Cleveland Sports Forum

Aeros roster. It looks like Matt Lawson, acquired for Laffey, will be 2nd baseman. McBride is listed as an OF, but with Mills out there's no one else to play 1st.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/statisti ... 019&y=2011

And the Clippers. Only a handful of minor league veterans here, basically the catchers and Joe Martinez and Bubba Bell. Although Jordan Brown is becoming an old man for the minors by now.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/statisti ... 060&y=2011

Opening Day
Aeros armed to make pitch to contend April 06,2011 10:18 PM GMT Stephanie Storm Beacon Journal Publishing Co. Copyright © 2011 Beacon Journal Publishing Co. Inc and Black Press. All Rights Reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the express written consent of the Akron Beacon Journal is expressly prohibited. Aeros armed to make pitch to contend

By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer

POSTED: 06:18 p.m. EDT, Apr 06, 2011

The Aeros have plenty of reasons to feel good about the players who will be taking the field tonight in the season opener against the Binghamton Mets at Canal Park.

It helps that the roster includes two of the Indians' top-10 prospects according to Baseball America. Right-handed starting pitcher Joe Gardner is ranked ninth and left-handed reliever Nick Hagadone is 10th.

Those two should help the pitching staff carry the Aeros, at least early in the season until the hitters have time to catch up.

Gardner is a Double-A rookie, but the success he enjoyed last season provides reason for optimism. Gardner split last season between low Class-A Lake County and high Class-A Kinston, leading the organization in wins (13) and strikeouts (140). He was third in innings pitched (147.1) and fourth in ERA (2.75).

''Last season I pitched to contact, ate up a lot of innings and got some strikeouts here and there,'' said Gardner, the Tribe's third pick in the 2009 draft.

Hagadone was a key component in the trade that sent Victor Martinez to the Boston Red Sox two years ago. He had a 2.39 ERA at Kinston before being called up to finish the season with the Aeros. It was his first full season in the Indians' organization. Still looking to find consistency after undergoing left elbow reconstructive surgery in 2008 while in the Red Sox system, Hagadone was converted to a reliever with the Aeros as he battled control issues.

''This is another year for Nick,'' Aeros manager Chris Tremie said. ''In spring training he was working on a lot of things. He's a guy with a lot of talent, a good fastball and good off-speed pitches. He's continuing to work on what he needs to do, and he's made some progress.''

Gardner and Hagadone will be joined by left-hander 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).

Left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz will get the start tonight, followed by Gardner on Friday, left-hander Scott Barnes on Saturday, right-hander Austin Adams on Sunday and Packer on Monday.

''There's three lefties in there,'' Tremie said. ''And Barnes and De La Cruz were here last year, and Packer a little bit. Then there's Gardner and Adams, so we're looking at a pretty good five right there and expecting good things from all of them.''

Although a majority of the relievers have Double-A experience, one without will handle the demands that come with closing games. Right-hander Cory Burns led the farm system in saves (42) and was second in appearances (54) after pitching successfully at Lake County and Kinston last season.

''He's a treat to watch pitch,'' pitching coach Tony Arnold said. ''He's got a different type of a windup that you've probably not seen before. Some people describe him as looking like a tornado.''

An offensive player to watch is catcher Chun Chen, who batted a combined .315 between Lake County and Kinston in 2010. A native of Taiwan, Chen had 12 home runs, 37 doubles and drove in 69 runs. He played in the XM Futures Game, which took place during Major League Baseball's All-Star Week in Anaheim, Calif.

''He's done very well for himself over the last couple of years,'' said Tremie, who spent last season serving as the Indians' roving catching coordinator. ''He's really gotten better at all parts of his game. Last year he had the opportunity to go to Lake County where at the beginning [he] was splitting time catching and DH-ing a lot.

''But he improved over the course of the season both offensively and defensively and obviously had a very good offensive year. Then he moved up to Kinston and continued that.''

Chen is accompanied in the lineup by returning Aeros outfielders John Drennen and Tim Fedroff along with first baseman 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. 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 after an impressive 2010 season in which he hit 21 home runs and drove in 75 runs between the Aeros and Triple-A Columbus. McBride batted .352 in July with 11 home runs and 29 RBI to garner Eastern League Player of the Month honors.

New position players include backup catcher Juan Apodaca, infielders Kyle Bellows, Dan DeGeorge, Juan Diaz, Matt Lawson and Karexon Sanchez and outfielder Donnie Webb.

''I think we're a well-rounded club,'' Tremie said. ''I think our starting pitching is very strong.

''We've also got some power arms in the bullpen that have some experience here already, which could prove to be very beneficial.

''And we have a good group of position players that play really good defense and have some good offensive potential.''

BA posts its top prospects by position among all minor leaguers today. Our guys feature as follows:

3rd Base: Chisenhall is #2
2nd Base: Kipnis is #3
CF: Levon Washington is #15
RH Starter: Alex White is #16
LH Starter: Drew Pomeranz is #9
Reliever: Jason Knapp is #6 ("but still could be a starter"
1st base: Beau Mills is #286

Columbus Akron and Lake County are all on the field tonight. Huff on the hill for the Clippers, de la Cruz for Akron, one inning in the books both places. Grady Sizemore is the Aero CF. Captains off to an early 7-2 lead after 3. Levisky, Aguillar and Ursehla each a double and 2bi. Aguillar and Urshela each have a second hit, too. Michael Goodnight started and the 2 runs were due to 3 errors, 2 of them by SS Nick Bartolone who's keeping the position only until Tony Wolters is cleared to play and the other by Carlos Moncrief who will yield center to Levon Washington, soon I hope.

BA's Notable Lines of the Day Resumes:

CLE AAA Phelps, Cord DH 3 1 3 2 1.000 2B (1), 3B (1), CS (1), PO (1)
CLE LoA Urshela, Giovanny 3B 4 2 2 3 .500 2B (1)

CLE AA De La Cruz, Kelvin 5 1 1 1 4 7 1.80 L (0-1)
CLE AA Hagadone, Nick 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.00
CLE AAA Putnam, Zach 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 0.00
CLE AAA Todd, Jess 0.2 1 3 3 3 0 40.50

Nice to see De La Cruz with a line that (except for the walks). He started 2009 with 14 1-run innings before he was shut down for surgery.

Aeros lose the opener 1-0. obviously that means good pitching, and no hitting.

(Midland, MI)- On opening day, Lake County put together an all-around team performance for a big 13-3 win over Great Lakes. The offense spotted Mike Goodnight four runs and that is all he needed as the Captains never took their foot of the pedal.

Nick Bartolone kicked the season off with a lead off base hit. Carlos Moncrief single put runners on the corners to set the table for the middle of the order. Giovanny Urshela ripped a double to left center driving in the game's first run. Jesus Aguilar showed some pop with a two-run double to left. Lake County capped off their four run first inning as Aguilar scored on a Casio Grider error at second off the bat of Alex Lavisky.

The Captains kept the offense going in the second frame. Urshela drove in his second of three runs with an RBI single scoring Argenis Martinez who reached on a leadoff walk. With two on, and two outs, Lavisky drove in a pair with a double to leftfield for his first professional RBI to make it 7-0.

The Loons cashed in on a few errors committed by Lake County in the third inning to cut the lead to 7-2, both runs unearned.

In the fourth, Alex Monsalve collected his first hit and RBI of the season with a single, scoring Aguilar making it 8-2, who was hit by a pitch.

The Captains produced another two-out run in the seventh inning with a RBI single by Martinez scoring Anthony Gallas for a 9-3 lead.

The wheels just came off the Loons bullpen in the ninth, as Lake County batted around using two hits, three walks, a hit batter, and three wild pitches to put up another four run inning to seal a 13-3 victory over Great Lakes.

Captains starter Goodnight (1-0) tossed a dandy, going five innings allowing two runs, both unearned for his first victory of the season. Goodnight allowed just one hit walking only one and striking out three. J.D. Reichenbach worked three innings in relief walking a run on two hits, walking and striking out a pair. Dale Dickerson worked a scoreless ninth giving up one hit and striking out two. Red Patterson (0-1) suffered the loss for the Loons, allowing seven runs on seven hits in two innings of work.

Lake County and Great Lakes will resume their four game series Friday night at Dow Diamond at 6:05PM. On the mound for the Captains is LHP Mike Rayl (0-0), matched up against Loons' RHP Zach Lee (0-0). The game can be heard on AM 1330 WELW, ESPN 970 WFUN and on the internet at captainsbaseball.com.

Captains box. 6 players with 2 hits apiece.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/statisti ... 10407&gc=1

Clippers win 4-3. David Huff 6 shutout innings but marginal control. Chisenhall with a double and 2 bi in his AAA debut. Phelps single, double, triple as DH>

http://www.baseballamerica.com/statisti ... 10407&gc=1

By Jim Massie

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

INDIANAPOLIS - What looked like a simple opening win for the Clippers last night in Victory Field somehow worked its way into the category that includes chewed fingernails.

In the end, reliever Jensen Lewis had to coax a double-play grounder from Pedro Ciriaco with two on and one out in the ninth inning to preserve a 4-3 victory over the Indianapolis Indians in front of 8,751 fans.

"Jensen made the pitch he needed, and we were able to turn it," manager Mike Sarbaugh said. "Ciriaco, with the speed he has, we needed a ball that was hit firmly to be able to turn two."

The wild ending nearly took the luster off a fine starting performance by David Huff and a big night by designated hitter Cord Phelps.

Huff (1-0) checked the Indians on three hits over six shutout innings. Phelps tripled, doubled, singled and drove in two runs.

"Phelps had a real good night at the plate," Sarbaugh said. "I don't know if he has DH'd much in his career.

"I just told David Huff that his breaking ball was very good tonight. He got some strikeouts on it, and he's going to need to do that. Hopefully, he can build off that."

Sarbaugh also noted a couple of misadventures that occurred on the bases.

"We've got some things we need to tighten up," he said.

In the third, Luis Valbuena led off with a bunt single, and Brian Burres (0-1) walked Luke Carlin. With Ezequiel Carrera at the plate, Indians catcher Dusty Brown picked a leaning Valbuena off second base.

Phelps, however, saved the rally with a triple to left-center that gave the Clippers a 1-0 lead.

The fifth inning produced an eerily similar situation. This time Valbuena walked and Carlin singled. Carrera came to the plate again and Valbuena broke for third on the first pitch. He was out on the throw from Brown by 10 feet.

Phelps came to the rescue again by doubling into the left-field corner to score Carlin to make it 2-0.

"I don't know if my approach changed too much because of the plays that happened before," Phelps said. "As a hitter, you want to hit a ball hard somewhere. Luckily, I hit it hard into a spot where they weren't playing and we were able to score.

"I haven't been a DH too much. I don't know how exactly my role is going to be this year. But if I have to DH, I'll DH. I'll do anything I can."

The Clippers appeared to take control of the game in the seventh against reliever Cesar Valdez. Carrera and Phelps opened the inning with back-to-back singles.

Lonnie Chisenhall then doubled into the right-field corner. Carrera and Phelps scored easily, but Chisenhall was caught trying to stretch the double into a triple.

The Clippers' Jess Todd relieved to start the seventh and walked Chase D'Arnaud and Josh Harrison to jump-start a rally.

When Brown bounced into a force play at second, D'Arnaud caught the Clippers defense flatfooted. He didn't stop running and beat a high throw from Valbuena home to break up the shutout.

Todd then walked Brian Friday. Gorkys Hernandez rifled a triple into the right-center field gap to cut the deficit to 4-3. But that was as close at the Indians could make it.

Very impressive opening day on the bases by Valbuena.

Indians open today against Dash
Comments 0
Kinston begins final year of affiliation
April 08, 2011 12:00 AM
David Hall
Staff Writer
Probable opening day lineup:

The Kinston Indians open their 25th and final season as a Cleveland Indians affiliate today at 6:30 p.m. against the Winston-Salem Dash at Grainger Stadium. Here is Kinston’s projected opening day lineup:



RF Tyler Holt

LF Bo Greenwell

SS Casey Frawley

DH Chase Burnette

CF Abner Abreu

3B Adam Abraham

C Roberto Perez

1B Jeremie Tice

2B Ronald Rivas



SP: LHP Drew Pomeranz

Since facing the Oakland A’s and the Colorado Rockies in major league camp early last month, Drew Pomeranz has competed against just one other team besides his own.

Pomeranz made one start against up-and-coming Cincinnati Reds players after an expected reassignment to minor league camp. Otherwise, the only batters he faced were wearing Indians uniforms.

Needless to say, the blue-chip left-hander is glad to see today finally arrive.

“I’m pretty excited to get out there and see a different group of guys to throw to,” he said.

Pomeranz, Cleveland’s top draft pick last June, gets the ball when the Kinston Indians open the season today at 6:30 p.m. against the Winston-Salem Dash at Grainger Stadium.

The game is the first in the final season of Kinston’s 25-year affiliation with the Tribe. The team, which was sold to Carolina Mudcats owner Steve Bryant in December, will move to Zebulon after the 2011 season.

But first, there’s the matter of at least 140 more games. The Indians, who finished 73-67 last season and made the playoffs for the first time in three years, are ready to turn on the lights after weeks of no-frills spring training games under the Arizona sun.

“That’s the main reason why we’re ready for opening day,” said outfielder Bo Greenwell, one of 14 players returning from last year’s team. “Not only are we ready for the real thing, but we’re ready to get out in front of fans. We’re athletes, and we thrive off of the pressure and the fans. That’s what we do best.”

What Pomeranz does best is blow upper-90s fastballs by hitters while keeping them off-balance with an unusual curveball.

The fifth overall pick out of Ole Miss, Pomeranz throws his breaking ball by digging his index finger into the ball and flicking it forward upon release. The result is a 12-6 tumbling break with action similar to a splitter.

Pomeranz, who will work on developing a changeup and learning the ins and outs of pro ball while with the K-Tribe, doesn’t turn his wrist and arm when he throws the pitch.

“It should help where it’s not going to hurt his arm down the road,” said first-year pitching coach Mickey Callaway, “and it goes straight down.”

The first pitch Pomeranz throws today will be his first official offering as a professional. He signed for $2.65 million at the Aug. 16 deadline and did not play last season.

After pitching in the Indians’ fall instructional league, he was invited to major league camp, where he tossed three scoreless innings with five strikeouts in two appearances.

One of the highlights, he said, was striking out Oakland veteran Hideki Matsui with a fastball, a fact that didn’t register with him until he walked off the mound.

“I was kind of like, ‘That was kind of weird,’ ” Pomeranz recalled. “You grow up watching people like Hideki Matsui, and I just struck him out. It’s weird.”

Pomeranz, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs a solid 230 pounds, will be followed in the rotation by left-hander T.J. McFarland, right-hander Clayton Cook and lefties Giovanni Soto and T.J. House.

Returning right-handers Tyler Sturdevant and Marty Popham join righty closer Preston Guilmet as parts of a promising bullpen.

Second-year manager Aaron Holbert said the team’s mound depth should be a strength, as it was last season.

“The pitching is definitely exciting,” he said. “Once again, we have some guys that can throw the ball.”

The Dash, who knocked Kinston out of the playoffs last season, will send right-hander Terry Doyle to the mound today. They’ll follow with right-hander Andre Rienzo and left-hander Hector Santiago.

Most of the Indians’ newcomers, including Guilmet, played on low Class A Lake County’s Midwest League championship team last season.

Outfielder Tyler Holt, catcher Roberto Perez and third baseman Adam Abraham are among the five position players expected to make their high Class A debuts today.

Greenwell, who hit .292 in a 65-game stint with Kinston in the second half last year, likes what he sees when he looks at the roster.

“This is the kind of guys that you want to see on a club,” he said. “We’ve got hitting, we’ve got defense, we’ve got the ’pen to go with our starting pitchers and a solid closer. You couldn’t ask for a better club to start out with.”

Abreu is new to CF. I'm counting on (hoping) for a breakout for Abner who slumped badly last year, losing almost all of his HR power but retaining his high strikeout rate.