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 Hannahan?  Jason Donald?  Jared 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.

Burned On the River

On April 7th, 2006 the Indians shipped 24 year-old second baseman Brandon Phillips downstate to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for reliever Jeff Stevens.  Phillips, who had feuded with manager Eric Wedge and batted just .208 in parts of four seasons with the club, had languished behind incumbent Ronnie Belliard, accruing just 31 AB's over the previous two seasons.  Well, Belliard would suffer through an injury plagued campaign and lose his spot to Josh Barfield less than 365 days later.  Stevens was eventually sent to the Cubs in a package for Mark DeRosa and has posted a 6.27 MLB ERA since.  Phillips, on the other hand, has won a pair of Gold Gloves, notched two All-Star appearances and absolutely killed his former team.  Following an RBI single and a two-run bomb tonight, Phillips raised his career average against the Tribe to .347 and his OPS to .942.  Both of those are his second highest versus any opposing club (who knew he killed the Mets).  Oddly enough DeRosa was traded to the Cardinals for... Chris Perez, who we have yet to see against the Reds...

Again, there is little to write about.  For the second straight night, the ballgame was as bland as dry toast and tap water.  Michael Brantley (.285) hit in his 20th straight, Jose Lopez (.265, 3 HR) tagged Aroldis Chapman for a solo homer on a 100 MPH fastball and Derek Lowe walked 6 in 6 innings.  Yawn.

We did see the Indians debut of newly acquired reliever Esmil Rogers.  Now, I lambasted the Tribe yesterday for bringing in another cast away reliever with no record of Major League success.  Today, I am a bit less critical.  I was solidly impressed with Rogers' first inning with his new club.  He fanned 2 of the three he faced, hit 97 on the gun and, most importantly, threw 10 of his 11 pitches for strikes.  Esmil was averaging 6.3 BB/9 with the Rockies and has been plagued by control issues throughout his big league career.  If this kid (not a kid, 27 in August) can come in and pitch with that kind of command on a regular basis, he will be a welcomed addition to a bullpen that has allowed 7 runs in 5 innings against the Redlegs.

Oh, but the brain trust doesn't get off that easy.  To make space for Rogers on the 25-man roster, the Tribe demoted... Matt LaPorta.  This is a team that has scored 14 runs in the 5 inter-league road games and they decided they'd go with one fewer hitter?  Now, it's not like Matty was contributing or anything (2-for-11, 2 K), but someone has to.  Indians pitchers are batting .250 (3-for-12) on the trip while other 6-9 men are hitting just .160 (9-for-56).  That's right Johnny Damon (.178), RETIRE!  We need a real bat!  Instead of trying to plug bullpen holes for which we have excellent AAA corks (Chris Ray?  Frank Herrmann? Hello?), maybe we could try to hook a right handed bat that has fallen out of favor, just as Brandon Phillips did so many years ago.

Or maybe we can just keep settling for one run after loading the bases with no one out. 

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s.  Nice move by the fan in right field, trying to steal the ball out of Choo's glove.  You tried to help the team!  They'll probably ask you to come hit BP with them tomorrow.  Tell all your buddies over a nice cold Miller High Life.  It's the champagne of beers!  No one thinks you're a bunch of hilljack bums.  Stay classy, Cincinnati.

Bad After Bad

Well, that intrastate rivalry game certainly wasn't competitive.  Props to Michael Brantley for extending his hitting streak to 19 games (.351, 15 RBI during that stretch).  Outside of that and pretty clutch RBI single for Jason Kipnis in the 1st inning (team high 40 RBI), there isn't much about which to smile.

Here's what we know.  Jeanmar Gomez needs to get better and preferably return to the form that he showcased in 7 of his first 8 starts of 2012 (3-2, 3.19).  Since that point Gomez is 1-3 with a 7.84 ERA.  Now, I agree that tonight's start was a step in the right direction as he allowed just one earned run.  Still, he put 10 guys on in 5 innings and threw just 48 of 92 pitches for strikes.  Jeanmar is a pitch to contact guy, so he thrives when he can hit his spots within the zone and ensure that said contact is of the not so solid variety.  He hasn't had that sort of command in a about a month.  Now, we heard recently that pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona (now Roberto Hernandez) could be back in the fold by the All-Star break.  Unfortunately, that seems to be wishful thinking.  Two days ago, Mark Shapiro shared that the organization has absolutely no idea when Hernandez could be back.  If Roberto was just around the corner, there might be some logic in allowing Jeanmar Gomez to work through his issues until such a security blanked was delivered.  As it stands, I have to contend that Gomez is one more bad start away from being swapped out with Zach McAllister.  Of course, the Indians' leadership seems to make its decisions like a pack of baboons at play, by throwing shit at a wall.  So who the hell knows...

And who the hell knows why the team pulled the trigger on acquiring right-handed reliever Esmil Rogers from the Rockies today.  Remember Jairo Asencio (I know I wish I didn't)?  Same guy.  This season, Rogers has posted an 8.06 ERA and 2.10 WHIP.  His career numbers (6.77, 1.82) are little better.  In 184 innings, dude had allowed 243 hits and 93 walks!  He's been tagged with 21 homers, 13 hit batters and 15 wild pitches!  Yes, please, sign me up!  Put this guy in the bullpen!  In 2012, right handers are batting an even .400 off of Rogers with an OPS of 1.087!  There is no logic on the face of the Earth to justify such an idiotic addition.  I would say that the only rational reason for making the trade (they actually purchased Rogers, but that kind of lingo isn't PC these days) is that someone held the cold steel barrel of .45 magnum to Chris Antonetti's clammy forehead and forced him to choose between making the trade and taking a dirt nap.  Even then, it's a coin flip.

The only, and I do mean only, upside to the Rogers acquisition is that it likely means the end of the leash for Tony Sipp.  Tony (6.65 ERA), who allowed another 2 run homer today, cannot be allowed to continue.  Opponents are batting .389 with runners in scoring position and .392 with runners on base against the Gas Man.  Again, watch the Tribe send out Scott Barnes, who has been outstanding (4 hitless innings), instead.

For anyone out there who thinks that there is any offensive help coming from AAA, please seek help in a drug treatment program as soon as possible.  The offense in Columbus is atrocious.  I watched them last night and I don't think there's a true Major Leaguer among them.  We will probably see Jason Donald again sometime soon, but, outside of different utility infielder, the biggest upside from the Clippers is Jared Goedert.  Goedert had a 9 RBI game last week and has some legitimate right-handed power (.592 SLG in 2012).  He also has a lot of holes in his swing (154 K's in 183 AAA games).  What he could do is sit on the bench just as well as Matt LaPorta, who has not played in a week.

Oh well.  I saw a piece today that called Cleveland the worst sports city in America because we have simply lost hope.  So I'm going try to visualize the fullness of the glass.

We'll get 'em tomorrow.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Minor Points of Interest

Steven Wright

Akron

Steven Wright (4-2, 1.72) throws a knuckleball.  After making it all the way to AAA as a conventional pitcher, Wright took a hard left last season, making the decision to focus mainly on the knuckler.  After an up and down initial season, Steven has certainly found himself in 2012 and tonight was no exception.  With Uncle Knucksie dancing all night long, Wright surrendered just 1 earned run and 1 hit (solo homer) over his six innings of work.  He walked 2 and fanned 6.  In two starts since returning from the DL (broken toe), Steven has allowed just than one ER and 3 hits in 9 innings and has punched out 10.  On the season, he has held opponents to a .201 average.

Bryce Stowell (0.82) closed the game with a perfect 9th, striking out 1.  The opposition has reached base just 6 times (all hits) in 11 innings this season against Stowell, who has K'ed 21.  Tick, tock.  He will be in Columbus soon.

Despite a solo home run tonight, Nick Weglarz is batting just .219 with a .673 OPS on the year.  Many think that his prospects of making the bigs have narrowed to almost nil.

In case you missed it, Matt Lawson (the guy that the Tribe got from Seattle for Aaron Laffey in 2011) has come out of retirement and is batting .273 over his first five games back.

Carolina

Tony Wolters (.226), the Indians' reigning minor league player of the week, finished May batting .291 for the month, after .130 in April.  On Friday, he tripled, scored and drove home a run.





Cheers.

We Are All Kipnises

Especially when he hits the team's first grand slam on the season (and the 1st of his career).  Woooooooooooooooooooh!  I turned and said, as Kip strode to the plate, "The pitching coach was out, this kid had better be looking for a first pitch strike he can drive."  And he did.  He stayed back on a change-up and the ball shot out to right center field.  Jason also stole a bag and started a dazzling double play.  Face it guys; this is our All-Star.  One would have to assume that Robbie Cano is going to win the fan vote (stinkin' Yankees), but Kipnis should definitely be the first reserve.  He leads AL second basemen in home runs (9) and RBI (34) and the whole friggin' league in stolen bases (12).  He's second in WAR (2.2) and runs scored (35).  Really, the only number that doesn't rank highly is his OPS (.804, still not bad) because the guy somehow only has 4 doubles all season.  Still, if he keeps this up, it would be a travesty should he not make the squad.

Speaking of travesties, why are Juan Diaz and Aaron Cunningham still on this team?  Diaz is like flood insurance in Nevada, he's around for an incredibly unlikely emergency.  And Jose Lopez could play short for a few innings in a pinch anyway.  Cunningham has some defensive utility, but a team batting Lopez in the cleanup spot does not have the luxury to carry such an automatic out.  Bah.

Derek Lowe needed to be the stopper tonight and stop the Twins he did.  After his war crime of an outing last Saturday, the birthday boy induced 11 ground ball outs in his 6.2 innings and faced just 2 over the minimum through the first 6 frames.  In his 9 quality starts this season, Lowe is 6-1 with a 1.63 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP and a .268 OBA.  In the other 2 starts, those numbers jump to 0-2, 16.20, 3.60 & .486.  In other words; when he's good (that is, keeping the ball down); he's very, very good; but when he's bad; he is horrid.

Bid a fond farewell to Jairo Asencio, who was claimed on waivers by the Cubbies today.  A last place club is exactly where that bum belongs.  Good riddance.

When Lonnie Chisenhall squares the ball up, he hits it with as much authority as anyone that I have ever seen.  He has scorched 2 long balls in 4 games and his 3 hits tonight bring his season average to .385.  Even woManny can't leave him in the 8 spot any longer.

Johnny Damon, who had 1 multi-hit game in his first 22 with the Tribe, has supplied 2 hits apiece in each of his last two, raising his average from .152 to .186.  That's still not where it needs to be, but I'll take anything that I can get from JD right now.

Oh, and a Plain Dealer report suggests that Roberto Hernandez could be back in the big leagues by the All-Star break.  Jeanmar Gomez, 0-2 with 9.82 in his last 2 starts and 1-3 with a 5.58 in his last 5, will have to return to his early season form if he wants to keep his slot in the rotation.

Do I really have to pay attention to the White Sox?  They suck.  Really, they do.  Just like the Indians in the first two months of 2011, every single man on their roster is playing over his head.  Unless you think Paul Konerko is a .400 hitter and AJ Pierzynski is the best catcher in the AL, they will regress to the mean.  C'mon guys, they have 3 starters with ERA's over 5.00.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

Clip Joint Away!

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

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

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

Cheers.

See No Losing

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.