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.

Not So Perfect

I won't claim to having seen the 1:05 game, but I do know this: it is difficult to pitch a game more imperfect than the one that Philip Humber tossed yesterday afternoon.  The Tribe smoked him for all 8 runs in an 8-6 victory.  Since his perfecto, Huber is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA, a .350 OBA and a 2.40 WHIP.  The game featured Zach McAllister's first MLB win and Nick Hagadone's first MLB save.  It was the first time Indians teammates reached such a double milestone since Albie Lopez and Jerry DiPoto turned the trick in 1993.  I don't have much more to say on this with another game to discuss.  (I wanted to show Pronk's triple here, but it turns out that I'll have to make my own vid of it, so hang on.)

Speaking of imperfect, that's just how the weather was for game #2.  Raindrops or no, Josh Tomlin put up one hell of an outing.  Although the talking heads keep quipping that "he's not a strikeout pitcher," the numbers argue differently.  After setting a career high with 8 in 7 and a third tonight, Josh is averaging 7.0 K's per 9 innings.  Vinnie Pestano he is not, but Tomlin has established the swing and miss as a reliable piece of his arsenal.  After 20 of his 104 pitches last night went for swinging strikes, he leads all Indians starters with 11.0% on the season.  The rest of the staff ranked: Jeanmar Gomez 9.0%, Justin Masterson 7.4%, Ubaldo Jimenez, 5.8% and Derek Lowe 5.4%.  Since the 2 poor outings to begin the season, Josh has a 3.46 ERA and a .232 OBA.  Too bad Joe Smith had to give his win away today.  Oh, by the way, Alexei Ramirez tried to steal second against the Tomlin/Lou Marson battery.  Nuh-uh.  That's 0-for-2 this season.  Maybe they should just stop trying again.  I don't hear much from those who, a month ago, called for Josh Tomlin's demotion.

Credit is due to to the kid that Chicago called up to start this game (Eric Stults, first MLB start since 2009), more due to Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis for coming through with the clutch two-out, run-scoring hits in the 5th, but the most is due to third base coach Steve Smith.  The Amazing Racer waved Lou "The Terrapin" Marson home (after Lou Lou had stolen second, what?) on Brantley's single and thereby not only put the game tying run on the board, but allowed Michael to get into scoring position for Kip.  While Smith is a generally a bit more conservative than I like to be, last night he applied the philosophy that I hold near and dear: force the defense to make two good throws.  I know that these guys are Major Leaguers and I know that the game moves much slower for them than it does for me on the screen.  Still, anyone who saw the 110 foot double that Bryce Harper hit Sunday night would agree that a defense that is pushed to make plays will not make all of them... or even most of them.

And I suppose you're going to want me to eat some crow on Tony Sipp.  Ramirez came up 6 feet short of a home run.  Brent Lillibridge has struck out in 15 of 22 at-bats this season.  Then a walk and Tyler Flowers goes 2 feet foul.  If woManny can watch that outing and feel comfortable with Sipp, he should probably get right on the I-71 express with his buddy.  All this game serves to do is fuel the idiot argument that Tony still belongs in the bullpen.

After the sweep (thank you, Shelly Duncan), the Tribe sits at 18-11 and 2 full games up on a Detroit Tigers squad that several archangels picked man for man as their fantasy team.

Cheers.

Our U Beats Your Yu

As unlikely as it might seem, I write here in praise of Ubaldo Jimenez.  Now, by no means do I feel as if he has turned a corner or resolved any of his mechanical flaws, but the man went out and tossed a gem against the team that came into the series as the top run scorer in the American League.  Texas (5.21 RPG) now sits second behind Boston thanks to being held to just 10 runs over the three game set.  While Jimenez had to work out of trouble in the first and walked the bases loaded in the third, he survived it all, allowing just two hits and retiring 9 of the last 10 he faced.  His numbers are baffling.  The 3-2 record and 4.04 overall ERA seem just fine.  The MLB high 25 walks and 1.60 WHIP do not.  The six K's against the Rangers are a season high, yet he still issued 5 free passes.  If you combine Ubaldo's first start with his most recent his ERA is 1.29, WHIP 0.79 and OBA .068.  In his other starts those numbers are 5.82, 2.12 and .319.  Compounding the inanity, two of the dog starts have come against the lowly (9-18) Royals.  I guess what I am trying to say that Jimenez is inconsistent.  Get used to it.

Despite generally similar behavior, I have less positive remarks to make toward Tony Sipp.  Sipp, who survived culling twice thanks to the mind boggling demotion of Nick Hagadone and the injury to Rafael Perez, is, very simply, pitching badly.  Among relievers with an least 8 innings pitched his 9.00 ranks 3rd worst behind Heath Bell (if you don't know, I'm not going to tell you) and Manny Acosta of the Mets, who, yeah, really is pitching much worse.  His WAR is tied for 3rd worst behind the same two guys.  His WHIP is 12th worst, his OBA tied for 10th worst.  You want AL rankings?  Um, last, last, 3rd to last, 5th to last.  Tony has never had a wide array of pitches (short men rarely need such a repertoire), so when his slider doesn't slide, he doesn't have much else on which to rely.  If Raffy's injury is not serious (i.e. does not require surgery), all logic dictates that Sipp gets the boot when Perez returns.  Remember though, that the Indians make personnel decision based on everything except on the field performance.  Keep that in mind as woManny leads you through a fumbling and befuddling account of how Tony is "throwing good pitches," because, clearly, he is not.

Travis Hafner is in a slump.  Since the Tribe returned from the West Coast swing, Pronk is stuck on a 5-for-37 schneid.  That's a .135 clip that has driven his season average down to .253.  Since April 17th, Shelley Duncan is batting .156 with one home run and just 4 of his 14 walks.  Jack Hannahan is hitting .176 since April 24th.  Despite his homer, Shin-Soo Choo is 3-for-20 since returning from his pulled hammy.  And, of course, excepting the series at Kansas City, Casey Kotchman is batting .116 (8-for-69) with 2 RBI.  His OPS outside of Missouri?  .317.  His batting average in 2011 was .306.  While CK will get a long leash, it will not last all season.

It's good to see that the Tribe can win when their starter walks 5, the opposing starter fans 11, and their left handed set-up man surrenders 2 runs in the 8th.

Cheers.

P.s.  Watch Bryce Harper steal home.

Tall Drink At the Clip Joint

Before we get into the Clippers on-field performance, let's recognize the acquisition of 7'1" Loek Van Mil, who has the opportunity to become the tallest pitcher in Major League history.  They acquired the the 27 year old Dutchman yesterday from the Angels for "future considerations."  A right-handed pitcher, Ludovicus Jacobus Maria Van Mil owns an 11-15 record with a 3.29 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 4.5 BB/9 and 6.6 K/9 over seven minor league seasons.

Also, this one to be filed under "nobody gives a damn," Ryan Spilborghs was shipped to the Texas Rangers for "future considerations."  Maybe the Rangers could just give the Angels some considerations and the Tribe could just be done with it...

Between the foul lines, the Clip Show dropped their game in Toledo 2-1, scratching out just 2 measly hits.  Beau Mills (.277) had one of those and the lone Columbus RBI.   The offensive anemia wasted another strong start from Corey Kluber (3-2, 2.78).  Although he did allow 2 earned on 4 hits and 4 walk over 5 and a third, Kluber also fanned ten.  Hector Ambriz (2.70) finished it out with 2.2 perfect innings, punching out 4.

The Clippers and Mud Hens tango again today at 2p.  Chris Seddon (2-1, 4.78), chosen above Scott Barnes to remain in the rotation, gets the start.

Also of note, the Indians have announced that Zach McAllister (3-1, 2.83) will start one end of Monday's double dip against the White Sox.  Thanks to a new rule in the collective bargaining agreement, the Tribe will not be required to make a corresponding roster move.  MLB teams are now allowed to recall a 26th man for use in a double-header.  The roster must be returned to 25 men following the conclusion of game 2.

One Other Minor Point of Interest -

Akron
Outfielder Thomas Neal (.275), the return on the 2011 Orlando Cabrera trade, had himself quite a night.  Neal cracked 3 hits (including a double), walked, scored 2 runs and drove home a pair.

Cheers.

Texas: Messed With

I suppose I might believe in this team just a bit.  That, of course, will be a real bad thing come August when they forget how to hit, pitch, field and feed themselves.  Right now, though, the Tribe has taken the series opener from the best team in the American League and they looked damn good doing it.  That's 13 of 19 if you're counting, too bad those dream team Tigers (who most agreed would beat the '27 Yankees in 6 games) needed a walk-off from Johnny Peralta to get past the ChiSox.

How's about we give out some accolades?  Jason Kipnis is hitting .444 (20-45) with 9 RBI and 4 stolen bases in his last 12 games.  His three triples lead the league.  I had just recently been considering how a batter might try to hit triples.  Many batsmen have dramatic upper cuts designed to produce home runs, but the triple is a much more nuanced occurrence.  As was exemplified in the ball that Kipnis scorched in the 3rd inning on Thursday, the play of the outfielder has a dramatic impact on the result of the play.  Still, Kip embodies 3 qualities that make those triples quite a bit more likely: (1) he hits the ball real GD hard, giving the outfielder the illusion that he can make the play when he cannot, (2) while he does have some speed, more importantly he runs the bases aggressively, as most hitters would have stopped at second on the play yesterday, (3) and this is the big one, he plays the game with reckless abandon.  Jason is not going to get out-hustled or out-hearted on any play.  He's a ballplayer's ballplayer whose intangibles elevate him far above his talent level.  It's difficult to find anything to dislike about Jason Kipnis.

Hey, Johnny Damon hit a triple, too!  Jack Hannahan is back over three hundred and, thanks to the gods of replay, has added a second home run to his resume.  Jeanmar Gomez kept his WHIP under one by holding the league's best offense (5.3 RPG) in check for seven innings.  Scott Radinsky stated that it has been the emergence of an effective slider, to compliment his fastball/change-up mix, that has made the difference for Gomez.  After a rough start, the bullpen (with the notable exception of Durbinite Dan Wheeler) has returned to form and posted a 2.36 ERA over it's last 49.2 innings.  Even Chris Perez has saved 10 straight since his Opening Day debacle.  Perhaps most impressive of all has been Carlos Santana's emergence as a defensive weapon.  Big Smooth has tossed out 5 of 12 runners (42%), developing a little bit of fist pumping flair on the way.  Josh Hamilton was out by a ma-hile.  If you have a chance check out the video of the two round-the-horn double plays and Shin-Soo Choo's grab to end the game.  Pitching and defense, baby.  To quote Lou Graham, "It's all starting to come together."

For those of you calling for Matt LaPorta over Casey Kotchman, Shelley Duncan would likely be cut first and no move will be made before the end of the month.  For those of you calling for Jeremy Accardo or Chris Ray over Wheeler, yell louder, we need to get that bum out of town.  For those of you calling for Trevor Crowe over Aaron Cunningham, who the hell cares.

The Tribe had better win tonight, because they will have no chance in an Ubaldo/Yu Darvish Match-up.

Cheers.

Gettin Sloppy At the Clip Joint

Ezequiel Carrera

The Clippers 12-8 win tonight over the G-Braves featured 4 Gwinnett errors and 3 wild pitches, but the Clips (12-11) still almost gave this one away.  Starter Kevin Slowey (2-2, 5.68) allowed 6 earned in his 5 and 2/3, including 3 long balls.  Scott Barnes (5.60), making his first appearance since April 18th, was unable to close out the last two innings of a six run lead after walking 3 and allowing a pair of runs in his inning and 2/3.  Chris Ray was forced to enter with the bases loaded in the 9th to assure the victory.

The 12 runs came in odd fashion, even disregarding the miscues.  Matt LaPorta (.371), who came in 15-for-27 (.556) with 5 homers and 13 RBI (1.847 OPS) over his last 8 games, went hitless.  The two through four hitters went a combined 1-for-14 on a night when 18 men reached base.  It was left to Gregorio Petit (.212) to lead the O, as he came through with 3 hits, 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.  Chad Huffman (.300) and Ezequiel Carrera (.262) added 2 hits and 2 RBI apiece.  Since the end of his 14 game hit streak, Cord Phelps (.268) is batting just .154 (.515 OPS).

The Clippers finish up with Gwinnett tomorrow at 7:05.  My guess is that Corey Kluber (3-1, 2.67) will be the starter.

Other Minor Points of Interest -

Akron
Jared Goedert (.390) had a hit and an RBI and is sporting a 1.048 OPS.  Chun Chen (.303) is maintaing a solid batting average despite an 0-fer on Thursday.  The troublesome number is the zero in the home run column.  Chun bashed 16 home runs for Akron in 2011.  Nick Weglarz (.210) laced a single, but the big Canuck has just a .610 OPS on the season.  Rob Bryson (2.70) pitched 2 scoreless innings, fanning a pair.  He now has 17 K's in 13 IP and is holding the opposition to a .220 average.

Carolina
Jesus Aguilar (.333) homered twice and drove home all 3 Mudcats runs in their victory over Lynchburg.  The big first baseman has posted a .986 OPS.  Tony Wolters (.156) had a hit last night and has found some minimal success, but his K/H ratio is still 21/12 and his OPS sits at a lowly .435.

Lake County
Elvis Araujo (2.61) showed up with another strong start.  Although he did not figure in the decision, Elvis scattered six hits over 5 and 2/3, limiting the Dayton Dragons to 2 runs.  Despite an 0-4 record, Araujo has punches out 27 in 31 innings while walking just 8.

Cheers.

War Of Attrition

Computer viruses suck.  Moving on...

First place has never smelled quite so mediocre.  While the Tribe is technically 2 points up the dream team Tigers and a White Sox team to whom they have lost all 3 games this season, the Indians are certainly not playing like a team on top.  Shelley Duncan bashed his 3rd home run last night, the first by a Tribesman in 11 games, a span of somewhere around 370 at-bats.  The Indians have also scored just 19 runs in their past 8 games (3-5) with no more than 4 runs scored in any single contest.  Ubaldo Jimenez has a 2.12 WHIP and a .986 OPS against in his last 4 starts while surrendering 5 home runs and throwing just 57% of his pitches for strikes.  Rafael Perez is on the disabled list and Jose Lopez has been cast away (DFAed) to make room for Johnny Damon.

Let's talk about Damon for second.  In a season that has been beset by lies and misdirection from every level of Indians' management, Johnny's arrival has reached a new low.  There is no room misunderstanding therein.  When Damon was signed on April 12th, the organization announced that he would spend some time at extended Spring Training in Arizona and then make a stop at AAA Columbus before joining the big league club.  Lie.  Did the brain trust pass along this change of plans to the fans at any point?  Sure.  It happened on Monday, one day before Johnny was added to the roster.  Now, I completely understand that teams, on some occasions, have reason to be tight lipped, but there is absolutely no competitive advantage to be gained by intentionally and absolutely misleading the fan base and, likely, the players on the team.  In strong contradiction, this sort of blatant misinformation only serves to distance those hardcore fans who pay attention (like me) and sow the seeds of distrust that have run rampant across the country for decades.

Back to the play upon the ballfield...

Wait, no, let's discuss Shin-Soo Choo.  Choo has not played since tweaking his left hamstring on April 24th.  The brass (I'm looking at you woManny) decided not to him on the DL and just ride out the injury one player short.  Now, I'm no Matt LaPorta fan (in fact, he has recently boiled my ire to a new froth, see next Clippers post), but wouldn't anyone have been preferable to no one?  If we take the Indians at their word (which we can't) and Choo returns to the line-up tonight, he will have missed 7 days worth of game action.  If he is back to 100% (which he is most likely not) and produces (which he most likely will not), then I guess it's a coin flip.  Otherwise, the Indians allowed Aaron Cunningham to play right field for a week, provide no clutch hitting (0-5 with 2 out and RISP) and throw, by my count, 32 balls into the ground from the outfield.

Moving on...

I do not believe that I have ever seen a Major League baseball team have such a poor stretch of five hitters as the Tribe has to begin the 3rd last night.  Here's the progression: leadoff home run to a guy batting .153 and hadn't homered all year long (Gordon Beckham); double on a pop fly that went about 55 feet; fielding error at short on a ball so routine that, literally, a 3rd grader could have made it; walk to load the bases; walk to force in a run.  Ubaldo, who walked 6 and struck out 1 in 4 and 2/3 innings, should not be an MLB pitcher.  He walked 5 more than he punched out for the first time in his career.  On the season, his 0.70 K/BB ratio is a third of his already mediocre career number.  His 20 walks are the most in baseball and that K/BB is second worst to only Jeremy Guthrie.

Bah.

Still in 1st place.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.