System moves recently, including a big one today..

RHP Brock Hartson on the DL in Lynchburg (oblique)

RHP Nick Pasquale sent down from Akron to Lynchburg

RHP Shane Bieber promoted from Lynchburg to Akron

Release C Jeremy Lucas

RHP Luis Jimenez placed on DL at Lake County

RHP Cesar Ventura promoted from Mahoning Valley to Lake County

Former 5th round pick LHP Sean Brady has finished his rehab stint in AZL and has been actived at Lake County.

INF Taylor Murphy rehab AZL

They played early in Dominican today. DSL Tribe lose 2-1 to Rays. Big Bear Mike Garcia pitched well once again. 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. ... J.Lopez 0-4. ... Cespedes 1-4 a triple. ... Yainer D 0-3.

DSL Tribe/Brewers lost 2-0 to Astros. ... Wilmer Mejia 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. ... E.Perez 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. ...

UD's Charlotte team beat the piss out of our Clippers 10-4 tonight. ... Morimando's hot streak is officially over. Another rough night, like 3 in a row now. 6 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. ... Naquin 2-4. ... Glorious Yandy Diaz had night off.

Akron lost nig tonight too, to Binghamton, 9-3. ... Esparza was wild and not good. 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 3 K, and threw one into the press box. ... Allen, Papi, and Bradley were all 0-4. ... Chang 1-4 with triple.

Hillcats beat the Keys tonight 6-3. ... Dominic DeMasi has come out of nowhere to pitch very well of late. 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K tonight. He's only allowed 2 earned runs in 15 innings his last 3 games started since being promoted from the bullpen. He's only allowed 9 runs in his last 11 games total bouncing back and forth between rotation and pen. ... Willi Castro 2-4 with a homer. Just no slowing this kid down. ... Jodd Carter 1-3.

Lake County beat Clinton 8-6. ... Aiken shaky again, although not quite as wild. I read he only hit a popcorn vendor tonight. 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. ... Dalbert Siri dominate again out of pen. 1 shutout inning striking out the side. ... Longo 1-5. .. Chu 1-4. ... Ice 4-4 with a homer. Who pissed him off?

Scrappers beat Spikes 5-1. ... Draft pick James Karinchak was pretty darn good. 3 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. ... Felix Tati then came in and pitched 5 shutout innings. ... Jones 2-4 with double. ... Cantu 2-5. ... Berardi 2-5. ... Lucas 2-2.

AZL Indians lost to ChiSox 7-4. ... Matt Turner, recent draft pick out of a high school in Miami, started. 2.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. ... Freeman, Holmes, and Cooper all 1-4. ... Grant 1-3 with walk and a SB.

Hillbilly wrote:UD's Charlotte team beat the piss out of our Clippers 10-4 tonight. ... Morimando's hot streak is officially over. Another rough night, like 3 in a row now. 6 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. ... Naquin 2-4. ... Glorious Yandy Diaz had night off.

Akron lost nig tonight too, to Binghamton, 9-3. ... Esparza was wild and not good. 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 3 K, and threw one into the press box. ... Allen, Papi, and Bradley were all 0-4. ... Chang 1-4 with triple.

Hillcats beat the Keys tonight 6-3. ... Dominic DeMasi has come out of nowhere to pitch very well of late. 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K tonight. He's only allowed 2 earned runs in 15 in his last 3 games started since being promoted from the bullpen. He's only allowed 9 runs in his last 11 games total bouncing back and forth between rotation and pen. ... Willi Castro 2-4 with a homer. Just no slowing this kid down. ... Jodd Carter 1-3.

Lake County beat Clinton 8-6. ... Aiken shaky again, although not quite as wild. I read he only hit a popcorn vendor tonight. 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. ... Dalbert Siri dominate again out of pen. 1 shutout inning striking out the side. ... Longo 1-5. .. Chu 1-4. ... Ice 4-4 with a homer. Who pissed him off?

Scrappers beat Spikes 5-1. ... Draft pick James Karinchak was pretty darn good. 3 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. ... Felix Tati then came in and pitched 5 shutout innings. ... Jones 2-4 with double. ... Cantu 2-5. ... Berardi 2-5. ... Lucas 2-2.

AZL Indians lost to ChiSox 7-4. ... Matt Turner, recent draft pick out of a high school in Miami, started. 2.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. ... Freeman, Holmes, and Cooper all 1-4. ... Grant 1-3 with walk and a SB.

I was at the game last KNIGHT! Hated to see our boys lose. Naquin looked good, I told him he needed to get back to Cleveland!

I wish they'd call him up! He has nothing left to prove at Columbus. He should be playing every day in majors and learning how to make adjustments.

Just criminal he and Yandy both aren't with big club. Both have great future ahead of them.

Back from the beautiful Swiss mountains. I was able to follow the scores on my phone: with the time difference games would start at 1 a.m. my time and the west coast games would still be going when I woke up. Noticed a lot of good baseball, with McKenzie continuing to cement himself as one of the top pitches in the minors, I'd like to see him make it up to Akron for his 20th birthday in a week or two. Bieber with his second level promotion of the season, that's awfully. I am excited to see Juan Hillman really turning things around in the past month. Merryweather appears to be on a pitch limit after his injury but I think he's gone 8 1/3 scoreless on his return. Plesac sure looks good in Mahoning Valley. Aiken has been getting better although his success is certainly in real doubt.

BA did midseason Top 10 updates and the most surprising comment was on Chang --- they said that despite his batting average he is probably the most improved prospect among our top guys, he has made dramatic improvements in his defense while at the same time really crushing things whenever he makes contact. They didn't really re-rank our Top 10, just made a few tweaks, dumping Aiken out, moving others up a spot or two. the most interesting was the "most improved" and "biggest dropoff" categories.

Hillbilly noted Chu's impressive 35% extra base hit percentage. Even more amazing is Eric Haase who while backing up Mejia has 38 extra base hits vs. 28 singles; and in his career just under half his hits are for extra bases: 204 of 411. Maybe he's a lousy defender? but a bat like that could find a home although more likely in the NL where he could be a handy pinch hitter.

I share responsibility for doing in Morimando. I had urged bringing him up to test his ability to replace Bauer and/or Tomlin and since then he;s pitched three lousy games.

thanks for doing all the work HB. I'll do my share for the next month until I go watch my son get married. By Mid-August perhaps some of these prospects will have been dealt. I guess I'd consider only Mejia and McK as untouchable. There could be a useful package with good hitting SSs [Chang and Castro], capable if not No. 1 starters [Bieber, Merryweather], hitting machine Yandy D, etc.

You made some comments on Dominic DeMasi who has suddenly become a starter, with some success. Matt Whitehouse had a decent debut if I recall maybe 3 years ago with the Scrappers; surgery shut him down and he returned as a reliever, until he also went back into a starting role, with the Ducks, he's keeping his ERA under 4, another of those reliable but not dominant pitchers, probably not at the level of Bieber, Civale, Hillman; but if he's still regaining strength he could be a late bloomer.

BA midseason reports:


1. Francisco Mejia, C
Double-A Akron Age: 21

Mejia rocketed up the Indians’ ranks the past two years and the Eastern League isn’t proving to be a challenge either. He is sustaining an excellent batting average while three years younger than his competition, and his power is coming out with 10 home runs in half a season already. At this point, Mejia is simply refining the more subtle skills that come with catching so he can stick behind the plate, and he is now able to hold conversations in English. Already the Indians catcher of the future, it doesn’t figure to be long until Cleveland sees Mejia as the backstop of the present.

He's ranked the No. 1 catching prospect on all lists I've seen.

2. Triston McKenzie, RHP
High Class A Lynchburg
Age: 19

The slender righthander leads the Carolina League in strikeouts as a 19-year-old and is showing plenty of present stuff. While many debate his frame and whether he’ll add enough strength to hold velocity deep into games, McKenzie already sits comfortably in the low 90s with great feel for the zone and an above-average-to-plus curveball, and he’s holding strong near the 100-inning mark.

He's in the top 20 on milb.com midseason Top 100 I read over coffee in Lucerne

. Bradley Zimmer, OF
Cleveland
Age: 24

Zimmer surfaced in the majors after a brief stint in Triple-A Columbus and immediately showcased himself as the most promising center fielder on the Indians’ roster. He’s already eclipsed the performance of every other Indians outfielder, is one of the fastest runners in the game and is playing exceptional defense in center field, cementing his status as the Indians center fielder for years to come.

if he hasn't lost his rookie status yet, he will soon. He and Frazier might both turn out to be very fine big league outfielders.

4. Bobby Bradley, 1B
Double-A Akron
Age: 21

The hefty slugger has raised his stock by whittling his strikeout rate down more than six percentage points and showing vastly improved defense at first base. Bradley will always be known for his 70-grade raw power, but the rest of his game is catching up and should make for a solid major-league caliber position player for years to come.


[/Seems to be a teachable kid. He's also very young for his leveli]

5. Yu-Cheng Chang, SS
Double-A Akron
Age: 21

Chang might be the Indians most improved prospect despite a glaring .215 batting average. He added strength to his frame and now boasts at least above-average power without losing a step in the field. In fact, he’s become one of the Indians’ best fielding shortstops. His 28 percent strikeout rate is a concern, but his 19 homers and .495 slugging percentage make up for it.

[since they wrote that he's lifted the average a bit more and he's drawing more walks, too.]

This is just a repeat of the preseason ranking:


6. Nolan Jones, 3B
Short-season Mahoning Valley
Age: 19

Jones has moved from shortstop to third base exclusively, where his plus raw power profiles well. His season just got started at Mahoning Valley and he is showing a good eye for the zone and some occasional pop, a solid starting point for his first full professional season. While he lacks the big raw tools of other prospects, his polish and discipline put him ahead.

[his polish includes 8 errors in about two dozen games, but I do like his walk numbers]

These bad numbers have notched a bit since July 1:


7. Will Benson, OF
Short-season Mahoning Valley
Age: 19

Benson’s major concern has always been to be his bat-to-ball skills, and they have been problematic in his first pro season. The toolsy right fielder hit .169 with 33 strikeouts in his first 71 at-bats at Mahoning Valley, taking some of the shine off his prodigious raw power and elite arm strength.

No. 7?

8. Yandy Diaz, 3B/OF
Triple-A Columbus
Age: 25

Diaz has evolved into one of the Indians top prospects with his disciplined knowledge of the strike zone and fantastic contact ability. He received a chance at the major league level when Jason Kipnis went down with an injury, and while the surface results don’t excite, he did demonstrate a feel for the barrel and capable defense at multiple positions.

[No reason why he shouldn't be No. 6 on this list; BA seems about as positive on Yandy as Hillbilly. I was coming along until his dreadful big league debut but he certainly deserves more shots and he could well be very successful. I am very impressed with on base skills, my concern is that a hitter needs either pretty decent power or speed to get himself to second base or beyond with reasonable frequency]

9. Quentin Holmes, OF
Rookie-level AZL Indians
Age: 17

The Indians made Holmes their top pick, No. 64 overall, in June and signed him for just under $1 million. Holmes is known for his plus-plus speed and potential as a pure center fielder, but his bat will need to warm up in Arizona before jumping to Mahoning Valley. He is young and coming from a cold-weather climate in New York, so a slow rise is to be expected.

[as the case last year with Benson and Jones, again the second pick, an infielder Freeman is initially outshining the top pick OF]