Written by Al Ciammiachella

---

Chun Chen, DH-AKR: 5-9, 2B, RBI, 2 R.

Hey, a Chun Chen sighting! Chen missed nearly a month with a wrist injury, having played his last game all the way back on July 8. He was back in action on August 2 with an 0-3 performance, but got back into the swing of things with a 5-9 weekend. Even after missing a month's worth of games, Chen is still 5th in the Eastern League with 27 doubles and 5th with a .861 OPS. Chen is hitting .324/.411/.450 with 4 HR and 38 RBI in 88 games, solid numbers if he were still a catcher, but the lack of power is concerning for a first base prospect. He hit 16 HR in 412 Eastern League at bats last season, so the power is there. For some reason he's just been hitting a lot more doubles than homers in 2012. Chen is still just 23 years old, and has a good chance to be the everyday first baseman in Columbus next year. The hit tool is clearly there, and if the power outage is just a temporary thing, he's still a solid 1B prospect. But first baseman that don't hit home runs rarely get a shot in the show, and even those that do generally don't last very long. So here's hoping that Chen can re-discover his home run stroke sooner rather than later.  

T.J. McFarland, SP-COL: W (5-5), 8 IP, 3 H, 5 K, BB. After a couple of rough starts in which he gave up 11 ER in 10 IP, McFarland came back with 8 shutout innings last night, allowing just four baserunners. His AAA ERA stands at 5.05, and he's recorded 37 K and issued 24 BB in 71 1/3 IP for the Clippers.

Jenmar Gomez, SP-COL: W (5-2), 7 IP, 3 H, 8 K. Gomez has turned into a strikeout artist in Columbus, recording 7 or more K in 4 of his 7 starts with the Clippers.

Scott Barnes, RP-COL: 1 1/3 IP, 2 R (0 ER), 2 H, 3 K. Barnes continues to be a strikeout machine as a reliever in Columbus. Of the last 20 outs he has recorded, 12 have been via the strikeout. He's reached 50 K in 40 1/3 AAA IP.

Frank Herrmann, RP-COL: 2 S (7), 2 IP, 2 K, BB. Frank the Tank has become the de-facto closer for the Clippers, and has allowed just one earned run in his last 7 1/3 IP.

Cord Phelps, 2B-COL: 4-10, HR (12), 2 2B, RBI, 2 BB, 2 R. Big weekend for Phelps, who pushed his season line up to .271/.359/.448 with 12 HR, 28 doubles and 43 RBI.

Lars Anderson, 1B-COL: 0-7, BB, 4 K. Anderson is hitless with four strikeouts so far with the Indians organization, but did reach base once via the walk.

Shawn Armstrong, RP-AKR: IP, ER, H, K, 2 BB. Amrstrong finally gave up his first AA run. He's thrown 10 1/3 innings for Akron, striking out 13 and walking 5.

Kyle Landis, RP-AKR: W (6-4), 1 1/3 IP, H, K. Landis has thrown 52 1/3 innings for the Aeros this year, posting a 3.78 ERA. The 26-year old righty has struck out 44 and walked just 10.

Nick Weglarz, LF-AKR: 3-5, 2 2B, RBI, BB, 2 R, K. Wegz is hitting .300/.400/.367 in his last 10 games, but yesterday marked his first extra base hits in two weeks. His season OPS has dipped to .776, and he's hit 13 HR, 18 doubles and driven in 48 runs.

Thomas Neal, RF-AKR: 3-8, 3 R, SB. Neal stays hot at the plate, with more than one hit in 7 of his last 10 games. He's hitting .447/.475/.474 in that timeframe to push his season OPS up to .870, good for 4th in the AA Eastern League.

Juan Diaz, SS-AKR: 2-7, HR (11), 4 RBI, R, 2 K. Diaz is a switch-hitter in name only at this point. He's hitting .323/.365/.510 with 8 HR and 48 RBI batting lefthanded, but just .103/.163/.216 with 3 HR and 4 RBI from the right side of the plate.

Cole Cook, RP-CAR: 2 IP, 2 K, BB. Cook hasn't given up a run since June 28, a span of 13 1/3 IP. He's struck out 10 and walked 5 during the streak, and given up just 7 hits.

Tony Wolters, 2B-CAR: 6-13, HR (4), 3B, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 4 R, K. A full stat line for Wolters, who's been outstanding since the beginning of July. In his last 30 games, he's hitting .344 with 3 HR, 3 triples, 8 doubles and 15 RBI. His season OPS is still .727, but that's a far cry from the .390 it was on May 1.

Carlos Moncrief, CF-CAR: 4-11, 2 2B, BB, 2 R, K. Moncrief's season line is up to .251/.344/.471 with 15 HR and 16 SB as he closes in on a 20/20 season. He's also drilled 26 doubles and has walked 46 times in 98 games.

Roberto Hernandez, SP-LCC: L (1-1), 7 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 8 K, BB. A roller coaster outing for Hernandez, who recorded an impressive 9 strikeouts, but also gave up four solo HR to low-A Midwest League hitters.

Shawn Morimando, SP-LCC: W (5-3), 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 K. Morimando moved to 5-3 on the season with a win on Friday night, and actually raised his ERA to 3.52. He's a command and control guy from the left side, with just 48 K in 87 IP with the Captains. Opposing hitters are batting just .238 against him though, so he's locating the ball well despite the low K rate.

Enosil Tejeda, RP-LCC: S (2), IP, H, K. Tejeda now has 5 saves between Mahoning Valley and Lake County, and has thrown 8 scoreless innings since he gave up 3 ER in his Captains debut.

Jose Ramirez, 2B-LCC: 6-13, 2B, 2 R, 2 K. Ramirez just keeps on hitting. He's at .442/.467/.535 in his last 10 games, and up to .346/.399/.438 in 39 low-A games this season. The 19-year old switch hitter is having a breakout season, and is a guy who Indians fans are really starting to take notice of.

Jake Lowery, C-LCC: 3-8, 2 HR (4), 4 RBI, 2 R, K. Lowery had been struggling with the bat, even after being moved from Carolina down to Lake County. He's been red-hot in his last four games though, going 6-16 with 3 HR, a double and 6 RBI.

Jordan Smith, LF-LCC: 4-12, HR (6), 2B, 5 RBI, BB, 2 R. The big weekend pushed Smith's OPS up over .800, as he now has a season line of .309/.360/.444 with 6 HR and 55 RBI in 89 Midwest League games.

Luis DeJesus, SP-MVS: W (4-0), 7 IP, 3 H, 6 K. The Indians 11th round draft pick in 2011, DeJesus has been the best starter on the Scrappers this season. He's started 9 games and thrown 51 innings, striking out 33 and walking 10 en route to a 1.41 ERA. The ERA is good for 3rd in the New York-Penn League, and his 4 victories are tied for 6th.

Rafael Homblert, RP-MVS: 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 3 K, BB. Homblert has struck out 13 in 16 1/3 innings for the Scrappers, allowing 5 ER for a 2.76 ERA.

Robel Garcia, SS-MVS: 5-9, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, R, SB. After hitting just .210 in 63 games with the Captains, Garcia has his NYPL line up to .250/.348/.310 in 37 games for Mahoning Valley.

Joe Wendle, 2B-MVS: 5-9, HR (3), 3 RBI, R. Wendle is 6th in the NYPL with a .326 AVG, and 5th with his .896 OPS. Not bad for a Division II kid out of West Chester University.

Kieran Lovegrove, SP-AZL: 2 2/3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 3 K. Lovegrove set a career high in K's...but it's just his 4th professional outing. The 3rd round pick has allowed 10 ER on 18 hits in 9 IP for the AZL Indians.

Dorssys Paulino, SS-AZL: 1-6, R, 2 K. Paulino was removed from the August 4th game, then didn't play yesterday for the AZL Indians. Injury reports out of the complex leagues are practically non-existent, so we'll wait and see if there's something wrong with the 17-year old prodigy or if he's just hurt, not injured.

Jorge Martinez, 3B-AZL: 5-13, 2 HR (5), 6 RBI, 4 R, 2 K. Martinez is up to an impressive .368/.392/.586 with 5 HR and 26 RBI in 31 complex league games. The 19-year old infielder hits from both sides of the plate, but his future defensive home is still in doubt.

Claudio Bautista, SS-AZL: 5-11, HR (3), 3 RBI, 3 BB, 4 R, K. Yet another young, toolsy shortstop, Bautista was signed as an IFA last April, and the 18-year old is hitting .261/.369/.420 in 21 AZL games this year.

Eric Haase, C-AZL: 2-3, 2B, R. Haase has appeared in 19 games in the complex leagues, and is hitting .271/.307/.414. The 19-year old catcher out of a Michigan high school has yet to hit his first professional homer, but has driven in 10 runs and has the potential for plus power down the road.

D'Vone McClure, LF-AZL: 4-11, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, 3 R, K, CS. The athletic 18-year old outfielder out of an Arkansas high school is 10-40 with a HR and 4 RBI so far in his brief professional career.