Clip show played early today and continue their nice start winning 7-6 over the Indy Indians to put them at 5-2 on the year. Merritt started off nicely only allowing 2 runs the first 6 innings as Clippers jumped out to 7-2 lead. But he got in trouble in 7th and the bullpen offered no relief. They ended up having to bring the closer, Joe Colon, in early in the 8th to close this out.

Merritt finished up with 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. ... Colon with a 4 out save, allowing a hit. ... Erik Gonzalez was 2-5 with a homer, his second on the year already. ... R.Rodriguez was 2-5 with a double and 2 rbi. ... Zimmer was 1-5 on the day and is currently just hitting .259, but from listening a little bit I know he's hitting the ball hard and getting some loud outs.

Akron was beat 9-3. Kaminsky with a very forgettable outing. 6 hits in 5 innings, 5 earned, 1 K. He's just not fooling anybody right now. ... Kipnis got hit by a pitch on his left hand in his very first at bat. Brings back Yan Gomes nightmares from last year. He was removed from game for precautionary reasons and will be given tomorrow off too. Supposedly nothing serious. ... Allen was 1-5. ... Chisenhall 0-3. ... Bradley 0-3 with 2 walks and 2 K. ... Chang 0-4 with walk.

Hillcats won 4-1 on the heels of yet another great outing by my man Pannone. 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. Feeling good about this 22 year old lefty. ... Calica 1-3 with a walk. ... Marabell and Carter both 0-4.

Loons beat the Captains in the battle of the lakes tonight 3-2. ... Gabe Mejia making me look bad, 0-4 to drop down to .214. ... Isaacs 0-2 with 2 walks. ... Another of my sleepers, Civale, had a dominating outing too. 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K.

Indians Prospective @indiansPro
#Indians LHP @ThomasPannone has not allowed an (Earned Run) over his last 29 innings
- 29(IP) 12H 1R 0ER 9BB 37SO 0.00 ERA

#Indians LHP prospect @ThomasPannone first 10 career starts w/ @LynHillcats dating back to 2016:
54.2(IP) 33H 11R 8ER 19BB 54SO 1.32 ERA

#Indians Milb starters for Thursday:

Columbus - Adam Plutko
Akron - Michael Peoples
Lynchburg - Triston McKenzie
Lake County - Brady Aiken

Pannone's looking terrific!

Lines Wednesday for Top 30 prospects:

CLE AA Allen, Greg RF-CF 5 1 1 0 .320
CLE AA Chang, Yu-Cheng SS 4 1 0 0 .273 BB (5)
CLE AAA Gonzalez, Erik SS 5 1 2 2 .219 HR (2)
CLE AAA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 4 0 0 0 .167
CLE HiA Castro, Willi SS 3 0 1 0 .105 2B (1)
CLE MAJ Diaz, Yandy 3B 3 0 0 0 .200 BB (2) [10K, 2BB, 1 xb hit in 32 plate appearances; AAA time won't hurt]

CLE AA Kaminsky, Rob 5 6 5 5 2 1 9.00 L (0-1)
CLE AAA Merritt, Ryan 6.1 7 3 3 1 6 5.56 W (1-1)
CLE LoA Civale, Aaron 5.2 4 1 0 1 10 2.61

On Yandy last night Civ: he usually goes to RF with outside pitches but even he first tried to pull and then got thrown pitches that were low and near the dirt and he swung at those without contact. Seems to me that it is all linked to overtrying as deadline for changes near.

To add insult to possible injury, Kipnis was hit on the hand by Trenton's Justis Sheffield. Ironic no?

I heard that during telecast last night and thought, I sure hope that wasn't a brush back pitch just to have fun with a former mate that went wrong.

And I mentioned a few days ago that both Encarnacion and Yandy are trying too hard right now. I've watched Yandy a lot and I've never seen him have terrible swings at pitches in the dirt like we have this week. He has an excellent eye.

He's also had a bit of bad luck too. He's hit a couple balls hard right at people. And he's had some pitches well inside called strikes, including at least twice that was called strike 3's. There was one against ChiSox they showed on pitch trax that was like 6 inches in off the plate. Not even close.

Teams know he likes to go the other way and are pounding him in. Him being a rookie he's not going to get the close calls. Be nice if he got ones that weren't close though. But he's going to have to learn to start turning on those inside fastballs. He hits a few hard it will help open things up for him more.

Hillbilly- Good point on turning on those inside pitches and teaching them a lesson. but he has to learn it quickly because everyone will be doing it now. Just hope he can work it out because I think he could be a good one. Remember he can play OF, 2B, 3B and could probably play 1B. A good piece to hold on to.

Oh, you're preaching to the choir with me on Yandy, Lou. I've been beating the Yandy drum in this folder for a couple years. Love the guy. And he'll be fine. Baseball is a game of adjustments. He'll adjust to those inside pitches. And he'll relax and start laying off those pitches in the dirt. I have no doubt this guy will hit. He'll be a very good player for us for quite a while.

Only question is what to do with him.

When Kipnis comes up he will most likely go down. But this taste will do him good. And he'll want to get back, for good.

Do we sign Santana to an extension? If so then I think Yandy's future is RF. Matter of fact, I've said a couple times recently I would go ahead and put him in RF this year and leave him there. No doubt in my mind he would be a better hitter than Chiz this year, let alone long term.

But knowing Tito that will not happen. I love the guy and he is a great manager but he ticks me off sometimes. This will end up being one of those times, wait and see. Chiz will be plugged in and he will hit 260 with an OBP of 320 with little power while Yandy is hitting 320 with an OBP of 400+ while putting up similiar or better power numbers for Columbus.

Are we not going to resign Santana to an extension? If not then long term 1st base is Yandy's. We have some talented OF'ers in the minors, but not a 1st baseman that I give a dang about.

Even if we didn't have Kip I still would not consider Yandy for 2nd base anymore. He has power lifted himself into not being quick enough and a bit stiff for that position.

From article Jordan Bastian wrote yesterday ...

CLEVELAND -- Francisco Lindor knows what Indians rookie Yandy Diaz is going through offensively. When Lindor was getting his first taste of the big leagues two years ago, the shortstop was hitting the ball hard, but running into a lot of tough luck.

Heading into Wednesday's game, Diaz had posted an average exit velocity of 94.6 mph on balls in play, ranking fifth-best in the Majors among players with at least 20 results, per Statcast™. Through seven games, though, the third baseman was sporting a .222 batting average with a .509 OPS.

"His at-bats have been really good, for the most part," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "Normally, when you use the whole field, you get rewarded. That hasn't necessarily happened with him yet. But, if he keeps swinging like he is, you'll see some numbers get better."

After being called up in 2015, Lindor hit .223 with a .568 OPS in 111 plate appearances before the All-Star break. The shortstop said he began to get caught up in trying to swing like the more veteran players on the team. When he went back to just being himself at the plate, he relaxed and saw the results follow.

Lindor has given the same advance to Diaz.

"We let him know that he doesn't have to be like me," Lindor said. "He does't have to be like [Tyler Naquin], [Michael Brantley], [Jason Kipnis], [Jose Ramirez]. He doesn't have to be like none of us. He's a very good hitter. He made the team hitting, and he's going to hit. He's got to continue to be himself and not try to be like anybody else. Just keep on swinging it."

Good point Hillbilly the muscle will not have loosened him up. Good solution on Santana and Yandy. I was on the train but not as early as you.

Bradley Zimmer hit a bomb tonight. I think it bounced off the roof of the Wendy's stand in OF stands.

Columbus followed Tribe's footsteps and got pounded tonight, 11-4. ... Plutko ugly, 3.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. ... Gonzalez had a double in 5 trips. ... Zimmer 1-4 with the aforementioned bomb.

Akron loses to Altoona 3-2. ... Decent outing for Peoples. 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 3 K. ... Frankie was 1-3 with a double and a walk. He has another little hit streak going. This makes either 6 or 7 games now. ... Chang 1-4 with triple and 2 rbi. ... Krieger, Bradley and Papi all 0'fer.

Not to be outdone, Lynchburg lost in pathetic fashion too. Shutout 4-0. ... Triston McKenzie with a slightly less impressive outing than normal. 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 K.

And to finish off the quadfecta of organizational incompetence, yes, the Captains lost tonight too, 5-0, to Lansing. I hate losing to teams up north. ... Gabe was 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base. ... Isaacs 0-3 with a walk. ... Ice remains cold, 0-4. ... Brady Aiken couldn't find home plate with a map and GPS. 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 7 walks, yes, seven. 1 K.

Last night the Blue Jackets, Indians, and Cavaliers all lost. Tonight the Tribe and every affiliate. I may need to call suicide prevention line. How depressing.

Well at least in the minors we care about Player Development rather than victories, so Zimmer's and Mejia's nights count as wins. Aiken is disappointing. McKenzie could well be the youngest starting pitcher in his league [haven't seen the list BA usually puts together] so I'm perfectly happy with his outing yesterday too. So prospects 1, 2 and 3 all looked good.