Written by Al Ciammiachella

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Rob Bryson, RP-AKR: 3 IP, 6 K.

That's about as good of an outing as you can have as a relief pitcher, as Bryson faced 9 hitters last night, striking out 6 and getting two groundouts and a flyout. Bryson's overall numbers this year look pretty good; 2.68 ERA, 48 K in 37 AA innings for the Aeros. But he's also walked 24 in those 37 innings, a number that is just too high. Things are trending upwards for Bryson though. In 14 innings during the month of May, Bryson walked 13 and struck out 13. In 11 2/3 innings in June and July, Bryson has walked just 5 and struck out 20, a much better ratio. Bryson has a power arm, and one of the best fastballs in the system. He complements the fastball with a wipeout slider that is devastating on righthanded hitters. Righties are hitting just .179 off of Bryson this year, and he's struck out 32 in 22 1/3 innings of work. Bryson was one of the four players who came over from the Brewers in the C.C. Sabathia deal, and he's the only one who has yet to reach the majors. He's battled some injury problems, both in his arm and a freak injury to his foot when he broke it running poles after an offseason workout back in 2011. He's now 24 years old, and spending time in Akron for the third straight season. The only thing holding him back from pitching in Columbus is a gaggle of veteran retread arms like Chris Ray, Dan Wheeler etc, so I'd prefer to see Bryson get experience at AAA ahead of guys like that. If he can stay healthy, he's in the mix for a bullpen job as soon as next season.

T.J. McFarland, SP-COL: W (3-1), 7 IP, ER, 4 H, 5 K, 3 BB. McFarland has been one of, if not the best pitchers in the entire organization this year. In 16 starts between Akron and Columbus, he's 11-3 overall with a 3.08 ERA. He's recorded 61 K and 25 BB in 99 1/3 IP, and posted a 1.75 GO/AO ratio.

Travis Hafner, DH-COL: Hafner was hit by a pitch in his first at bat, then went on to ground out twice and line out twice.

 Cody Allen, RP-COL: S (1), IP, 2 K, BB. Hard to believe that yesterday was Allen's 1st AAA save. He's given up just 1 ER in his last 9 outings, pitching 11 innings and striking out 13 while walking 3.

Matt LaPorta, 1B-COL: 2-4, 2 2B, R, K. LaPorta is hitting .290/.421/.516 in his last 10 games, and the AAA All-Star has a .983 OPS overall with the Clippers.

Jared Goedert, 3B-COL: 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R, K. Goedert had a big June, putting up a .310/.369/.480 line with 3 HR, 8 doubles and 15 RBI. He's starting off July on the same foot, picking up a pair of hits including another double last night.

Preston Guilmet, RP-AKR: IP, 2 K. Guilmet had struck out just one hitter in his last 5 2/3 innings, so it was good to see him punch out a pair last night. He's got a 2.12 ERA on the season, with 10 saves, 25 K and 7 BB in 29 2/3 innings of work for the Aeros.

Roberto Perez, C-AKR: 2-5, RBI, K. Perez is hitting just .212/.357/.300 with one HR and 17 RBI this season, but he's doing that while providing elite defense behind the plate.

Jordan Cooper, RP-CAR: W (4-3), 3 IP, ER, 3 H, 3 K, BB. Coop continues to be outstanding in the long relief role for the Mudcats. In his last 10 appearances, he's thrown 31 1/3 innings, allowed 9 ER (2.59 ERA), struck out 24 and walked just 3.

Shawn Armstrong, RP-CAR: IP, K, BB. Carolina League All-Star Armstrong lowered his ERA to 1.80, and ahs struck out 51 in 40 IP for the Mudcats. The 21-year old righty sits in the mid-90's with his fastball, and does a nice job locating it to both sides of the plate.

Jesus Aguilar, 1B-CAR: 4-5, 2 HR (11), 2B, 6 RBI, 2 R, K.  This is getting ridiculous. In his last 10 games, Aguilar is hitting .375/.417/.844 with 4 HR, 3 doubles and 12 RBI. He's 4th in the Carolina League in OPS (.921), 6th in AVG, 8th in HR, and 7th in RBI. The big righty will represent the Indians well at the Futures Game this weekend.

Gio Urshela, 3B-CAR: 3-5, HR (5), 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R. Urshela continues to be hot at the plate, and has pushed his season line up to .271/.310/.407 in the pitcher-friendly Carolina League.

Tony Wolters, 2B-CAR: 2-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 K. Wolters is riding an 8-game hitting streak, during which he's 12-35 with a pair of doubles and 6 RBI.

Bo Greenwell, LF-CAR: 2-5, RBI, 2 K. Greenwell has played in 11 games for the Mudcats, and has two hits in 5 of those contests. He appears to finally be healthy and ready to go.

Luigi Rodriguez, CF-LCC: 2-4, RBI, R, 2 SB. Rodriguez is a burner, and has now stolen 15 bases on the season. He's hitting .316/.357/.447 in his last 10 games for the Captains.

Alex Lavisky, C-LCC: 2-4, 2 K. Lavisky has hit in 4 of his last 5 games, but is at just .175/.214/.325 in his last 10 overall. He's got a .662 OPS overall this season, which is actually better than his 2011 number but still not where it needs to be.

Jose Ramirez, 2B-LCC: 3-5, 2B, R, 2 SB, CS. Ramirez is 8 for his last 13 with two doubles and three stolen bases. He's 19, hits from both sides of the plate and has plus speed; an intriguing overall package at 2B.

Robbie Aviles, SP-MVS: 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 4 K. Aviles was crusing along until the 5th inning, when he gave up four of his five earned runs yesterday. Health and innings are much more important than results for Aviles this year.

Louis Head, RP-MVS: S (1), 2 IP, H, 5 K. Dominating outing for Head, who struck out 5 of the 7 batters he faced in nailing down his first professional save last night. The Indians 18th round pick out of Texas State has given up just 1 earned run in 12 IP between Lake County and Mahoning Valley.

Joe Wendle, 3B-MVS: 3-4, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 R. Wendle went 0-4 in his first game for the Scrappers, and has gone 14-31 since then. Overall, he's hitting .400/.463/.543, and showing that Divison II kids from PA schools can hit, too.

Joe Sever, DH-MVS: 2-4, 3 RBI, BB, R, K. Sever, the nephew of John Elway, was the Indians 21st round pick out of Pepperdine. He's played in 5 games for the Scrappers, going 6-17 with 4 RBI.

Evan Frazar, 1B-MVS: 3-5, 3 RBI, R. Frazar is hitting just .226 for Mahoning Valley this year after putting up a .304/.412/.357 line in 56 games for the Scrappers in 2011.