Last Game (07.01.12):
Indians 6, Orioles 2
WP: Justin Masterson (5-7, 3.92)
LP: Brian Matusz (5-10, 5.42)

Up Next:
Vs. Angels 07.02.12 7:05p

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Only A Sure Thing Is A Sure Thing

Yay, Ubaldo Jimenez!  When an organization gives up prospects #2 (Alex White), #4 (Drew Pomeranz) & #9 (Joe Gardner) at the trading deadline (plus former 2nd round pick, Matt McBride), the return should be a proven major league commodity.  Despite the fact that Jimenez will remain under team control through 2014, we have absolutely no idea what we will be getting.  Over his past 40 starts, Ubaldo is 12-16 with 4.80 ERA.  That does not sound like a number one starter to me.  With a velocity dip of between 3 & 4 MPH on his best two pitches and 2011 WHIP of nearly 1.4, he does not inspire fear in anyone.  What he might do in any given start is a microcosm of what he might do over the next few seasons, it is anyone's guess.  I do not mean that in the "no one can predict the future" sense.  Rather the Indians have traded a handful of young prospects for a 27-year with great potential, who has yet to put together for more than a couple of months at the big league level and has already been hampered by a number of nagging injuries.

While the sensation of having the Tribe bringing on talent instead of fire-selling it away certainly warms the cockles of my heart, I cringe to wonder what this trade might reap.  When the organization traded away CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee, each coming off of a Cy Young season, their dominance had already inspired some to predict Hall of Fame futures.  While I understand that this is, by all means putting, the cart before the horse, it seems much more likely that Jimenez will slot with Ernie Broglio and Doyle Alexander and it will be Drew Pomeranz that is spoken of alongside Lou Brock and John Smoltz.  Don't know who the first two are?  Exactly.  Hell, even it is not Pom, it could be White or Gardner.  Think about that as you marvel at how similar Ubaldo is to one Fausto Carmona.  Wonder why he has such tantalizing option years the first time that he walks six and lasts 10 outs.

If this team had been one or two players short of making a serious run at a pennant, then, as a mid-market team, this is the sort of trade that reality necessitates.  Sadly, the 2011 Indians, now sitting a single game over .500 and with 23 wins in their past 60 games, are not that team.  Even if young talent, incisive moves and pure dumb luck conspire to produce a playoff appearance, it will be brief.  Is a token ALDS appearance worth bending over backwards for the team we should have swept in 2007?

I understand that murderer's row redux does not equal a world championship, but betting the farm on a guy that is, at best, a coin flip is a great way to preclude playing for one for yet another decade.

All of that being said, I do very much hope that I am exactly wrong.

Cheers

C'mon This Is Basic Stuff

Normally, I feel as if everyone is entitled to their own opinion.  While I might disagree with an assertion, I am always open to another point of view.  There is one staggering caveat here: the argument must be supported with some kind of evidence.

That being said, I cannot believe that either the PD or Cleveland.com allowed this piece to see the light of day.  Here is the gist of the author's position: with Josh Hamilton the Rangers play (as of 07.22) .661 ball, without him .421.  Both Ian Kinsler and Adrian Beltre have a higher WAR than Hamilton.  Thus, WAR is a silly "new-fangled" statistic that provides no useful information. 

I could take innumerable stances against this contention.  How about "WAR accounts for games played, rather than games not played, especially those lost after breaking your arm trying to score from third on a pop out to between home and third.  Maybe WAR rewards those who do not make god awful stupid decisions.  You would need to take a WAR/G average to build in games missed due to injury."  Or "Look at the top 10 in career WAR (Ruth, Bonds, Cobb, Mays, Cy Young, Aaron, Walter Johnson, Wagner, Speaker, Clemens) and tell me that it does a poor job of ranking players.  Of the top 63 in career WAR, all of them are either in the Hall of Fame, definitely will be in the Hall of Fame (think Maddux), or have been caught up in the steroid scandal.  If you want to allow a couple of 19th century guys and Peter Edward Rose, then it covers the top 83."  I could take issue with this entirely subjective and unsupported statement --

"And maybe it doesn't matter that Hamilton continues to drive in runs at a lofty pace; is such a feared hitter that the batters around him get better pitches to hit; is an outstanding base-runner; has excellent range in the outfield and a great throwing arm; plays hard almost to a fault; is integral to the Rangers' excellent camaraderie and chemistry, etc."

Thankfully, I do not need to make any of those arguments.  All I need to do is simply point out one of the most basic logical theorems: CORRELATION DOES NOT PROVE CAUSATION!!!!!  Did I put enough emphasis on that?  Am I going to waste my time digging into the myriad of reasons that Rangers did not perform well during those 38 games?  Absolutely not.  The pure fact is that just because Texas plays 200 points lower without Hamilton does not mean it was because Hamilton was not in the lineup.  For instance, the Cardinals had a higher slugging percentage when Albert Pujols was on the DL.  Weird.  That is because there are an incalculable amount of variables at play.  Hey, my Indians are 0-5 this season when I watch the game at a bar.  Thus, obviously, the place at which I watch the game has a direct negative influence on the Tribe's ability to win.  Right?  Right?

If the author wants to express his deep and abiding man-crush on Josh Hamilton or continue to live in an antiquated fantasy world where batting average is still the premier statistic, I'm cool with that, but it is simply deplorable that a respected media outlet would print the ramble.  The author closes his piece as follows --

"Maybe Hamilton's "Wins Above Replacement" is so far off the charts it's simply invisible."

Maybe Mike Pettica's understanding of  baseball is so minuscule it's simply non-existent and the only reason that he is still being paid is that he has 40 years of experience.  (Nice assumed "that" and contracted "it's", you hack.)

Cheers.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Indians Acquire Ubaldo Jimenez

The Tribe sends LHP Drew Pomeranz, RHP Alex White, RHP Joe Gardner and C/1B/OF Matt McBride to the Rockies.  That is a steep price to pay for a man that has gone 9-15 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP over the past 365 days. Ubaldo has experienced a noticeable drop in velocity on both his fastball (97->93) and his slider (87->83).  He explains,

"I didn't pitch well early because of my thumb and groin (hip flexor) injury. I didn't build up my arm strength in spring, so I didn't have my velocity or breaking ball. That's why I struggled. Right now, I feel like I can dominate again.''

His velocity has begun to rise, though it is still not back to the level of 2010.  If you would like some good news, in 2011 Jimenez is 3-4 with a 2.83 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP away from the the hitters' haven of Coors Field.  His 2010 road numbers were equally impressive (10-6, 2.63, 1.08 WHIP).

While McBride is a throw away and we have been listening to the ballad of Alex White all summer long, Pomeranz is a huge piece to give away.  Recently listed as the 14th best prospect in the Baseball America mid-season rankings, Pom cannot be officially traded until the one year anniversary of his signing date (08.16).  Thus, he is currently listed as a PTBNL in the deal.  Just to be clear, the Tribe has given up their pre-season #2 (White), #4 (Pomeranz) & #9 (Gardner) prospects.  This had better work out.

Let us cross our fingers that the physical on Jimenez comes back clean.  The Rockies have refused all askers the opportunity to examine Ubaldo before completion of a trade.

Cheers.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Indians Acquire Kosuke Fukudome

The Tribe sends RHP Carlton Smith and OF Abner Abreu to the Cubs.  Everything is official now.  Smith has lingered at AAA for the past two seasons, producing a brilliant start to the 2011 campaign then regressing back to mediocrity (at best).  It would have taken a slew of injuries for him to ever see the bigs with the Indians.  Abreu was ranked in the organizational top 10 prospects in 2009, coming off of an .839 OPS season with Lake County.  The multi-tooled outfielder has done little since, striking out 232 times over the past two seasons at Kinston.  He had been on a tear recently (.352, 8 HR, 17 RBI in July) and is the reigning Carolina League player of the week.  Abner needs a ton of work to even be considered big league worthy, but he is still just 21.  This is a bargain price to pay for a player that can certainly help the team contend and can be counted with only a select few of his new teammates as a "true" big leaguer. 

The Indians will pay just $775k of the $4.83mil remaining on Fukudome's $13.5mil salary for 2011.  The 34-year old outfielder will waive his no-trade clause in exchange for as yet undetermined "perks."  His contract includes an odd clause that the controlling team must sign him to an extension by 11.14.11 or release him into the free agent pool.

One would expect Kosuke to play his natural RF until Shin-Soo Choo returns.  Ezequiel Carrera moves to the bench, with Michael Brantley moving back to center and the platoon switching to left.  The odd man out is Travis Buck, who has been DFA'ed to create space for Fukudome on both the 40 and 25-man rosters.  What a shame.  After his monster spring, I honestly expected Buck to be of great help.

Cheers.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

A Quest Called Tribe

Damn articulate, am I not?  This is precisely the feeling that I was seeking to avoid when I turned the channel last night.  Obviously, I could not do such a thing on two consecutive nights, so I stuck with the team, watched until the bitter end.  They do not come much more bitter than this.

It is difficult to chastise the guy whose solo home run accounted for exactly all of the Indians' runs scored, but, yes, I am going to do that.  I am sick of Matt LaPorta, utterly disgusted with him.  Yeah, Matty's first home run since June 2nd was great, it gave us hope, but it does not forgive his other 3 at-bats.  In the second inning, with a man on, he popped out to short on a 3-1 pitch, not putting anything vaguely resembling a good swing on the ball.  With two on in the 4th, he flied out to center.  The STO boys tried to make it sound as if LaPorta (.238) had come up just short of a home run.  The ball did not even reach the track.  Then, the ninth, oh mon dieu, the ninth.  I was poised to write the complete antithesis of this paragraph, highlighted by the sentence "Every time I am about to completely give up on Matt LaPorta, he does something that compels me to give him another chance."  While it was a great at-bat to work the count full, Amy Winehouse could have put a better swing on the 3-2 pitch.  To compound the problem, Matt put himself so badly out of position with his attempt that he was doubled up at first.  C'mon man!

Do you thing I am done ranting on this one?  Not.  Even.  Close.  It may be that Manny Acta is outstanding at bringing young talent along, at transitioning them into successful big league pros.  What he is rarely proficient at is making in-game decisions.  Sure, there were a few well-played situations earlier in the year, particularly involving the squeeze play, but, over the past month, Manny has hurt more than he has helped.  Tonight was one of the worst, as he made not one, but two unconscionable calls.  First and worst came in the third inning.  With Jason Kipnis on third, Ezequiel Carrera on first and Michael Brantley at the dish with one out, Acta chose NOT to put Carrera in motion.  Let me be perfectly clear, Zeke is fast (35/39 SB's at Columbus).  The only tool that propelled him into the big leagues was his speed.  Kipnis, who does have above average speed (9 AAA 3B), is smart on the base paths (12/13 AAA SB's).  On the first pitch to Brantley, you put on the take (the lineup took pitch 1 all night anyway) and send Carrera.  Hmmm, what might happen?  A) Jeff Mathis holds the ball and you have two runners in scoring position.  B) He throws through and Kipnis comes home with the game's first run against a guy with a 1.84 ERA.  C) Maybe Zeke is even safe and the inning rolls right along.  What is the worst case scenario?  I guess it is that one of the middle infielders cuts the ball and gets Kip at home.  That would take two great throws in quick succession plus the intelligence and awareness to make the return play.  Unforgivable.  Even if I could give Acta the benefit of the doubt for that blunder (which I cannot), he gaffed again in the all-important top of 7.  He asked Josh Tomlin, who had thrown just 18 pitches out of the zone to that point, to throw four wide to Howie Kendrick.  Although, I get the logic, Mark Trumbo had looked clueless in his first two AB's, the decision to break the rhythm of a man who had allowed 3 base runners all night is just plain stupid.  Sure, the pitch selection to Trumbo could have been better.  Still, let the your horse do his job, do not take the ball out his hand and give him time to think about what is going on around him.  If Acta cannot recognize that this something that one absolutely cannot do, especially to a young pitcher, perhaps he is not as good at player development as some would have us think.

I feel a bit better now.  Allow me to give Josh Tomlin his props.  In a game where the pressure to be perfect must have been immense, Josh (11-5, 4.01) showed up for the challenge.  Pitching a full 8 innings for the first time this season, and only the second of his career, he threw first pitch strikes to 25 of 28 hitters (including the IBB) and delivered five 1-2-3 innings.  Tomlin has said recently that his cutter had been flat of late and somewhat difficult to control.  It did not show tonight.  That may have been because he threw more curveballs than normal, which worked well for the most part, until, sadly, he left one up against Trumbo.  This was a great outing from Tomlin and what did he get, what did we get?  A loss.  Thanks, Manny and thank you, Matt LaPorta.

Enough.

Here's to not having to decide whether to watch the game tomorrow.  It is not televised.  ;-j

Cheers.

Fuck You, Matt LaPorta.

Fuck You, Matt LaPorta!

Clip Joint Perfection

I am not going to beat around the bush here, Justin Germano threw a perfect game tonight, 27 Syracuse Chiefs up and 27 down.  Germano (1-2, 3.65) struck out 7, including Corey Brown three times, the last of them looking to end the game.  He retired 11 on ground balls, 9 on fly balls and threw 69 of his 95 pitches for strikes.  Justin threw first pitch strikes to 18 of 27 hitters and faced only one three ball count, to Michael Aubrey with 2 outs in the first.  He also had a four pitch seventh inning.  It was the first perfect game in the history of the Columbus Clippers, regardless of affiliation, and the first 9-inning IL perfecto since 2003.



This was Gemano's first win of the season at any level.  Since joining the Clippers' rotation on July 6, he has not only limited opponents to a .196 batting average, but he has not walked a batter over 26 innings.

The sluggish Columbus offense put up all three of their runs early in support of Justin, with Tim Fedroff driving in a pair and Cord Phelps (.294) adding the third.  Fedroff (.277) and Paul Phillips (.233) each had 3 hits.



In case any of you are wondering, I beat literally everyone with this report, including STO and the official Clippers twitter feed.  Nice.

We are going to let this one stand on its own tonight.

Cheers

Clip Joint Not Playin the Hits

Mitch Talbot
Yeesh, the Clippers lost the last three in the Lehigh Valley, scoring a grand total of 4 runs.  Although they still lead the IL West by 9.5 games with a 64-39 (.621) tally, Columbus has now lost 5 of 6 and has posted an unimpressive 12-16 record since June 24.

Last night's only run came on Beau Mills' first AAA hit/RBI/long ball, in the 8th inning.  Corey Kluber (4-7, 6.05) delivered a typical performance (5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) in taking the loss and  CC Lee (4-1, 1.99 overall) allowed his first AAA run.  Mitch Talbot, though, showed up with an excellent outing.  Talbot (0-1, 3.07) pitched the last 2.2 innings scoreless, while allowing 2 hits and a walk.  As mentioned previously, I do expect that we will see Mitch back with the big club in August out of the 'pen.

Sunday featured absolutely nothing worth mentioning, as the Clips mustered but 2 hits.  Saturday, at least, saw an impressive outing from LHP Nick Hagadone (5-2, 2.75 overall) as he threw 2 perfect frames featuring three strikeouts.  Nick Has settled in now and he will make the trip to the NC should a trade deadline deal involve Tony Sipp or Rafael PerezZach McAllister started that game and it might be that he is feeling somewhat of a hangover after David Huff got the call for last week's double header and the subsequent rotation spot.  McAllister was passable (5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), but has not lately been nearly as sharp as he was early in the season.  His last 4 starts have seen an 0-1 record with a 4.13 ERA and a .298 OBA.  Zach remains 8-3 with a 3.11, even though he has won just once since May 20th.  He, too, is a possible chip in a coming deal.

Columbus hit .141 (13-for-92) as a team over the last three games.  This is what happens when an organization calls up all of the talent to the bigs and does not make the corresponding moves deeper in the system.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

It seems as if Adam Miller (1-3, 5.45 overall) has hit a wall in Akron.  Last night, Miller took the loss after giving up 5 earned on 5 hits and 2 walks in an inning and a third.  He has now thrown 34.2 innings this season, the most he has pitched since 2007.  In the last 8.2 of those innings, he has allowed 11 runs (12.07 ERA) on 13 hits (.362 OBA).  I would not be surprised to see Adam hit the DL soon with a "tired arm."

Drew Pomeranz started for the Aeros yesterday and lasted just 4.1 due to a strict pitch count.  Pom (3-3, 1.98 overall) surrendered 2 runs on 4 hits with 3 walks and 6 K's.  Drew's numbers have been remarkably similar between High-A Kinston and his current stop with his OBA (.202 vs .200), BB/9 (3.74 vs 3.86), and K/9 (11.10 vs 10.93) almost identical.  He still needs to stretch himself beyond 5 innings (91 IP in 18 starts), but, otherwise, Pomeranz is right on track.  Oh, he will not be traded.  Write it down.

The recently promoted Felix Sterling made an outstanding first appearance for the Lake Country Captains.  Sterling earned the W in Sunday's 6-1 victory.  Felix (3-3, 3.62 overall) allowed 3 hits and 3 walks, while fanning 2.  Still just 18, expect Sterling to make waves at the A+/AA level next season.

RHP Jake Sisco, the Tribe's 2011 3rd round pick, got shelled in the AZL.  Sisco (0-2, 2.95) allowed 4 earned on 4 hits, 2 walk and 2 punch outs as he got tagged with loss #2.  It was Jake's first poor outing as a professional.   He came into the game with a 1.42 ERA and .246 OBA.

Despite allowing a run, friend of the blog Tyler Tufts picked up his 4th AA save on Sunday.  Ty (4-1, 2.05, 7 SV overall) has compiled all four of those saves over the past month as he has taken on a more prominent role out of the Rough Riders bullpen.  According to sources familiar with the situation, the organization has finally taken notice of Tyler, a 32nd round pick in 2008.  While the Rangers have a bevy of relief talent in the high minors, he was supposedly told that, if he continues to produce for Frisco, he could very well skip AAA and go straight to the bigs.  As much as I hope this is true, the promotion of a AA relief pitcher to the majors, when he is not on the 40-man roster, is highly unlikely.

Cheers.

Monday, July 25, 2011

A Quest Called Tribe

I will be honest.  I changed the channel after Bobby Abreu hit the home run.  45 minutes later, I pulled up the box score and let out a huge sign of relief.  Apparently, I switched back to STO about 90 seconds after Jason Kipnis stroked his first MLB hit, the game winning hit.  I just could not watch another heartbreak loss.  Being a Cleveland fan, one would think that I would be used to it by now.  I am not.  I think that is a good thing.  Tonight, I missed out on seeing the Indians win, but, for me, that is not the priority.  Whether I am unwilling to watch, glued to the television or screaming from the cheap seats, all that matters is that team emerges victorious.

While the walk-off was a joy, it was far from the only story tonight.  How about Fausto Carmona?  Whatever they did to Fausto over the break, can we please bag it and give him a intravenous feed?  Carmona before the break (4-10, 5.78, 1.41 WHIP) versus after (1-0, 1.50, 1.17 WHIP) is like beef tenderloin after Dinty Moore.  Again, he seemed to be talking to himself (tonight amidst a torrent of his own perspiration).  I would like to believe that this is a method of slowing the game down for a guy who is fanatically emotional.  Regardless, he produced tonight (6 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K) and if he can pitch similarly down the stretch, the Indians chances are much improved.

I fondly recall the days of Vinnie Pestano being nothing but nasty.  Such has not been the case recently.  Since July 2nd (the day he was the de facto closer and converted his first MLB save) Pestano has posted a 9.82 ERA and allowed opponents a .925 OPS.  He seems to be struggling with his control.  While his pitches continue to show the same filthy movement as in the season's first 3 months, their location has become erratic as he has left far too many over the fat part of the plate.  Vinnie has just 43 innings of major league baseball under his belt, he will learn consistency.  Joe Smith is a great example as he has put up numbers far exceeding expectation based not on better stuff, but on improved command. Wouldn't it have been nice if he had been able to pitch 2 innings?

Alex White pitched a simulated game this afternoon, throwing his full compliment of pitches.  White experienced some mild soreness in his injured finger following the outing, but that is to be expected with an injury of this kind.  Earlier today, it was announced that White would pitch "multiple innings" out of the bullpen upon his return.  The rational is that after sitting on the shelf for 10 weeks, the time needed to build his arm strength back to a starter's endurance would preclude him from being of any help in the playoff run.  If Alex's arm feels good tomorrow, he will likely begin a rehab assignment next week.

Combine White's status with the news that Mitch Talbot will also be working out of the 'pen following his own rehab stint and I deem it exceptionally likely that one of the Bullpen Mafia departs as part of a trade deadline deal.  For those of you wondering, possible targets for the Tribe include starters Aaron Harang and Hiroki Kuroda and outfielders Ryan Ludwick and BJ Upton.  Personally, I am hoping for Upton.  Maybe we can unload Matt LaPorta on someone.  He sucks.

Here's to not seeing Danny Haren against the Indians until after the apocalypse.

Cheers.

Move Over Pat Venditte

Say hello to Ryan Perez, a rising senior at Westmister Christian High School in Hampshire, Illinois.  Switch pitching is not unheard of, but Perez hits 92 mph with his right arm and 90 with his left.  I know that high school statistics can be overwhelming and Ryan's certainly fit the bill.  Last season he was 9-1 with 3 saves and a 1.64 ERA.  Pretty reasonable.  Now we get wacky.  OBA: .076 (16-for-210); K/9: 19.5 (143 K in 66 IP); WHIP: 0.58 (22 BB).  Over the course of the season he threw 65% strikes and 62% first pitch strikes, while inducing 65% ground balls from the few batters he did not strike out.  Perez tossed two no hitters, including a perfect game.  Needless to say, the 6'0" 180lb Perez is drawing some serious interest from the scouts.  Here's some video --







Cheers.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

A Quest Called Tribe

Yeah, Ezequiel Carrera dropped that fly ball.  Way to waste another gorgeous start by Justin Masterson (7 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 6 K).  This is getting embarrassing.  That is all I have to say about today's game.

Alex White threw a forty pitch bullpen session on Friday that included splitters and sliders.  It was the first time he had thrown breaking pitches off of a mound since his May injury.  White reported that his finger felt great and his arm felt even better.  Although he is not expected to begin a rehab assignment for at least a week, he will throw a simulated game tomorrow that will go a long way to determining his readiness therefor.

Am I the only one that has noticed the steady decline of Travis Hafner's batting average over the past two weeks?  In his last 12 games Pronk (.313) is batting a meek .200 (9-for-45) with two extra base hits (2B, HR).  While he has managed to drive in 5 runs and maintain a scorching .429 average with runners in scoring position, his RBI today came when Asdrubal Cabrera scored from first on a single.  Paging Enos Slaughter.

And wasn't it a real kick in the crotch that the game ended on a stellar defensive play by Omar Vizquel?

Here's to me keeping my dinner down while thinking about this one.

Cheers.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Clip Joint Is Ace-tastic

So what if Jeanmar Gomez cannot pitch at the big league level?  He is doing a damn fine job for the Clippers.  In becoming just the third AAA pitcher to register his 10th win this season, Gomez (10-3, 2.32) tossed seven innings of one run, six hit ball.  He walked two and struck out five, before giving way to Mitch Talbot after 96 pitches.  Talbot (0-1, 3.75) allowed two runs in two strangely similar (leadoff double, two groundouts to bring home each run) innings.  Mitch threw 17 of 25 pitches for strikes and registered five ground ball outs as he continued to acclimate to life in the bullpen.

At the dish, Nick Johnson has found new life.  After dipping down to .185, he homered yesterday and followed up with another long ball and a double today.  Add in a walk and Johnson (.214) scored three times.  Tim Fedroff and Cord Phelps also had two hits apiece in the Clippers 6-3 victory.  Beau Mills went 0-for-4 with a K in his AAA debut.

Zach McAllister takes the pill in game 2 against the Iron Pigs, tomorrow at 6:35p.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Rob Bryson, the last piece of the CC Sabathia deal, continues to impress as he climbs the ladder.  Returning from yet another injury (ankle in the spring), Bryson has recently been moved up to AA Akron.  Tonight, in his second outing, he fanned 3 of the 4 he faced.  On the season, Rob (0-1, 1.33 overall) has a gaudy 12.4 K/9 average.  If the guy can stay healhty, he can function as either a nice trade piece or an MLB option in 2012.

21-year old outfielder Abner Abreu, ranked as a top-10 organizational prospect in 2009 following an .839 OPS season at Low-A, might have finally figured out how to hit Carolina League pitching.  Over his last 10, Abreu (.244) has 4 multi-hit games, 4 round trippers and 12 RBI.  Tonight, he homered, tripled and singled twice, as he drove home 5.  On the season he has 11 home runs and is 19/22 stealing bases, although he has fanned 225 times in 725 High-A AB's over the past two seasons.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers beat the tar out of former St Ed's stud Stetson Allie, en route to a 10-3 win.  Allie faced 13 hitters and put 8 of them on base.  Of the 3 hits, 2 walks and 3 hit batsmen, four came around to score, as Stetson (5.95) chalked his first professional decision up as a loss.

Cheers.

A Quest Called Tribe

Tonight, I am not pleased.  The only thing worse than losing is getting shut out.  Have I mentioned that I hate losing?  Hell, I hated losing in 1995 when they won 2.5x as many as they lost.  One stinking pitch.  It seems that way, but if your offense is not going to produce 3 runs you deserve to lose.  I am all in favor of the "future is now" philosophy, but our Indians are beginning to resemble a AAA club.

Oddly, I am not talking about Jason Kipnis, who, despite going hitless in his major league debut, showed me enough to make me believe he belongs here.  It began with a stellar defensive play up the middle during which he made a throw falling away from first that got to Matt LaPorta on one hop just in time.  I had heard that the limiting factor to his promotion was his defense.  Now, I have seen the kid make some errors down in Columbus, but he looked like a wizard tonight.  The most important piece is not the range (which is nice) or the arm (that we all knew was there), but rather the instincts and decision making that he displayed on the biggest stage of his life.  Better than his D was the ball he took off of his knee in the 8th inning.  With the Tribe in desperate need of baserunners against a pitcher (Gavin Floyd) who had dominated them all night, Kip moved not an inch as the ball came at him.  He took one for the team.  As the smattering of White Sox fans at the Prog threw their hands up in indignation, he trotted to first while holding back a sly grin.  This is an old school baseball play.  In an age where pitchers are not supposed to throw inside and batters are expected to dive out of the way, Kipnis disregarded the status quo... in his first major league game.  I applaud him for it.

So, if I am not railing against Kipnis, then who?  Although Lonnie Chisenhall can look over-matched at times, when he locks in, the ball rockets off of the bat.  He also fields the hot corner well, even if his throwing could use some work.  More than the youth, I am disgusted with the retread crap.  I might actually have to hire a marksman to take out Austin Kearns... and Chad Durbin... and Matt LaPorta.  A AAA roster is made up of four types of players: young talent (we have already covered that), former big leaguers struggling to hang on (Kearns, Durbin, Orlando Cabrera), failed prospects (big red light goes off over LaPorta and Fausto Carmona) and the irrelevant group of career minor leaguers.  How many players on the Indians 25-man are unequivocally big league players?  I will give you Rafael Perez, Asdrubal Cabrera, Travis Hafner, Joe Smith and, I guess, Chris Perez.  Outside of those five guys (three of them in the bullpen), the Tribe could very easily be an International League franchise.

That is enough.  I hate losing.

Fun Fact: Adam Dunn is 2-for-65 (.030) against left-handed pitching this season.

Here's to getting some men on base against Edwin Jackson tomorrow (1.43 WHIP).

Cheers.

Clip Joint's Got New Talent

Beau Mills
It might be a couple of years later than expected, but 2007 1st round pick Beau Mills has arrived at AAA.  After Mills posted 49 RBI and an .880 OPS in 61 AA games, the Indians organization has demoted C/1B/OF Matt McBride (.156) back to Akron and had added the hot hitting Mills (.459, 5 HR, 14 RBI over his last 10 games) to the Columbus roster.  Do not get too excited that there might be help for the big club on the horizin, Beau is a left-handed hitter.  Still, a bat is a bat and if he can duplicate his Aeros success with the Clippers, you will see him soon.

The Clips dropped their second straight to Scranton yesterday, 6-5.  Jason Donald (.336) stroked three more hits and is batting .528 since July 7th.  Nick Johnson (.194) launched a pinch-solo home run in the 9th.  I actually saw that one and it was no cheapie.  A mammoth shot on a 3-2 pitch, the ball bounced high off of the scoreboard in right center and almost left the park altogether.  Chen Lee relieved an ineffective Justin Germano (6 IP, 12 H, 5 ER, 2 K) in the 7th and, although he allowed an unearned run, maintained his perfect AAA ERA.  In nine appearances Chen has won twice and has struck out far more (21) than he has put on base (8 H, 4 BB) in 14.1 innings.  There has been some chatter that Lee is the type of trade chip that could help to bring the Indians that bat they need so desperately for the pennant race.  Do it.

The Clippers begin a four game set with Lehigh Valley at 7:05p tonight with Jeanmar Gomez (9-3, 2.40) on the mound.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Fireballing RHP Felix Sterling (2-3, 4.10) has been promoted from the Arizona League to Low-A Lake County.  Go check him out, he is fun to watch.

Catching prospect Chun Chen cracked 2 hits, including a double, and drove home a pair in Akron's 8-4 win last night.  I have recently heard Chen (.283, 9 HR, 47 RBI) compared to former Indians farm hand Max Ramirez.  That is good news for the club (he can bring back a haul in a trade), bad news for Chun (he will be released about 17 times).

Catcher Jake Lowey, the Tribe's 2011 4th round pick, drove in six runs yesterday in Mahoning Valley's 17-4 win.  The 2011 Johnny Bench award winner as the nation's top collegiate catcher, Lowery (.274) singled twice, doubled and walked.  He has 25 RBI and an .862 OPS in 29 professional games.

Luigi Rodriguez continues his blazing start for the AZL Indians.  L-Rod (.406) finished a homer short of the cycle yesterday, stole his 10th base and drove home his 11th run.  Remember the name.

Cheers.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Closer Committees And Confused Colloquialisms

Wow.  This all started out because I have Ryan Madson on my fantasy baseball team.  For those of you who do not know, Madson emerged from a pack of relievers to be crowned the Phillies' closer early on in the season.  More recently he did a stint on the disabled list, from which he has just returned.  In his absence I had added Antonio Bastardo (real name) who handled the Fightin' Phils' closing duties with aplomb whilst Madson healed.  Now that both are healthy, the well wizened Charlie Manuel (wasn't he senile when he was in Cleveland?) has suggested that the NL East leaders will use the dreaded "closer by committee."  This spawned the question, "Has the closer by committee ever been used successfully?"

As I dug for the answer to this question, I felt the need to refine my query.  I decided, somewhat arbitrarily, to discover if teammates had ever posted 20 saves.  Some might argue that this is too limited a standard, that teams like the '85 Cardinals or 1990 Reds should apply.  I do not buy it.  A successful closer-by-committee implies that there was consistent and equitable success.  One guy with 30 saves and one with 10 is irrelevant.  Two dudes with 13 means the team sucked. 

Now, baseball-reference.com has a great tool to discover exactly such situations.  Unfortunately, they want me to pay for the privilege of using it.  F that.  After much Googling, it seems that a team has had two relievers with 20 saves or more exactly once: the 1986 New York Mets.

The '86 Mets won the World Series (What up, Bill Buckner?), so this is pretty fantastic success.  As Roger McDowell (22 saves) and Jesse Orosco (21) split closing duties, the Mets piled up 108 regular season wins.  Now, if I contend, as I do, that relief pitchers need defined roles (i.e. only one person can be the closer), how do I account for this?

Feeling the need to avoid both a deeply statistical argument (the insignificance of a single event in a sea of seasons) and no argument at all, the phrase "the exception that proves the rule" popped into my head.  A-ha.  The '86 Mets would be said exception.  But wait, that phrase does not make any sense.  So, I looked it up.  Turns out that the saying has its roots in a Latin legal precept, "exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis" ("the exception confirms the rule in cases not excepted").  It is the second clause that provides the oft ignored nuance.  Most take the colloquialism to mean that every rule needs an exception in order to be valid.  Rather it should be interpreted that in order for there to be an exception, there must first be a rule.  In other words, I cannot say that closer-by-committee does not work because of the 1986 Mets.  Instead, if I state "the only time the closer-by-committee was successful was with the 1986 Mets," it can then be assumed that the close-by-committee does not work except with the Mets in 1986.  You see the exception (the only time it worked was '86) proves the rule (the closer-by-committee does not work).

All that being understood, I am baffled why no less than five teams (Nationals, Cardinals, White Sox, Mets, Phillies) have been in multiple closer situations this season.  It happens in every season.  It fails in every season (who remembers the '04 Indians?).  It never lasts.  Inevitably one man commands the role.  There is a reason that the arrangement is always temporary.  It does not work.  Except for the '86 Mets.

A Quest Called Tribe

Jason Kipnis
So... remember all of that stuff that I said yesterday?  You know, about Jason Kipnis not coming up as long as Orlando Cabrera was on the roster?  And Jared Goedert getting a shot in September?  Yeah?

Rubbish.  Utter and complete bull plop.

Luis Valbuena has been optioned back to Columbus and Kipnis will be recalled before Friday's game against the White Sox.  Goedert will be DFA'ed to make room for Jason on the 40-man.  O-Cab will once again be relegated to a utility role.

The move is oddly timed considering Kipnis is 3-for-his-last-36 (.083) while Jason Donald is raking at .526 (19-36) over his past 10 games.  Expect Kipnis to play a lot, that means 5 starts a week if not more.  I do believe that this is a last ditch effort by the Tribe, hoping to avoid the necessity of making a big time trade.  If Kip can hit big league pitching, they probably do not have to.  If he cannot...

Still expect the Tribe to make some sort of move.  The chatter today is on former Indians Ryan Ludwick and Coco Crisp, with greater emphasis on the former.  These are middle range targets and the organization will likely pay the price (My guess - 3 B-/C+ prospects) for whichever they can get at a better value.

I could go into extravagant detail about how I was led astray with regard to Kipnis, but I will not.  Let me simply say that none of the Indians bloggers have any more access to inside information than any of the others.  Some might be more diligent and thus post releases more quickly, but, again, none of them have are privy to the Tribe's grand plan.  If there is one.

All we can do is learn from our mistakes.  In case you were not yet aware, that is what we call experience.

Here's to Kip invigorating the offense.

Cheers.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Long Time No Clip Joint

Nick Johnson
Due to the Indians unwillingness to make the appropriate moves with their minor league talent, I became disinterested for about a week.  Or maybe I was just lazy.  Or possessed by deeply seeded emotional problems.  Whatever.  Right back on the whores horse.

Nick Johnson is back in the Clippers line-up, returning from an ankle injury and a stint on the DL.  What he is not doing is hitting.  Since coming back on July 15th, Johnson is 1-for-16 (.063) with 3 walks.  On the upside, the one hit was a home run.  On the downside, he is in a 3-for-32 (.094) slump overall.  It now seems unlikely that Nick (.182) will be able to provide the Indians with any sort of assistance this season. 

The same, unfortunately, can be said of Jared Goedert.  Goedert (.199) has ticked upward of late (6-for-20 in his last 5), but has shown remarkably little power since rejoining the Clippers.  Jared has not gone deep in 13 July games and has batted just .176.  I still believe that he gets a September recall simply because he is on the 40-man roster.  It will likely be his last chance with the organization.  He should make the best of it.

Also slumping in top prospect Jason Kipnis.  Kipnis (.281) is just 3-for-33 (.091) over his last 8 games, including 9 K's and an 0-for-5 tonight.  The preponderance of opinion is that his future is inextricably linked to that of Orlando Cabrera.  Read that as, "As long as O-Cab is an Indian and healthy, Jason Kipnis will not come to Cleveland."  It is possible that the Tribe will call for him after the AAA post-season to give him a taste of the show, but certainly do not expect any more.

The only Clipper who seems to be hitting is Jason Donald.  16-for-31 (.516) since July 7th, it is high time for Donald (.326) to be added to the 25-man roster.  The Indians have thrown every other infielder out there with minimal results.  At least we know Jason can hit .250 in the bigs.

Oh yeah, the Clips lost 6-1 tonight.  Corey Kluber (4-6, 6.09) took the L after allowing four earned over six innings.  He gave up 7 hits and 2 walks while fanning 7.  Do not look for Kluber in Cleveland this season.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Drew Pomeranz was a hard luck loser tonight, in his first AA home start.  Pom (3-3, 1.87 overall) was his dominant self, surrendering a run on three hits over five innings, while walking 2 and whiffing six.  It is outstanding to see Drew continue his success at the next level.  Barring any injury concerns, he should be a viable option for the big club in 2012.

Things did not turn out so well for Adam Miller.  Everything was going along swimmingly for Miller until July 9th, since then his ERA is 8.72.  Tonight Adam (1-2, 4.32 overall) gave up 3 earned on five hits over two innings.  Yesterday, the organization passed up an opportunity to bring him up to AAA, promoting Tyler Sturdevant (who?) instead.  Combine this with Miller's rough patch and his immediate future become awful murky.  Hopefully we see him at AAA in 2011, but hopes of him making his big league debut this year appear to be dimming.

Finally, let us catch up on a few low-level prospects.  Tony Wolters (.276) doubled twice tonight and drove in his 10th run.  Wolters has stolen 9 of 11 bases over his 31 games this season.  Felix Sterling made his fourth start for the AZL Indians and, despite taking the loss, it was a good one.  Sterling (2-3, 4.10) allowed one earned on 3 hits and 3 walks over 5 innings.  He stuck out 9 and has a 10.6 K/9 for the season.  And pemit me to introduce you to an 18-year old Dominican who is tearing up the Arizona League.  Over 17 games, Luigi Rodriguez is batting an even .400 with a 1.006 OPS.  The man that I am sure will be called L-Rod has homered twice and stolen 8 bases.  He obviously has speed to burn as he swiped 31 and tripled 10 times in 63 games for the Indians DSL team last year.

Cheers.

A Quest Called Tribe

So much for the Bullpen Mafia.  Over the past 6 games (11.1 IP), in which the Tribe is 2-4, the relief corps is 0-2 with an 11.12 ERA, a 2.03 WHIP and a .340 OBA.  This is not the Bad Durbin effect either.  A day after Chris Perez retired just one hitter en route to blowing the save, Tony Sipp and Vinnie Pestano combined on an epic FAIL of their own.  If, perhaps, they had surrendered just one run, Lonnie Chisenhall's second career home run might have taken them off of the hook.  No such luck.

The Tribe now heads home following a 4-4 road trip which, under normal conditions, would be a-ok.  Unfortunately, the eight games came in series against two last place clubs.  As mentioned yesterday, Manny Acta has made some decisions over the past few days that have been questionable at best.  Although I would love to lay the blame for running two men short (due to a tummy ache and a head ache no less), I shall not assume to know how much of a say Acta has in the decision to put someone on the disabled list.  What I can hold him fully accountable for is how he utilizes the talent that is available to him.  After last night's debacle in left field, maybe putting Matt LaPorta out there is a better choice than Luis Valbuena.  Even if we allow Manny the first error, the failure to pinch hit Lou Marson (.362 vs LHP, .300 overall since June 7th) for Valbuena against a tough left-hander with two runners in scoring position and one out in the 7th is inexcusable.  If Lou comes through with even a sac fly in that situation, the dynamic of the game completely changes and Tony Sipp is likely not afforded the opportunity to load the bases in the 8th.

Maybe all of the losing is getting to me.  Or maybe Acta-ball truly is dead.  Maybe the philosophy of "keeping everyone involved" must now demure to playing the hot hand.  Maybe putting Buck on the new 7-day DL (specifically designed for concussions and the like) and bringing Shelley Duncan back would have been advisable.  Maybe everything has to go right for the Tribe to make the playoffs.  Maybe it will.

Here's to the cards falling our way.

Cheers.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A Quest Called Tribe

So... with the odd start time and my utter disdain for Matt Underwood, I found myself in need of entertainment for the ten minutes at the top of the 8 o'clock hour.  After nearly guffawing myself into conniptions to the antics of Caddyshack, I flipped back to notice Ezequiel Carrera on first base.  Being the responsible pseudo-journalist that I am, I had checked the lineup on Indians.com hours earlier and noted Michael Brantley listed as the leadoff hitter and Zeke penciled in to bat 9th.  I whipped into a fury of Googling and quickly discovered Brantley to be a late scratch due to (I kid you not) "an upset stomach."  Aww, Mikey tum-tum no feel good?  Regardless, the aforementioned play-by-play goon found it unnecessary to mention this, even as Travis Buck took a fastball to the skull forcing Luis Valbuena into his first big league action in left.  Maybe Luis should have made a dive at that ball.

Despite the lead, all we should really be talking about is how Justin Masterson (7.2 IP, 4 H, 6 K) utterly dominated the Twins.  Newly marked as the ace of the staff, Bat showed exactly why.  Whether it was retiring 13 in a row in the middle of the game, coming back from a 3-0 count to strike out Danny Valencia on three more pitches, or escaping a two-on none-out jam in the 7th by fanning a future Hall of Famer and inducing a double play; Bat was fantastic.  Remember that, even as he went two months without a win, Justin (8-6, 2.64) never slumped and has been both the most consistent and, on any given night, the most devastating horse in the Tribe's barn.  Following another effort bereft of free passes (72 strikes over 104 pitches), Masterson, who averaged 5.5 BB/9 for the Tribe in '09 and 3.7 last season, has delivered a 2.6 BB/9 in 2011.  All of these are excellent signs, as starting pitching will doubtlessly be the most important consideration as the we dig in for the dog days of August.

In case you are wondering, the Indians starting rotation now looks as follows - Justin Masterson, Josh Tomlin, Carlos Carrasco, David Huff, and, lastly, Fausto Carmona.  That means that Carmona has gone from engine to caboose in about three months, inspiring less confidence than the retread who had been at AAA until yesterday.

Noticeably absent from the above list is Mitch Talbot.  Mitch, who conveniently found his way onto the disabled list with a back strain just before the All-Star break, began a 30-day rehab stint with Columbus yesterday.  The interesting part?  He will work out of the bullpen.  Given Talbot's struggles over the past month (1-4, 9.49), it seems as if the organization has decided on a new role for him.  Does this mean the end of CHUD Durbin?  We can only hope.

The loss was a heart breaker to be sure and it raises again the question of using a closer in a non-save situation.  Chris Perez (2-5, 3.03) was inserted yesterday for exactly no reason, went ahead and looked completely out of sorts, then did the same tonight.  Unfortunately, tonight, Manny Acta's poor decision making equals a loss.  On a day when the lineup was already short three starters (Sizemore, Choo, Brantley), Manny refused to play Travis Hafner when Brantley came down with a tummy ache.  Maybe he should have pulled Jeanmar on Sunday?  Perhaps you pinch hit Shelley Duncan (or any right-handed batter) for Grady on Saturday?  Why was Valbuena positioned on the warning track when Cuddyer hit his "double?" Hindsight is 20/20, but when managerial missteps result in three losses in four days, something sure is rotten in Mudville.

Fun Fact:  According to STO, this is the first time that the Indians and Pirates have both been in first place as late as July 19th since 1921.  Wow.

Cheers.

P.s. Word on the street is that Travis Buck is showing no signs of concussion.  At least there is some good news.

While I Was Sminking

What's the only thing better than the Indians winning?  The Indians winning twice!  There is nothing like a double header sweep to wash the nasty taste of the last two games in Baltimore out of your mouth.

If you had told me a month ago that the linchpins in one of the season's biggest days would be David Huff AND Fausto Carmona AND Lou Marson AND Ezequiel Carrera, I likely would have passed out from the laughter.

I have been touting Zach McAllister for months, but there is simply no arguing with Huff's performance (7 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K).  David earned a spot in the rotation (Jeanmar Gomez back to Columbus after giving up the lead on Sunday) by notching the first win by an Indians left-handed starter in a calendar year.  Word on the street had been that Huff had added about 3 MPH to his fastball (89 to 92) and had found added success thanks to it.  Based on yesterday's outing, this is all true.  He was able to command that fastball and throw enough breaking balls to keep the Twins swinging at balls out of the zone.  Even more exciting is that there is already a book on Huff (38 previous MLB starts), so this is not a situation where the league will catch up to a kid making his debut.  I would not expect the moon from him, yet if David can pitch a tick over .500 with an ERA in the 4's, it would go a long way to stabilizing the rotation.

Speaking of said stability, Dr. Carmona showed up on the bump last night.  We have all seen the numbers, so I shall not reprise.  Suffice it to say, that if we can avoid the recurrence of Mr. Fausto and allow the big right-hander to push his record a few stops closer to even, then the division will belong to the Tribe.  This is an enormous if.  Even as Carmona (5-10, 5.63) produced a quality start, he looked in no way comfortable on the mound.  There was no rhythm to the at-bats as Carmona stepped off the hill and, as Manning mused, likely stepped through a mental checklist to keep his wildly swinging emotions in check.  Still, he showed remarkable toughness in escaping the third inning and limiting the O's to just a single run.  A Captain Jack web gem never hurts either.

Also, Ezequiel Carrera is pretty damn fast.  I cannot recall the last time I saw a runner picked off, who then proceeded to beat the throw to second.  The question still remains as the whether he can hit major league pitching (.200), but the four runs scored, 2 walks, sac bunt and two steals over the past three games do bode well.  Zeke singled in the first run of game one and then single-handedly generated the first insurance run of game two by forcing an error and stealing second.  He covers a lot of ground in center, possesses great instincts and has a strong arm (see the back-up play in Saturday's loss).  While it may not be that Carrera becomes an everyday player in the bigs, he certainly has the tools to contribute to the Tribe's success.

The very same thing may be said of Lou Marson.  I do not believe that the man will ever develop the consistent stick to be a starter.  Even so, he has performed well since the Indians have gone to the C-1B rotation.  Since bottoming out at .185 in early June, Lou-Lou has hit .299 with a .751 OPS over his last 67 AB's.  Marson (.248) has delivered a couple of key late inning hits this year and that ball he struck to center field to give Carmona the W was certainly no cheapie.

As you doubtlessly know, Grady Sizemore is back on the DL with right knee soreness.  This is the same knee that sidelined Grady (.237) in early May.  While it is far to early to speculate on the timetable for his return, be prepared for the worst.  According to Sizemore, the pain he experienced felt much to similar to that of his left knee when it required micro-fracture surgery last summer.  Just when he was starting to hit again...

Pair this with the absence of Shin-Soo Choo for at least the next month and the need for a right-handed hitting outfielder with some power becomes paramount.  The Indians decision will likely be based on how little they have to give up rather than how much they can gain.  Names that have been bouncing around include Jeff Francouer, Josh Willingham and Ryan Ludwick.  Supposedly Willingham has multiple suitors and the Royals are trying to unload Melky Cabrera rather than Francouer.  This makes Ludwick the probable target.  As impressive as Ludwick was in 2008 (.299, 37 HR, 113 RBI, .966 OPS), he has been incredibly pedestrian since (.253, 50 HR, 222 RBI, .738 OPS, 305 K to 333 H).  With so many teams still in contention, the word on the street is that we may see more activity in August than in July.  Let us hope this is not true for the Indians, who need help now, rather than later.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Hey, remember Beau Mills?  He was the #13 overall pick in 2007 and has languished at AA for the past 3 seasons?  Well, the dude is on fire.  The reigning Eastern League player of the week hit (I'm not kidding) .632 with 3 homers and 9 RBI from June 11-17.  His OPS was an even 2.000.  Yikes.  While Mills (.303) has not yet elevated himself back to prospect level that he held with the Indians in 2009, he has definitely put himself back on the radar and will almost certainly see AAA this season.

In case you missed it, Drew Pomeranz's first AA start was sort of up and down.  Pom lasted just four and two thirds, while allowing a run on three hits and a walk.  He fanned five, including #1 prospect Bryce Harper in both of the latter's PA's.  Drew still needs to build up length to pitch through six innings, but if the results this season (3-2, 1.87) are any indication we have much to look forward to from the 22-year old lefty.  Pomeranz makes his first home start for Akron tomorrow night.

Cheers.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

A Quest Called Tribe

Man do I feel refreshed from the All-Star break!

Here is what you need to know:

(1) Mitch Talbot (2-6, 6.33) has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained lower back and Ezequiel Carrera (.250) has been added to the 25-man roster.  This is almost definitely a short term stay for Zeke as Jeanmar Gomez (0-1, 4.91) will be recalled to start on Sunday.  Gomez skipped the AAA All-Star game and threw four passable innings for Mahoning Valley last night, allowing a run on five hits with three K's.  Another position player will likely be discarded on Monday (the Tribe currently has 15 on the 25-man) to make room for Zach McAllister's return to start one of the double header games against the Twins.  Z-Mac (0-0, 4.50) tossed two scoreless innings for the International League as he got the start in the game that Jeanmar declined.  Assuming that Austin Kearns (.212) saved his season with that home run last week, I would assume either Travis Buck (.256) or Shelley Duncan (.240) to get the boot.

(2) As suggested earlier in the week, Scott Barnes' season is likely over.  The injury is currently described only as a sprain, but expect the organization to be overly cautious with the promising left hander.  Here is a clip of the play during which Barnes (7-4, 3.68) sustained the injury.



(3) The shuffling of pitchers for the Clippers will give Adam Miller an excellent opportunity to take the next step in his unlikely return to prominence.  Miller (1-2, 3.86) has now piled up 28 innings, one shy of his most since 2007.

(4) Injury Updates --
- Lonnie Chisenhall (.267) has deemed himself ready to go in tonight's series opener against the Orioles.  The Chiz Kid is sporting a scab on his cheek and some serious red eye, but avoided a whole slew of more serious complications from a fastball to the face.
- Alex White (1-0, 3.60) threw about 20 fastballs in a bullpen session yesterday at the Prog.  It was his first work off of a mound since landing on the disabled list with a finger injury in late May.  White is entirely on track for an August return to action.
- Shin-Soo Choo (.244) had the final cast removed from his broken left hand earlier this week and x-rays revealed that all of the surgically inserted screws have remained in place.  We will learn more on Choo's timetable for return after his follow-up visit tomorrow.  Here's hoping his rehab brings him through Cow-Town.

(5) Over the past five seasons, the Indians are combined 187-177 (.514) in the second half.  Applying this to the 73 games remaining for the Wahoos gives a record of 38-35 for the second half and a final tally of 85-77.  Or exactly what I predicted when the season began.  Will 85 wins be enough to take the Central?  Maybe, that is why they play the games.  One thing is for sure, it is going to be fun to watch.

Cheers.

Monday, July 11, 2011

While I Was Sminking

Well, let's see... everybody lost... twice.  Luis Valbuena injected some much needed energy into a sluggish offense by scoring one hit in 8 AB's and striking out 3 times.  Our All-Star closer picked up loss number four by squandering a thrilling 9th inning comeback.  From June 7th to June 29th, Carlos Carrasco was 4-1 with a 0.98 ERA.  Since then, 0-2 with 14.14, lasting 4 innings in one start and three in the other.  Joe Smith tossed two more scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 0.85.  Frank Hermann, after watching his ERA bounce between 7 and 11 for the first two months of the season (much like he bounced between Columbus and Cleveland), has now posted a 0.56 since June 3rd.  Carlos Santana, despite a .230 average, goes into the break 4th in the AL in walks and 16th in OBP.  Some have wondered on the timing of resting Asdrubal Cabrera's on Sunday.  AzCab (.293) noted that back-to-back days off are invaluable.  Remember, kids, he starts on Tuesday.  Orlando Cabrera, on the other hand, has hit the skids again.  Coming off of a six-game streak in which he hit .522 (13-for-23) from June 26th to July 2nd, O-Cab (.247) meets mid-season with just two hits in his past 25 AB's (.080).

The results down on the farm were no better.  AAA Columbus arrived at its own halfway point by losing six of seven.  Cord Phelps (.290), perhaps feeling a bit of a let down after his demotion, produced just one hit in ten at bats in his first 3 games back for the Clippers.  Nick Johnson (.218) was shelved with an wrist injury sustained sliding into third base.  There is no timetable for his return.  Scott Barnes (7-4, 3.68) had to be pulled from his start in the 6th inning yesterday when something "popped" in his knee.  Intially, the injury is considered quite serious and might cost the left hander the rest of his 2011 season.  On the other hand, Jason Donald (.295) takes his breather in the midst of an 8-for-18 (.444) streak that has included two homers and a 1.333 OPS.  He is just begging for a recall.  Similary, Nick Hagadone (5-2, 2.96) has not been scored upon since June 21st and has posted a 0.82 ERA since June 14th.  His combined numbers for the first half include a .211 OBA, a 1.09 WHIP and a 9.26 K/9.

The All-Star Futures game was a mixed bag for Indians' prospects.  Columbus 2B Jason Kipnis launched a home run to lead off the game for the US team, the only long ball for his team.  Jason was 1-for-2, playing the first four and a half innings.

The results were not so good for Drew Pomeranz, newly promoted to AA Akron.  Pom came on to start the 6th and went ahead and allowed all four runs that the World team scored, including their sole round tripper.  Overall Drew lasted two thirds of innings, surrendering 3 hits with a walk and a strikeout.  Remember folks, that this was an exhibition game, so no need to get worried.  Sure it would have been nice for Pomeranz to showcase himself a bit better, but he does have outstanding psychological make-up.  This will not adversely affect him in any way.

Hey, a half game back at the break.  If someone had offered it to you in March, you would have taken it greedily.  Here's to the second half push.

Cheers.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Truce 3000



Just for today, much love, Derek. Cheers.

A Quest Called Tribe

If you ask me, Mitch Talbot is headed to Columbus.  Following a start in which the Blue Jays made the right hander look nothing but hitable, I do believe that the Indians will send Mitch to Columbus and replace him in the rotation with either Jeanmar Gomez or Zach McAllister.  Now maybe it has just been awhile since I have seen Jeanmar pitch at the major league level, but I cannot see him throwing any worse than Talbot.  Mitch was touched up for 7 runs (6 ER) on 10 hits and 2 walks (2 K), including a mammoth home run, while failing to get through the sixth inning.  Four of the first five runs scored with two men out as he struggled to close out the second and fourth innings.

For a team that has beset by a seemingly endless run of injuries, the gods have finally cut the Tribe a break.  Although he has sustained a severe facial contusion and a sinus fracture under his right cheekbone, the word on the street is that Lonnie Chisenhall will avoid the disabled list.  The Chiz Kid has shown no signs of a concussion and did not break the cheekbone itself.  Not bad for getting beaned in the face.  The medical staff has not confirmed that the young third baseman will be available before the all-star break, but he is expected back no later than the beginning of the Baltimore series.  The timetable will be determined by how quickly the swelling around Chisenhall's eyes goes down.  Word is that as soon as he can wear a protective mask, he will return to the lineup.

Oh, and in case you missed it, Lonnie's first MLB round tripper came off of LHP Boone Logan.  It was Chiz's first big league hit against a southpaw.  In fact, in each and every other appaearance against a left (4), he has struck out.

Michael Brantley is once again hitting the ball well.  In stark contrast to a 4-for-39 skid that began on June 26th, Brantley has socked eight hits in his last 13 AB's over three games.  When he is slumping, Michael has a tendency to roll over high pitches and bounce out harmlessly to the right side.  He has, for the most part, avoided this proclivity in the most recent contests and the hits have followed.  Brantley has also stolen a base in two of those games, raising his season total to 12.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the night at the plate had by Jack "MF'ing" Hannahan.  Jack singled twice and doubled for his third three hit game of the season and his first since April 26th.  Hannahan brought home the Tribe's first run and got the 8th inning rally started with hit #3.

Cheers.

P.s. Asdrubal Cabrera is you starting shortstop for the American League All-Star team.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

A Quest Called Tribe

I am not going to say anything about the game because, frankly, words can do no justice to it.  I have watched Hafner's shot about 15 times and my skin has prickled at every viewing.  Hell, I have goosebumps right now, just from writing about it.  Then, again, from proofreading it.

Unbelievable.

There is news, though.  After struggling with his command (94 pitches, 56 strikes) over four fitful innings (5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K), Zach McAllister has been optioned back to AAA Columbus.  Luis Valbuena has been recalled in his stead.  This will be Valbuena's second stint with the big club this season, though his first trip lasted about 24-hours and did not include any game time.  Luis has put up some big numbers at AAA in 2011 and the Indians would like nothing more than for him to inject a bit of pop into the lineup.  Look for him there tomorrow.

There is also not news.  While I fully expect Lonnie Chisenhall to spend 15 days on the DL with the "facial contusion" he sustained from a Carlos Villenueva fastball to the skull, no decision will be made until he sees a specialist at noon on Friday.  Clearly, if the Chiz Kid, who clubbed his first MLB homer on Wednesday, does land on the disabled list, Jason Donald will join the squad in his place, but this has not happened yet.  It will likely not happen until late afternoon tomorrow at the earliest, but it will happen.  Write it down.

If you are an observant little sucker, you noticed that Alex White has been in the Indians dugout this week.  Most noticeably, he was onscreen during the congratulatory hand slapping that followed Wednesday's win over the Yankees.  White, sidelined since late May with a strained ligament in his right middle finger, will throw from 120 feet tomorrow and, if all goes well, should be throwing off of a mound following the all-star break.  Given the original prognosis of an 8-12 week recovery, Alex seems to be right on track.  Barring any setbacks, we will the young starter back in big league games before the end of the season.

I was asked today, "Whatever happened to Andy Marte?"  Andy is playing AAA ball in the Pirates organization and doing so poorly.  Marte (.210) is currently hitting .114 over his last 35 AB's and has, on several occasions this season, been removed from the Indianapolis roster to accommodate more productive players.

Go watch the video again.  And enjoy another day in first place.

Cheers.