As the 2016 season marches on, so do the minor league teams. Every franchise in the Indians system has a winning record; a testament to the great young talent that the Indians have assembled.
Lake County Captains (36-25)
by Justin Lada
A 5-2 week got the Captains back into the playoff picture, briefly. Their 7-4 loss Friday dropped them into a tie for the wild card spot in the division.
Francisco Mejia ran his hitting streak to 11 games this week and was 16-30 with three homers in four games to end the week. Named to his second Midwest League All-Star game, Mejia’s power and best hitting season as a pro are coming at the same time, which has really impressed the coaching staff, on the hitting side of things at least. The defense has always been ahead of the bat for him as well. Tyler Krieger now has a 20 game hitting streak and is hitting .337 on the season. He looks like he’s getting a little more comfortable at first base as well.
Krieger will join Mejia for the All-Star game in Cedar Rapids as will SS Willi Castro and pitcher Thomas Pannone. Connor Marabell was surprisingly left off the roster with only four outfielders and 10 infielders being carried on the East’s roster despite leading the league in OPS. Anthony Miller has three homers in his last 10 games and is hitting .324 in that stretch.
Reliever Billy Strode had another scoreless inning over two appearances in a rough week for standout pitching performances for the Captains. Shao-Ching Chiang did strike out eight in 6 ⅔ innings allowed three runs and a walk. Casey Shane had his turn in the rotation skipped due to injury and they are getting a second opinion on Ka’ai Tom’s shoulder injury.
Lynchburg Hillcats (39-21)
by Mike Melaragno
Greg Allen, Bobby Bradley, Yu-Cheng Chang, Julian Merryweather, Daniel Salters, and Justus Sheffield were selected to the Carolina League All-Star game. Lynchburg is sending a league-high six players to this year’s game.
Allen is first in all of MiLB with 54 runs scored and third in the league and fourth in MiLB with 29 stolen bases. Bradley is pacing the league with 14 home runs, 54 RBI and 108 total bases while slugging .517. He is the lone player to hit two grand slams in the Carolina League this season, accomplishing the feat on May 2 against Potomac and June 6 against Salem.
Chang ranks third in the league in total bases (104) and second in extra-base hits (28). He has 41 RBI, which is the third most in the league, and has scored 40 runs to place fifth in that category.
Merryweather is 7-1 with a 0.92 ERA through his first nine starts. He began his Hillcats career with a scoreless innings pitched streak of 18 1/3 innings which spanned four starts. His WHIP of 1.03 is the third best in the Carolina League and his batting average against of .211 ranks second.
Salters is fourth on the team with a .271 batting average and began the season hitting safely in 13 of his first 15 games this season, which included six multi-hit games. He played in the NY-Penn All-Star game last season as a member of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
Sheffield is 4-2 with a 3.10 ERA through his first 58 innings pitched. The 31st overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft has struck out 48 batters and only walked 20.
Akron Rubber Ducks (38-23)
by Gavin Potter
They say all good things must come to an end, and that mantra holds true in Akron, Ohio.
After starting the season as one of professional baseball’s best teams with an impressive 37-17 record, the RubberDucks finally had a week where they played poorly, going 1-6. They were swept for the first time this season at the hands of Reading, who outscored the Ducks 20-5 in a three game series in Akron. It may go without saying, but many RubberDucks have struggled recently.
Top prospect Bradley Zimmer has hit .111 in his last ten games, including 18 strikeouts and just four walks. At this point, there is reason for concern with the 23 year-old outfielder, who will need to turn his season around to maintain the top-notch prospect pedigree he entered the season with.
Akron’s offensive struggles weren’t limited to Zimmer: other typical solid contributors on the Ducks like Nellie Rodriguez (.103 BA in last ten) and Eric Haase (.158 BA in last ten) have also struggled mightily. Even Shawn Morimando, who had been near unhittable entering the week with a 1.64 ERA, allowed five earned runs in just 4.2 innings on June 5 against Bowie.
Certainly, the Ducks will look to right the ship and return to their dominant form for earlier in the season. Next week, they have an weekend series in Harrisburg before returning home to face Erie. Perhaps new call up Luigi Rodriguez, returning from suspension, can spark the Ducks’ offense that has struggled lately.
Columbus Clippers (35-27)
by Kevin Gall
Shawn Armstrong has spent the vast majority of this season in Columbus, recently returning at the beginning of this month. He is slowly showing that he is just too good for AAA and may deserve an extended look with the big league club. This past week Armstrong appeared in 4 games, pitching 3 innings, striking out 6 batters, while allowing no runs, hits, or walks. In short, Armstrong was untouchable this week. He dropped his season ERA to 2.05 and has now struck out 36 batters in 22 innings of work.
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