Damn, Clip Joint's Crowded

We can now officially dub Jack Hannahan the Indians' starting third baseman.  That is because Jason Donald was activated from the disabled list today, and optioned to Columbus.  Wow.  I did not see that one coming.  With all of the rampant speculation surrounding the big league pitching staff recently, the fact that Donald's 20-day rehab stint had run its course slipped to the back burner.  One would assume that Donald (.250) will receive regular playing time for the Clippers, but they do have a glut of infielders.  Top prospects Lonnie Chisenhall (.270) and Jason Kipnis (.242) are well entrenched at third and second respectively.  That leaves shortstop open for Donald, an en fuego Cord Phelps (.324), and the just returned Josh Rodriguez.  J-Rod was taken by the Pirates in December's rule 5 draft and given back after collecting one hit in twelve MLB at bats.  It is likely that the trio will also find some ABs in the DH slot, though manager Mike Sarbaugh will want to keep the bats of Jordan Brown (.286), Travis Buck (.333) and Chad Huffman (.288) in the lineup.  The moves do not bode well for players like Wes Hodges (.150) and Jerad Head (.333, but 28 years old).

The Clips did indeed play a game last night, taking their third straight from Gwinnett.  The victory boils down to two men: Chisenhall and Zach McAllister.  McAllister (3.38 ERA) started and threw seven shutout innings (6 H, 0 BB, 6 K) to earn his fourth straight win.  Chisenhall, suddenly mashing, slugged a two run homer to account for all of the offense and added a double. 

I have to get it through my thick skull that the schedule structure at AAA is very different that that of MLB.  For instance, the Clippers play the fourth and final game of their series with Gwinnett tonight and move on to Charlotte tomorrow.  Corey Kluber toes the rubber at 7:05p, seeking his first W of 2011.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Catching prospect Chun Chen, off to a slow start, bashed his first dinger of the season last night for Akron.  Chun is batting .246 with more strikeouts (17) than hits (15).  The RBI from the solo shot was his 7th of 2011.

Lake County catcher Alex Lavisky doubled and launched his 3rd bomb for the Captains.  Lavisky's season is similar to Chun's with 14 hits to 24 K's and a .209 average.  Alex has driven home 13 in 17 games.

2010 #1 overall pick Bryce Harper has settled in nicely with the low-A Hagerstown Suns.  After a rocky first week, Harper has raised his OPS to 1.070 (.323 AVG, 5 HR) and has added 18 RBI and 4 SB.  Over his last 10 games Harper is hitting .419 with four of his home runs.

Cheers.