Wes

Hodges

Third base became awfully crowded at Kinston with the decision to promote Jared Goedert and Hodges now back healthy after missing a couple of weeks, but Hodges should continue to see the bulk of his time at the hot corner, with Goedert giving second base a try. Hodges is batting .299/.374/.537 in 134 at-bats.

Hodges hasn’t had the home run stroke working lately -- he has just two homers since the end of April -- but his average is up to .315. He’s at .351 with a 27/17 K/BB ratio in 134 at-bats since the beginning of May.

Hodges is batting .370/.388/.717 with four homers in 46 at-bats. That he has just two walks is worth mentioning, but he’s also struck out only six times. He had a 90/44 K/BB ratio while hitting .288/.367/.473 in 393 at-bats for Single-A Kinston last year.

Hodges has four homers, tying him with Sean Doolittle and Drew Sutton for second place in the AFL, one behind Tyler Flowers. He’s batting .357/.386/.690 in 42 at-bats. That he could be a solid regular by 2010 is one big reason the Indians might decide against moving Jhonny Peralta to third base this winter.

If the Indians do shift Jhonny Peralta to third base next year, it will be interesting to see what happens with Hodges. He’s probably not ready for the majors after hitting .290/.354/.466 as a 23-year-old in the Eastern League, but he’s a fine prospect. He’d be a candidate to end up at first base, but only if Matt LaPorta can stick in the outfield. Regardless, he figures to open next season as a third baseman in Triple-A.

Hodges, a Georgia Tech product, is batting .286/.311/.607 in 56 at-bats. He has plenty of offensive potential, and if he can remain at third base, he could be a very good major leaguer regular someday. A move to first base would limit his upside, but he’d still be a quality prospect.

Hodges was designated for assignment by the Indians in July of this year, then claimed off waivers by the Rockies, then DFA’d by the Rockies and claimed again by the Indians. He finished with a .270/.308/.430 batting line, 15 home runs and 60 RBI over 493 minor league at-bats.

Once thought of as a future starting third baseman in Cleveland, Hodges was designated for assignment by the Indians last week. The 25-year-old posted a .270/.316/.423 slash line for the Tribe’s Triple-A affiliate.

The 25-year-old Hodges has posted a decent .270/.316/.423 batting line in 400 plate appearances this season at the Triple-A level, but the Tribe needed his 40-man roster spot for the promotion of righty Josh Tomlin.

Why didn’t they just keep him in the first place? The Rockies just claimed Hodges off waivers from the Indians Tuesday. He’ll report to Triple-A Columbus, where he’s hit .270 with nine homers and 47 RBI in 366 at-bats this season.