Everything you need to know about Indianapolis
The Bats’ longest homestand of the year comes to a close tonight against the Indianapolis Indians, but this isn’t the last they’ll see of the Tribe. In fact, the second half of a six-game split series between the two continues tomorrow night in the Hoosier State. While we’ve enjoyed Indy’s company here in the Derby City for the past three days, we’re excited to see what Naptown is all about, too. On this edition of “Everything you need to know”, we’ll take a look at another IL West division rival and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
First, a quick look at the probable pitchers for the weekend (plus Monday) in Indy:
Sat. 4/19 — LHP Jeff Francis (2–1, 1.69 ERA)
Sun. 4/20 — RHP Josh Smith (2–0, 2.63 ERA)
Mon. 4/21 — RHP Tim Crabbe (1–1, 2.30 ERA)
Here’s everything you need to know about the Indians and Indianapolis, Indiana:
The Veterans
Brent Morel is the first veteran of note on a dangerous Indianapolis roster. A four-year Major League veteran with the White Sox, Morel joined the Indy Tribe for the first time this season. So far this season, he’s hitting .317 in 11 games with a home run and eight RBIs. During his time in Chicago, Morel hit .229 in 194 games.
A familiar face for Reds fans, Chris Dickerson is also spending his first season in the Pittsburgh organization. Dickerson has spent at least part of six seasons in the big leagues, and has hit a combined .262 in 314 career games. During his time with the Reds (three seasons, 148 games), he hit .274 with eight homers and 30 RBIs. This season with Indianapolis, he is batting .278 with two home runs and eight RBIs.
Andrew Lambo is only 25 years old, but his Triple-A action in parts of three different seasons certainly makes him a veteran of the Indianapolis team. He broke through with a big season last year when he hit 18 homers with 53 RBIs with the Indians and earned a call-up for his Major League Debut with the Pirates. While in Pittsburgh, Lambo hit .233 with a homer and 2 RBIs in 18 games. A current member of the Pirates’ 40-man roster, he’s hitting .324 for the Tribe so far this year.
The Prospects
It depends on who you talk to if you want to know exactly where outfielder Gregory Polanco ranks in the world of top prospects, but nobody will disagree that he’s one of the best in the game. MLB.com ranks him atop the Pittsburgh chain and as the 13th overall prospect in the minors, and they have good reason. So far this year, Polanco is hitting a torrid .423 in 13 games with Indianapolis that includes a pair of homers and 13 RBIs. The Pirates have very capable outfielders at the big league level already, but it won’t be a surprise when one of them makes room for Polanco in the near future.
The only other Indianapolis player on MLB.com’s top-20 list of Pittsburgh prospects is RHP Brandon Cumpton, who comes in as the 12th-best prospect in the organization. Fellow RHP Jameson Taillon would certainly be on this list (ranked as the #2 Pirates prospect, #20 in baseball) if it weren’t for his unfortunate arm injury that required Tommy John surgery earlier this month. Cumpton made his Major League debut last season, going 2–1 in five starts with the Pirates and carrying an impressive 2.05 ERA. He’s back in Indy to start this season, where he is off to another good start with a 1–0 record and 2.25 ERA in his first two starts of the year.
The Ballpark
Name: Victory Field
Opened: 1996
Capacity: 14,230
Dimensions: LF — 320’ CF — 402′ RF — 320’
Ballpark fact: Victory Field draws its name from the Indianapolis Indians’ former home. Originally opened as Perry Stadium in 1931, that ballpark held the name Victory Field from 1942 to 1967 celebrating the United States’ victory in World War II. (via IndyIndians.com)
Best Promotion while Bats are in town: Monday Dollar Menu — Hot Dogs, peanuts, Cracker Jacks, chips and popcorn all on sale for just $1 each. Sounds like something that’s worth a Monday evening road trip.
The City
Indianapolis marks the second capital city we’ve featured on this segment of the blog. The first trip to a state capital for the Bats (Columbus, Ohio) resulted in a 1–1 series tie due to a rainout on the first game of a three-game set. This trip to the capital of Indiana looks like it will be both warmer and dryer, and nobody can complain about that.
Anyway, Indianapolis. It’s the 13th largest city in the United States, and is second to only Washington D.C for number of war monuments inside city limits. “Naptown” is home to the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which hosts the Indy 500 (IndyCar) and Brickyard 400 (NASCAR).
Also in Indy are the Indiana Pacers (NBA) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the Indianapolis Colts (NFL) at Lucas Oil Stadium. The NCAA is also headquartered in Indy. Two Division I schools (Butler and IUPUI) are located within the city, as is the NCAA Hall of Champions.
Outside of sports, Indianapolis is home to headquarters for Steak n’ Shake, hhgregg, Finish Line and Dow AgroSciences. Famous natives of the Racing Capital of the World include Larry Bird, Mike Epps, Kurt Vonnegut, Benjamin Harrison (23rd president of the United States) and John Wooden.
That will do it for another edition of “Everything you need to know”. The Bats will be back in town on Tuesday for a four-game set against the Syracuse Chiefs. The next set of cities on the Bats’ IL tour will come next weekend when they embark on an eight-game road trip to New York. We’ll be here with double barrel action telling you all you need to know about Buffalo and Rochester.
See you next weekend.
* All stats are accurate heading into play on April 8. All prospect rankings are according to MLB.com.
