Chiang gave up 4 earned in 5 innings. Send him back to Tennessee [oops HB: that should be North Carolina; unless you meant Taiwan]

I agree, Ramirez is best at 2nd. And Kipnis has been on the downward slide for a couple years. Gio is an outstanding 3rd but probably never will be enough of a hitter, but I, like Tito, put defense high on my priority list and could accept Urshela if we have enough offense elsewhere, like in the outfield.

BA on Saturday games:

CLE AA Bradley, Bobby 1B 3 1 1 0 .251 BB (55) [OPS is .796. I want him to keep over .250 and add 4 points to the OPS]
CLE AA Chang, Yu-Cheng SS 3 3 2 0 .215 2B (23), BB (51) [no chance for 220 unless he has some Longo-type games this weekend]
CLE AA Krieger, Tyler DH 4 0 1 1 .227 2B (25)
CLE LoA Ice, Logan C 4 1 2 1 .228 BB (42)
CLE MAJ Allen, Greg PH-CF 3 0 1 0 .250
CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik PR-DH 0 0 0 0 .275
CLE MAJ Zimmer, Bradley CF 2 1 1 0 .247 3B (2)
CLE R Fermin, Jose SS 4 0 1 0 .229 SB (5)
CLE R Holmes, Quentin CF 4 0 0 0 .182 [thus ends an outstanding first season for the Indians top pick of 2017. OPS 509. Successful in 5/9 steal tries; 61/8 K/BB ratio. He'll probably make some Tribe top 10 lists due to his "skills" but his performance was highly uninspiring]
compare him to Will Benson, also a high school OF who was our first pick in 2016. His debut season is remembered as unimpressive but compared to Q he was a superstar: hit 209, with OPS of 745, 10/12 in steals; 60/22 K/BB.]

civ ollilavad wrote:I agree, Ramirez is best at 2nd. And Kipnis has been on the downward slide for a couple years. Gio is an outstanding 3rd but probably never will be enough of a hitter, but I, like Tito, put defense high on my priority list and could accept Urshela if we have enough offense elsewhere, like in the outfield.

Agree, but also defense up the middle being the most important. Another reason to like Jose there but also...

If Yandy and the other guys continue to thrive, move Kipnis in a trade and fill 3B with whomever. Gio can always be a utility/defensive sub type.

We also know Yandy can swing to the OF. And certainly not forgetting Rodriguez.

Ronnie Rodriguez? not sure he enters into their consciousness. He never walks unlike Yandy. Plenty of teams could use him but our depth is too deep for him to surface.

Enormous plunge for Mitch Longo after making two outs and only one hit in game one of doubleheader; loses 148 points in his bating average from 875 to 728

More struggles in game two, one single, one out, two walks, two steals. He's now at 692 although his OPS still decent at 1596.

A lot of people beating up on Kipnis nowadays. Not just here but all over social media. Kipnis has been reading it too. Responds once in a while. I know he's had a season to forget with the injuries but he's a 2 time all star and darn fine player. Me personally, I'm not moving him to make room for Urshela.

If one moved Kipnis the time was before the season started,but I like him a lot too.

Scrappers game delayed again by rain. They could wind winning the division by default as West Virginia lost again and might be mathematically eliminated:

MV 40-29. WV 38-33. No not quite, 4 more games after today and two are head-to-head with the Black Bears here in Niles. I guess Magic Number is 3.

Hillbilly wrote:A lot of people beating up on Kipnis nowadays. Not just here but all over social media. Kipnis has been reading it too. Responds once in a while. I know he's had a season to forget with the injuries but he's a 2 time all star and darn fine player. Me personally, I'm not moving him to make room for Urshela.

Kipnis currently "heart" of the team.

Clippers dropped a double bill today.

Lost game one 7-1. ... Merryweather gave up 6 hits and 2 earned in 3 innings. ... RonnyRod 1-3 with a stolen base. ... Naquin 0-3. ... Papi 0-2 with walk. ... Haase 1-1 with a walk.

Lost game two 5-0. Played real inspired ball today. I'm sure Naquin loves seeing Allen start games in CF. ... RonRod 0-3. ... Naquin 1-3. ... Papi 0-2.

Akron beats Erie 6-3. ... Whitehouse 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. ... Bradley 2-4 with a home run. ... Chang 3-4 with a double. He had his Longo type day. Hitting .220 now. ... Bieber pitches tomorrow.

Lynchburg ... which, by the way, is located in Virginia, not Tennessee or North Carolina ... and I knew that, I just had a brain fart from all the years I spent with Jack Daniels (Lynchburg, TN) They are in the Carolina League so I can see the confusion. ... Anyway, Hillcats won both ends of their double header.

Won game one 2-1. ... DeMasi was stellar again, pitching a 7 inning complete game. 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. He was once again very good but once again striking out nobody. Very weird. ... Castro 2-4. ... Collins 0-3. ... Longo 1-3.

Won game two 5-0. ... It was a bullpen game. Man, Myth, Legend Ben Krauth got the start and pitched 2 shutout innings. Eubank and Angula followed with 2 more shutout innings apiece. ... Collins 1-3 and a walk. ... Longo 1-2 with 2 walks and 2 stolen bases.

Lake County lost to Great Lakes again 8-7. ... Mingo relieved a struggling Miniard and did well. 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. ... Chu 1-4 with a walk. ... Tinsley 2-3 with a double, 2 walks, and a stolen base. ... Plesac starts tomorrow.

Scrappers rained out, as Civ mentioned. Vazquez and McCarty will pitch the double header tomorrow.

Indians Sign Cuban Pitcher Roberto Hernandez

September 03, 2017 By Ben Badler

Roberto Hernandez, a 16-year-old Cuban righthander who several scouts considered one of the better international pitching prospects available in the 2017 class, signed with the Indians for $320,000.

At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, Hernandez has shown advanced command and feel for pitching for his age. He works off a fastball that parks in the low-90s and he throws it for strikes to both sides of the plate, with good arm action and the physical projection to potentially throw harder. He has a diverse array of secondary pitches, but his main offspeed pitches are a split-change with late tumble and a low-80s slider.

Hernandez was a prospect on the rise in Cuba at the time he left. He pitched well in front of scouts at the COPABE 15U Pan American Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico in 2015. Earlier that year, Hernandez led Cuba’s 15U national league in ERA (0.81) in 78 innings with 101 strikeouts and 31 walks. He finished second in the league in strikeouts.

The Indians add Hernandez to an international signing class that already includes Dominican outfielder George Valera, No. 5 on Baseball America’s rankings of the top 50 international prospects for July 2, 2017, and Venezuelan shortstop Aaron Bracho, the No. 17 prospect.


Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/internat ... 8fCfVab.99

#Hillcats RHP Dominic DeMasi over his last 10 starts showing no signs of slowing down:
58.2(IP) 38H 13R 11ER 12BB 29SO 1.69 ERA #Indians

I don't remember the last time I've such strange numbers. Only 38 hits in 58 innings and a 1.69 ERA over that span. That would suggest the dude is dominating hitters. Yet only 29 K in those 58 innings.

I gotta get a look at this guy. He must be the best ground ball pitcher we've had come through our system in quite some time.

Civ, I was on team with Kenny Lofton in Auburn, New York and I thought he was horrible. He was rookie and coming off his basketball run. He dropped two routine fly balls that were crucial in those particular games. half his hits were cheap infield hits. They loved his speed and the staff worked harder with him than any player on the team. I dont remember his stats, but Im guessing they were similar to Holmes. Every time I saw him in the big leagues I was amazed by his improvement. I guess you never know. You cant teach speed.

Great stuff, Pat.

Kenny hit .214 in Auburn his first year, had a .286 OBP., and started at Auburn again his second year.

Really good seeing you. Don't be such a stranger.