A Quest Called Tribe

I have heard a lot of chatter that, if the Indians want to contend during the dog days, they will need a "veteran, right-handed set-up man" to pitch in the 8th inning.  Uh-huh.  That sounds suspiciously like Chad Durbin.  This has all been prompted by the fact that Vinnie Pestano has had the gall to post a .176 OBA and a 1.84 ERA.  Sure, Pestano gave up a solo home run to one of the best hitters in baseball last night.  Sure, the proximate cause was the likely Pestano's youthful ignorance on how to pitch one of the best hitters in baseball with a one run 8th inning lead.  But, seriously folks, let's not deplete the farm system to acquire Kyle Farnsworth ;-j.  I doubt anyone would argue with applying the quoted description to Farnsworth and, guess what, he too is fallible.  If Rafael Soriano and Joaquin Benoit haven't proven that over-valuing the set-up position is a huge pitfall, I do not know what can.

I know the Tribe is winning (23-11) and I have been explicit that I am giving Manny Acta the benefit of the doubt.  Still, I'll quibble with him on the use of Justin Germano and I will continue to contend that Grady Sizemore should be hitting elsewhere in the lineup.  Just consider how much easier everyone's breathing would have been last night had Grady's lead-off yank had been a three-run shot.  Also note that Michael Brantley's OBP is 40 points (.375 vs .333) higher than Sizemore's.  And, AND, that Grady's slugging percentage (.641) is nearly 300 points higher than that of Shin-Soo Choo (.348) or Carlos Santana (.389).

Props to Brantley on the true walk-off and Farnsworth on his classy-classic reaction.  That is the best method of defeating the five man infield.

File under things I'm not going to worry about: Josh Tomlin giving up 1-run long balls.  His WHIP is 0.86 and his OBA .185.

Frank Herrmann, recalled yesterday to provide extra insurance in the 'pen before Carlos Carrasco was activated, was sent right back to AAA when the starter's move was made official.  It was the second time this season that Herrmann has been up for a single day and without appearing in the game.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Clip Joint Second String

Cord Phelps

A wise friend of mine is fond of the phrase "regression to the mean."  Generally it means that if a guy is a bum, then even if he plays well for a bit, he will always return to playing like a bum.  Go ahead and substitute "in over his head" or "being asked too much of" for bum if it helps.  As if to prove the validity of this statement, the dregs of the Clippers pitching staff took to the hill this evening.

I would not classify Corey Kluber as a bum, but anyone toting a 8.04 ERA is likely pitching a level too high.  Kluber, still in search of his first win of 2011, went out and threw four excellent innings, allowing a run on five hits.  Then he regressed to the mean.  He recorded three more outs before being pulled and allowed five more runs.  He was relieved by Eric Berger, clinging to a 7-6 lead.

If that was all the regression, I would not have led with it, now would I?  Berger (5.06 ERA) is a gamer, but he'll never be a big leaguer and AAA is probably even a stretch.  Still, Berger had thrown effectively in a handful full of games for Columbus this season.  Tonight he did not.  Berger got out of the sixth then proceeded to put the first two men on in the seventh before Carlton Smith was called upon.

Carlton Smith is a bit of retread, a unknown never-will-be.  Smith (2.35) had, however, been unscored upon in his first 14.2 innings of 2011.  Not anymore.  In true regression, Smith allowed four hits and a walk before the inning ended.  Although Berger was officially tagged with the loss, it was certainly Smith that allowed the game to get out of hand.

The offense did its part as Cord Phelps, Ezequiel Carrera and Travis Buck all launched solo dingers and Lonnie Chisenhall added a 3-run double.  Phelps, playing amongst rumors that the big club is watching him closely to replace Adam Everett as the utility infielder, singled as well and is clipping along at .311.  Buck, a simple casualty of the numbers crunch, has done nothing since his demotion but crank .340 with 18 RBI.  How much longer can Austin Kearns warrant a roster spot?  Were the Indians a losing club this season, Carrera (.324) would be licking his chops and awaiting a promotion following the inevitable trade of Grady Sizemore.  Chisenhall (.291) might already be on the lake.  As it stands, neither is likely to appear at the Jake until September at the earliest.

Also of note, Jason Donald left in the top of the 6th inning after injuring his left knee.  This is the third separate debilitation (hand, quad) that has afflicted Donald this year, not to mention the excellent play of Jack Hannahan.  The string of bad breaks ;-j for JD is an outstanding illustration of how not only talent, but timing and luck, are necessary to get a big league job.


Wednesday would be Jeanmar Gomez's normal day to start, thus I would assume him to be taking the pill tomorrow for the Clips in another 6:35p first pitch.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Speaking of bad breaks, Jared Goedert has been assigned to Akron on a 20-day rehabilitation assignment.  Goedert entered spring training as a viable candidate for the third base job before straining his oblique during the first week of camp.  The conclusion of the rehab aligns exactly with the end of the 60-day disabled list period, so one would expect Goedert to be activated at that point.  The problem is that Jared was rostered to the 40-man last fall and, when he is activated, someone, possibly Goedert himself, will have to be DFA'ed.  It's still 3 weeks off, so we shall see.  He was 0-for-4 with a walk, a strikeout and an RBI in his first game back.

LeVon Washington continued an odd trend in his fourth game for Lake County.  Washington has produced a hit in all four, but only one hit.  In fact, he has been 1-for-4 in each.  Tonight, his hit was a double, his first of the season.

The next step for St Edward's graduate and Pirates 2010 second round pick Stetson Allie has been decided.   Pittsburgh GM Neal Huntington explained why Allie will be headed to the short season A State College Spikes next month to make his professional debut instead of joining others at low-A West Virginia.

"It's unfortunate that Jameson [Taillon] and Stetson have been so closely linked.  As excited as we are about both of them, they're very different. Jameson has pitched his whole life and is very advanced for a 19-year-old on the mound because of all the inning he has thrown.  In Stetson's case, he has come on late. He has a great arm but hasn't pitched his whole life. He has actually more of prospect as a position player going into his junior year then really burst onto the scene in his senior year of high school as a pitcher in terms of maturity on the mound and delivery and feel for pitching, so there will be some separation there."

Cheers.

Return To the Clip Joint

Jeanmar Gomez was sent back to Columbus yesterday.  I have a feeling that if the Indians need another starting pitcher from AAA this year, it won't be Jeanmar again.  I also doubt that David Huff will get the call.  My vote?  Zach McAllister.  Zach (3.00) is 6-0 after beating the Charlotte Knights at Huntington Park tonight.  McAllister allowed 2 runs on five hits over 7 innings.  It was his third straight start of at least 7 and his fifth straight of at least 6.  He struck out 8 and walked 1.  The man has issued just 6 free passes in 2011 and four of them were in the same game in the second week of the season.  Zach has experience (33 AAA starts), size (6'6", 240) and youth (23 all season).  Now that he's produced the numbers he has, a call-up cannot be far afield.

Jason Donald hit his second home run to lead the offensive charge.  Donald (.290) added a single and scored 3 total runs.  Travis Buck, batting clean-up and playing first, supplied a first inning RBI single and a 3rd inning sac fly then walked and scored in the 8th.  Lonnie Chisenhall doubled to extend his hit streak to 8 games as Columbus won 5-2.

Corey Kluber faces the Knights tomorrow at 6:35p.

One Other Minor Point of Interest --

We'll see how conservative the Nationals want to be with 2010 #1 overall pick Bryce Harper who is riding a 13-game hitting streak and has raised his season OPS to 1.155.  Harper (.376) has batted .449 with four home runs and 10 RBI during the streak.  Remember that Harper is at low-A Hagerstown (Lake County level) and would move next to high-A Potomac.

Cheers

While I Was Sminking

Let's see...

Jess Todd was claimed off of waivers by the Yankees.  Todd, who was DFA'ed when the Tribe added Alex White to 40-man roster, was acquired in the Mark DeRosa trade along with Chris Perez.  Todd had an outstanding spring camp and nearly made the club in a role eventually filled by Vinnie Pestano.  The best of luck to Jess with his new organization, except, of course, against the Indians.

Jeanmar Gomez was today optioned back to AAA Columbus.  While a corresponding addition was not announced, the assumption is that Carlos Carrasco will be activated to pitch on Wednesday against the Rays.  Carrasco made a rehab start on Friday in Akron that is being described by some as "successful."  Four runs on four hits and three walks over 3.2 innings does not sound successful to me, but I did not see the man pitch.  As with a spring training outing, rehab games are primarily about testing endurance and command.  While the numbers do not reflect positive results, if he is pain free, and it seems that he is, I would much rather have him in the rotation than Jeanmar.

Prospect Nick Hagadone (1.45 ERA) surrendered his first three runs of the season in taking the loss for Akron on Saturday.  Hagadone loaded the bases in the 7th on two hits and a walk that was suspect enough to get both the Akron manager and pitching coach ejected.  Matt Langwell relieved and got a force play and a striekout to nearly escape the inning before a single brought in the decisive runs.  Hagadone is still in line for a promotion with the opposition batting a meek .193 against him.

Over two weekend appearances for the Aeros RHP CC Lee (2.84) struck out 8 over 3.2 perfect innings, including all five he faced on Friday.  Over his last four games, CC has thrown 9.1 hitless, scoreless frames, striking out 18 and allowing just a single baserunner on a walk.  He picked up his first win of the season and has righted the ship after losing his first time out and racking up a 5.58 ERA before the streak.

The Clippers split a 4-game set with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs as top prospect Domonic Brown (asshole) knocked around the staff pretty good.  Brown was 7-for-13 with two homers and 5 RBI and six runs scored.  I think that I might send him some hate mail.  Anyway, the starting pitching did not put together a very good showing despite lasting at least five innings in all five starts and earning all of the decisions.   Although the quartet (Kluber, Martinez, Huff, Barnes) struck out nearly a batter per inning (21 in 21.2) the 7.89 ERA, .345 OBA, and 1.75 WHIP are simply unacceptable.  Both Kluber (7.63) and Barnes (6.23) are pitching as if they are in over their heads, but, fortunately, the organization has the luxury of patience.

Cord Phelps (6-for-13, HR, 5 RBI, .313 season), Lonnie Chisenhall (7-for-15, 3 RBI, .294, 7-game hit streak) and Jerad Head (4-for-7, HR, 3 RBI, .385) all had great series and Wes Hodges (.208) finally broke Mendoza with a 3-for-4, HR, 3 RBI effort in Sunday's second game.

Oh, and Carlton Smith threw a couple more shutout innings and is now unscored upon in 14.2 innings this year.

Drew Pomeranz (1.27) notched his first pro win on Saturday with five scoreless innings.  Pomeranz allowed 3 hits and 3 walks while fanning eight.  Pom is dazzling hitters to the tune of a .162 OBA and 13.34 K/9.  Tick tock, get ready Akron.

Yesterday, not only did Adam Miller (9.00) throw another clean inning, but Giovanni Soto continued his excellence out of the gate.  Soto (2.67) was not around for the decision (1-3 this year) but surrendered just a run on four hits in six innings.  He walked one and struck out five.  Keep your eye on this kid.

2010 2nd round pick LeVon Washington made his season debut over the weekend.  In each of three games for the Captains, Washington singled and walked.  Over those three, all of them in center field, Washington is batting .250 with a run scored and a stolen base.

Steven Wright (2.75) showed continued improvement with his knuckler, tossing a six inning start on Saturday, five hits and two earned the damage.  Wright walked five and struck out six, numbers that one would expect from a man learning the most nuanced of all pitches.  Still, Wright's overall numbers seem good and his progression has been encouraging to the organization.

Friend of the blog and all around good guy, Tyler Tufts (2.25) had an up and down weekend for AA Frisco of the Texas Rangers organization.  Ty threw well on Thursday, tossing three perfect innings with four K's to grab his first career AA win.  Sunday was not quite as enjoyable.  Tyler let in the game losing run among four base runners in an inning and a third.  His overall ERA (between A+ & AA) sits at 1.84 along with a .212 OBA.  Good stuff.

So, now I guess we have to chat about the Indians proper.  The Tribe dropped two of three to the Angels in Anaheim over the weekend with every game decided by a single run. 

What did we learn? 

On Friday we learned that Justin Masterson (7 IP, 9 H, ER, 5 K, 2.11) is still awesome, Vinnie Pestano (IP, H, K) is still nasty and Justin Germano is worthless.  Germano (5.00) had a streak of 5 consecutive scoreless appearances snapped (6 IP) in surrendering four straight hits to give Anaheim the walk off win.  Justin, pitching for the first time in eight days and just the 7th time all year, was as rusty as one can be and did not retire a soul.  If Manny Acta cannot trust Germano on a more regular basis, the roster spot needs to ceded to someone more useful.

On Saturday, we learned that Alex White (6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, first MLB win) is here to stay, Chris Perez is probably over his swoon (perfect 9th, 10th save), and, yep, Vinnie Pestano (IP, H, K, 1.32) is nasty.

And on Sunday we learned that the team can actually go deep on the road (Grady left the yard, the team has 8 in 712 road PA's), the Tribe can allow unearned runs (Adam Everett's gaff allowed 3, they have 8 on the season) and sometimes shit just happens (Choo misplay + two "Anaheim" chops + Austin Kearns playing a deep shortstop = loss).

Still the starting pitching was excellent and Carlos Santana (5-for-13, RBI, 3 R, .218) is starting to show some signs of life, raising his batting average by 22 points in the series.

Breathing now.  I know that losing happens.  Yesterday, a wise man mentioned to me that, excluding the first two games of the season, the Tribe has been in every contest.  I thought that there might be one more (they lost 10-3 to the Twins on April 23).  Other than that, the Indians have not lost a game by more than two runs this season.  If you're going to contend, you need stay in games and, even with the two losses to the Angels, they sure are doing that.

For those of you that made it to the bottom of the post, I'll reward you with a quick peek into the world of sminking.  It involves copious consumption of intoxicating liquors on either one or two of the weekend nights.  This invariably leads to the whole locomotive to chest sensation, but that's not the issue.  More problematic are the crippling depression and palapable anxiety that accompany the hangover.  It's a lot like borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.  And the blog belongs to St. Peter.  Alas.  Working on it, kids.

P.s.  This also happened ...

God save the queen.

A Quest Called Tribe

Hey guys, guess what?  I goddamn hate losing.  I don't like idiots.  I don't like modern society much, but I hate losing as much as I love the sparkling green eyes on a pretty redhead or, say, breathing.  The Tribe won today, and thank goodness, but we'll get back to that.  I am still stung by the team's sensational inability to give Josh Tomlin (btw, he's now the 9th pitcher since 1909 with 19 straight 5+ inning starts to begin a career) two freaking runs.  The dude did not put a runner on base until the 8th inning and that was on an error!  I know that home runs count, blah, blah, blah.  David The Jesus never stood on a base, so we'll discount him.  Trevor Cahill made the Indians look stupid, flat out stupid.  Especially Matt LaPorta, there is simply no excuse Matty.  Admittedly, the ire inspired by the wasted gem of yesterday has just been tweaked by the ghetto flippancy of Domonic Brown.  I won't get into it, and believe me it is an effort, but that punk is deuces.  Enough.

Moving on.  On to happier thoughts.

Chad Durbin pitched well.  I should have known that world had gone all topsy turvy when Durbin threw two scoreless innings to pick up the win.  Heck, Chad pitched better than Vinnie Pestano (sorry Vin, can't say you're nasty today) or Chris Perez (How's about Pure Vage?), whose ERA is 7.11 over his last seven appearances.  It was also nice to see Jack Hannahan redeem himself with the go-ahead single, appropriately a carbon copy of the bloop double that tied the game for the A's.

And let me say, thank god that we are out of Oakland.  That stadium is infuriating.  I don't know if I could ever get used to the cow pastures that they call foul territory, but it also seemed like the outfield was all of Yellowstone.  I have never seen so many cheap hits in my life, nor so many outfielders sprint vainly for so many pop-ups.  What's the deal with Oakland playing its outfielders on the warning track?  Bah.  It's over, letting go now.

Carlos Carrasco has thrown off of a mound without pain and could go on a rehab assignment as early as next week.  This begs the question: Jeanmar Gomez or Alex White?  Each, of course, will have at least one more start before the decision needs to be made.  Still, as of now, I would keep White.  Gomez tossed a beaut today, his best of the season, but he does not seem to possess either command or great stuff.  His start today was nice, true.  The fact of the matter is that Jeanmar has little future in the major, especially with the glut of talent knocking behind him.  Sorry, dude.

Enough of this.  I was supposed to post this last nite.  More to come.

Cheers.

P.s.  I have never seen a better play by a pitcher on a fly ball than Joe Smith's.

Minor Points Of Interest

Nick Hagadone continues to demand a promotion with his play upon the ball field.  Tonight, Nick picked up his second win of the season in a 6-3 Akron victory.  Hagadone scattered three hits over two and a third and struck out one to run his 2011 scoreless innings streak to 17.  Soon, the Indians will be forced to make room for him at AAA.

Kinston was able to finish up Tuesday's suspended game and take a 5-1 win.  Adam Miller pitched the 9th for the little Indians and was much more successful than in his first appearance.  Miller (13.50 ERA) pitched around a hit and a walk in a clean frame, striking out one.  Best of continued luck to Adam, both because the man has endured long enough in order to get into games and because he would eventually be a nice addition to big league 'pen.

Lake County 1-hit Bowling Green, defeating the Hot Rods 4-0 to open their series.  Seven innings came from Mike Rayl, who did allow the hit but fanned 11 against zero walks.  Rayl, a 15th round pick in 2009 who will turn 22 in November, has started 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA for the Captains.  Derek Dietrich struck out in each and every one of his three plate appearances.


Cheers.

A Quest Called Tribe

I feel like I'm in the minority.  Not that it's an uncommon sensation for me, I just don't think so many Tribe fans stay up for these west coast contests.  Tonight's game was certainly worth it.  In a true pitcher's duel, Fausto Carmona went 8, allowing just a run on five hits.  A clutch Matt Laporta single tied it in the 7th and the offense took the lead for good in the 9th off of A's closer Brian Fuentes, who did not retire a batter.  Michael Brantley singled to begin the inning but was picked off when he misjudged Fuentes' movement to the plate.  His mates picked him up though.  Singles by LaPorta and Jack Hannahan, in front of an Oakland outfield playing five feet from the track, put the go ahead run at third with one out.  Orlando Cabrera, who had entered in the 7th as a pinch runner, came through with an RBI single to put the Indians on top.  Two batters later, Asdrubal Cabrera brought in a pair.  Then, of course, came Pure Rage.

If a team is going to put together a 20-8 record (best in baseball, ahem) to start a season, it is likely to win in a variety of ways.  Such is absolutely the case with the Indians.  Tonight's game exemplifies the focus that the Manny Acta's boys have.  Held scoreless for six innings by a virtual unknown (Tyson Ross?) the hitters kept a good approach until Ross finally faltered.  Although it may seem like a small issue, the fact that Acta has kept his entire bench involved in the starting lineup is a big part of that focus.  Despite starting the game on the bench (Adam Everett got the nod at second), O-Cab delivered the biggest hit of the night.  The players are locked in both individually and as a team.  When Brantley gaffed in the 9th, there was no admonishment, the guys simply went back to work and took the lead anyway.  In case I have yet to mention it, that's called teamwork.


The funny thing about Choo's DUI?  He stopped and asked the Sheffield Lake 5-0 for directions to his house just before getting pulled over.  Then he proceeded to blow .20!  Choo knows how to party, but call a cab, bro.  We do not need another Donte Stallworth.  This is the second such incident for the Tribe this season.  I had totally forgotten about the Austin Kearns/Kentucky thing on the eve of spring training.

For any of you wondering about Indians radio coverage in the Columbus market, the Dispatch has a nice piece here, although it's a month old.  There have been no further developments.  Bummer.

I saw an article today that indicated that Indians were pitching over their heads, but the offense would keep them in the hunt when the staff, inevitably, regressed.  Although a nice compliment to the bats, any sort of Saber-metrics that doom the hurlers to disgrace is a load of hooey.  The big quote, "This just isn’t a great pitching staff, and while the results have been good, there’s a ton of room for regression there."  This just isn't a great pitching staff.  If you're going to manipulate numbers, fine, but don't make blanket, judgmental statements.  Such things make we want to punch certain statisticians in the mouth.  C'mon, two starters are on the shelf already, the ace has just reached .500 with an ERA of about four and a half and the big free agent arm (Chad Durbin, ugh) has a WHIP of 1.90 and an OBA of .388.  This sort of statistical wizardry is based on past performance and generalized trends; I shan't go any deeper.  I'll talk to FanGraphs in September as the Indians prepare for the ALDS.

Cheers.