From The Desk of Decal: Meet The Clippers

It isn’t easy to determine who will be on the Columbus roster for the Governor’s Cup final since so many of their best players are no longer there.  Shelley Duncan, Jason Donald, Nick Hagadone, Luis Valbuena and Josh Judy are just a few that were called up to the Indians late in the season.   To replace them on the Columbus roster, many players were promoted from the AA Akron Aeros so the Ironpigs may have to borrow scouting reports from Reading.

The pitchers are young and very right hand dominant which could be good for all the left handed hitters on the Ironpigs.   The ones listed below are the most  likely candidates to be active for this series.

Eric Berger, 25, LHP:  An 8th round draft pick in 2008, he pitched mostly for AA Akron in 2011, going 2-0 2.53.  He pitched in 11 games for Columbus, all in relief and was 0-1 with a 10.05 ERA.  In 14.1 innings he allowed 26 hits, walked 14 and recorded 20 strikeouts.   Jeff Larish homered off him in game 2 of a doubleheader on May 8.

Cory Burns, 23, RHP:  Drafted in the 8th round of the 2009 draft.  He spent the entire season as the closer for AA Akron. He recorded 35 Saves and was 2-5 with a 2.11 ERA.  In 59.2 innings he had 70 strikeouts and walked just 15 batters.

Kelvin De La Cruz,  23 LHP.   He pitched the entire 2011 season in AA with Akron going 5-6 with a 4.19 ERA.  In 86 innings he allowed just 70 hits but walked 57, so control appears to be an issue for him.  He struck out 95 batters and allowed just 3 home runs.

Paolo Espino, 24, RHP.  Paolo was a 10th round draft pick by the Indians in 2006.  He was 6-0 2.44 at Akron this year before moving up to Columbus where he went 2-1 3.43.  He pitched in 12 games for the Clippers, 5 of them as a starter.  On July 24 he pitched in relief against the Ironpigs and threw 2 innings, allowing 2 hits and an unearned run.

Corey Kluber, 25,  RHP.   Kluber is 25 and started 27 games for the Clippers in 2011.  His record was 7-11 5.56.  In 150.2 innings he allowed 19 homeruns and struck out 143 batters.  He averaged nearly a walk every 2 innings and allowed 153 hits.   He lost to the Ironpigs on July 25th.

Matt Langwell, 25,  RHP.  Matt was a 2008 11th round draft pick by the Indians.  He spent most of 2011 at Akron where he went 4-1 2.66 in 36 games, 1 of them as a starter.  He was 1-0 4.00 with Columbus and recorded 17 strikeouts in 18 innings.

Chen Lee,  24,  RHP.   Lee was signed as a non-drafted free agent out of Taiwan.  In 2009 he played for Chinese Taipei in the World Baseball Classic.  In 2011 he was 2-1 2.50 at Akron and 4-0 2.27 with 1 Save for the Clippers.  In 71.1 combined innings at AA & AAA, he recorded 99 strikeouts.

Joe Martinez,  28,  RHP.   Joe pitched in 35 games for Columbus in 2011, 16 of them as a starter.   The Indians acquired him from the Pirates for cash considerations in January, 2011.  His record this year was 8-9  4.04 and he allowed 136 hits in 118 innings pitched.  He lost to the Ironpigs on July 24th by a 4-2 score as Brandon Moss and Josh Barfield homered.

Zach McAllister, 23,  RHP.   McAllister was drafted by the Yankees and was traded to the Indians on August 20, 2010 for Austin Kearns.   He was 12-3 3.32 for the Clippers this year and is the scheduled starting pitcher for game 1 against the Ironpigs.  He pitched against the Ironpigs on July 23rd but was not involved in the decision.  He gave up 3 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings of work.  Rich Thompson led off the game with a home run and the Ironpigs won 4-3 in 10 innings.   Zach was the winning pitcher in game 1 of the opening round of the playoffs against the Durham Bulls throwing 6 scoreless innings in the 3-0 win.

Zach Putnam,  24,  RHP.   Putnam was a 5th round draft pick by the Indians in 2008.  He went 6-3 3.65 for the Clippers this year in 44 games, all in relief.  He recorded 9 Saves.  He had 68 strikeouts in 69 innings of work.

Jason Rice,  25,  RHP.   He was 4-5 3.69 with Pawtucket in 2011.   Boston sent him to Oakland for Conor Jackson on August 31st and then placed him on waivers where he was claimed by the Indians.

Tyler Sturdevant,  25, RHP.  In 2011 Sturdevant was 4-2 1.98 in 41 innings in Class A, 3-1 3.30 in 30 innings in AA and then threw just 3.2 innings in 2 games at the AAA level.

Mitch Talbot,  28, RHP.  He was acquired by the Indians from the Rays in December, 2009.  He pitched in 13 games for the Clippers in 2011, 7 of them as a starter.  His record was 4-2 4.26.  He pitched in relief against the Ironpigs on July 22nd and 25th giving up 2 runs on 4 hits in 4.2 innings.

The catchers for the Columbus Clippers are both veterans over the age of 30.  Luke Carlin is a 30 year old switch-hitter.  He hit just .213 with 5 homers for the Clippers this year.    Paul Phillips is a 34 year old right handed hitting catcher.  He hit .237 with 3 home runs.
25 year old Beau Mills plays the majority of games at first base with veteran first baseman Nick Johnson who turns 33 next week  now being used primarily as the DH.  Mills hit .300 with 11 home runs at Akron and then hit .269 with 7 home runs in 119 at bats with Columbus.   Johnson hit just .201 with 6 HR for the Clippers.
Other infielders include, Argenis Reyes, 2B.  The 28 year old switch-hitter hit .313 but had just 83 at bats because recently promoted Luis Valbuena was the primary second baseman and had 17 home runs in over 400 at bats this year.  Valbuena’s bat leaves a big void in the Clippers lineup.  Rounding out the infield should be Juan Diaz at shortstop and Jared Goedert at third base.   The 26 year old right handed hitting Goedert  had 284 at bats with the Clippers and hit .271 with 15 homers.  The 22 year old Diaz is a switch-hitting shortstop who spent all of 2011 at Akron where he hit .255 with 9 home runs and 60 RBIs.
In the outfield the Clippers have 29 year old right handed hitting Jerad Head.  In 422 at bats with the Clippers he hit .284 with 24 home runs and 70 RBIs which puts him close to the same numbers as Brandon Moss had from the left side for the Ironpigs.  He had 13 home runs vs RHP and 11 home runs vs. LHP.     Ben Copeland is a left handed hitting outfielder who got called up from Akron where he hit .265 with 6 homeruns.  He had just 15 at bats with the Clippers and hit just .133.   Travis Buck is a 28 year old left fielder who bats from the left side and he hit just .256 with 4 homers in 121 at bats this year.  Tim Fedroff is also a left handed hitting left fielder and he is just 24.  He split time between Akron and Columbus this year, hitting .338 with 2 HR for Akron and .272 with 1 homer for Columbus.  Chad Huffman is a 26 year old right handed outfielder who played 124 games for Columbus this year.   He hit .246 with 13 home runs.  Rounding out the outfield is Thomas Neal, a 24 year old right handed hitter who played most of 2011 in the Pacific Coast League where he hit .295 with 2 home runs.   Left handed Venezuelan centerfielder Ezequiel Carrera was a key member of the Clippers this year hitting .287 and stealing 35 bases but he was recently called up to the Indians.  He was the only stolen base threat they had and now he is gone.
The Columbus Clippers are still a very good team and a very formidable opponent.  But they are not the same team that cruised through the International League with an 88-56 record in 2011.   It should be an exciting series.