Written by Al Ciammiachella

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First ATF in a while due to a little draft-related hiatus. But we're back to give you the rundown of yesterday's performances throughout the Indians minor league system; the good, the bad and the ugly. Columbus won 3-1 on the back some strong pitching performances, while Akron and Kinston saw their offenses explode in blowout victories. Lake County was on the recieving end of a 14-2 beatdown that saw them burn through 5 pitchers.

Roberto Perez, C-KIN: 2-4, 3B, 3 RBI, R, K.

Not sure I've mentioned this before, but I love Roberto Perez. One of the best defensive catchers in minor league baseball, Perez is suddenly a force with the bat as well. He smoked a bases-loaded triple last night to plate three runs, and has been scorching hot in the month of June. I know we're only 9 days into the month, but Perez has put up a .526/.609/.789 line so far. After a miserable April in which he hit just .160, Perez has worked his season line up to a respectable .254/.401/.344. He's been on base in 10 straight games including a 0-0 game with 4 walks back on May 26. The on base skills are there, he just needs to get a little more of his power to translate to games. 

Kelvin De La Cruz, SP-AKR: W (4-3), 6 IP, H, 3 K, 3 BB

We saw a different Kelvin De La Cruz than we are used to last night. Usually KDLC strikes out a lot of hitters and walks a lot of hitters, and is done after the 5th inning due to his pitch count. But last night he let the defense do the work for him and it paid off, as he gave up just one hit and pitched through the 6th inning for only the second time this season. De La Cruz has been one of the better starting pitchers in the system this year, posting a 4-3 record with at 3.42 ERA, 67 K and 40 BB in 55 1/3 IP. The walks are a concern, but if it weren't for his arm troubles two years ago he would likely be in Columbus by now. He's on the 40-man roster already, and could be a rotation option next year.

• Dave Huff, SP-COL: W (4-2), 7 IP, ER, 5 H, 3 K, 2 BB. After allowing a combined 19 ER in his last 4 starts, Huff got back on track last night in a Columbus victory. ERA on the season is now 4.37.
• Zach Putnam, RP-COL: 1 1/3 IP, 3 K. Putnam struck out 3 of the 4 hitters he faced, and is on the short list to be the next bullpen arm called up to Cleveland.
• Nick Johnson, DH-COL: 1-3, BB, K. Johnson is 2-6 with a walk and 2 K in his 2 games for AAA Columbus.
• Shelley Duncan, RF-COL: 0-2, 2 BB, R. Back in Columbus and hitting cleanup, Sloth scored one of the 3 runs that the Clippers were able to push across last night.
• Chad Huffman, LF-COL: 1-4, HR (8), RBI, R, 2 K. Always a streaky hitter, Huffman 6-9 in his last 3 games after going 1-14 in the 4 games prior to that. Maybe the start of another hot streak?
• Adam Miller, RP-AKR: IP, H, K. Clean outing for Miller, who now has 3 K in 5 AA innings.
• Chun Chen, C-AKR: 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, K. Like last year, Chun is getting better as the season goes on. So far in June, he has a .370/.406/.704 line with 2 HR, 3 2B and 7 RBI.
• Nick Weglarz, DH-AKR: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, 2 R. Getting on base and hitting for power; that's what Weglarz does. He has a line of .300/.500/.500 in his 3 games for Akron.
• Beau Mills, 1B-AKR: 2-3, HR (3), RBI, 2 BB, 3 R. Mills has been on a tear for Akron lately. In his last 10 games, he's hitting .359/.400/.615 with 3 HR and 9 RBI. He's going to have to have a monster season to put himself back on the prospect map as the past year and a half has been a serious dissapointment for the one-time Carolina League MVP.
• Matt McBride, RF-AKR: 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI. McBride has 4 multi-hit games in his last 6 contests, and his hitting .277/.377/.486 overall for Akron this year.
• T.J. House, SP-KIN: W (3-6), 6 2/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 4 BB. After a rough May, Dr. House has started off well in June. He's had 2 starts, and has thrown 14 innings and given up just 4 ER.
• Chris Jones, RP-KIN: 1 1/3 IP, K. In his last 3 appearances, Jonesy has thrown 4 1/3 innings, struck out 4 and allowed just one baserunner (a single).
• Tyler Holt, CF-KIN: 2-5, 2B, RBI, R, K. Holt is now at .260/.372/.332 on the season, with 13 SB in 17 attempts.
• Jeremie Tice, DH-KIN: 3-5, HR (3), 2 RBI, 2 R, K. Tice has homered in back-to-back games, and has a season line of .315/.413/.556 in his 15 games played.
• Rob Bryson, RP-LCC: IP, H, 2 K. Bryson has thrown 2 innings for Lake County in his return from an offseason ankle injury, and has 4 strikeouts.
• LeVon Washington, CF-LCC: 1-4, HR (1), 2 RBI, BB, K. Washington popped his 1st professional HR last night, and has been hitting well of late. In his last 10 games, he's sporting a .306/.405/.389 line and is 3-3 in SB attempts.