Oops. Chiang gives up two homers right off the bat in 1st.

This is not a typo. The Clippers lose to Indy 21-1. At the end of the game the Clippers twitter account tweeted out that the Clippers lost "a lot to a little". Too embarrassed to post the score... Salazar is a mess. 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Word is his velocity topped out around 92. Not good. ... Naquin 1-3 with a walk. ... Yandy 1-4 with a double.

Ducks won 4-1 over Senators. ... Lugo 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. ... Mejia 1-4 w/ RBI. ... Bradley 1-4.

Hillcats lost to Wilmington 6-2. ... Chiang with back to back clunkers. 6.1 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. ... Castro 2-4 with a triple. ... Loopstok 2-4 with a homer. ... Collins 0-4 in his High-A debut.

Captains lose to Fort Wayne 2-1. ... Tully was very good once again. 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. ... Chu 2-4.

Scrappers lose to Black Bears 5-0. ... Taylor 1-4. ... Nolan Jones 1-3 with a walk and a triple. I was just kidding when I said that double was just getting him started but really it did. He's been an extra base machine ever since. He did have 2 errors though.

AZL team was off tonight.

DSL Indians lose 5-1. ... Lopez, as I mentioned earlier, was 0-4 again.

DSL Ind/Brew beat Astros 8-7. ... Cespedes 1-4 with RBI. ... Cabrera 1-4 with 3-run homer.

I was turned off on Tapia when he made something like 4 errors in a game at Mahoning Valley. He finished his Scrapper career with 22 errors in 73 games.
Better this year with 10 in 60 games, but I get the sense he's a clutz.

BA lines from Thursday:

CLE AA Bradley, Bobby 1B 4 0 1 0 .270 [I think he blew his chances to repeat on the Hot List, but he's still come along well this month]
CLE AA Krieger, Tyler 2B 4 1 0 0 .226
CLE AA Mejia, Francisco C 4 0 1 1 .338
CLE AAA Diaz, Yandy DH 4 1 1 0 .327 2B (8)
CLE AAA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 3 0 0 0 .142 [anytime he closes in on .150, he falls back]
CLE HiA Castro, Willi SS 4 0 2 0 .288 3B (3)
CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik 3B 0 0 0 0 .289
CLE MAJ Zimmer, Bradley CF 3 0 1 1 .270 SB (9) [this kid sure can play center fleld]
CLE SS Benson, Will RF 3 0 0 0 .200
CLE SS Gonzalez, Oscar LF 4 0 0 0 .328
CLE SS Jones, Nolan 3B 3 0 1 0 .245 3B (1), BB (9) [more varied offensive skills than Benson.]
CLE AAA Plutko, Adam 3.2 11 7 7 4 2 6.44 [we can write him off, I think]
CLE MAJ Armstrong, Shawn 1 0 0 0 0 1 4.50

Indians Prospective‏ @indiansPro 9 hours ago
#Indians 2017 6th Round Draft Pick Jr. (C) Michael Rivera out of The University of Florida has signed & will report to Mahoning Valley.

Bobby Bradley‏ @b_bradley_44 16 hours ago
My 2nd annual baseball clinic #tbt #giveback

Will Benson is hitting .200 with 1 home run. He has walked 2 times to 21 K's.

He is a younger player in the NYPL, where a lot of college draft picks go to play. But this is terrible.

It would be difficult for Jones or anybody else not to display more tools. Heh

Even though Jones' avg is down, 245, he has a nice 365 OBP. He has walked 9 times to 12 Ks. Not shabby. Given his new found penchant for extra base hits he is doing good right now. I hope he ends up a player to make up for what I feel is a horrible Benson pick.

Jones was higher rated than Benson when they were both drafted. Benson "has the potential of 5 tools". Cantu from the same class has the best offensive stats, but he's a 1st baseman, and doesn't walk so not likely to make it all the way either. Maybe Oscar Gonzalez, international signee, is the best bet of this bunch.

BAseball America has posted its midseason Top 100. Our guys have all advanced:

Mejia from 21 to 18, top ranked catcher
McKenzie from 56 to 24, 8th ranked pitcher
Zimmer, from 54 to 28
Bradley, from not ranked to 93.

FYI, Frazier has slipped from 33 to 49; Sheffield up from 86-74, but now he's hurt.

Mc back on the Hot List after his sizzling start:


2. Triston McKenzie, RHP, Indians (19)
High Class A Lynchburg (Carolina)

The rail-thin teen is moving into the upper echelon of pitching prospects thanks to a fastball he can push to 94 mph, a curveball that scouts grade as future plus and solid-average command. If he can bulk up, which is his goal, he could check off boxes for physicality and durability, two keys to achieve success as a big league starter.

That's what they always say. For week: 7-3-0-0-0-11

Q: Why doesn't Bobby Bradley receive any top 100 recognition? Is it because he is a first baseman? Seems to be a big time power guy with a high OBP.

Vincent Lara-Cinisomo: Mostly. First basemen have to hit a ton—a ton—and Bradley strikes out a bunch.

[of course, he did actually climb back into the Top 100; and he's also cut back on the K's]

Q
Cleveland Gary (Cleveland): Cleveland’s minor-league system seems to be teeming with incredible pitching. Morimando is making headlines on milb.com with his complete games. Pannone is doing awesome in AA. And now, Civale is having success as a strike-throwing machine in High-A. Who has the highest ceiling? [Gary forgot about Bieber]

Vincent Lara-Cinisomo: Of those you mentioned, Civale. His command is outstanding. Of their pitchers, Triston McKenzie by far. All right folks, great chatting with you, but it’s back to work. Have a great weekend. We’ll chat Top 100 on Monday.

Not BS'ing here, but before season began when I was choosing my pick to click at pitcher for this season, I mentioned Bieber, Merryweather, and Civale, but chose Pannone.

Having a better understanding now, I think Merryweather wouldn't have worked since I think he was on the preseason top 30 prospect list. But damned if I didn't nail the other 3.

Actually, Merryweather is the worst of the 4 now, though at AAA.

I'm glad I nailed the pitchers, cause Gabriel Mejia has totally disappeared due to injury, and wasn't doing anything prior to it.

Lynchburg continues to roll into the second half having now won 10 of their first 14 games since the All-Star break. Once again this week, their success has fallen on their pitching staff as Triston McKenzie, Aaron Civale, Shane Bieber and Brock Hartson have all been impressive lately. Hartson, in particular, has been the guy who has matched the others almost start for start, but doesn't get nearly the same recognition for it.
Here's what happened this week with the Hillcats...
Week In Review

6/30 - Lynchburg 5, Frederick 0: Hartson (W, 4-3), Peralta (L, 1-7)
7/1 - Lynchburg 7, Frederick 9: Triana (W, 2-0), Angulo (L, 3-2)
7/2 - Lynchburg 6, Frederick 4: Linares (W, 1-1), Gonzalez (L, 1-2)
7/3 - Lynchburg 3, Frederick 0: Civale (W, 5-1), Alvarado (L, 3-8), DeMasi (S, 2)
7/4 - Wilmington 1, Lynchburg 7: McKenzie (W, 7-4), Castillo (L, 5-4)
7/5 - Wilmington 6, Lynchburg 2: Puckett (W, 7-7), Hartson (L, 4-4)
7/6 - Wilmington , Lynchburg : (W, -), (L, -)
Player of the Week

Brock Hartson, SP
Last Week: 2 GS, 1-1, 13 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 2 HR, 1.39 ERA
Season to Date: 15 G, 11 GS, 4-4, 1 SV, 86.2 IP, 67 H, 33 R, 30 ER, 17 BB, 59 K, 9 HR, 3.12 ERA
Brock Hartson began his 2017 campaign as a member of the Hillcats bullpen. Well, after a quick promotion of Thomas Pannone, the right-hander found himself being inserted back into the starting rotation, a role with which he's been much more familiar with throughout his minor league career and he hasn't looked back since. After posting fair to middling results in four games as a reliever (4.24 ERA with one save), Hartson has gone 4-4 with a 2.84 ERA in 11 starts.
Of course, with guys like Triston McKenzie, Shao-Ching Chiang, Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale in the same rotation, Hartson is, not surprisingly, the fifth man by default, but make no mistake, his season has been just as impressive as his fellow starters in a lot of respects. He doesn't have the big-time stuff or the sexy strikeout numbers that the others may have, but the numbers don't lie.
As a starter this season, the former 21st round pick has not only posted that healthy 2.84 ERA, but also averaged more than six innings per start, held opposing hitters to a mere .195 average and posted a dominant 0.88 WHIP. He only has 47 strikeouts in 69.2 innings of work, but the 23-year-old's ability to limit traffic on the base paths, particularly with walks (1.8 BB/9 in 2017), shows that he doesn't necessarily need to punch out hitters to be successful. Most of Hartson's 2017 statistics are career-best across the board, but he's always had the ability to limit walks and make the most of his pitching without too many strikeouts.
Hartson's ceiling likely won't be much higher than a fifth starter in the majors, but he's looking like the type of pitcher that could be a valuable piece to any organization as the go-to guy either in the bullpen or in Triple-A if the team needs a spot start. Or he could solidify the back of the rotation as a not-flashy, but reliable fifth starter option.
Who's Hot

Triston McKenzie, SP
Last Week: 1 GS, 1-0, 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
Season to Date: 16 GS, 7-4, 89.2 IP, 60 H, 35 R, 29 ER, 32 BB, 115 K, 10 HR, 2.91 ERA
In McKenzie's final start before heading to Florida for his first ever Futures Game, he did not disappoint pitching seven dominant innings allowing just one unearned run on three hits while striking out double-digit batters for the third time this season. On the year, the 19-year-old right-hander has now pitched a career-high 16 starts and 89.2 innings while logging a very impressive total of 115 punchouts.
Anthony Miller, 1B
Last Week: 6 G, 19 AB, 1 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K, .368 BA
Season to Date: 37 G, 124 AB, 10 R, 32 H, 2 HR, 12 2B, 21 RBI, 13 BB, 50 K, .258 BA
Miller has started out July on a high note batting over .300 in his first five games as it's been an ongoing battle to find consistency at the plate for the 22-year-old in 2017. With his two doubles this week, though, Miller is now just one shy of his career high of 13 which he posted in 102 games last season for Lake County. This year, he has racked up 12 in just 37 games after missing nearly a month due to injury.
Yonathan Mendoza, INF
Last Week: 6 G, 24 AB, 3 R, 12 H, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, .500 BA
Season to Date: 72 G, 257 AB, 35 R, 79 H, 2 HR, 6 2B, 2 3B, 30 RBI, 30 BB, 31 K, .307 BA
Mendoza's recent hot streak has helped push his average back up over the .300 mark for the first time since April 18th as his last 10 games have resulted in a .450 average and, at one point, a seven-game hit streak. The 23-year-old's impressive ability to post an even strikeout-to-walk ratio has also continued as he now has just one more punchout (31) than walks (30) on the season. That fact has not been lost on the Indians as he has earned a bump up to Akron.
Aaron Civale, SP
Last Week: 1 GS, 1-0, 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
Season to Date (Lake County & Lynchburg): 17 GS, 7-5, 100.1 IP, 98 H, 49 R, 39 ER, 8 BB, 93 K, 6 HR, 3.50 ERA
If not for McKenzie's 11-strikeout effort, Civale would probably have the top pitching performance for the Hillcats this week as he fired seven shutout innings against Frederick while allowing only four hits and fanning eight. Since being promoted to Lynchburg, the former third round pick has buzzed through Carolina League opponents with relative ease having gone 5-1 with a 2.08 ERA in seven outings while averaging over six innings a start and posting a dominant 0.85 WHIP over 43.1 innings.
Who's Not

Sicnarf Loopstok, C
Last Week: 7 G, 27 AB, 5 R, 5 H, 1 HR, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 6 K, .185 BA
Season to Date: 70 G, 253 AB, 42 R, 68 H, 12 HR, 17 2B, 3 3B, 41 RBI, 31 BB, 71 K, .269 BA
It looks like Loopstok has finally hit his first real slump of the season as he is batting around the Mendoza Line since the Carolina League All-Star break. He does still have four homers and five RBI's in that 13-game span and has still posted a healthy strikeout-to-walk ratio of 14:10 and on-base percentage of over .350. As long as he maintains that patience at the plate, his hitting should come back sooner rather than later.
Argenis Angulo, RP
Last Week: 2 G, 0-1, 2 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 18.00 ERA
Season to Date: 26 G, 3-2, 10 SV, 32.2 IP, 19 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 17 BB, 40 K, 1 HR, 2.48 ERA
It was a day of firsts last Saturday against Frederick as Angulo not only had a rare poor outing, but also allowed multiple runs in a game for the first time this year as well as his first home run of the campaign. The four-run blowup also resulted in his second loss of the season while raising his ERA from 1.47 to 2.56 showing just how effective the right-hander had been as the Hillcats closer up to that point.
Transactions

- 6/30: 2B Sam Haggerty placed on the 7-day disabled list.
- 6/30: LHP Ben Krauth transferred to Lynchburg from Lake County.
- 7/1: LHP Ben Krauth transferred to Lake County from Lynchburg.
- 7/1: RHP Justin Garcia activated from the 7-day disabled list.
- 7/4: RHP Jordan Milbrath transferred to Akron from Lynchburg.
- 7/5: 3B Gavin Collins transferred to Lynchburg from Lake County.
- 7/5: SS Ivan Castillo placed on the 7-day disabled list.
- 7/6: INF Yonathan Mendoza transferred to Akron from Lynchburg.
- 7/6: 3B Jorma Rodriguez transferred to Lynchburg from Akron.
Coming Up...

The Hillcats will begin a four-game set against Salem with three of those games taking place in Lynchburg and the fourth in Salem. The Red Sox are still the 'Cats top division rival as they currently sit a game back in the second half standings. Shane Bieber will take the mound in the series opener. The rest of the pitching matchups have yet to be announced.