Clip Joint Away!

The Clippers finished up the second series in their massive 12 game road swing through New York with a 3-0 win over Buffalo early this afternoon.  TJ McFarland made his AAA debut and survived 4 walks to shut out the Bisons for 5.2 innings.  McFarland, who took a no-no into the 5th, was gone by the time the bats awoke, so it was Frank Herrmann (2-1, 3.76) who earned the victory for his 2 and third perfect innings.  Chris Ray (2.42, 8 SV) closed things out with a clean 9th.

Beau Mills (.208) launched a solo homer (his 7th), but batted just .156 in May.  Matt LaPorta drove home a run and finished May with a .241 average after batting .380 in April.  Matty is hitting just .219 over his past 10 games, but does have 14 homers and 32 RBI on the year.  One would expect LaPorta to get the call to the big club sometime in the next 24 hours as the Tribe is in desperate need of another bat.  I have come to loathe Matt as a person and a player, but even I am on board with his recall at this point.  Jared Goedert (.213) is seemingly no longer an option as he has crashed hard after a torrid start.  Goedert, posting another 0-fer today, has 1 hit in his last 21 at-bats with 7 K's over that span.  Jason Donald (.315) singled, doubled, walked and drove home the third Columbus run.  I'm sure that he appreciates this time in the minors to play every day.

The Clip ship docks in Rochester tomorrow and, if the team is sticking with this 6-man rotation, it will be Corey Kluber (4-4, 4.41) on the bump.

Cheers.

See No Losing

The Good News:  WoManny finally relented and allowed Travis Hafner to be placed on the disabled list.  The Bad News:  Pronk will need to have his right knee scoped to remove scar tissue and will miss 4-6 weeks.  Ouch.  Just hours before the decision was made, woManny once again showcased his character and shirked all responsibility, “I can't guess on any of that stuff.  We won't know until he's either cleared or we have to make a decision. I stayed at home last night, not at a Holiday Inn Express."  Did you hear him?  He referenced a TV commercial in his stupid Dominican stammer!  He so funny, I no even remember what we talk about!

That's Scottie Barnes in the picture, recalled to take Hafner's spot and round the bullpen back to 7.  The Tribe has absolutely no need for 3 lefties, so Tony Sipp had better bring it.  One would think that if Barnes shows that he is Major League capable and Sipp continues to struggle, we very well might see Frank Herrmann in exchange for the latter.  To both of their credit, Barnes loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter, but escaped the 6th unscathed; while Sipp tossed a clean 7th to lower his ERA to 6.27.

So, with Lou Marson still bleeding from his lady parts after getting busted in the myth, the Tribe once again played two men down.  Oh, the other one is Juan Diaz, who, with Asdrubal Cabrera back at short, will only play again if AzCab gets mauled by a bear between innings.  How did this affect today's untelevised catastrophe?  Pinch-hitters, my friends, or should I say the lack thereof?  The 9th inning rally that never was could have been aided substantially if woManny had had the cojones and personnel to pinch hit for Luke Carlin leading off the frame.  Let's skip Jose Lopez and his game ending double play for a second and recognize that unless he clears the bases, it's a non-factor because then Slater has to bat.  Game over anyway.  Matt LaPorta, Jared Goedert and, oh I don't know, Felix Pie would all be better options.  You can point at the pitching all you want, but it's no coincidence that the Tribe has dropped 5 of 6 while playing with half of a roster.

And back to Lopez, is he really going to be your clean-up hitter until Carlos Santana comes back?  What has he done in this life, or the last, to earn that kind of respect?  Sure, he put together that 10-game hit streak, but since then he's batting .192!  His career slugging percentage is under .400!  With only one bat left to join the ranks (when Diaz is mercifully demoted), it seems high time for woManny to reshuffle that line-up, get Michael Brantley back at the top (.429 over the past 3 series) and at least pause this Choo lead-off experiment until more middle of the order bats are healthy.  Heck, I don't care, slide Kip and Cabrera down and bat Brantlley 2nd, just get Lopez out of the 4 hole.  C'mon, man!

Y'know, I don't like it any more than you do, but, until the Tribe's starting pitchers start pitching, this number will continue to grow.  With Jeanmar Gomez's second straight bum start in the books, Indians' starters have failed to complete six innings for the sixth straight outing.  In those games, they are 1-5 with an 11.89 ERA and a .357 OBA.  If ever Derek Lowe has needed to be a stopper, it's Friday against the Twins.

Enjoy your off day, boys.  Come Friday, you'd best have your heads successfully excavated from your asses.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Willingham To Victory

Y'see, that's what I was talking about...

The Fresh Prince IS A Royal

When we lose to the Royals, I become so deflated that I've barely the strength to rant.  Following Justin Masterson's latest stinker (I don't care how well he pitched over the final 4 innings, the game was already lost) the starting staff has completed an entire turn of the rotation with an ERA 12.52.  Bat's 6 inning outing today was only the second to go further than 5.  The opposition batted .346 and homered 7 times in 23 innings.  And did anyone else notice that there was never anyone warming behind Masterson?  Not when we thought Mike Moustakas had gone deep and not after he had surrendered 7 runs before getting 6 outs.  That's the kind of wall a team gets backed into when its manager refuses to use the disabled list and decides not carry a long man in the bullpen.  Freakin' idiot.

Having watched Luke Carlin for three consecutive games, I feel as if I understand his limitations.  Despite just a .248 career minor league average and a .152 MLB clip before joining the Tribe, Carlin has a decent approach and seems to do a good job of using the middle of the field.  The issue is, apparently, with his defense.  Luke looked tremendously slow in his lateral movement behind the dish.  He has now allowed 5 passed balls and 7 wild pitches in 49 career major league games.  Additionally, he's caught just 20% of potential big league base stealers (0-of-2 this season) versus a league average of 27% in that time.  Perhaps the worst display of defensive acumen came on the fielder's choice that opened the door for the Royals 5-run second inning.  With runners on first and third, Jose Lopez came home on a weak ground ball.  The throw beat Eric Hosmer, but Carlin had positioned himself in front of home plate rather than to the third base side.  Leaving the bag exposed, Carlin had to lunge back at the runner and failed to tag Hosmer before the Royal had gotten his hand to the base.  I know he's our third catcher, but he's been down in Columbus for like 2 years now and there's, like, gotta be a better option.  On the wild side, he did become just the 11th player since 1960 (when records of such things began being kept) to reach base three times all by error (no one has done it 4 or more times) and only the second (joining Walt Bond of the 1964 Houston Colt .45's) to do so in his first three at-bats.  For all of you hard core diamond heads (I know, we crossed that line a while back), he is the first guy in Major League history to reach 3 times, only by error, in his first 3 AB's, to three different fielders.

Asdrubal Cabrera was back in the line-up tonight, as the designated hitter.  Everything seemed to go well, which likely means that he will be back at short tomorrow.  In my mind that means Juan Diaz goes bye-bye.  If the team could go four days with only Diaz available for the position, then they can go a hundred thousand with only AzCab.  Sadly, Diaz probably stays put.  WoManny will rationalize keeping the utterly worthless rookie by saying that "he's not sure yet about Cabrera's hammy."  Whatever, idiot.  The same could be said about Travis Hafner.  Either dude can play or he can't.  I believe the expression is "either shit or get off the pot."  Either a guy can play or he's on the DL.  End of story.

We'll close with a quick look at Aaron Cunningham.  Slater's batting .211 and his most marketable skill is that he can play all 3 outfield positions.  Christopher Cross, man, if that's all it takes to make it to the bigs, I've gotta go dig out my cleats.  Cunningham has exactly 2 extra base hits (both doubles) and 2 RBI to show for his 57 at-bats in 2012.  His OPS is .543.  I sure don't care what else he brings to the table.  If he can't hit or win a Gold Glove then he does not belong in the Majors.  Just think how much more competitive we would have been over the past 5 games if we had had better reserves to begin with.  AC is trash, so dump him.

Best beat the Royals at high noon tomorrow to take the series.  Else, I feel a rampage coming on.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Sizemore Effect

This week-load of injuries has brought the prodigal Grady Sizemore back to the forefront of my thinking.  It's very easy to recall the glory days (2005-2008) and hard to forget just how beloved Grady was among Tribe fans.  As the face and hope of the franchise, Sizemore could do no wrong.  That was before the injuries.  Over the past three years, he has played a sum total of 104 games, batting .220 with a .659 OPS.  But we're all aware of Grady's diminishing skills and what he hasn't done for the club recent seasons.  Unfortunately, in 2012, he has managed to detract even more substantially from the product on the field. 

Going into this past off-season it was painfully apparent that the Indians needed to bring a right handed power bat into the lineup.  Prince Fielder and the Little Caesar's fortune aside, the Tribe is still mid-market and thus relegated to mid-range free agents at best.  Still, a player like Josh Willingham seemed to be perfectly attainable.  Willingham had set career highs with 29 home runs and 98 RBI with Oakland in 2011 and was looking for 2-3 years at $5-7mil per.  Amazingly this was in the Indians' price range.  Then, on November 23rd, they re-inked Sizemore to a 1-yr, $5mil deal.  Expectation were high.  The brass wouldn't have made the move unless they had some insight into Grady's relative health, right?  Right?  Even after the Sizemore signing, the team still approached Willingham through back channels.  The 2-yr, $15mil offer that they suggested was equatable to the 3-yr, $21 contract he agreed to with the Twins.  So, what was the deal breaker?  The Twins guaranteed Josh an everyday spot in left field, while the Indians, assuming that Sizemore would be in the mix, refused to take the same stance.  Result: Willingham became a Twin on December 11th.

Fast forward to February 24th and Sizemore screws up his back while rehabbing his knee.  He has yet to play a game at any level in 2012.  In Grady's absence, Michael Brantley, the man blocking Willingham in left, slid to center field and Shelley Duncan got the Opening Day nod in left.  Thus far, we have seen Duncan, Johnny Damon, Aaron Cunningham and even Jason Donald take turns in left to abysmal results.  Indians left fielders are batting a combined .181 with 3 home runs and 12 RBI.  They have struck out 44 times compared to 32 hits and amassed a .548 OPS.  Willingham, on the other hand, is stroking it at a .271 clip with 8 taters and 29 driven in.  His OPS sits a career high .934, good for 9th in the American league.  All of that for a team with the worst record in baseball.   That OPS would be the best among Tribesmen by nearly 50 points (Asdrubal Cabrera - .886), the homers tied for the team lead (8 - Jason Kipnis) and the RBI just 1 off the pace (Kipnis - 30).  Can you imagine Jason Kipnis' bat in the order twice?  The left fielders' combined WAR is -0.8 (meaning their presence has cost the Tribe a game), whereas Willingham's WAR is 1.2.  Let me say this as simply as possible: if the Indians had given up on Sizemore and signed Willingham, their record today would be 29-19 rather than 27-21.  That's what I call a pretty damn big mistake.

Back in his heyday I can remember seeing a sign, all magic marker and poster board, touting "In Grady we trust!"  Times change and players age, so let's hope that the misplaced faith of the organization, this colossal blunder of Chris Antonetti and woManny Acta, does not keep this squad from the post-season.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

My C Is Full Of Camo

Big win to stop the skid.  Welcome back to the Fu ManChiz Kid.  I do think that I have emptied my tank of righteous indignation at this point, so I'll just give you some numbers.

Jason Kipnis:  Over his past 6 games, he's batting .500 (12-for-24) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers, 6 RBI & 3 steals.  That's good for a 1.270 OPS.  In 3 games in the #3 spot, he's batting .538 (7-for-13) and slugging 1.000.

Jose Lopez:  Despite the schneid in Chicago, he's hitting .288 with 10 RBI in 14 games since rejoining the big club.

Chris Perez:  In 7 appearances since taking the 10th inning loss against the White Sox on May 8th, Pure Rage has 6 saves, has held the opposition to a .130 average and has fanned 10 of the 25 men he has faced.  Excluding the Opening Day atrocity, Perez has 1.47 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP.  His 17 saves lead all of Major League Baseball.

Vinnie Pestano:  Has not allowed a run in his last appearances.  In those six innings he has allowed 3 hits and punched out 7.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

The Bad, the Inexplicapable And the Chiz Kid

Lonnie Chisenhall is back and will be in the lineup this afternoon as the designated hitter.  This explains why Lonnie was pulled from Columbus' game yesterday in the 4th inning.  To make room for Chisenhall, Jack Hannahan was officially put on the disabled list with a strained calf.  Cap'n Jack has dodged splinters (and the cluttered the active roster) since May 13th, playing just one ballgame.  Wait, lemme get my crystal ball, woManny will deflect all blame for this onto the training staff, stammering out something like "I don't know any more about medical issues than you do.  I trust our training team.  I just listen to what they tell me."  What a colossal douche bag.

Following right along with woManny's peyote induced insanity, Travis Hafner has taken over Hannahan's role as an unavailable active player.  Pronk will sit for the 4th consecutive game with a right knee issue.  Given the move with Jack, woManny is actual aware of the DL's existence, which leaves me with no further explanation than that he is a mole for the White Sox, tasked with executing maneuvers to sabotage the Indians.  Or maybe his IQ is smaller than his career home run total.

In a separate move, Jairo Asencio was DFAed to free a spot Josh Tomlin.  My opinion of Asencio was clearly delineated yesterday.  At least Chris from Cleveland read my response.  If the organization "liked(d) what they saw" from and were "happy to keep" Dan Wheeler, I'm sure we will see Jairo in a Clippers uniform soon.  Add in Tony Sipp's petroleum soaked left arm and that's 42 earned runs that's we will never get back.  42 earned runs is more than even Ubadlo (no typo) Jimenez had surrendered this season.

One notably absent move was the demotion of Juan Diaz.  Here... hang on... doing the math... yup, that means Asdrubal Cabrera will likely remain out of the lineup today.  In case you're keeping score, this means that the Indians are rolling one short in the bullpen (6 active arms) and two short on the bench (2 available reserves, as Lou Marson will sit after getting hit in the face with a pitch).  This team's success is all the more impressive given how woManny is doing everything in his power the prevent it.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Pass the Pepto

Because I just spent like 7 hours vomiting.  Just how bad of a beat down was this?  We know that the Sox have scored 9+ runs in 4 consecutive games for the first time in 75 years, but does that really tell the story?  Over the 3 game set, Chicago scored 35 runs while batting .384.  Their freakin' team OPS was 1.126.  The whole team.  For 3 games.  Anyone want to hazard a guess as to where I lay the blame?

You might argue that the real goats of the weekend were the Tribe's starting pitchers.  Jeanmar Gomez, Derek Lowe and Ubaldo Jimenez did pitch to a 15.75 ERA over their combined 12 innings while putting 2 and a half base runners on per inning.  That is pretty GD bad, but here's the thing, the White Sox offense was on fire before the Indians came to town.  If you're going to beat a team whose offense is clicking like a Zimbabwean with Tourette's, you're going to have to outhit them.  That, my friends, was made impossible by the shameful line-ups that woManny penciled in on the South Side.  No disrespect to Jose Lopez, but the dude does not belong in the clean-up spot and anytime you have a #5 hitter with a .618 OPS, you're so far down the creek that you can hear banjos.

Chris from Cleveland asks, "What would you have done differently?"  Glad you asked Chris.  Your coffee mug is on the way.  It all starts with a point that I expounded upon yesterday and shan't belabor today.  Use the disabled list!  Part two, and this is huge, stop all of the whining and rationalizing and put the best team possible on the field every day.  That means no Juan Diaz.  That means if the Major League club fighting for 1st place needs Jason Donald or Matt LaPorta or Lonnie Chisenhall for 3 days or 10 minutes, you call them up!  That means if Jared Goedert could take Sidd Finch deep right now, purchase his contract, DFA the abortion that is Jairo Asencio and get the kid's bat in the lineup.  Oh, you need a new long man?  His name is Frank Herrmann and he should have been on the roster on April 5th!  When this team falls 2 wins short of the post-season, they need only to recall this lost weekend in the Windy City and the total lack of a capable manager as the cause.

Before I go, let me scream a little more about the pitching staff.  Simply put, unless you can field 12 guys (in this day and age) that can produce ERA's under 5.00, you are not going to win!  Get it?  Asencio?  Crap!  Cut his hamstrings and throw him in a dumpster!  Hey, Tony Sipp!  6.62 is not OK!  If you give up a .412 average to right handers and a .385 clip in the 8th inning, you do not keep your job!  If Scott Barnes is a reliever, let's give him a shot.  He cannot do any worse that Sipp.  And what about Ubaldo?  What can you possibly do with him?  Can't release him, too much invested.  Can't send him down, no more options.  You certainly not allow him to continue to walk 7 guys and surrender 6 earned runs per 9 innings.  Solution:  Invent an injury.  Oh, Jimenez is on the 15-day DL with right shoulder fatigue or inflammation of his Adductor Loncus.  What the hell ever.  Give him 2 weeks to get his head straight and the let him rediscover how to pitch during the 30-day "rehab" assignment.  If Josh Tomlin is healthy, then Zach McAllister is clearly a better choice than Ubaldo as the 5th starter.

WoManny says that he doesn't need any character tests for this team.  Too late, idiot.  The true tests of this club's character is when they have to feign respect for a bum that couldn't manage a Mr Hero, let alone a big league baseball squad, and are forced to swallow the bitter horse pills that his incompetence brings on a daily basis.  Although the Tribe has a good deal of talent and bit more on the way, they will never win with woManny steering the ship.  Accept it.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Goedert All At the Clip Joint

Earlier today, I looked up "en fuego" in my Spanish/Enlglish phrasebook and, sure enough, right there was this big picture of Jared Goedert.  To call the 27 year old a prospect at this point might be a bit of a stretch, but he has certainly established himself as an alternative to Matt LaPorta.  Goedert (.333), forced to begin the year at AA due to organizational depth and an injury plagued 2011, has certainly re-opened a lot of eyes this season.  Anyone who thought that the 1.089 OPS that he posted with Akron was that best he could do would be flat out wrong.  Jared went deep for the 4th consecutive game and, after posting 17 RBI in 35 games with the Aeros, has driven home 15 in 7 AAA contests.  Perhaps most impressive is that he has significantly improved his strikeout to walk ratio.  After averaging 1.96 K/BB for the two previous seasons, Goedert has dropped that number to 1.05 in 2012.  As opposed to LaPorta, who has been given ample opportunity to hit big league pitching and failed colossally at every turn, Jared yet to see any MLB time.  A whisper away from a call-up in late 2010 and a strong contender for the third base job coming into the spring of 2011, Goedert has the type of right handed pop that the floundering Indians could sorely use.  Should Travis Hafner land on the disabled list, do not be surprised if it is Jared Goedert, and not Matt LaPorta, who takes the ride north on I-71.

The Clippers took their second straight from the Chiefs in Syracuse on Saturday night, both by identical 9-6 scores.  In addition to Goedert's offensive heroics, Russ Canzler (.283) doubled twice on a 3 hit night and drove home a run.  After a lackluster start, Canzler has batted .421 over his past 10 games and bashed all 3 of his home runs in May, while driving in 10 of his 14.  The aforementioned LaPorta (.322) singled twice and scored both times last night, but might have seriously become a true AAA career player.  Matty is 3rd in AAA in home runs (13) behind just Brad Eldred's mythic season and Cubbies first bagger of the future Anthony Rizzo.  It is not enough to get him back to Cleveland because LaPorta has not advanced at all as a hitter.  While I have no idea whether he is simply incapable of making contact with a slider or if he has just settled into a comfortable rut with the Clippers, Matt is just as likely to look like the chaff as the wheat in any AAA plate appearance.  It's difficult for a player to post a 1.048 OPS and not impress the scouts, but, in true LaPortian fashion, Matty has gotten it done.

Corey Kluber (4-4, 4.41) earned the win, rebounding nicely from a pair of horrendous starts.  In his previous two outings, Kluber had allowed 12 earned on 16 hits, including 3 home runs, in just 5 innings (21.60 ERA).  Last night, Corey returned to form, allowing just 2 earned on 6 hits in 6 and two thirds innings pitched.  He walked just one and fanned six.  Dan Wheeler (4.76) continued an inconsistent sequence with the Clippers, throwing well this time.  Danny threw an inning and third scoreless allowing 2 hits and striking out one.  Cody Allen (3.95) surrendered a 9th inning run, but do not discount him as a Major League relief option deeper into the season.

I'm flying blind here, but let's go ahead and pencil in Zach McAllister (3-1, 2.83) on his 5th day.  The last game in New York is scheduled for a 6:30p first pitch.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Akron
All three of the right handed relief prospects pitched, to differing levels of success.  Throwing for just the second time since returning from the disabled list, Bryce Stowell (1.00) allowed his first run of the season in the 7th, but did punch out a pair.  Stowell has struck out 19 in 9 frames this season against zero free passes and will be in line for a promotion should he remain healthy.  Rob Bryson (2.74) also allowed a run, thanks to a pair of 8th inning walks.  Control has been Bryson's issue this season.  Despite allowing just 17 hits in 23 innings, he has also walked 16, nearly doubling his WHIP.  On the plus side, Rob has fanned 26.  Only Bryan Price (2.84) escaped unscathed, hurling a clean 9th.  Price has notched 27 strikeouts in 25.1 innings this year while holding the opposition to a .220 average.

Carolina
Tony Wolters (.224) seems to have finally acclimated to High-A pitching.  Wolters, who scorched 3 hits tonight, is batting .467 (14-for-30) over a 7-game hit streak that has also included his first 4 stolen bases of the season.  After batting .130 in April, Tony is hitting .301 in May.

Lake County
Francisco Lindor (.291) has hit the skids and I do mean hard.  Lindor tallied another 0-fer tonight and is hitting a lowly .080 (2-for-25) over his last 6.  Alex Lavisky, on the other hand, is red hot.  After struggling for most of the season, Lavisky has come alive over the past 10 days, hitting .429 (9-for-21).  Today, he stroked 3 hits, including an 8th inning home run, and drove home all four of the Captains runs.

Cheers.

Kenny Brantley

If the Tribe goes to the World Series this year, they'll probably make a bobblehead of this catch.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Exit Broom, Enter Gurney

Sooo... fresh off an emotional three game sweep of the Tigers, the roller coaster season has continued true to form for the Indians.  While the most common phrase used to describe Detroit in the pre-season was "literally unbeatable," the Indians thrilled a raucous half filled Jacobs Field (I'll call it Progressive when the profits from selling the name allows the team to acquire a worthwhile free agent) by dismantling their division rivals.  The cherry on the sundae came on Thursday when Bat Masterson (despite 5 more walks) out-dueled reigning Cy Young and MVP award winner Justin Verlander in a 2-1 victory.  Then came Friday in Chicago...

The on the field performance was more than enough to raise this fan's blood to a boil.  How's about we start with Jairo Asencio?  It's DFA time for sure.  With the Clippers bullpen performing at such a high level (Chris Ray and Frank Herrmann come to mind as big league options), it's certainly time to cut our losses with a player who is clearly the Matt LaPorta of middle relief.  Speaking of LaPorta, he's not up yet and, with the rash of injuries, that is quite telling.

Prior to Shelley Duncan's 9th inning bomb (his 1st in 24 games) the Tribe received exactly 0 hits from the 4 through 9 spots.  Hmm, I wonder why?  Carlos Santana, swinging from his shoe tops once again, is mired in a 3-for-25 (.120) slump since his 11th inning walkoff on the 17th.  Jose Lopez had put together a 10 game hitting streak (.353), yet responded to a game in the 5 hole with a solid 0-for-4.  6-7-8-9 should have been marked as automatic outs.  The high water mark for their batting averages is .216 and that's from Casey Kotchman!  Johnny Damon's 1-for-4 raised his mark to .162.  It's easy respect the guy's career and the good natured self deprecation that he's put forth, but it's much more likely that the guy is flat out done.  How many balls does he have to muscle out to the warning track before we accept that he has no more gas in the tank?

And why was this mockery of a Major League line-up on the field last night?  Well, unless we count Juan Diaz (which we won't), the Indians will play with just 2 reserves on the South Side.  Travis Hafner did not travel with the team as he is trying to work through both inflammation of his right meniscus & the sore shin that he fouled a ball off of Wednesday.  One might be concerned that Pronk will land on the disabled list, but, apparently, the Tribe doesn't use the DL foor position players, else it certainly would been used for Jack Hannahan, who has missed 12 (!) days with a lower back strain.  Shin Soo Choo missed a week earlier in the season, then followed that up with a 5-for-27 (.185) performance in his next 8 games.  Maybe the team could have benefited from a healthy body in his absence.  Should we worry that Asdrubal Cabrera, pulled from Friday's game with tight left hamstring will get DL'ed?  Hell, no, but we might want to keep an eye out for Derek Lowe playing left field in between starts.

If only the Indians could use the 7-day concussion disabled list for all of their injuries.  Carlos Santana, removed from the 8th inning of yesterday's game, became the first Indian to utilize the new offering from MLB.  Luke Carlin's contract was purchased from AAA Columbus to fill the spot and Raffy Perez was transferred to the 60-day DL to open up the roster spot.

That brings up the debacle this afternoon.  After the 2-for-23 effort on Friday, the 4 through 9 spots somehow managed to do even worse on Saturday.  While Jason Kipnis homered twice and Michael Brantley drove in 3 with a double.  A stretch that featured Lopez in the cleanup position, Kotchman batting 5th, 3 guys batting under .200 and Cap'n Jack for the first time in a fortnight recorded a 2-for-22 line with no saving grace long ball.  Maybe we should discuss why Juan Diaz is up rather than Jason Donald.  While JD suffered through an abysmal stretch during his Major League time earlier this season, he is, at least, a bona fide big leaguer.  Diaz, on the other hand, is, quite simply, not.  The rationale communicated from the brass is that Diaz will only be up for the White Sox series and the organization didn't want to arrest Donald's development by interrupting his everyday playing time.  What?  And... What?!  Jason is a 27 year old with 143 games of MLB experience.  If he still needs time to grow into the backup infielder that he has always projected as, they should probably just take him out to the back field and shoot him.  Even more so, how do you rationalize recalling someone with such potential to embarrass the team?  It's actually easy, just say something like "Oh, he'll only play in an emergency situation."  Well, guess what, here's your freakin' emergency.  Not only has the man failed to put a ball in play so far, he looked like a goon at shortstop in committing two run scoring errors in the 7th (to hell with the official scorer, you can't give Kotchman an error when he's on his stomach).  I find myself wistful for the days of Luis Valbuena.

Given the momentum established by the sweep of the Tigers and the season high 8 games over .500, the first two days in Chicago have been just about as bad as they could get.  Both games were obviously losses, but it was the manner with which the club was dominated that I find particularly troubling.  Lowe was tattooed, annihilated today and, frankly, I'm shocked that woManny left him out there as long as he did.  What am I saying?  There is no level of idiocy from the skipper that is anything less than expected anymore.  Everyone keep patting his back for sliding Choo into the 1 hole, but remember that it was mismanagement that gave away these two games to a horrible ChiSox squad that is now just a game and a half back.  I just can't get over how bad our boys have looked.

A new winning streak starts tomorrow.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Kerrywood Ending

Chances are that Tribe fans remember Kerry Wood and his disappointing year and a half on the lake more for this sort of thing



than for the classy manner in which he went out last night



but cheers to a man who ranks 2nd all time in K/9 (10.3) for pitchers with 1000+ innings.  I will always remember when Wood made his first MLB start in 1998.  I heard a sportscaster quip, "It is appropriate that the man who many expect to resurrect the Cubs franchise is making his debut on Easter Sunday."  Happy trails, Kerry.

P.s. I Love You

And you thought that the Tribe owned Troy Percival.  He ain't got nothin' on Brandon League.  (Quick aside: the spell checker is cool with "ain't" but cannot abide by "nothin'".)  Over 42 career appearances, Percival posted a 1-9 record with a 5.90 ERA against the Indians.  He did find some success, saving 16 games and holding Tribe hitters to a .232 average.  Also, while no other team beat him more than 5 times, he had a higher ERA and a higher WHIP against the Red Sox and Orioles.  League, on the other hand, has been utterly dominated by the Indians.  He has faced the Tribe 19 times and lost 5 of those.  Brandon's career ERA against them is 9.18.  That's, with the exception of 4 games against the Marlins, about 4 runs higher than any other team tags him for.  In fact, facing the Wahoos raises his career era from 3.41 to 3.68.  The Indians crush him for a .356 OBA and a 1.008 OOPS.  League has walked more Tribesmen that he has struck out (11 vs 10) and his WHIP is 2.20.  Could you tell when he walked three in the 11th yesterday?

Given how personnel changes from year to year, the only reasonable explanation is that the Indians are stuck in Brandon's head.  Maybe he could get a new tat to ward off the hex.

4 games up.  Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Dead Air

Talk about the worst choice of game not to televise.  Not only did the Tribe mount not one, but two comebacks to win in extras.  Not only did the boys extend their AL Central lead to a season high 4 games, but I missed friggin' Zach McAllister again!  While I've seen Zach about a dozen times down in Columbus, there has always been one reason or another precluding me from catching a glimpse of him in an Indians' uni.  Quelle dommage.

We might get on to the heroics in a bit, but I'm sure that you have all seen the highlights.  Let's kick it off with Shin-Soo Choo.  While I can't say that I was a big fan of his move to lead-off, his swing has certainly looked better in the 1 hole.  Bear in mind that, of course, I had no ability to watch his 1-for-6 performance (still batting .368 at the top) today, but he seems to have taken a page out of the Captain Jack Hannahan's (today's MRI showed "inflammation of the facet point in his lower back," he remains day-to-day) playbook.  Choo looks as if he is actively trying to stay inside the baseball and try not to do too much.  While Choo's pre-2011 career slugging percentage is .488, he has posted just a .387 SLG in 434 AB's over the past two seasons.  He has always been a strong table setter (319 career runs scored vs 320 RBI) with good speed (21 & 22 SB's in his two full seasons, can you believe that, he has only played two full seasons in his career).  Thus, if 20 home run power is a thing of the past, the top spot could easily be a productive new depot for the Choo-Choo train.

Speaking of whistle stops, there are some very loud whispers that Matt LaPorta will soon return to the big club.  Matty, who has been mauling International League pitching (at least at home) to the tune of a 1.055 OPS, will likely take the place of Opening Day left fielder Shelley Duncan, whose season average has plummeted to .198 and who has gone deep just once since April 15th.  Over that span, Duncan has batted .138 with a .436 OPS and 23 strike outs versus 8 hits and 6 walks.  Again, from the reasonable expectations file, there is absolutely no reason to believe that LaPorta has remedied the flaws that led to his career .238 Major League batting average.  He certainly still has massive holes in his swing against breaking balls and is prone streakiness in both extremes.  Don't forget that Matt hit just .167 (5-for-30) with a .388 OPS and 11 K's in Spring Training.  Still, with Duncan's collapse, LaPorta becomes the best available option.  While he will not start everyday and will certainly not be the Indians' savior, he just might provide some nice right-handed punch in the middle of the line-up.

Before we all anoint Jose Lopez as the next difference maker on the diamond, let's try to keep this all in perspective.  (1) Lopez is still hitting .216, (2) He's kind of a butcher at third, as was shown on his 5th inning error today.  The best defensive play that he's made was when he was shifted over into the shortstop position and he was the far and away leader with 5 Spring Training errors, (3) Most importantly he does not have a sustainable position on the club.  If Cap'n Jack is healthy, he will play 3rd.  If not, the club will recall Lonnie Chisenhall (remember him?).  The Chiz Kid has been brought back slowly from a strained calf, but could be ready to go any day now.  Enjoy the fact that Jose has the only two home runs from reserve players this season and that he came through in the clutch today, but, again, don't go crazy.

Yesterday, woManny said that Ubaldo Jimenez had pitched his best game of the year against the Mariners.  If that is as good as it gets for big U, we are in a helluva lot of trouble. Jimenez allowed 3 earned on 5 hits and 2 walks while fanning 4 in 6 innings on Wednesday.  Now, I'm not gonna complain, that's a pretty good effort for the U-nigma and likely even counts as a "quality start" with this era's lowered expectations.  What it is not is the top end of performance for which the Tribe traded.  Whatever, I've given up on the guy pitching like any kind of ace, 1b or otherwise.

Quick hits to close: Casey Kotchman is batting .313 (10-for-32) while posting an .826 OPS over his last 8 games.  After his horrific early season, Tony Sipp has crafted a 2.61 ERA over his last 11 appearances.  Opponents are batting just .210 against Sipp in those 10.1 innings, during which he has punched out 13.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

A Little Home Cookin' At the Clip Joint

Ezequiel Carrera

A day after posting just a single run against Syracuse, the Columbus offense came alive, serving up an offensive smorgasbord.  Since it was a home game, Matt LaPorta (.328), of course, hit a home run.  Ezequiel Carrera (.254) launched his first of the year and drove home four.  Jason Donald (.500) added 2 hits and 2 walks, despite an error and Russ Canzler (.259) had 3 hits and an RBI of his own.  All of this against John Lannan.  Remember his shocking demotion at the tail end of Spring Training?  Lannan (3-4, 5.80) allowed six earned on 11 hits and 4 walks over six innings and has struggled to dial in mentally at the AAA level.

The Clips pitching was much, much better.  Chris Seddon (4-2, 4.23) earned the win with 6 and a third of 2 run ball.  If you have ever seen Seddon you would agree that he looks about as unlike a ballplayer as one might, but the kid keeps getting the job done.  Tonight included 5 hits, 2 walks and 7 K's.  On the season, Seddon has punched out 41 in 44.2 innings.

The bullpen was once again effective with efforts from Cody Allen and Frank Herrmann.  Allen (3.60) pitched 1 and 2/3 perfectly, fanning a pair.  Allen has acclimated well to AAA after dominating the lower levels earlier in the season.  He has whiffed 29 in 21.2 overall against just 2 free passes.  Herrmann (3.50) put the first two men on the ninth before striking out the side to close the game.

It's another 6:35p affair with Syracuse tomorrow.  I'm not quite sure who's going to pitch; the rotation is all screwed up.  Best guess: David Huff.


Other Minor Points Of Interest --

Akron
The Aeros lost a squeaker this afternoon, 2-1 in Erie.  Akron had 5 hits.  Jared Goedert (.395) had 3 of them, including a triple, and scored the team's only run.  Goedert was brought home on a Thomas Neal (.260) single with two outs in the 9th.

Both Rob Bryson and Bryan Price pitched out of the 'pen, though neither fared particularly well.  Bryson (2.70) loaded the bases in the 5th on 2 walks and a single before escaping.  Price (2.82) served up a gopher ball to the first man he faced in the 8th.

Carolina
Another strong evening from 1B Jesus Aguilar (.312), who singled three times and drove home a run.  A double apiece for Jake Lowery (.262) and Tony Wolters (.186).

Lake County
Another day, another 2 hits for Francisco Lindor (.322).  Tonight, it was a single and a double, along with an RBI.  A single/double pairing for Luigi Rodriguez (.289) as well, in addition to a walk and a run scored.  After a 1-for-24 start to May, L-Rod is batting .321 over his past 7 games.  Alex Lavisky's struggles continue.  Despite 2 hits tonight, Lavisky (.237) still has more strike outs (34) than hits (28).  Perhaps the bigger problem, Alex, pegged as a big bopper, has socked just 2 home runs in 2012, while posting a .659 OPS.

Cheers.

Ballad Of the Clip Joint

The Clippers have dropped 7 of their last 8 games.  The team has compiled a 5-9 record in May despite only being outscored 57-53.  A 2-5 record in 1 run games might have something to do with that.  Last night's loss was by more than one run (5-1), but it was the 8th game in May in which Columbus has scored 3 runs or fewer.  They're 2-6 in those games.

Corey Kluber (3-3, 3.38) surrendered a pair of two run homers en route to allowing 5 earned in 4 and third.  He allowed 9 hits, walked 2 and fanned 6.  This from a guy who came in with a 1.55 ERA in his last 3 starts and 2.59 on the season.  The bullpen, though, was excellent.  The 'pen has been the Clips best weapon all season, posting a 3.11 ERA and yesterday was no exception.  Hector Ambriz (2.86) and Matt Langwell (2.25) combined for 4.2 innings of scoreless relief to keep their team in the game.

Unfortunately, the offense, as it has been so often this season, was absent.  Andy LaRoche (.240) scored on a ground ball after doubling in the 7th and that was it.  Cord Phelps (.276) had two hits and Jason Donald (.333) added a single and a walk in his first AAA game of the season, but the Clips were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left 8 on base.

Syracuse again tonight at 6:35p with Chris Seddon (3-2, 4.46) on the bump.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Akron
Whoa, Jared Goedert!  Single, double, 2 bombs, 3 RBI, 3 runs scored.  Goedert (.383), pictured above, now has 5 home runs and 17 RBI.  His OPS is 1.060.  He's batting .412 with runners in scoring position and .538 over his last 4 games.  Still, every day that he wallows at AA is a more definite assertion by the Indians that he is not in their plans for the future.

Carolina
The Mudcats played 2, but nothing much exciting happened.  Tony Wolters (.184) went 1-for-7, but drove home 2 runs.  Jesus Aguilar (.300) had 2 hits and an RBI.  Jake Lowery (.263) played only game 1, singled, scored and struck out twice.

Lake County
Francisco Lindor (.319) just keeps rolling.  Yesterday included a single, a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored.  Lindor is 3rd in the MWL in hits (46), 4th in hitting, tied for 4th in total bases (70), 8th in OPS (.854), tied for 8th in runs scored (24) and tied for 9th in stolen bases (11).  Start holding your breath.

Cheers.

Friends In Lowe Places

Quite an historic day for Derek Lowe.  Not only is he the first Indian in his 39+ year old season (Derek turns on June 1) to win 6 of his first 8 starts, he has the best ERA as well at 2.05.  The list of the aged with 6 wins period only includes a couple of Hall of Famers (Phil Niekro and Satchel Paige) and '95 ace Dennis Martinez, who, incidentally, began that season 9-0.  He's also the first Tribe starter since Dick Tidrow in '73 to throw a complete game without a strikeout.  True to form Lowe got it done with a 19/9 GB/FB ratio (2.11).  He induced 4 double plays and, although he threw 127 pitches, never faced more than 5 in any inning (that was just once, in the 7th).  Right now, Derek looks like the Gaylord Perry and Chris Antonetti like the bastard love child of Bill Wood and Bing Devine for talking the Braves into paying us to take Lowe.  Well, trust me, Antonetti is no genius and we should not expect this kind of production from Lowe all season long.  It would be foolish to set our expectations so high.  In the same way, we would assume that Justin Masterson is going to find himself and Ubaldo Jimenez isn't going to pitch like Bill Parsons circa 1973 for the next 4 months.  If this team is going to ride out this siege of a season, everyone is going to have to contribute.

If not for Lowe's gem, the headline would have been about the truly bizarre line-up that woManny turned in to home plate umpire James Hoye minutes before first pitch.  That card included Shin-Soo Choo batting lead-off for the 4th time in his career (Acta tried it twice last season, good for 1 hit), Michael Brantley batting 5th for the first time since little league and two guys (Johnny Damon and Lou Marson) who finished the day batting a COMBINED .229.  Am I slowly losing my mind (probably) or did woManny not just say that he wasn't going to juggle his lineup on a weekly basis?  If the guy hitting fifth is the best guy to be hitting 5th, shouldn't his season (my opinion) or career (woManny's) slugging percentage be higher than .360?  Maybe he should have more than zero home runs this year?  And how long is the leash on Marson?  The White Sox let Ron Karkovice hit .071 as their primary backup catcher in 1987 and the Cardinals were content with .106 from Rich Gedman in 1991, but we are talking historically bad here.  No player in baseball history has batted under .122 with at least 130 plate appearance (what Matson is on pace for) and only 3 guys have hit less than .150 this century (Remember when JR Towles was supposed to be good?).  While I've already berated the organization for it's mishandling of Damon, we have broken new ground.  Johnny has no business being on a Major League diamond if he is going to produce a .413 OPS.  Now that they have bought and paid for the decision not to send him to AAA before bringing him to the lake, they have very limited options.  Those would be (A) play him and see if he can work himself out of this funk (prospects dim), (B) sit him on the bench and let him eat a roster spot (he ain't no good as a defensive replacement), or (C) outright release him (boy, they'd look pretty stupid then, especially with Bobby Abreu hitting .296 for the Dodgers).  So, yeah, not one of the mongoloids in the Indians' administration is close to being smarter than a 5th grader, let alone a genius.

Despite this avalanche of idiocy and Travis Hafner's .185 average since April 22nd, the Tribe is still 2 full games up on a Tigers team that will use their next off day to be knighted, one and all, by the queen while simultaneously each receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor.  They're.  Just.  That.  Good.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Clip Joint On the Road (Island)

Matt LaPorta

The Clippers avoided a sweep at the hands of the PawSox by salvaging game 4 this afternoon.  Eric Berger (1-1, 2.25), who has taken Zach McAllister's spot in the Columbus rotation, produced his second straight strong start at AAA.  Though the 26 year old right hander had compiled a 7.84 in 16 career games at Columbus coming into the season, he has been just delightful thus far in 2012.  This afternoon he tossed six innings of 5 hit 2 run (1 earned) ball with a walk and 4 K's to pick up his first win of the year at any level.  Scott Barnes (4.98), still transitioning to the bullpen, followed Berger and allowed a run in 2 innings to drop his relief ERA to 4.76.  Chris Ray (2.08) closed, pitched a perfect 9th, struck out 2 and notched his 6th save.

Matt LaPorta (.333) provided the offensive firepower by launching his first road homer of the season as part of a 5 run 6th inning.  The long ball, Matty's 10th overall, came after back-to-back errors by Pedro Ciriaco and Nate Spears leading to all 5 runs being tallied as unearned.  Gregorio Petit (.212) doubled to begin the frame, one of his two hits on the afternoon.

Former Indian Justin Germano (4-2) took the loss despite lowering his ERA to 1.99.

The Clips return home tomorrow to take on the Bryce Harper-less (I feel a bit cheated) Syracuse Chiefs at 6:35p.  Corey Kluber is scheduled to start.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Akron
Giovanni Soto (3-2, 4.46) got the start and the loss for the Aeros in Erie.  Soto has had a feast or famine season with 3 excellent outings and 3 of the craptastic variety.  Tonight was one of the latter as he failed to make it out of the 5th inning, putting 12 men on base and surrendering 4 earned runs.

Lake County
Francisco Lindor (.312) continued to set the Midwest League on fire, jerking his 4th home run and driving in 5 tonight against the Great Lakes Loons.  Lindor is batting .349 with 10 RBI, 3 steals and a .992 OPS over his past 10 games.  While he's not putting up numbers quite as extravagant as Francisco's, Luigi Rodriguez (.283) is certainly filling up the box score.  Tonight's line is an excellent example: 1-for-2, 2 BB, R, RBI.  Despite hitting just .159 in May, L-Rod still leads the Captains with 24 runs scored, ties for first with 3 triples and places second in both total and stolen bases.


Cheers.

Big Wheel Keep On Turnin'

It took a six run 7th inning at the hands of the Red Sox, but the Indians' good faith in Dan Wheeler has finally run out.  During a spring camp in which Wheeler was handed a job before even arriving, despite fandom being intentionally misled that he was in competition, he posted a 10.64 ERA and a .417 OBA while allowing 6 gopher balls in 11 innings.  I will reiterate that there was literally nothing that Dan could have done on the field to lose that bullpen spot.  He kept his job through April with a 4.26 ERA, though he was rarely used in important situations or with much confidence.  May, however, was an unmitigated disaster, horrible to the extent that even woManny & the dullards were forced to recognize that their clever plan to select a washed up bum based on his performances of two and three years ago had failed.  I told you in late March that Wheeler would stink and that he would be unceremoniously released in May.  I guess he could still clear waivers and take the trip to Columbus, but I doubt it.  No corresponding roster move was announced, but I would bet on Jeremy Accardo.

After getting tagged for four runs in the first and allowing 6 over 6 to Boston, Justin Masterson now has the worst ERA (5.40) of any pitcher to make 8 starts in 2012.  He also has the worst WHIP (1.53), the fewest wins (1) and the 2nd worst strike % (59).  This is our ace. 

A couple of quick hits, then I'm out.  Michael Brantley went 9-for-18 in the series at Fenway to raise his batting average from .233 to .269.  Shin-Soo Choo, a career .267 hitter against lefties, is batting .103 (4-for-39) with 0 RBI and 13 K's against southpaws this season.  With the demotion of Jason Donald, Jack Hannahan has become the Tribe's back-up shortstop.  Jack made his Indians debut at short in the 8th inning of yesterday's game, it was the 12th frame that he had played at the position in the bigs.  He did not receive a chance.

Still in first place, but damn we need to string some wins together.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s.  For those of you with whom I was recently discussing former Indian Hector Luna, he was called up by the Phillies over the weekend.

Shuffling the Deck

Don't expect Asdrubal Cabrera to get any off days for awhile.  As suggested in the Thursday post, the Indians demoted struggling utility man Jason Donald and re-purchased the contract of Jose Lopez from AAA.  Donald has limped to a .178 average (.365 OPS) and had gone down on strikes in 16 of his 45 at-bats.  Jason, who had been called on to play second, short, third and left in the season's first month and a half; had committed a pair of errors at the hot corner while displaying a general inability to make strong, accurate throws across the diamond.  The move is designed to provide Donald with regular playing time, so say the Indians, but, for a guy who most see destined to fill exactly the super reserve role with which he was tasked this season, this move may have grander implications.  Lopez, on the other hand, hit .522 (not a typo) in 6 games with Columbus.

In order to fit Lopez back onto the 40-man roster, the organization DFA'ed Nick Weglarz.  Wegz is not producing at AA Akron (.202) and is sinking closer and closer to the dreaded "former prospect status."  The big Canuck was ranked as the #5 prospect in the system coming into 2011, but a rash of injuries left that campaign in shambles and Nick has simply never recovered.

Yeah, there's more.  After skating through 32 games without a significant injury (Grady Sizemore is, literally, always hurt and Raffy Perez's tweak was the blessing that brought us Nick Hagadone), Josh Tomlin has been placed on the 15-day DL with right wrist soreness.  Zach McAllister was recalled and made yesterday's start against Boston, but we'll get to that in a bit.  The Indians' training staff speculated that Tomlin injured the wrist during Monday's deluge by gripping the ball "too hard," after a couple of pitches had slipped out of his hand.  All due respect to the umpires, the tarp should have been pulled on that game much sooner than it was and now the Tribe will suffer for it.

On to Fenway, where the Indians mustered just one run on three hits (three measly hits!) against Felix Doubront and a trio of relievers.  In fact, the only run scored after .095 hitter Lou Marson doubled and Jason Kipnis beat out an infield single to bring him.  Yup, that's it. 

Although it was Lou Lou in the 9 hole yesterday and Michael Brantley back at the top (he responded with a solid 0-for-4), one has to assume that the Tribe will return to Johnny Damon as the lead-off guy today.  That creates the bizarre situation of the first guy in the lineup batting .171 and the 9th man (Jack Hannahan) clipping at .296.  Weird, right?  What does woManny have to say about it?  "I've always tried to put the best hitters first in my lineup.  If you're hitting ninth in my lineup, you're probably the ninth hitter." So that means Cap'n Jack is due to move up in the lineup, right?  "I'm not talking about a week-to-week basis.  A lot of people in the ninth spot have success and people say, 'Why isn't he hitting higher?' I'm not going to be changing my lineup every week because one guy is having a good week and another guy is having a bad week."  Jack's batting average by week in 2012: .313, .250, .400, .176, .286, .333.  Oddly, that .400 week led to Hannhan's elevation in to sixth in the lineup for 7 games in late April and the .176 to his demotion back to 9th.  That is confirmed lie #4 of the young season for woManny, but he's not done yet.  "Should I flip flop [Hannahan] with Travis Hafner? Based on the configuration of our lineup, that's where he belongs. Based on track record and the guys in front of him."  While Pronk is an extreme example, woManny's point is well taken.  He has given official credibility to my position that the Indians make decisions based on everything but recent on-field performance.  In this case, woManny strongly believes that Casey Kotchman's .300 average in 2011, Shin-Soo Choo's .946 OPS in 2008 and Hafner's 42 home runs in 2006 are all much stronger indicators of future performance than anything that they have done in 2012.

Not much to say about McAllister.  He pitched like a kid making his 6th Major League start, making it in the cathedral of baseball and making it without any run support from his teammates.  Obviously, Zach will get at least 2 more starts to impress to "brain trust" and, who knows, maybe they've forgotten how good Jeanmar Gomez was in April.

The Indians have lost 4 of 5, but so have the Tigers.  Hey, did you know that the Greek gods were putting together an office softball team and they asked a bunch of Tigers to come be ringers?  Cuz, you know, the Tigers are greater than godlike.  They are also under .500.  The Tribe maintains its 2 game lead in the Central.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Damn Newspaper's Upside Down

Seemingly that is how fans in Boston, home of the last place Red Sox feel, but the Indians performance is just as antithetical to expectations.  Now, while the boys aren't off on the pace that led them to a 30-15 record last season, their 2012 play is much more sustainable.  No one is playing over his head.

Speaking of sustainability, let's jive a second on my favorite topic: Jack Hannahan.  Off of another multi-hit effort that featured a key two-out two-run jack in the 2nd, Cap'n Jack is now hitting .563 with 1.792 OPS with 2 outs and runners in scoring position.  Quick quiz - Who has a better batting average: Jack or Shin-Soo Choo?  A better OPS: Jack or Carlos Santana?  More RBI- Jack or Travis Hafner?  Look it up.  Since August 15th 2011, Jack is batting .333 with 6 homer runs and 35 RBI in 51 games.  His OPS over that span is .919.  G'head, keep telling me that it's not sustainable.

Again on sustainability.  Back when Michael Brantley was hitting .230, I heard many suggest that such a low average was his MLB capacity.  C'mon man, Brantley was .265 career hitter coming into the season and, after his four hit effort last night, he's up to .255 in 2012.  It is wildly uncommon, though not unheard of, for a hitter to regress in his fourth big league campaign.  Much more likely, it is where he plateaus.  In my opinion, .255 is still too low for Michael's talents.  I would expect him to, at the very least, get back to that .265 clip and, probably, even out around .275 or .280.  Although I honestly don't believe that he's a .300 hitter, it's a hell of a lot more probable than Brantley hitting .230.  It might be time to flip back to the top of the order...

What?  Derek Lowe ties for the American lead with his 5th win and he gets relegated to paragraph 4?  Too true.  Lowe has been, by far, the Tribe's best starter this season.  Not only is his 2.47 ERA the best in the rotation, it's the only under 4!  Derek is not going to awe you, especially at age 38, but he is going to go out there every 5th day and do his job.  With the exception of his April 18th dog start against the Mariners (his only loss), Lowe has 1.83 ERA and has not allowed a home run.  As Cap'n Jack noted, when Derek is going good, he will get you a lot of ground balls.  Such was the case last night, when he coaxed 18 ground ball from the 28 batters he faced.  In 2002, unquestionably his best season, Lowe's GB/FB ratio was 1.95.  During his productive years that number runs anywhere from 1.9 to a career best 2.15, as opposed numbers in 1.3 to 1.5 range over the past 3 (mediocre) campaigns.  Take out the Seattle star (small sample size and all that aberration stuff) and that ratio is 2.13 in 2012.  If Derek has gotten his sink back, then his early performance is quite likely sustainable itself.

Before we say adieu, let's speak briefly of the pen.  Tony Sipp: still bad.  What a meatball he threw to Pedroia.  Vinnie Pestano: on his worst day still better than most.  He walked the bases loaded but still held the BoSox scoreless.  Nick Hagadone: still wow.  How's about these numbers:  10.1 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 10 K, 0.87 ERA, 0.48 WHIP, OBA .088.  Yeah, wow.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

It's the Clip Joint After All

Cody Allen

The Clips are off in Rochester, New York taking on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.  How can a team with a slash and a hyphen in its name being hosting opponents not only in a different city, but a different state?  As with most things, we can blame the Yankees.  The Bronx Bombers are remodeling PNC Field for their AAA franchise.  Set to open in 2013, the $43.3mil renovations will be ostentatious enough for even the redest-head stepson of the Evil Empire.  Thus, SWB will pretty much be barnstorm this year, playing most of their home games at the Red Wings park with other taking place in Batavia, NY; Buffalo, NY; Syracuse, NY; Allentown, PA and Pawtucket, RI.  Wowza. 

On the field, Columbus (17-16) ran through the buzz saw of the Yanks top two pitching prospects (Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos) earlier in the week before blowing a 3-1 lead in the 8th and losing in the 10th tonight.  It was straight up waste of a strong start from Corey Kluber (3-2, 2.58) who tossed six innings of 1 run ball.  Cody Allen (3.86) suffered the blown save and some growing pains after surrendering a two run bomb to former A's stud Jack Cust.  Then, in his second inning of work, Jeremy Accardo (0-2, 2.76) gave up a lead off double in the 10th and got all the way to two outs before allowing the walk-off winner.

At the plate, Jose Lopez (.579, no, really) has taken the IL by storm.  With 3 hits (+ an RBI) Thursday night, Lopez has posted three 3+ hit games in his first 5 AAA games of the season.  Jose hit .400 with 9 home runs in 32 PCL games last year.  Chad Huffman (.292) also had 3 hits, including a double, and drove home a run himself.  Outside of Lopez, Andy LaRoche (.250) is likely the Clippers hottest hitter.  Two more hits (both doubles) against the Yanks raised Andy's May average to .355.  Matt LaPorta (.336) is headed in the other direction.  Matty is just 4-for-21 (.190) on the road trip with one measly RBI.  On the season, he's batting .397 with all 9 of his long balls and 20 of his 21 RBI at home, compared to .255 on the road.

Also of note is that Scott Barnes has been moved to the bullpen.  While relief is a less glamorous role, the organization is still very high on Scottie.  Don't tell anyone, but the word on the street is that the upper brass has no faith in Tony Sipp's effectiveness or Rafael Perez's health.  Therefore, given the Tribe's early success, they felt it prudent to get Barnes acclimated to a short role that me might have to fill at the big league level later in the season.  After a very shaky relief debut, Scott struck out the side in his only inning on Tuesday.

The Clip show moves on to Pawtucket tomorrow with Chris Seddon (3-1, 4.18) taking the hill.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Akron
Jared Goedert singled home a run for the Aeros.  On the season, he's hitting .380 with a 1.005 OPS.  Chun Chen (.298) had 3 hits, including a double, but has a .798 OPS thanks to mashing just one home run.  Bryan Price (2.84) bounced back nicely from his roughest outing of the year.  Price took the loss after surrendering 3 earned on May 4th, took a week off and then threw 2 scoreless tonight.

Carolina
The Mudcats dropped a double header to Myrtle Beach, scoring a combined 2 runs.  Despite going 0-for-6 in the set, Tony Wolters (.168) is batting .269 in May after a .130 April

Lake County
Alex Lavisky (.232) cracked a solo homer to account for the Captains only run, but is batting just .190 in May with 8 strikeouts in 21 AB's.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Eight Is Enough

Yes siree, eight earned runs allowed is enough to log Jeanmar Gomez into the annals of Cleveland Indians history.  Gomez, who had allowed 7 runs all season prior to last night's contest, got rocked for 8 against the White Sox, including six in the 4th inning alone.  Despite Jeanmar struggling for command all night long, woManny, not wanting to deplete his bullpen, left Gomez in until the starter had thrown 106 pitches, just 57 of which were for strikes.  For his troubles, Jeanmar became the first Tribe starter to allow at least 8 earned runs and pitch 6+ innings since Greg Swindell allowed 8 in 7 during the 1991 season.  He is just the second to do so while allowing just a single gopher ball.  The first?  Gaylord Perry who surrendered 8 in 7 in 1973.  Perry, as we all know, is a Hall of Famer, so this bodes well for the Tribe's #5.  Gomez is also just the 6th Indians' hurler in the expansion era (1961 on) to go at least 6 and 2/3 while allowing that boatload of runs .  He is one of a handful on the list to allow 8+ in 5+ more than once (he did in September 2010), joining not just All-Stars like Perry (4 times!), Swindell and Charles Nagy; but all-time greats like Mitch Talbot and Dave Burba.  Making his 2012 debut, Fausto Carmona Roberto Hernandez (who fits both categories) rounds out the group.  So, the total thrashing that Jeanmar took isn't all bad...

Casey Kotchman finished the Chicago series 5-for-11 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI.  Add that series to the one at KC (7 games total), and CK is batting .455 (10-for-22) with a 1.492 OPS and 6 RBI.  In all other games, Kotchman has hit .116 (8-for-69) with a .290 (!) OPS and 2 RBI.  Call it Jekyll and Hyde, statistical manipulation or whatever you would like; Casey needs to find some consistency if he expects to stay in the starting line-up.

Following a 1-for-7 effort last night, the Indians bench (Lou Marson, Jason Donald, Jose Lopez, Aaron Cunningham and, since the arrival of Johnnay Damon, Shelley Duncan) is batting an infantile .166 (24-for-145).  The reserves have hit just one homer and that was from the dearly departed Lopez.  Their collective OPS is .450 and they have struck out threefold the times that the have walked (38 vs 12).  Donald has fanned in 16 of his 45 official at-bats and, officially, cannot throw the ball across the diamond.  Perhaps the Indians greatest strength in their AAA depth of mediocre players.  The Tribe has used just 28 players this season, behind only the Blue Jays (27) and the Rangers, who have not yet made a change to the Opening Day Roster.  Given the performance of the marginals at the big league level, maybe a few changes would be a good things.

Still, the boys are in 1st place after 30 games.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Extra Disappointment

There is no denying that Chris Perez has pulled himself together this season.  Following his Opening Day debacle, Perez has converted 11 consecutive saves, leads the league in that category and, coming into last night, had an 0.75 ERA and a .136 OBA since the opener.  Also of note is that two of those appearances were in non-save situations (2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K), a context in which the 2011 All-Star has not flourished.  In 2011, his ERA (4.18 vs 2.75), WHIP (1.31 vs 1.14) and opponents OPS (.764 vs .570) were all significantly higher under non-save circumstances.  Those numbers become absolutely horrendous when you examine the 10th inning and beyond.  In seven extra inning appearances last season, the man who calls himself "Pure Rage," posted an 8.59 ERA, a 1.77 WHIP and a 1.049 OOPS (Ha!).  Does woManny not have access to there numbers?  I shan't deny that Chris has done some good work this year, but I don't see Vinnie Pestano or Nick Hagadone filling me with my own "pure rage."

Speaking of Nick, he was certainly a highlight from the contest.  I could tell you about it, but I don't have the thousands of words in me to replace the video below.



I suppose that we have to talk about Justin Masterson.  I saw a headline that read, "Masterson limits White Sox to 2 runs."  The choice of words is wildly appropriate.  It is true that, after surrendering 2 runs on 4 hits in the 1st inning, Bat bore down and allowed just two hits over the next 5 innings.  The trouble is that he walked 5 to tie Ubaldo (I hear he might go Bono/Madonna on us) for the Major League lead in free passes.  The 50 bases on balls between the two is obviously the largest sum total of any two teammates, but what is staggering is how far removed the duo is from its nearest competition.  Kyle Drabek and Rickey Romero of the Blue Jays come in second with 41 walks between them.  I can hear you now, "What's he talking about?  That's only 9 walks."  Well, think about it this way.  50 is 22% more than 41 or, if you want to extrapolate an entire season's work, the Tribe's 1a and 1b are on pace to walk 279 men this season, while the Jays tandem would put on 221.  Oh, Drabek and Romero also limit the opposition to a .188 average while Masterson and Jimenez allow a .247 clip.  Soooo.... even the Blue Jays' top 2 are better than the Indians'.

2 more hits for Cap'n Jack Hannahan last night.  Season average: .291.  I cannot wait laugh in the faces of everyone who thinks that his production is not sustainable.

Cheers.

P.s. Dan Wheeler (5.59) allowed a run over 2 innings.  Every appearance can't be as good as Monday's.

P.p.s. Casey Blake has announced his retirement.  Blake was cut by the Rockies in Spring Training after hitting .150 (3-for-20, HR) over 8 games.  Thanks for the memories, Casey.