Cleveland Sports Forum

Conor Glassey at Baseball America states who he thinks the Tribe should take with their first round pick in the upcoming amateur draft:


8. INDIANS (Conor): I was tempted to take Francisco Lindor in this spot. He would fit perfectly into a Cleveland system bereft of shortstop prospects, but the Tribe hasn't used a true first-round pick on a high school player since 2001, when they selected righthander Dan Denham out of Deer Valley (Calif.) HS. So I'm going with UCLA righthander Trevor Bauer. The Indians probably still imagine what things would be like if they had signed Tim Lincecum as a draft-eligible sophomore in 2005, Bauer, who's reminiscent of Lincecum, can help remedy that.

Another very good start by Alex White except for one thing. 5 2/3 innings, only 1 run, 5 hits, 2 walks, and an impressive 8K. Why did he exit so early? He'd thrown 101 pitches.

He gets the win in the opener of two for Clippers. Jordan Brown led the offense with 2 doubles. Chad Huffman 2 singles. Chis, Phelps and Kipnis combine for 0-7

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x&did=milb

Pomeranz went a quick 3 innings, fanned 5, allowed a solo homer and left.

Top prospects at work at all our levels. Kyle Blair on the hill for the Captains. Like Pomeranz he's gone 3 and allowed 1 run on a solo homer but no sign he's gone for the night. 5th homer and RBI's 17 and 18 for Jesus Aguillar. If he were a Yankee in Class A he'd now be projected to be the next Albert Pujols.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x_ftwafx_1

I think Pomeranz is moving up...

Apparently he's tightening up, but it's his leg, not his arm so probably not a big deal. See BA comment below:

AAA Judy, Josh 1 0 0 0 0 1 3.24 Sv (2)
AAA Todd, Jess 1.1 3 2 2 3 1 12.38
AAA White, Alex 5.2 5 1 1 2 8 1.90 W (1-0)
HiA Pomeranz, Drew 3 3 1 1 0 5 2.00 Left game with tight hamstring
LoA Blair, Kyle 5 5 1 1 0 4 2.84 W (2-0)

Clippers win their nightcap 6-5 over Indianapolis. Jordan Brown with a grand slam, Valbuena 2 hits. Phelps and Kipnis hitless. So is Indy's Andy Marte, who's hitting 173.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x&did=milb

After Pomeranz left the Kinston bullpen gave it away, Murata let in 4 in 2 innings for the loss 7-3 final. Tyler Holt, perhaps the only prospect among the position players with a double, walk and 9th steal. But even his OPS is in 730's.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... a_kinafa_1

Lake County eakes out a 2-1 win. After K Blair's solid 5 innings, Francisco Jiminez added 3 shutout innings and Ehlert one for his 4th save. The offense was the Aguiillar 2 run homer, his 5th

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x_ftwafx_1

NOTE to the Roman Pena fan club. Now 24 years old plus, Pena has a job with the enemy Great Lake Loons in Low A after a few years with Kinston.

Pomeranz leaves start with injury
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High-profile lefty tweaks hamstring
April 26, 2011 1:21 AM
David Hall

Kinston Indians left-hander Drew Pomeranz left his start against Salem on Monday after three innings with tightness in his right hamstring.

The move was precautionary, manager Aaron Holbert said, and Pomeranz does not expect to miss his next start.

The fifth overall pick in the 2010 draft by the parent Cleveland Indians, Pomeranz said he “tweaked” the hamstring when his front leg landed on the third pitch of the game, an 0-2 curveball that struck out leadoff man Peter Hissey.

Pomeranz received treatment from Kinston trainer Jeremy Heller and expected a full, quick recovery.

“It feels like a bad cramp that won’t go away,” Pomeranz said, adding that he had the same injury once in college. “(Heller) already rubbed on it and iced it, and it already feels better.

“It’s almost like a violent cramp. It kind of just hangs in there. Last time it happened to me, it went away real quick. I didn’t even (treat) it last time. This time, I’m actually doing stuff to it.”

The 6-foot-5-inch Pomeranz, who was signed out of Ole Miss for $2.65 million and features an electric mid-90s fastball, allowed an earned run on three hits in three innings before he was lifted, upping his ERA from 1.80 to 2.00. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.

After an 0-1 strike to Shannon Wilkerson — Salem’s No. 2 hitter — in the first, Pomeranz stepped off the mound to the third base side. Holbert and Heller came out for a brief visit before Pomeranz threw two warmup pitches and deemed the leg ready to go.

After allowing the first homer of his career, a solo shot by Reynaldo Rodriguez in the second, Pomeranz caught Kolbrin Vitek looking at a full-count fastball to end the third and didn’t return.

Pomeranz said the injury was limiting what he could do.

“I tried to fight it for a couple of innings, and I couldn’t get the ball inside to a righty because I wasn’t keeping my front side stiff enough,” he said. “I tried to throw it in, and it would either cut into the dirt or shoot back to the middle. I told them after the third inning it’s probably best (to leave) so I don’t hurt my shoulder or anything, because I had to compensate for it a little bit.”

The decision was a no-brainer for Holbert, who doesn’t believe the injury is serious.

“We’re going to treat it as a cramp,” Holbert said. “We have to be smart with something like that, especially with him. The best thing was to get him out of there.”

Pomeranz has no decisions, 27 strikeouts and five walks through his first four pro starts. Opponents are hitting .150 against him.

The Red Sox went on to win the game, 7-3.

Mental errors costly for K-Tribe
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Pomeranz leaves early in sloppy loss
April 26, 2011 1:20 AM
David Hall

Kinston Indians manager Aaron Holbert saw the good, the bad and the ugly in his team’s performance on Monday.

Finding the good required a thorough search.

Reynaldo Rodriguez homered and drove in four runs to lift Salem to a 7-3 series-opening victory over the fundamentally sloppy K-Tribe at Grainger Stadium.

Rodriguez hit a three-run double in the fifth inning to give the Red Sox a 5-1 lead that was never seriously threatened.

The Indians (6-11) finished with no actual errors, instead playing the kind of game that might seem clean to the casual fan but would make a purist cringe.

They had two baserunners in rundowns on the same play but failed to record an out; they failed to cover second base on what should’ve been a third-inning single, resulting in a rare ground ball double up the middle; they had a runner picked off first so badly that he was called safe; and they misplayed an infield popup, leading to a ninth-inning run.

In short, the Indians played at times like they didn’t have spring training this year.

“Wow,” Holbert said. “It was extremely ugly. Let’s not try to sugarcoat it. The sad thing about it: You look up at the scoreboard and it’s a 7-3 game, no errors on both sides. And you think, ‘Wow, this team must’ve just outslugged them. They played some good defense.’ That’s not what it was at all. We gave them tons of outs.”

Kinston did rally in the ninth, pushing across a run on Greg Folgia’s RBI single with one out.

But alas, Roberto Perez was thrown out at third on the play, sending Holbert to his knees in the third base coach’s box and further deflating his team.

“Just one of them nights, I guess,” K-Tribe left fielder Bo Greenwell said. “I don’t even know, really, what to say.”

To make matters worse, left-hander Drew Pomeranz, the parent Cleveland Indians’ top draft pick last June, left the game with hamstring tightness in his right leg after three innings in his fourth professional start.

The move, Holbert said, was precautionary, and Pomeranz said the leg already felt better after treatment. He does not expect to miss his next start.

Missing Monday’s might not have been a bad idea.

The antics began in the third when, with Salem leading 1-0 behind Rodriguez’ second-inning homer, Red Sox leadoff man Peter Hissey rolled a grounder up the middle off Pomeranz.

Second baseman Ronald Rivas broke toward first base and failed to cover second on the throw in to the infield, and Hissey, alertly, motored in with an odd double.

In the fourth, Kinston’s Justin Toole walked and was picked off first by Red Sox starter Chris Hernandez. But Toole was hung out by such a wide margin that he wasn’t there when the tag was applied and managed to get back safely.

It got worse. In the fifth, after Kinston had tied it on Casey Frawley’s fourth-inning infield single, Salem’s Vladimir Frias singled with a man on second. The Indians had both runners hung up between bases on the corners, but both made it back safely.

The Red Sox (12-4) then took a 2-1 lead on Shannon Wilkerson’s sacrifice fly and reloaded the bags before Rodriguez cleared them with a double to left center.

Rodriguez went three-quarters of the way to third on the play and scurried easily back to second, which again went uncovered.

The Red Sox scored their final run in the ninth when, with a man on second and two outs, Ronald Bermudez hit a routine pop fly near the bag at first. Kinston first baseman Doug Pickens camped under it but pulled his mitt back as Bermudez and the ball arrived at the same time, resulting in a 90-foot RBI single.

Holbert, whose team has had to scrap for runs recently, said he was most upset by Hissey’s double up the middle, though it had plenty of competition.

“There was definitely some strangeness tonight,” Holbert said.

“This is all simple, fundamental, basic baseball. We just have to do better at it. We made a lot of critical, crucial mistakes tonight that have to be cleaned up.”

Jeremiah Bayer (2-0), a right-hander, earned the win in three innings of relief.

Toru Morata (0-1) allowed four earned runs in two innings to take the loss.

Salem lefty Cesar Cabral pitched two innings to earn his fourth save.

Rodriguez, a Colombian free agent signee by the Boston Red Sox, entered the game hitting .377, good for third in the Carolina League.

He said that while the Red Sox took what the hosts gave them Monday, he expects Kinston to bounce back.

“They’ve got a good team,” said Rodriguez, who finished 3-for-5. “Tomorrow is another day.”

Asked whether the game offered anything positive for his club, Holbert scoured the box score before citing the team’s nine hits, some heads-up baserunning by Tyler Holt and a couple of good throws from Perez, the catcher.

“A couple positives, but there were definitely a lot of negatives,” Holbert said. “No doubt about it.”



BUNTS: Holt stole his league-leading ninth base. .... The announced attendance was 1,230. ... Before the game, Kinston right-handed reliever Joey Mahalic was transferred to short-season Mahoning Valley. There was no corresponding roster move. Mahalic, 22, was 0-0 with an 18.00 ERA in three appearances out of Kinston’s bullpen.

They’ve got a good team,” said Rodriguez, who finished 3-for-5. “Tomorrow is another day.”

Nice of him to say, but not really true. Although he's right on the second part: today is another day.

Nick Hagadone is the Indians Minor League POW:

http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/video/ ... 426MiLBpow

He's having a great start and should be in Columbus very soon. He's too old, and now also too good, for the Eastern League.