Well the Indians had an off day to re-group after the sweep in Minnesota. They also got the news that "Operation Duncan Drop" was the organizational strategy for the rest of the year. So they took BP, and
then hit the field!
Now cue up the goofy circus music....
- Derek Lowe walked the bases loaded and then proceeded to balk on the next pitch by getting his cleat stuck in the dirt.
- Grimmace went after a ball that bounced off the top of his glove, but it wasn't a foul ball like he thought and that led to an RBI double even with his complaints that he was out of bounds.
- Carlos Santana reached on an error, but he made a step towards second
and got tagged out while he walked back to 1st after changing his mind.
- Shin Soo Choo struck out all 4 times he went to the plate
- We pinch hit for our DH....this is just pathetic.
Needless to say the game was ugly, and it got ugly fast. Derek Lowe continues to labor since April ended and he only lasted 2.1 innings allowing 7 earned runs. He isn't pitching well, he isn't getting grounders, he is allowing line drives and hard hits. To make matters more interesting, he had 3 runs of run support early, he just allowed the doors to get blown off the hinges and that allowed Luke Hochevar to settle down and just put the finishing touches on an already struggling offense.
Here is most intriguing part of the game, the pitcher out of the bullpen? Josh Tomlin. The same Josh Tomlin who was scheduled to start on Thursday, he also allowed a double and a triple to the first two batters he faced. Think he will still start on Thursday? I don't think so. Be on the lookout for the Tribe to call-up one of two people depending on how the Columbus rotation shapes up.
Corey Kluber - 11-7 with a 3.59ERA in 125.1 IP. Most important, he has
128 SOs which lead the International League.
Chris Seddon - LEFTY!!! 11-5 3.44 ERA in 123.0 IP.
My guess is that Kluber will get the call, we never have a left-handed starter.
I don't want to ignore the offense in this game, but Choo and Pronk didn't have a good game which cost us some bigger run scoring opportunities. Michael Brantley was raking it, and he hit into a DP, but that was just bad luck as the 1B only caught his liner because he was holding the runner. I have noticed Johnny Damon playing a full 9 innings recently, so maybe Cunningham was only platooning defensively until Damon got his endurance back. That is wishful thinking, but the Tribe is struggling, gotta find a bright spot.
Tribe got two more games in KC, and we need the offense to hit a stride over the next two games. The KC staff from top to bottom isn't close to as good as the Tigers is. Plus, they just traded their closer so their bullpen is shuffling too.
Go Tribe!
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 4 0 0 0 1 4 22 .288 .376 .479
A Cabrera SS 5 1 2 0 0 1 22 .279 .346 .442
J Kipnis 2B 3 0 1 0 1 0 13 .270 .344 .404
M Brantley CF 4 1 2 0 0 0 8 .291 .344 .418
C Santana C 3 1 1 0 1 0 14 .234 .362 .388
T Hafner DH 3 0 0 0 0 2 18 .230 .350 .434
a-J Lopez PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .247 .270 .376
J Damon LF 4 0 1 1 0 0 16 .227 .286 .335
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 1 1 1 1 17 .227 .293 .357
J Hannahan 3B 3 0 0 0 1 1 15 .232 .300 .342
Totals 33 3 8 2 5 9 149
a-flied out to left for T Hafner in the 8th
BATTING
2B: C Santana (19, L Hochevar); A Cabrera (23, L Hochevar); M Brantley
(29, L Hochevar)
RBI: J Damon (19), C Kotchman (39)
GIDP: M Brantley
Indians RISP: 2-11 (M Brantley 0-1, S Choo 0-1, C Santana 0-1, J
Hannahan 0-1, T Hafner 0-2, J Damon 1-1, J Kipnis 0-1, A Cabrera 0-2, C
Kotchman 1-1)
Team LOB: 8
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
D Lowe
(L, 8-10) 2.1 8 7 7 2 1 0 54-35 5.52
J Tomlin 2.2 3 1 1 0 0 0 35-23 5.81
J Accardo 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 34-24 4.05
J Smith 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 14-10 3.07
Totals 8.0 14 8 8 2 4 0 137-92
PITCHING
Balk: D Lowe
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: D Lowe 12/17; J Tomlin 7/11; J
Accardo 4/7; J Smith 5/5
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: D Lowe
12-5-5-13; J Tomlin 4-1-7-11; J Accardo 7-3-10-4; J Smith 1-3-2-4
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: D Lowe 2-4; J Tomlin 6-2; J Accardo 1-3; J Smith
2-0
Game Scores: D Lowe 12
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Trade Deadline was very Quiet
The Trade Deadline come and went, and there were big moves. The biggest may be the rebuilding that the Philadelphia Phillies are beginning to go thru. The traded Shane Victoriano to the Dodgers and Hunter Pence to the Giants. They are still linked to waiver wire rumors that have Joe Blanton being moved. GO CATS!! In the AL Central Royals closer Johnathon Broxton was shipped off to Cincinnati for two minor leaguers.
The Chicago Cubs continue to revamp their farm system by trading Ryan Dempster, Reed Johnson, Geovonny Soto, and Paul Maholm for all prospects.
However, the Indians made a trade too. The Indians traded Stephen Wright who is a minor-league knuckleballer with Akron to the Red Sox, for 1B/OF Lars Anderson. Anderson has around 9 major league At-bats, so he does have some experience. He is mostly like Matt LaPorta, a formerly big time prospect who just hasn't stuck yet and his star has faded. Maybe he will be a Brandon Phillips for us, but most likely you won't see him as long as the Grimmace era is ongoing in Cleveland. I hope Lars called Tony Sipp and said "I am feeling skinny Tony!". I can keep going, don't be alarmed when you hear him hit HRs either, he makes a loud and disturbing sound when he swings, but don't be alarmed, he is fine.
So what did the Indians do? First off, I believe they really did try to trade Jose Lopez to the Yankees, especially when you see that the Yankees acquired Casey McGehee from the Pirates who basically plays the
same positions. However, from what I can tell the Indians have successfully installed the "Shelley Duncan Plan". Yes, our very own Shelly Duncan inspired, and designed the master plan that is in effect by the Chris Antonetti regime. Mr. Duncan has said several times that the Indians did not need to make any trades, they can win with the talent they got right now. It's just about execution, but he sees a playoff team in the clubhouse. Well, congrats, there were no additions, no subtractions, and now Operation Duncan Drop is underway. The 'Drop' is referring to the Indians recent trend in the standings. Even Manny Acta said that if you can't make up 5 game deficit in 60 games than you have no business being a playoff team. Currently it is 6 games back and 59 games left after dropping our first game to the Royals.
What do you think of the Tribes lack of movement at the trade deadline? I totally agree that 5 games back is totally recoverable, but the Indians got a tough 60 games, they got several meetings with the Tigers, the A's, Red Sox, and I believe at least one more meeting with the White Sox. They can't sell the entire team, they aren't far enough back to quit. However, the eye, paper, logic, and luck test are all not in the
favor of the Indians. The Tigers or White Sox will win this division. That's not me quitting on the season, that's not being a pessimist, but it's the way the season is trending. If you disagree, great tell me about it, comment, whatever. However, if the reason is "We just need _______ to get going and we will be right back in it" then don't talk to me. The whole season we just needed ________ to find his form and we
would be a playoff team. Facts are that we got a platoon at LF, 3B, and DH. Last I checked playoff teams don't platoon that many positions, and if they do, at the trade deadline they don't ignore it and bring in a
guy to play every day at that spot.
Daniel Hahn
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)