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

Up Next:
Vs. Angels 07.02.12 7:05p

Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Hit List

Lets see, Jose Lopez had 5, a career high.  Lou Marson had 4, also a career high.  Shin-Soo Choo had 4 as well, tying his career high.  All told, the Tribe banged out 19 hits off of 5 Orioles pitchers with Tommy Hunter surrendering 8 by himself in just an inning and 2/3.  Aaron Cunningham, he set a career high in... at-bats with 6.  He also tied a Major League record for fewest hits in a game with ZERO!  Slater finishes up the month of June 1-fo-21 (.048).  Some (including the Indians' craven skipper) will tell you that Cunningham is on the team not for his offensive production (thank goodness), but rather because of his of versatility in the outfield.  Well, the kid isn't exactly Paul Blair in the field either.  No disrespect to the guy (I crossed that line long ago), but he is less than worthless, he is a hindrance.

Josh Tomlin earned the win today, but it's not like he wowed anyone with his outing.  In allowing 10 more baserunners in his 6 innings of work in Baltimore, Josh's WHIP now sits at 1.48.  In 2011, it was 1.08.  Let's fudge the math and say that Tomlin is putting an extra guy on every two innings.  That is simply not going to cut it.  The opposition has an .862 OPS against Josh.  The Tribe has exactly one hitter with an OPS over .862 (Asdrubal Cabrera - .871) and he broke that barrier thanks to today's offensive outburst.  I am unsure if Tomlin is doing something differently or if he hasn't made any adjustments since the league caught on to his tricks, but what he's doing is not working.  Don't get me wrong, I am a Josh Tomlin fan.  That being said, if he continues to pitch like this he has to go.

Still, after their starter hit the showers, the bullpen was outstanding for the Indians.  That's the status quo for Esmil Rogers (yeah, I'm saying that) and Vinnie Pestano, but even Tony Sipp got in on the act.  The effort actually dragged the the relief corps' ERA for June under 5 to 4.95 and their OBA under .250 to .245.  I know that no one on the staff looks at these numbers, but in the eyes of this casual fan, the progression is significant.  If the Indians truly are going to content this summer, the bullpen has to bounce back to full 2011 form.  Coming into this season there were a number of serious questions in the lineup and one big one about the consistency of the rotation, but the mafia was expected to take care of business.  Chris Perez does an outstanding job running his mouth to the press, perhaps he should instead practice his oratory on his peer.

Finally, some much deserved love for Asdrubal.  Playing without a back-up for much of the season, Cabby has had his ups and downs.  The average has always been right around 3 bills, but of late he has shown a surge of power.  Over the past two weeks, he has batted .305 with 6 dingers and 15 RBI while posting a .926 OPS.  The oddest bit?  Today's was the first double in that mix.  Weird.  Like the spelling of weird.  Weird.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s. Since moving to the lead-off spot, Choo has homered 7 times, all of them solo shots.

A Hot Mess

Game time temperature was 100 degrees and Derek Lowe could have planted tomatoes behind the mound and watered them with all of the perspiration that was wicking off of his body.  The Tribe built a 5-3 lead and, after Lowe sweated that away, came back to tie the game at 7.  7 runs, that should be enough, right?  Heck, Shelley Duncan had 2 hits.  Well, they actually scored 8.  And they lost.

And Lonnie Chisenhall broke his arm.

I could talk about Asdrubal Cabrera going yard for the second straight game.  I could admonish all of the prognosticators who claimed he could never match his production from 2011 (on pace for 86 RBI and his OPS is 70 points higher).  I could speak glowingly of Jack Hannahan, mired in a 4-for-38 slump, but still able to dazzle in the field and execute the fundamentals at the dish.  I could mention that Casey Kotchman cracked 2 more hits.

Sadly, that's not where I'm going.  Let's start with Chris Idionetti, who guest starred on the STO telecast and made sure that Indians fans were aware that a trade was unlikely.  With a depleted farm system and somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 holes in this leaky boat, he mentioned about six times that the team has to work with the players that it has.  OK, that's not awful.  I mean, it's disheartening because we're very much in that window that Idionetti described last season and we're struggling to stay above .500 and he doesn't want to add any more talent, but maybe this will cause him to critically evaluate the players on the roster and demand that the best 25 sit in that dugout every night.

(Insert loud buzzing sound here.)

Wrong-o!  As far as I can tell, Aaron Cunningham is still on the roster.  Do you remember that movie The Butterfly Effect?  It had that guy from Two and A Half Men in it?  & there was an alternate ending when he went back in time and strangled himself in the womb to spare the world from the horrors that his life would bring?  Slater, are you listening?  Alright, maybe a bit harsh, but the Burger King down the street is hiring.  Maybe that's a better fit for you?  Tell me, is it difficult to brandish all of those "super bad-ass" tats and simultaneously bat .181?  Do you feel good about yourself when you peer deeply into your own eyes in the mirror?  Are you proud of your contribution?  No, I'm not saying it's all your fault.  It's like asking a retarded monkey to crack the human genome.  Manning said as much when he commented that a young kid can't fill a utility outfield spot.  Remember Austin Kearns, who I pointed my torches and pitchforks at last year?  Well, he's batting .279 with an .817 OPS for Miami.  I'd rather have Kearns back!

And I appreciate Michael Brantley's contribution, but you cannot bat a guy cleanup if he has 1 home run at the end of June. 

Do you know what I hate?  People who bitch and moan without offering solutions.  So, here it is.  The Chiz Kid is DL bound.  Job #1 is recalling Russ Canzler.  In 17 games since June 15, Russ is batting .349 with 7 homers and 25 RBI.  His OPS is freakin' 1.184!  This is a no brainer.  Unfortunately, the Tribe brass has no brain, so it is far from a foregone conclusion.  Pronk is expected back early next week, which is exactly when AC gets the axe.  We play without a back-up shortstop, so running without a true reserve centerfielder would be fine.  Or, we could just call up Jason Donald and he could do both!  Sure, JD hit .178 with 16 K's in 45 at-bats during his first trip through and, before 2 hits last night, was mired in a 1-for-31 slump, but, I reiterate, the ghost of Mario Mendoza is better than Cunningham.  And Mendoza ain't even dead!

At least Joe Smith and Chris Perez each gave up a run in relief and we lost by one.  That makes me feel better...

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Friday, June 29, 2012

A Win, How Refreshing

I will not mention the Yankees.  I will not mention the Yankees.

How the hell did it take the Indians so long to recall Zach McAllister?

Sure Z-Mac needed 105 pitches to get through 5 and 2/3, but for a staff that posted a combined 7.31 ERA through its last rotation, McAllister's outing was like watching Pug Galvin in his prime.  What?  He's the 5th winningest pitcher of all time.  Look it up.  Maybe this performance will encourage them to swap out more of the dead weight on the roster.  Yes, I am look at you, Slater.  Unlike the liberal STO media, I have no sympathy for your role on this team, only righteous anger for your lack of production.  Dude, I wish could smite him.

Maybe they just can't hit American lefties?

The Tribe came in with an abysmal 5-16 record against left handed starters, scoring just 3.4 runs per in those games.  They had no trouble with Wei-Yin Chen, who, admittedly, allows a .270 average and an .826 OPS to left handed hitters.

Is Johnny Damon finally waking up?

Although his season average still sits at a decidedly unappealing .213, he's raking at .370 with an 1.117 OPS over his last 9 games.  I like totally agree with Bud Shaw that Idionetti will put on black face and do a minstrel show to the tune of "getting Travis Hafner, Roberto Hernandez and Grady Sizemore (won't happen) back is like making three huge deadline deals" and, more so, I agree that no Cleveland fan should be foolish enough to fall for the song and dance.  Still, if Damon continues and maybe Carlos Santana (.151, 0 HR since May 17th) remembers how to hit, that would be a big help.

Where have you gone Jack Hannahan?

When Jack hurt himself on May 12th, he was hitting .305.  Since then, he is 3-for-34 (.088) and his average has plummeted to .248.  Not only has the Indians' mismanagement of Hannahan's injury led to an unproductive player on the field, they have effectively destroyed what could have been a career year for the guy.  It's really very simple.  When a players gets injured, put him on the DL.  When a player is physically ready to play again, reinstate him.  The brass followed neither rule with Cap'n Jack and we have all suffered for it.  Heck, if I had the authority I would try woManny and Idionetti for crimes against humanity.

I love me some Esmil Rogers.

Yeah, it's not a question, but it's true.  If it were February, I would ask him to be my valentine.  I  have no idea where he finds the torque for his 98 MPH fastball nor how someone who averaged 4.5 BB/9 for his Major League career has managed a 13/0 K/BB ratio over his first 7 Indians appearances, but it's so sweet that I'm doodling little hearts that read Mrs. Esmil Rogers in them.

Here's to two in a row, folks.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s.  Why does it seem like the Indians never hit any home runs?  Well, not only are they 21st in long balls, but 13 of the 64 (that's like a fifth) have come in just 4 total games.  Feast or famine my friends.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

In Case You're Wondering...

I can't write about the Indians losing to the Yankees without cursing like a sailor on leave.  That's because the Yankees are the most most perfect embodiment of pure evil in the world.  If I had the power to erase one entity from history it would not be Judas or Hitler or Osama Bin Laden, it would be the New York Yankees.


Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Rock Bottom

I don't know how it gets any worse than this.  The Indians dropped the final two games of a weekend set with the Astros by an aggregate score of 15-2.  The bullpen has imploded down to three consistent performers, none of which are left handed (Nick Hagadone: 19.80 ERA, .423 OBA, 3 HR in his last 7 games).  Speaking of left-handed, the two starters that stymied the Tribe?  Yup, both left handed.  JA Happ used to be a big time prospect and was part of the package that allowed the Phillies to snare Roy Oswalt from Houston, but he has never lived up to his promise.  In fact, over the past two seasons, Happ is 12-22 with a 5.17 ERA.  Saturday's starter, Dallas Keuchel (they'll love him in Texas), is an unheralded former 7th round pick who has a career minor league record under .500.  Still, he needed just 108 pitches to shut down the Indians on six hits in his very second Major League.  The Tribe is now an abysmal 5-15 against left-handed starters and bat .215 as a team against southpaws.  We're all aware that the team does not start any right-handed hitters on a regular basis.  That's not the essential problem.  Rather, and I am getting good and sick of saying this, there is no depth on the big league roster.  I challenge you to find a less productive hitter than Aaron Cunningham that has been on the active roster since Opening Day.  I dare you to find another player that still leads him team in starts at a position and has batted lower than Shelley Duncan's .134 since May 1.  And I double dog dare you to dig up a guy who has hit cleanup for his team at least 12 times in 2012 and posted a lower OPS overall (.630) or in that spot (.501) than Jose Lopez.  Hey, don't forget about his slugging percentages, .369 and .265 respectively.

I don't know what else to say.  Kevin Youkilis is off the market, traded with a dump truck full off cash to those forkin' White Sox for a pitcher (Zach Stewart) who has an MLB ERA of about 6.00 and a 28 year old utility guy (Brent Lillibridge) who does a better job imitating Dumbo than squaring up a 4-seam fastball.  That's my long winded way of saying that the Indians could have had Youk had they wanted him.  Let's hope that Kevin's numbers away from Fenway over the past two seasons (.191, .645 OPS) hold true and he becomes a liability for the ChiSox rather than an asset.  Regardless, there is one less right handed bat on the market, which will raise the already hefty price tags on those who remain.

I could keep telling you the same things, like Jeanmar Gomez needs to be demoted or a radical move needs to be made to get a consistent reliever onto the roster or that Slater demeans the entire grand history of the game every time he laces up his cleats, but you know all of that already.  If losing 2 of 3 to Houston isn't a loud enough wake up call for Idionetti and woManny then I would be willing to forfeit the remainder of the season in exchange for their simultaneous dismissal. 

Oh, good, here come the Yankees...

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s.  Scott Barnes has been promoted again and will join the Tribe in the Bronx this evening.  The corresponding demotion has not been announced.  My guess: Gomez.

P.p.s.  'Tis official, Jeanmar has been sent down.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Meanwhile Back At the Clip Joint

Cord Phelps
Do you wonder why I didn't write about the Clippers last night?  Well, it was because Russ Canzler didn't have any hits, so there wasn't really any news.  OK, Cord Phelps hit a 3-run homer, Jared Goedert had two hits and an RBI, Charlotte's Conor Jackson hit 3 home runs and the Clips blew it in the 10th thanks to a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch by Frank Herrmann.  Now you're all caught up.  Back to Canzler.  Russ (.275) chalked up two more hits, including a 2-run jack.  Over his last 10 games, he's batting .389 with 5 homers, 10 RBI and a 1.326 OPS.  So....  Call him up, Idionetti!  I personally guarantee everyone who reads this that he will not bat any worse than .141 with a .422 OPS over a 7 week stretch.  Why those numbers?  That's what Shelley Duncan has posted since May 1st.  C'mon, man!

Phelps (.272) added two more hits for 2 more RBI and Gregorio Petit (.222) doubled twice, but the pitching staff got knocked around pretty good.  Actually, it was really just the starter.  Who is Chris Schwinden (4-6, 3.38) and why did the Indians sign him?  Schwinden was rocked for 7 runs (6 earned) on 9 hits over 4 frames tonight.  Chris has made it out of the 5th inning just once since joining Columbus, while compiling a 5.87 ERA and surrendering 4 long balls in 15 innings pitched.  Matt Langwell (1.93) looked good over 3 scoreless innings, Eric Berger (4.08) extended his own scoreless streak out of the bullpen to 9 innings and Dan Wheeler... I don't write about Dan Wheeler.


Also, say goodbye to Hector Ambriz and Beau Mills.  Ambriz, who pitched 48 innings of relief for the 2010 squad after being selected from the Diamonbacks in the rule 5 draft, was released from AAA to open a roster spot for the returning Scott Barnes.  The Astros signed Hector yesterday.  Mills, the 13th overall pick in 2007, stumbled through 2 middling seasons at AA in 2009 and 2010 before reasserting himself as a prospect last season.  However, Beau was batting just .197 in 2012 and only .156 since April before landing on the DL with what was most likely a phantom injury.  He has been traded to the Reds for a player to be named later.  I have no particular animosity against either player, but I am excited to see the organization dropping some dead weight to open spots for younger talent.

Oh, the Clips are home now, taking on Ryne Sandberg and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.  First pitch tomorrow is at 7:05p and, if you put a gun to my head, I would say it's Zach McAllister (5-2, 2.98) on the bump.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Akron

Congrats to Jeremie Tice, who made his AA debut tonight with an RBI single in 3 trips.  Tice is fresh off of a Carolina League All-Star appearance and posted a .580 slugging percentage in the first half.  In an organization desperate for any kind of power, Tice is the latest and greatest white hope.

Speaking of monthly flavors, with RA Dickey making Major League hitters look plain silly, the most significant player in the Indians' system may just be Steven Wright.  Wright (6-4, 1.99) and his knuckleball picked up the win tonight in one of his least impressive outings of the season.  That being said, Steven allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks over 6 and 2/3 while striking out 7. 

Lake County

Out of the gate in the second half, Luigi Rodriguez moved from first to third in the batting order and responded with 4 hits, including his 5th home run.  L-Rod has mashed 3 of those 5 dongs in his last 6 games, during which he has recorded 3 multi-hit games and batted an even .300.

Felix Sterling (3-6, 5.63) was back in the rotation after a brief exile to the bullpen.  It seems as if nothing has changed.  Sterling allowed 6 hits and 3 walks over his 4 innings of work, leading to 4 runs (2 earned).  Felix punched out 5, but threw a wild pitch.  He has an 11.86 ERA over his last 6 starts.

Lastly, a hearty congratulations to Jesus Aguilar and Francisco Lindor for being selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game as part of All-Star Weekend in Kansas City.  Let's hope they get to the bigs sooner rather than later.

Cheers.

Advance Preview

Take notes Cincitucky.

The Houston Astros are poised to join the American League West in 2013 and also, in my opinion, to lose about 130 games.  I know the Cubs' record is worse, but they don't have Jed Lowrie batting 3rd.  Whoa.  The 3 spot is generally reserved for a team's best hitter and into that role the Astros place Jed Lowrie?  The best hitter on the 'Stros is Jed Lowrie?  Heck, Lowrie might be their All-Star, but there is no way that the guy maintains power production a hundred points over his career slugging percentage.  Houston has what many consider to be a solid #1 starter in Wandy Rodriguez, but maybe you'll feel differently after you read this MLBTradeRumors.com piece comparing him to Jason Vargas of the Mariners.  Yeah, the Astros suck so bad that they made Ubaldo Jimenez look like... um... the Ubaldo Jimenez of two years ago.

Although Jimenez was pulled with 2 outs in the 7th after 110 pitches, he did only allow 4 hits all day.  The 4 walks remain problematic with just 66 of his pitches for strikes.  Ubaldo did not have command over his get-me-over curve and was forced to tempt Houston batters with fringe pitches.  The Astros were only too happy to oblige, fanning 8 times.  Even in this dominant outing against a collection of nobodies (imagine 7 Aaron Cunninghams, Travis Hafner instead of Carlos Lee and a the pitcher hitting 9th, or I guess 8 Aaron Cunninghams) Jimenez put 8 men on in 6 and 2/3 innings pitched.  That is the 1.20 WHIP appearance that will help bring his averages down to what we discussed after his last outing.  While I agree that Ubaldo has had a nice run over his past 4 starts (2-1, 25.1 IP, 21 H, 7 BB, 25 K, 2.05 ERA), his overall numbers (4.59 ERA, 1.55 WHIP) are mediocre at best.  We will get a few more nice starts to drag those numbers closer to what I predicted, but do not expect a season with anything better than a 4ish ERA and a 1.4ish WHIP.

The rest of the story is same sh!t, different day.  The bullpen was great and the offense sucked.  The lineup looked like nine Aaron Cunningham's out there.  Wait, do you know how many hits Slater has in June?  ONE!!!!!!!!!!  He's 1-for-10.  That's OK, he was much better in May when he went 3-for-20.  Oh and no roster moves.  Freakin' idiots.

We had better sweep these bums.

1.5 up on Chicago and 3.5 ahead of the Tigers, who haven't been mentioned here for awhile because they're so epically good that they've spent the past month signing autographs for Michael Jordan and all the living former Presidents.  In fact, there's a ballot initiative on the books in Kansas to amend their textbooks to indicate that the 2012 Detroit Tigers (rather than a Judeo-Christian deity) are responsible for creating all life on Earth.

I heard that only the Tigers can beat Chuck Norris in a fistfight.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s.  Yeah, at least Houston fans know how to act when Choo catches a ball at the wall.  My favorite is the dude in the orange.  Oh my stars!

P.p.s.  The Tribe is now 15-7 in games where the winning team scores 4 runs or fewer.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Clip Joint: Days Of Knights

Jared Goedert
Well, it took 'em 10 innings, but the Clippers once again emerged victorious over the Charlotte Knights, 5-3, their 4th win in their last five games.  For the second straight contest, Columbus posted a 4-hit batter as Tim Fedroff (.378) turned the trick this afternoon.  Timmy has 7 hits in his last 9 AB's after producing just 7 in his first 28 AAA at-bats of 2012.  Fedroff is not considered a prospect, so do not expect him up with the big club at any point, let alone anytime soon.

Jared Goedert smacked three hits, including 2 doubles, and drove home the go-ahead run in the 10th.  Goedert is mad streaky, earning hits in 6 of his last 8 trips after a 3-for-28 (.107) skid.  Jared also homered 7 times in his first 20 AAA games and had gone without in the 11 tilts since.  Still, I want his bat in Cleveland.  Yell with me!   Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Matt LaPorta (.314) stroked 3 hits as well and the Russ Canzler experience continued with a 2-for-5 day, complete with another RBI.  He's hitting .414 (12-for-29) with 4 homers and 16 RBI in his last 8 games.  Russ has a 1.318 OPS over than span.  Jason Donald did fare so well today, taking an 0-for-6 handle.

David Huff (3-3, 4.34) got the start and pitched almost well enough to win.  He held Charlotte scoreless into the 6th and left with the lead.  Dave allowed 7 hits and 2 runs (1 ER) with a walk and a strikeout.  Huff is pitching pretty well (outside of 8 earned in 3 innings last week), but sits third behind Zach McAllister and Corey Kluber in line for a big league starting role.  With the struggles seen by Indians lefties in recent weeks (or months.  Hi, Tony Sipp!), it would be advisable to consider DH for a bullpen spot if he is not, indeed, on the trading block.

One of those struggling lefties, Scott Barnes, blew the save by allowing the Knights to tie the game in the 7th.  Barnes (3.82) walked a pair and threw just 19 of 34 pitches for strikes.  Cody Allen (2.82), on the other hand, was brilliant over an inning and 2/3.  Allen is someone you might see on the lake if a right-handed spot opens in the 'pen.  The same is true of Chris Ray (1-4, 1.80) who earned his first W of 2012 with 2 scoreless frames.  Ray has held opponents to a .229 average and leads the Clippers with 11 saves.

If Chris Seddon (7-4, 3.78) is not being shortened for use in the MLB bullpen, he gets the start tomorrow at 7:15 tomorrow for the series finale.  Otherwise, it will be Chris Schwinden (4-5, 2.70).

Other Minor Points of Interest --


Akron

Playing their second double header in as many days, the Aeros managed just 3 runs and 9 hits total.  Fortunately, that was good enough for a split.  Not much to report except that Loek Van Mil (1.16) and Rob Bryson (2.59) threw some excellent relief in game 2.  Van Mil tossed 2 and a third perfect, fanning a pair while Bryson struck out the side in the 7th, allowing one hit.  OBA's for the pair: .167 and .200 respectively.


Mahoning Valley

Welcome to professional baseball, Tyler Naquin!  I can't say that I'm sold on using the #15 overall pick on an outfielder with no more than "gap" power and little noticeable speed.  Frankly, I think he'll have to hit about .330 to contribute at the big league level.  Still, Naquin went 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base in his pro debut.  Given the Indians' dearth of back-up outfielders, he can't get to Cleveland soon enough.

Cheers.

Bat Masterson Mastering Bats

Yeah, that's right, I said it and the praise is well-deserved.  Two weeks ago, Justin Masterson stood at 2-5 with a 5.09 ERA.  Since, he has allowed just one earned run over 23 frames (0.39 ERA) with 11 hits, 3 walks (0.61 WHIP) and 24 punch-outs.  Tonight, Justin was so flat out dominant that he had Joey Votto, who currently leads NL batters in 11 different batting categories, talking to himself.  In his last two starts before the streak, Masterson needed 111 and 103 pitches respectively to fight through 6 innings in each.  In his first 12 starts, Justin threw 61% of his pitches for strikes.  Over his last 3 that number is up to 68% and he found the zone with 76 of 110 in this evening's complete game effort.  The 3-hitter (or less) was the team's first since September of 2010 ("Fausto Carmona") and just their 16th of the century.  Asked post-game about the transition, Masterson quipped that he was doing nothing differenly, the pitches were just doing what they were supposed to.  I can believe that he can't articulate any difference, but I hope that he keeps on doing it.

As expected that big mo' from yesterday's walk-off poured from the team all night long.  After averaging 2.13 runs of support over Justin's last 8 starts (3.36 on the season), the Tribe offense erupted for 8 runs off of Reds' pitching.  The 7 run margin of victory was the Indians biggest of the campaign.  I sure could get used to this scoring in bunches thing.  The whole game was three hits: Johnny Damon (2-run homer), Asdrubal Cabrera (3-run homer) and Lonnie Chisenhall (3-run double).   Can you imagine if Damon starts hitting?  I mean, the freakin' sky is the limit.  Johnny is 5-for-9 in his last 3 games raising his average over Mendoza for the first time in 2012.  If he can bat about .270 for the rest of the season, wow, I mean, wow, what a lift that would be.  A week ago, Chisenhall was hitting .214 and in danger of a demotion when Jack Hannahan returned.  Now, a 7-for-17 (.412) streak later, he's contributing to a bottom of the order renaissance that has the Indians scoring 6 and half runs a game over their last four.

Oh, right, Jose Lopez went 1-for-5 with a double.  His OPS is now .638.  It is probably time for another DFA so that he can recharge his batteries at AAA.  At least he wasn't batting clean-up tonight.

Recently, I've written at length on what the Tribe should do internally to become more competitive.  So, now I'll just distill it all into those little bottles of liqour from the airplane.

IN: Jason Donald
OUT: Jose Lopez

IN: Jared Goedert (or Russ Canzler)
OUT: Shelley Duncan

IN: Tyler Naquin (not kidding) (or, I guess, Trevor Crowe or Ezequiel Carrera)
OUT: Aaron Cunningham (I'd rather have a vacancy on the roster)

IN: David Huff (or Chris Seddon)
OUT: Tony Sipp

IN: Zach McAllister
OUT: Jeanmar Gomez

That's only five moves.  I'd settle for one.  I'll get zero.  Barring another injury, the next move that Idionetti and woManny will make is when Travis Hafner is ready to come back.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Clip Joint Works Knights

Jason Donald
It's a little known fact that when Christopher Walken pleaded "I need more cowbell!," he actually meant Russ Canzler.  Well, Chris, I've got your Russ Canzler right here.  Russ (.272) is on an absolute tear over an 8 game hit streak, batting .417 (10-for-24) with 4 home runs and 15 RBI.  10 days ago he had 16 ribbies on the season, since, he's driven in 17.  He's already on the 40-man, so why don't we call him and push Aaron Cunningham down a well?  We could put a lid on top like in that movie, The Ring, and just allow him to embrace his hell-spawned tendencies.  Anyway, Canzler was 2-for-4 with 3 more ribs tonight and he was not alone. 

Jason Donald (.302) hit for the cycle, including a first inning long ball, and drove home four runs.  Here's another guy who could contribute in the bigs.  Donald lost his stroke early in the season, but seems to have found himself recently (7-for-his-last-17, .412) and sports a .264 career MLB average.  Y'know how many of the 12 guys on the Indians' roster have a batting average of at least .264?  Five.  So, yeah, get him up here too.  I'd demote Jose Lopez and his .648 OPS, but woManny likes to keep him around and bat him clean-up.  Ugh.

Jared Goedert (.252) added 3 hits (I'd call him up too), as did Tim Fedroff (.303).  Matt LaPorta (.306), Trevor Crowe (.281) and Gregorio Petit (.214) stroked 2 hits apiece in a 13-2 romp over Charlotte.

Corey Kluber (6-6, 3.54) won his second straight start with 6 and third brilliant innings.  Kluber allowed a run on 3 hits, walked 3 and punched out 9.  Over his last 5 outings, Corey has posted a 1.97 ERA and  a .223 OBA.  Josh Tomlin stepped up tonight, so a promotion is not likely in the immediate future for Kluber, but starting pitching depth is an excellent problem to have, especially if the organization has an inkling to make a trade.

Frank Herrmann (4.02), who would be in the Majors if he had been putting up better numbers (.290 OBA), surrendered two hits in the 9th, but struck out a pair to seal the win.  Despite middling statistics in many areas, Big Frank has fanned 36 in 31.1 frames against just 8 walks.

The Clips go matinee style tomorrow with a 12:15p first pitch.  The magic 8-ball suggests that Chris Seddon (7-4, 3.78) will get the start.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Akron

Don't look now, but Nick Weglarz (.251) may be showing signs of life.  The Aeros took two from Binghamton today and Wegz cracked three hits: 2 homers and a double.  Nick now has an .854 OPS and just might get a promotion back to Columbus sometime soon.

One guy that I thought would be there already is Chun Chen.  A year ago, Chen was a catcher with some pop (16 homers in 2011).  This season, Chun has shown only gap power (21 2B, 1 HR) and played all but 6 of his games in the field at first base.  These transition have significantly muddied the future of a once highly touted prospect.

Two of Akron's excellent right handed relievers earned saves in the double headed sweep.  Bryce Stowell (0.75) earned his first with a perfect 9th in game 1, while Bryan Price (2.19) chalked up his 4th with 1 and 2/3 perfect frames in the night cap.  Stowell averages 14.33 K/9 and Price holds opponents to a .211 average.

Cheers.


The Harder He Throws It...



...The faster it leaves.  How appropriate is that on the 70th anniversary of Mel Harder handing Joe DiMaggio the only only silver sombrero of his career?  As heartening as yesterday's win was, tonight's walk-off classic is the sort of effort that inspires a team on to victory in the games that follow.  The Tribe did nearly everything right tonight, thank goodness they dug out to the W to show for it.

The Starter

Josh Tomlin rebounded from a rough outing in the Queen City to deliver his best start in nearly two months.  This evening we saw the guy that we expect every 5th day on the bump.  Sure, there age going to be the starts where the opposition socks a couple of squarely hit balls over the fence, but 8 baserunners in 6 and 2/3 is a helluva lot closer to the Tomlin of 2011 than we have seen since he returned from the disbaled list.  Josh shaved nearly half a run (5.56 to 5.12) off his ERA with his performance and, more importantly, saw his team pick him up in both the 7th and in the 10th for the win.

The 'Pen

We'll begin with Esmil Rogers, the dude that stranded 3 Redlegs by fanning Devin Mesoraco to finish that 7th inning.  I don't know if you have confidence in this guy yet.  Heck, I don't even know if I have confidence in him yet, but I do know that the dum-dum pulling the strings is willing to throw the guy into the fire.  Postgame, woManny quipped that the Indians were trying to avoid using Joe Smith following a couple of longer outings for the sidewinder over the past few days.  Still, Acta could have picked anyone to throw to the young Reds catcher and he went with a guy who had pitched for the team all of three times.  Rogers was up to the task, hitting 98 on the gun twice during the at-bat and dropping a nasty hook to catch Mesoraco fishing for strike 3.  He even showed a 91 MPH slider for a strike.  I like this guy more and more every day.

While Chris Perez and Vinnie Pestano (0.68 ERA since May 14th) deserve our applause, they have been so outright dominant that a scoreless inning apiece has become the status quo.  I will give CP some respect for keeping his head on straight in a non-save situation.  Perez's ERA coming in was signficantly higher (3.86 vs 2.49) without the adrenaline of nailing down a win, so his 1-2-3 9th shows a bit of positive growth.

Nick Hagadone is in a monster truck style rut (16.62 ERA over his past 6 games) and the two wild pitches tonight didn't help.  Frankly, I think more pitchers should force Joey Votto to pick up his feet now and then.  Still, the resulting run and looming loss would have been crushing to Nick, who instead ended up with his second big league win.  Hopefully that can be the spark that reignites the Hagadone that we saw in April and May.

Defense

And though Joe Smith did his best on the mound to hand over the game to Cincinnati (he gave up a double to a .100 hitter), he also turned in a defensive gem, gunning Willie Harris out at third.  Only a player with true athleticism can make that play and Joey showed that he's got the goods.

Then there's Michael Brantley diving into the wall mirror-Griffey style.  And Casey Kotchman laying out into the first base stands on a foul ball.  And Jack Hannahan (error aside) fielding a ball whilst a shattered bat spun through his 5 hole and having the presence of mind to get the lead runner at second.

Words can only go so far with defense, so go watch the highlights because those four alone are worth the price of admission.

The "Bats"

(Pause now to bow to Asdrubal Cabrera, "we're not worthy" style, it might help him to learn English).

Three more hits for Shin-Soo Choo, who's back to an even .300 in the leadoff spot.  I would still prefer those hits to drive home some runs, but you can't argue with the bloop-and-a-blast strategy.

Jason Kipnis is hitless in the series versus the Reds (0-for-his-last-9 overall), which makes the two victories even more impressive.

Kotchman's two knocks raised his average to .228, his high water mark for the season.  Although CK is batting .308 (12-for-39) with 3 bombs and 10 ribs over his past 13 games, he would have to bat .359 over the rest of the season to match his average form last year.  And that, my friends, is not going to happen.

How the Indians have managed to average 4.36 runs a game this season is beyond me.  In recent days, both woManny and Chris Antonetti have admitted that the team needs to make additions before the trading deadline if they expect to seriously contend down the stretch.  The problem is that there is no one to be had.  Josh Willingham is seemingly not on the block with an Ubadlo-esque trade package needed to sway the Twins.  Regardless of their current skill level, it would take either a similar group of young players or the assumption of mucho deniro to bring Kevin Youkilis or Alfonso Soriano to town.  Also, forget about Carlos Quentin.  If he's healthy, he will be the most bid upon of the bunch and we all know that the Tribe won't win that sort of war.  To reitterate to anyone who is listening, the Tribe needs to make some internal moves.  When Travis Hafner comes back, one of the Triad of Futility (Shelley Duncan, Johnny Damon, & Aaron Cunningham, batting a combined .193) must absolutely go.  As I have previously stated, drop one now and try to bottle some of Russ Canzler's lightning (he homered again tonight).  Finally, if Slater is here to be a defensive replacement and bat .194, the hell with it, show me Tyler Naquin.  Our 2012 1st round pick is said to be "polished" and known for his defense.  I am not kidding, skip the minors.  He cannot possibly look as bad at the dish as AC.  Seriously, at this point I think we might be indelibly damaging Cunningham's psyche by subjecting him to such constant failure.

We're a mid-market team with below average talent, we do not have the luxury of playing by the rules.

Now allow me to look into my crystal ball.  The Indians will make... one of those moves... at most.  And the Indians will... be the only AL club not to make the postseason.

For now, welcome back to 1st place.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s. Kosuke Fukudome, the Tribe's big trade deadline bat of 2011, was demoted to AAA by the ChiSox today.

Monday, June 18, 2012

That Kid Is the Chiz

Oh my goodness.  What a different sort of ballgame than we have been treated to in recent weeks.  The Tribe posted double digit runs for the first time since April 15th and more than 6 runs for just the 7th time in their past 56 ballgames.  There is a lot of good to discuss this evening, so let's get into it.

It's amazing what one good game can do for you, just ask Lonnie Chisenhall whose 3 hit effort raised his batting average 40 points to .269.  I continue to contend that, when Lonnie makes solid contact, the ball explodes off of his bat with a ferocity that is beyond rare in this game.  It's a shame that he could not complete the first cycle in Cleveland since 1943, but Chisenhall is still 5-for-his-last-10 with 3 extra base hits.  The situation with Cap'n Jack is somewhat tenuous as the organization told us this spring that they were comitted to Lonnie playing everyday.  Well, they didn't run the kid out there for every start at third before Hannahan came back from the DL, so don't expect them to do so now.  What they will do is play the hot hitter, which is inarguably the Chiz Kid right now.

When I heard that Carlos Santana was batting sixth, I was skeptical.  I can't say that I agree that there would be less pressure on him given a drop in the line-up.  If anything I would think that there would be more, first to regain his original spot and then the same associated stress to produce.  Tonight, at the least, the ploy worked.  Santana, who had not delivered a multi-hit game in a month and was mired in a .141 (9-for-64) slump, slashed two sharp singles against the Redlegs.  Now, Big Smooth has not homered since that same May 17th contest with Seattle, so, hopefully, the power follows quickly on the heals of the contact.

Speaking of power outages, Shin-Soo Choo, now settled into the lead-off role, is second on the team with 4 home runs over the past month.  Choo's quartet trails just Jason Kipnis' 5.  Behind Choo are Chisenhall and Casey Kotchman (who also went deep tonight) with 3.  The issue at large is with the 4 and 5 slots.  Jose Lopez, tonight's clean-up man, sports just a .384 slugging percentage and Michael Brantley, entrenched in the 5 hole, only slugs .399 and that's after a pair of doubles off of Cincinnati.  I love the dynamic that Choo brings to the top of the order.  I cannot deny that.  Even so, when a dude who is tied for second on a team that is second to last in home runs has driven in exactly 5 runs with his last 5 gopher balls, you might not have the luxury to bat him #1.

Again, my hat goes off to Vinnie Pestano, who would be the best thing about this team if he played a sexier position.

Bah.  Well, I'm too tired to even rant about how Derek Lowe has a 9.36 ERA in his last five starts and has regeressed back into the case of used colostomy bags that we call a starting 5.  Here's Denny Green to do it for me...




Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Clip Joint's Got Southern Swagger

Zach McAllister
If you'd care to write the recipe for a win on a sunny Sunday afternoon in northern Georgia you might begin with an excellent outing by your starting pitcher.  Zach McAllister (5-2, 2.98) gave the Clippers six strong innings this afternoon, surrendering 2 runs on 7 hits, a walk and 2 K's.  Outside of a dicey third frame, in which Gwinnett scored both of their runs on a trio of hits, Z-Mac never allowed a runner past second base and retired the last 7 that he faced.  He has held the opposition to a .238 average in 2012.  We need you, Zach.  C'mon, up!

Next you mix in a hot hitting middle of the order guy, in this case, Russ Canzler.  A few days ago, I was putting Russ (.268) down for not living up to his MVP season of 2011.  Since then, he has hit in 5 straight (7-for-16, .438) with 3 homers and 12 RBI.  Prior to the outburst, he had 18 ribbies all year!  Canzler singled in a run and walked twice this afternoon, raising his OPS to .744, after it had been just .686 on the 14th.  Hey, Antonetti, call him up too!

Sprinkle in a couple additional players with nice offensive games.  Cord Phelps (.275) singled, homered, walked, scored twice and drove home 3.  He's hitting .329 in June.  Jason Donald (.292) added 2 hits and 2 runs scored. 

Finish with dominant relief.  Matt Langwell (1.93, 2/3 of an inning), Scott Barnes (3.64, 1 and third) and Chris Ray (1.93, 1 IP) followed McAllister with scoreless relief and never gave the Braves an opportunity to get back into the game.

The Clips move on to Charlotte tomorrow at 7:15p.  I'd wager that TJ McFarland will get the nod.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Akron

Steven Wright (5-4, 1.79) and his dancing knuckleball took the hill and took the loss despite allowing just 3 hits and fanning 7 over 6 innings.  An error, a walk and two wild pitches contributed to Reading pushing 4 runs (3 earned) over against Wright, while the Aeros mustered just two.  How has Steven managed just a game over .500 with such a dazzling ERA?  The Aeros have scored just 40 runs in his 12 starts (3.3 per) and 10 of those came in one game.  Loek Van Mil (1.29), the 7'1" dude, finished with two scoreless frames.

Lake County

Luigi Rodriguez (.276) is mired in a 3-for-20 slump over his past four games after an 0-for-4 performance today.  Additionally, L-Rod, who is 12-for-17 in stolen base attempts this season, has yet to attempt a steal in June.  Felix Sterling (5.70) threw a perfect inning out of the 'pen after making his first 14 appearances as a starter.  Sterling had been knocked around pretty well since late May, posting a 13.50 ERA and a 2.17 WHIP since the 23rd.

Cheers.

The Rumble Of the Pennsylvania Railroad

Sometimes you run into a guy that's just locked in.  Sometimes there's nothing you can do about it.  Pedro Alvarez hit as many home runs in two weekend games against the Indians as he did in 74 MLB games in 2011.  Alavarez, the #2 overall pick in the 2008 draft, has struggled through inconsistency and admonishment in parts of 3 big league campaigns, including this one.  He came into the series against the Indians hitting .192 with 8 homers and 25 RBI in 55 games.  In three contests against the Tribe, he hit .455 (5-for-11) with four dongs and 9 ribs.  The talking heads praised Pedro for attacking fastballs early in the count.  I caution them not speak too loudly as that seems like an profoundly sound strategy against the Indians pitching staff in general.  In fact, coming into today's game, the opposition was batting .332 against the Tribe on the first pitch of an at-bat.  So, yeah, shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

And, yes, I understand that his defense (C'mon Asdrubal!) didn't do him any favors and he ran into the Pennsylvania Railroad (Get it? Pedro Avalrez, PA Express, etc), but, for me, Jeanmar Gomez has run out of opportunities.  Zach McAllister pitched another dandy (6 IP, 2 ER) for Columbus this afternoon and had better Major League numbers (1-1, 3.96) than Gomez as well.  There is no compelling argument to be made in favor of keeping Jeanmar.  Over his past 5 starts, Gomez is 1-4 with an 7.92 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP.  Yuck.  I won't contend that his days of contributing to this club are over, but it is certainly time to take a step back.

Even in a 9-5 loss, even in dropping a home series to the (ugh) Pirates, there were some bright spots today.    

  • Johnny Damon (what?) was 2-for-4 and actually played like the guy the Indians thought that they were signing back in April.  Even if Jack Hannahan (who broke an 0-for-17 slump with a 5th inning single) wanted to punch him in the mouth after a 1st inning collision, the 2nd inning sequence was exactly what we all expected of JD.  He began with a punch single to left, followed it up with a stolen base and scored with some aggressive base running on a (debatable) single by Casey Kotchman.  Damon is still a smart, if not any longer talented, ballplayer.  
  • Jason Kipnis provided 3 hits, included his 11th home run, and also stole his league leading 17th base.  I still doubt he can overtake Robby Cano to earn the starting nod at second in the Midsummer Classic, but, barring a colossal collapse over the next month, he will be in the dugout in Kansas City.   
  • Lou Marson single and walked twice.  Three weeks ago, Lou-Lou had compiled an .074 average over his first 12 games of the season.  Since, he has batted .406 (13-for-32) in his next 12 and supplied some actual productivity to a bottom of the lineup that rarely contributes in any way.

I did not have high hopes for Esmil Rogers when the Tribe bought him from the Rockies.  Still, Rogers has given me no reason to doubt his ability to retire Major League hitters.  Yeah, Alvarez tagged him for a three run homer, but Pedro is so hot that he probably jerks that ball off of Sandy Koufax in his prime.  Esmil gave the Tribe a strong 2 and 2 thirds this afternoon after Gomez failed to make it through the 5th inning.  Over 5.1 frames thus far, Rogers has posted a 1.69 ERA, a 0.56 WHIP and 6 punch outs.  With a live fastball and a deceptive delivery, at the very least he supplies a change of pace from the other members of the middle relief corps.  I don't know if he can keep it up, but it would be a significant boost if he could.

See, glass half full.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Take A Walk Hitless

We are all aware of how offensively challenged the Indians line-up is.  Following today's 6 hits against the Pirates, the Tribe is batting .248 as a team.  Even worse, those not named Kipnis, Cabrera, Brantley, Hannahan or Choo pool to a .217 clip.  Wow.  If you needed some solid statistical proof to back up the eye-test that we need a couple of real hitters, there it is. 

Before the game, Ubaldo Jimenez stated that he had finally settled in with his mechanics and, once on the mound, only needed to concern himself with retiring hitters.  I believe it.  There is no knocking Big U's last two starts coming in (1.32 ERA, 0.80 WHIP), but today's outing is indicative of what we he will produce on a consistent basis.  He'll give you about 6 innings with an ERA around 4.00, a WHIP in the range of 1.5 (hopefully closer to 1.3) and about a strikeout an inning.  Is he, like all pitchers, going to have good days and bad days?  Of course.  Still, today is the baseline.  Today is what we should expect from the guy for whom we traded our farm.

I'm getting awfully tired of saying it, but something must be done about Tony Sipp and his 6.95 ERA.  Unfortunately, with Scott Barnes shipped back to Columbus and Rafael Perez likely not ready to return for at least a month, there are no options.  woManny will not go with just one lefty in the pen.  Regardless of whether it's a good idea or not, it's simply not up for discussion.  Given the dearth of upper level left handers, I, as of right now, am advocating the purchase of Chris Seddon's contract.  Neither Seddon's MLB career (1-2, 7.03) nor 2012 AAA numbers (7-4, 3.78 as a starter) will wow you, but, again, the Sipp situation is untenable.  Seddon was in big league camp during Spring Training and held his own (10 K, 1 BB in 8.1 IP).  Although Seddon is a fringe guy, he is in the organization for a reason: depth.  Now is when we need that depth.  While it's not an optimal situation or even a preferable one, it is what we have to deal with and, if the Indians are going to stick in the Central race all summer, the sort of tough decision that must be made properly.

Gotta go.  Let's win that series tomorrow.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

God Help Him

Blah, blah, blah, blah.  I have heard some of you whining about the demotion of Matt LaPorta, saying things like "He had no reason to be sent down. It wasn't his fault! #CallUpLaPorta" and "The demotion of LaPorta makes no sense. Let the guy play everyday and see what you have."  Well kiddies, the inference is quite simple: the Indians already know what they're going to get from LaPorta and they see no value in a .697 career OPS.  The handling of Matty is commonplace among washed out former Major Leaguers who are back up just to fill a roster spot.

Brad Eldred, a former top prospect in the Pirates system, hit .388 with 13 homers and 35 RBI in his first 20 games of the season with Toledo.  The Tigers tried to catch lightning in a bottle, but after 5 games and a 3-for-16 (.188) showing, Eldred was back at AAA, where he belongs.  Bill Hall, a ten year big leaguer (mostly with the Brewers), is now in the Orioles system as his career winds down.  The O's have seen fit to purchase his minor league contract, then DFA and outright him back to AAA, not once, but twice in the past month and a half.  In the interim, Billy managed to compile 9 MLB at-bats and 2 hits.  These are just a couple of examples, but you get the point.  LaPorta is no longer part of the Indians future, he's just a dude who can wallop AAA pitching and might get to ride pine in the show a few more times.  Don't take my word for it, just look at the way they're treating him. 

And before you conjure any predictions that Matty will be the next Brandon Phillips, recall that B-Phip was still 24 after languishing in AAA for most of '04 and '05, whereas LaPorta would be 28 after just one year of exile.  I'm not saying that it will be impossible for Matt to have a productive Major League career at this point, but the cards are now definitely stacked against him.

The best case scenario for Matty is a change of scenery.  Former Indian Ryan Ludwick overcame injury and parlayed a strong year or so into a Major League career.  Although I'll certainly never take anything away from Ludwick's 2008 (.299, 37 HR, 113 RBI, .966 OPS), it was truly his only great season.  I'll take his 2007 (.818 OPS) and 2009 (.775 OPS, 97 RBI), but you have to remember who was protecting him in the line-up (Um, Albert Pujols).   Since leaving St Louis, Ryan has batted .227 with a .675 OPS.  Get your mind wrapped around the fact that this is now the ceiling for LaPorta.  If he hopes to slide himself onto a card with an established masher and hang around for a few more seasons, he should best get to genuflecting.

While it's a shame that Matty turned out to be a bust, you have to give up on him sometime.  Unbeknownst to us at the time, for Matt LaPorta and the Indians, that day has come and gone.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Double Down @ the Clip Joint

Russ Canzler
So them Clippers played a ding-dang double dip against that thar Gwinnett Braves bunch and, y'all guessed it, they done got beat up twice.  Pitching was not the word of the day.  Chris Seddon (7-4, 3.78) took the hill in game 1 and didn't really pitch so badly (9 H, 4 ER, 6 K), heck, he even got credit for a 6 inning complete game, but the offense was non-existent in a 4-zip defeat.  David Huff (3-3, 4.99), however, was an abomination in game two.  Knocked around for 8 earned on 12 hits, David only got through three innings.  Recently, I mentioned that some in the media consider Huff to have trade value and, just yesterday, I noted that he was in a dead heat with Corey Kluber for the second of two rotation spot that are under heavy scrutiny at the big league level.  Yeah, not so much anymore.  After a solid beginning to the season (3-1, 2.88 through the end of May), he has been just awful in June.  Over his last three starts, David is 0-2 with a 10.05 ERA and a .439 OBA.  That's a good way to keep yourself in the minors.

When a team scores 3 runs in 14 innings of baseball, there aren't going to be a lot of offensive stars.  Ezequiel Carrera (.260) had three hits, as did Russ Canzler (.263).  Canzler homered for the second consecutive day, after blasting just 3 prior on the season.  Jared Goedert (.242) was 0-for-7 with 4 K's in the two games and has 2 hits in his last 20 at-bats.  Although I continue to contend that his right hand power would be useful on the North Coast, we won't see it unless he can find some consistency at the dish.

Unless the Clips know something that I don't (doubtful), it'll be Zach McAllister (4-2, 2.98) taking the pill at 7:05p tomorrow when the series continues.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Akron

Welcome back to Jordan Henry, who made his 2012 debut Friday night.  Henry singled in four trips after spending the first two months of the season in extended Spring Training rehabbing his right knee following off-season surgery.  Rob Bryson (2.40) continued his excellent work out of the bullpen with 2.2 scoreless frames of work.  Bryson has punched out 35 in 30 innings this year, while holding opponents to a .183 average.

Carolina

I'm going to have to disparage Jesus Aguilar more often.  A day after I pointed out his lack of power production, Aguilar (.287) launched a 2-run bomb, his 6th of the season.  After a strong May (.291), Tony Wolters (.227) has regressed again in June, hitting just .172 over his past 8 games and failing to reach in 8 trips in his last 2.

Cheers.

Bottle That Win

Sure, we would like the pitching staff to throw a shutout every time out, but that's not what I mean.  Tonight, the Indians got 7 strong innings from Justin Masterson and two easy innings from the back end of the bullpen to seal the victory.  I don't care if the score is 2-0 or 4-3, but this team is built for low scoring games.  In 20 of the Indians' 63 games, the victorious team has scored 4 runs or fewer.  The Tribe is 13-7 in those contests.  When the winning team score 5 or more, the Wahoos are just 20-23. 

Tonight was all about Masterson.  It is not as if Bat has suddenly found utter and complete command of his pitches, just look at the sequence in the 7th when he hit Josh Harrison and then wild pitched two runners into scoring position.  Still, he seems so have settled into a groove similar to his performance of 2011.  Over his last 6 starts, Justin's 3.2 BB/9 bear a much closer resemblance to his 2.7 of last year than the 4.8 in his first 8.  Likewise his ERA has dropped with his bases on balls, 2.92 vs 5.40.  Masterson has so many moving parts that he constantly has to make adjustments as his mechanics fluctuate.  You can see that in the game against Kansas City where he overcompensated and threw 78 of 111 pitches for strikes without walking a soul.  Instead, he surrendered 7 earned on 9 hits in 6 innings.  Bat has to be a bit wild in order to be effective.  Tonight, 70 of his 109 deliveries were strikes and he walked 3 in his 7 frames.  He also fanned 9 and allowed just 4 hits.  Justin is never going to be a low WHIP kind of guy.  Even last season with his 3.21 ERA, his WHIP was a middling 1.28.  There is no doubt that Masterson's lanky 6'6" frame and his long delivery don't engender repeatability but, in order to help this team, he is going to have to keep adapting and stay one step ahead of the opposition.

One player who has done just that is Michael Brantley.  Michael took it down to the wire, but extended his hitting streak to 22 games tonight with an 8th inning RBI single.  To every sack of garbage who was on his case in early May when he was hitting in the .230s, the Indians deserve more intelligent fans than the lot of you.  Seriously, if you were one of those guys, put down the X-Box controller, the Bud Light and the Doritos and try to educate yourself a little bit about the game.  You are the reason that I cannot stand to listen to sports call in shows.  Sorry.  Back to Brantley, the 22 game streak in the longest since Casey Blake's 26 in 2007 and within sight of Sandy Alomar's franchise record 30 gamer of 1997.  In fact, Brantley has now had two 19+ hit streaks in his short tenure with the Tribe, making him just the second Indian (Julio Franco) since 1921 (when records of such things began to be kept) to have a pair in his Indians career.  Maybe pocket the Red Man and chew on that, you hicks.  Since May 9th, Michael is batting .331 with 21 RBI and 7 steals in 32 games.  Oh right, some of you are still jonesing for Grady Sizemore's winning smile in centerfield.  Forget.  About.  It.  Sizemore is never coming back.  Sure, he might get a few more token AB's with the team, but it will be like watching Johnny Damon, a broken down shell of  man in a baseball uniform.  Brantley, if he ever actually had any work to do, has transformed himself into a more than adequate Major Leaguer in center, making all of the banal plays and a few of the fantastic.  If you know what's good for you, you'll start thinking with your heads instead of your McDeath addled hearts.

I'll let Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez close things out here.  Since May 5th, the opposition is batting .114 (5-for-44) against Vinnie and Pestano has punched out 16 in 13 innings.  CP nailed down his league leading 21st save to close out the Bucos, his 21st in a row.  I was pretty rough on Perez after he blew the save on Opening Day, but Chris seems to have channeled his rage and even shed a few LB's.  While he's still not what I would call a lock down closer, you have to give him credit for the work that he has done in 2012.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s.  Jack Hannahan is back (0-3, 0-for-his-last-15 overall, maybe a couple of additional rehab games would have been useful?) and Scott Barnes is on his way to Georgia to join the Clippers.  Called it.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Clip Joint's Slammin'

Corey Kluber
The Clipper ship docked in Gwinnett, Georgia to take on the Braves tonight and it was one heck of a pitcher's duel... except for one pitch.  Jair Jurrjens (a 2011 NL all-star) had shut out Columbus for the first five innings and, despite loading the bases in the sixth, had Russ Canzler down 1-2 with two outs in the frame.  Everything changed when Canzler launched a 2-2 fastball over the centerfield wall for the only runs in a 4-0 victory.

You might have recently read that there is no Major League talent on the Clips squad.  First off, I had better clarify that I was referring to the line-up.  Obviously Zach McAllister has an MLB future and fringe Major Leaguers like David Huff, Chris Ray and Frank Herrmann speckle the pitching staff.  But what about Cord Phelps and Ezequiel Carrera, who both made contributions on the North Coast in 2011?  What about Mr. Salami?  It's very simple.  All three players have fallen off significantly in 2012 and none looks as if he is prepared to make a significant AAA impact, let alone an impact with the Indians, anytime soon.  In his first two seasons in Columbus, Carrera batted .287 with a .720 OPS (not bad for a top of the order hitter) while swiping 46 of 53 bases (87%).  This year?  .254, .650 and 9 of 14 (64%).  How's about Cord Phelps?  In his first two AAA campaigns (153 games, basically one full season), he hit .303 with 45 doubles, 8 triples, 20 homers and 94 RBI, good for an .875 OPS.  2012: .272 & .785.  Oh, and the grand slammer?  Canzler was coming off of back-to-back seasons of a .930+ OPS and an IL MVP award in 2011.  The homer tonight was just his 4th of 2012 and, even rolling that into the numbers, his OPS is still a lowly .693.  Baseball is a tricky game, the most cerebral of all sports.  Phelps and Carrera were never really given a shot to make the big club in the spring and Canzler lost out to Aaron Cunningham despite strong numbers and fan favorite status.  While none of these players have regressed skill-wise, neither have any shown themselves to be mentally strong.  With sports psychiatrists difficult to afford on a AAA salary, yeah, don't expect help anytime soon.

Again, we weren't talking about the pitchers and Corey Kluber (5-6, 3.73) tossed another strong outing this evening.  Yep, that's 7 innings of shutout, 4-hit ball with a walk and 5 K's.  Since a disastrous start against Scranton on May 21 (1.1 IP, 7 ER), Corey is 2-2 with a 2.10 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.  One has to believe that Kluber has positioned himself in front of Kevin Slowey (3-3, 5.14) and on par with Huff (3-2, 3.74) on the depth chart.  Given the downward spiral of Jeanmar Gomez and Josh Tomlin, the Tribe might need Kluber sooner rather than later.

The Clips play two in Gwinnett tomorrow, resuming a suspended game @ 5:05p with a full game to follow.  Let's go with Chris Seddon (7-3, 3.59) on the bump.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Akron

The Aeros won 3-2 in 12 innings with two big right-handers helping the cause with strong relief outings.  7'1" Loek van Mil (1.42 ERA), who would become the tallest player in Major League history if he ever makes it, threw 2.1 perfect innings, fanning a pair.  Van Mil, acquired from Minnesota in early May, is a bit old (28 in September) to be pitching at AA, but the numbers are impressive.  As are those of Bryce Stowell (1.93).  Bryce put two men on the 9th, but escaped unscathed.  Stowell has punched out 25 in 14 innings this season.

Carolina

Jesus Aguilar (.288) singled, doubled and scored a run for the Mudcats.  Despite coming into the season as the organization's top power prospect and an .822 OPS, Aguilar has just 5 home runs on the season.

Lake County

The Captains game went 13 innings and didn't finish until almost midnight.  They lost 9-7.  Francisco Lindor (.280), honored as a Midwest League All-Star, went 1-for-2 with a double, RBI, and run scored.  He also walked 6 TIMESElvis Araujo (2-5, 4.45) got the start and was roundly beaten over 4 and a third.  Araujo allowed 6 earned on 7 hits and 2 walks, without recording a single strikeout.  Elvis has a 10.93 ERA over his past 4 starts.  Jack Hannahan played third base through the first 9 innings, going 1-for-5 with an RBI and 3 K's.  Cap'n Jack is 1-for-12 (.083) with 6 punch outs over his first 3 rehab games.  Maybe give him a few more.

Cheers.

A Long Bus Ride Home

They can't fly, right?  It would take like 20 minutes.

I'm writing this in the 5th inning as the game is, for all intents and purposes, over.  Two days ago, I suggested that Jeanmar Gomez was one more poor start from being shipped out in favor of Zach McAllister.  Today, I have to say the same is true of Josh Tomlin.  Josh, who set a Major League record by pitching at least five innings in the first 37 starts of his career, failed to do so for the third time in his past 10.  In fact, today's 4 innings were the shortest MLB outing ever for Tomlin.  Despite a solid appearance in St Louis, he has a 6.95 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP over his last 4 starts.  The opposition is batting .295 against him in 2012 and his BB/9 (2.1) is almost double his league leading average (1.1) of last season.  In 2011, Tomlin found success by limiting baserunners, placing 7th in the AL with a 1.08 WHIP.  This year his 1.43 WHIP ranks him 42nd (of 53 qualifiers), just ahead of teammate Justin Masterson.  Consistency is all important for pitchers and we often discuss repetition of delivery as a key for effective MLB hurlers.  This season, fighting his way through a wrist injury, Josh has been forced to throw to 3 different catchers already.  His numbers pitching to Carlos Santana are strong (4.30 ERA, .276 OBA, 1.26 WHIP), but he has been knocked around pretty well with Lou Marson behind the plate (6.85 ERA, .333 OBA, 1.70 WHIP).  It's a correlation for sure and probably impossible to prove as a causation, but, if I was Josh Tomlin, I would be asking for Big Smooth behind the dish my next time out.

Day #2 for Esmil Rogers was not as lights out as his first, but I still have seen no reason that the guy cannot be an effective piece in the Indians' bullpen.  17 of 28 pitches for strikes isn't 10 of 11, but it's not walking the bases loaded either.  Even on a back-to-back day, Rogers got it up to the plate at 97 and showed some length by giving the Tribe an inning and 2/3 of solid relief.  He did throw a wild pitch, but he also struck out two more.  Esmil looked as if he couldn't get comfortable on the mound, frequently stretching in between pitches.  Still, he was undoubtedly the team's most productive reliever of the series and has earned himself the opportunity to remain in the bigs. 

Scott Barnes has not.  With an ERA that exploded to 8.31 after he allowed 7 baserunners and 5 earned runs in today's 5th inning, Scottie likely does not make it back to the lakefront.  The Indians are carrying 13 pitchers right now, so a relief arm will have to be dropped so that a hitter (Jack HannahanJason DonaldJared Goedert?) can be added before Friday's tilt with the Bucos.  Prior to Barnes' night terror on the mound, all signs pointed to Tony Sipp.  Now the Gasman with 9 lives seems like he will survive to fuel another late inning rally for the bad guys.  I swear, the sequence of events that have led Sipp to miss getting cut 4 times already in 2012 is so unlikely that I'd like to ask Tony for some lotto numbers.  On April 23rd, the Tribe sent Nick Hagadone back to AAA although he had posted a 2.70 ERA and fanned 4 in 3.1 innings.  Sipp's ERA was 11.57 in 7 outings to that date.  Four days later, Sipp had lowered his ERA to 7.71 and Rafael Perez (and his 79 MPH fastball) went on the disabled list.  Tony exhales again.  On May 16th, with Hagadone back in the fold, the club DFAed Dan Wheeler.  Sipp's ERA was 6.94 (compared to Wheeler's 8.76) and he had just escaped putting 4 men on in 2 innings without allowing a run.  Fingers crossed, Tony lives to pitch another month.  Now this.  If we're the sort of team that keeps a reliever with a 6.65 ERA around all season, we can give up all hope of snaring one of those 13 playoff spots.

Speaking of Indians left-handed relievers, here's their final line from the Reds series:  2.1 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 3 HR, .500 OBA, 4.29 WHIP, 27.00 ERA, just 58.5% of their pitches for strikes.  One of 'em has to go.

The four guys on the Indians bench this afternoon were Lonnie Chisenhall (.214), Casey Kotchman (.212), Shelley Duncan (.205), and Johnny Damon (.176).  That doesn't even count left fielder Aaron Cunningham (.188).  In my humble opinion, all of them (save maybe Kotchman until a real first baseman emerges) need to go, especially Slater.  I'm not quite sure which scout assured the Indians that AC was a Major League caliber player, but that dude needs to get axed as well.  The Indians have now lost 12 of 18 since sweeping the Tigers in Cleveland.  We need a bat, probably two bats.  I had recently advocated acquiring Kevin Youkilis, but the word on the street is that the Sox want a bunch and Youk is plagued with "diminishing skills" syndrome.  The price for Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Quentin or Josh Willingham will be too high.  Sadly, the Indians simply do not have any nice trade bullets in their gun at this point.  Some think that McAllister and David Huff would supply some value, but what could you possibly package one of them with?  With the starting struggled detailed above, can we even afford to part with one of the two?  As fans, we're going to have to dig in for a long summer and hope that the club makes the right moves internally to put the best 9 on the field.  At this point none of the five above qualify.

Brandon Phillips for the series: 8-for-13 (.615), 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1.720 OPS and about 7 dazzling defensive plays.

Esmil Rogers has a nice swing.  Let's DH him against Pittsburgh.

Have you noticed that Joey Votto never leaves the batter's box?  That takes me back to the grand old days of the OHSAA when you would get charged a strike if you stepped out.

Enough.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.