Holes Get Exposed

Well the Indians got started in New York for what I said was a rebound series and a real litmus test for where we are in the playoff world. Well, after a 7-1 loss to the Yankees it looks like the Tribe still has a lot of work to do.  Even just the eyeball test is a bit revealing when comparing the rosters. 

Josh Tomlin got lit up.  He pitched only 3 innings and got rocked for 3 HRs by Dewayne Wise, Robinson Cano(as Rick Manning was 'shocked' by his lack of RBI production stats), and Nick Swisher(who smiled while running the bases).  This game was a joke that just never became funny.  We were down 2-0 after the first inning, then 4-0 after the 2nd, and then 6-0 after the 3rd inning, all while giving A-Rod the night off.  This one just felt 'over' after the 2nd inning, and the offense started to press.  I take that back, the offense wasn't pressing, the offense was the offense.

Only 4 Indians got hits off of Hiroki Kuroda who improved to 7-7 after pitching 7 innings and recording 7K's.  The Indians went 0-8 with runners in scoring position, including with 1 out in the 4th, a first pitch pop fly by Johnny Damon with runners on 1st and 3rd.  Great AB.  Grimmace was after him, and while he has been hitting better, his run producing numbers are about where they have been all season.  Choo looks good at the plate, Kipnis is slowly working his way out of his slump, Brantley is slowing down(he is allowed), and the Manahan is still working his way back in at the plate.  The offense is really bad right now, and the starting pitching has flipped from the start of the year.  In the beginning everyone except Ubaldo and Masterson could do no wrong, now only Masterson and Ubaldo can get a quality start.

What bothers me more is the message that the front office may be sending to the team.  It's starting to sound like the front office believes this is their window, and desperation is starting to settle in.  Reports are that the Indians were in the Kevin Youkilis sweepstakes, but we lost to the White Sox.  What message is that sending to Grimmace, Hannahan, Pronk, and Chisenhall?  Maybe the thing that is worse than a trade gone bad, is when a trade doesn't happen and you have to keep telling the guy you were about to give up his spot to that he is still 'your guy'.  Jim Harbaugh needs to be the Manager for the week after the trade deadline as all the fallen trades get leaked.

Also in another move the Indians sent Jeanmar Gomez to AAA, and will call up Zach McAllister to start on Thursday.  As you all know, I am a huge McAllister fan, and I love this move.  However Tomlin hasn't pitched much better as of late, so is he next?  Moves are clearly coming, because the Indians aren't 'trying out' guys anymore.  Manny Acta even confirmed that this isn't a spot start situation, this is McAllister's time to stick with the MLB roster.  Gomez got 3 months, and it didn't work out for the last one.  Here is something comforting too, Carlos Carrasco will be throwing a bullpen session today at Yankee Stadium as he continues his rehab from Tommy John.  That's like showing me Grady sitting on the bench when Damon crashed into that wall, just quit teasing me.  Carrasco will be an MLB starter for the Indians, but that is next season.

This isn't a total downer post though, because lets be real.  The Indians are a half game out of first in the AL Central.  Lets weather this storm(and by storm I mean the Wilson Betemit series next up in Baltimore), and see where we are at the All-Star break.  I expect Pronk to be fully back at the All-Star break, and that will help the offense in a MAJOR way.  Sizemore will be back by the end of July at the latest, and even if he isn't the Grady we all know, I will bet anybody he hits over .200 and will not need a defensive sub in the 7th inning.

Stay strong Tribe, maybe we can turn it around tonight.  We got Masterson who has the stuff to shut down any lineup, and we are facing Phil Hughes who can also shut down any lineup, but he can also hang a lot of pitches that the Indians can capitalize on.  Game on Tribe!


-Daniel Hahn

3 Games + 4 Runs = 1 Win

There isn't a lot to say about the final two games of this series, as the Tribe was awful on offense all series.  Going into the series the goal was to get to the struggling Astros bullpen, but instead we let their starters go deep into the games, rest their bullpen, and maybe help them moving forward the rest of the season.  Let me give you three lines that will sum up this series.

           IP  H  R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Happ
(W, 6-7)    7.0 4  1 1   2  5 0 111-71 4.83
D Keuchel
(W, 1-0)    9.0 6  1 1   1 3  1 108-70 1.29
L Harrell
(L, 6-6)    7.0 2  1 1   3 9  0 104-59 4.77

The book is officially out on the Indians offense, and that is to throw lefties at them.  I know this isn't a new stat or crazy idea based on what we have seen the last few years, but since going into the season we featured a lineup with 2 switch hitters, one righty, and 6 lefties, I am guessing that right handers are the minority on the market, or somebody is just being really stubborn.  I mentioned in the opening game recap, that opponents can sometimes open their swings a bit trying to crank a ball in Minute Maid, but over three full games this is really bad.  Now you got to take a poor offensive series and forget it as you travel into Yankee Stadium where in order to win you HAVE to score.  Tough pill to swallow, but the offense needs short memories.  How about the two Astros I said to watch before the series started, here are their offensive stats.

Hitters      AB R H RBI BB SO  AVG
J Altuve 2B  10 1 2   1 0   2  +.001
C Johnson 3B 12 3 7   5 0   1  +.012

That's right, Altuve(who left Sunday early with an injury) and Chris Johnson equaled the runs scored of the entire Indians offense for the series, had more RBIs than the Indians and maybe even more hits too.  I am not saying I want these two guys over Kipnis or one of our 3 third basemen, but we need to have answers to players who you know going into a series will do some damage.  The Indians answered against every run the Reds scored, and we won those games, we got leads in every game of this series and could only win one of them.  Grimmace had a good series, and so did Choo, and A-Cab, but we need more.  Kipnis is slowing down, and that's ok, but somebody has to be able to pick him up the way he picked up the offense when Pronk/Santana went down.  Brantley is still hot at the plate, but it won't last forever, so where will runners come from?  Our walks are at a much slower pace than early in the season so maybe the book is out on us to pound the strike zone?  So be it, who can swing at a first pitch fastball and hit it hard?  The last game against the Astros we had 5 total hits, one of which was a bunt single by Derek Lowe.  Another was a single by pinch hitter Carlos Santana, so only 3 total hits by the starters.  Hold on, two of those were by Grimmace, so really only one starter not named Grimmace got a hit.  That's not going to do it.

Short memories guys, Monday starts a new day, and a meaningful series.  This could be a playoff preview, so lets ramp it up and see where we stand.  The Indians could have been looking ahead to NYC, which they shouldn't do, but it can happen.  This next series will show us how we fare against the playoff caliber teams, and with it where our biggest weaknesses are before the trade deadline.


By Daniel Hahn

Houston...We Have Lift Off

The Tribe begun their first trip to Houston in over 10 years with a win.  In fact, the first two batters of the game ignited the offense to lift off, and then the Indians and Astros just orbited around the playing field with great pitching or really poor hitting.  It could really go either way in this one. 

The game started off on a solid note for the Tribe when Shin Soo Choo got a triple that hit the left field foul line.  Choo debated stopping at second, but luckily it didn't take him too long to decide and he lead off the game with a triple.  It was his fourth consecutive game that he got an extra base hit to start us off.  The next batter was A-Cab who did exactly what he needed to and that was hit a sac fly to the outfield, and drove in Choo.  1-0 Tribe. 

In the bottom of the first the Astros got runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, and then on a sharp grounder hit to Jason Kipnis, the runner trying to advance to 2nd stopped in the basepath when Kipnis attempted to tag him, so Kipnis had to throw to first for the force out.  Grimmace got the force at 1st and then threw back to 2nd to get the tag on the runner who had previously stopped in the basepath.  However once again, the runner stopped and forced a rundown.  Rather than focus on him only, Cabrera was smart and threw to Santana were another runner was attempting to score before the tag was applied in the prior rundown, but Cabrera got the ball to Santana with about 6 steps to spare.  Double play, ended the inning and the threat, still 1-0 Tribe after 1. 

The rest of the game didn't allow for any excitement.  Lucas Harrell looked like a Cy Young contender, and Ubaldo Jimenez who had allowed those first two runners via the walk got in command of the strike zone and dominated as well.  Both guys looked like they had good movement, but the hitting was awful.  Astros not named Chris Johnson were chasing pitches and falling for the Ubaldo curve all night.  Indians hitters would only rattle off 3 more hits and go after the first pitch fastball nearly every at-bat to little or no success.

Ubaldo Jimenez:  6.2IP, 4 hits allowed, 0 ER, 4 Walks, and 8 Ks
Lucas Harrell       7.0IP, 2 hits allowed, 1ER, 3 Walks, and 9Ks.

Those are the real stats of the these pitchers, and now I ask, was it great pitching or really bad hitting?  Obviously it will be somewhere between the two, but as I am watching the 2nd game of this series as I write this, I am going to say that it is lousy hitting.  For a visiting team playing in Houston, I am sure the small park makes hitters do things that maybe they wouldn't do at the plate, but 2 runs usually isn't a winning formula for any offense.  Not many great approaches at the plate by the hitters, I did like what Choo and Brantley did batting in game 1, but that is the usual suspects.  Grimmace had a great opportunity to blow the doors open in the middle innings with the bases juiced and 1 out, but he could only hit a pop fly in foul territory into RF, and no fault of Grimmace, but the 3rd base coach allowed Santana to tag on the fly, but he was gunned out by a mile thus ending the Indians threat.

The fun happened again in the bottom of the 8th with the Indians up 2-0 and Vinnie Pestano on the mound.  Pestano allowed 3 warning track fly balls to get a 1-2-3 inning, and they all initially looked like they could have been in the seats when they left the bats, so hopefully we just escaped that time, and Pestano will fix things the next time out.  After the Astros showed off their power, Chris Perez entered in the 9th and struck out the side.

That's all I got for now, heading to see the movie El Caballo:  Indian Hunter 3D.  Until next time, adios!

Go Tribe!

-Grey Beard

What Legacy will #6 Have in the NBA?

I am trying to avoid the sports sites today, and the radio/ESPN has already started talking about where #6 stands amongst the greatest players of all time, especially with the sick numbers he posted this post-season.  I have a different take then most(because I am part of the Cleveland minority).  I don't believe that LBJ should be praised in the same company as MJ, Magic, Bird, or Bill Russell.  I would rather you put him in the category of history that Shaq will reside in at some point.  Both will finish their careers with amazing stats, and both will have multiple rings.  What separates them from the first list is that Shaq/Lebron are free agent mercenaries whose price is rings, as opposed to the first group who remained on the teams that were formed by savvy GM work, where they were drafted, and fought through the bad times to get to the good times.

Often I hear comparisons of Miami with the first Big 3 in Boston.  There is a difference, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were acquired in Boston by trades, the Miami team was formed in some hotel in China while they were spitballing at the Olympics.  This won't mark the genious of Pat Riley, or the story of how LBJ overcame adversity in Cleveland to make them a championship team, this is the story of a very talented player(maybe the best SF of all time), who took the easy way out to get to a quick ring.  Shaq was in Orlando and made it to the Finals(didn't win), and then wanted out to LA where he would be a movie star.  Now the difference here is that Kobe Bryant wasn't as established a player like Wade and Bosh
were when LBJ went down to South Beach.  However, Shaq got to join Phil Jackson, and he got his rings.  Then he traveled to Miami to get Wade his first ring(Wade was a superstar then).  The next shot he got at free agency he traveled to Cleveland, and then following that to Boston.  Always looking for a ring, but also always looking to be paired with other superstars as opposed to staying put and letting superstars come
to him or letting the team be built. 

LBJ is more of a Shaq in the history of the NBA, than a Jordan.  Just my opinion, like it or hate it, I think it reins true more so than comparing him to the others.  Sure the others had other hall-of-famers, but they became hall-of-famers as a team, not as free-agents who formed an all-star team with collusion.

In other news....

-  Buffalo is looking to trade some of their draft picks for a wing player.  They still feel they are close to contention, and I agree. They still got one of the best goalies, and a lot of injuries this past year got them off to a slow start.  However, they still came back to almost make the playoffs.  So the names you hear linked to the Sabres are Bobby Ryan and Rick Nash.  I think with Nash's no-trade clause, that may be a tough one to get, unless he is serious about just wanting to win.  Bobby Ryan could be a possibility for them depending on who gets Zach Parise who will be the top paid free agent.

-  The Columbus Blue Jackets are going to be one of the most important teams this off-season.  They have a high draft pick, have the biggest trade piece in Rick Nash, and their name better be linked to every backup goalie in the NHL.  Nickolas Backstrom is the guy that I want, and a young goalie.  I am hearing that the Kings, and Canucks backups are both pretty good, but they aren't going to start anytime soon.  So if you get Backstrom for this next year, and then let the young guy take over.  The draft doesn't have any high rated goalies really, so the Blue Jackets need to make a move on that front.  Oh wait, they have Rick Nash and want to trade him, don't you think the Flyers, Sabres, Rangers, and whomever else they are speaking to has a quality goalie somewhere in their system?  That should be priority #1!

-  Oh yeah that was a little hockey talk for ya.

-  Indians are looking solid heading down to Houston.  I think Minute
Maid Park will make the bats look good, and keep the confidence rising.
This is a good series to watch, because next year Houston will be an AL
team and we will see a lot more of them.  The players on Houston to
watch is Wandy Rodriguez(trade target), Brett Myers(trade target for
another contender), Jose Altuve(young guy), and Chris Johnson(young
guy).

-  The Indians traded former 1st rd pick Beau Mills to the Reds for
cash.  Tough draw for Mills who had his own following amongst Tribe
fans, but he was blocked on the roster by Grimmace, LaPorta, and
Canzler.  When you are a 3rd string 1B at AAA, its just time to start
new elsewhere.  I am not sure what the Reds goal is though, even if he
takes off like Brandon Phillips did when we gave him away, Joey Votto is
still their 1B, so Mills is blocked from getting to the MLB there too.
Tough draw.

-  NBA draft is Thursday, who ya got being picked by your favorite team?

       -  Cleveland - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist(4th), Fab Melo(The Cuse),
William Buford(OSU), and Darius Miller(UK)
     -  Indiana - John Jenkins(Vandy)

Ohio Cup is Decided....its a Tie

In the battle of the prestigious Ohio Cup, the Reds raced ahead early
with a sweep of the Indians in Cincinnati, but behind the awakened
offense, and the pitching of Josh Tomlin and Justin Masterson, the
Indians returned the favor and just completed a sweep of the Redlegs in
Cleveland.

The game started off with Masterson begging Chris Heisey in the first,
but then got Joey Votto to hit into a one pitch double play.  I think at
that point you were thinking the Indians escaped, and that the next
inning would determine how good Masterson would do.  Well Masterson
didn't hit the 50 pitch mark until I think the 6th inning, and allowed
no-hits the first time thru the Reds lineup, and the first hit he
allowed was to Heisey who got a ball by Chisenhall who was playing up
for the bunt.  Masterson went for a complete game with 9Ks, and 1
Unearned run allowed which he gave up in the 8th.  It was the first
complete game at home for an Indians starter since September 2010, and
it comes at a great time with the off day on Thursday.  Masterson has
now had at least 5 consecutive quality starts and his ERA which was once
as high as 5.60 is now down to 3.98, and just like last year his win
total should be higher if he is given just a little more run support.

The offense cranked out 8 runs vs. the RedLegs and Bronson Arroyo.  The
game started off much like yesterdays game vs. Mike Leake with the
Indians getting lead-off hits, and then not being able to score thru the
first 3 innings.  Shin Soo Choo is the obvious catalyst right now, and
he is looking like the Choo we expected all season since moving up into
the lead-off spot.  He is a extra base machine, and if the bottom of the
order leaves runners, he is usually hitting them in.  In the 4th inning
the deep pitch counts and runners finally got to Arroyo.  He allowed an
opposite field single by Grimmace, and then Johnny Damon got underneath
a ball and hit a HR to RF.  2-0 TRIBE!  Then Arroyo got composed to walk
Lonnie Chisenhall(first walk all year), got Lou Marson out, but then
walked Choo.  Which is ok, because Choo owns Arroyo.  However, Arroyo
missed his spot bad on a 0-2 count to the A-Cab.  Ryan Hannigan stood up
looking for a high fastball out of the zone, and Arroyo threw it low and
over the middle where A-Cab turned on it for another HR and its 5-0
TRIBE!  The Tribe would load the bases in the 7th, only to have Lonnie
Chisenhall unload them with a 3run double to break the game open further
with an 8-0 lead.

Tribe WINS 8-1!

Quick Notes:
-  Choo is on fire, and scoring 8 runs with Kipnis getting the day off
is a double whammy of awesome
-  I am not saying we need to replace Grimmace just for the sake of
replacing the guy.  He is gold glove caliber defensively, is hitting
respectable, but after Damon hit his HR, and they show Damon sitting on
the bench after.  Who else does the camera pickup?  Grimmace.  And what
is Grimmace doing?  Whincing as if he has no knees, just had to run a
marathon, and is exhausted from life.  Is he playing hurt?  He is one of
the few guys you never hear about with any nagging injuries, but he
looked really old for a 28 year old.
-  Here is my 1B idea for the rest of the season going forward.  I don't
think you need to make a trade just for the sake of doing one, I am very
comfortable with Grimmace as a starting 1B on a playoff team.
Especially one that relies on grounders for outs.  However, if defense
is what is keeping him playing, what about moving Hanahan over to 1st
and turning 3B into the Chisenhall Era?  Chisenhall is hitting a lot
better than he was last season as a rookie, and I think at this point he
can start everyday and by post-season or September may even move up in
the lineup. The knock on him was that he doesn't walk, but he did
yesterday, so he is improving game by game.
-  Santana has opened up his swing again, could be in for a mini slump.
I want to see him move down a bit to keep the arms in.  With runners on
he gets very excited to drive them in.  I like the passion, but playing
smart is key for him.
-  Dusty Baker forgot that Lou Marson was behind the plate.  Marson
throwing out Chris Heisey by about 3 steps just reminded the league,
that while Santana is getting really good defensively, Marson is still
better and too dangerous to run on.
-  Damon is hitting .295 in his last 60 At-bats.  Hmmmmm heating up.
Also he is the first LF to pass the .200 avg.  CONGRATS!!!

That's all I got today.  Go Tribe!


Hitters        AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF       4 1 2   0  1 2 22 .276 .367 .439
A Cabrera SS    4 1 1   3  1 0 17 .300 .390 .485
M Brantley CF   5 0 1   0  0 0 17 .282 .318 .393
C Santana DH    5 1 1   0  0 1 19 .232 .347 .357
J Lopez 2B      5 0 1   0  0 1 14 .238 .269 .377
C Kotchman 1B   4 2 1   0  0 0 12 .228 .289 .350
J Damon LF      2 2 2   2  2 0 22 .203 .295 .325
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0   0  0 0 0 .194 .270 .224
L Chisenhall 3B 3 1 2   3  1 0 17 .271 .283 .492
L Marson C      3 0 0   0  1 2 18 .242 .365 .323
Totals 35 8 11 8 6 6 158
BATTING
2B: S Choo 2 (22, B Arroyo 2); J Lopez (8, A Simon); L Chisenhall (2, A
Simon)
HR: J Damon (3, 4th inning off B Arroyo 1 on, 1 Out); A Cabrera (8, 4th
inning off B Arroyo 2 on, 2 Out)
RBI: J Damon 2 (13), A Cabrera 3 (31), L Chisenhall 3 (9)
2-out RBI: A Cabrera 3, L Chisenhall 3
GIDP: C Santana
Indians RISP: 3-12 (L Chisenhall 1-2, M Brantley 1-2, C Santana 0-2, S
Choo 0-1, L Marson 0-1, A Cabrera 1-3, C Kotchman 0-1)
Team LOB: 9

FIELDING
E: A Cabrera (7, ground ball)
DP: 1 (J Lopez-A Cabrera-C Kotchman).

Cleveland Indians
Pitchers       IP  H  R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Masterson
(W, 4-6)       9.0 3  1  0  0  9  0 110-76 3.98
Totals 9.0 3 1 0 0 9 0 110-76
PITCHING
HBP: C Heisey (By J Masterson)
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Masterson 15/30
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Masterson
22-12-22-20
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Masterson 13-4
Game Scores: J Masterson 88

It's A Walkoff

Aroldis Chapman throws over 100mph, and is on fire this season.  So when
the Indians had to face him in the bottom of the 10th, down 2-1, you
knew what was cooking in Cleveland.  First batter was Lonnie Chisenhall
who took the first pitch he saw and drove it to deep right field.  He
was sitting fastball, got it, and then was looking to elevate it to tie
the game.  When a guy throws that hard, you don't have to hit it that
hard to make it go far.  The next batter was Big League Choo, who worked
the count into his favor, and then ripped a single into RF(fastball),
and got a single to get the tying run on board.  Next up is Asdrubal
Cabrera, who again worked the count into his favor as Chapman was pretty
wild in his appearance.  Then, Cabrera fouled a few off, waiting for a
fastball, and then like Chisenhall, swung just to get it in the air and
let Chapman do the rest.  He made contact, DEEP TO RIGHT FIELD, AND IT
IS OUTTA HERE!!  Walk-off for the Tribe, 3-2 victory over the Reds for
the Indians second win a row.  If they can win one more that is what we
call a winning streak, it has happened before.

This was a game that you kind of expected to be low scoring after the 19
combined runs the teams scored the night before.  It was a pitchers duel
between Mike Leake and Josh Tomlin, who both look like very similar
pitchers.  Both offenses managed to get runners on base though, but
Tomlin managed to get timely double plays, and Leake got key strikeouts
to not allow the Indians to advance the runners.  The Indians got a
runner on base to lead off the first 4 innings  of the game, but
couldn't muster a run until the 4th inning when Grimmace got a base hit
up the middle, allowing Carlos Santana to score from 2nd base after he
lead off the inning with a double.

Tomlin only ran into two problems during the game, and that was in the
first inning, when the Reds looked like they were going to continue the
trend from the opening game of the series.  The Reds manufactured a run
on an infield single by Chris Heisey which scored Zack Cozart.  Then
Tomlin while allowing some hits, basically cruised the rest of the way
getting 2 double plays, and leaping grab at the wall by Michael
Brantley, and two great plays by Grimmace.  Like most of his starts, in
the 7th inning Tomlin got in trouble during his third trip thru the Reds
lineup, and then the new guy Esmil Rodgers got Tomlin out of the inning
by striking out Scott Rolen using a very very filthy slider.  This guy
had a huge ERA in Colorado, but that movement tells me he has the stuff
to be another key piece to our bullpen.  Especially since AL hitters
have seen much of him.

Indians win 3-2 over the Reds in 10 innings.  Nick Hagadone moves to 1-0
on the year by getting a win even though he threw 2 wild pitches, and
allowed the go ahead run.  Aroldis Champman gets the loss, and Asdrubal
Cabrera is a hero only 2 days after he had 3 errors in the same game.

Quick Hits:

-  Huge win, you can't make the playoffs by losing games that your
pitcher gives you a quality start.  It took 10 innings, but the Indians
found a way to win a game that Tomlin pitched beautifully during.
Honestly, I would be ok losing on Monday, because that was a slugfest
and the pitchers didn't do anything to really deserve a win.  This game
the offense only needed 3 runs in 10innings to win, and that should be
possible even with our slumping offense.

-  Shelley Duncan got the start in LF today.  Let me share this,
Duncan(.195), Cunningham(.194), and Damon(.180).  Those are their
averages and these are the BEST guys in our organization to play MLB LF.
2 out of the 3 can't be relied on defensively to even last longer than 7
innings.  I don't say this often, but that is absolutely pathetic.  The
camera guy even did Cleveland fans another huge favor by showing Grady
Sizemore on the bench at one point.  Why give us false hope?  I mean
seriously, why was that necessary?  Oh wait, let me look at those
averages again...yeah, I would rather see Sizemore on the bench then
those 3 at the plate.  Ubelievable, but the trade deadline is
approaching, and I am going to take a guess that the OF will be
addressed.

-  The offense is still struggling, but Grimmace looked real good today,
and Hannahan put some good swings on the ball.  I trust that Acta was
just playing the numbers, but Grimmace was having a good day offensively
AND defensively, why pinch-hit with Lopez who just went 0-4 the day
before against Sean Marshall late?  I understand righty vs. lefty, but
Lopez doesn't usually hit his HRs in his first AB, and maybe his career
numbers were good vs. Marshall, but if they weren't, I would have stuck
with the hot hand over the somewhat powerful cold pinch hitter.

I have been waiting for the write up all morning from Hahn on last
nights mashfest between our beloved tribe and the Cincinnati Vottos.  It
was a rough outing for both starters Derek Lowe and Mat Latos.  This is
the second time they have faced off against each other in a week.  The
controversy was that Lowe got thrown at intentionally in that last game.
So we are off... Lowe gets the first two guys out in the first.  Two
outs no one on, why not throw at Votto.  Well we didn't and instead gave
up a solo HR, 1-0 Reds.  Lets just say Lowe's sinker was not sinking, he
threw a lot of meatballs.  Bottom of the first, apparently Latos BA
against lefties is like .350+, that is really good when your team has 8
of them in the starting lineup.  Choo leads off the bottom half with a
solo shot of his own 1-1.  Latos navigates the rest of the inning.  Top
of the Second, Bruce beats the shift and singles, Ryan Ludwick doubles,
Scott Rolen returns and singles 2-1 Reds.  Todd Frazier singles a couple
batters later 3-1 reds.  Lowe finally strikes out someone, and gets a
GO.  Bottom of the 2nd.Brantley stays hot GR double, Santana singles.
Damon hits a high chopper to second allows Brantly to score and Santana
to go to second but Philips get him at first. 3-2 Reds. After Stacey
Kotchmon strikes out, LONNIE The CHIS Chisenhall belts a 2 strike HR to
Right Field.  4-3 Indians.  TOP 3rd,  Votto grounds out, but we let
Philips single, Bruce walk and Ryan Ludwick doubles for his second hit
4-4.  Rolen singles 2 for 2,  5-4 Reds.  Lowe then finally throws a good
sinker and gets a DP to end inning.  Bottom 3rd.  1-2-3, 5-4 Reds.
Bottom 4th.  Brantley doubles again, and Stupid Stacey Crotchman hits a
two run homerun with 2 outs, 6-5 Indians.  The Chis triples 2-2, Choo
doubles 7-5 Indians.  Top 5th,  Votto doubles to start inning.  Now
Phillips rips a double down the 3rd base line, Damon runs to cut it off
at the side wall and decides to run into it and let the ball run all the
way to fence, Votto and Phillips both scores.  Ruled double with error
on Damon.  7-7.  Bottom 6th.  Santana singles, Damon doubles to start
inning.  Kotchmon hits a ground ball to the right side, Santana scores,
damon to third.  8-7 Indians.  The Chis, singles 3-3 HR, 3B, 1B, can you
say cycle.  9-7 Indians.  Top 7th,  Votto walks.  Now the play of the
game, Phillips mashes a ball kotchmon snags the line drive and doubles
off Votto.  Bruce then comes up and hits a HR, but now only a solo shot.
9-8 Indians. Bottom 7th Cabrera walks, Lopez singles him to third,
Brantley Sac Flies  10-8 Indians.  Pestano shuts them down with a 4 out
hold to end the seventh and eighth.  Perez comes on in the ninth,
Heisey grounds out, VOTTO strikes out looking, big K.  Philips singles
steals second, and scores on a bruce single 10-9 Indians. Ludwick
strikes out looking to end the game.  Go Tribe.

-The Mike

Cueto Halts the Tribe

Well this one got out of hand in the late innings.  Indians lose to the
Reds 7-1, and most of the blame for this loss should probably fall onto
the hitters, and the bullpen.

Offensively the Indians couldn't get anything going off of Johnny Cueto
who pitched like King Felix for a complete game to open this series.
Scattering 6 hits over 9 innings probably won't get you many runs in the
major leagues, and nor will the pitcher bunting with 2 outs help his
cause against anybody.  It's tough to pinpoint the very worst part of
the offense for the Indians, but Gomez bunting with 2 outs and a runner
on first may be the most head scratching decision I have seen in a
while.  I understand pitchers can't hit for the most part, but I also
know the emphasis all teams not managed by Dusty Baker put on pitch
counts, so if you were going to throw Cueto a bone, why not make him
spend a couple pitches to do it like a simulated game?  The other stat
that should show is that the Indians drew 0 walks from Cueto, and struck
out 7 times.  That tells me that Cueto was dealing and had 22/32 first
pitch strikes.  Tough to combat that, but the hitters have got to put
the ball in play.  Choo, A-Cab, Kipnis, and Brantley are currently the
only guys in the lineup you expect to do anything when at the plate, and
that is not good.  Really, do you sit in front of your TV staring at
Grimmace, or Damon thinking that something big is going to happen?  I
use that time to go grab a drink currently.  I don't see them on base,
and as of late their at-bats are really fast.  Hopefully against Mat
Latos and Mike Leake the Indians can get the hitting going.  Let me add
that I fully am excited that we have won 4 out of the last 7 games and
two big series over the Cards and Tigers, but those wins are still with
only 4 batters producing runs, hits, and RBIs.  Occasionally there has
been the Grimmace HR, Chisenhall single, or Damon double, but for the
most part only 4 guys are consistently having good at-bats, even if they
are just hard outs.

The pitching for the Indians left a bit to be desired.  I thought
Jeanmar Gomez had a solid start, but he walked too many batters and that
forced him to exit after 5.0 innings.  Then the usually solid Indians
bullpen who entered the 6th down 2-1 allowed 5 runs over the next 3
innings, all of them earned.  That's the opposite of the trend for them,
so I will allow a pass since they have been good, and I don't think the
bats was going to get us anything else off of Cueto.  There were a few
things I am not too surprised by, Joey Votto hit a 2-run HR off of Tony
Sipp, but Sipp then struck out the next 2 hitters and got out of the
inning.  All of the Reds hitters got a hit except for Jay Bruce.  Votto
had 3 RBIs in the game, and the Reds got on the board off of a throwing
error by Santana who tried to pull a Pudge and get the pick-off at first
base but Grimmace couldn't handle the throw.

Overall it wasn't as bad a game as the score would indicate, because the
usual 4 batters still looked good, they just got on base at different
innings, give Cueto credit for a great outing(the guy is 7-3 with a 2.46
ERA), and the usually sturdy bullpen had an off-night which does happen.
The Indians can still win this series, but they need somebody else in
the lineup to hit the ball or at least threaten to hit the
ball(cough::SANTANA::cough).

Quick Thoughts:
-  The A-Cab's 12 game hit streak stopped.  However Michael Brantley
extended his to 19 games.
-  Indians made a trade with Colorado acquiring right-handed reliever
Esmil Rogers in exchange for cash.  I hope it wasn't a whole lot of
cash, because Rogers is out of minor league options and is 0-2 with a
8.06ERA for Colorado this season.  To make room for him the Indians
designated Luke Carlin for assignment, who showed he could be picked up
if somebody is looking for a backup catcher.
-  The Manahan made his first rehab start in Class A yesterday.
Hopefully he returns to the lineup soon.  I do like Chisenhall, but now
isn't the time you can have a young guy "figure things out" we need
hitting ASAP.  Also, the reason for Chisenhall to start in AAA this year
was to gain patience at the plate, and I don't think he has a walk yet.

-  We are all Kipnisses
-  Grady Sizemore will be starting a rehab assignment soon, perhaps as
early as next week.  Right now if Sizemore returns right after the
All-Star break, I think he is a LF, and Brantley remains in the lineup
while Damon/Duncan are either traded, AAA, or cut.  We need offense, so
Grady needs to come back soon.
-  I think the other thing that is clearing up is what are the Indians
thinking as far as the trade deadline goes?  Obviously offense would be
nice, but I don't know if there is a LF out there that fits the bill.
Instead I think you see them add another SP.  With the addition of
Rogers its clear that they don't care how much depth is at the pitching
positions, and with names like Wandy Rodriguez, Ryan Dempster, Aaron
Harang, Brandon McCarthy, and Jason Vargas being shopped, I can see the
Indians making a move.  However, the most talked name for the Tribe will
be Josh Willingham again.
-  What is wrong with Carlos Santana at the plate?
-  This is my first mention of Pronk in awhile who is getting closer to
a rehab start.  It hasn't been an issue or relevant, because it's
interleague play and he couldn't really play anyways.
-  Derek Lowe vs. Mat Latos on Wednesday night

Hitters      AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF     4 1 1   0  0 1 20 .271 .368 .395
A Cabrera SS  4 0 0   0  0 0 13 .291 .377 .448
J Kipnis 2B   4 0 1   1  0 0 21 .284 .343 .457
C Santana C   4 0 1   0  0 2 16 .225 .339 .352
M Brantley CF 4 0 1   0  0 0 8 .286 .324 .394
J Damon LF    3 0 0   0  0 1 11 .184 .276 .282
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 0   0  0 1 10 .215 .285 .320
T Sipp P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
J Accardo P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
L Chisenhall 3B 3 0 1    0 0 2 11 .216 .216 .378
J Gomez P 2 0 1 0 0 0 8 .500 .500 .500
J Smith P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
J Lopez 1B 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .260 .296 .390
Totals 32 1 6 1 0 7 122
BATTING
2B: S Choo (17, J Cueto)
RBI: J Kipnis (40)
Indians RISP: 1-2 (J Kipnis 1-1, A Cabrera 0-1)
Team LOB: 4

BASERUNNING
CS: M Brantley (5, 2nd base by J Cueto)

FIELDING
E: C Santana (5, throw); S Choo (1, throw)
DP: 1 (J Kipnis-A Cabrera-C Kotchman).

Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP  H  R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Gomez
(L, 4-5) 5.0 6 2 1 4 2 0 92-48 4.71
J Smith 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 0 11-9 3.46
T Sipp 1.0 1 1 1 0 2 1 16-9 6.65
J Accardo 1.0 5 3 3 0 0 0 23-18 3.95
Totals 8.0 13 7 6 4 5 1 142-84
PITCHING
J Smith pitched to 1 batter in the 7th
WP: J Gomez; J Accardo
IBB: R Hanigan (By J Gomez); J Votto (By J Gomez)
HBP: C Heisey (By J Gomez)
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Gomez 13/25; J Smith 4/4; T Sipp
2/4; J Accardo 6/8
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Gomez
14-8-8-18; J Smith 3-2-1-3; T Sipp 2-3-2-2; J Accardo 1-2-7-8
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Gomez 9-4; J Smith 1-1; T Sipp 0-1; J Accardo
3-0
Game Scores: J Gomez 47

Tribe Loses Finale to Tiggers

Well all good things and must come to an end, and the Indians dropped
the finale to the Tigers by losing 7-5.  I saw the first inning, before
I went to check the Miami/Boston score, and then the evil bottom-line
revealed the Indians lost 7-5, and my desires to watch the game slipped
away.  So instead I watched Top Gun and decided to see if I could find
Indians that relate to Top Gun characters.

First let me describe what I uncovered about the Indians game.  Derek
Lowe had a rough first inning(saw that), and then rebounded like he
always does, but then had one more bad inning that ended his night, and
with the Indians down 7-1 pretty much the game.  However they did manage
to load the bases with Jose Lopez coming to the plate in the 7th.  He
hit a deep fly ball to CF, where Quinten Berry took another bad angle,
but once again his speed allowed him to recover and make a web gem to
get the Tigers out of the inning, and save the game.  Once again, Berry
is very good, and the Tigers are starting to become CF University,
because if he gets PT when Austin Jackson returns this guy will add some
speed threats to go with their power.

Tribe still managed to win the series, so that's all that matters.  Next
up the Tribe are heading to the surprising St. Louis Cardinals for a
weekend series.  Go Tomlin Go!

Here is a good article from yahoo sports that features Chris Perez.
It's pretty much self-explanatory when you read it, but the point being
is that Cleveland is slowly getting noticed, and perhaps we can show how
great of a sports town Cleveland can be if we stop being 'jaded' by
superstars.   Other than Josh Cribbs, he is definitely worth cheering
for.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/indians-closer-chris-perez-is-cleveland-s-n
ew-face-and-big-mouth--with-pitches-to-back-it-up.html;_ylt=AsUbqFyjvByG
6h.e76dZ6CsRvLYF

Here are the Indians that match up with Top Gun Characters to my best
opinion...feel free to comment and disagree or comment, but I think I am
close with these.

Maverick - Chris 'Pure Rage' Perez
Goose - Vinnie Pestano
IceMan - Asdrubal Cabrera
Slider - Jason Kipnis
Viper - Grady Sizemore
Jester - Travis Hafner
Sundown - Shelley Duncan (sorry Shelley, but you are a better pinch
hitter and have crazy stares at guys when you get mad that they didn't
'engage')
Merlin - Zach McAlister (he comes and goes)
Cougar - Shin Soo Choo (tough call here, but Choo took a while to like
inside pitches after he got plunked a few times, glad he decided to not
turn in his wings fully)
Charlie - Manny Acta (haha, the Organization sees to it that he knows
more than the players)
Hollywood - Johnny Damon


I am sure I am missing some, but those callsigns were not only super
80's, but still awesome.

Victory over Tigger Part IV

Well the Indians started the 2nd set of 53 games off on the right foot
just like we needed, and it started and ended with the performance of
one Ubaldo Jimenez.  Mr. Jimenez started off the game kind of
precariously by pegging the lead-off hitter after he got him into a 1-2
count to start the game.  Then Miguel Cabrera smashed a double to score
the runner that Jimenez pegged.  Ubaldo would escape the first only
allowing one run.  That was good, because after that Ubaldo went off on
the Tiggers.  Dude at one point retired 16 of 17 batters, walked only
one batter the rest of the way(his very last hit) and went 6.2 IP, 4
K's, and really only allowed hits to Prince Fielder and Miggy.  HUGE
performance by Ubaldo, and that is what the Tribe needs to get into the
playoffs.

Drew Smyly (a lefty) was opposing the Tribe, and he started off his day
by striking out the first 4 Cleveland hitters.  Listen, I will repeat
myself from my early season summary, we need a hitter than can hit
lefties.  However, we didn't get shutout because Comerica Park is very
large in the gaps, and the Indians hit 3 RBI triples on this night.  Lou
Marson, Michael Brantley(Brennan Boesch went for the dive and miffed
it), and A-Cab all hit RBI triples off of Smyly.  Shin Soo Choo also got
an RBI single that scored Marson after his tripe which is where the 4
runs came in.  The reason more runs didn't happen, is that I believe all
of those were 2-out triples, so no real chances for sac flies.  The best
hitter of the day was probably Lou Marson, because he was the only
Indian to get multiple hits, but one of the purest swings came on a line
drive single from Matt LaPorta, which is a good thing to see, especially
since he will be starting vs. Lefties until the health improves on other
players.

The Tigers would manage to get a run in the 9th off of Chris Perez, but
a barehanded out by A-Cab, and a sliding Choo catch helped Perez get a
save and the Indians win.

Tribe 4 - Tigers 2  (Indians are now 4-0 vs. Detroit this season).

-  White Sox lost yesterday, so the Indians are now 1.5 GB.
-  Royals have won 3 straight, all by shutout.

-  The Tigers had a call up named Matt Young who started in LF for them.
He batted 2nd.  Poor guy.  After striking out 3 times to Ubaldo he gets
to face Vinnie Pestano in the 8th.  He managed to foul back the pitch on
a 1-1 count, and got a loud ovation from the Detroit fans.  If that
wasn't a tad embarrassing, it got worse when on the next pitch he swung,
whiffed, and that made it 4 K's on the day for him.  Ouch son, better
luck next time.

-  I was a little annoyed with the Indian announcers last night.  I like
the color commentary compared to most, but this game they complained a
bit too much about the strike zone, and then questioned why Grimmace
wasn't play 1st late in the game.  Grimmace did come in during the 8th,
and made a great stop, but still, lets not become Bob Brenly or Hawk
Harrelson.

-  The Indians draft is shaping up and here are the picks.  The thing to
notice is a lot of high school guys, which is unusual for the Indians,
but I like the direction.  The only thing I am hoping is that we can get
a get left-handed starter, because that is something missing in our
rotation right now, although I think David Huff is serviceable in spot
duty.  Draft results are below the box score.

Go Tribe!


Hitters          AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF         4 1 1   1 0   1 14 .269 .379 .396
A Cabrera SS      4 0 1   1 0   1 21 .294 .384 .469
J Kipnis 2B       4 0 0   0 0   2 20 .275 .333 .445
C Santana DH      4 0 0   0 0   1 11 .239 .352 .377
S Duncan LF       3 1 0   0 1   0 14 .207 .313 .351
A Cunningham LF    0 0 0  0 0   0 0 .200 .284 .233
M Brantley CF     2 0 1   1 2   0 17 .283 .323 .390
M LaPorta 1B      3 0 1   0 0   0 8 .286 .286 .286
C Kotchman 1B      1 0 1  0 0   0 2 .213 .286 .311
L Chisenhall 3B   4 1 0   0 0   0 10 .273 .273 .545
L Marson C        4 1 2   1 0   1 16 .213 .327 .319
Totals 33 4 7 4 3 6 133
BATTING
3B: A Cabrera (1, D Smyly); L Marson (1, D Smyly); M Brantley (3, D
Smyly)
RBI: A Cabrera (22), L Marson (4), S Choo (18), M Brantley (25)
2-out RBI: A Cabrera, M Brantley
Indians RISP: 1-5 (L Chisenhall 0-1, S Choo 1-1, M LaPorta 0-1, L Marson
0-1, J Kipnis 0-1)
Team LOB: 5

Cleveland Indians
Pitchers     IP  H  R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
U Jimenez
(W, 6-4)     6.2 5  1 1   1 4 0 102-55 5.31
N Hagadone
(H, 2)       0.1 0  0 0   0 0 0 1-1 2.89
V Pestano
(H, 14)      1.0 0  0 0   0 2 0 12-9 2.38
C Perez
(S, 18)      1.0 2  1 1   0 0 0 19-14 2.82
Totals 9.0 7 2 2 1 6 0 134-79
PITCHING
HBP: Q Berry (By U Jimenez)
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: U Jimenez 11/27; N Hagadone 1/1; V
Pestano 3/3; C Perez 3/5
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: U Jimenez
17-4-14-20; N Hagadone 0-0-0-1; V Pestano 4-3-1-1; C Perez 5-1-3-5
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: U Jimenez 4-12; N Hagadone 0-1; V Pestano 1-0; C
Perez 1-2
Game Scores: U Jimenez 63


Tyler Naquin - OF - Texas A&M (His throwing arm was described as a
'hauwitzer' by CNNSI)
Mitch Brown - RHP - Rochester Century HS, Minnesota(Top northern player)
Kieren Lovegrove - RHP - Mission Viejo HS, California (Best name on a
jersey)
D'Vone McClure - CF - Jacksonville Sr HS, Arkansas
Joseph Wendle - 2B - West Chester University
Josh McAdams - OF - Calhoun HS, Georgia
Caleb Hamrick - RHP - Cedar Hills HS, Texas
Jacob Lee - RHP - Arkansas State
Josh Martin - RHP - Samford University
Logan Vick - OF - Baylor University
Jeremy Lucas - C - Indiana State University
Tyler Booth - OF - Central Arizone College
Scott Peoples - RHP - Western Oklahoma State
Nelson Rodriguez - C -George Washington HS, NYC

53 Game In-Season Update

A two month season update..somewhat long so grab a cup of coffee.  Sorry
guys/girls, but it has been a 53 game season already.

Record:  28-25 (2nd in AL Central; 2.5 games behind Hawk Harrelson)

Offensive MVP:  Jason Kipnis (.280 avg, .339 OBP, 9 HR(Team High), 34
RBI(Team High), 13 SB(Team High))

At the start of the season you knew that Jason Kipnis had the potential
for a really good season, because after all We are all Kipnisses, and he
has some great twitter posts.  However as a betting man, the guys you
were hoping to see here to start the year was A-Cab, Santana, or Choo.
The reason being is that you wanted A-Cab to prove last season was no
fluke, Santana to pick up the average, and Choo to get back to his
pre-2010 form.  Well all three of those guys have been injured or left
the team at some point already this season.  Kipnis was hurt briefly and
had a slow start, but has picked it up starting late April and not
looked back.  Choo has found a home in the lead-off spot, and maybe in a
few weeks his name will be here, but for now I am calling Jason Kipnis
our Offensive MVP.  The steals are a huge deal as he has only been
caught once, he leads the team in RBIs by 10(Michael Brantley is 2nd),
and the more he plays the more comparisons are made about him and Chase
Utley.  I can live with Chase Utley are 2B, but I am hoping for the
first Jason Kipnis, and as good as he has been offensively, his defense
has gone unnoticed, which is a good thing.  This converted OF, looks
like he has been playing 2B the whole time.  Having Grimmace and A-Cab
on either side of him helps his range too.

Projected Offensive MVP(by end of year):  Shin-Soo Choo - He has some
catching up to do, but he is getting hot, and the power is slowly
returning too.  Kipnis is getting a lot of respect behind him, so the
pitches Choo sees are improving too.

Best Starting Pitcher:  Derek Lowe (7-3, 3.06ERA)

Coming into the season the keys for the Indians was the starting of
Ubaldo and Masterson.  Well, neither have pitched very well, and we are
still in 2nd.  The reason for that is Derek Lowe.  He always seems to
have up and down seasons and this appears to be an 'up' season for the
sinkerballer, as he is leading by example on the mound and in the
clubhouse.  He rarely has gone less than 5 IP in a start if at all, and
even without his best stuff he has fought thru to get a quality start.
For me, this is by far the best off-season acquisition of the Tribe, and
maybe the least discussed since the trade for Lowe happened almost
immediately after the year and went unnoticed.  2nd place - Jeanmar
Gomez

Projected Best Starting Pitcher(by end of year):  Ubaldo Jimenez - This
is a simple pick, I want to make the playoffs this season.  Derek Lowe
leading the team won't get us there, we need one of our aces to be an
ace, and Ubaldo needs to be the guy that gets on track.  He has filthy
stuff, and when he throws strikes he is untouchable.  He gets his first
shot to move up the rankings here as he starts against the Tiggers
tonight.

Best Reliever:  Chris Perez (0-1, 17 consecutive saves, 2.53 ERA, 21.1
IP, 20 K's)

Maybe the most nationally talked about Indians thus far, Chris Perez has
also backed up his talk with 17 consecutive saves, and his only blown
save being opening day.  I am not a fan of the "You Can't See Me"
maneuver, but especially against the Royals, who this group of Indians
has decided will be their rivals for pretty heated games.  That is fine
with me, IF the Royals are the 2nd best team in the Central, but as it
stands their young talent hasn't produced wins yet, so let's stick to
dueling the White Sox and Tigers.  "You hit us, we will hit you" is a
good rallying call for the bullpen, and maybe all MLB pitchers.  I think
Perez gets more respect from Tribe fans, who have in recent years seen
what a bad closer can cost a team in terms of wins and places in the
standings.  Let me ask this question, if Bob Wickman, Joe Borowski,
Kerry Wood, and David Riske never existed as Indians closers where would
we be today?  In fact, replace them with somebody who could consistently
close out games, at like an 80% clip, would we be better?  Yes.  Would
CC and Cliff Lee have at least 20 more wins?  Yes.

Projected Best Reliever(by end of year):  Chris Perez - Why not?
Pestano and the rest of the bullpen mafia are getting him the ball with
leads, and he is getting better and better as the season drags on.  He
wants to talk and be hated by opponents, and the best way to do that is
by executing saves to anger them more.

Best Play to Rob the Indians:  Ben Revere(Twins) summersault catch on
Lonnie Chisenhall line drive - Seriously, look this one up.  Lonnie
Chisenhall starts the 9th off with a rocket to RF, but somebody must
have lit a lantern, because Revere knew the ball was coming and made an
unbelievable catch.

Best Play by and Indians fielder:  Michael Brantley robs Alex Rios - In
Chicago, Derek Lowe couldn't get out of the first, and Rios hits a ball
over the fence in CF, but Michael Brantley did a bang up Kenny Lofton
impersonation and extended his glove over the wall to rob Rios of a HR.


Best Start of the Year:  Justin Masterson outdueled Verlander - What
makes this more impressive is Detroit's lineup is stacked.

New Faces/Call-Ups so far - Nick Hagadone(LHP), Scott Barnes(RHP), Jose
Lopez(3B), Johnny Damon(LF), Zach McAllister(RHP), Lonnie
Chisenhall(3B), Matt LaPorta(LF/1B), Juan Diaz (SS), and Jeremy Accardo
(RHP)

All of these guys I like because they are young, and most importantly
for this season's Tribe, they are all reasons why the Tribe can make a
trade to improve the team if the right player or prospect is available.
Take a look at the bullpen for instance.  This may be the area of the
team with the most depth and ability in all levels of the organization.
Contending teams covet reliable relievers at the trade deadline (see the
demands in the past for Heath Bell, Mike Adams, Brian Fuentes, etc).
The Tribe doesn't care a great deal about relievers long term because
they don't believe you can rely on them from year-to-year like a
position player(i.e Tony Sipp, over a 5.50 ERA this season).  So that
makes me believe that IF the right offer was available that Pestano, R.
Perez, Joe Smith, Accardo, and Sipp are all expendable assets.  The
reasons they are expendable is have you seen Nick Hagadone or Scott
Barnes pitch yet?  Barnes is a former 1st round pick of Cleveland, and
may transition back to starting, but unlikely so for now he is a
reliever with a funky delivery which the Indians like(different arm
slots out of the pen). Hagadone has come up and slid right into Perez's
spot, and even Sipp's spot as the #1 lefty out of the bullpen.  Both
have looked strong and can go for multiple innings.

Chisenhall has come back like a mad man hitting the ball with power and
going near .500avg thru his first series back in the majors.  Problem is
he has no walks yet, and he started in AAA to work on plate discipline,
so if he cools off slightly, I still expect him to return to the minors.
However, his presence makes Lopez AND The Manahan trade assets.

Guys from that list to stick on a playoff roster(should Indians make
it):  Hagadone, Barnes, Damon, and Chisenhall.

1st Round Draft Pick:  Tyler Naquin OF, Texas A&M (.380avg, .458OBP,
3HRs, 21 SBs)
    - The scouting report on Naquin is that they don't know what
position he will play.  He doesn't have the power of a corner OF, and
maybe not the speed of a CF.  Sounds bad for a 1st round pick, but
apparently his right arm is very big league ready and should be close to
Choo's for best in the organization right away.  The power may develop,
but as far as offense goes, the guy is a high average hitter with an
even higher OBP.  The Indians always draft best player available, but
this move can't but make you question the future of Grady Sizemore and
the signability of Choo just a little bit.  Naquin is a few years away
from making a big league impact, but could be a good piece if he makes
the bigs.

Last Year's Draft current MVP - Fransisco Lindor SS, Lake County
Captains (.273 avg, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 4 HRs, 13 SB, and a .323
OBP).
     - Lindor hasn't disappointed in his professional debut, and his
defense, and leadership appears to be MLB ready.  He is still only 18
years old, so the Indians will take their time moving him up in order to
get his offense and power to develop.  Lindor will be in the big leagues
before long, so this pick is already a big hit.  In fact the last few
drafts have proven well, Beau Mills(AAA), Scott Barnes(MLB), Alex
White(MLB), Drew Pomeranz(MLB), and Lonnie Chisenhall(MLB).  So if
Naquin can follow those footsteps, then we should be fine.

Areas of improvement:  Hitting against lefties(we are awful), Starting
pitching, and Left Field.

Reinforcements:  Grady Sizemore (expected to return anytime between 2
weeks and the All-Star break), Roberto Heredia (Late July), and Rafael
Perez(2 more weeks on DL).

Possible Trade Targets:  Omar Infante (.308 vs. lefties), Gregor Blanco
(.311 vs. lefties), Jesus Guzman (.313 vs. lefties)...see a trend?
Brandon McCarthy(OAK), James McDonald (Pit), Shaun Marcum(MIL), Wandy
Rodriguez(Hou), and Joe Saunders (Ari).  Tough to predict right now,
because many teams are still contenders and you don't know the asking
price until more injuries occur.

Final Outlook:  The Tribe avoided the injury bug for most of the first
50 games, but are currently on a big slide due to some injuries and the
starting pitching falling off as of late.  They can still get things
back on track, as I don't believe the White Sox will stay this hot, but
the Tigers won't stay in hibernation all season either.  The keys to the
rest of the season are simple, Masterson/Ubaldo pitching like they
belong in the MLB, getting and staying healthy, and then what will Grady
Sizemore be when he returns.  Those three things ALL have to go in our
favor in order for us to make the playoffs.

Either way, tonight we get the Tigers and it's going to be Ubaldo
Jimenez getting the ball in Detroit.  GO TRIBE!

Royals Embarass Tribe

So there are starting to be stark similarities between our top two
starting pitchers Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez.  Both seem to be
capable of looking like Cy Young one game, and capable of looking like
Rick Ankiel the next game.  There remain slight differences to them when
they perform badly.  Masterson gives up a lot of hits and HRs, because
his pitches just start to hang over the plate, while Ubaldo doesn't hang
anything he just loses the plate completely and walks 8 batters.  This
is a recurring problem because an 'ace' needs to be a consistent stopper
and provide relief to the offense/bullpen.  It's no secret our bullpen
got a bit rocked in Chicago, a nice 7-8inning start would be a good
break for them, and keeping the runs down would help these fill-ins on
offense not have to score 6 runs only to still lose games.  Ubaldo and
Masterson need to be those pitchers that provide relief on their turns
in the rotation, that's how we will make it to the playoffs.  However,
their performances are like a coin flip, counting the licks til you
reach the center of a tootsie pop, or opening a box of chocolates....you
never know what you are going to get.

I bring this up because as you guessed, Masterson got rocked by KC.
However it was only in the first 2 innings when he just hung pitch,
after pitch, and either his mechanics were off early or Carlin wasn't
holding the mit in the right spot.  Whatever the reason, the Royals
weren't fooled.  Mike Moustakas got the game going with a 2 out, 2 run
HR to RF in the top of the first(2-0).  The Indians were able to tie it
up in the bottom of the first, so you thought that maybe Masterson would
settle down a bit.  I mean after all, we had Masterson pitching, and the
Royals had Will Smith making his second career start.  Well Masterson
got worse in the 2nd and was rocked for 5 runs, which probably should
have been 7 runs(but Moustakas just missed another HR), and they are
were all line drive singles for the most part.  Nobody was fooled in
their lineup, and most of their foul balls went HR distance.  After
falling behind 7-2, their pitcher got jiggy with it and shut down the
Tribe for the rest of the game.


Masterson settled down in the 3rd with the game basically over, and he
ended up going 6 innings striking out 8.  He allowed one more run later
in the game, but that was a fluky run that scored off of a steal attempt
at 3rd, and the ball was an easy grounder right were Chisenhall would
have been had he not moved to cover 3rd.  Overall, 4 out of his 6
innings pitched were really good, but a 5 run inning is bad.  I am not
sure what the fixes should be, at least with Ubaldo you know that IF he
can find the strike zone you are golden, with Masterson he needs to find
the lower part of the strike zone.

The offense scored only two runs, and the highlight was the fact that
Luke Carlin reached base 3 times on 3 errors, by 3 different Royals.  3
errors, and we could only score 2 lousy runs.  Give the Royals pitching
some credit, they limited their walks, they usually kept the hitters off
balance with first pitch off-speed strikes, and they mixed the arm slots
when they got guys out of the bullpen.  Just a bad game all around for
the Indians really and they happen.

These aren't the quotes you want to hear though after a game:
Manny Acta - "I must confess, that had to be the most boring game I have
ever been part of, that second inning just sucked all the energy out of
us."
Justin Masterson - "It's always one inning"  (Always?  That means this
is a regular problem).

Greybeard Thoughts -

-  Asdrubal Cabrera returned to the lineup and went 1 for 4.  He looked
a little rusty, but overall it is very nice to see him back in the
lineup.  Hopefully Pronk can return very soon too.

-  Lou Marson should get the start in the series finale.

-  Chris Perez apparently went with the "You can't see me" hand gesture
after closing out the first game of the series and Royals CF Jerod Dyson
wants a piece of him.  Chris Perez is starting to make a name for
himself as a crazy person, and I actually like it.  Obviously if you
aren't an Indians fan you don't like him, but at least they have a vocal
player that may bring some national attention to the club, and most
importantly his performances back up all his talk.  Why not, maybe next
time he do a Hogan pose on the mound following a strikeout, or work on
raising the Cleveland eyebrow when he peers in for the pitch selections.



Hitters          AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF         3 1 0   0 1   2 17 .263 .382 .400
J Kipnis 2B       3 1 0   0 1   1 21 .281 .341 .454
A Cabrera DH      4 0 1   0 0   1 14 .299 .392 .484
J Lopez 1B        4 0 1   1 0   0 19 .260 .296 .416
M Brantley CF     4 0 1   1 0   0 16 .273 .310 .374
A Cunningham LF   4 0 1   0 0   1 14 .211 .297 .246
L Chisenhall 3B   4 0 0   0 0   2 11 .250 .250 .625
L Carlin C        4 0 0   0 0   0 19 .300 .300 .400
J Diaz SS         4 0 1   0 0   0 13 .267 .353 .267
Totals 34 2 5 2 2 7 144
BATTING
RBI: J Lopez (15), M Brantley (21)
GIDP: J Diaz 2
Indians RISP: 2-9 (M Brantley 0-1, L Chisenhall 0-2, S Choo 0-1, J Lopez
1-1, A Cunningham 0-1, J Kipnis 0-1, A Cabrera 1-2)
Team LOB: 7

BASERUNNING
SB: S Choo (8, 2nd base off W Smith/H Quintero); M Brantley (9, 2nd base
off W Smith/H Quintero)

FIELDING
DP: 1 (J Kipnis-J Diaz-J Lopez).
PB: L Carlin.

Cleveland Indians
Pitchers       IP  H  R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Masterson
(L, 2-4)       6.0 9  8  7 0   8 1 111-78 5.14
J Accardo      2.0 1  0  0 0   3 0 34-23 2.16
N Hagadone     1.0 0  0  0 0   1 0 10-7 2.20
Totals 9.0 10 8 7 0 12 1 155-108
PITCHING
WP: J Masterson
HBP: A Escobar (By J Masterson)
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Masterson 18/28; J Accardo 5/7; N
Hagadone 1/3
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Masterson
16-18-25-19; J Accardo 5-8-6-4; N Hagadone 1-1-4-1
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Masterson 9-1; J Accardo 3-0; N Hagadone 1-1
Game Scores: J Masterson 32