AAA Columbus
by Caitlin Boron
The Columbus Clippers had a pretty good week, going 4-2 with a postponed game on Friday, currently sitting 3.5 games back from first place in the division.
In Wednesday’s 9-7 win over Louisville, four home runs left the ballpark off the bat of OF Tyler Naquin, 2B Nellie Rodriguez, and two from catcher Erik Kratz, who also went 3 for 3 with 4 RBI and a walk.
Kratz has recently caught some serious fire, hitting six home runs through his last ten games, five of which have come in his last four games. This goes hand-in-hand with the surge of power coming from a lot of Cleveland’s minor league catchers recently.
Also this week, regarding transactions, catcher Adam Moore was placed on the 7-day DL, catcher Jeremy Lucas has been activated and LHP Matt Whitehouse was assigned to Akron.
Coming up, the Clippers will finish out their month of June on the road facing the Charlotte Knights in a 4-game series before heading out to Toledo to play the Mud Hens.
AA Akron
by Gavin Potter
The Akron RubberDucks went 4-2 last week, in a recent run of improved play that has also seen them go 9-3 in their last 12 games. As a result, the Ducks are solidly in second place for in the Eastern League Eastern division, sitting at 36-33.
Yu-Cheng Chang had a big week for Akron, going 5-20, with three home runs. Chang has shown significant power this season, with 16 home runs and a .506 slugging percentage. Unfortunately, he’s also striking out frequently (29.5% K-rate) while not walking frequently (8% BB-rate).
Matt Esparza continued to pitch well in his first season of AA ball, throwing 12.2 innings in two starts last week, allowing just four combined runs. The 22-year-old Esparza is now has a 2.14 ERA in five starts with Akron.
The Ducks will finish their weekend series against Richmond, then will return home for a seven game home stand against Erie and Bowie.
Advanced-A Lynchburg (3-0 in 2nd half, +1 Carolina League North – 3-1 this week)
by Justin Lada
The Hillcats lost their first half finale but thanks to a pair of losses by Salem, they clinched a playoff spot on the final day of the first half and they’ve rolled through the second half to start.
Triston McKenzie pitched the final game of the first half and had the worst start of his pro career – 1 2/3, 6H, 7ER, 1BB, 1K and 3 HR. But as McKenzie is known to do, he shook it off and made his first start of the second half on Saturday, going six innings, allowing one run on eight hits, didn’t walk a batter and fanned eight.
Sicnarf Loopstok, who is slugging .507 on the year, finished second in the Carolina League Home Run Derby over the break. He hit his ninth homer Friday in a 7-6 win over Fredrick.
It was Shane Bieber who got the second half going with a strong pitching performance – eight shutout innings with 11 strikeouts with no walks and just three hits. Aaron Civale allowed two runs in six innings Friday with four strikeouts and no walks. For the year to date Lynchburg owns a league best 3.24 staff ERA as well as a 1.16 WHIP.
Willi Castro struggled a bit to end the first half, striking out seven times in the final three games compared to just one hit, which was a home run. But the break seemed to do him some good. He has five hits and four RBI in the three games since the break.
Lynchburg wraps up its four game set with Fredrick today and the heads to Salem for three games before returning back home.
Low-A Lake County
by Justin Lada
The Captains had a strong end to the first half winning four of their final five games and are off to a strong second half start.
Brady Aiken struggled in his first outing (1 2/3 IP, 4H, 5ER, 3BB, 0K) but the Captains offense had his back. Emmanuel Tapia hit a pair of homers, giving him 15 on the year and Gavin Collins hit his seventh. Collins has four homers in his last seven games and is hitting .268 with an .867 OPS on the season. Ben Krauth rescued the Captains with four shutout innings with seven strikeouts but didn’t get the win.
Juan Hillman pitched five strong innings on Friday, allowing just two runs but the bullpen blew the game and the Captains offense couldn’t catch up.
Luis Jimenez struck out eight in six shutout innings and walked just two for the win on Saturday. Luke Wakamatsu had a homer and three hits total fresh off the DL while All-Star snub Li-Jen Chu picked up two hits.
All-Star Dalbert Siri threw one scoreless inning while fellow All-Star Ryder Ryan has yet to pitch in the second half.
Some housekeeping for the Captains – RHP Michael Letkewicz retired during the All-Star break. The Indians 23rd round pick in 2016 was on the DL before the end of the first half. Taking his place on the roster is 2012 9th round pick, RHP Jacob Lee, who missed all of 2016 with Tommy John surgery.
The Captains finish their second half opening road series in Dayton before coming home to host Great Lakes starting Monday.
Short-Season Mahoning Valley
by Caitlin Boron
Finally, after half a season, I can say the Mahoning Valley Scrappers are underway! The short season A-ball club kicked off their 2017 this week, and out of the gate are looking pretty good. They are 4-2, after losing their season opener and home opener.
It might be early, very early, in the season, but this team surprised me in how they kept themselves in the game during their home opener on Wednesday against the Auburn Double Days. It seemed like everyone through the order made contact, good contact, though the ball died a lot in the outfield. Also, the defense, aside from a few mishaps, looked sturdy and confident behind a struggling pitcher (Using the word “struggling” very lightly).
There are a number of guys who have contributed already, but I’m only going to hint at two. Starter Francisco Perez set things off by setting the bar at a good height, pitching 11 innings, striking out eight, walking two and giving up two runs. He might not be a Triston McKenzie, however Perez does have the type of stuff that will get him noticed quickly.
Offensively, LF Oscar Gonzalez has done everything he can to ensure his team gets a win. He already has two home runs on the season (3-run, 2-run back-to-back), eight RBI, and was the run in on the Jonathan Laureano walk-off on Thursday night.
As I said, it’s still very early, but this group of guys has started things on a very promising note. In the coming week, they will end their home stand with the State Coll Spikes, before taking a day off Tuesday and then heading out on a four-game road trip.
DSL Indians
by Joe Coblitz
The Dominican Summer League Indians and Brewers combo team played just five games last week thanks to a rain out and lost three. They started things off last Saturday with a slobberknocker against the Tribe’s other DSL team which the DSL Indians won 19-8. In that game, both Indians pitchers Luis C. Garcia (Indians-Brewers) and Luis D. Garcia (Indians) struggled greatly although C’s numbers for the season are still decent.
One of the top prospects on the Indians-Brewers, Christopher Cespedes, had five hits in three games and is now hitting .360 on the season. Short stop Makesiondon Kelkboom continues his hot play as well, batting .293/.383/.390 with 16 RBI. Unfortunately, because the roster is split, neither Cespedes or Kelkboom have been starting every day.
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