Clip Joint Gem

Zach McAllister

Yeah, midterms are a killer, so let's catch up with the Clippers.  After losing both of a two game set to Toledo on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Clips responded with a 4-1 win over Pawtucket last night.  Zach McAllister (2-1, 3.00) was dominant over 7 innings, allowing just one earned (a solo homer) on three base hits.  He retired the side in order five times, struck out three and did not issue a walk.  I was at the game last night and PawSox were simply not making much good contact.  Just 8 balls left the infield in McAllister's seven innings.  Frank Herrmann (3.86) and Chris Ray (2.38, 4 SV) worked a clean inning apiece to close out the victory.

Matt LaPorta (.371) was the offensive hero with an RBI single and a two-run homer (his 6th, 16 RBI) in the 7th to supply some insurance.  LaPorta, who has always just killed it at Huntington Park, is batting .409 with ALL of his homers and RBI at home.  4 of his five doubles have also come in Columbus, where his OPS is a staggering 1.347.  Matty's Hyde side showed as well when he offered meekly at a 5th inning breaking ball that dove low and away.  I'll note this again, for the sake of emphasis, Matt LaPorta can not hit a curveball... or a slider.  If any of y'all would care to start sacrificing live chickens, get on it.

Russ Canzler (.250), Beau Mills (.310) and Luke Carlin (.458) all also had two hits.  Carlin, who also had the other Columbus ribee yesterday, is 6-for-10 with 4 RBI and 3 walks since coming off of the disabled list.  Trevor Crowe (.345) is headed in the opposite direction.  After a red hot start that has his average sitting at .404, the former first rounder is just one for his last eleven.

David Huff (0-1, 9.00) made his first AAA start of 2012 during the Wednesday matinee and was roundly beaten by the Mud Hens.  He allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits in his 4 innings and never seemed to settle in.  Brad Eldred said goodbye to the IL by mashing his minor league best 13th home run (35 RBI) on a ball that bounced off the facing of the Hall of Fame bar in left field, round about the 437 sign.  Nick Hagadone bid adieu as well, with two more scoreless innings.  Nick was not scored on in 7.1 innings, allowing just 4 hits and a walk, fanning 7.

Chris Seddon's Tuesday start was even worse.  A 3rd inning Lonnie Chisenhall error opened the door for six unearned runs as part of the 10 that Seddon allowed overall.  He surrenedered 4 gopher balls (2 of Eldred's 3) among his ten hits in just 3 and 2/3 innings.  One would assume, that with Huff now in the mix, this was Chris' last start.

If they can fight through the rain drops, it's Clippers/PawSox again at 7:05p tonight with Kevin Slowey (1-2, 4.50) on the mound.

Cheers.

Royal Disappointment

Since last we spoke, the Tribe has gone down to KC... twice.  That's right, after handing the Royals their 12th consecutive loss on Tuesday, the Indians dropped last night's game and today's matinee by identical 4-2 scores.  Wouldn't you know it, I repressed those 4 runs that Jairo Asencio gave up in the 9th yesterday, dagnabbit.  That means that they actually lost 8-2.

Do you see those forlorn faces above this text?  Well, that triad has reason to be glum.   On the far left, that's Casey Kotchman.  CK is batting .140 with a .498 OPS this season.  If you remove the 3 game set at Kansas City, Kotchman is 3-for-46.  That translates to an .065 batting average.  In those games, he has 3 walks, 1 RBI and 1 extra base hit (a doubles).  Crunch the numbers... his OPS is an almost unfathomably low .210.  In the middle is Shelley Duncan.  Through April 17, Duncan was leading the AL with a .514 OBP, batting .333 and holding an 1.106 OPS.  Since, Shelley is 3-for-24 (.125), all singles.  He has also struck out 13 times (all 3 AB's today) and walked just thrice, while watching his season average dip to .235.  And we all know the man on the right, he's Captain Jack Hannahan, who had, maybe, been hitting a touch over his head.  Jack was 0-for-8 in the two losses.

The twin defeats also featured disturbingly similar poor outings by the starting pitchers.  Ubaldo Jimenez was, once again, completely out of control, needing 113 pitches (just 64 strikes) to get through six innings, allowing 4 earned in the process.  The organization has given up on reworking his delivery and has seemingly resigned itself to whatever minimal production Ubaldo can provide.  Should Drew Pomeranz (and Alex White?) develop into front-line pitchers, the Jimenez trade could conceivably go down as one of the worst in history.  Josh Tomlin would stop the bleeding, right?  Wrong.  Tomlin couldn't even get out of the 5th inning.  Ugh.  These are the Royals!  The Royals on a 12 game skid!  If we can't beat them, we can't beat anyone.

Now, despite a 9-8 record and standing just 2 days out of first place, all of the fire alarms have been pulled.  Rafael Perez's velocity is waaaayyyyy down (78 MPH on his slider last night) and many believe that he is hiding some sort of injury.  There have been calls for Matt LaPorta, Trevor Crowe and Jeremy Accardo.  There has been talk of Tony Sipp and Josh Tomlin getting booted back to AAA.  Asencio has imploded.  Out of all of that clamoring, the most that we are likely to see is Raffy raking a stint on the DL.  What will most definitely occur is a great deal of discussion on which outfielder will be DFAed when Johnny Damon is ready.  Assuming that the Indians are being truthful about the mild nature of Shin Soo Choo's hamstring issue (which is a coin-flip at best), either Duncan or Aaron Cunningham will have to be sent down and neither has a minor league option remaining.  A week ago, this would have been a no-brainer, with Cunningham receiving the axe.  Now, with Duncan struggling as indicated above, the brain-trust will have decide between Shelley's raw power and leadership versus Cunningham's versatility and plus defense.  If I know woManny Acta, it's pretty clear that Duncan loses.  Above and beyond the characteristics noted, woManny will point to things like Cunningham providing the Indians' only RBI hit today.  Get ready to bid a fond farewell to Duncan, who I doubt will clear waivers.

The Indians are a lot more fun when they're winning.  Duh.

Cheers.

High On Lowe

There's nothing quite like writing from Huntington Park, home of the Clippers.  Oddly, I am not even inside of the stadium.  If you are unaware, the span of right and right-center field at the stadium is walled with a metal grate that outside onlookers can peer through, free of charge.  That's where I am, enjoying a matinee on the cheap and jonesing to chase a home run ball.  But back to the big boys...

Simply put, I am Indians fan because, when they are playing well, there is nothing better on the face of the planet and that is what they are doing right now, in spite of predictions to the contrary.  Captain Jack Hannahan has, unquestionably, been the MVP of the team thus far.  For those of you who might have forgotten, I fell head over heels for Jack on Opening Day 2011 when I emerged from a blackout to find that he had won me a pool on the first Tribesman to homer.  I had held very little respect for the Manahan prior, but these days, I just cannot get enough of him.  For you cave dwellers, Jack is 6-for-8 with two outs and runners in scoring position this season, leads the team in batting average and RBI, has drawn comparisons to Casey Blake (as a late bloomer) and was even referred to yesterday by Tony Lastoria (head Indians minor league blogger) as "Jack freakin Hannahan," so the MFer thing is catching on, even for those of such sophistication not to cuss.

The headline is about Derek Lowe and well should be.  Following up a true stinker of a start against the M's, Lowe has returned to the form of his upside, limiting damage.  That means Derek gave up 8 hits in six innings, but worked out of trouble, holding the Royals to just one run.  That kind of performance is exactly what the Indians are paying a tiny fraction of Lowe's salary for.  Still, one would expect a lot more of last night than the Seattle start, which will probably make him the Tribe's most consistent, if not overall best, pitcher.

The high point of the game for me came at the close of the Royals' half of the eighth.  Vinnie Pestano, without his best stuff, had worked himself into a real jam, putting the tying runs on base with two out.  The small contingent of fans (9,137) on their feet, Pestano induced Alcides Escobar to ground back to the mound.  Before firing a BB to Casey Kotchman, Vinnie tensed his entire body and took deep breath, disgusted with his performance in allowing KC to score.  That's the kind commitment that breads victories.

Speaking of Kotchman, I have heard many a call for his removal in favor of Matt LaPorta.  How quickly we forget.  True, Kotchman's OPS is an abysmal .511 and Matty is reaming AAA to the tune of 1.051, but LaPorta has done this before.  He rakes minor league pitching, always has.  The issue is that Matt cannot hit quality breaking stuff.  We're not just talking about weakly flailing at pitches that dive out of the zone, also including is a baffling inability to make solid contact with breaking balls in the strike zone.  This problem has not been solved in Columbus, regardless of his gaudy numbers and, until it is, LaPorta cannot be an asset at the Major League level.

That being said, if Shin-Soo Choo has to go to the disabled list with this hamstring thing before Johnny Damon is ready, I would expect Matty to get the call back to the bigs.  While he is not stellar in left, I don't think any would disagree that he a shade better than Jason Donald.

A couple of quick stat facts in closing - The Tribe was 0-for-5 with the bases loaded yesterday and is hitting just .150 (3-for-20) on the season.  On the other hand, in the four games this season against Kansas city, the team is batting .322 with a .983 OPS.

Cheers.

Understudy Night At the Clip Joint

Francisco Lindor

With Nick Hagadone optioned back to Columbus (he has three days to report), the Clippers figured that they might as well get some use out of the guy who took his place on the roster.  As such, Toru Murata (0-1, 6.75) made his AAA debut tonight in a spot start.  Murata needed 80 pitches (51 strikes) to make it through 4 innings, allowing 3 earned on 5 hits, a walk and 4 K's.  First to relieve Toru was Kyle Landis (6.00), also making his AAA debut.  Landis was added to the active roster earlier in the day when CC Lee (2-0, 2.57) was placed on the disabled list with right forearm tightness.  Landis allowed a two run bomb to Brad Eldred, but pitched well otherwise, including 24 of 35 pitches for strikes.  Many are surprised that Landis was promoted rather than Bryce Stowell, who is regarded as a better prospect and already has AAA experience.  Thus, there is some expectation that Landis will be headed straight back to Akron tomorrow, in favor of the big right hander.  We shall see.

Oh, and if you thought Sunday was a poor offensive showing for the Clips, it's got nothing on Monday.  The team mustered just 3 hits and struck out 11 times.  C-Town was only able to stay in the game thanks to the 8 free passes issued by Toledo pitching.

Now this AAA pitching rotation thing gets real confusing.  My best guess is that Scott Barnes (0-2, 5.06) will take the hill tomorrow at 6:35p when the Clippers play their first home game in nearly 2 weeks.

Other Minor Points of Interest -

Akron
After compiling just 4 hits in his first 27 at-bats this season, Nick Weglarz (.211) is 4-for-8 with 3 extra base hits and 5 walks since returning from 5 off days.  While I was sminking, Wegz began the season 0-for-14 with 8 K's.  Since then, he's batting .333 with 6 RBI.  The Aeros' bullpen continued to shine tonight with Bryan Price (1.74) and Cody Allen (0.82) each pitching 2 scoreless innings.  Price punched out 4 and is holding opponents to a .143 clip while averaging 12.2 K/9.  Allen was perfect and whiffed a pair.  Across two levels, Cody's OBA has been .083 and his K/BB ratio is 16/0 over 11 innings.

Carolina
Let's raise a cheer for Tony Wolters (.127), who banged out his first multi hit game of the season and scored a run.  Jake Lowery (.345) also cracked two hits, driving home a pair of runs.

Lake County
Led by home run #1 of 2012 from both Luigi Rodriguez (.314) and Francisco Lindor (.273), the Captains won for just the second time in 14 games.  Rodriguez finished a double short of the cycle, while scoring 2 runs and driving in 3.  Each player also swiped his 6th bag of the season in the game.

Cheers.

Lack Of Oversight

The other day, I expressed a great deal of disdain for MLB official scorers, specifically in reference to error assignment when the defense is shifted for a lefty pull hitter.  That got me to thinking about who these official scorers are and how they obtain their positions.

It turns out that, by rule, Major League Baseball is responsible for the appointment and employment of official scorers.  However, in practice, these individuals are designated by the individual teams and their corresponding chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.  Commonly, two people compose an official scoring dyad and, theoretically, posses a firm experiential understanding of the game and encyclopaedic knowledgability of the rule book.  The appointments are for at least one complete season and, although "the scorer is required to rule in accordance with baseball rules and in agreement with the judgment of the umpires," there is no standardization process at either a team or league level.  A team or player may request a league review of any scoring decision, but this is a cumbersome process that is rarely employed (although the below play was changed from a triple to an error just a week ago).

The long and short of it is that if you don't like a scoring decision, tough shit.  MLB does not care.  This is the way score keeping has been done for the entire history of the league and they shan't be laying any accountability on official scorers anytime soon.  They will remain free to be "super retarded."

Cheers.

Who Is That Masked Man?

Oh, it's Johnny Damon in an Indians uniform.  Nice.

No More Streaking At the Clip Joint

Beau Mills

Here we go again... Ninth inning, two out, 8-3 Mud Hens?  What the H is going on?  Oh, wait, that's Cord Phelps (.329) at the dish... popping out to short.  Hitting streak over at 14.  Not a lot a yo-ho-ho's to bandy about the Clipper ship tonight.  Beau Mills (.280) singled in one run and doubled in another.  Corey Kluber (3-1, 3.43) got knocked pretty good over 5 innings (8 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K) and the bullpen fared no better.  Hector Ambriz (1.93) took the worst of it, walking 3 over his 2/3 of an inning, but Jeremy Accardo got tagged as well, allowing a run on a hit and a walk in 2 and a third.

Reinforcements are on the way though.  David Huff, fresh off of a successful rehab start with Akron (4 IP, H, BB, 3 K) has been officially activated and optioned to AAA.  He should join the team tomorrow and will get his first start sometime this week.

In case you haven't noticed yet, the anticipation got the best of me.  The Clippers don't come home until Tuesday.  They finish out in Toledo tomorrow at 6:30p with Scottie Barnes (0-2, 5.06) getting the call.

Other Minor Points of Interest -

Lake County
The offensive doldrums continue for a team that has now lost 12 of 13.  Luigi Rodriguez (.292) is 1 for his last 17.  Francisco Lindor (.278) is 5 for his last 29 (.172).  Elvis Araujo (2.25), however, turned in his best start of the season.  Over five shutout innings, Araujo surrendered 5 hits and 3 walks while fanning 4.

Also...

Stop the presses!  Bryce Harper hit his first AAA home run!  His OPS is still just 675.

Cheers.

0, ..., 2, 3, 4, 5....

You'll notice that there is no #1 in the title, just like the Indians starting rotation.  Since each made an excellent 2012 debut, co-aces Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez have been an embarrassment to the concept and to their team.  Their combined opponents' batting average is .343.  In 24 and 2/3 innings they have walked 19 and allowed 36 hits for a WHIP of 2.23.  2.23!  Our two aces are putting more than two men on base in every inning that they pitch.  No wonder their ERA in those 5 starts is 7.30.

Today, Masterson was just as bad as he was on Tuesday in Seattle.  Now, the A's offense sucks a whole bag of dicks, so they were only able to score four runs in Bat's five innings.  Still, both Masterson and Jimenez did their level best to hand their games away to the anemic A's by walking six men in each start.  Justin found the plate with just 61 of 111(!) pitches this afternoon.  He has that 6'6" frame, so the issues have always been consistency and repeatability.  After that dazzling opening day outing, Bat has been just a whirling dervish of arms and legs with little resultant success.  He has been every bit of maelstrom that we saw in 2009 and most of 2010.  Speaking to that point, his past three starts have been the first such stretch failing to total 14 innings since his very first trio with the Tribe.  The 10 walks that he has surrendered over his past two starts is the highest total of any pair in his Major League career.  Someone needs to light a fire under this zen child before his campaign follows his limbs and flies straight off the reservation.

Before I forget again, the word on the street is that Johnny Damon has a clause in his contract that stipulates that if he is not in the bigs by May 1, he can ask for his release.  Given this timetable (one that woManny refuses to acknowledge, shocking), I would expect Johnny in Columbus perhaps as soon as Tuesday.  The 24th marks the Clippers return from a two week road trip and the first game of a three series home stand that will carry them through that May Day deadline.

One player who will apparently not be joining the Clips for their homecoming is left hander Tony Sipp.  Despite his general ineffectiveness this season, woManny has already announced that is will be Nick Hagadone headed south when Asdrubal Cabrera is activated.  Recall what I said, the Indians make decisions base on absolutely everything except on field performance.  Hagadone was dominant in three appearances, only getting dinged today because Jason Donald apparently cannot play shortstop either (we'll get to that) and the official scorer has seemingly never been edified to the existence of the error.  Donald double clutches and pulled Jose Lopez off of first, who then proceeded to drop the ball allowing the Athletics to score their final run.  No error, earned run on Nick.  Ridiculous.

As was the assignment of a hit to Kila Ka'aihue when Jason Kipnis was unable to make a throw from right center field on a ball hit into the shift.  Let me see if I have this right: if Jack Hannahan is unable to effectively field the shortstop position during lefty pull shifts then it is perfectly acceptable to ding him with an error (twice), but it Kip doesn't have the arm to make a throw to first that is certainly no longer than that from third, he is given a pass?  I was watching a Brit show called Misfits the other day.  The plot revolves around a group of "young offenders" who get super powers.  One of the five has yet to manifest and he is not pleased.  As he obnoxiously rants on the injustice of the situation another suggests that he might just be "super retarded."  Him and the official scorer in Oakland.

Back to Donald.  While he has made a couple of amazing plays on the road trip (the spin behind second and the leap on the liner), his inability to execute the everyday plays has become painfully obvious.  On nearly every ball, he needs to double clutch the ball and/or shuffle his feet and/or pat hit mitt before making what I would describe as a below average throw to first.  In fact, the only bit of either play mentioned above that involved a throw needed Casey Kotchman to go full extension for completion.  Thank allah that AzCab is back on Tuesday.

Crap.  I haven't said anything positive.  Um...  Travis Hafner had an RBI and two walks.  He's hitting .357.  Raffy Perez pitched two shutout innings.  Uh...  Yeah, they had four hits and left 15 guys on base as a team.  That's all the good there is.

Cheers.

P.s. The idiots on STO kept saying that the 7-1 road start was best since '81 when Manning was on the team.  I stand by my own research.  It was 1988.  Look it up.

Big Sticks At the Clip Joint

Russ Canzler

With a share of first place in the IL West on the line, the Clippers pulled into Toledo and pounded the Mud Hens for 19 base knocks.  The hit parade started with Russ Canzler (.246), who entered the game batting .177 with a whole 9 hits on the season.  Canzler went 5-for-6 with 4 singles and a triple and scored twice.  Cord Phelps (.343) tripled in two runs to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.  In four of the last 8 of those games (including last night) Phelps has gone 1-for-5.  Hey, they still count, but the kid is running out of skin on his teeth.  Luke Carlin (.444) returned from the DL with a vengeance, rapping 3 hits and driving home 3 runs.  After an 0-for-3 start, Trevor Crowe (.404)singled in each of his last two AB's (2 RBI) to keep his International League best average above .400.  Hell, even Ryan Spilborghs (.267) had 3 hits.  In fact, Spilborghs is 6-for-11 (.545) over his last 3 games.

Although the Clips allowed 6 runs to the Mud Hens, starter Zach McAllister (1-1, 3.52) pitched effectively if unevenly.  Zach lasted just the first five innings because he threw 100 pitches (60 strikes), but walked just 3 on all of those balls.  McAllister also fanned 8 and surrender just 2 runs (one earned) on 3 hits.  It was the bullpen that got beat up a bit as Frank Herrmann (5.19) got dinged for 3 earned in a buck and 2/3 and Chris Ray (3.42) gave one up in the 9th.

The Clippers battle the Hens again today before coming home tomorrow.  Corey Kluber (3-0, 2.81) gets the start and the game starts right... about... ... ...now!

Other Minor Points of Interest -

Akron
Jared Goedert is making it very difficult for the Indians to keep him at AA for much longer.  With two more hits and two more walks yesterday, Goedert (.429) has his OPS up to 1.117.  He's hitting .500 over his last 10 and .556 (15-for-27) over his last 8.  Nick Weglarz (.171) missed five days and must have spent them finding his stroke.  In two game back, Wegz has gone 2-for-5 with a double, a homer, 4 RBI and 3 walks.  All of those more than doubled his season output.  Chun Chen (.313) added 2 more hits and an RBI, his first of the season.  Chun is 10-for-18 (.556) over his last five.  Giovanni Soto (2-0, 5.02) pitched well enough to win (5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 K) in a game that was stopped in the 7th thanks to torrential downpour.

Carolina
We'll start with the positives for a change.  Jesus Aguilar (.353) doubled twice and drove in two runs.  Jake Lowery (.327) singled, doubled and walked.  I guess the news on Tony Wolters (.102) is even positive as the young shortstop doubled in a run.  Wolters has just 6 hits on the season.

Lake County
Slumps, ouch.  Luigi Rodriguez (.290) is hitless in last 14 AB's and Francisco Lindor (.279) is batting just .160 (4-for-25) over his last 6 games.  Alex Lavisky is doing a bit better, hitting .353 over his last 4.  Felix Sterling started yesterday and lasted just four innings.  The 3 hits allowed & 5 K's are good, the 3 walks and 2 earned are not. 

Cheers.

Kings Of the Road

Before you get too excited about the Tribe's 7-1 start on the road, understand that it is their best since an equally strong beginning to the away schedule in that magical season of 1988.  Players like Dan Wheeler and Jairo Asencio would have fit nicely next to Bill Laskey and Chris Codiroli in that '88 bullpen, Aaron Cunningham might have platooned with eventually child molester Mel Hall in left field and Many Acta could have gotten some much needed tips on how to be a real live Major League manager from future peers John Farrell, Buddy Black, Ron Washington and Terry Francona.  Heck, I'd rather have skipper Doc Edwards back in the fold instead of woManny and Edwards is dead.

Yesterday, I suggested that I would have given Ubaldo Jimenez a lot more credit for gutting out the victory over Oakland if Ubaldo was not supposed to be a dominant front end starter.  Tonight, we saw exactly why.  Jeanmar Gomez by no means had his best stuff against the A's, but he kept the ball over the plate (88 pitches, 53 strikes), while walking just one and allowed the opposition (team batting average: .204) to get themselves out.  Again, Gomez certainly did not look like a world beater.  What he did resemble was a a high quality #5 starter, the kind of guy that will give his team a chance to win each and every time that he takes the mound.

And win tonight the Indians did.  Before two late punch outs, Jack "The Man"-ahan had his average up to .361.  In a shocking twist of fate, Cap'n Jack was not the hero offensive hero tonight, despite a pair of hits.  Instead, Jason Kipnis, who had been in a 1-for-13 slump and came into the game with exactly 8 hits on the season, busted out with 4 knocks and 3 ribies.  As Kip noted post-game, a player can only really control his effort and hustle, characteristics in which he takes great pride.  Eventually that determination (like a mad dash from second to score a key run) leads to offensive production.

A perfect seventh does not save Tony Sipp, he still gets demoted come Tuesday.

A save with a four run lead?  Chris Perez has wet dreams about games like this.

Casey Kotchman against everybody but the Royals: .075, .191 OPS.

Anybody know what Cliff Pennington's walk-up song is?  It's a 90's alternative piece that I just cannot place.  You know, it's the one that goes, dah-da-dah-dah-da-da-dah-da-dah-da-dah-da-dah-da-da-da-duh.

The Indians are 1 game back.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s. Doc Edwards is not dead, he's managing the San Angelo Colts of United League Baseball.  Go see a game.  He only gets paid after they meet their 1000 hot dog quota each night.  Otherwise, he just gets the leftovers.

Someone Forgot To Check

I'm not a big fan of instant replay, but there is a a phrase for this... um... how you say... indisputable video evidence.  Did you notice that the home plate umpire paused, then called Brendan Ryan out himself, without asking for help?  Did you happen catch how Fox refused to show you any sort of replay?

I was rooting for Humber, but this was as egregious of a missed call as Jason Donald being safe at first.

Bah.

Jack Attack

Now that's the Hammerin' Jack Hannahan that I know & love.  Honestly, every time that the man does something to help the team win, a huge grin breaks across my face.  Sure, I know the number isn't sustainable, but Cap'n Jack is 5-for-6 (.833) with runners in scoring position and 2 outs.  That's not one of those cute circumstances (like say balls hit to the outfield or a 3-0 count) that all hitters have ridiculous batting average during, it is quite possibly the best measure of clutch hitting that we have at our disposal.  He also now has 4 walks in that setting, which means that his OPS with runners in scoring position and 2 outs is, wait for it, 2.400.  Yeah, 2.400.  Jack's also batting .324 overall with a team high 11 RBI and a .885 OPS.

I feel little need to discuss Ubaldo Jimenez.  After a dog start against the Royals, U came out and kept Oakland's anemic offense in the game by walking 5 in 6 innings.  Yeah, 107 pitches, just 61 for strikes, in 6 innings.  Visually, Jimenez could not have looked any worse.  If he was not supposed to be a dominant front end starter, I would take this performance and say something trite like "he pitched well enough to win," but we traded the goddamn farm for him.  How much better would this rotation look right now with Drew Pomeranz in it rather than Ubaldo?  Chris Antonetti should be castrated, eviscerated and left out for the crows and I don't want to hear any cries for mercy.  Screw him.

It's late and I'm tired, so props to Jason Donald on the leaping grab, to Chris Perez on the quick save (although, for the record, I am still not sold on him as the best closer) and to the bullpen (less Tony Sipp) on 3.2 scoreless to finish the game.  Since posting a 6.48 ERA through the first game in KC, the Mafia has posted a flat 2.00 in their last 18 innings.  Sipp, on the other hand, has been just awful.  His ERA is 14.73 if you're counting.  Couple that with an unused minor league option and I would bet my left foot that he takes the I-71 shuttle when AzCab comes back from bereavement.

A bit concerned about Jason Kipnis with the bat, but you have to love his hustle and his fire.  He'll get a long leash.

The Indians are a game and a half back of the dream team Tigers.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s. Yoenis Cespedes is huge.

P.p.s.  There were about twenty seconds after Manny Acta didn't give the bunt sign to Casey Kotchman during which Rick Manning and I said exactly the same thing.  In fact, we uttered the word "unbelievable" simultaneously.  Acta is worthless.  He has to go.  I'll say it to his face.

Idolatry

 Yes, that is the recently retired Ivan Rodriguez.  And, yes, behind him is a statue of the recently retired Ivan Rodriguez.  And, naturally, that is the front yard of Ivan Rodriguez.

Methodus Pugnandi

On any other night, this story would be 5 paragraphs of me raving about Josh Tomlin, but somewhere out of the mists of the Pacific Northwest rose the mythic lumberjack called Jack Hannahan.  I have no words for it, go watch the video.  What I can say is that Cap'n Jack has been the soul and sinew of the 2012 edition of the Indians.  From clutch hitting to base brawling, I wish we could put a "C" on his jersey. 

Also, Felix Hernandez was just a touch better than Tomlin on this night.  Fat lot of good it did him.  This, my friends, was one hell of a pitchers duel.  King Felix, in front of a raucous crowd in the "King's Court," kept the Indians off balance all night, with 24 called strikes, including 6 in 8th inning alone.  The thing about Hernandez is the lateral movement on that fastball.  He throws hard (what, about 94ish) and mixes in some wicked breaking stuff, but the way he gets ahead is that heater inching back onto the black.  Tomlin, without stuff half as good, does much the same when he is on.  And, good golly, Josh sure was locked in tonight (25 called strikes).  After getting knocked around for 8 earned on 13 hits in his first two appearances, Tomlin allowed just a run on 5 hits against the M's.  Building on a trend from his first start, he fanned seven Mariners, including the last batter he faced (Dustin Ackley) on, if you can believe it, a high fastball.  It is the first time in his Major League career that Josh has fanned 6+ hitters in consecutive games, let alone 7.  Heck, it was only the third time Tomlin has gone 8 full innings and it came after an inauspicious beginning.  He fell behind Mariners' lead off hitter Chone Figgins (Your name is tainted!) 3-0 to start the game.  It was Josh's first 3-0 count of the season; he had only five in 2011.  Then he threw a strike.  It was his first 3-1 count of 2012, only 13 of those all of last season.  Then he struck Chode out.  Then he got better.  There were some hard hit balls, as there always will be against Tomlin, but big 4-3 only threw 95 pitches in earning his first win of the young campaign.  95 pitches, 70 strikes.  And it's not just about strikes, it is about quality strikes, locating the pitches within the zone. Returning to a number that I mentioned earlier in the week, Josh had allowed a .300 average (6-for-20) on two strike pitches coming into the game last night.  The Mariners went 2-for-14 (.143) yesterday and that's the difference.

Even though Tomlin really did have his good stuff, no pitcher exists in a vacuum and Josh's defense had his back.  Counting down the top 3 - #3. Jason Kipnis' throw home when Seattle scored their run.  While the toss itself was bloody awful, I am a huge proponent of playing every ball as if it is the final out of the World Series and Kip certainly used that mindset in trying to gun down Michael Saunders down at the dish.  #2. The double play to end the second.  Everything about this was textbook and it got Tomlin out of a jam.  Good pick by Jack, nice feed, great job by Kipnis to hang in with Saunders bearing down on him and get the ball to Casey Kotchman to close the frame.  #1. Jason Donald to Kotchman to end the 4th and strand a runner on third.  You will not see a better play on both ends and it saved the pivotal run of the game.

Back to Kotchman.  I'm beginning to see the defense that he is touted for.  He is not slick, but he gets the job done.  Unfortunately, he is not doing so at the plate.  CK against KC?  .455 (5-for-11), 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB, 3 BB, 0 K, 1.571 OPS.  Against the rest of the league?  .091 (3-for-33), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 0 BB, 5 K, .212 OPS.  Ouch.  Good thing that we play the Royals 15 more times this season.  Also, much love to Casey for getting that bunt down in the 9th.  A skill that has been sorely lacking on this team for years, the ability to execute the sacrifice certainly earns a player big points in my book.

I'll leave you with this question to ponder.  On a team with two nominal #1s, do the Indians (especially compared with King Felix and his 8th inning) have any sort of ace at all?

Cheers.

Clip Joint's Got Some Huevos

The Chiz Kid

That's Spanish for eggs, specifically goose eggs, which is what Indianapolis put up in each of the nine innings this afternoon.  Chris Seddon (2-0, 3.45) threw six beautiful innings (6 H, 5 K) and the bullpen was outstanding once again.  Hector Ambriz (1.04) went 2 innings of 2 hit ball, fanning 3 and Jeremy Accardo (1.35) brought it home in the 9th (H, K).  The relief corps has certainly been the Clippers (9-6) greatest asset thus far, pitching to a 2.60 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. 

The offense did more than enough with Ezequiel Carrera (.267) and Lonnie Chisenhall (.344) leading the way with three hits apiece.  Carrera fell a homer short of the cycle, while the Chiz Kid's day included a double and an RBI.  Cord Phelps (.354) extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI double, his MiLB best 9th, in the 3rd inning. 

Right handed pitcher Toru Murata was promoted from Akron to take Nick Hagadone's spot on the roster.  He will likely return to AA when Asdrubal Cabrera is reactivated from the bereavement list.

The Clips finish up in Indy with a 7:15p tilt on Friday.  The rotation turns over with #1 Zach McAllister (0-1, 4.00) taking the pill.

Other Minor Points of Interest...

Akron
The Aeros were off today, but knuckleballer Steven Wright (2-1, 1.56) pitched another gem on Wednesday.  The knuckler was dancing as Wright scattered 4 hits and 4 walks while fanning 7 and allowing just one run.  His OBA is .155 in 2012, quite an improvement from the .284 he posted across four levels last season.  Even including the bases on balls, his WHIP is a solid 1.10 (down from 1.61) and he has not allowed a home run after 18 in 2011.

Carolina
The ballad of Tony Wolters (.100) continued with another o-fer, tonight over 5 AB's and including 2 punch outs.  Tony has gone down on strikes in 17 of his first 50 high A at-bats and has posted a nightmarish .287 OPS.  Jesus Aguilar (.341) also took the collar, but Jake Lowery (.333) had two hits, including a double.


Cheers.

P.s.  Another scoreless inning for our good buddy Tyler Tufts (1.17) last night.

Lowe Expectations

Yup, this is the Derek Lowe that I expected when the Indians traded for him.  While his first two starts were excellent and quite the pleasant surprise, none of us should have assumed him to continue pitching as such for any length of time.  I'm not saying that we will not see any more of that production this season, but we should be prepared for more starts like last night in Seattle, where the 39 year old has no command or ability to retire hitters, and plenty of the in between.  To give a frame of reference, that 1.72 WHIP is just about dead on.

I did manage to keep my lids up for the entirety of the contest yesterday, not that I was rewarded with any sort worthwhile performance by the Tribe.  Lucky for all you, I don't feel much like bitching today (I may get around to it) and I will also, likely be brief.

The high points -

(1) Carlos Santana gunning down Munenori Kawasaki to end the 5th... from his knees.  Now I had heard whispers that Santana had that kind of arm, but, honestly, I can't say that I had ever seen it until last night.  Kawasaki is a burner, maxing out at 44 steals in Japan, so it's not just the fact that Carlos got the ball there in time, it is the accuracy with which he placed the throw.  It's true that he caught just 24% of base stealers last season (second to last among catchers with 90+ games caught), but he's prevented 2 of 3 in 2012 and if he can harness the sort mechanics that he showed on that throw to second, the Indians will have an unexpected defensive weapon as their disposal.

(2) I really cannot believe I'm saying this, but the hardest hit ball of the game came off of Aaron Cunningham's bat.  More impressive to me was the throw that AC made back to the infield to double up Dustin Ackley to end the 6th.  Unfortunately, any silver lining the cloud of Cunningham is irrelevant.  Unless Shelley Duncan hits a schneid the size of Nicki Minaj's backside, Aaron is going to get DFAed whenever Johnny Damon has worked all of the kinks out of his system.  While I was staunchly anti-Cunningham during spring training, I have come to appreciate his defense and sincerely hope that he clears those waives.

(3) Nick Hagadone was absolutely filthy.  The butterflies of his hometown debut gone, Hagadone made Kyle Seager and Michael Saunders look flat out stupid during a perfect 7th inning.  I might make the bold statement that there is no way that he is going back to Columbus, but the Indians are known for making decisions based on everything but on-field performance.  So, let's just say there is absolutely no way that he should be demoted.

(4) Though neither is on my Christmas card list, props to Danny Wheeler and Jairo Asencio, as well, for keeping the team in the game after Lowe was unable to make through the 5th.  Between the three relievers, the Mafia threw 3 and 2/3 innings of scoreless, hitless ball.

Yeah, no Crabatha Christie novel today, I'll simply leave you with one very troubling number.  In the two games this season in which Jason Donald (.485 OPS) has been the leadoff hitter, the Tribe has batted .148 (9-for-61) with exactly 2 extra base hits and has scored a total of 3 runs.

Also, in case you haven't been informed, until Asdrubal Cabrera returns, Jack Hannahan is the back-up shortstop.

Cheers.

I Bet It's An In-School

That is, by far, the worst kind of suspension.  Regardless, Jeanmar Gomez's will last 5 game, i.e. one start.  While it was not immediately discussed, it is likely that Gomez will appeal the suspension until it is convenient for him to serve it.  That time will come when the Indians can determine who should take the spot start or there is a gap in the schedule that would allow four men to work through a single cycle.  While Zach McAllister, Kevin Slowey and Scott Barnes are the most likely candidates for that start, none has been particularly consistent in the early going.  Columbus' best pitcher has been Corey Kluber, who is on the 40-man roster.  While there was exactly zero discussion of Kluber for a big league job during the spring, we should probably pay attention to the dark horse's next couple of starts.

In other actions associated with the brawl that led to the Gomez suspension, the league also fined Jack Hannahan $500 (worth it) and Manny Acta an undisclosed amount (probably $2 because woManny is a big blood belching vagina who would never stand up for anyone).

Cheers.

Clip Joint Matinee

Cord Phelps

After waiting until his 5th and final at-bat on Tuesday to extend his his hitting streak, Cord Phelps (.355) took care of business early and often this afternoon.  Phelps reached in each of first four plate appearances via two singles and two doubles.  Though the Clippers came up a run short to Indianapolis, the team doubled seven times in total.  Ryan Spilborghs (.211) was among those with a two bagger as he produced his first two hit game of the season and drove in a run as well.  Though Trevor Crowe (.421) did not get the start, he did supply a pinch single and is playing with a vengeance heretofore unseen in his professional career.  Lonnie Chisenhall (.322), on the other hand, has hit the skids.  The Chiz Kid is hitless in his past 11 AB's.

Scott Barnes (0-2, 5.06) took the loss after allowing all 4 of the Indians runs in five innings of work.  Barnes surrendered 7 hits and a walk, fanning 4.  Barnes has been uneven all season.  Despite a .214 OBA and 17 punch outs in 16 innings, he has given up runs in bunches (3 in the 5th today), leading to his winless line.  Frank Herrmann (2.57) pitched the last of 3 more scoreless innings by the 'pen.

Tommorow is another businessman's special at Indy.  If the rotation holds, the start will go to Chris Seddon (1-0, 5.59).

Other Minor Points of Interest...

Carolina
The Mudcats only got one run in their afternoon affair, but that was enough to eek out the victory.  The RBI came off of the bat of slugger Jesus Aguilar (.375), who also had 2 hits.

Lake County
Fresh from the end of hit 8 game hitting streak, Luigi Rodriguez (.367) began anew with 3 hits.  Included was a two base hit, as L-Rod also walked and scored a run.  Francisco Lindor (.305) doubled in a run and Alex Lavisky (.273) got off the schneid (To break a scoreless or hitless or winless streak (i.e. a schneid). According to the Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the term "schneid" comes to baseball via gin rummy, and in turn comes from German / Yiddish "schneider," one who cuts cloth, i.e., a tailor) with two singles.

Cheers

Don't Call It A Comeback

Ok, go ahead, because it really was one hell of a comeback.  I am not ashamed to admit that I fell asleep round about the time that Joe Smith sent the M's down in the 7th.  I'm not particularly pleased about it, but neither am I ashamed.  Fortunately, I like to sleep with the TV on, so when I woke about 7 hours later, I was able to enjoy the wonder of a Chris Perez 9th.  Yes, I am well aware that a huge part of bullpen consistency lies in clearly defining the roles to the individual pitchers, but how does it outweigh sticking with a closer whose WHIP is over 2 and has walked more than he has struck out?  It's not as if these are new issues.  In 2011, CP ranked the 5th worst in WHIP (1.21) of the 19 relivers who saved more than 30 games and dead last in K/BB (1.50).  That last bit might be explained by his #18 rank in strike% at 61.  Maybe I'm just a touch angry about how Perez singled handedly ruined my Opening Day, but perhaps Vinnie Pestano is a better option.  Over the past two seasons, Pestano's numbers (1.02 WHIP, 3.83 K/BB, 65% strikes) are indisputably better than the man that Manny Acta refuses to displace.  In fact, Perez needs to send a fruit basket and a thank you note to John Jaso.  There is no way Chris escapes the 9th unless Jaso allows the moment to get the better of him and pop out on the 7th consecutive ball that Perez had thrown.

So that sucks.  Let's talk about something good: Welcome Nick Hagadone!  Not only has the big left hander arrived in the bigs for what will likely be the last time, but the Washington native looked damn good in his 2012 debut.  After a walk and an error (we'll talk about Jack in a second) gave Seattle runners at 1st and 2nd with nobody out in the 5th, Hagadone buckled down and fanned back-to-back hitters to get out of trouble.  Most impressive was how Nick did so on two completely different pitches.  Brendan Ryan failed to catch up to a 94 MPH heater at his eyes and Jaso flailed meekly at an 82 MPH slider away.  While Raffy Perez did his job in the 6th, both he and Tony Sipp will have to pitch without incident for the next 6 days to keep their respective jobs in the Mafia.

Oh, right, Asdrubal Cabrera is not currently with the team.  He has been placed on the Bereavement List due to a death in his family and will not rejoin the team until it returns home on the 24th.

I am in no way worried about Jack Hannahan's defense.  Although it does feel odd to refer to him by only his legal name (sort of like a parent scolding a child), I have every confidence that Jack's defense will progress back to the norm.  Despite the fact that he has 4 errors (of the Indians' 7) in the early going, 2 of those have come at short (by which I mean with the shift on) and the ball yesterday had perhaps the most bizare spin that I have ever seen on a shot to the hot corner.  It may sound as if I'm making excuses for Captain Jack, but the ability to play defense does not just disappear.  Consider: (a) despite the E5's Jack's rTot is just -2, a number that will easily climb back into the black & (b) about 18 years ago (in fact, exactly 2 days more than that) I was in attendance as Omar Vizquel made 3 errors against the Royals.  Shit happens.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I did not know where Johnny Damon (who took BP and fly balls in Goodyear) would play when he joins the Indians.  One thing that should not happen is for Shelley Duncan to lose any PT.  Duncan leads the Tribe with an 1.106 OPS and leads the American League with 10 walks and a .514 OBP.  He has also played solid D and posted a +1 rTot.

Just how bad was Justin Masterson's start last night?  8 is the highest number of earned runs he has allowed since July 30, 2010, the 3 and 2/3 his shortest start since August 14, 2009 (excepting a September 2010 start just before he moved to the 'open in which he allowed no runs).  The only ray of sunshine is that the team is hitting and Bat might not have carry as much of the load as we imagined.

Lastly, have you noticed that Carlos Santana looks just a smidge more restrained as a left handed batter this season?  Well, he's not.  Big Smooth's K/BB ratio against right handed pitching is 2.33 in 2012 versus 1.68 a year ago and his OBP is down from .315 to .292.  Still, his OPS is a robust .911, up nearly 200 points over 2011 (.736), and he straight yoked his 3-run bomb yesterday.  Better than any of that?  That the lone chick in the Indians cap coming away with the ball.  Nice.

I'll try to stay awake tonight.

Cheers.

Clip Joint (Better Than) 500

Corey Kluber

Yup, yup.  Clippers win, Clippers win.  Still we all have to come to terms with the fact that there is simply not the same level of talent at Columbus this season as there was when the club won back-to-back AAA National Championships in 2010 and 2011.  The Clips (8-5) are still playing good ball, but the offensive leader tonight was Matt Pagnozzi (.346) who delivered 2 hits and 2 RBI, including his first home run of the young season.  Russ Canzler (.191) had two hits as well and Cord Phelps (.316) singled in a run in the 9th to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, but that was about it.  Both Trevor Crowe (.405) and Lonnie Chisenhall (.345) took an 0-for-5.

Corey Kluber (3-0, 2.81) started and pitched very well for the third straight start.  Although Kluber (6 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 7 K) is not in contention to take the upcoming spot start, he has certainly been the most consistent member of the Clippers rotation thus far.  Opponent are batting just .220 against Corey in 2012 as the righty has fanned 25 in 16 innings.  Once again, the bullpen was dominant.  CC Lee (2.57) and Chris Ray (2.45, 3 SV) combined for three shutout innings to preserve the lead and the victory.

By the way, with Asdrubal Cabrera on bereavement leave, the Indians have chosen to add Nick Hagadone in his absence.  The clock is ticking for Tony Sipp and Rafael Perez.

Tomorrow's game 2 against Indianapolis is a 1:05p tilt with Scottie Barnes (0-1, 4.09) on the mound.

Other Minor Points of Interest...

Akron
Jared Goedert (.385) just continues to hit.  He added a single and a double this evening and is primed to move back to AAA just as soon as a spot opens up.  Chun Chen (.278) has awoken as well.  With two more hits tonight, he is hitting .437 over his last four games.  Thomas Neal (.200), however, has yet to find his stroke.  A 1-for-2 game against Bowie finally raised his average to Mendoza, but he was also caught stealing and picked off.  Nick Weglarz (.133) has sat out back-to-back games.  Couple that with his poor performance (.321 OPS) and one must wonder if Wegz is, yet again, injured.

Carolina
One wonders how patient the organization can be with Tony Wolters (.111) before he is demoted.  Part of the concern is that Francisco Lindor is currently manning shortstop for Lake County, but you cannot leave Wolters, who took another o-fer tonight, in as confidence ebbs.  Jesus Aguilar (.361) is just fine, however.  He doubled and walked today.  Jake Lowey (.317) went 0-for-4 with a pair of K's.

Lake County
Things have not gone well of late in Eastlake.  The kids have dropped eight straight by a combined score of 59-31 and the last two games have produced a total of just 4 runs.  Tonight, Luigi Rodirguez (.333) saw his hit steak come to an end and Alex Lavisky (.256) saw his hitless streak extend to 8 AB's.  The aforementioned Lindor (.309) did single and walk.  Starter Elvis Araujo (0-3, 3.00) has been a hard luck loser all season including this evenings contest.  Araujo took his team through six (6 H, 2 BB, K) and left behind 3-2 only because of 2 unearned runs.  Oh yeah, LeVon Washington (.440) had an MRI on his hip yesterday, the same area that gave the former first rounder trouble last season.  Washington has not played since April 11th.

Also...

Fate certainly handed Bryce Harper (.245) the situation to ignite what has, so far, been quite a stagnant season.  After Syracuse fell behind 1-0 in the top of the 9th, Harper came to the dish with runners on second and third and two out in the bottom of the frame.  With the home fans on their feet, Bryce took a 1-2 pitch and lined it... directly into the second baseman's glove.  He is still looking for his first AAA home run.

Cheers.

The Very Definition

At least we know that he owns a glove...

By now we're all aware that Travis Hafner set the Kauffman Stadium record for the longest home run by bashing a 481 foot shot into Rivals Sports Bar in deep right field.  I'm not ready to predict a return to Pronkville, but the numbers that Hafner has put up this season are certainly a pleasant surprise.  And he had best be doing it with the bat because he certainly has no ability to play in the field anymore.  Wait, let's think about that.  Travis never did.  The last season, the only season, in which Pronk played in more than 11 games at first base was 2003.  It was his first year with the team and he basically split his time between first and DH, seeing 42 games in the field.  Over the course of his 11 year MLB career, Hafner has played exactly 72 of his 1041 games in the field.  That is 6.9% of his games played.  In fact, the only other player with more than 162 games of Major League experience that played fewer than 7% of his games in the field was Sam "Matter" Horn.  Sammy saw action at first base in 12 of 389 MLB appearances or 3.1%.  Now we all recall Horn (mostly from his mashing circa September 1993, during which he posted a 1.321 OPS for the Tribe), but few would consider him to be an everyday player like Hafner.  Horn played 121 games with O's in 1991, his only season of 100+.  Following Horn on the list are Allan Lewis and Herb Washington, two of Charlie Finley's "designated pinch runners" from the 1970's (don't know 'em, I'll tell you next time).  The only other notable player under 15% in the field is David Ortiz.  Big Papi checks in at 14.3% in the field, more than double Hafner's.  Keep crushing those long balls Pronk, because you are the very definition of a guy who cannot play the field.

Back to Josh Tomlin.  The other day, I mentioned that Josh's biggest problem this season was missing over the good part of the plate on what would be considered pitcher's counts.  Now, his OBA is .351 this season versus .248 in 2011.  While most of his splits are up over last year and the sample size is small, there are two specific example that strongly support my contention: average with the pitcher ahead and average with two strikes.  In the first instance, Tomlin allowed just a .177 average in 2011.  This season that number is up to .267.  In the latter circumstance, a situation in which the pitcher should be absolutely dominant, the OBA has skyrocketed from .163 to an even .300.  Even though he was able to fan 7 in his start, he is simply giving the batters far too many fat pitches when he should be making them hit his pitch.  I am a huge Josh Tomlin fan, but unless he can correct that flaw, his Major League career will soon be over.

Lastly, here's a quick update on Johnny Damon.  Today, JD will be in Goodyear to finish his physical.  Assuming all goes well, the Indians will announce his officially official signing tomorrow.  After that Damon will spend a couple of days loosening up, before taking part in what will likely be about a week or ten days of extended Spring Training.  What that means is that he will playing simulated games in which he can get in work in specific circumstances like leading off an inning or moving a runner over.  As soon as Johnny and the brain trust feel that he has his timing back to zero, he will join the Clippers for somewhere in the range of two weeks.  These time frames are, of course, approximate.  The actual decision will be made by evaluating Damon's performance on the field.  Still, the expectation is that he will join the Tribe sometime in early May.  I'm not quite sure where he's going to play, but it can't hurt.

Cheers.

Clip Joint Slip N' Slide

Trevor Crowe

Yeesh, so now there are no starters fighting for that spot start.  Kevin Slowey (1-2, 4.50) was unable to maintain the momentum that he had built in his first two outings as he was beat for 6 earned on 10 hits over 5 and 1/3 in Louisville tonight.  Add in 3 walks and Slowey put 13 guys on base.  Not good.  Nor was Jeremy Accardo (1.59), who delivered his first dog outing of the young season.  Accardo (0.2 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, K) entered with the bases loaded in the 6th and not only allowed all three of those runners to score, but let in one of his own and surrendered the lead.  Hector Ambriz (1.35) pitched two perfect innings to finish the game.

The offense was highlighted by the return of Matt LaPorta (.316), who produced a single and a walk.  Trevor Crowe (.469) and Lonnie Chisenhall (.380) both continued their hot hitting.  Crowe fell a homer short of the cycle and has 8 hits in his last 11 at-bats.  The Chiz Kid went 9-for-18 over the four game set with the Bats, complete with four doubles and 3 RBI.  Despite going just 1-for-5, Cord Phelps (.327) extended his hitting streak to 10 games.  He has hit in 11 of 12 games this season.

After a 6-1 start, the Clips have won just 1 of their last 5.  They move on to Indianapolis tomorrow at 7:05p.  Expect Corey Kluber (2-0, 3.60) to be on the bump.

Other Minor Points of Interest...

Akron
Not much from the offense.  Jared Goedert (.371) added two more hits and Chun Chen (.250) finally broke through, going 3-for-4 with a double.  Each scored a run.

Much more interesting was the work by the pitching staff.  Toru Murata (3.38) took the spot start and pitched well enough over 3 innings (4 H, 2 ER).  Then, Bryce Stowell (1-0) entered and fanned 7 over 3 innings.  He did allow his first two hits of the season and opponents can now claim to be hitting a robust .125.  Stowell has whiffed 11 in 5 frames.  After that came Cody Allen who K'ed a pair and allowed a hit in his own two clean innings.  Across two levels, Allen has stymied the other team to the tune of an .077 clip and 12 punch outs in 8 innings.  Neither man has been scored on in 2012.

Carolina
Stop the presses!  Tony Wolters (.122) got a hit.  Jesus Aguilar (.353) did as well, but that's not as exciting.  Jake Lowery (.351) did not, but he did draw a walk.  On the hill, Danny Salazar (0-2, 7.04) took the loss.  Salazar (4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) is the guy on the 40-man of whom you've never heard.

Lake County
It was not a great offensive night for the Captains, but Luigi Rodriguez (.357) did extend his hit streak to 8 games.  Felix Sterling started, but did not figure in the decision.  Sterling pitched well over six innings (2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) and has certainly delivered thus far.  The 19 year old has held the opposition to a .148 average (that's 8 total hits allowed in 3 starts) and has punched out 14 in 16 innings.  Also, Francisco Lindor (.308) singled and swiped his 4th bag.

Cheers

P.s. Did you know that there's a Clay Rapada AND a Clay Zavada?  Both are left handed relievers.

Sweep Week

Well, it's certainly difficult to complain about yesterday's 13-7 victory that brings the Tribe to .500 (4-4) for the first time this season, but I'm going to do it anyway.  We'll begin with Ubaldo Jimenez.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to initiate another into the cult of "Chris Antonetti is an idiot."  I got to explain how the Tribe traded the farm to acquire Ubaldo (1-0, 4.50) last summer.  I had the pleasure of pointing out that it was the sort of trade that needs to return a sure thing.  Given the skilled players that the Indians shipped to the Rockies, Ubaldo should be going out and mowing down hitters like a well manicured lawn.  Sadly, he is not.  During his 2011 struggles, we heard that his delivery would be rebuilt in the off-season to facilitate better repeatability.  If that was actually attempted, it certainly has no been successful.  Yesterday, despite 10 Indians runs over the first 5 innings, Jimenez barely qualified for the victory after tossing 112 pitches over 5 innings.  He allowed 9 hits and walked 3.   His first start was brilliant, but if you cannot trust your #1b starter to go out and shut down the Royals, you're gonna have some problems.

Next, it may be Rafael Perez (7.36) who crumbles before Tony Sipp (13.50).  Neither has been at all reliable thus far in 2012.  Raffy was inserted to begin the sixth, walked Alex Gordon, balked him to second and watched him score on a Billy Butler single.  Not the sort of performance that inspires confidence in your teammates.  Sipp bounced back with a clean inning, but who knows what he will bring in his next outing.

Honsetly, outside of the starting pitching and the bullpen, it was an awesome game to watch.  A lot of those batting averages (Hafner - .292, Cabrera - .282, Duncan .320) are looking a lot better.  Others (Kipnis - .179, Kotchman - .219) remain low, but their owners showed excellent power in the series.  Speaking of power, Pronk's 5th inning solo home run distance has been adjusted from an original estimate of 456 feet to a whopping 481 feet.  That is the longest blast in Kauffman Stadium history, erasing Bo Jackson's 475 footer of 1986.

Also in the record books - 32 runs in 3 game series.  That is the total that the Tribe put up against KC.  It is also the largest number that they have ever aggregated in the first three road games of the season and the most in any 3 game series since an April 2000 set against Tampa Bay.  The series also did wonders for the Indians' overall offensive numbers.  The team batting average is all the way up .238 and, while that still ranks 11th in the AL, the team OPS is now .779, good for third in the league.  Part of that is the power.  Their 15 home runs lead the junior circuit and the team has gone yard in each of the first 8 games.  Don't forget the walks, though.  The Tribe draw 44 bases on balls in eight games (5.5 per) which is also third and pretty much mitigates the 58 strikeouts.  Oh yeah, their 52 runs scored is 2nd.

Enough for now.  If I'm sufficiently aware later on, we'll dig into some statistics on Josh Tomlin and Travis Hafner.

Cheers.

P.s. Is it any wonder that KC demoted Jarrod Dyson after his play over the first two games of the series?

Clip Joint Kentucky Weekend

After their quick start, the Clippers have settled in six game win one/ lose one funk.  Such was the case with Saturday and Sunday games in Louisville.  On Saturday, Chris Seddon (1-0, 5.59) pitched well enough to win (5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) and did, despite surrendering a pair of home runs.  More importantly, Nick Hagadone continued his sublime start.  Following another 1 and 1/3 scoreless innings, the opposition had raised its batting average to a dazzling .125.  After 5.1 innings in 2012, Hagadone has still issued just one walk.  Tony Sipp be very afraid.  Sunday was less heartening as Zach McAllister (0-1, 4.00) got knocked around for 5 earned on 9 hits over 6 innings (BB, 3 K).  With a Jeanmar Gomez suspension likely coming down from Bud Selig's mount on high, Z-Mac has certainly not positioned himself for that spot start.  Frank Herrmann (3.00) and Chris Ray (3.00) finished off the game with a scoreless inning apiece.

At the plate, Cord Phelps (5 H, 2B, 2 RBI, .340), Lonnie Chisenhall (3 H, RBI, 2 R, .333), Trevor Crowe (5 H, 2 2B, 2 BB, .429) and Beau Mills (HR, 2 RBI, .278) supplied the offense.  Matt LaPorta (.314, 4 HR) saw action in neither game, while Ryan Spilborghs (.167) continued to struggle.

The Clippers close out their series with the Bats tonight @ 6:35p with Kevin Slowey (1-1, 2.45, the guy who is in line for that spot start) ready to take the hill.

Other Minor Points of Interest...

Akron
Jared Goedert (.355) launched a pinch 3-run homer on Saturday and followed it up with 2 hits on Sunday.  Do not give up on this guy.  Chun Chen (.179) had 2 hits on Saturday but fanned 3 times over the two games and has whiffed 12 times in 8 games so far.  Nick Weglarz (.133) has conituned to flounder as well with 13 Ks and just 4 hits on the season.  Giovanni Soto (1-0, 5.00) was unable to follow up a strong first start with another, allowing 4 earned on 7 hits over 4 innings on Saturday.  Gio has K'ed 11 in 9 innings in 2012.  Keep an eye on Rob Bryson (1.69), the oft-injured last piece of the CC Sabathia trade.  Always a big strike out guy, Bryson has punched out 10 in 5 and 1/3 this year, while holding the opposition to .118 average.

Carolina
Tony Wolters' abysmal start sunk even lower over the weekend.  An 0-for-8 skid dropped has dropped the prospect's average to a horrific .108.  Jake Lowery (.382), on the other hand, added four hits and a walk to raise his OPS to 1.006. 

Lake County
If you can belive it, the Captains lost to Bowling Green yesterday, 22-12, with the Hot Rods scoring 11 times in the top of the 9th inning.  Somehow right hander Kyle Blair (20.86 ERA) was left in to allow 13 of those runs!  At least the offense continued to chug along.  Luigi Rodriguez (.368) rapped 3 hits, drew 2 walks and drove in a pair.  Alex Lavisky (.323) spanked hit first home run and drove in 2 to raise his team leading total to 10.  The only hold out was Francisco Lindor (.313), who took an 0-for-5 collar, but still drove in a run and drew a walk.  LeVon Washington (.440) sat out for the 2nd straight game.

Also...

Friend of the blog Tyler Tufts is off to a fast start for the Round Rock Express of the Texas Rangers system.  Seeing AAA action for the first time, Ty has two wins in his first 3 appearances and has posted a 1.35 ERA.

Uber-prospect Bryce Harper has struggled to find his own footing at AAA.  The 19 year old is off to a .220 start over his first 10 games for the Syracuse Chiefs.  Harper has yet to homer, has driven in just 1 run and has limped to a .597 OPS.

Indians righty Jason Knapp (the oft-injured last piece of the Cliff Lee trade) has yet to throw yet this season.  Still rehabbing from his second shoulder surgery, many are scared that he will never stay healthy enough to make the bigs.

Cheers.