Written by Al Ciammiachella

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The calender has flipped to May, and the Indians organization as a whole turned the page with a bang. The Indians, Clippers, Aeros, K-Tribe and Captains all won yesterday. Add that to Usama bin Laden being killed, and it's a pretty good day in my book. 

Chun Chen, C-AKR: 3-3, 2 HR (4), 3 RBI, 2 BB, 3 R

Now THAT’S what we’ve been waiting for from Chen.  After a so-so April, Chen got off on the right foot in the month of May, popping HR’s # 3 and 4 on the season in a 10-1 Akron victory. Chen’s batting average rose a whopping 31 points after his monster day, and his OPS jumped from .653 to .809.  Amazing what a difference a day makes. Almost encouraging as the 2 HR are the 2 BB he drew yesterday. He now has just 3 walks on the year against 19 strikeouts, which is concerning after a 38/36 K/BB ratio in 2010 for Kinston.  Hopefully this is the catalyst to a AA breakout for my #8 prospect in the organization.

Drew Pomeranz, SP-KIN: 5 1/3 IP, R (0 ER), 4 H, 7 K, 2 BB

Someday, Drew Pomeranz is going to get a few runs from the Kinston offense, leave the game with a lead, and record his first professional win. That day was not yesterday though, as despite a solid 5 1/3 innings, Pomz recorded his 5^th straight no-decision. Carolina League hitters are batting just .160 off of the big lefty, and he now has 34 K and 7 BB in 23 1/3 IP on the season. If you really want to pick nits, he’s yet to get out of the 6^th inning in any of his starts. But the Indians are obviously going to treat their investment with great care, and he’s unlikely to throw more than 100 pitches at any point this season.

• David Huff, SP-COL: W (3-0), 7 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 K, BB. Huff continues to win without really striking anyone out. He’s given up just 23 hits in 31 IP this season.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B-COL: 2-5, RBI, 3 K. Chiz hitting .310 in his last 10 games. His BABIP yesterday was 1.000.
• Jason Kipnis, 2B-COL: 2-4, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 R, K. Solid day for Kip, who now has 5 hits in his last 13 AB’s.
• Cord Phelps, DH-COL: 0-4, BB, R, 2 K. Phelps has been struggling since the beginning of my Free Cord Phelps campaign. He’s now hitless in his last 13 at bats.
• Jason Donald, SS-COL: 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, R. Donald has been bouncing back and forth between Columbus and Akron, and he clearly likes Huntington Park better then Canal Park.
• Jerad Head, LF-COL: 3-5, RBI, R, K. Head is now hitting .361 on the season.  Seriously, .361.
• Austin Adams, SP-AKR: W (2-2), 7 IP, ER, 3 H, 8 K, 3 BB. Adams is back on track after his worst outing as a pro. Dominating outing yesterday, has his ERA down to 3.09 on the season.
• Nick Hagadone, RP-AKR: IP, H, K, BB. That’s Hagadone’s 2^nd walk on the season, in 14 2/3 IP. Last year, he walked 63 in 85 2/3 IP.
• Cory Burns, RP-AKR: IP, 2 K. Business as usual for Burns, 17 K in 7 2/3 IP.
• John Drennen, RF-AKR: 3-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, R. Almost a mirror-image of Chen’s big day, but with 2B instead of HR. Up to .296/.412/.549 on the season.
• Jordan Henry, CF-AKR: 3-5, BB, R, SB, K. Henry was 0-12 going into the weekend, but snapped out of it with 4 hits in two games.
• Juan Diaz, SS-AKR: 2-5, BB, 2 R, 2 K. Diaz has hit in 7 of his last 8 games, and is 10-29 with a HR over that span.
• Preston Guilmet, RP-KIN: S (3), IP, 2 K. Nice, clean inning for Guilmet who now has 9 K and has yet to walk a batter in 9 1/3 IP on the season.
• Abner Abreu, RF-KIN: 2-4, HR (2), 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 SB. Big day at the plate and on the bases for Abreu. 5/24 K/BB ratio is still concerning.
• Bo Greenwell, LF-KIN: 2-4, 2B, R, K. Greenwell working on a modest 5 game hitting streak for Kinston. Yesterday’s double was just 4^th XBH on the season.
• Cole Cook, SP-LCC: W (1-2), 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 4 K, BB. Cook picked up his first professional victory in a solid start for the Captains yesterday.
• Carlos Moncrief, CF-LCC: 1-3, HR (4), RBI, 2 BB, R, SB, K. Moncrief has been improving his approach lately, and has 4 HR and 10 BB in his last 10 games. Season OPS now stands at .903.
• Gio Urshela, 3B-LCC: 0-5, K. Urshela has cooled after a sizzling start. After Sunday’s 0-fer, he’s down to .275/.306/.407 on the season. He’s now 5 for his last 34 at the plate.