Eric Haase, power hitting catcher season's debut with Akron. In 2015 in Lynchburg his 42 xb hits exceeded his 37 singles. OPS 798

If you want to root for winners, stick to the minors. Captains rained out. The rest were winners:

More threats to Bauer's spot in the rotation: Mike Clevinger goes to 3-0 [5-6-2-1-2-3 line] ERA 2.92 [excluding his one bad outing, 20 1/3 IP 4 ER] 3 singles, 2 walks for Aguillar.

10-3 win for the Ducks. Eric Haase in his first game of the year singled homered and walked.
Zimmer singled doubled and walked. A rare homerun for the big weak OF Jordan Smith [6-4 235 with 22 homers in 2200 minor league at bats] he also tripled and singled; will probably tell his grandkids about this big day in a small career. Feyeriesan 2 K in a perfect inning.

Hillcats stop their 2 game loss streak, record now 17-6. HR 6 for 1B Bradley; and a walk and no Ks. Double No. 7 for SS Chang and 2 walks and no Ks. Double No. 8 for 2B Mark Mathias and 2 walks. Another less than exciting start for Luis Lugo 5-7-4-3-2-4. No homers this time though

BA report:

CLE AA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 4 1 1 1 .235 BB (9)
CLE AA Frazier, Clint LF 5 2 1 0 .274
CLE AA Zimmer, Bradley CF 4 1 2 1 .237 BB (12), SB (6)
CLE AAA Gonzalez, Erik SS 2 2 1 0 .306 SB (2)
CLE HiA Paulino, Dorssys LF 5 1 1 1 .205
CLE HiA Chang, Yu-Cheng SS 3 1 1 0 .259 2B (7), 2 BB (9)
CLE HiA Mathias, Mark 2B 2 1 1 2 .230 2B (8), 2 BB (9)
CLE HiA Bradley, Bobby 1B 4 2 1 1 .262 HR (6), BB (9)
CLE MAJ Naquin, Tyler CF 4 1 2 0 .341 3B (2)
CLE AAA Clevinger, Mike 5 6 2 1 2 3 2.92 W (3-0)
CLE HiA Lugo, Luis 5 7 4 3 2 4 4.97


[guess I could save myself the trouble and post theirs first and then supplement]

Sounds like a plan Civ. Either way, I read all of them.

Another typical day in the 2016 minors, 4 wins, 1 loss. Lake County swept a pair 6-2 and 4-0. Record is now 17-7. Highlights:
Willi Castro homered in the opener, singled in game 2.
Ka'ai Tom 3 walks in game 1, single and steal in game 2.
Tyler Krieger singled and tripled; then singled twice and stole a base.
Hentges 4 2/3-3-1-1-36 Brock Hartson 5-3-0-0-0-3

Lynchburg also 17-7 after a loss. Papi 5th homer, Murphy 3rd. Chang doubled and singled twice. Bradley 2 walks, 1 k.
Greg Allen has been in big slump, 2 hits today and 17th homer. 4 errors behind Merryweather: 6-2-4-0-2-4 unearned homer, too.

Akron wins in 12 for reliever Ben Heller. For the season: 10 1/3 3 hits 1 run 2 walks 15 K.
Lefty Robbie Aviles recently promoted, fanned 4 in 2 1/3 scoreless innings. 2nd good start in a row by Rob Kaminsky:
6 2/3-6-1-1-1-3.
Zimmer 2 run homer, his third. 8th steal.
Good day for strikeouts: Nellie Rod 4, Frazier 3, Zimmer 2

Clipper season debut by Cody Anderson not impressive 5 2/3-7-4-4-2-6 2 homers.
3 hits by Urshela, 2 by Gonzalez.

Sunday highlights from BA:

We are stockpiling plenty of middle infielders and expect them to be major trade options

CLE AA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 5 0 1 0 .233 BB (10)
CLE AA Zimmer, Bradley CF 6 2 1 2 .232 HR (3)
CLE AAA Gonzalez, Erik SS 4 3 2 0 .318 2B (4), BB (5), CS (3)
CLE HiA Allen, Greg CF 5 0 2 0 .256 SB (16)
CLE HiA Chang, Yu-Cheng SS 4 1 3 1 .282 2B (8), BB (10)
CLE HiA Papi, Mike 1B 5 1 1 1 .257 HR (5)
CLE LoA Castro, Willi SS 3 1 1 0 .297
CLE LoA Krieger, Tyler 2B 3 1 2 0 .383 SB (6)
CLE LoA Tom, Ka'ai LF 2 0 1 0 .250
CLE MAJ Naquin, Tyler CF 4 0 1 0 .333
CLE AA Kaminsky, Rob 6.2 6 1 1 1 3 4.39
CLE AAA Armstrong, Shawn 1 0 0 0 2 3 3.24 Sv (2) [11 walks 15 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings]

BA lists the youngest 5 players in each minor league on opening day. Included are:

at Lynchburg, Bradley 5th youngest in the Carolina League [253/340/529] 1st in RBI,K; 2nd in HR; 5th in TB; 8th in SLG
at Lake County, Willi Castro, 4th youngest in the Midwest League [305/309/453: note only 1 walk]
and they're outperforming higher rated prospects who're not so young.

Monday:

CLE AA Frazier, Clint RF 4 0 1 0 .258
CLE AA Zimmer, Bradley CF 4 1 1 1 .233 HR (4)
[neither of our top 2 prospects is exactly setting the world on fire]
CLE AAA Gonzalez, Erik SS 5 1 1 0 .310
CLE LoA Castro, Willi SS 4 1 2 0 .305
CLE LoA Krieger, Tyler 2B 4 0 1 0 .376 CS (1)
CLE LoA Mejia, Francisco C 4 0 2 1 .348 2B (7)
CLE AA Plutko, Adam 6.2 5 1 1 0 6 3.80

Good news for former Indians minor league town Kinston NC, the smallest city in America with a minor league team, I read once.



Carolina League franchises are just waiting for the first California League domino to fall. The city of Kinston even has a signed lease in place with the Texas Rangers. All they need now is a franchise.

Houston Astros officials rekindled talk of a minor league franchise shift last week with news that they were touring Fayetteville, N.C., with local officials there, who confirmed the team was interested in bringing a “high Class A franchise” to the city.

The Rangers were already known to be interested in moving to Kinston, N.C., after being stuck in High Desert in the Cal League for the past two seasons. What is not as widely known is that the Rangers and the city of Kinston already have a lease agreement in place.

“Since (July 2015) we’ve had a signed contract with the Texas Rangers for a lease agreement on our historic Grainger Stadium,” Kinston city manager Tony Sears said. “So we have a signed lease agreement. That agreement says they had two years to bring baseball to Kinston before the start of the 2017 season.”

The Kinston city council approved the agreement on July 21, 2015, when it looked like the Rangers were going to buy the Wilmington Blue Rocks Carolina League franchise. In that deal, the Binghamton Mets Eastern League franchise was going to move from New York to Wilmington, Del., with the Carolina League franchise sliding to Kinston. That deal fell through, however.

But the lease agreement between Kinston and the Rangers gives the club until the beginning of the 2017 season to bring a team to Kinston. The Rangers desperately want out of their California League situation, and with no obvious openings coming up in the Carolina League, moving a team looks like the best bet. If it doesn’t work out, both sides walk away and Grainger Stadium remains vacant. If an agreement is finalized, however, the deal will keep the Rangers in Kinston for 12 seasons.

It’s worth noting that the owner of the Rangers’ current affiliate, Main Street Baseball, also owns the Blue Rocks, so the Rangers and Main Street are familiar with each other. And there can be little doubt that both parties share a desire to move out of High Desert. Main Street is currently locked in a legal dispute with the city of Adelanto, Calif., which essentially tried to lock the team out of the ballpark in the offseason.

Kinston and the Rangers, meanwhile, have a plan to commit $1.625 million to renovating the stadium. Part of that money would go toward updating the lights to something more modern. The money would also go toward adding padding to the outfield walls.

There are no plans to build a new ballpark in the small eastern North Carolina town, which had a Carolina League franchise from 1978-2011. There are plans to try to attract new businesses around Grainger Stadium, which was built in 1949, but the ballpark itself would remain as historic as ever, save for the required fixes specified in the lease.

“When the . . . Red Sox find they want to start talking about replacing Fenway and the Green Monster, we’ll start considering it too,” Sears said. “Other people are doing it for other things, but we think there’s other things that we can do to enhance that as part of a downtown revitalization by attempting to acquire satellite parcels around and adjacent to the park for a better game day experience.

“Right now our community prefers the feel of that, and if we can have economic development around that stadium to do what those other new ballparks are doing, that’s definitely what we want to look at. But we also understand that we have something that’s unique.”

Kinston, as it was when it was in the Carolina League, would be one of the smallest markets in the full-season minors. The city of Kinston has a population of about 21,000, and Lenoir County’s population is about 60,000. But the region’s support of the team was steadfast, and the city has seen a bit of a downtown rebirth thanks in large part to the Chef and the Farmer restaurant. The restaurant became regionally notable for the quality of its cuisine, then gained national renown with the PBS television series, “A Chef’s Life.” Chef and the Farmer is less than a mile from Grainger Stadium.

And frankly just about any situation would be better than what the Rangers have seen in High Desert. The situation between the team and the city of Adelanto has become heated over the past year or so. The city council voted to evict the team from Mavericks Stadium because of what it viewed as unfavorable lease terms that made the document illegal, but the team won an injunction in March to stay through the season.

The Rangers were the last team standing in the affiliation shuffle that took place after the 2014 season, so they have been looking for alternatives essentially ever since. Sears said “about nine” Rangers officials have come out to look at the ballpark and surrounding area.

“When we contacted them,” he said, “they said that they are still actively working on trying to relocate a team or find a team for Kinston. They’ve been steadfast since day one and I have complete confidence in them and their ability to do that.”

Rangers farm director Mike Daly did not offer any comment on the situation. “The Texas Rangers are continuing to explore options as it pertains to the future of a high Class A affiliate,” he said. “The team has no other comment at this time.”

The other Cal League franchise in play would be the Bakersfield Blaze. Elmore Sports Group owns the Blaze (and the Inland Empire 66ers) but presumably has no strong desire to keep it, having taken the franchise over after the previous owners were unable to work out a deal for a new stadium and wanted out. Technically no one can own two teams in the same league, but to get around that, Dave Elmore owns the Inland Empire team, while his son owns Bakersfield.

While Bakersfield itself is a fine market, Sam Lynn Stadium grades out as one of the worst ballparks in the minor leagues and regularly receives waivers from Minor League Baseball to operate below Professional Baseball Agreement standards.

The problem up to now has been finding a second market in the Carolina League, but if things work out in Fayetteville, it looks like the people of Kinston might finally get their team back.

“When we talk with our citizens here in Kinston, it honestly is a No. 1 issue,” Sears said. “It ranks in our top three consistently in the four years since the Indians have left. Even we announced a year ago that we had this signed lease, it was unbelievable the amount of people we had calling the city wanting contact information so they could buy season tickets.”

lake County wins again. 2 hits by Francisco Mejia [351], 2 hits by Luke ]291] 3 hits by Krieger [393] plus a walk and his 8th steal [and his 7th error at 2nd base]

and Columbus and Akron win night games. Lynchburg rained out, so another perfect day.

Ryan Merritt 7 innings, 2 runs on 4 hits 1 walk and 6 strikeouts.
Urshela 2-4 now hitting 278; in his last 9 games: 31-9-14-11 .452

in Akron, Zimmer tripled, walked and stole his 9th. His average is 236. Frazier hitless is at 247. Whoopee.

BA highlights these lines for the Top 30 prospects:

CLE AA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 3 1 1 0 .236 BB (11)
CLE AA Zimmer, Bradley CF 3 1 1 1 .236 3B (3), BB (13), SB (7)
CLE AAA Gonzalez, Erik SS 5 1 1 0 .303
CLE LoA Krieger, Tyler 2B 4 0 3 1 .393 BB (14), SB (7)
CLE LoA Mejia, Francisco C 5 1 2 0 .351
CLE MAJ Naquin, Tyler CF 3 0 1 0 .333
CLE AAA Merritt, Ryan 7 4 2 2 1 6 3.30 W (2-2)

doubleheader for Lynchburg. 12-5 win in the 7-inning opener.

Bradley's 7th homer, a single, 4 rbi makes 27 of those to lead the league.
Chang is hot, SS with 2 hits. RF/3B T. Murphy 2 singles, 2 walks, 2 rbi. Paulino 2b, 3rbi. Allen s, 2 walks.
Brady a poor start: 4-6-4-4-3-3 5.13

Game two just underway. Sheffield allowed a run in the 1st. Hillcats come back with 4 straight hits to start their 1st inning; Chang an rbi double. After 2 outs, Mark Mathias plates a pair, and it's 4-1 Lynchburg the inning continues.

Columbus fell 3-2 in 10, despite another big day by Urshela, 3 hits and an RBI. 2nd baseman Ronny Rodriguez with 2 hits and a rare walk, is hitting 288. Shawn Armstrong fanned all 3 he faced. Adams lost it.

Only 1 single for Lake Captain as their long winning streak comes to an end.

Akron postponed.

Wednesday highlights:

CLE HiA Allen, Greg CF 3 1 2 0 .271
CLE HiA Chang, Yu-Cheng SS 3 2 2 2 .301 BB (11) [OPS 882]
first 5 games of the year: 22-1-2-3 1bb/11k Since then: 71-17-26-19 10b/15k 366/444/592]
CLE HiA Mathias, Mark 2B 4 1 1 2 .222
CLE HiA Bradley, Bobby 1B 2 1 1 0 .272 2 BB (14)
CLE AAA Armstrong, Shawn 1 0 0 0 0 3 2.89
CLE HiA Sheffield, Justus 5.1 8 3 3 3 4 3.64 W (3-1)

Ingraham column for BA:



CLEVELAND—Not too long ago, the Indians system lacked middle-infield prospects, specifically shortstops. Not anymore.

Beginning with Francisco Lindor, who tore through the system and reached the big leagues at 21 last season, the pipeline is now filled with shortstops, though the presence of Lindor may result in position changes.

The latest, and youngest, prospect to enter the picture is Willi Castro who is playing shortstop at low Class A Lake County at age 18. He hit .297/.301/.451 through his first 21 games.

Despite his youth, Castro is in his third year in the organization, and he has improved each season. In the Rookie-level Arizona League in 2014 he hit .239/.285/.348 in 43 games. In 2015 at short-season Mahoning Valley he hit .264/.304/.330 in 67 games.

“Willi has handled himself very well at an early age,” farm director Carter Hawkins said. “He did a great job of getting stronger this offseason, and we’re excited about how that extra strength will play, along with the agility and quickness he already possesses.”

All of those qualities showed in Castro’s first month at Lake County.

Also in evidence are the shortstops lined up in the system ahead of Castro. The list includes Erik Gonzalez at Triple-A Columbus, Eric Stamets at Double-A Akron and Yu-Cheng Chang at high Class A Lynchburg. There will be plenty of time down the road to consider a position switch, if necessary, for Castro.

“At this point we’re focused on building a solid foundation with his work and routines on and off the field,” Hawkins said. “We’ll let the decisions about versatility play themselves out over time.”

When necessary, the Indians have made such changes, with one recent example being Dorssys Paulino. He followed Lindor as the shortstop at Lake County in 2013 and played two years at shortstop before being moved to left field.

SMOKE SIGNALS

• Through the first month of the season, Lynchburg first baseman Bobby Bradley led the Carolina League with 23 RBIs and ranked second with six home runs. He led the low Class A Midwest League in both categories last year.

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