3.0 8 4 4 6 5
Michael Rayl 4.50 1.17 12.0 12 6 6 2 9
James Reichenbach 2.70 1.20 10.0 10 3 3 2 12
David Roberts 2.70 1.80 3.1 4 1 1 2 3
Nick Sarianides 6.35 1.59 5.2 7 5 4 2 7
Andy Shive 0.00 0.00 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
Tony Sipp 0.00 2.00 1.0 0 0 0 2 0
Carlton Smith 7.71 1.71 4.2 6 4 4 2 4
Giovanni Soto 6.43 1.57 7.0 8 5 5 3 7
Matt Speake 0.00 1.00 2.0 1 2 0 1 2
Felix Sterling 7.94 2.47 5.2 5 5 5 9 4
Bryce Stowell 2.25 2.00 4.0 2 1 1 6 3
Nate Striz 4.50 1.50 4.0 5 3 2 1 3
Tyler Sturdevant 1.29 1.43 7.0 7 1 1 3 0
Mitch Talbot 0.00 1.40 5.0 5 0 0 2 5
Josh Tomlin 0.84 0.28 10.2 2 1 1 1 9
Travis Turek 2.45 1.23 7.1 7 2 2 2 4
Kirk Wetmore 0.00 1.29 7.0 6 0 0 3 8
Alex White 3.00 0.83 12.0 8 4 4 2 11
Steven Wright 2.57 0.43 7.0 2 2 2 1 3

Do we really have a pitcher named CC Lee? Sounds like a sure Cy Young winner!

Chen Chang Lee

The Aeros 2011 Opening Day Roster includes two of the Indians Top 10 prospects according to Baseball America.

Ninth-ranked RHP Joe Gardner and 10th ranked LHP Nick Hagadone will begin the season with the Aeros. Gardner split last season between high Class-A Kinston and low Class-A Lake County, while leading the Indians organization in wins (13) and strikeouts (140), was third in innings pitched (147.1) and fourth in ERA (2.75). Hagadone, a key component of the Victor Martinez trade to Boston two years ago, owned a 2.39 ERA at Kinston before being called up to Akron to finish the season.

Gardner and Hagadone will be joined by LHP Matt Packer, who was named the 2010 Indians Pitcher of the Year by MLB.com for leading the organization in ERA (2.04) and being fifth in strikeouts (123).

Highlighting the Aeros position players is hot-hitting C Chun Chen, who batted a combined .315 in 2010 between Lake County and Kinston. The Taiwan native also accumulated 12 home runs, 37 doubles and drove in 69 runs while also making an appearance at the XM Futures Game, which took place during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Week in Anaheim, California.

Chen will be accompanied in the lineup by returning Aeros OF’s John Drennen, Tim Fedroff and Matt McBride.

Last season Drennen batted .300 with seven home runs and 58 RBI, with his average finishing tied for sixth best in the Eastern League. Both Drennen and Fedroff also finished with the best single season fielding percentage (.990) among outfielders in Aeros history, tying Brian Barton’s mark from the 2007 season.

McBride returns to Canal Park following an impressive 2010 season in which he hit 21 home runs and drove in 75 runs between Akron and Triple-A Columbus. During the month of July, McBride batted a red-hot .352 with 11 home runs and 29 RBI to garner Eastern League Player of the Month honors.

Below, please find a full roster breakdown:

Pitchers: Austin Adams, Scott Barnes, Eric Berger, Cory Burns, Kelvin De La Cruz, Joe Gardner, Connor Graham, Nick Hagadone, Matt Langwell, Chen-Chang Lee, Matt Packer, Bryan Price

Catchers: Juan Apodaca, Chun Chen

Infielders: Cristo Arnal, Kyle Bellows, Dan DeGeorge, Juan Diaz, Matt Lawson, Karexon Sanchez

Outfielders: John Drennen, Tim Fedroff, Jordan Henry, Matt McBride, Donnie Webb

Lineup should be something like:

1. Jordan Henry CF singles, walks, steals, good defensive CF
2. Tim Fedroff LF hasn't shown much
3. John Drennan RF 2nd round pick had his best season in 2010 but not enough power or walks
4. Matt McBride 1B lots of power, not enough walks, way too old to be a prospect
5. Chun Chen C had a great spring following a breakout season in Class A: can he catch?
6. Kyle Bellows 3B good defensive 3B, can he get his power back?
7. Juan Diaz SS he's supposed to be a good defensive SS and can hit some, but BA overlooked him
8. Donnie Webb DH career minor leaguer
9. Karexon Sanchez 2B K-Rex reaches AA at last, he has power and he steals but K's too much

Overall there's some good defense and a pretty good group of hitters, not many prospects

Rotation:

RH Joe Gardner, had breakout 2010, is a serious prospect
LH Kelvin de la Cruz, had a poor 2010 recovery from surgery in 2009, was a top prospect
LH Matt Packer had a great 2010, prospect status still uncertain
LH Scott Barnes, what we got for Ryan Garko, remains startlingly inconsistent, can pitch great
RH Austin Adams, little guy throws very hard, many think he'd move up quicker as reliver

Bullpen:

Eric Berger walks too many
Cory Burns successful Class A closer
Connor Graham got him for Betancourt, third year at Akron
Nick Hagadone, lefty, inconsistent command, not nearly what we thought we got for Victor
Matt Langwell, moves up the ladder one level a year
Chen-Chang Lee, very highly regarded
Bryan Price, high RedSox draftee, got him for Victor too, lousy command

he 2011 Kinston Indians roster is highlighted by first round draft pick, Drew Pomeranz. Pomeranz, a left-handed pitcher, starred at the University of Mississippi while earning SEC pitcher of the year honors in 2010. He was selected by Cleveland with the 5th overall pick in the 2010 draft. Baseball America rates Pomeranz as the No. 4 prospect in the organization.

In addition to his SEC honors, Pomeranz was a semifinalist for the College Baseball Foundation's National Pitcher of the Year award and finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, presented by USA baseball annually to the best amateur baseball player in America. Pomeranz led the SEC in strikeouts (139) and ERA (2.24) while tallying nine wins in helping his Ole Miss squad advance to its eighth consecutive NCAA Regional Tournament. His 139 strikeouts rank second in school history, giving him two of the top five spots after posting 124 as a sophomore. He is at the top of the school's career strikeout list with 344 and despite playing only three years, ranks in the top ten in career wins and starts.

Kinston's roster includes two more players that Baseball America ranks among the top 30 prospects in the Indians organization. Left-hander T.J. House is a name K-Tribe fans should remember. He is the 14th ranked farmhand in the Cleveland system and posted an the eighth best ERA in the Carolina League last season (3.91) while eating up nearly 136 innings last year with Kinston. The 21-year-old Mississippi native is the model of consistency having started 26 games in each of his first two professional seasons. House was drafted by Cleveland out of high school in the 16th round of the 2008 draft.

Tyler Holt leads the position players entering his second season with the Cleveland organization. Ranked as the 28th most promising Cleveland prospect, Holt was instrumental to the recent success of the Florida State University Baseball program taking home multiple All-American honors and winning a Gold Glove for his outstanding play in centerfield. Holt was an offensive standout while playing with Team USA in 2009 batting .379 and adding 19 stolen bases in 21 attempts. Holt transitioned well to the professional game last season managing to get on base at a .409 clip in 22 games with Lake County.

Pitcher T.J McFarland leads a group of 14 players who return after spending at least part of the 2010 season with Kinston. McFarland was a Carolina League All-Star in 2010 who's 3.13 ERA ranked fourth. He finished third among all Indians farmhands with 11 wins, tied for second in the league. Outfielder Bo Greenwell also returns to the K-Tribe roster. Greenwell, the son of former MLB All-Star Mike Greenwell, hit .292 in 65 games last season for Kinston. Other K-Tribers returning from last season playoff team include: Abner Abreu, Brett Brach, Bo Greenwell, Chris Jones, Joey Mahalic, Doug Pickens, Marty Popham, Ronald Rivas, Tyler Sturdevant, Jeremie Tice, Travis Turek and Justin Toole.

Your first chance to see the K-Tribe is Wednesday when the Indians take on Lenoir Community College in an exhibition contest at 6:30 pm at Historic Grainger Stadium. The K-Tribe begins a six-game homestand with Opening Day on Friday, April 8th at 6:30 pm against the Winston-Salem Dash. Call 1-800-334-5467, stop by the K-Tribe offices or go to www.kinstonindians.com for tickets.

I was under the impression that they were still going give Hagadone another shot in the rotation.

Has that changed?.

I might be wrong with my Aeros predicted rotation, although I don't know who among the 5 starters I've projected might relieve. Perhaps they'll do "piggyback" starters with Hagadone and maybe Adams or Barnes?

Captains roster. Old bad group of OFs. Old for Low A college pitchers.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/statisti ... 053&y=2011

Final season of Kinston Indians. This team may be younger than the Captains. Includes 19-year-old Giovanny Soto (pickup for Peralta) in the rotation, I suppose.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/statisti ... 100&y=2011