Written by Al Ciammiachella

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Cord Phelps, 2B-COL: 4-5, 2 2B, RBI, SB, CS

Phelps extended his hitting streak to twelve games yesterday afternoon with this impressive four-hit performance, raising his overall season line to .355/.385/.516 in 14 games for the Clippers. Phelps...struggled once he was called up to the Indians last year, there's no doubt about that. The Stanford product hit just .155/.241/.254 in 71 big league at-bats, and looked overwhelmed at the plate for the most part. The switch hitting infielder is still just 25 though, and the book is far from closed on his major league potential. I still see a potentially valuable, offense-oriented utility infielder down the road here, and best-case scenario could mature into a 2nd-division starter at 2B. He's not a great defender, but can play 2B, 3B and even SS in a pinch. He's even a good enough athlete to appear in LF on a limited basis. Better players than Phelps have struggled in their initial exposure to major league pitching, so those who are writing him off already are a being a bit hasty. I'm not promising future success or saying he's going to make an all-star team down the road or anything, but I still think he has a shot to be a useful bat on a major league team. It might not be for the Indians, as Jason Donald, Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis are ahead of Phelps in the infield pecking order, but he could be a useful trade chip with another solid season in AAA.

• Scott Barnes, SP-COL: L (0-2), 5 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 4 K, BB. After a nice 1st start where he gave up just 1 ER and struck out 7 over 6 innings of work, Barnes has struggled the last two times out, give up 8 ER over his 10 IP. The good news is that after walking 4 his last night out, Barnes' control was better this time out, issuing just one free pass.
• Steven Wright, SP-AKR: W (2-1), ER, 4 H, 7 K, 4 BB. That's the 2nd straight outing where Wright has struck out 7, as the knuckler was clearly knuckling last night against Bowie. Wright lowered his ERA to just 1.56 on the season in his 3rd start.
• Cody Allen, RP-AKR: IP, ER, H, 2 K. Allen gave up a solo HR for his first ER allowed on the season, but also picked up 2 more K to give him 14 in 9 IP between Akron and Carolina. He's now allowed a whopping two (2) hits in his 9 innings of work.
• Chun Chen, 1B-AKR: 2-5, 3 1B, R. That makes three games in a row with at least two hits for Chen, and he's now 8 for his last 13 at the dish.
• Thomas Neal, RF-AKR: 2-4, 2 1B. Neal is up to .250 after a bit of a slow start in Akron, and is trying to work his way back up to Columbus.
• Kyle Bellows, 3B-AKR: 3-4, 2B, RBI. Known more for his defense than his stick, Bellows is repeating the Eastern League and is now hitting .281 on the season for the Aeros after last night's 3-hit performance. Guy's with one plus tool will always have a chance to prove themselves, and Bellows has a plus tool in his glove.
• Jared Goedert, LF-AKR: 2-4, 2 1B, BB. Goedert just keeps on keepin on. He's collected 2 hits in 4 straight games now, and in 6 of his last 9 games. That's pretty impressive, even though the power hasn't really come around yet this year (just 1 HR).
• Mike Rayl, SP-CAR: W (1-2), 6 2/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 K. Rayl has now given up just 1 ER, 5 hits and 1 BB while striking out 9 in his last 13 2/3 innings of work for the Mudcats. The lefty isn't overpowering, but when he's locating his fastball he's awfully tough to hit.
• Jesus Aguilar, 1B-CAR: 2-4, RBI. BBJA collected the only RBI in a 1-0 Mudcat victory, and is hitting .375/.468/.550 on the season. The .550 SLG is impressive, but for Aguilar I'm actually more impressed with the .375 AVG as he's always been a guy whose raw power exceeded his pure hitting ability. So far, it looks like the hit tool is catching up with the power.
• Ronny Rodriguez, SS-CAR: 2-2, BB. Along with Aguilar, Rodriguez was one of two Mudcats with more than one base hit yesterday. In the field, he was back at SS with Tony Wolters getting a day off.
• Will Roberts, SP-LCC: 6 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 5 H, K, 2 BB. Roberts didn't miss many bats yesterday, but still pitched well in a no-decsion. He's now allowed just 4 ER in 18 2/3  IP in his three starts this year.
• Cole Cook, RP-LCC: 2 IP, ER, 4 K, 3 K. Cook has been having some trouble adjusting to his new role in the bullpen, but pitched effectively yesterday in a Captains victory. He's striking out more than a batter per inning this year, with 8 K in 7 2/3 innings of work.
• Luigi Rodriguez, CF-LCC: 3-4, 2B, BB, R. Continuing his hot start for the Captains, Rodriguez is hitting .367/.429/.531 in his 12 games this year. He's managed at least one hit in 9 of his last 10 games, and has multipile hits in 5 of those contests.
• Alex Lavisky, C-LCC: 2-5, R, K. Lavisky was 0 for his last 8 heading in to yesterdays game, and picked up a pair of hits to snap out of the mini-slump. He's hittting .273 and slugging .455, but has sitll yet to draw a walk in 44 at bats on the season.
• Bryson Myles, RF-LCC: 2-4, 3 RBI, K, CS. Caught stealing for the first time this year, Myles still collected three RBI in the Captains victory.
• Nick Bartolone, LF-LCC: 2-4, RBI, 2 R, K. Forced into LF when RF Jordan Smith had to exit the game, the middle infielder picked up a couple of knocks and an RBI despite the strange position defensively.