The next stop is the other short-season league, Mahoning Valley. This is where most college draft picks start out.
The Pitchers
There's quite a few good performances here; not as dominant as Tony Sipp's 2004 campaign, but pretty good. The Indians drafted a lot of college pitchers in rounds 3-8, and a lot of those guys had successful debuts with the Scrappers.
The best of the bunch was Joe Ness (6th Round); the Ball State product held opposing hitters to a .234/.306/.293 line, and struck out 10.36 batters per 9 innings. Jensen Lewis, the team's 3rd Round pick, also pitched well in his pro debut. Others worth mentioning: Ryan Edell and James Deters. Scott Lewis, last year's 3rd rounder, made a brief appearance before missing the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.
The Hitters
Stephen Head obliterated the New York-Penn League before moving on to Kinston. Fellow 2005 draft pick Trevor Crowe didn't take as quickly to professional baseball, although his plate discipline stayed intact. PJ Hiser continued his power surge, though his strikeouts continued to pile up.
There's a couple Latin America products worth mentioning. Cirilo Cumberbatch, a Panamanian outfielder, put up respectable numbers at a young age for the level. And Evandy De Leon, a Dominican outfielder, displayed good power and patience after a promotion to Niles.