Written by Al Ciammiachella

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Around the Farm takes a quick look at how some of the prospects throughout the Indians system performed in yesterday’s games. As always, the positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday’s games.

Some outstanding pitching performances in the system yesterday, as the three affiliates who were in action combined to go 4-0. Columbus swept a doubleheader yesterday without getting too much offense, Akron won in a shutout and Lake County got a strong start from a 2010 draft pick to propel them to victory.

Jeanmar Gomez, SP-COL: W (2-0), 7 IP, 8 H, 7 K, BB.

Gomez threw a “complete game” shutout for the Clips in game one of the doubleheader yesterday. One of the candidates for the 5^th spot in the Cleveland rotation this spring, Gomez would be one of the first guys the big club turns to in case of injury or ineffectiveness.  I’m contractually obligated to tell you that Gomez “scattered” 8 hits over his seven innings pitched. He allowed baserunners in each of the first six innings yesterday, but was able to pitch effectively with runners on base and limit the damage.  The strikeouts certainly helped, as did 2 GIDPs and an unsuccessful attempt on the part of Scott Sizemore to steal home.

Scott Barnes, SP-AKR: W (1-0), 7 IP, 2 H, 10 K.

Barnes was simply dominant last night, and the big lefty now has 17 K in 11 IP on the season for Akron. He’s repeating AA, but is still just 23 years old. He had a bumpy 2010 campaign for the Aeros, but his peripheral #’s were solid, and he had an outstanding season in the elite Arizona Fall League this past offseason.  A few more outings like this, and Barnes will be in line for a move down I-71 to Columbus.

• Zach Putnam, RP-COL: S (2), 2 IP, H, K. Putnam with his 2^nd straight 2-inning save, as he came into a 4-3 game and allowed just the lone baserunner to lock down the doubleheader sweep for the Clippers.
• Chad Huffman, LF-COL: 2-4, 2B, 2 BB, 3 R, SB. Huffman had a pretty good spring, but his 2-4 effort yesterday raised his average to .095 on the season for Columbus.
• Cord Phelps, 2B-COL: 1-4, K. Phelps still hitting a blistering .414/.485/.724 on the year.
• Grady Sizemore, CF-COL: 1-3, HR (1), RBI, R, 2 K. The homer is nice to see; the two strikeouts, especially against a RHP who’s not much of a prospect, not so much.
•  Chun Chen, C-AKR: 1-4, R, 2 K. Not a huge day, but the best day of any catcher in the system.
• Kyle Blair, SP-LCC: 4 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 7 K, 2 BB. Blair was better yesterday than in his first start, as he limited the walks and missed some bats.
• J.D. Reichenbach, RP-LCC: W (1-0), 4 IP, 2 H, 4 K. The UDFA out of Elon came in after Blair and completely shut down the Dayton offense to earn the W.
• Jason Smit, RF, LCC: 2-3, HR (1), 3 RBI, R, K. Smit is battling Cord Phemps for the title of hottest start in the system, position player division.  He’s hitting a robust .483/.571/.759, and appears to finally be healthy.
• Nick Bartolone, SS, LCC: 2-4, 2B, BB, 2 R, SB. Bartolone’s first hits since the opener, and the speedy SS stole his first professional base.