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Indians Indians Archive Around the Farm: August 15
Written by Al Ciammiachella

Al Ciammiachella

Morimando 615x800Shawn Morimando, SP-LCC: W (6-4), 6 IP, 2 H, 6 K.

Morimando threw an impressive six shutout innings to pick up his 6th win of the season last night for the Captains. Selected in the 19th round of the 2011 draft out of a Virginia high school, Morimando is more of a command and control lefty than a power guy. His fastball sits between 86-90 MPH, and he compliments it with a big, sweeping curveball with excellent plane and depth. Morimando also throws a changeup that projects as at least an average pitch, and when he's throwing it for strikes it gives him a real nice weapon to use against righthanded hitters. Morimando threw just 6 innings for the Arizona League Indians after he was drafted last year, and after a few appearances in extended spring training the Indians decided he was ready to skip over short-season Mahoning Valley and go right to the low-A Midwest League in May of this year. 97 2/3 innings and a 3.50 ERA later, Morimando has given the Indians no reason to re-think their decision to push the lefthander straight to full-season ball. He has room on his 5'11", 170lb frame to add some more size and strength, something that would help him add a couple of ticks on his fastball and help him become more than a "soft-tossing lefty." Indians fans of course have nightmares of Jeremy Sowers anytime they see a lefthanded pitcher who throws less than 98 MPH, but the simple facts are that lefties don't have to be power pitchers in order to get outs. Morimando is an intriguing prospect who's performed well against players who are typically older and more experienced, and he's been one of if not the most consistent starter for the Captains this season. He's definitely a guy to keep an eye on going forward as he progresses through the system.

Scott Barnes, RP-COL: 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 2 H, K, 3 BB. Umm...well...Barnes DID strike out 100% of the hitters he retired yesterday. So...there's that. Even with yesterday's 135.00 ERA, Barnes' AAA ERA is just 4.03, and he'd given up just 1 ER in the 10 2/3 IP prior to the disasterous outing.

Cord Phelps, 2B-COL: 4-4, HR (14), 2 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R. That's a pretty solid offensive day for Phelps, who's been good but not great for the Clippers this year. He's hitting .277/.364/.460 with 14 HR, 31 doubles and 48 RBI in 116 AAA games, and the switch-hitting infielder is still just 25 years old.

Jared Goedert, 1B-COL: 2-3, HR (11), 2 RBI, BB, R. Goedert had been mired in a 2-33 skid up until yesterday, a slump that saw his seaon line dip to .296/.343/.481 in 69 AAA games. He has 11 HR, 15 doubles and 49 RBI in 260 International League AB this season.

T.J. House, SP-AKR: W (7-3), 7 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 6 H, 4 K, 3 BB. House has been the most consistent starter for the Aeros this season. In his last 7 starts dating back to July 12, he's 2-1 having allowed just 9 ER in 40 2/3 IP with 36 K and 10 BB.

Chun Chen, DH-AKR: 2-5, R, K. Chen missed nearly a month with a wrist injury, making his return to the Akron lineup on August 3. On August 8, he got hurt again, but this time the injury was much less severe. He was back in the lineup yesterday with a pair of hits to raise his season line to a respectable .322/.411/.442 in 92 AA games this year.

Jesus Aguilar, 1B-AKR: 1-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K. BBJA has appeared in two games with the Aeros since being called up from high-A Carolina, and is 2-9 with a double and two runs driven in so far in his young AA career.

Cole Cook, RP-CAR: 3 1/3 IP, 2 R (0 ER), 4 H, 4 K, 2 BB. Cook has really settled into his relief role for the Mudcats. He's thrown 20 2/3 innings out of the bullpen, allowing just 2 ER (0.87 ERA) with a 2/1 K/BB ratio.

Grant Sides, RP-CAR: 2 IP, 3 K, BB. In 56 1/3 relief innings between Lake County and Carolina, Sides has a 2.08 ERA with 64 K and 28 BB this season. Opposing hitters are batting just .190 against him, and he's only allowed one HR between both levels.

Jose Ramirez, 2B-LCC: 2-4, 2 R. Ramirez is showing no signs of slowing down for the Captains, as in 47 Midwest League games he's hitting an impressive .347/.399/.435 with 12 stolen bases and 36 runs scored.

Jordan Smith, RF-LCC: 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 R. Smith has reached base in 7 of his last 10 plate appearances. He's hit in 9 of his last 10 games, with a .341/.378/.488 line in that timeframe.

Jerrud Sabourin, 1B-LCC: 2-5, 2 RBI, R, K. Sabourin isn't hitting for as much power as you'd like to see from a first baseman (.397 SLG) but he is hitting for a solid average (.307) and getting on base pretty regurarly (.377 OBP) so it's tough to complain too much about the 1 HR in 110 low-A games.

Jake Lowery, C-LCC: 1-4, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 K. Lowery is 5 for his last 14 with a HR, a triple, and 7 RBI. The triple was the second of his career, which is pretty good for a catcher.

Mitch Brown, SP-AZL: W (1-0), 5 IP, 2 BB, 5 K. Brown threw five hitless innings yesterday for his first professional victory. He's living up to his high draft status with a 2.75 ERA, 16 K and 8 BB in 19 2/3 IP for the AZL Indians.

Dorssys Paulino, SS-AZL: 3-4, 3B, BB, 3 R, K. Paulino went just 1-11 in two games on August 10-11. Since then, he's 10-14 with 2 HR, a triple, two doubles, 8 RBI, 8 runs scored and has a pair of stolen bases. If I knew what number Paulino intended on wearing once he reaches the show, I'd pre-order the 17-year old's jersey right now.

Eric Haase, C-AZL: 3-5, 2 2B, RBI, R, SB, K. It's days like this I really wish I lived in Arizona. Haase is almost as hot as Paulino, going 10-16 in his last 4 games with 2 HR, a triple, 3 doubles and 5 RBI. Oh, and a stolen base to boot.

D'Vone McClure, CF-AZL: 3-4, 2 2B, 4 RBI, BB, SB, K. McClure was assessed to be a "raw" 18-year old coming out of an Arkansas high school, but he's playing above that scouting report right now. He's hitting a respectable .254/.360/.365 in 16 AZL games, with 9 BB and 13 K.

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