Written by Al Ciammiachella

Al Ciammiachella

Haase 13 730x800Eric Haase, C-AZL: 3-5, 3 R, K.

Haase was the Indians 7th round pick out of a Michigan high school in 2011, and the Ohio State commit signed to a well-overslot bonus of $580,000. He was regarded as the top prep player in the state of Michigan after his senior year, and he's a guy I was really excited to get a look at in Goodyear this spring. Haase didn't dissapoint, as he passed the initial eye test with flying colors. He's a physically impressive kid who added some muscle last winter to help prepare him to endure the rigors of catching as a professional. He's got a cannon arm and great catch-and-throw skills behind the plate, and moves well to block pitches in the dirt. He has a smooth, simple swing that generates above-average power, and has an advance approach at the plate. What really impressed me was his ability to hit the ball to the opposite field with authority, as I saw him power several balls over the RF fence in batting practice, seemingly with ease. He has above-average speed and was the leadoff hitter for his high school team, something you don't see very often from a catcher. He has the potential to be a 5-tool player behind the dish, a rare and valuable commodity. When the New York-Penn League rosters came out, I was a little dissapointed that Haase wasn't on the Mahoning Valley roster. I jokingly tweeted to Mark Shapiro that Haase should be a Scrapper this year, and he immediately replied that they love Eric, but the complex leagues are the right place for a northern HS kid making his pro debut. Maybe Shaprio was just on his phone at the time and it was a coincidence, but  really think that Hasse is a guy that the front office feels good about going forward, and I think they stole him in the 7th round last year.

Eric Berger, RP-COL: W (2-3), 3 1/3 IP, 3 K. Berger has now thrown 12 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings for the Clippers, lowering his AAA ERA to 3.77 in 43 IP. He's struck out an impressive 42 and walked 3. There's more that just a glorious mustache here.

Cody Allen, RP-COL: IP, ER, H, BB. Allen gave up a solo HR, snapping his scorless inning streak at 9. He also failed to strike out a batter for the first time since mid-May.

Zeke Carerra, CF-COL: 2-4, BB, 3 R, 4 SB. Carerra has 5 SB in his last 2 games, giving him 14 on the season. He's hitting .264/.313/.366 overall.

Jared Goedert, 3B-COL: 2-4, 2B, RBI.The streaky Goedert is getting warm again, hitting .350/.395/.475 with 5 doubles in his last 10 games.

Russ Canzler, LF-COL: 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, R, K. The reigning Indians minor league player of the week extended his hit streak to 5 straight. He's raised his OPS almost 100 points in the month of June, now up to .777 on the season.

Matt LaPorta, 1B-COL: 2-4, 2 RBI, R. Whatever.

Brett Brach, SP-AKR: W (3-3), 7 IP, ER, 4 H, 3 K, 4 BB. Big Red with a very workmanlike outing yesterday, throwing 7 strong innings and picking up the victory in a game where he walked more batters than he struck out. Still, he lowered his ERA to 3.49 in 10 starts for the Aeros, and opposing hitters have batted just .238 off him in the month of June.

Kyle Landis, RP-AKR: 2 IP, H, 3 K. Landis had been struggling lately, allowing 8 ER in his last 4 1/3 IP for the Aeros. Good to see him bounce back with a dominant outing last night.

Thomas Neal, RF-AKR: 2-4, HR (6), 2B, RBI, BB, 2 R. Neal has been on fire lately. In his last 5 games, he's 11-19 with 3 HR, 5 2B, 8 RBI and 4 BB. That's an OPS of like a million (it's actually 1.982). Any way you slice it, he's one of the hottest hitters in minor league baseball right now.

Adam Abraham, 1B-AKR: 2-4, 2B, RBI, R. Abraham's season line now stands at .241/.333/.406 with 6 HR, 21 doubles and 33 RBI.

Roberto Perez, C-AKR: 0-2, 2 BB, R, 2 K. Surprising absolutely no one, Perez also picked a runner off 1B with a snap-throw. If only he could hit just a little more...

Mike Rayl, SP-CAR: 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 K, 2 BB. Rayl pitched well last night, but ended up with a no-decision in a 3-2 Mudcats loss. The southpaw is 4-7 on the season with a 4.66 ERA, striking out 59 and walking 28 in 87 IP.

Clayton Cook, RP-CAR: L (1-1), IP, ER, H, K. Cook made his first appearance since April 17 yesterday, and the fact that he's back on the mound is much more important than the result. Prior to his injury, Cook had gone 1-0 with an ERA under 1 in his two starts on the season, and if he can remain healthy the rest of 2012 he can make up his lost innings in instructs this fall.

Gio Urshela, 3B-CAR: 2-4, R. Urshela is almost as hot as Neal, with a 1.245 OPS and 3 HR in his last 10 games. He's raised his season line to a respectable .270/.314/.387.

Jesus Aguilar, 1B-CAR: 1-3, 2B, RBI. Aguilar continues to sizzle, as he's put up a .441/.487/.912(!) line in his last 10 games, with 4 HR, 4 doubles and 11 RBI.

Bo Greenwell, LF-CAR: 1-2, BB, K. Greenwell is hitting like he wants out of Carolina. Since coming off the DL and making his season debut on June 14, he's hitting .385/.448/.500 for the Mudcats, and has a chance to be in Akron by the end of July.

Louis Head, RP-LCC: W (1-0), 4 IP, 2 H, K. Head was the Indians 18th round pick out of Texas State this June, and got his first professional win last night with 4 innings of shutout relief.

Jerrud Sabourin, 1B-LCC: 1-4, HR (2), 4 RBI, R. Sabourin only had one hit last night, but it was a big one as the former walk-on at Indiana and undrafted free agent hit a 3-run, walk-off HR to send the Captains home with the win last night.

Luigi Rodriguez, CF-LCC: 2-5, RBI, R, K. Rodriguez had a great start to the season, posting a .944 OPS with 9 XBH in the month of April. May was less kind to the speedster, as he slumped to a .538 OPS with just 3 XBH. He's picked things up here in June, and has an .841 OPS with 3 HR, a triple and 5 doubles in his 19 games this month. Hopefuilly the roller-coaster will end and he can keep this up for the rest of 2012.

Leo Castillo, 3B-LCC: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 R, K. Castillo's season line of .195/.240/.276 isn't pretty, but the 18-year old does have some intriguing tools.

Tyler Naquin, CF-MVS: 1-4, BB. The 1st round pick is 8-20 (.400) to start off his professional career, with 2 doubles, 2 RBI, 2 BB and 5 K. He's had at least one hit in 4 of the 5 games he's played in for the Scrappers.

Jeremy Lucas, C-MVS: 4-4, 2B, RBI, R. Lucas was selected in the 12th round of this June's draft, and he's considered to be a better offensive catcher than defensive at this stage of his development.

Jairo Kelly, SS-MVS: 3-5, HR (1), 3 RBI, 2 R. Kelly is just 19, and had a .735 OPS in the complex leagues last year.

Charlie Valerio, DH-MVS: 3-4, 2B, RBI. Valerio is hitting .308/.357/.385 for the Scrappers, and the 21-year old international free agent is in his 2nd year stateside after debuting in the Dominican Summer League back in 2010.

Dorssys Paulino, SS-AZL: 4-5, HR (1), 2 RBI, 3 R, K. The 17-year old Paulino is putting up some impressive numbers in the complex league, hitting .393/.433/.679 in his 6 games this year. He's a bat-first infielder out of the Dominican Republic who might end up at 3B in the long run, but his bat should play there no problem.

Josh McAdams, RF-AZL: 0-1, 2 BB, 3 R, K.  No hits, but still a productive day for the 7th round overslot signing.

Tyler Booth, CF-AZL: 3-5, 3B, 4 RBI, R. Booth was the Indians 13th round pick this year, and has plus speed as his primary tool. He's 8-25 so far in Arizona, with 2 doubles, a triple and 7 RBI in 5 games played.