AAA Columbus
by Caitlin Boron
The Columbus Clippers have won five of their last seven games this week, however, they lost both games of the doubleheader played on Wednesday against the Rail Riders. They currently sit in second place, 4.5 games back from the first place Indianapolis Indians.
Indians pitching prospect Julian Merryweather made his first appearance in triple-A on Tuesday night. He went eight innings deep, struck out eight and zero runs on four hits. The Clippers won 5-0, giving the young righty his first win to accompany his promising start. Merryweather was scheduled to make his season start Sunday against the Chiefs, however the game has been postponed due to rain.
Also, in Friday night’s win over Syracuse, OF Richie Shaffer hit a grand slam in the third inning to put the Clippers ahead 6-4. They would go ahead to win the game 11-5, their third double-digit-run win of the week. Shaffer currently leads the Clippers in home runs (10), RBI (39) and runs (25) through 181 at bats.
A few transactions took place through the week. The Clippers put INF Ronny Rodriguez (oblique) and Eric Stamets (lower back) were placed on the 7-day DL. Also, the Indians acquired INF Josh Wilson from the Texas Rangers for cash considerations
In the coming week, the Clippers will finish up their series with Syracuse, with the potential for a sweep. They’ll head home Monday for a short home stand, facing Louisville in a 4-game series. They’ll play the first place Indians at home Friday, before finishing that series at Victory Field.
AA Akron
by Gavin Potter
After winning 5 out of 6 coming into the week, Akron took a step back, going 2-5 since last Sunday after taking on Bowie, Altoona, and Reading.
Yu-Cheng Chang was one of the few RubberDucks to have a strong week, going 6-18 with a home run and two doubles. Chang’s having a very strange season, posting a .771 OPS, despite a .205 batting average and a .295 OBP. The fact that he has 22 extra base hits in 47 games what has allowed him to be productive. The power is nice, but he will need to cut his 30% strikeout rate if he is to remain a legitimate MLB prospect.
One under-the-radar pitcher, Thomas Pannone, has already appeared this season in Akron, and it appears a second may be on his heels. After being promoted from Lynchburg, 22-year-old righty Matt Esparza made his AA debut last week against Altoona, and was phenomenal. The UC Irvine product went 8 innings, only allowing 1 earned run on 3 hits. To boot, he struck out 10 and walked none.
The Ducks finish their series vs. Reading on Sunday, and have a day off Monday before heading out East to face Portland and New Hampshire next week.
Advanced-A Lynchburg
by Caitlin Boron
This week the Lynchburg Hillcats went 4-3 over their last seven games, and finished their May 19-10 (just a win better than Salem). Lynchburg still holds the second place spot in the division, three games behind Salem. They face the first place Red Sox again Sunday, starting off a 4-game series with the sixth doubleheader of the Hillcats season.
Young righty prospect Aaron Civale made his debut with the high-A team on Friday night against Potomac. Civale went six innings, gave up a single run on three hits, walked two and struck out five, claiming his first win with the Hillcats. They won 3-1, with OF Andrew Calica and DH Martin Cervenka driving in the three runs on a throw error, a force out and a sac fly.
Outfielder Connor Marabell is starting to heat up a bit after coming back down to Lynchburg from his 5-game stint in Columbus. Over his last ten games, Marabell is slashing .333/.425/.515, with six RBI, four runs, six walks, and a home run on 11 hits (3 doubles). In Wednesday’s 8-7 win over Potomac, Marabell went 2-5 with four RBI and a run and no strikeouts. He doubled early in the first to put Lynchburg on the board, and then later in the ninth, hit his third homer of the season, a 3-run shot, to put them solidly in the win column.
Coming up this week, on top of facing Salem, the Hillcats will take on the last place Frederick Keys.
Low-A Lake County (19-35, -18.5 GB, 7th in Midwest League East -3-5 this week)
by Justin Lada
It was another up and down week for the Indians Low-A affiliate at the corner of Vine & Rt. 91. They finished off a weekend with a split of a double header in Bowling Green and came home and dropped two of three to Lansing. In their 9-4 win vs. Lansing, Juan Hillman allowed two runs and struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings in what was perhaps the best start of his young career. Also in that win, Li-Jen Chu had four RBI, Connor Capel and Emmanuel Tapia both joined Chu in the HR party.
Their Thursday loss to Lansing was particularly devastating with RHP Luis Jimenez making his full season debut, allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings. The bullpen helped to blow a six run lead as the usually reliable unit allowed nine runs.
In addition to Hillman’s good start, there have been some positive signs from Brady Aiken recently. He allowed three runs (two earned) in six innings while walking three and struck out two. He’s allowed just two runs in each of his last four starts and alternated striking out two and walking three or striking out three and walking two. It seems very silly to be picking out performances that seem pedestrian for any pitcher, let alone a first round pick, but getting into the sixth inning and getting his walks down has been a good step for Aiken. The curveball is still an out pitch for him when he locates it and when he proves he can throw his fastball for strikes. He’s still just scratching the low 90s with it but it may be a slow climb back to better performance for Aiken, but the Indians are no where near ready to give up and there’s no reason to.
Chu’s grand slam Saturday was his second homer of the week and his seventh hit. He struggled a bit in May but remained patient, still drawing walks. Chu can really square up the ball and has real pop. With Logan Ice on the shelf with what appears to be some sort of right arm injury, Chu is getting more time behind the plate and does have the arm to remain behind the plate. The Indians will have to find out if the rest of his defensive skill set will work. He has a very similar body build to Carlos Santana.
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