Written by Al Ciammiachella

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T.J. McFarland, SP-AKR: W (2-0), 6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 K, BB.

McFarland has started the season off right, throwing 11 innings while allowing just one run, striking out 6 and walking three. McFarland quietly had a solid season in Akron last year, going 9-9 with a 3.87 ERA in 137 1/3 innings for the Aeros. After the year he was sent to the Arizona Fall League, which is the top offseason league for advanced prospects all around baseball. It's typically a hitter's league, but McFarland was outstanding in the dry desert air, going 3-0 with a 3.18 ERA. He threw 28 1/3 innings in the AFL, striking out 22 and walking 13. McFarland isn't a big strikeout guy, but gets a ton of groundballs with his outstanding sinking fastball and does a nice job pitching to contact. He has excellent control, and when he's commanding his fastball well he keeps it down in the zone and is awfully tough to hit. McFarland is never going to be a dominant ace that anchors a staff, but he can be a solid, innings eater in the middle of a big league rotation. The lefthander is still just 22, and should be in Columbus at some point this season and in Cleveland as early as 2013.

Francisco Lindor, SS-LCC: 3-4, 2B, R

I can't tell you how excited I am about the Francisco Lindor experience. Remember, he's going to be just 18 for the entire 2012 season. A lot of the kids drafted in the upcoming June Rule 4 draft will be older than him. He's getting his first real professional experience in a full-season league that is notoriously tough on hitters. He's facing the best pitching of his life on a nightly basis. And all he's doing is hitting .353/.371/.529 with 3 SB in the first week of the season. Wow. I've been high on Lindor since before he was even drafted, and was extremely excited when the Indians selected him with the 8th overall pick last June. But even I didn't expect him to be this good, this fast. He's going to struggle at some point this season, he's going to hit a rough patch where he goes 0-15 or something like that, but he's already shown enough to have talent evaluators around baseball drooling over his potential. Since his opening day 0-4, Lindor is hitting an even .400 while playing solid defense at the 2nd-hardest defensive position on the field. I still think he spends all of 2012 in the Midwest League and there's really no reason to rush him, but I'm going to run out of superlatives really soon when trying to describe just how good Francisco Lindor is and could eventually be.

• Corey Kluber, SP-COL: W (2-0), 4 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 8 K. Kluber's only mistake was a 2-out, 3 run HR in the 5th that came after a walk and a HBP. He's been missing a lot of bats in the early going, with 18 K in 10 innings pitched. Control is still an issue though, as he's also walked 5 in those 10 innings of work.
• Nick Hagadone, RP-COL: IP, 2 K. Dan Wheeler is living on borrowed time. Really can't see how Hagadone isn't a better option right now than the veteran.
• Cord Phelps, 2B-COL: 2-4, 3B, R. Phelps is hitting a solid .313/.371/.469, and has reached base in every game so far this season for the Clippers.
• Russ Canzler, 1B-COL: 2-4, RBI. Last night was Canzler's 1st multihit game of the season, and the defending International League MVP has yet to record an extra-base hit this year.
• Chad Huffman, RF-COL: 2-3, HR (2), RBI, BB, 2 R. One of several AAAA players currently populating the Clippers roster, the soon to be 27-year old Huffman is a non-prospect at this stage of his career.
• Bryce Stowell, RP-AKR: IP, 2 K. Stowell has 4 K in 2 perfect innings of work for the Aeros. Look for him in Columbus before too much longer.
• Preston Guilmet, RP-AKR: IP, H, 2 K, BB. It wasn't a save situation, but Guilmet recorded the final 3-outs of a 6-1 Aeros victory. It was his 2nd appearance of the season, and the first in which he allowed a baserunner or recorded a strikeout.
• Kyle Bellows, 3B-AKR: 2-2, HR (1), 3 RBI, 2 BB, SB. Amazing what a difference a day makes early in the season, as Bellows saw his OPS jump over 400 points in a single day. The slick-fielding 3B even managed to swipe a bag. He's shown a very solid approach this year, walking 7 times against just 4 K.
• Juan Diaz, SS-AKR: 2-5, RBI, K. Added to the 40-man this offseason, Diaz is hitting .304/.357/.348 for the Aeros in the early going.
• Nick Weglarz, LF-AKR: 1-4, R, 2 K. The notoriously-slow starter recorded his first hit of the season last night, and is 1-18 (.056) on the season.
• Elvis Araujo, SP-LCC: L (0-2), 5 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 5 H, 7 K, 0 BB. All in all, not a bad start for the big lefty. Araujo has started two games for the Captains this year and has pitched 9 innings, allowing 4 ER and 8 H while striking out an impressive 14 and walking just one. He's one of the highest-ceiling pitching prospects in the organization, and it's good to see him healthy and effective early in the season.
• Alex Lavisky, C-LCC: 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, 2 K. Lavisky has collected 2 hits in three straight games now and is up to .389/.368/.611 on the season. His 6/0 K/BB ratio is less encouraging, but I'll take the 4 2B in 4 games as a good sign. I'm still really high on Lavisky and think he can put up big #'s this season.