Written by Al Ciammiachella

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Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B-COL: 3-5, HR (4), 2 2B, 2 RBI, R

Gotta be honest...I'm starting to get sick of writing about Chisenhall in this space. He picked on former Rockie Jeff Francis again last night, collecting all three of his hits off of the southpaw. He's up to .380/.404/.720 on the season, with an out of this world 1.124 OPS. In his last 4 games, Chiz is 9-18 with a HR and 4 2B. He has 2 or more hits in 6 of his last 7, and is 14-31 with 3 HR in that timeframe. In 18 AB against LHP in Columbus this year, he's hitting .389/.389/.833 with 2 HR and 2 2B. Listen, I like Jack Hannahan as much as anyone; he's an amazing fielder (despite having booted a couple of balls already this year) and a great story, but Chisenhall is definitely the future at the hot corner, and you're going to have a pretty difficult time convicing me that he's not the present as well. He's collected 517 at bats above AA, and at some point if you want him to prove that he can hit major league pitching...well, he's going to have to hit against major league pitching (apologies to former 17-game winner Jeff Francis). If the Indians are serious about contending for a playoff spot this year, then Chisenhall needs to be in the lineup. He represents their best chance to win now, as well as in the future.

• Trevor Crowe, LF-COL: 3-4, 3B, 2B, RBI, R, K, CS. I'm also sick of writing about Crowe, but for a different reason. Hopefully some other team in dire need of an OF is fooled by this hot start and offers the Indians something of value for Crowe.
• Justin Toole, SS-COL: 2-4, 2B, RBI, K. Toole was in A ball late last week, and is now hitting .500 (4-8) with a 2B and 2 RBI for AAA Columbus.
• Bryce Stowell, RP-AKR: W (1-0), 3 IP, 2 H, 7 K. Don't look now, but Stowell is sounding an awful lot like the guy who took the system by storm back in 2010. He's thrown 5 innings on the season without allowing a run while striking out 11, walking none and has given up just two hits.
• Cody Allen, RP-AKR: 2 IP, H, 2 K. Called up from Carolina, Allen is unphased by Eastern League hitters so far. Between the two levels he's thrown 8 innings, struck out 12 and allowed just one hit.
• Chun Chen, 1B-AKR: 3-4, 2B, R. Chen has been off to a bit of a slow start at the dish, hitting just .250/.385/.313. Not sure if the position change has anything to do with it, but he's now played 6 games at 1B, DH'd twice and been behind the plate just once.
• Adam Abraham, 1B-AKR: 2-3, BB, 2 R. Abraham is 3-6 in his last two games after opening the season 1-12.
• Jared Goedert, LF-AKR: 2-4, R, K. Goedert has hit in 7 straight for Akron, and is 11-24 in that timeframe. With the Indians issues in the outfield, they're trying him in LF to see if he can hit his way to the bigs.
• Roberto Perez, C-AKR: 1-4, K. Perez gunned down Orioles top prospect Manny Machado attempting to steal 2B. You don't run on Roberto.
• Tyler Holt, CF-CAR: 2-4, 2B, R, CS. Holt has cooled off a little, but is still hitting .389/.463/.556 with a pair of doubles and a pair of triples on the year. Holt is repeating the high-A Carolina League, and is showing that he wants to be in Akron sooner rather than later with his early-season performance.
• Jeremie Tice, 1B-CAR: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI. Tice has hits in 4 of his last 5 games, and has been on base at least once in every game he has started for the Mudcats this season.
• Felix Sterling, SP-LCC: 6 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 4 K, 3 BB. Three solid starts for Sterling to open the season, and three no-decisions. He's thrown 16 innings on the year and has a 2.81 ERA, 14 K and 6 BB.
• Alex Monsalve, C-LCC: 1-2, HR (2), RBI, 2 BB, R. Monsalve is 5-12 in his last 3 games, and is hitting a solid .270/.426/.486 overall for the Captains.
• Jordan Smith, RF-LCC: 1-4, 3B, R. ll Jordan Smith does is hit. He has at least one knock in every game he's played in this season, and is up to .323/.344/.581 overall for the Captains. His future is up in the air defensively, but there are fewer and fewer questions about his bat every day.
• Robel Garcia, 2B-LCC: 2-4, RBI. Garcia is young, talented and RAW. He's hitting just .195/.233/.220 on the season for the Captains with 14 K and one walk, but he's going to get an opprtunity to play every day because his ceiling as a player is so high. He turned 19 just a few weeks ago, so some struggles in the Midwest League can be expected.