Lake County Captains (24-17)
by Caitlin Boron
The Lake County Captains have been hot so far this season (24-17), but it seems this week they’re slowly coming back to earth as they now share first place of the Mid-Eastern Division with the South Bend Cubs. Tonight the two teams went into extras due to a game tying single by RF Bobby Ison in the bottom of the ninth, though the Cubs got the better of the Captains, with a final of 7-5 in 10 innings.
OF Connor Marabell, who was drafted by the Indians last year, collected his 12th double on the season tonight, also with a home run, and is 10 hits for his last 29AB with 7 RBIs. Another hot bat this week worth noting? Catcher Francisco Mejia, who has a .310 average and knocked in a wee little grand slam in the Captains 11-10 win on Wednesday against the Dayton Dragons. Dominic DeMasi collected the win that night, adding to his 5-0 record on the season.
Lynchburg Hillcats (28-13)
by Justin Lada
Lynchburg rolled off a 6-1 week to improve their lead in the Carolina League north to six games. Julian Merryweather continues his breakout this season with sixth win, going 5 ⅔ innings on May 14 allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out nine. His 1.01 ERA leads the league and 39 strikeouts are seventh in the league.
Mike Papi had two hits in a homer in that win and had a six hit week. Despite taking three of four from the Carolina Mudcats, Mark Mathias was hitless in the four game set. He made up for it with six hits in three games while taking two of three from Salem. He notched his first homer of the year and drive in five runs in three games.
It was a rough week for Bobby Bradley after homering and driving in three in last Saturday’s win. He only had one other hit all week but walked nine times and now sits second in the league in walks (32). Bradley walked 56 times all last season. Justus Sheffield fanns five in 6 ⅔ in finishing off the Hillcats third straight against Carolina. Doryssus Paulino hit the DL with the wrist injury this week while hitting .235/.325/.314.
Akron Rubber Ducks (29-11)
by Gavin Potter
Weeks come and go, but the Akron RubberDucks keep winning. Their latest strong week saw Akron go 5-1, including four wins on the road. With their strong play, the Ducks brought their May record to a scalding hot 15-3, and an Eastern League best 29-11 on the season.
Leading the way last week for the RubberDucks was Clint Frazier, who is making a strong case to jump teammate Bradley Zimmer as the top prospect in the Indians’ system. On the week, the former #5 overall pick went 12-24, including two home runs, two stolen bases, four walks, and just four strikeouts in six games. At just 21 years old, his slash line of .300/.384/.507, while cutting his strikeouts and increasing his walks gives fans plenty of reason for excitement.
As great as Frazier has been, he isn’t the only reason for Akron’s success: Catcher Eric Haase was one of Akron’s better hitters in the four games he played during the week, going 5-16 with two walks and a home run, his third in just 13 games this year.
On the pitching front, Adam Plutko continued to dominate, as he threw seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and no walks on Tuesday against Hartford, lowering his season ERA to 2.35. The RubberDucks are currently back in Akron for a weekend series vs. Binghamton, but will depart Monday for a four game series at Altoona.
Columbus Clippers (25-16)
by Kevin Gall
It was a pretty quiet week for the Clippers without much to speak of outside of the promotion of Mike Clevinger. However, last night Jesus Aguilar launched 2 home runs, tying him for the International League lead with 9 roundtrippers. Aguilar finds himself struggling for the second straight season, this year even more so than last. Despite his struggles his power is still there which makes him dangerous every time he steps to the plate. He’ll likely never play meaningful innings for the Indians, but if he can get hot he could be used as a trade chip as the season heats up.
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