Carmona strong in rehab start

An encouraging sign

Fausto Carmona, RHP, Indians (Low-A Lake County)
Thursday's stats: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K
Now of course, a guy like Carmona is supposed to dominate in the Sally League. He did, as his fastball sat in the low 90s with its signature sink, while his command and secondary pitches were surprisingly sharp. With the big league club losing eight of 10 games and suddenly 12 games out, they'll take all the good news they can get.

We should point out when he's doing well, too

Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Pirates (Double-A Altoona)
Thursday's stats: 2-for-4, 2B, HR (2), 2 R, 3 RBI
Alvarez was featured in our daily look just two days ago, when he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his Double-A debut. Since then, he's more than made up for it, going deep in each of his past two games. He's certainly struggled more than expected this year, but the power and plate discipline are both very impressive, and again, nobody is writing him off.

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