tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56282241363203487352024-03-19T06:08:45.607-05:00The B-List Indians BlogThis blog obsessively follows the Cleveland Indians baseball team. It is a lot more active during the regular season, but addresses team issues with analytical humor, humorous analysis, and a lot of calling bad players "fungi." You can subscribe to its RSS feed here: <a href="http://swb-list.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xjcg_LUbN5Y/S6zcvEa4UNI/AAAAAAAAAAw/PYt3BdE28qw/s1600/feed-icon-14x14.png"></a>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.comBlogger165125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-4335949550968431962011-05-19T16:04:00.001-05:002011-05-19T16:05:49.498-05:00The B-List: 5/18<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong></strong></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Indians (26-14)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <strong> 0 3 0</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>White Sox (20-21)</strong> 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X <strong> 1 5 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">W: Peavy (1-0) L: Masterson (5-2)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Two hours and one minute, and no Mark Buehrle involved!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Straightening the wobble</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">No outing can be considered an unqualified success when it starts by giving up a double to Juan Pierre, but truthfully, the first three innings for Justin Masterson were somewhat shaky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The White Sox went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position last night, and 5 of those came in the first two innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(There were actually two more plate appearances that aren’t “counted” there: the sac fly from Adam Dunn and a walk from Brett Lillibridge.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The run Masterson allowed was pretty mundane: <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Pierre</place></city> blorted one down the opposite field line and is still relatively fast (and aggressive: his SB:CS ratio this year is atrocious).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Omar Vizquel may be old, but he’s hitting .348 right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Adam Dunn hit a fly ball that wasn’t even very deep: had it been to right instead of center, <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Pierre</city></place> would not have scored.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">However, Masterson still didn’t have his best command early in the game: A.J. Pierzynski singled on a 2-1 pitch, Lillibridge walked on five pitches, three of Masterson’s first six outs were outfield flies, and he started the 3<sup>rd</sup> inning with 7 straight balls, walking Vizquel and going 3-0 to Dunn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that point, Masterson had pitched 2+ innings (the plus stands for extra wandering around!), giving up 3 hits, 2 BB, and 1 R against 1 K.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">After that, Masterson whiffed Dunn on four more pitches, Vizquel was caught stealing, and Konerko went down swinging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the last 6 innings, Masterson allowed 2 hits, 0 walks, and struck out 7, which would have been a heckuva start all by itself.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I guess the point is, one of the challenges for Masterson this season after early success would be to see what adjustments he could make, especially when he didn’t have his best stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The White Sox offense is generally pretty bad, so there may have been more room to improvise, but Masterson’s control early in the game was frankly crummy, and he adjusted to the point where he ended up throwing 73 strikes in 115 pitches and looking more or less in complete control over the whole back half of the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if this was a case of getting his stuff “back” or harnessing stuff with extra movement, but the results were superior, adding one more data point to the “it’s not a fluke” ledger.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) A scary proposition</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Juan Pierre scored on a ball hit to what amounts to “where the center fielder normally plays.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In the next inning, A.J. Pierzynski, a catcher, who is about forty-eight years old, tagged up and advanced from first on a fly ball to deep center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then advanced from second to third on a fly ball to shallowish right-center.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here is my concern: Grady Sizemore’s arm is bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, for everything else Sizemore does well, his throwing arm isn’t one of these things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s weak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s feeble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not any good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It may be better than Mike Brantley’s.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Frightening.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Pronk limp!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Yep, he was out of the lineup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They say it’s a “pain in his side.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read this as “oblique.”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) One-man gang</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shin-Soo Choo was able to single twice off Jake Peavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once he stole second base, which led to the Indians going 0-for-2 with runner in scoring position (not “runners”), which led to misery and woe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once he was thrown out stealing second base, which led to more immediate misery and woe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He now has virtually the same OBP and SLG as Adam Dunn, which probably sounded like a better thing at the beginning of the season than it does now.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Nice hose!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Not only did Tofu Lou gun down a forty-four year old man, but he threw out Brett Lillibridge trying to steal third base for no reason at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, since the Tribe was in a heavy “shift” alignment with Dunn at the plate, Vizquel was caught stealing second by third baseman Jack Hannahan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am pretty sure there have not been a lot of games in which a team turned TWO “2-5” double plays.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Jake Peavy Assessment</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">He was really good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I demand the following pitchers have this surgery:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">David Huff<br />
Jeremy Sowers<br />
Justin Germano<br />
Jeanmar Gomez<br />
Tom Mastny<br />
Mark Clark<br />
Scott Bailes<br />
Rick Waits<br />
Me</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">My philosophy here is that even if all nine of these fail, how would you tell?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if one works the way it appears to have for Peavy, aren’t we all ahead?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially me?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Flashing the leather, dammit</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Brett Lillibridge potentially saved the game for Peavy in the 8<sup>th</sup> when he reeled in a long drive to the track in left center off the bat of Orly Cabrera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a nice catch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since Lillibridge effectively beat the Yankees with TWO of these catches, I can’t claim this was a lucky fluke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Man hits .297/.386/.568, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That actually IS a fluke. </span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-1964136619222835492011-05-18T15:24:00.000-05:002011-05-18T15:24:52.840-05:00The B-List: 5/17<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Indians (26-13)</strong> 3 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 <strong> 7 10 0</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Royals (20-21)</strong> 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 <strong> 3 7 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">W: Carrasco (2-2) L: O'Sullivan (2-3)</span><br />
</span>It’s all fun and games until your pitcher throws the ball over the centerfield wall.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) A contrast in styles</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Through 5 innings, here are two pitching lines:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Pitcher A: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 92 pitches<br />
Pitcher B: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 69 pitches</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In each game, the next inning was the pitcher’s last, and he gave up a double during it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, pitcher A obviously has the advantage in strikeouts with 1 an inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, pitcher B was a lot more efficient, needing nearly 5 fewer pitches PER INNING to get through the 5<sup>th</sup>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">If asked in broad, general terms which of these pitchers I would normally prefer, I would probably still hem and haw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really like what the strikeouts say about the first pitcher’s ability to miss bats and what this suggests for future success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, the second guy has fewer baserunners, no walks, and could ostensibly go at least a couple more innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a sense, the second guy is more “in control” of his game.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Pitching lines without context are only meaningful at a high level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first guy gave up a second run as his high pitch count induced his manager to replace him, and the reliever let his runner score.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second guy pitched his last two innings with a double-digit lead and left after 6 because there wasn’t any point in leaving him in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first guy got more ground ball outs despite recording fewer outs and having a bunch more K’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second guy gave up a double to Matt Treanor, which is plainly inconceivable.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">What I was trying to convey here is how it FELT to watch Pitcher A Carrasco versus how it felt the night before to watch Pitcher B Tomlin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Josh Tomlin did his customary “Aw, you just missed that one!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure you’ll get the next one!” act, frustrating the Royals with a tantalizing extra-base hit here and a long fly out there, and all of a sudden it’s six innings later and you’ve scored one run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granted, Poor Vin Mazzaro’s outing made the game a lot more comfortable to watch, but even then, there was no point in the game Monday where I thought, “Ah, he’s losing it, the Royals are breaking out now.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, I expected Tomlin to be in control, and he was in control, and then he won, and while I’m still not entirely sure how this happened, I now take it on faith that this is the typical Josh Tomlin experience.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Carrasco, on the other hand, FELT like a guy groping in inadequate light for a flashlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The box score says he gave up 23 foul balls, but I swear I counted that many to Alicedes Escobar alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He threw 60 strikes in 97 pitches, and I was flat-out shocked that it was that many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m having a hard time coming up with a compact sequence that illustrates my point well, but some examples include Alex Gordon walking after fouling off three two-strike pitches, Escobar beating out an infield single after fouling off FIVE two-strike pitches, and each of the next three hitters after Escobar’s single seeing at least two balls.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s my concern: one of the harbingers of elbow troubles for Jake Westbrook and Mitch Talbot was a lack of command.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carlos Carrasco just came back from the DL after having elbow trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, some of this may simply be Carrasco “working the plate” and Escobar’s X-Treme Tenacity or some such euphemistic rot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carrasco got his ground balls and his strikeouts and was basically some inefficiency away from a Quality Start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was fine, and I have no reports of an injury and generally don’t know what I’m talking about on the subject anyway.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I’m still concerned.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Pronk smash!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Sean O’Sullivan was not having the finest of luck with his command in the first inning: after giving up a leadoff double and a sacrifice, O’Sullivan started Shin-Soo Choo with a ball, then hit him with the next pitch, then threw four straight balls to Carlos Santana to load the bases.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Travis Hafner then practiced the unsung art of plate discipline, which is to wait for a pitch you can drive, not simply to take a lot of pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, Hafner knew that O’Sullivan was struggling and looked for a ball in a particular zone, got it, and cleared the bases with a double into the right field corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember, “plate discipline” and “walks” are not synonymous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">linked</i>, but they are not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">identical</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first pitch was fat, and Hafner drilled it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Pronk limp!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In running out his second double of the game, though, noted DiaTriber Paul Cousineau <a href="http://twitter.com/TheDiaTribe/status/70664207489699840"><span style="color: purple;">noted on Twitter last night</span></a>:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">As well as Hafner is hitting, he is noticeably limping and laboring on the basepaths.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">There will be some days off for Hafner, and the shoulder is still the primary focus, but I saw what Paul saw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s hope this is just a temporary blip and not a precursor to a full-scale old-age sort of thing.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Managerial Steve-Infuriators</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I apologize for not mentioning this about Monday’s game, but when Jack Hannahan bunted in the SECOND INNING in order to advance runners from 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> with no outs, it made the anti-bunt crusader in me cringe, then explode with impotent rage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look, everyone knows how I feel about bunting, and I certainly accept 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> with no outs as a classical situation, but in the SECOND INNING?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">resent</i> that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To paraphrase Earl Weaver (because I’m not committed enough to look it up verbatim), “If you play for one run, that’s what you’ll get.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>8<sup>th</sup> or 9<sup>th</sup> inning, sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>7<sup>th</sup> inning, starting to get iffy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<sup>nd</sup> inning, completely ludicrous.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So when Asdrubal Cabrera laid down a bunt to advance Mike Brantley from second to third, with no outs, in the FIRST INNING, off SEAN FUCKING O’SULLIVAN, I became convinced that Manny Acta is, in fact, trying to kill me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s rude, Manny!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cut that shit out!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) But it worked, right?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shut the holy fuck up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Extra bases for fun and profit</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Carlos Santana pulled out outside pitch over the right-center field wall for a homer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I normally frown on Indians batters pulling the outside pitch because it normally turns into a groundout to the appropriate middle infielder, if he can hit it over the wall, he can hit it anywhere he wants.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Asdrubal Cabrera hit a homer from the right side, his third against left-handed pitching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is now slugging .585 from the right side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has 15 hits in his past 10 games, including an 8-game hitting streak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Compared to his career numbers:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">AVG: .288 (career .285)<br />
OBP: .350 (career .347)<br />
SLG: .497 (career .404)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At age 25, it is worth asking if Cabrera has simply become more physically mature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isn’t power routinely the last skill to fully develop for a hitter?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may very well be that Asdrubal Cabrera is simply … better now.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Mike Brantley led off the game with a double, and Travis Hafner doubled twice, meaning that fully half of the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> base hits were for extra bases.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Juuuuust a bit outside</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Joe Smiff entered the game in the 7<sup>th</sup> inning with a 7-2 lead to face Matt Treanor, who is a lemming in catcher’s gear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no reason not to throw Matt Treanor a strike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, he had an RBI single and hit a double the night before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still do not respect Matt Treanor’s bat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Joe Smiff did not throw Matt Treanor a strike.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Then he did not throw him a strike.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Then he did not throw him a strike.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Then he DID finally throw him a strike … and then he did not.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, surely the .219/.258/.267 hitting Al Escobar, a man who will swing at literally ANYTHING (as evidenced by the fifty-nine foul balls off Carrasco, thirty-six of which were out of the strike zone), would see a strike.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Joe Smiff did not throw him a strike.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Then he did not throw him a strike.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Then he did not throw him a strike.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Then he did not throw him a strike.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And with two men on, he did not throw Mike Aviles a strike, and then FINALLY the light came on, and he got <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Aviles</place></city> to pop out, and that was enough of Smiff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this, his ERA went down.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I did not like this performance from Joe Smiff.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) Juuuuust a <place w:st="on">LOT</place> outside</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But it was arguably better than the performance of Chris Perez, who also walked two hitters, gave up an RBI single, and threw 28 pitches to finish the 9<sup>th</sup> inning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Still, Perez’ most famous “pitch” may have been the one he threw when the game was over, as he turned away from the plate, reared back, and heaved the ball over the center field wall, ostensibly out of frustration.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I did not like this performance from Chris Perez.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">9) Terror on the basepaths!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Although Melky Cabrera, who should never be called “The Milk Man,” did steal his fifth base of the season off Carlos Santana, Santana did catch Eric Hosmer trying to steal, good for a 50% catch rate than any sane fan will appreciate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But this was not Santana’s finest throw on the evening, as the aforementioned Lemming in a Suit had made it to second base on the pair of walks from Joe Smiff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reliever (in the TRUE sense of the word, not the Joe Smiff sense) Tony Sipp retired Cabrera on a fly to center, then, facing Alex Gordon, ran the count to 2-1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that point, Lemming Suit Treanor began planning the night’s activities: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“There’s dinner at the spread, and then maybe I can bag up some dry cleaning, and what was it the wife asked me to get, was it paprika?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe rubbed sage?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can never keep those … oh, look, I’ve been picked off second.”</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I cannot explain this maneuver, but it was an excellent throw by Santana.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-35955746753627064092011-05-17T15:22:00.001-05:002011-05-17T15:23:45.384-05:00The B-List: 5/16<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Indians (25-13)</strong> 2 1 0 10 4 2 0 0 0 <strong>19 20 0</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Royals (20-20)</strong> 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 <strong> 1 5 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">W: Tomlin (5-1) L: Davies (1-6)</span><br />
<br />
For once, when Joakim Soria entered the game, I could not have been less perturbed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Ah, but you have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">heard</i> of me!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I am not going to try to put any more perspective on Poor Vin Mazzaro’s outing than has already been covered in the national media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I happen to be partial to Joe Posnanski’s recounting, but whenever something this noteworthy comes around, there is no shortage of scribes willing to lay out the exact depths of badness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me say this, though: unlike some others I’ve read, I was not in the least surprised that Poor Vin Mazzaro was called out to pitch the fifth after coughing up a 10-run hairball in the fourth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, I was surprised by how surprised I became in retrospect.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It was pretty obvious that Poor Vin Mazzaro was summoned to the game in the 3<sup>rd</sup> inning in order to absorb as many innings as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was actually scheduled to start tonight’s game, but there was some concern about Kyle Davies being physically ready to pitch deep into the ballgame, where here by “ballgame” I mean “first inning.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Let me interject here for a moment: what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What on Earth is <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Kansas City</place></city> doing here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Davies had a concern that he was trying to “pitch through,” I mean, have you seen Kyle Davies pitch this season?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s been bloody terrible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could certainly be the case that this was due to Kyle Davies being bad at baseball, but if you even have an INKLING of this being a physical issue, you have to look at his ginormous ERA and horrifying power-against numbers and wonder, “Hm, I wonder if there’s a real value in having this guy gut out possible pain?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer there would be, “No, there is not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kyle Davies has been fucking terrible, maybe he could benefit from some Not Pitching Any More.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if that happened to make his arm feel better to boot, that would be an ADDED benefit on TOP of him Not Pitching Any More.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Man, I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m already on record as being frustrated by the Tribe’s handling of the Mitch Talbot injury, but this one make that look like fucking Greg House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now Davies is pulled and Poor Vin Mazzaro’s in <city w:st="on">Omaha</city> and unless this was a Sooper Sneeky Planne to get Danny Duffy in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Kansas City</place></city>, I’m one confused schmoe.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Anyway, Poor Vin Mazzaro, despite apparently having been told to “be ready” was “not actually ready,” so they brought in Nick Adcock, who was merely Not Very Good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adcock let two of Davies’ runners score and gave up one of his own and walked the first guy in the third and left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jim Margalus used to call this “James Buchanan pitching:” come into a bad situation, make it worse, then leave.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And, oddly enough, Poor Vin Mazzaro came in and was … fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got a fly out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He whiffed a guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He induced a grounder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One inning under his belt.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">That was as good as it got.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">As others have written, the ten-run 4<sup>th</sup> inning wasn’t a deluge of massive blasts and horrifying badness: really, there were a couple of bloop singles and a couple of spotted balls and the whole thing went by with two outs, so he was always thisclose to getting out of the inning until the end, when he was kinda gassed and Mike Brantley hammered a three-run shot to complete the 4<sup>th</sup>-inning scoring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But look: Poor Vin Mazzaro was out there to bridge the gap between Kyle Davies and Tomorrow and it didn’t really matter how many pitches that was going to take.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Every team has had this kind of game at some point: this is where you bring Aaron Laffey out of the pen or stretch out your Jason Davis or Justin Germano or Jamey Wright or whatever marginal innings sponge you happen to have lying around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KC’s was Poor Vin Mazzaro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Big whoop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go get ‘em, kid, save the bullpen arms for a game we can win.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Except … how many pitches can you throw in an inning, and how worn down do you have to get, before this is actually a Really Crummy Idea?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Poor Vin Mazzaro threw 44 pitches in the 4<sup>th</sup> inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His 40<sup>th</sup> was hit for a homer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His last four hitters missed hitting for the cycle because Asdrubal Cabrera struck out instead of tripling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is Value By Bulk Inning Absorption, and there is Death By Ineffective Schmoery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The odds of Poor Vin Mazzaro being able to waft through the next inning of work were effectively nil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure enough, the one out Poor Vin Mazzaro got was a well-hit fly ball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Travis Buck’s RBI single was hit hard enough that had it been hit to right instead of left, Jeff Francoeur would have had a legitimate shot at throwing him out at first.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And the worst part of the whole process what that Jeremy Jeffress allowed ALL THREE of the inherited runners to score, or else this is simply awful and not Historically Bad.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) No, the grass is greener on MY side of the fence</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">From the Indians’ perspective, of course, the whole thing was a jolly lark indeed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Consider this: 9 of the 10 runs in the 4<sup>th</sup> inning scored with two outs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">11 of the 19 runs overall were driven in with two outs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Indians hit 13-for-26 with runners in scoring position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thirteen hits!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Indians scored 19 runs, but only hit one home run, meaning they chained together hit after hit after hit.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Three players reached base at least four times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only starter who reached only once (via hit or walk) was Jack Hannahan, who did score two runs (he hit into a fielder’s choice before one of them).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Ho Hum Dept.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Instead of rehashing the same old laments and bland platitudes, let me say this about Josh Tomlin’s performance: I EXPECTED him to have a Quality Start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not simply because he does it every time, but because I BELIEVED he would do it THIS time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KC has some pretty good hitters, or at least hitters who are performing well: they have some odd lineup choices, like the .274 OBP leadoff guy or the .305 OBP 2-hole guy while slotting the .318/.382/.458 in the 7-hole, but this is not the 2011 Seattle Mariners lineup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I came INTO the game EXPECTING Tomlin to throw more zeroes than anything else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right or wrong, I now consider Josh Tomlin to be an effective, dependable starting pitcher.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It’s almost a shame that Tomlin’s performance gets lost in the parade of baserunners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he did allow some well-hit balls (4 of his 5 hits allowed were for extra bases, and he posted his customary 6:11 GO:FO ratio), Tomlin retired the first seven in a row, only once allowed more than one baserunner in an inning (which was scoreless), didn’t walk anyone, showed 17 of 23 hitters a first-pitch strike, and finished his 6 innings in an economical 81 pitches (55 strikes).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was pulled after 6 because he had effectively warmed up preparing to start in each of the past three days (he would have replaced Alex White on Saturday had the game resumed, and was scheduled to start Sunday).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also because it was 19-1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you can’t trust Justin Germano with an 18-run lead, you might as well dip him in chocolate and rent him out as a wedding centerpiece.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">If there is one negative, it is that Tomlin gave up a double to Matt Treanor, who is a fungus.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Relax, it’s covered</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">With Grady Sizemore officially going on the DL, Mike Brantley settled into both the CF and leadoff roles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All he did was draw a pair of walks, lace a single, pound a three-run homer, and drove in four runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the LEADOFF spot.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On the season, Brantley is now hitting .304/.383/.437.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To say that he doesn’t have the power you’d like from a corner outfield spot might be missing the point: that hitter will play in your lineup, and will play especially well at the top of your lineup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, you could make a very credible argument that this player will play better at the top of your lineup than the one who just went on the DL (with the obvious subtext that the other player would be perfectly well-suited at other slots in the lineup, perhaps down a notch or two).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Players aren’t Strat cards and if Grady Sizemore is productive exactly when he’s in the leadoff slot, well, Brantley does not appear to have trouble producing out of other spots in the lineup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it should be noted:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Batting #1: .337/.389/.500<br />
Batting #7: .256/.373/.349</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The OBP is consistently high, and that’s really what I’m looking for from Brantley more than anything else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it bears mentioning that while Grady might prefer the leadoff slot, well …</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One interesting thing about Brantley: he’s actually pretty crummy leading off innings at .195/.267/.317.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, this is a 41-AB sample that means nothing whatsoever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, the #1 guy is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">guaranteed</i> only one inning in which he leads off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surprisingly, Brantley has been “clutch,” hitting .404/.500/.538 with runners on and .375/.500/.625 with them in scoring position, so maybe the 7-hole makes sense from that perspective.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But I guess more than anything else, the fact that we’re discussing Mike Brantley in terms of “how do we get the most out of him?” rather than “does he belong in the lineup, for real?” shows that we’ve probably turned the proverbial corner with Brantley as an everyday player.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) The campaign of silence, continued</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Matt LaPorta actually led all Indians hitters by reaching base FIVE times yesterday before giving way to Carlos Santana at 1B and Tofu Lou behind the plate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two of LaPorta’s four hits were doubles, and he drew a walk as well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">For the season, LaPorta is now hitting .274/.354/.487.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He bats 8<sup>th</sup>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Pronk quasi-smash!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It wasn’t a homer, but a 3-run double is still a fine hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huzzah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Terror on the basepaths!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Asdrubal Cabrera stole a pair of bases, but when Carlos Santana stole second, I was concerned about the appearance of pigs over the northern horizon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I remembered that they were in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Kansas City</place></city>, and this is actually pretty normal fare.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) Unsung Hero Patrol</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Justin Germano entered the blowout in the 7<sup>th</sup> inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He allowed no baserunners, retiring the side on 7 strikes in 11 pitches.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At that point, I was convinced that Germano would be given the opportunity to earn what we lovingly call the Wes Littleton Save.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go look it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s pretty hilarious, but the gist is that if you pitch the last three innings of “quality” (subjective) relief in a win, you earn a save.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently Manny Acta has no sense of humor, as he called on Chad Durbin to pitch the 8<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Durbin threw 6 strikes in 7 pitches and retired the side in order.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And then the VFP allowed the only baserunner when he hit Mitch Maier in the 9<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it was still a hitless, walkless, scoreless inning, and everyone went home.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Woot!</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-58791528091552959602011-05-17T15:20:00.001-05:002011-05-17T15:23:29.162-05:00The B-List: 5/13<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Mariners (16-23) </strong>0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 <strong>4 6 0</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Indians (24-13)</strong> 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 <strong>5 7 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">W: Sipp (2-0) L: League (0-4)</span><br />
<br />
With all the rain, the Mariners must’ve thought they were at home.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Pronk Smash!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On April 26<sup>th</sup>, Travis Hafner hit a double against the Kansas City Royals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then, he had 8 games in which he made more than one plate appearance, going 9-for-30 with 4 walks for a .300 AVG and a .382 OBP, both of which are pretty darned good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This yielded a SLG of .300, which plainly is not.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On the young season, Hafner’s overall numbers of .340/.403/.528 are quite excellent, and certainly more than could reasonably have been expected of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frankly, I doubt he’s got a whole season of .340 AVG in him, but I’ll take a .400+ OBP and a .500+ SLG (at this point in his career) every time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, which a .188 ISO is nothing spectacular (it is less than Matt LaPorta’s .202, for exmaple), he’s been hitting the ball with enough authority to warrant him hitting in the middle of the order and being a bona fide everyday DH.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His May has actually been a bit better than his April in one regard, in that his strikeout rate is slightly lower but his K:BB has decreased quite a bit (19:7 in April, 7:5 in May).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But while he slugged .566 in April, his .433 SLG in May would be more at home on the batting line of Mike Brantley (.412 for the season) than it looks on Travis Hafner.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">After Fausto Carmona coughed up a hairball 7<sup>th</sup>, the Indians were down 4-2 entering the bottom of the 9<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Hafner were to hit, it would be with as the winning run, since he was scheduled to hit 5<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After back-to-back doubles by the first two hitters, the next two made outs, meaning that while Hafner did indeed represent the winning run, he did so with two outs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, it would be disingenuous to claim that the pitcher he was facing was a lockdown closer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it can be argued that Brandon League may have been completing the worst stretch for a reliever ever stretched.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In three consecutive appearances over four days, League entered the game to close out a win (the Mariners had just either just taken the lead, or took it after he started pitching), and failed miserably in each case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He entered the game with an 0-3 record, and each loss was recorded in just the last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After eight consecutive scoreless outings in a row, including his 4<sup>th</sup> through 9<sup>th</sup> saves, lowering his ERA from 4.76 to 2.08, League essentially became Personna Non Goodness, giving up multiple runs in each game to cough up the losses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, he hadn’t walked anyone, nor had he given up a homer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He just got beat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Although his first double allowed was simply clocked, his second should arguably have been out number one had it not been for the inexperience and/or depth perception of rookie Carlos Peguero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, he retired te next two hitters with little trouble.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Hafner watched strike one.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">He did not watch strike two.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">While the homer lacked a bit of the majesty of Shin-Soo Choo’s opening-inning clout, it was to dead center and was in no danger of being caught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether this gets Hafner “back on track” or not remains to be seen, but it’s hard to argue he should have “hit the ball better.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">What made this especially gratifying was that due to other promotions at the park, the crowd was a large-for-2011 33,000+.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So not only did they see a game in which the Indians flashed their muscle (three homers) and their pitching (except for one inning, Fausto was terrific), they got the added excitement of a walkoff two-out game-winning homer by a player even casual fans have heard of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you wanted to script a scenario in which attendance-increasing buzz is generated, you might be hard-pressed to come up with one more enticing than this.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Shiny Object Syndrome</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Fausto Carmona began the game by retiring the first nine hitters in order, and faced the minimum through 4 2/3 thanks to a nifty 3-6-3 double play by the nominally-speedy Chone Figgins after a walk of Ichiro Suzuki.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carmona actually had Suzuki down 1-2 in the count before a couple fouloffs led to a minor lapse in which Carmona threw three straight balls.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
The 15<sup>th</sup> hitter of the game, Carlos Peguero, then hit the ball about as hard as humanly possible, a 451-foot moon shot that brought the Mariners within one run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, though, Carmona retired the next four in order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through six complete innings, Carmona had allowed 1 run on 1 hit and 1 walk, and needed an economical 64 pitches to get there.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And then … well … at that point, it is impossible to be descriptive without making attributions involving attention spans, nitrous oxide, or Pee Wee Herman.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">How else do you describe an inning in which Carmona coughed up three straight hits (the second a homer to dead center), a four-pitch walk, and an infield single so irretrievably lame that Jack Cust scored from third while looking like someone had draped a Mariners jersey over Greg Luzinski’s refrigerator?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, after the sixth straight ball (Carmona went 2-0 on Brendan Ryan after walking Peguero), Fausto generally threw strikes and recorded outs, but wobbly bobbly boo, that was awful.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Still, even then Carmona was able to waft through most of the 8<sup>th</sup> (two three-pitch groundouts to start the inning) before plunking Justin Smoak and giving up a single to Refrigerator Cust and that was enough of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nice thing was that Carmona threw strikes over the first six and even with the last two innings got the first pitch over to 21 of the 31 batters he faced, so this is better than his previous start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those first six innings ... I’m concerned that his finish might make some glance at his pitching line and dismiss it as “mediocre.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, the end point was mediocre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the first six innings were pretty bloody great.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Ho Hum Dept.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On April 26<sup>th</sup>, Tony Sipp made an ineffective relief appearance, striking out one hitter but walking two and giving up a hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this, he was credited with his 8<sup>th</sup> “Hold” on the season, which signifies that the “Hold” statistics has roughly as much value as real estate on Io.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Since then, Sipp has pitched 7 innings with 4 hits and no walks allowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unsurprisingly, each outing was scoreless.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So for him to throw 1 1/3 perfect innings last night was not entirely a surprise, but it was a fine thing nonetheless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sipp’s ERA now stands at 1.50 with a 0.89 WHIP.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Note: Sipp’s numbers against our next opponent, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Kansas City</place></city>: not as good.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Digging the Long Ball</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">All five <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> runs scored as the result of an extra-base hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only one not to score on a homer was when Brantley scored from second on a double by Asdrubal Cabrera.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shin-Soo Choo’s mammoth shot in the first is listed at 438 feet, which leads me to believe that the tape measure they used was a 438-foot version.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, he CREAMED that ball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With 5 homers on the season, Choo is right about where we’d expect a 20-homer guy to be after a slow start.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Meanwhile, Brantley hit his third on the season, which is about 3 more than I’d have predicted for him coming into the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t mind being wrong about that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) The Law of Small Numbers</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Pundit make obnoxious off-hand remarks about the lameness of <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Seattle</city></place>’s offense, but the actual numbers are truly shocking.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Of the nine men in the lineup Friday, Chris Gimenez’ .310 OBP was the FOURTH-HIGHEST.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SIX of the NINE batters had an OBP .310 or lower, invluding FIVE .275 or below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam Kennedy batted fifth with a .395 SLG, because .395 SLG was the SECOND-HIGHEST in the lineup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SIX of the Mariners hitters have SLG below .350, including FIVE at .300 or below.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Look, slugging .350 isn’t very good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s really not much good at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But slugging .300 is completely feeble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s borderline amazing that the Mariners score any runs at all.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Past insight</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I have written a whole lot about Eric Wedge as a manager, but I’d like to recall something I said about how I think he manages: he determines what things need to happen for his team to be successful and tries to facilitate those things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion, if he determines that the team will not be successful unless Thing X is true, he appears to manage as if there isn’t much point in managing around Thing X failing: if it fails, the team isn’t going to be successful anyway, so he might as well continue to push Thing X.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In this case, the Mariners have the greatest chance at success if Brandon League is their closer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And really, for most of the season, League’s been just great at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No worries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So really, the faster Wedge can get League to turn the proverbial page on his recent struggles, the closer the Mariners are to getting back on track.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So it’s not a big deal to me that Wedge pulled a thoroughly effective Doug Fister to put League in with a two-run lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it showed the kind of faith and tolerance that players would prefer from their managers, and it wasn’t “Wedge being an idiot” as much as it was League “continuing to fail.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Credit Where Credit is Due Dept.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Doug Fister was really good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two homers represented both of the runs he allowed, and half of the hits total.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t actually believe in Doug Fister, but that was good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) Doofus Patrol</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Austin Kearns was thrown out trying to steal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One batter later, Brantley hit a home run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So … I didn’t like that very much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phbt!</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-13837073861773664762011-05-13T13:15:00.001-05:002011-05-13T13:15:43.659-05:00The B-List: 5/12<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Rays (22-15)</strong> 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 <strong>7 11 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Indians (23-13)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 <strong>4 10 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">W: Shields (4-1) L: Masterson (5-1)</span></span></span><br />
<br />
How do you turn a 62% strike rate into only 1 walk?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Blippy blips</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Remember yesterday when I said that no team makes 162 Quality Starts?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is pretty much what I was talking about.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The interesting thing about Justin Masterson’s “terrible” start is that is wasn’t truly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">terrible</i>: he had one real Inning of Crap™, and even that was essentially a bunch of singles strung together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, giving up Reid Brignac’s first extra-base hit since the Johnson* Administration and a two-run single to Sam Fuld are not good results, but Brignac’s double was the only extra-base hit Masterson allowed and Fuld’s single came with two outs, meaning a little better pitch there and he’s out of the inning with 2 runs allowed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">No, the real problem was that Masterson flung the ball around like so many monkeys at the zoo with surplus excrement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He started but NINE of his twenty-seven batters with a first-pitch strike, threw a lame-assed 57.4% of his pitches for strikes, and walked four guys in 5 2/3 innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To say he did not have his best command is to denigrate the very meaning of the word “command.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And yet, he still got ground balls (even some singles were essentially ground balls), and he struck out 6 guys, more than one an inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got a fortuitous double play on a liner that caught Evan Longoria off first, but generally speaking, even when Justin Masterson flings excrement through cage bars at small children holding balloons and popcorn, he remains fundamentally Justin Masterson.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Anyway, he wasn’t good, and I’m kinda tired of talking about it already.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">* Andrew</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Theory in Practice</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Chad Durbin entered the game in the 6<sup>th</sup> inning after Masterson walked Kelly Shoppach on four pitches to load the bases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got Fuld to fly out to left.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Do I draw any great conclusions about Chad Durbin’s talent or effectiveness or corner-turningosity or anything like that from this one plate appearance?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do I think it illustrates my point about Manny Acta having a perceived role for an valuation of Chad Durbin?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my point</i>, of COURSE I think so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m biased in favor of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But let me ask you: can you imagine him bringing in Justin Germano there?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) This having been said</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">While Durbin threw 1 1/3 hitless, scoreless innings, he threw 12 strikes in 27 pitches, which is really pretty dreadful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is he 100% healthy?<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Local Fail</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Globally, Joe Smiff has been pretty successful, with a 1.33 WHIP and a 3.00 ERA and a 10:2 K:BB ratio in 9 innings of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like 10 Ks in 9 innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even like 2 BB in 9 innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He hasn’t given up a homer this season and although he previous outing against the Angels was truly horrifying, there’s been a lot more “good” than “bad” in Smiff’s season to date.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And while it’s both fashionable and just to point out that Evan Longoria is a good hitter and that sometimes the other guy just beats you, it is still frustrating that Raffy Perez’ two leadoff baserunners turned into two extra runs because Smiff gave up a roped double to the gap to Longoria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I acknowledge that part of this is that I’m more emotionally attached to Perez than Smiff, the other thing is that Smiff’s delivery makes him LOOK like a guy who is geared to accomplish something positive in exactly this situation: get a tough right-handed hitter out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, Smiff got a groundout, strikeout, and pickoff-of-the-guy-he-walked, but that one hitter was the entire point of his being summoned from the ‘pen.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">You’re not going to fire a guy for giving up a hit to the other teams All-Star Future Hall of Famer kinda guy, but … damn.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Terror on the Basepaths!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Indians had 10 hits and a walk and scored 4 runs, but left only 5 men on base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this is because James Shields picked both Mike Brantley off first AND Orly Cabrera off second.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, I’ll admit: <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Orly</place></city> did not agree with the umpire that he’d been picked off second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t happen to think he was picked off second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even James Shields did not sound convinced:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">"I don't know if I got him on that or not," Shields said. "The umpire called him out and that stopped the damage right there."</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But the fact is, in scoring position in a game in which you’re having massive trouble scoring, when the infield is shifting to the left for Shelly Duncan, why is this play even close?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This isn’t the first time Brantley’s been picked off, either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s hope the time between pickoffs for Brantley is longer next time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Terror on the basepaths II!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On the other hand, Carlos Santana gunned down Fuld trying to steal second and Smiff picked off Casey Kotchman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a sluggish start to the season, Santana has now caught 5 of 20 would-be basestealers for a non-embarrassing 25% catch rate (it’s still a bit below “respectable” for me).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Everybody hits!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Matt LaPorta was the only player for either team who did not reach base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kelly Shoppach was the only other player not to get a hit.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) Streaking</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Asdrubal Cabrera walloped a solo shot for his 6<sup>th</sup> homer on the season, and added a late-inning triple (his 2<sup>nd</sup>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his last 10 games, Cabrera has hit 15-for-42, a .357 clip, with 5 extra-base hits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has an .840 OPS from the right side and a .836 OPS from the left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(He’s more reliable from the left, with a .372 OBP: he has yet to draw a walk from the right, meaning that despite hitting .327 against lefties, his OBP is only .321, which is weird but due to the way sacrifices are counted in AVG and OBP.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">9) Good news</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Grady Sizemore’s knee has no significant (i.e., surgery-requiring) damage and may play in the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Seattle</place></city> series.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Justin Germano’s knee has no significant damage and may NOT play in the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Seattle</place></city> series.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-68325568423074613862011-05-13T13:12:00.000-05:002011-05-13T13:12:15.144-05:00The B-List: 5/11<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Rays (21-15)</strong> 0 1 0 3 0 0 3 0 1 <strong>8 11 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Indians (23-12)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 <strong>2 5 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">W: Price (5-3) L: Carrasco (1-2)</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
ERAs of <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Cleveland</city></place> pitchers used last night: 5.29, 6.17, 6.75.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where were we playing, <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Colorado</place></state>?</div></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Structural integrity</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Carlos Carrasco returned from the DL and drew a lousy “Welcome Back” assignment, being paired up against David Price, who is much better than he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carrasco didn’t look all that impressive in his last rehab start, but I guess it was deemed that from a physical standpoint, there was nothing preventing his return to the majors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While you’d like a more ringing endorsement than, “Well, he’s probably not going to wince a lot,” the fact is that Carrasco was considered one of the five best (as defined by “ability to get major-league hitters out right now”) starters in the Cleveland organization at the beginning of the season, and no one (specifically Carrasco) has done anything to change that evaluation, so into the rotation he goes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I still think Carrasco has a higher ceiling than most of his contemporaries, and I consider him one of our top THREE starters because I like his groundball/strikeout mix more than Josh Tomlin’s flyball/homer/mirrors mix, Alex White’s fastball/splitter mix, Mitch Talbot’s changeup/blunderbuss mix, or Jeanmar Gomez’ chuck-and-duck mix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s not a polished product, and while I understand that the priorities of a 23-12 team aren’t 100% in synch with that of a young, developing team, polishing Carrasco’s repertoire might be as important as anything else the Indians do this season, the ultimate win-win scenario.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Carrasco certainly started the game poorly, walking the first two hitters on nine pitches, but he was able to fight through the inning without allowing a run (or a hit, for that matter).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a bit of a harbinger of things to come, as Carrasco threw but 56 strikes in an even 100 pitches, walked 3 men, and generally commanded the strike zone in the manner of George McClellan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His overall numbers weren’t any good (6 hits, 3 walks, 4 runs in 5 innings), but he didn’t pitch all that badly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He just didn’t pitch all that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">well</i>, either.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The first three innings were pretty encouraging as far as they went, though: he gave up a run in the second on a pair of singles and a double, but the double was a blort that landed just inside the foul line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More interestingly, of the nine outs recorded, one was a strikeout, and the other EIGHT were ground balls.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">While three runs scored in the third, it’s not like Carrasco was getting shelled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first single was a beaten-out bunt, and the first run scored on a ground ball to first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After an RBI single, the third run scored on a sac fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of the three fly ball outs Carrasco got (out of 15), one was a popped up bunt attempt, one was a popup to short, and the sac fly was the only ball that made it as far as an outfielder on the fly.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, after the game, Manny Acta was asked about rust and properly said, “No excuses, he just didn’t throw enough strikes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like that Acta took the opportunity to publically establish that while he’ll stand up for and behind his players, accountability remains important, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carrasco got poor results because he didn’t pitch well enough to prevent them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he DID pitch well enough for me to think he’ll be fine every fifth day, and the first three innings give me reason to believe he’ll have some success doing it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Theory and Practice Corner</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Last year, I opined that Jamey Wright made perfect sense for last year’s roster because the rotation was so full of question marks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t clear that Jake Westbrook would hold up after UCL replacement or that Fausto Carmona wasn’t simply a cabbage or Justin Masterson could get a left-hander out or Mitch Talbot was actually a real person or anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having a veteran on the staff with the potential to eat some innings made all kinds of sense for a team with so many questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When enough of these questions were answered to everyone’s satisfaction and Wright was proven to be Not Very Good, the team moved on and so did Wright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So is the fate of the swingman.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Justin Germano is, in essense, Jamey Wright with better “stuff.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, he doesn’t have the kind of groundball tendencies, but Wright never struck anyone out and Germano has been, up to this point in his career, potentially better than that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, of course, it’s a bit of a stretch to call Germano a “seasoned veteran,” seeing as though he’s only 28 and has a grand total of 78 games under his belt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, in terms of role, Germano is not a setup man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is not a bridge guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He doesn’t really set up the setup man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s a guy who can throw a baseball, and when you have innings that aren’t really very important or your starter is tired or you run out of other guys or you hate your fans, you can call on Germano instead of forfeiting outright, which in some circles is considered “poor form.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now look: we’ve talked about this enough times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Germano’s first outing was truly atrocious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His last outing was supremely bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The five outings in between were actually pretty good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has a higher percentage of scoreless outings than, say, Chad Durbin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s the thing, though: Justin Germano instills sub-zero confidence when he’s called into a game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether this is fair to Germano or not is almost immaterial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, let’s consider what the POINT of Justin Germano is.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Right now, there is little doubt that Germano is effectively an innings sponge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is needed to absorb innings when other guys have been used a couple-three nights in a row, or when a starter goes flop, or … nope, I think that’s about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as I can tell, there has not been a single situation in which Acta has said, “I need a guy who will get THIS hitter out, and the best choice for the job is Justin Germano.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Let’s contrast this for a moment: there HAVE been a couple instances, misguided or not, in which this HAS been said about Chad Durbin, whose ERA is even higher than Germano’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Durbin has been a disappointment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He may even be a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">massive</i> disappointment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He certainly hasn’t been particularly GOOD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in Mitch Talbot’s “fifth inning save” game, for example, he was brought in ON PURPOSE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I’ve said, he’s walked 7 guys in 14 2/3 innings and has given up 3 homers and doesn’t make me feel confident, either, but Durbin has a PURPOSE.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">There is literally NO OTHER TIME that I can genuinely identify where Manny Acta CHOSE to use Justin Germano.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He ACCEPTED Justin Germano, perhaps … he SETTLED for Justin Germano … he determined that Justin Germano wouldn’t HURT … but I honestly don’t believe that Germano was PICKED.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was what was LEFT.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And none of this is really meant to disparage Germano to the degree that he’s a worthless schmoe, a walking collection of pond scum that must be jettisoned from the roster in order for the Indians to succeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is clearly false … it is EMPIRICALLY false.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s false.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justin Germano’s fine, and he’s okay, and we’re 23-12 with him on the roster, and whatever.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s the thing, though: at this point in the season, over 20% in, I think we can make some decent judgements about what we do and do not have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have starting pitchers that can give you a Quality Start more often than not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every team has a few clunkers (starts, not starters).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No team has made 162 Quality Starts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doesn’t happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But more often than not, the starter’s going through the sixth inning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">We have some pretty good back-end guys: it’s hard to objectively consider 2011 VFP to be 2007 Raffy Betancourt or anything, but Smiff and Pestano form a league-average RH tandem, while Raffy Perez and Tony Sipp are … let’s say … above-average from the left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our closer is settled in: I’m not willing to consider him in the Great category, but he’s fine.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So, here’s the thing: I doubt a modern manager is going to try a 10-man staff, and I don’t think this particular 10-man staff would hold up over 162 games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are too many 6-inning starts and back-to-back appearances and injury risks to think five relievers making 80 appearances each is a good idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need another pitcher, and I’m resigned to needing TWO more pitchers (the “modern classical” 12-man staff).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But if you add TWO more pitchers, does one of them really have to be a traditional “long man?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who’s to say Chad Durbin can’t handle BOTH the roles of “mid-game matchup guy” AND “starter flop absorber?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you add the 12<sup>th</sup> guy as a real, bona fide, knockout right-hander, you have MORE guys you can use to match up late in games, shuffling the needs for Smiff and Pestano around some, cutting back the back-to-backs and three-in-a-rows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you BELIEVE that your starting rotation is high-enough quality to continue to go deep enough into game, you no longer need the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">innings</i> as much as you need <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">confidence</i>, or, by extension, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quality</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I think, when all is said and done, we are at the point in the season where we can legitimately ask, “Is there an available reliever I would have more confidence in to get a right-handed hitter out than Justin Germano?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Not to put too fine a point on it</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">There is.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Isn’t Durbin worse?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Durbin hurts my eye more, but makes me throw up in anticipation less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Managing is more of an art than a science.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) What about the hitting?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">David Price is good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) What about the ducks?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Did I mention David Price’s goodness?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because he was good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Who is “R Delaney?”</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Could not tell you.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-83238861033896553322011-05-11T14:38:00.001-05:002011-05-11T14:38:36.863-05:00The B-List: 5/10<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Rays (20-15)</strong> 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 <strong>4 8 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Indians (23-11)</strong> 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 <strong>5 10 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">W: C. Perez (2-1) L: Joel Peralta (1-2)</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Not looking forward to tonight’s pitching matchup.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0) Administrative Note</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here is what I have to say about the Angels series: I really, really, really, really hate infield singles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless they’re by Asdrubal Cabrera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those are awesome.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) A predictable path has a predictable endpoint</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Josh Tomlin was cruising along until he left a pitch up and the batter hammered it for a solo homer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So, as it turns out, you can’t actually stop me, but that’s not because you hadn’t heard it before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You heard it in his last start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You heard it in the start before that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it more disturbing than hearing “… and then Fausto went insane, walked two guys, and gave up three straight hits?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, it is not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One run is one run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Matt Joyce took him deep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt Joyce is hitting .356 and slugging .554.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stuff happens.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And except for an ill-advised “just one more guy” that led to “just one more run,” Josh Tomlin pitched a fine game, once again, for his umpteenth Quality Start in a row, extending his Indians franchise record by a subumpteenth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through six full innings, Tomlin allowed only 5 hits and 2 runs, walking one and striking out three (all in the first three innings).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He performed the same wondrous off-balancing act that has allowed him to post a 2.70 ERA through his first 7 starts, all with a very unlikely 0.85 WHIP that may defy belief but is wholly accurate as well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I feel very much like the guy with the sandwich board proclaiming doom, or perhaps Keith Law, which is kind of the same thing, and I would love to end up coming down on the wrong side of the Josh Tomlin Flyball Experience when the tale is told and we all look back with our Great Lakes Ale and our Shiner Bock and pat our grandchildren on the head and say, “Boy, that Steve Buffum … he sure did worry a lot about nothing!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really would.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have gotten feedback from people who tell me that Tomlin’s numbers are great AND you have to watch him pitch, because he’s got the mojo and the “it” and the Super Nonsense Factor and what have you, and I have gotten feedback from people who hide under their respective couches when Tomlin pitches, and I have gotten feedback from people who tell me how large my penis could be if only I replied right away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect at least one of these sets of people is not entirely interested in my opinion on Josh Tomlin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some feedback mechanisms are more valuable than others.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Still, here again is the concern for me:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Number of outs in the air: 11<br />
Number of “loud” outs: objectively, between 6 and 9?<br />
Masterson Number: 7<br />
Number of hits: 6<br />
Number of hits for extra bases: 5</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It is worth noting that the only guy he walked turned into a run on one of those booming doubles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To Tomlin’s credit, he has to keep his mistakes to a minimum to be effective, and this is exactly what he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four men doubled, and the only one who scored did so because Tony Sipp gave up a hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rays hitters went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position off Tomlin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think we’ve advanced at least to the point where we can consider Tomlin a perfectly legitimate major-league starter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you’re going to go ahead and be able to chalk up 6 or 7 innings of 2 or 3 run ball … every … single … time … out … well, sign me up, like, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yesterday</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a far cry from Mooks of Yesteryear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m still concerned.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Squander Vision!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I do not now what the major-league average is for a team to score a runner from third with fewer than two outs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that I have the typical Fan Attribution Bias in which I firmly believe that <city w:st="on">Cleveland</city> should score a run every time it has this situation while <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city>’s opponent should score none of the times it has this situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cheerfully accept that this is irrational.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But we sure are fucking terrible at it right now.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Indians drew an unconscionable ELEVEN walks off Tampa pitching last night, and scraped together 10 hits as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, three of the walks were in the ill-fated (from <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Tampa</place></city>’s perspective) 9<sup>th</sup> inning, but the Tribe put TWENTY-ONE GUYS on base and scored FIVE RUNS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is absurd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while it’s bad enough to leave 13 guys on base, the fact is that this does not count the THREE guys they had erased on double plays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In all, the Indians “hit” 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position, and the one “hit” was a preposterous weakling ground ball that Grady Sizemore beat to second base for no force out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The double plays were exceptionally galling as they each came with more than one runner on base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The third was easily the worst, as the runners were on first and third, and by the definition of “double play,” there were fewer than two outs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty much anything EXCEPT a double play there would have been better: to be worse, it would have had to involve botulism spores or Colin Cowherd yelling in his “nerd voice.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But the worst of the worst might have been in the 8<sup>th</sup> inning, when Matt LaPorta’s leadoff double and Jack Hannahan’s sacrifice bunt produced the potential go-ahead run at third with only one out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grady Sizemore took a mighty swing at a 1-0 pitch and … grounded poorly to first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Asdrubal Cabrera followed with … a ground ball to first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also no run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sizemore’s was obviously more infuriating, as there were far more options for Run Scoring Goodness available to him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In the second inning, the Indians went down in order on a pair of whiffs and a groundout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In EVERY OTHER INNING, the Indians had at least one runner in scoring position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eight innings!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we won because John Jaso buttered his glove and Kyle Farnsworth is Kyle Farnsworth.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Life’s little ironies</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Rays made a dramatic turnaround a couple years back by taking an “all-in” approach to defensive improvement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This worked wonders for them, although having top-notch pitching never hurts, but the fact is that the Rays have speed, agility, and sound hands all over the diamond.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This was easily-seen in several plays, not the least of which was an athletic 3-6-1 double play involving starter Andy Sonnanstine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even Juan Cruz made an unbelievable reaction play on a ground ball up the middle by Sizemore with the bases loaded that may have fractured his hip had he had the reaction time of, say, me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So it was with no small amusement that the 4<sup>th</sup> run for <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> scored on a passed ball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> scored two runs on a clean single, two walks, an infield roller, and a Hot Buttered Pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure that qualifies as a “rally” so much as a “series of pratfalls,” but two runs is two runs nonetheless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps using banana peels instead of inside-out baseball caps is not as good an idea as it sounds.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Do I get to worry yet?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It seems odd to express concern about a guy who led off the game with a well-struck homer for the game’s first run, but over Grady Sizemore’s last seven games, he has collected a total of 5 hits in 33 AB to drop his average nearly 100 points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, these are all small samples, and his getaway performance from Caliheimgeles (3-for-5, 1 double, 1 homer) was excellent, but we now sport a leadoff man with a .333 OBP, and a couple of the balls he hit last night didn’t look like quality swings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ironically, the hardest ball he hit might have been the one Cruz knocked down for what looks in the game log as a simple grounder to the pitcher, and Sizemore is GENERALLY hitting the ball very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, his 19:4 K:BB ratio is pretty awful, and his strikeout percentage is close to 25%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sizemore has always struck out a significant number of times, but in his past 10 games, only two ended without at least one whiff, not exactly what you’re looking for out of the one slot.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I think we all knew that Sizemore wasn’t going to hit .390 nor slug .800 for the entire season, but this past week and a half has not been my favorite.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Managerial Head-Scratchers</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">While it’s true that Josh Tomlin was pitching pretty well, he did allow a run in the 6<sup>th</sup> off a walk and a double, and he’d faced everyone at least twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was up at 92 pitches, and while the Rays had only 2 runs on 5 hits, they’d been hitting the ball pretty squarely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sean Rodriguez is a right-handed batter with a lowly .211 batting average, but his ISO is over .200, and Tomlin had already given up four extra-base hits.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But more to the point, while some writers laud Tony Sipp’s low number of inherited runners scored, I find myself wondering if Sipp even knows there are men on base as they steal with impunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while I am not willing to invest the time to look it up, it makes sense to me that a reliever starting an inning fresh has an advantage over one coming into the game with a runner in scoring position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if you liked the Tomlin v. Rodriguez matchup over a Sipp v. Rodriguez one, I’d have to ask if that included the data that Rodriguez had faced Tomlin twice, that Tomlin had thrown 92 pitches, or that he’d been smacked all over the ballyard at that point.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Sipp can either face righties or he can’t: his usage as 7<sup>th</sup>-inning setup man (not to mention allowing him to stay and face Kelly Shoppach) suggests Manny Acta believes he can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And again, while Rodriguez has power, he hits .211.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Anyway, Rodriguez doubled off Tomlin and then Sipp was brought in, and I couldn’t help wondering what the point was.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Department of Hat Tipping</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I think we’d all prefer if the VFP finished the year with a 0.00 ERA and 100 Ks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know he would.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And after a sparkling start, he’s looked a little vulnerable, blowing a save against <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Oakland</place></city> and another one last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s given up a hit in each of his last five outings and has not looked as “sure” as he had earlier in the year.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But the fact is, Evan Longoria is really, really good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He hit a homer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not concluding much about Pestano’s ability based on that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Managerial Back-Patters</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">A loyal reader opined last night via Twitter that Chris Perez’ velocity readings seem to be down, and he’s concerned about the closer’s health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t really speak to that, but I thought I’d mention it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One thing I *do* like, though, is that Chris Perez does not pitch exclusively in Save Opportunities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last night marked another outing in which he entered the game with a tie score and no hope of a save, and while he was rewarded with his second win on the season, I’m more encouraged about what this says about Acta than Perez.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What it says is, “I’m not going to lose this game because I left one of my best options in the ‘pen because it wasn’t officially save-y.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have lost count as to how many times Royals fans lamented that they lost a game in late innings because someone of Jamey Wright’s ilk was giving up the winning run while Joakim Soria sat for the fifth consecutive day because it wasn’t a save op.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, Acta is willing to get Perez in the game, and if he’s really one of our best pitchers, then by golly that’s exactly what should happen to maximize our chances of winning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">By the way, in his last 10 outings, Perez has given up a run in four of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In three of these, he walked more hitters than he struck out (in the 4<sup>th</sup>, it was 1 apiece).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the six scoreless outings, Perez did not walk more than he struck out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last night’s game, in fact, marked the first scoreless outing in the last ten appearances in which he walked a batter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know about a “perfect correlation,” but I will say this: Chris Perez gets better results when he does not walk hitters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">(Here is where I would normally cajole Perez with a “Throw strikes!” epithet, but the fact is, after walking Damon, he recorded three outs without throwing another pitch that was not a strike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I’m assuming he already knows.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) Walk this way</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I should point out that while the Tribe drew 11 walks, it was by only six players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each of Choo, Santana, Hafner, LaPorta, and Hannahan walked twice each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other walk was pretty big.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">9) Good eye!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Ha ha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just kidding.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Don’t get me wrong, Mike Brantley was down 0-2, and for all the abuse heaped on Kyle Farnsworth over the years, the man throws hard and came into the game with awesome stats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brantley showed good patience to coax the game-winning walk.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But great Charlemagne’s crumhorn, that was an atrocious pitch for ball four.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It bounced in front of the plate!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vlad Guerrero would have walked on that pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Note: Brantley was probably still cringing a bit from ball three, which was atrocious in its own way, nearly hitting him instead of bouncing.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">10) Only partially kidding</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Hey, Mike, you got ball four, and that’s great, but next time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let that ball hit you, man.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-6991036929320182372011-05-04T15:11:00.000-05:002011-05-04T15:11:05.485-05:00The B-List: 5/3<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Indians (20-8)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 <strong>4 12 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Athletics (15-15)</strong> 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 <strong>1 5 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">W: Carmona (3-3) L: Fuentes (1-3) S: C. Perez (8)</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The only team playing better than the Cleveland Indians right now might be … the Cleveland Indians’ AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Fausto and the Inning of Minor Intestinal Discomfort™</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Back in the day, I used to refer to C.C. Sabathia’s tendency to be rolling along, then somehow cough up an ungodly hairball of an inning, lovingly termed the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Inning of Crap™</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sabathia, being who he was, would then as often as not right himself and return to his normal, dominant form, leading me to wonder what the heck happened in that inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, he throw five shutout innings, then give up 3 runs on 5 hits (2 doubles), then throw two more shutout innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was infuriating, but in a masochistically amusing way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Perhaps it was more amusingly infuriating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was kind of a while back.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Last week, we talked a bit about how Fausto appeared to lose focus a couple times in his last start, and while it’s true his fourth inning included a pair of hits, his only walk, and some very unorthodox defensive strategy, this is hardly a guy losing his stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first single was well-struck, but the second single stayed in the infield.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then allowed a runner-advancing groundout, and had Jack Hannahan been able to field the next ground ball a little more cleanly, he may have had a shot at Daric Barton Fink rushing home.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In fact, on the night, Carmona allowed a total of 5 singles in 8 full innings of work, and THREE of the singles DID NOT LEAVE THE INFIELD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TWO of them were by HIDEKI MATSUI, who is occasionally pinch-run for by a Cherrystone clam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While his overall GO:FO ratio of 10:8 wasn’t very high, the A’s hit a large number of balls without an real malice, and Carmona had five innings in which he faced the minimum (4 perfect, 1 with a strike-‘em-out-throw-‘em-out double play).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take away the minor-league version of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Inning of Crap™</b> and Carmona pitched 7 shutout innings with 2 singles, 0 walks, and 4 Ks (he struck out 1 in the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Inning of Minor Discomfort™</b>).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The one reason I’m willing to lay the 4<sup>th</sup> on him at all (besides it being the only inning in which he gave up a run) was that he started 5 of 6 hitters with ball one, 3 of them with ball two, and 2 with ball three.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going 3-0 on consecutive guys suggests a certain e’sprit d’bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the thing is, over the course of the game, Fausto threw an efficient 64 strikes in 96 pitches, meaning that without that blunderbussery in the 4<sup>th</sup>, he completed 7 innings on 53 strikes in 74 pitches, which is quite excellent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It’s no secret that the A’s aren’t a powerful offensive club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The A’s might not pack the wallop of a bridge club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Carmona had excellent command of excellent stuff, and there wasn’t really any point last night at which I worried that Fausto would put the game out of reach in a bad way (by giving up runs).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was more impatient during his innings, just waiting to see how the A’s would be retired so we could get back to the business of hitting.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One measure of Carmona’s control over the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Oakland</place></city> lineup: he held the A’s hitless with runners in scoring position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">three</b> times.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Open question: had the Indians scored four runs in the 9<sup>th</sup> instead of three, eliminating the Save opportunity, would Carmona have pitched the 9<sup>th</sup>, especially seeing as though he had a 7-pitch 8<sup>th</sup>?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) More whiplash</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Spirits were raised in the top of the 9<sup>th</sup> when Mike Brantley worked a 9-pitch walk off ace lefty reliever Brian Fuentes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brantley may never bloom into a super-high-quality hitter, but I will say this: he almost never gives away a plate appearance.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So with a 1-1 tie in the late innings and baserunners at a premium, it was especially galling that Brantley got picked off by the wily old (old, old, old) veteran on a move that could charitably be termed “not quite a balk, apparently.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was calling for a stolen base attempt earlier in the game to try to get a guy in scoring position, and admit I thought about it with the speedier Brantley, but against Fuentes, well, that seems like a tough gamble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I admit that Matt LaPorta was a double play risk, and at least some of this is hindsight, but it seemed like a really unfortunate thing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Especially after LaPorta singled.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And ESPECIALLY after the NEXT hitter, Jack Hannahan, ALSO singled, which “would have scored” Brantley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I assume so, but I guess there’s no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">guarantee</i>, and it didn’t matter anyway, seeing as how out Brantley was, which was “fully.”)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So it was back to euphoria when Orly Cabrera drove a single up the middle to score LaPorta with the go-ahead run, and when Grady Sizemore produced his highest-quality plate appearance by being struck with a baseball, and Drooby Doo followed with a two-run single, Brantley’s pickoff seemed like a distant memory.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Huzzah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Managerial Second-Guessing</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Let’s get this out of the way: I have no special insight as to who called for Brantley to get picked off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I mean, I suppose it was Brian Fuentes, but Brantley looked like he got a steal sign, and I’ll assume for now that this came from the bench and not the second-year player.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In the 8<sup>th</sup> inning, Giant Mike Wuertz was pitching as the right-hander that had been called on in the last inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He walked one and struck one out in the 7<sup>th</sup>, then got the first batter in the 8<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shin-Soo Choo fell behind 0-2, but coaxed a walk for his best plate appearance of the night.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">See, THIS is the guy who should steal.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Not only is Choo a good basestealer (not that Brantley isn’t), but Wuertz is right-handed and enormous, not left-handed and crafty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And with Santana-Duncan-Brantley due up, if you got Choo in scoring position, you’d have decent (not great) chance to go ahead before the bottom of the order came up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Of course, Santana flied out and <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Duncan</place></city> whiffed and it was the bottom of the order that won the game, so I’m clearly in angels-on-pinheads territory here, but I sure liked that setup for a stolen base better than one involving Brian Fuentes on the mound.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Stop!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cabrera Time!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I am thoroughly grateful to have been so wrong, no matter how temporarily, about Orly Cabrera’s charm wearing off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His last-inning RBI hits are getting finer, not staler, with increased frequency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t look now, but the man is actually hitting .301 right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Mind you, his OBP is .330, but hey.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But barely a week after I asked if Asdrubal Cabrera can actually hit, the man has gone 8-for-25 with 2 doubles, a homer, and 5 RBI.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last night, he went 3-for-5 to raise his season numbers to .276/.341/.466, which I would probably accept from my third baseman: from my shortstop, this is both sooper and dooper.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Asdrubal leads the team with 19 RBI and 32 hits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Orly</place></city> is second with 18 RBI and 31 hits.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Hop this way</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">With two outs and men on second and third, Travis Hafner was called off the bench to pinch-hit for Adam Everett when Wuertz was called in to replace ex-Tribesman Craig Breslow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did swing at the 2-0 offering, but ultimately walked on five pitches before giving way to Orly Cabrera as a pinch-stander.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I liked the move a lot for a couple reasons: Hafner is a much more productive hitter than <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city>, obviously, but the situation was nearly custom-made for a guy with a bad wheel: good platoon matchup, guys in scoring position, batter speed not at a premium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as he could hobble to first in time to beat a throw, the important speed was in front of him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) One of these plate appearances was not the Worst in the World!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Because there are two of them, see?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It goes without saying that in a 1-1 game with two outs in the late innings, making the last out of the inning with the bases loaded is more disappointing than a regular out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To strike out in this situation is frustrating as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To strike out on three pitches, swinging and missing at two of the three (and fouling the other off), well, Grady Sizemore, that was Very Bad Indeed!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But while the situation was a lot more intriguing there, I think from a purely aesthetic standpoint, the 6<sup>th</sup>-inning gackity-gack from Shin-Soo Choo might have been my least favorite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tyler Ross missed a couple times away and once low to run the count to 3-0: Choo took the next pitch for a strike on the outside corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then, as ball four sailed through the right-handed batter’s box (it did not look close to being a strike to me), Choo reached out, yanked it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all the way across his body</i>, and grounded meekly to second as if the mirror spirit of Andy Marte had inhabited his form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shin-Soo Choo, that was Very Bad Indeed!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Strikes are good!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Chris Perez threw strikes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Chris Perez got the save with a perfect inning of work.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I consider the two related.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) Let me say this about that</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Oakland</span></place></city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">’s leadoff hitter has a .287 OBP.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">They had five players in the lineup batting under .250.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Three of their four infielders sport an OPS of .627, .494, and .581.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Two of their outfielders live in the Tyner Zone, and one has an OPS of .561.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Their first baseman slugs .291.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their right fielder slugs .258.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They bat second and third.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I am willing to accept that Rolling O Stadium or whatever it’s called suppresses offense, but those are seriously awful numbers for a park on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sun</i>.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-53101689600479662282011-05-02T14:40:00.000-05:002011-05-02T14:40:57.877-05:00The B-List: 4/29 - 5/1<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E<br />
Tigers (12-14) 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 5 13 0</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Indians (17-8) 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 4 9 11 2</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;">W: C. Perez (1-1) L: Benoit (0-1)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 R H E<br />
Tigers (12-15) 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 11 1</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Indians (18-8) 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 10 0</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;">W: Sipp (1-0) L: Villareal (1-1)</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Tigers (12-16) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 10 1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indians (19-8) 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 X 5 8 0</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: B. Squirrel (1-1) L: Benoit (0-2) S: C. Perez (7)</span></div></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Cleveland</span></city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> scored as many runs after the 6<sup>th</sup> inning as <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Detroit</place></city> scored all weekend (11).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note: <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> only scored 2 runs in each game before the 7<sup>th</sup>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Fortune smiles</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In one inning, starter Jeanmar Gomez gave up two singles and a double.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In another, he gave up two doubles and a single.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In those two innings combined, Gomez gave up … one run.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Gomez ended up having one of those game which sportswriters in my youth would have dubbed a “scattering of ten hits.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t quite finish his 6<sup>th</sup> inning of work, so he was one out short of a Quality Start, but then, he only gave up two runs as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He left two men on base to Chad Durbin, so I feel he ought to get extra credit for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did give up a two-run homer to Miggy Cabrera in the first, but after that, the Tigers did not score again off Gomez or, for that matter, anyone else, either.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s something to take from this outing that might not be immediately obvious: while Max Scherzer was sawing through the Indians’ lineup the first couple times en route to collecting 7 Ks in 6 2/3 IP, Gomez was simply plodding along, giving up his 10 hits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had one inning out of six in which he didn’t give up a hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He threw to an astonishing 10 batters with a runner in scoring position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He actually gave up 3 hits to these 10 batters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, two of these were singles that only advanced the runner from second to third, so only Cabrera’s blow actually produced any runs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But here’s a stat to keep in mind: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Number of batters who walked and subsequently scored off Gomez: 0<br />
Number of batters who walked and subsequently scored off Scherzer: 3</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Gomez, of course, didn’t walk any batters in the first place, so it was moderately difficult for them to come around to score.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, despite giving up 10 hits, Scherzer actually allowed more baserunners (6 H, 5 BB) than Gomez (10 H, but not including errors).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And despite allowing 3 hits for extra bases for 13 total bases, Scherzer’s 6 hits included a pair of homers for 12 total bases.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Of course, much of the damage against Scherzer came in his final two frames, when it might have behooved Jim Leyland to rouse himself and bring on a relief pitcher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally, I applaud his decision to channel 2006 Eric Wedge to coax “just one more inning” out of Mighty Max.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the fact remains that Jeanmar Gomez held the fort and we won the game in no small part because he was able to keep the Tigers from building a big inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having a guy thrown out at home helped, too.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Was this a great game by the young starter?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, it was not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ten hits is ten hits, and he was lucky to hold the damage to 3 runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s really, really ordinary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your 7<sup>th</sup> starter is often pretty ordinary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did pretty well, though.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Did you say “7<sup>th</sup>?”</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because Alex White is better than Jeanmar Gomez.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Is Alex White “truly ready” for the majors?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, what do you mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is he ready to win 20 games in 200+ innings?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can he get major-league hitters out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, he can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can he make 20 starts without the league “figuring him out” and forcing him to adjust?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shoot, I probably don’t offer more insight than many other fans here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My initial guess would be, “No.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now, White has two fine pitches in a fastball and a splitter: these are enough to get major-leaguers out, but probably not four times in a game.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">White’s final numbers are slightly skewed: Manny Acta took the Alvin Dark vs. Frank Howard approach to Miggy Cabrera, which probably wasn’t wholly unwarranted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike other small-sample inflated numbers, Cabrera’s .333/.454/.635 wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they were his season-ending numbers as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cabrera has a supportable argument to being the best hitter in the American League.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So intentionally walking him twice bumps White’s walk total up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But the fact that it bumps it up to FOUR showcases one of my concerns: the other two walks came against Austin Jackson, who is mired in a terrifying slump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Jackson</place></city> left this game hitting .181/.252/.257.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His AVG was inflated by a fluky BABIP last season, so he was due for some regression, but not this far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s not hitting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throw him a strike!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, his speed makes him dangerous: he can turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples, but that’s an argument AGAINST walking him, not FOR it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was infuriating was not that he drew a pair of walks, but that he drew a pair of walks <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">after being down 0-2 in the count</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s just agonizing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White would set him up, then broke out the laser sight and tried to get MUCH too fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I acknowledge that White didn’t walk anyone else in this (or any other) manner, there were other batters to get a similar treatment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brennan Boesch started 0-2 in the 5<sup>th</sup>, then got two nibbles before flying out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ryan Raburn was down 0-2 in the 4<sup>th</sup>, then went foul, ball, foul, ball, homer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White got 10 swings-and-Misses and struck out 4, but his penchant for Nagying will drive me crazy if it’s a character trait rather than a one-game data point.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">All told, White gave up 2 runs in 6 innings, adding his name to the Quality Start roll, yielding 6 hits and the 4 walks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The walks to Cabrera don’t bother me at all: the walks to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Jackson</place></city> are more disturbing for the nibbling than for blunderbussery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The home run to Cabrera didn’t even make me blink: Miggy Cabrera hits home runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The home run to Raburn … well, look: we got a home run from Mike Brantley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White pitched well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now … can someone teach this young man Mitch Talbot’s changeup?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Preferably whoever taught it to Talbot rather than Talbot himself, because I’d rather he healed first?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Snooze alarm fail</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In the first inning of Sunday’s game, Justin Masterson allowed two hits and a walk.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In the second inning of Sunday’s game, Justin Masterson allowed two hits and a walk.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In the next five innings of Sunday’s game, Justin Masterson allowed two hits and no walks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Mind you, he did hit a couple batters and later ended up giving up a third run with some “help” (thereby losing his chance to win the game), but after a rough start, Masterson again pitched very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seems to display a positive, unstressed demeanor on the mound, and for him to cut out the walks while ending up with 7 Ks made for a very pleasant viewing experience, especially matched up with Unbeatable Phil Coke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With 11 groundouts, this make his Masterson Number for the game 18, a season high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Masterson now has 6 Quality Starts, giving up no more than 3 runs of any kind in a start this season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also puts an end to the disturbing Fibonacci Sequence of runs allowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With 6 singles and a double, Masterson has now allowed 8 extra-base hits in 40 IP and has held oppponents to a .301 SLG.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Opponents vs. Masterson actually live in the Tyner Zone with an OBP of .307.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His pitches per plate appearance of 3.76 would be a career low, suggesting either increased confidence or command, either of which would be a fine thing.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Whiplash</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Jack Hannahan led off the bottom of the 9<sup>th</sup> inning Friday with a solid single and was replaced on the basepaths by Adam Everett, who is 34 years old but seems older.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This confused me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got over it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Anyway, Grady Sizemore advanced <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city> to third with a hard-hit single to right, so with no outs, the runner on third represented the winning run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even a double play would win the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just about any decently-hit ball (or exceptionally poorly-hit ball, like a “swinging bunt”) would win the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just make contact.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Asdrubal Cabrera did not make contact.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Ha ha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just fooling!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Asdrubal Cabrera was intentionally walked, to load the bases and put a force on at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is sound strategy, as long as the next hitter isn’t someone like Shin-Soo Choo.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The next hitter was Shin-Soo Choo.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Okay, then: this is a challenge to you, Shin-Soo: just hit the ball and we all go home.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shin-Soo Choo did not hit the ball.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This was really very discouraging: Carlos Santana actually HAS grounded into 3 double plays already this season and is hitting .191.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Choo’s .250 is nothing to get extremely excited about, there have been signs that he’s back on track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And all we needed was a decent fly ball, as long as Adam Everett is faster than the average 34-year-old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went from euphoria to real consternation on three pitches, the length of time it took Choo to whiff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All we needed was a decent fly ball!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Carlos Santana hit a pretty decent fly ball.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I will say this: once Santana had a 3-1 count, with the bases loaded in a tie game so that a walk would win the game, I found myself saying, “Boy, if you swing at this pitch, Carlos, you’d better be sure you can hit it solidly.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Yeah, he hit it rather solidly.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) That was fun!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s do it again!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Santana wasn’t the only Indian to have a walkoff game-winning hit this weekend, as Orly Cabrera drove a ball over the head of shallow-playing Austin Jackson in the bottom of the 13<sup>th</sup> Saturday to win the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under normal circumstances, Cabrera’s game-winner might have been caught for an out, but with 1 out and a man on third, that would still have been the game-winner in the guise of a sacrifice fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, Cabrera just needed to hit the ball well, not awesomely, and he hit it well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Cabrera ended up going 3-for-6 on the night while seeing 12 pitches total, proving once again that I should probably hold off on grand pronouncements about plate discipline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey, it’s better to have it than to lack it, but <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Orly</place></city>’s 36 and this is pretty much who he is at this point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He won the game, who argues with this?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Interestingly enough, the intentional walk came into play here again, as Mike Brantley led off the inning with a single, then took second on a botched pickoff throw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Asdrubal Cabrera sacrificed him to third, where he stood patiently as <place w:st="on">Leyland</place> walked BOTH Choo AND Santana to get to Cabrera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note that on the night, Santana finished 1-for-5 with the IBB and 3 Ks: had they walked Choo, Santana was a legitimate threat to end the inning with a ground ball, as long as they didn’t let Choo steal second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is all second-guessing territory: I don’t view Choo OR Santana as “must avoid” hitters in the Miggy Cabrera mold, but each has more power than <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Orly</place></city>, and it was a calculated risk by the Tigers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Orly</place></city> had to come through for it to backfire, and he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great finish.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Shhhh!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">When your first baseman hits 7<sup>th</sup> or 8<sup>th</sup>, it’s usually due to one of two circumstances: Paul Sorrento is playing first for the 1995 Cleveland Indians, or you have some misguided notion about how important your first baseman’s glovework is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it’s a bit delusional to consider Brantley-Sizemore-Choo to be Albert-Kenny-Manny, and no one I know is seriously touting our first baseman for a Glove of any type of precious metal.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So we need a third case here for Matt LaPorta.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">LaPorta collected 4, 3, and 4 total bases in the three games, hitting a solo shot, three doubles, and a single.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is now hitting .263/.344/.513 on the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Orly</place></city>’s game-winning heroics have their charm, I’m not convinced LaPorta really “belongs” in the 8 slot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m no mind-reader, but I can’t help but think that Manny Acta put LaPorta there to say, in effect, “Look, we believe you can succeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hide here in the 8 slot and settle in: you’re our guy, better or worse, hell or high water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You get your cuts every day and don’t press for immediate results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Relax and let the game come to you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether or not this was the original intent, the results are encouraging, as evidenced by his slash line.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So there is the third case: we don’t want anyone to notice that Matt LaPorta has become a major-league corner infielder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t tell anyone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Official Disclaimer</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Every year, a player or two will come to the fore about whom I lose my ability to be objective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some justify my frustration (Ramon Vazquez, Mike Rouse) and some don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’m no longer capable of writing constructively about Chad Durbin, and thus will not.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) Break out the buzzsaws!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">After White left the game Saturday, on a night in which we appeared to have little going for us offensively, the bullpen conjured up these blasts from the past:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Joe Smiff: 3 hitters, 3 outs, 2 Ks, 8 strikes in 10 pitches<br />
VFP: a hit and a walk in a scoreless inning (the walk was Miggy, I can’t complain)<br />
C-Pez: 3 hitters, 3 outs, 2 Ks, 11 strikes in 14 pitches<br />
Raffy Perez: 2 IP, 2 singles, 2 Ks, 0 BB, 24 strikes in 31 pitches<br />
Tony Sipp: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks, 15 strikes in 21 pitches</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Except for Pestano, that’s dominant, cruel stuff.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Durbin and Smiff were much less effective Friday, but were bailed out by a regular-grade VFP (1 K in 1 perfect inning) and a solid C-Pez (1 K in 1 perfect inning, but only 5 strikes in 11 pitches).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Raffy gave up Masterson’s 3<sup>rd</sup> run on a single and a sac fly, while Durbin poached the win with a K of the single hitter he faced, and C-Pez got a “save” despite pitching Durbinly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Saturday was really fun.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">9) Captains Clutch!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shelley Duncan is somewhat miscast as a DH against right-handed pitching: he is serviceable, but not nearly as effective as he is as a lefty-masher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Travis Hafner nursing a foot injury, Duncan got a “spot start” against Scherzer and yanked a two-out, two-run, bases-loaded single through the hole between short and third.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oddly enough, he could not get a hit off Phil Coke, but that hit was big.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Asdrubal Cabrera chipped in a pair of two-out RBI Friday as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Santana had one in the 13-inning affair, and LaPorta had two on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a team, the Indians hit 6-for-22 with runners in scoring position, which is … eh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oddly enough, they had only 5 AB with RISP in the 13-inning game: that was far less an issue of “squandering” as it was “being throttled” (17 Ks as a team).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">10) Bottom of the barrel … er … <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">order</i></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Saturday night, the 6-through-9 hitters combined to go 2-for-19 with 1 walk and TWELVE strikeouts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LaPorta hit a double and a single, but Jack Hannahan (moved up to SIX), Austin Kearns, and Tofu Lou went hitless in 15 trips to the plate (Hannahan drew a single walk).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Kearns</span></place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> in particular looked overmatched, although he struck out only three times to Marson’s four.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His other two times, he grounded out to third, and neither one was putting the fear of Jhonny Peralta into Brandon Inge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sample size is pitifully small, but this player does not look like one who is going to help the Indians any time soon: he appears to the lay fan to be guessing at the plate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Marson is kind of what he is, I’m a lot less concerned about him.)</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-31299964026450156002011-04-29T14:31:00.000-05:002011-04-29T14:31:16.280-05:00The B-List: 4/28<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><strong>FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</strong></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Royals (12-13)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 <strong>2 6 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Indians (16-8)</strong> 2 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 X <strong>8 10 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">W: Carmona (2-3) L: Davies (1-3)</span><br />
<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Kyle Davies is not good at baseball.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Above all else, the ability to concentrate and focus is of … look, a shiny object!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Over the course of a long season, the vast majority of starting pitchers will have good outings and bad outings, days on which their stuff is better than others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a huge number of variables that go into a starting performance, with 100 different pitches thrown on dozens of days with different weather and opponents in different stadiums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are days on which the pitcher feels energized and others when he’s fighting off a mild virus; days on which the pitcher slept well the night before and others that require strong coffee to “get going,” days that are cold or windy or searing or the flight was delayed or he got bitten by a mosquito or reacts to pollen or a particularly endearing drawing of an octopus wearing a top hat by a three-year-old child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Professional athletes are remarkable not only for their physical gifts, but also for their ability to perform at a consistently high level given all the distractions and the huge collection of individually-minor but collectively-notable daily challenges.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Although it’s quite reasonable for the lay fan to ask for “more consistency” from a professional athlete, it’s only reasonable because that athlete has passed through the ranks of the “talented” through “excellent” up to the “elite” that make up the highest ranks of his or her sport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t make it all the way to the majors without showing that you’ve got way, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">way</i> more than the average guy and really, significantly more than other guys who are “merely amazing.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I make this point every so often that the worst guy in the majors is almost certainly (depending on your personal experience) far better than anyone you’ve ever played with recreatoinally: the fact that Roy Halladay can make him look ridiculous doesn’t mean you could strike him out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But while<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“consistency” remains a bugbear for any number of players, it bears mentioning that it’s not something you can reasonably expect a guy to just go out and get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can lift weights and get stronger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t take a “consistency pill” and become a machine.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So while it’s perfectly understandable that Indians fans can look at Fausto Carmona and wail about his up-and-down performances, it’s hardly something you can use as justification for calling for his head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In six starts, Carmona has two awful clunkers (10 R in 3 IP, 6 R in 5 IP) and four excellent starts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yesterday’s start was his 4<sup>th</sup> in which he went at least 7 innings and gave up no more than 2 runs, and in fact, it looked like a shutout in the making until the 7<sup>th</sup> inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there is a long-term concern from yesterday’s start, it is that over his last two starts covering 12 innings, Carmona has a paltry 3 strikeouts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s never going to be a K-an-inning guy, but 1 and 2 strikeouts is pretty lousy, even for a groundball pitcher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll keep an eye on that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But my point about consistency wasn’t actually borne from looking at his season stats, but rather at short stretches of the game in which Carmona seemed to “wander off.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a five-pitch first in which he threw only 1 ball, Carmona came out for the second, staked to a 2-run lead, and promptly tossed four straight balls to Billy Butler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Butler</place></city> is a good hitter with a discerning eye, and maybe it’s good strategy to work carefully, but four straight balls is just bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it mechanical?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think so: Carmona threw 60 strikes in 86 pitches overall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think he just lost his concentration on the mound, further supported by the fact that he started Jeff Francoeur (a noted free swinger) with two MORE balls, for 6 in all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got Francoeur to ground into a double play, and well done and all that, but those six pitches suggest a pitcher who isn’t absolutely “locked in” to what he’s doing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I had originally considered the back-to-back hits by horrific hitters Matt Treanor and Al Escobar to be a lapse, but that’s probably more Blind Squirrel territory than Carmona’s fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Treanor’s ball wasn’t exactly “smoked.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Consider this, though: after Escobar’s double, Carmona produced the following sequence:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Started Dyson with 2 strikes (he put the second in play, made an out)<br />
Started Melky Cabrera with 2 strikes<br />
Started Gordon with 2 strikes<br />
Started Butler with 2 strikes<br />
Started Francoeur with 2 strikes<br />
Started Betemit with a strike he put in play (out)<br />
Started Aviles with 2 strikes (second in play, out)<br />
Started Treanor with 2 strikes<br />
Started Escobar with 2 strikes<br />
Started Dyson with 2 strikes<br />
Started Cabrera with a strike he put in play (out)<br />
Started Gordon with 1 strike (then ball, then 2 strikes for the K)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I mean, that’s a remarkable string.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carmona is really, definitely, CLEARLY “locked in” now!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You bet!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go get ‘em!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roll Tide!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ish kabibble!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then …</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">… he walked Billy Butler on 4 straight.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And then he gave up two consecutive RBI doubles and the 7<sup>th</sup> was his last inning despite throwing only 86 pitches.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The doubles don’t bother me by themselves: Francoeur and Betemit are hot hitters, one of whom is actually good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other guys are pros, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No-hitters are extremely rare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I can’t help thinking that, after such a long string of pounding the zone, after such a dominant stretch of being excellent, that the walk to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Butler</place></city> marked a sort of “mental wandering,” especially insofar as it was FOUR STRAIGHT PITCHES.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take away those two <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Butler</city></place> plate appearances, and Carmona threw an astonishing 60 strikes in 78 pitches, giving up 5 hits and 0 walks in 7 innings.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And I suppose that more than anything else is what infuriates the more emotional fans among us here about Fausto: he is clearly CAPABLE of SUCH a high level of performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See, very few (if any) of us are blessed with the physical ability and work ethic to allow us to throw a pitch in the mid-90s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We simply and literally CAN’T do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But MOST of us can CONCENTRATE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a skill we all think WE have, and WE are ORDINARY GUYS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If an ORDINARY guy can do it, well, look, he’s a SPECIAL guy, HE ought to be able to do it!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, yes and no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m actually pretty lousy at concentrating for a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am very distractable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have good stretches, but they don’t normally last super long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What you miss here is that Fausto DID go through a LONG stretch of EXCELLENT concentration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that stretch above, exactly once guy reached base … on an infield single.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s fantastic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then he lost it for a moment, and gave up two runs … and then GOT IT BACK, retiring the next three guys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Listen: when I lost my concentration, I often don’t just “get it back.”)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Anyway, Carmona may never become super awesome Ace material because I don’t think it’s likely that he’ll ever wipe ALL his lapses away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt there ARE a lot of guys who can actually do that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just that Carmona’s talent and ability make them more glaring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s good, though.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Welcome back!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I like the version of Tony Sipp who throws strikes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Welcome back II!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I have been told that Frank Herrmann has returned to the team.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Boom, boom, out go the baseballs</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Hitting home runs off Kyle Davies is no mean feat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kyle Davies is actually pretty bad for a major-league pitcher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One expects that when one of the Sooper Yoots is deemed “ready” or “seasoned” or “no longer Super Two,” Kyle Davis will get the wazoo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless DJ Junky Jeff goes first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, Davies isn’t good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But it’s still a lot of fun when a Cleveland Indian hits a home run, and in varying degrees, each was encouraging.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shin-Soo Choo is normally good for 20 bombs a year, so to see him with 4 in the April cold despite getting off to such a horrific start is very nice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choo’s blast went close to straightaway center, over 400 feet (listed at 410).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Carlos Santana has to actually HIT at some point, so to see him take one out is a good sign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His blast didn’t quite make it to 400, but it passed 390, and that gets out of almost every park in almost every direction.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Grady Sizemore’s comeback continues to exceed expectations: with a double, he now has THREE TIMES as many EXTRA-base hits as SINGLES.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is hitting .390, so this is not insignificant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has as many homers as singles and twice as many doubles as homers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His homer also went close to dead center, so these are not simple pure-pull guess jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is hitting extraordinarily well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His SLG is EIGHT SEVENTY-EIGHT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His ISO (isolated power, which is SLG – AVG) of .498 is higher than the raw SLG of Choo, Santana, and Matt LaPorta.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is fifteen points lower than Al Escobar’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">OPS</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s just absurd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is tied for the team lead in homers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has played in 10 games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other players have played in 21, 20, 24, and 24 games.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shelley Duncan hit a homer off a righty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, Kyle Davies, but a righty nonetheless.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Joltin’ Jack</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Not only did Jack Hannahan reach base three times in four trips to the plate, his two-run double gave him 14 RBI on the season, which is one fewer than the team leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He hits NINTH.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s all you need to know: when Hannahan came to the plate with runners on 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> in the 4<sup>th</sup> inning, I *expected* him to drive in a run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am now officially completely insane.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Well, never mind, I guess</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And on a day in which he saw a paltry 11 pitches in 4 trips to the plate, Orly Cabrera lashed two singles.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Dept. of Completeness</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Mike Brantley drew a pair of walks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is second on the team with 13, and the only player on the roster with more walks than strikeouts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Justin Germano threw a quality ninth inning to lower his ERA to 4.00.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Matt LaPorta was the only starter not to reach base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has as many doubles and homers over his last seven games as Grady Sizemore had … yesterday.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I would rather have Shelley Duncan on the roster than Austin Kearns.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-80110495172429601022011-04-28T14:34:00.001-05:002011-05-02T14:18:44.635-05:00The B-List: 4/27<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</strong></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Royals (12-12)</strong> 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <strong>2 8 1</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Indians (15-8)</strong> 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 X <strong>7 11 0</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Tomlin (4-0) L: Francis (0-3)</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Somehow, that felt a lot like 5 runs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Junior Byrdman</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">First things first: Josh Tomlin was marvelously effective last night, we another Quality Start and his 4<sup>th</sup> win of the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomlin allowed only 6 baserunners in 6 innings on 5 hits and a walk, and struck out the last two hitters he faced on sliders that dropped out of the zone to run his K total to 3 for the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was victimized by a pair of solo shots in the second, but otherwise held the Royals in check, and granted a 5-0 lead in the first inning, aggressively attacked the strike zone with an astonishing 73% strike rate (73 in 100 pitches overall).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And so, instead of continuing to admit to a certain frustration at not being able to identify how much of his performance is sustainable or how exactly Tomlin “does it” or mention for the umpteenth time how generating 4 ground ball outs in 6 innings of work is a tough row to hoe or point out that with 11 fly ball outs, it’s hardly a wonder that two of them end up over the wall, consider the potential epiphany that Josh Tomlin is, in effect, Paul Byrd.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Paul Byrd was generally an effective pitcher for the Indians, although I had the original “Paul Byrd Theory of Effectiveness” in 2006 or so such that Byrd was effective if and only if his strike percentage was high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This turned out to be less of a “Theory” as a “Wrongness,” but it had an element of sensibility to it: when Byrd was able to keep the ball in the strike zone, he got guys to swing at pitches that weren’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quite</i> where they liked them and ended up taking some more-defensive swings when down in the count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Byrd fell behind hitters and had to groove one, he got hurt, and if he walked guys, his propensity for homers hurt him badly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately for the Tribe, Byrd went through stretches of extreme stinginess with free passes, once going (I think) five starts without walking anyone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Tomlin’s stuff may be a little better than Byrd’s (although, for all the jokes we shared about Byrd, his stuff was better than most remember it being), but he has some of the same strengths and weaknesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Tomlin throws strikes, hitters have to have a “swing now” mentality, which leads to hitting the ball not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quite</i> squarely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomlin will give up his share (and a couple other guys’ share as well) of homers, but a solo shot is still only one run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A key is to minimize the free passes, and Tomlin walked only 1 hitter last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After an initial bout with command, Tomlin has walked only two hitters in his past three starts, a span of 19 1/3 innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s still hit-lucky (in terms of BABIP, at least), but the results are what they are, and what they are is very good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only thing standing between Tomlin and a 5-0 record to match Justin Masterson’s is Chris Perez’ inexplicable meltdown last Thursday (Tomlin left with a 2-1 lead).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Can you win with Paul Byrd in your rotation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, that’s an empirical question, no?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 2007 Cleveland Indians not only won their Division in 2007, but had only one starting pitcher who won a game in each series without losing any of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That pitcher?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Paul Byrd.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) A more troublesome epiphany</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Chad Durbin, learning from his experiences, took advantage of the 5-run lead to attack the strike zone with regularity and authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 16 pitches, Durbin threw 12 strikes, did not walk a hitter, and ended up collecting his three outs with only an infield single as a black mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was effective and efficient.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Keeping with the 2007 theme, Durbin, sadly, reminds me most of Ferd Cabrera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He doesn’t have the scary slider Cabrera had on his best days, the pitch that made me think Cabrera would be the Closer of the Future with a double-digit K/9 rate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ferd displayed a maddening inconsistency, an inability to pitch out of trouble, and a propensity to go all Spray Hose now and again, and thus Ferd wore out his welcome and became … well … the Ferd Cabrera he is today.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><country-region w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Chad</span></country-region><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">, <country-region w:st="on">Chad</country-region>, <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Chad</place></country-region> … don’t be Ferd Cabrera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Consider plucking your eyebrows.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) A more temporary epiphany</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On a day on which Orly Cabrera saw more than 4 pitches per plate appearance, including two in which he watched the first FOUR pitches go by, Cabrera was able to deliver both his third walk on the season AND the big blow of the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the bases loaded off DJ Junky Jeff Francis, Cabrera sized up a 3-1 fastball and delivered it into the left-center field gap for a 3-run double that effectively ended the game … in the first inning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So, while I’m not arguing for a mandatory number of pitches taken or anything, I would like to point out that on such a day, Cabrera hit .333/.400/.667.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just sayin’.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Flashing the leather</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It is next to impossible to tell if Grady Sizemore’s knee is fully-healed, in that if it feels great, Sizemore will tell you that it feels fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it hurts a little, Sizemore will tell you that it feels fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it hurts a lot and Sizemore is noticeably limping, Sizemore will tell you that it feels fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if his leg detaches at the knee and he is forced to hop to center field as blood gushes out of his stump, he will admit that while some days are better than others, today, in fact, his knee feels “fine.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So it’s encouraging to see that not only is Sizemore off to a great start at the plate, with tremendous early-season power, but on a sinking liner hit in front of him, Sizemore got a good jump and made a diving catch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, there was an element of 8-year-old me in the back yard in that dive, in that he might not have HAD to dive to catch the ball, but he did without hesitation or incident and he looks … well … “fine.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">However, this wasn’t necessarily the best defensive play of the game, which may have been Alex Gordon’s line shot in the third.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After fouling off three pitches on a full count, Gordon laced a ball over Shelley Duncan’s head: <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Duncan</place></city> then jumped (it was a bit less than a “leap”; Shelley Duncan remains Shelley Duncan) and snared the ball for the final out of the inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Duncan</place></city> is not exactly a natural first baseman, but it was a nice play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nice option to have.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Hitting for the microcycle, or “Ouch!”</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shin-Soo Choo reached base all four times he came to the plate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although it’s slightly disappointing that none of the balls he hit left the yard, Choo gets extra credit in that only two of the balls he hit felt the sting of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wood</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DJ Junky Jeff hit Choo with a pitch in between a single and a double, and reliever Nate Adcock learned the lesson of the night before, intentionally walking Choo as a right-handed reliever with a man in scoring position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Louis Coleman thought this was rather mincing of Adcock, but Adcock pointed to the number of earned runs he allowed, which was zero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coleman’s … was not.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Ducks on the pond!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Listen, a five-run first inning is terrific and erases most offensive concerns, although only <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Orly</place></city>’s double was a hit that I would have written home about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Travis Hafner drove in a run with a blort that looked like a Johnny Damon throw home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Francis ended up dying by papercut, with five singles and a double resulting in the five runs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It was the innings that followed that led to the heading: after going 4-for-6 with runners in scoring position in the first, the Indians proceeded to go <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">OH-FOR-NINE</place></state> thereafter, including Hafner’s 0-for-3 and the Cabrera’s 0-for-2 apiece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, there were only 7 Indians left on base for the game, but with so many opportunities, it should have been more of a blowout.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Jack Haikunahan</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Gork, gorkity, gork<br />
Neither Peralta nor Nix.<br />
Gork?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huzzah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) Terror on the Basepaths!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Hannahan stole his first base on the season, while Choo swiped his SIXTH … by stealing THIRD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After he took second on a passed ball.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Cleveland</span></place></city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">’s 7<sup>th</sup> run scored when Brayan Pena did not catch a Nate Adcock offering with Sizemore on third base.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">9) Credit Where Credit is Due Dept.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Cleveland</span></place></city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> relievers threw 38 strikes in 54 pitches, including first-pitch strikes to 10 of the 13 hitters they faced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They gave up zero runs in 3 innings, walking 1 and giving up 3 hits.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Tofu Lou Marson has reached base in each game in which he’s played, including hits in 5 of 6 games and an RBI in 4 of 6.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Joe Smiff struck out a left-handed hitter.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-71406896089628588102011-04-27T15:23:00.000-05:002011-04-27T15:23:02.408-05:00The B-List: 4/26<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Somehow, that felt a lot closer than 5 runs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) A very high floor</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In his worst start of the season, Justin Masterson allowed 5 hits, 2 walks, and 7 Ks in 6 2/3 innings, meaning he was one out short of posting a WHIP of 1.00.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I am probably going to look to other areas to find something to complain about.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">If anything, the 3 runs Masterson allowed serve to illustrate just how fine the line is between a mediocre performance and a good one, or a good one and a great one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After retiring the first 10 hitters in order, including 5 groundouts and 3 whiffs, Masterson gave up a seeing-Orly single to Melky Cabrera before giving up a ringing double to Alex Gordon and an opposite-field double to Billy Butler on what was, frankly, just a good piece of hitting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Orly Cabrera had the mobility of, say, a palm tree, and Billy Butler was a mere average hitter, that’s a shutout inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the Royals doing a good job at the plate, that’s two runs, as many as Masterson allowed in his last start, or in the two starts before that COMBINED.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><a name='more'></a><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Frankly, although he gave up a season-high THREE runs, this start was in many ways significantly better than the one before, when he couldn’t locate well and walked five guys for 11 baserunners overall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He pitched in seven innings, and only gave up a hit in two of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, he allowed three extra-base hits, including the first homer off Masterson on the year, but for the most part the Royals got a steady diet of nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once Masterson got to two strikes on a hitter, he was finished: seven of the nine hitters with a two-strike count struck out, and the other two were retired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there is a concern, it is that the Royals seemed a little too willing to help Masterson out by swinging at pitches out of the zone: while this may indicate that his stuff was excellent at moving out of the zone with late movement, it remains to be seen how this would play against a more patient lineup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Four of the KC hitters have an OBP-AVG under 45 points.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, there’s no sense throwing a more-hittable pitch just for aesthetics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Masterson’s job is to get ‘em out, and he got ‘em out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">For the record, Masterson’s 9:4 GO:FO ratio yielded a GO+K of 16. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) A Series of Fortunate Events</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I’ve been trying to impress upon my sons how age has blunted my sensitivity to “coolness.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back in the day, I might have told people I didn’t care what they thought, but this is profoundly untrue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would work very hard to display the “quirky” albums near my stereo, or wear only the “clever” or “ironic” T-shirts to the public functions, or avoid signing up for classes that “everyone” took.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I missed out on a bunch of stuff that way: I have no idea how Economics works, there are Christmas photos of me with some very bad hair, and I somehow still own multiple Gary Numan albums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(“Surely <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this</i> one will have more than one song I like on it!”)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I tend to read more non-fiction than fiction, but one thing I’m certainly willing to do is buy a book from the “intermediate” or “young adult” section that looks interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought “Holes” by Louis Sachar for myself, and the fact that my children eventually warmed to it was a happy development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I bought it for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey, such books don’t take a lot of time and effort to read, and I enjoy them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One of the books I bought in this manner was “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I very much liked the cover art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was amused by the author’s pseudonym, “Lemony Snicket.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tone seemed bracingly dark while humorous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It worked for me, and I ended up reading the whole series.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One of the recurring themes in the series is a secret organization known only by its initials, “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V.F.D."><span style="color: purple;">V.F.D</span></a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s reasonably obvious to an adult what this is going to mean, as the same abbreviation is used for volunteer fire departments in real life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s approriately sinister that this organization volunteers to SET the fires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But a great amount of the time, the protagonists spend their efforts tracking down Very Fancy Doilies, or a Villiage of Fowl Devotees, or Vernacularly Fastened Doors.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Anyway, when Vinnie Pestano came into the game in the 8<sup>th</sup> inning with the bases loaded and nobody out, I was hoping that he’d be able to get out of the jam with no more than 1 run scoring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, even a double play scores a run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s certainly possible to score no runs with the bases loaded and no outs: Lord knows I’ve seen the Indians do this any number of times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s pretty difficult, though.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Pestano came in after Tony Sipp turned into Blunderbuss P. Jones and faced righty Billy Butler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a foul ball, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Butler</place></city> popped out and didn’t advance any runners.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Jeff Francoeur swung and missed at two of the four pitches he saw: since the first was a strike looking, he was finished and no runners advanced.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Finally, Kila Ka’aihue popped out on his third pitch.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In all, Pestano threw 7 strikes in 9 pitches and retired all three hitters without allowing a ball to be hit out of the infield.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And from now on, I will always think of him as “V.F.P.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) A contrast in styles</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Why would I go out of my way to mention that the V.F.P. threw 7 strikes in 9 pitches?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, first off, because I always do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like strikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From my relievers, I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">especially</i> like strikes. A starter can work around hitters and set guys up for future plate appearances: relievers (generally) face a guy once and often need to priioritize not letting guys have easy bases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked Raffy Betancourt for this reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s why I fell for Tom Mastny and Eddie Moo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strikes are good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like strikes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So when I watched Tony Sipp and Chris Perez last night, I would have wept, except that it is very difficult to cry when you are throwing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sipp walked two of the four batters he faced, and was disinterested enough to allow another double-steal while walking the second, Alex Gordon, who he’d essentially been brought in for in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, he was summoned the previous inning to face Chris Getz, but really now, Getz hits .234 and slugs .273 and is in danger of losing his job because he isn’t actually a good hitter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, Sipp was brought in as the lefty because then he could stick around for Gordon the next inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sipp had Gordon down 1-2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He walked him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">As for C-Pez, I assume he was brought in to erase the sour taste of his loss last Thursday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That taste was not erased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man gave up a hit to Matt Treanor, who is Jeff Mathis with less bat, and walked Chris Getz on four pitches, which is plainly inconceivable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, he struck out Mike Aviles, but this offsets neither thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Compounding this with a run-scoring double just adds injury to the insult that already topped the first injury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He fell behind 2-0 to each of the last two hitters with a five-run lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That doesn’t seem “strategic” as much as “oafy.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Both men have pitched very well for significant stretches of the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither has an ERA over 3, and they’re both fine bullpen members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But … look, let’s keep this simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>THROW STRIKES!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>AAAH!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>AAAH!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>AAAAAAAAAAAH!<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Boom goes the dynamite</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Of the Indians’ 9 runs last night, 8 of them were driven in by home runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only run that did not score on a home run was the first, which was scored by Grady Sizemore after he led off the inning with a double.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More than half of <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Cleveland</city></place>’s hits were for extra bases (Travis Hafner contributed a double to the cause).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Three of the home runs were not just important run-scoring plays, but potentially encouraging for the remainder of the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt LaPorta raised his SLG to .469, which represents an ISO of .219 on the young season, but smoking a ball onto the home run porch in right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is his 3<sup>rd</sup> homer on the season, and if he can establish himself as the legitimate power threat we all hoped he’d be when he was the centerpiece of the Sabathia deal, it would be great to move him up in the order to 6<sup>th</sup> (for now) or even 4<sup>th</sup> (at some point down the road).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of only two pure right-handed hitters in the “default” lineup, LaPorta could be a crucial piece of future high-scoring lineups.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shin-Soo Choo’s three-run greeting blast off Louis Coleman was simply a massive shot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was good to see him act decisively despite getting off to such a slow start on the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of times, “plate discipline” is misinterpreted as “taking a lot of pitches.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the tail wagging the dog: “plate discipline” is all about attempting to swing as often as possible <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">at pitches you can hit really well</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This generally LEADS to taking pitches because they AREN’T pitches you can hit really well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choo hit that pitch really well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Note: it was very odd to see Coleman as the pitcher of choice there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will address this later.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Grady Sizemore continued his ridiculous Welcome Back Tour with two more extra-base hits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, Sizemore is the first Cleveland Indian EVER to collect 200 doubles, 100 homers, and 100 stolen bases in a <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> uniform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This blows my mind, not because Sizemore’s numbers are so high, but because those thresholds seem so LOW for a CAREER.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, it’s awfully good stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And let’s face it: while Sizemore is not going to hit .406 or slug .875 on the season, the fact is that he looks so different from last season that Barrack Obama has asked to see Sizemore’s birth certificate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would having a healthy Grady Sizemore for 150 games be beneficial for the Tribe?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe I will let the noted philosopher Charlie Sheen answer this one: “Duh.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Not only did Jack Hannahan hit TWO homers last night, but one travelled over 400 feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am pretty sure this means that there’s some parallel universe out there where President Charlie Sheen, a huge Mariners fan, is launching an investigation into how their version of Jack Hannahan could have fallen so steeply off a cliff with a .500 OPS.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Quick aside</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">If I’d told you in my off-season ranting about third base that I could find a guy who played good defense and hit .286/.348/.524, you’d pretty much have called me a deluded nut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is kind of what I’d be if I thought these are the numbers with which Hannahan would end the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it sure beats last season.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) A word on lineup construction</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At this point, the Charm Factor of Orly Cabrera has pretty much worn off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s an undisciplined hacker at the plate and is playing second base because his lack of range matters less there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nice guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good influence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably should be slotted in the “diminishing skills” category.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So why is he hitting 6<sup>th</sup> behind Travis Hafner?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, he’s right-handed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was hitting early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Matt LaPorta could use all the positive development environment he can get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now the lineup against righties is a perfect L-R-L-R alternating sequence with the switch-hitting Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana in the 2 and 4 slots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I expect that as the season wears on, it’s more likely that LaPorta will move up and <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Orly</place></city> down.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">However, the question needs to be asked: can Asdrubal Cabrera actually HIT?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, he popped some early homers, and he has the mythical “bat control” of Omars Vizquel past, and switch-hits credibly, yah yah yah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that hot start, he’s STILL only got a .320 OBP in the two hole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, I understand that Choo has only a .274, but I truly believe Choo can hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because Shin-Soo Choo has the track record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have *seen* Choo hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a level of confidence there.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">To a lesser extent, I believe Santana will hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His track record is more of the minor-league variety, but few dispute that he should hit at the major-league level as well despite his lousy start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should he hit 4<sup>th</sup>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well … </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But all this is likely angels-on-pins territory: as long as the lineup is generating runs (and it is, among the league leaders), why mess with the so-called “chemistry?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the long term, I think it will make sense for Orly to move down while LaPorta moves up, but the question of whether you might get more mileage against a right-handed starter with, say, Mike Brantley in the 2 slot is worth keeping in mind.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">While I’m here, though, can someone tell me why Mike Aviles leads off for the Royals?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mike Aviles has a .266 OBP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know it is early, but the next four hitters in the KC lineup hit .301, .351, .313, and .322 so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chris Getz, bless his Nerf™ bat, posts a .337 OBP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oy vey.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Note: Melky Cabrera hits .301, which is above-average.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His OBP of .324 is below-average.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This likely does not have a good ending for the Royals.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Managerial Head-Scratchers</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">With two men on base, the next three hitters are:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shin-Soo Choo<br />
Carlos Santana<br />
Travis Hafner</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Your choices:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Left-handed Tiny Tim Collins<br />
Right-handed slider specialist Louis Coleman</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I mean, that’s not “hindsight.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s “wtfsight.”</span></div></span>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-26841431129505752162011-04-25T14:08:00.001-05:002011-04-25T14:48:00.996-05:00The B-List: 4/23 - 4/24<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E<br />
Indians (13-7) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 3 6 0</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Twins (8-12) 0 0 3 0 3 2 2 0 X 10 13 0</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;">W: Duensing (2-0) L: Carmona (1-3)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><br />
FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indians (13-8) 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Twins (9-12) 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 X 4 10 0</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Pavano (2-2) L: R. Perez (2-1) S: Capps (4)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In seraching for good things to say about the weekend series, I came up with “Grady hit a home run” and “Shin-Soo Choo throws more strikes than Chad Durbin.”</span><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0) Administrative Note</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I travelled with the family Friday, so did not get a chance to write up the rainy 3-2 loss to the Royals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Josh Tomlin was very impressive in getting the no decision, so well done for him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But while Chris Perez certainly did fail, let me posit that Angel Hernandez is the only home plate umpire whose strike zone makes Joe West’s look like the work of someone with stereoscopic vision.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Simple Fail</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Someone must have pointed out to the Twins that Fausto Carmona was not having a particularly easy time locating his initial offerings within the confines of the strike zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the first inning, none of the four hitters swung at the first pitch, even though quite a few of the Twins are known to be less selective than others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To Fausto’s credit, three of those four hitters fell behind 0-1 in the count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Carmona walked Jason Repko on five pitches, he also induced five groundouts in the first two (shutout) innings and appeared to be in reasonably good form.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The third inning looked more like a problem endemic to groundball pitchers, as three consecutive singles looked as much like “fortunate placement” hits as anything else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was hurt by a poorly-located pitch to Jason Kubel for a 2-run double, but even at 3-0, the game hardly seemed out of reach.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">That had to wait until the bottom of the 5<sup>th</sup>, when Carmona loaded the bases on an infield single, solid opposite-field hit, and an intentional walk (to Kubel, a good move in my opinion) after a sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With one out and the force in play, the obvious intention was to get the slower-moving Justin Morneau to ground into the inning-ending double play that would keep the game within reach.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Instead, Carmona threw a changeup, about his fourth-best pitch, to Morneau, who had just returned to the lineup from a bout with the flu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s ask out erstwhile manager what he thought of such a choice:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">"If I'm in bed for four days, I think I'd rather see an 86 mph changeup than 92 mph sinker," Acta said.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well put.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, one has to ask at this point, “Who is making this decision?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does Carmona call his own game?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does Santana call the pitches?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does Tim Belcher reserve the right to call certain pitches in certain spots?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does anyone communicate with anyone else what the strategy or intention or batter strengths and weaknesses are or anything else to anyone at any time?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Lost in all of this is that a sixth run scored when Mike Cuddyer, no speed merchant himself from the right side, grounded into a fielder’s choice to third that was not a double play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it’s not like a ground ball would definitely have gotten Carmona out of the inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, Carmona simply pitched kinda crummily: not only did he allow 7 hits in 5 innings (6 singles, 2 infield), but he walked 4 guys (1 intentionally) while striking out 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It kind of split the difference between “eh” and “feh.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t egregiously awful: only one hit was for extra bases, and he did get 10 ground ball outs (to 4 in the air).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes ground balls go for hits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s not a good excuse for walking nearly a guy every inning, though, and 1 K in 5 IP is lame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey, Roy Halladay got shelled once this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the course of a season, it’s extremely likely for a starter to have a lousy start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doesn’t mean the start wasn’t lousy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Tragic Fail</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Carlos Carrasco did not appear to have his best stuff on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this was largely because Carlos Carrasco did not have his best stuff on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, appearances are not deceiving in any way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As naked emperors go, Carrasco was quite nude indeed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Of course, there’s a simple, rational explanation for this: Carrasco was unable to get his elbow to respond in the customary fashion, and thus pitched at a 6 (or so) mph deficit for his three innings of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mind you, had he admitted to this earlier than the end of the second, at which point he still had a decent outing going (2 walks, 1 single, 0 runs), he may not have struggled through one of the more fortunate 2-run innings you’ll see, and perhaps Jeanmar Gomez can get ready that much faster.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Let me be clear here: this is not a case of malfeasance by the Indians or foolish bravado by Carrasco or any sort of rail-worthy offense: Carrasco’s elbow wouldn’t loosen up, and he thought it would, and when it didn’t, he said something and they pulled him after the next inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think throwing any sort of blame around for him not being more forthright or the team not being more cautious is probably misguided and fraught with hindsight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I might have been more aggressive about questioning him after his location was so atrocious in the first inning (3 ball counts to 3 of the first 4 hitters, including two walks, the second on four pitches).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wasn’t that Mitch Talbot’s experience as well?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Carrasco reports that he had this problem in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Columbus</place></city> last year, and it cost him only one start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I reserve the right to be skeptical, it is not my elbow.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Put aside blame or avoidability for a moment: let’s say I had told you that the Indians would be competetive behind the rotation of Carmona, Carrasco, Masterson, Talbot, and Tomlin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While this seemed kind of unlikely, there is talent and potential in that group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would require something close to every one of the starters performing above his midline, with at least two pitching <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">significantly</i> better than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s kind of how it’s played out: Masterson is miles above what you could reasonably EXPECT, Tomlin’s results are better than his median, and Talbot was looking really excellent until his injury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other two have had ups and downs, but aren’t doing anything that couldn’t be considered “reasonable” in either direction.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But if you completely REMOVE two of these guys, well, that’s pretty much not going to be “above their respective midlines.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only hope at THAT point would be that you could drop someone into their respective places that could perform at THAT level (not the expected level of the replacement, but the optimistic above-expectation level of the guy he’s replacing).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, my friends, stretches credibility pretty damned far, and that’s even BEFORE we mention that the two likely replacements are Gomez, who’s just some guy, and David Huff, who <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aspires</i> to be just some guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forget acquiring anyone or graduating an Alex White or Drew Pomeranz.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So, yeah, I’ll be explicit: if Talbot and Carrasco each miss more than a month, the Cleveland Indians cannot finish with a winning record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That simple.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Acute Fail</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Facing light-hitting Alexi Casilla (.200/.245/.240), Jeanmar Gomez led off his 4<sup>th</sup> inning of relief by allowing a single on an 0-2 count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frankly, this blows, but hey, a tip of the hat to Casilla.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">With three of the next four hitters posting good-sized platoon splits from the left side, Acta quite reasonably called on Raffy Perez, who has been excellent in the early going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got Denard Span to foul off three pitches, then hit a routine ground ball to second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While unlikely to be a double play due to Span’s speed, at least the one sure …</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">… well, so much for the sure out: Orly Cabrera botched it and now there are two on for Jason Repko.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Repko sacrificed the hitters over.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, not wanting to repeat Carmona’s mistake, apparently walking Kubel was out of the question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This makes sense: Kubel’s lefty/righty splits more severe than Morneau’s, and listen, Perez should be able to retire Kubel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a good matchup for the Tribe.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Unless you throw a 1-0 meatball changeup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, again (sort of): is this Marson’s responsibility?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt Raffy Perez gets to call his own stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t see throwing Kubel anything middle in or above the shin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m throwing Kubel sliders ‘til my fingers fall off, frankly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, one middle-in changeup later, and Kubel’s on second while the Twins lead 4-3.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">For the record, Morneau flied out to left.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Grotesque Fail</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here is my challenge to Chad Durbin: if you walk a hitter on four pitches, you must leave the game.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It has become resonably clear how to tell if Durbin has adequate stuff on any given night: just count the strikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He fell behind 2-0 to Drew Butera: after a couple of fouls, he gave up a double on a 3-2 pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then walked Span on four pitches and fell behind Repko 2-0 before giving up an RBI single.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He fell behind Jim Thome 2-1 the next inning before giving up a single, and 2-0 to Danny Valencia before yielding a 2-run homer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That he struck out the next two hitters is simultaneously indicative of major-league stuff and completely beside the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chad Durbin is effective exactly when he controls his stuff.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In all honesty, I’m rooting for Chad Durbin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phillies fans miss him (granted, they are comparing his memory to Kyle Kendrick’s present) and he seems genuine and has talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sure can look crappy some days, though.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Low-Wattage Fail</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The focus has been mostly on the pitching, but lost in the blown save Thursday and the bad outings by starters against <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Minnesota</place></state> is the fact that the Tribe offense has been hitting on one or two cylinders over the past few games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Indians did benefit from Luke Hochevar’s temporary insanity Wednesday night, but they’d been no-hit up to that point; Josh Tomlin’s fine start Thursday was ultimately wasted because the Indians could only score two runs, and Brian Duensing and Carl Pavano largely kept <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city>’s bats in check to the tunes of 1 and 3 runs respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Indians scored in only three of the 18 innings against <place w:st="on"><state w:st="on">Minnesota</state></place> this weekend, and didn’t really squander that many opportunities: they just simply didn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hit</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">While both Travis Hafner and Orly Cabrera got two hits Sunday, the only Indian two even reach base twice on Saturday was … Jack Hannahan.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Swing hard in case you hit it</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Grady Sizemore collected two hits over the weekend, but they were good for six total bases, as Sizemore hit a double off closer Matt Capps Sunday and homered off reliever Dusty Hughes in the 8<sup>th</sup> on Saturday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will repeat that I consider a leadoff hitter’s One True Job to be to get on base, but it’s nice to see some legitimate pop back in Grady’s bat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Walk this way</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Although he went hitless in the two games, Carlos Santana drew three walks over the weekend to raise his OBP to .329.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since he’s hitting .200, this is actually pretty amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is currently residing in the Tyner Zone with a SLG of .314.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) One Wheatie Short</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Sunday’s game was delayed briefly after Mike Brantley’s long drive to right was changed from a home run to a double as it was ruled to have hit some damned thing instead of somewhere else on some damned thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can someone explain to me why it’s okay for a park feature boundary is allowed to be baseball-colored?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just wondering.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">9) Nice hose!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The bottom of the third inning was not very pleasant for Carlos Carrasco, but it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i> notable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After getting a first out following back-to-back singles, Jason Kubel lined the first pitch he saw into right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alexi Casilla ran through a stop sign at third, deciding to test Shin-Soo Choo’s arm, with is like daring plutonium to be radioactive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choo pegged out Casilla by such a distance I thought he was Lou Marson.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Not to be outdone, Justin Morneau tried to score from second on a weak single by Mike Cuddyer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choo scooped up the ball, pulled out his cell phone, took a picture of how far Morneau was from the plate for his scrapbook, rifled the ball home, and recovered in time to snap a second picture of just how our Morneau was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The official measurement was “by a lot.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choo briefly posted the photos in Facebook before being asked to remove them by Manny Acta.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We still have a lot of games to play,” Acta did not say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I would rather other teams find out for themselves.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">There is no moral to this story.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">10) Stats Corner</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Jack Hannahan has a higher AVG and OBP than Asdrubal Cabrera (and Shin-Soo Choo, but I have stronger feelings about Choo’s ultimate destination, numbers-wise, than Cabrera).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Grady Sizemore has drawn two walks in 30 PA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Orly Cabrera has drawn two walks in over 80 PA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carlos Santana drew two walks Sunday in 4 PA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Sizemore and Cabrera each have as many homers as walks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Cleveland</span></place></city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> has hit 20 homers as a team, holding opponents to 12.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Opponents have stolen 12 bases without being caught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even Mike Cuddyer and Billy Butler.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-86048360319424542662011-04-21T14:01:00.000-05:002011-04-21T14:01:17.130-05:00The B-List: 4/20<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>FINAL</strong> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 <strong>R H E</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Indians (13-5)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 1 <strong>7 11 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Royals (11-7)</strong> 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3<strong> 5 8 1</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Masterson (4-0) L: Hochevar (2-2) S: C. Perez (6)</span></span></div></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Both teams’ pitchers combined to throw 144 pitches out of the strike zone for a 57% strike rate, which, on a scale from 1 to shitty, is shitty.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) What an odd, smelly material you’ve chosen for your bookends!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I wrote briefly last time Justin Masterson pitched about the fact that Masterson hasn’t really faced a lot of adversity yet:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At some point, it will be necessary to see how Justin Masterson adjusts to adversity, whether this is not having his best stuff, falling behind early, having the defense fail behind him, an extraordinary performance from the opponent, a few flat pitches with rotten location, or a combination of all of them.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, let’s run down the list:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">a) Not having his best stuff</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here, I’m going to include things like “command” and “throwing the ball remotely close to the strike zone.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Masterson walked 5 batters in 6-plus (the plus stands for Extra Fail!) innings and 61 strikes in 103 pitches overall, and fell behind a number of hitters who didn’t simply pound the first pitch, which Masterson laid into the heart of the zone with distressing frequency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only is 5 walks atrocious by itself, it yields a dismal 3:5 K:BB ratio, and Masterson couldn’t even generate his customary ground balls, ending with an 8:7 GO:FO ratio that is buoyed by a double play.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">b) Falling behind early</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Luke Hochevar mowed down the Tribe in order in the top of the first, while Masterson coughed up a run in the first three batters en route to a 2-run first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was awfully fortunate to escape with only a 2-run deficit: he left the based loaded, and tried very hard to walk in a third run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had Matt Treanor, a poor hitter, down 0-2, then threw three straight out of the strike zone to fill the count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was able to get Treanor to pop out to end the inning, but … look, Matt Treanor isn’t any good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">After this, of course, Hochevar gave up nothing whatsoever through 5, so Masterson was pitching from behind most of the night.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">c) Having the defense fail behind him</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one doesn’t apply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a separate bit of happiness altogether, but it doesn’t apply.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">d) An extraordinary performance from the opponent</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Hochevar applies.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">e) A few flat pitches with rotten location</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Batters came into the game with a total of 3 extra-base hits off Masterson, all doubles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alex Gordon tripled on the first pitch he saw as the third batter of the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the only pitch that Masterson got really punished on, though.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One way to look at all this is to consider Masterson’s first and last innings (considering the 7<sup>th</sup> as his last despite no batters being retired) as the “bookends” of his start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those “bookends” were pretty friggin’ bad, what with 3 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs in the first, and a pair of walks in the 7<sup>th</sup>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In between, Masterson threw 40 of 60 pitches for strikes, giving up 3 singles and 1 walk in 5 innings of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In each of the 2<sup>nd</sup>, 3<sup>rd</sup>, and 4<sup>th</sup> innings, he recorded two outs via the ground ball, and faced one over the minimum because.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 5<sup>th</sup>, he hit Chris Getz, probably mistaking him for a White Sok, but retired the next three.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while he did inexplicably walk Treanor on four pitches in the 6<sup>th</sup> after a mound visit from Nyarlathotep, he made it through that inning unscathed as well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I mean, those five innings were pretty darned effective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So while the overall performance bordered on “poor but lucky,” it’s at least encouraging to see that Masterson doesn’t necessarily <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">need</i> favorable situations to pitch well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Evidence of Masterson’s issue with lefties</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Kila Ka’aihue was 2-for-2 with a a walk off Masterson to raise his average to .179.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) The drought</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The big story of the game appeared to be Hochevar’s flirtation with perfection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By locating and moving his pitches around the strike zone, Hochevar didn’t just retire the first 15 hitters in a row, but not one of the Indians he retired hit the ball with anything approaching authority in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Hochevar has skill, this would have been a real David Palmer no-hitter.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, it was interesting in one respect that Manny Acta’s “Big Idea” was to get Hochevar working out of the stretch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This may certainly have contributed to the success the Indians ultimately had in the 6<sup>th</sup>, but on further thought, this might be the most worthless strategy tip in the history of baseball:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Player: Skip, we just can’t get on base against this guy.<br />
Manager: I know just what to do!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just get on base, and then it will be easier to get on base!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I mean, that’s circular reasoning, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a plan requires you to do something you simply cannot do in order to be successful, is that really a plan?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Lumberjack: My axe won’t cut through this tree’s iron bark!<br />
Supervisor: Well, just cut through the iron bark, and the inside of the tree will be much softer and easier to cut!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I am reminded of the problem of putting 8 cars in 7 garages. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Leadoff 2.0</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">When is it a good idea to have a guy with a .413 OBP hitting 7<sup>th</sup>?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, the quick, dismissive answer is “in April, when guys who aren’t really .413 OBP guys will have OBPs of .413.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>.413 is awfully high for anyone, and Mike Brantley is unlikely to finish the season with this OBP.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But it seemed like an awfully nice thing to have in the top of the 6<sup>th</sup> when Brantley, somewhat accustomed to leading off an inning, led off against Hochevar and lined a clean single to center to break up the perfect game (and no-hitter, obviously).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not going to get into some psychological investigation of whether the subsequent balk rattled Hochevar to the degree that he was all but stripping naked and running in circles, but certainly the hit and Brantley’s baserunning threat had some impact.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Brantley got to lead off the next inning as well and drew a walk after fouling off a 3-2 pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the game, he reached base three times in five trips to the plate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Everybody hits!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It’s noteworthy enough when everyone in the lineup gets on base at least once, so I usually … well … note it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure enough, Grady Sizemore was the only <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Cleveland</city></place> player without a hit, but he did draw a walk in his 5 trips to the plate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But it’s that much more noteworthy in that the Indians did not actually even START playing offense until the sixth inning, meaning that the other 8 players each got a hit IN THE LAST FOUR INNINGS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Asdrubal Cabrera, Travis Hafner, and Jack Hannahan got 2 apiece!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Small Sample Size Theater</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">After blasting a two-run double down the right-field line off Tiny Tim Collins, Hannahan is now hitting 7-for-12 against left-handed pitching on the season, with 2 singles, 3 doubles, and 2 homers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This adds up to a .583/.643/1.333 slash-line that defies belief.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Over the previous three years, Hannahan hit .223/.309/.364 off right-handers, but an unsightly .198/.284/.264 off lefties in 197 AB.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why he normally sits against left-handed starters, and why opposing managers want left-handed relievers to face him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So has Hannahan turned some Magic Corner in his career?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he’s been hot against lefties, and it’s fun to watch, so why ask for more than that?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) A Parade of Blunderbi</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">After Masterson walked the first two hitters of the 7<sup>th</sup> inning, Raffy Perez came out to face the lefty Alex Gordon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He immediately started Gordon off with two pitches out of the strike zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, he was able to compose himself and retire Gordon on a 2-1 fly out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Vinnie Pestano then came in to face the dangerous righty Billy Butler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He immediately started him with two pitches out of the strike zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, HE was able to coax a fly out as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, he then walked Jeff Francoeur on five pitches, which borders on the absurd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the bases loaded, Pestano got Mike Aviles to strike out looking, but Pestano ended up throwing more balls (7) than strikes (6) in all.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Joe Smiff then started the next inning by falling behind Kila Ka’aihue 3-1 before getting HIM to fly out on a pitch that may have been ball four (on a full count, though).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then struck out Matt Treanor on a pitch out of the strike zone, proving that the worst that can happen when you throw Matt Treanor a strike is nothing at all.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And then Tony Sipp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, my goodness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He walked Chris Getz on five pitches and somehow got Billy Butler to pop out on a 3-2 pitch after falling behind 3-1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple of the strikes he DID throw were … low-quality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An RBI double to Melky Cabrera and a home run to <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Francoeur</city> <state w:st="on">ON</state></place> AN 0-2 PITCH!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It was grooved.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His strike-to-ball ratio was a lousy 13:9.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Chris Perez threw three pitches, two for strikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he doesn’t belong under this heading, I was awfully tired of <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Cleveland</city></place> relief pitchers at that point.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) Pet Peeve</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I understand the Save Rule, and with the score 7-5 with two outs, the tying run was on deck when Chris Perez retired <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Aviles</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a save, and good for him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But listen: shouldn’t the number of outs you record be at least equal to the number of outs you record?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, really now.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">9) Signs of life</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Carlos Santana drove in a run with a solid RBI single.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shin-Soo Choo blasted a “fliner” into the gap for an RBI double, then alertly took the extra base when the throw went to the plate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Well, about 8 feet over the plate, but still.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Travis Hafner hit a ball the other way for a poke-double down the left-field line.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Both Choo and Hafner drove in runs with two outs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">10) Managerial Second-Guessers</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Look, this doesn’t even rise to the level of “Head-Scratcher:” this is admittedly post hoc analysis, even if the thought occurred to me at the time as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is Justin Masterson’s sixth inning:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Foulout<br />
First-pitch flyout<br />
First-pitch single<br />
Four-pitch walk to worst hitter in world<br />
Popout</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">When Masterson is most effective, he induces ground balls or gets people to miss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of the outs were on the ground, and he certainly wasn’t locating well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I understand that he had thrown only 90 pitches through 6 innings, he was quite good after the first, and he’s been our Ace, but … boy, it doesn’t take a lot of foresight or hindsight to suggest he wasn’t really “on” at that point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bringing him out for the 7<sup>th</sup> … eh, not my favorite move.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But it beat having Asdrubal Cabrera sacrifice bunt with a 6-2 lead in the 7<sup>th</sup>.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-73320295774261646842011-04-20T12:40:00.000-05:002011-04-20T12:40:49.298-05:00The B-List: 4/19<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>FINAL</strong> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 <strong>R H E</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Indians (12-5)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 <strong>4 9 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Royals (11-6)</strong> 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 X<strong> 5 9 1</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Chen (3-0) L: J. Gomez (0-1) S: Soria (5)</span></span></div></div></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, any time you have a chance to watch three straight strikes with the bases loaded, you pretty much have to grab hold of that opportunity with both hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keeps ‘em off your throat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Not in <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Kansas</place></state> any more</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Jeanmar Gomez may or may not be a rookie any more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frankly, I don’t really care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He made some starts in the back half of last season and showed glimpses of being able to compete at the major-league level, but not enough to make you go, “Wow, that guy really needs to be in the rotation next year.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, sure enough, he was NOT in the rotation this year, getting passed up on the ladder by Josh Tomlin and potentially others as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alex White is not really ready for this level, and Dave Huff is still plying his trade from the left side, which could potentially help if it made any difference whatsoever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are guys with higher ceilings, but Gomez had held his own at this level and certainly deserved the first shot after Mitch Talbot semi-Westbrooked his elbow.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">To be honest, there’s not a whole lot of insight to offer past “Gomez has decent stuff but no real out pitch.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tony Lastoria pointed out on Twitter last night that Gomez’ lack of an out pitch has always led to relatively high hit rates in the minors, and that came to the fore last night as the Royals were able to string together several multi-hit innings off Gomez.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This included Chris Getz’ first triple of the season, an inside pitch that he was able to turn on and drive into the right field corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alex Gordon and Melky Cabrera added doubles, and in all Gomez allowed at least one hit to seven different players in the KC lineup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only players we had trouble against him were Kila Ka’aihue, struggling mightily at .151 in the early going, and Brayan Pena, who hits .207 as the backup catcher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is worth noting that the Royals are swinging collectively-hot bats as a team, with their 3-6 hitters posting averages of .361, .367, .323, and .375, but I wouldn’t read too much into the numbers beyond “they have skill or they’re hot or possibly both.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Of the four players, Billy Butler is clearly an established excellent hitter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alex Gordon was a high draft pick that has disappointed, but everyone loved his swing out of <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Nebraska</place></state>, and Wilson Betemit has shown elements of great offense in bursts in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeff Francoeur is a fraud, but he is hot.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">There’s not much more to say beyond that, though: Gomez generally threw strikes, which is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got 3 strikeouts in the first 3 innings while the Royals were feeling him out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the first trip through the lineup, though, the Royals had pretty much figured him out, and he ended up giving up 5 runs on 9 hits in 4 1/3 innings, which is simply crummy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it should be noted that Fausto Carmona’s first start was obviously worse and Carlos Carrasco rebounded from a similar outing, Gomez has neither the movement of Carmona nor the velocity of Carrasco to fall back on, and given (for sake of argument) 20 starts, this is very unlikely to be his only clunker.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Big Question, as it were, is how much room for improvement there is in Gomez’ development path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While young and inexperienced, this is kind of what he is: a guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hardly prudent to write off a guy this young after a late-season debut and an early-season flop, but objectively, it’s not obvious where big improvements would come from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one suggestion I could make is for Belcher and Company to see if they could get Gomez to learn a cutter, which has worked wonders for the White Sox’ staff and helped Tribe pitchers from Cliff Lee to Josh Tomlin to certain degrees as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fully three-fifths of the Opening Day rotation make their living off late movement (Carmona, Masterson, Talbot), and Carrasco has some as well: that might be the ticket to Gomez becoming more than, say, Brian Bannister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As of April 20, Jeanmar Gomez is not a net strength.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Never say die!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Until you’re dead, after which it’s kind of too late)</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Look, let’s be honest: once the Royals scored a 5<sup>th</sup> run, I wrote the game off as a loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept watching, of course, because I have deep-seated issues, but I expected the Indians to lose the game after the 5<sup>th</sup> inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are some pitchers in the Royals’ bullpen that have problems, and Tiny Tim Collins was certainly not going to come running in on his stubby little legs after throwing umpteen pitches the night before, but the Indians’ offense up to that point consisted of Mike Brantley dropping a couple of singles in an a few guys taking a walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some nights you just don’t have it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, the Tribe’s M.O. this season has been to score early and pay attention to the pitching while the offense disappears in the final 5-6 frames.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So it was nice to see the Indians come back with a couple of runs off Chen, as noted lefty-killer Tofu Lou Marson blasted a two-run double off the Panamanian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, Marson also whiffed three times, but here is the list of players for either team last night who drove in more than one run:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Lou Marson</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Thank you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t forget to tip your waitress.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Of course, Marson was then cut down at the plate trying to score on a shallow single to left: while it took a fine throw by freshly-minted OF Gordon (until recently an execrable third baseman) to peg Marson, it was not exactly a “close play.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it was egregiously awful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next hitter leading off the 8<sup>th</sup> grounded out, so hindsight and all that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Mind you, this rally shouldn’t have even happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chen was clearly tiring, but the phone from the dugout to the bullpen stopped working, so when Ned Yost tried to call for Blake Wood to get ready, Wood blissfully ignored Yost’s telepathic pleas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Wood wasn’t a LOT better, in that he gave up a run on a single and steal of second by Shin-Soo Choo (his 4<sup>th</sup> SB on the season) and subsequent RBI single by Carlos Santana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s still a two-run lead heading to Joakim Soria, who has been Death on Feet to the Indians in the past but is struggling early this season.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Soria was victimized by an error by Betemit, but Gordon made up for this with a wonderful diving catch of a slicing liner by pinch-hitter Grady Sizemore for the second out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After this, Brantley singled, Asdrubal Cabrera ran the Rudy Stein Play on an 0-2 pitch that ran in on him, and Choo coaxed a walk after falling behind 1-2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Note: 2010 Choo would have positively hammered the 1-1 offering that the 2011 Choo fouled off.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">To the plate strode Carlos Santana, already with an RBI in the last inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Mighty Casey, he disdainfully watched a borderline pitch get called strike one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Continuing his Casey fixation, he also watched strike two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But which Casey shattered the air with the force of his blow, Santana instead decided that, you know what, 0-2 is a wonderful time to take a borderline pitch.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">You know what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0-2 is NOT a wonderful time to take a borderline pitch.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I will stop short of making some global attributions about the character of the team, fighting back and never saying die and Sydney or the bush, but I’ll give ‘em credit: they fought back to the point where I was really, really irritated at Carlos Santana.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Why have you brought a voodoo doll to your arbitration hearing, Lou?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One of the hidden benefits of giving Santana a day off from catching is that Tofu Lou Marson is significantly better at controlling the running game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Santana isn’t Super Awful, but he’s objectively below-average in the Victor Martinez mold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marson, on the other hand, borders on the excellent, catching 47.6% and 37.8% of would-be basestealers in the past two seasons (last season catching 31 of 82, so no small sample).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Yesterday, he caught 0 of FIVE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of whom stole third base, and another of whom was Billy Butler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second is less likely (although, in fairness, it was the back end of a double steal … still, have you seen Billy Butler “run?”).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Why is this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be that Marson had an off night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may have been that it was about 30 degrees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the one thing that is indisputible was that Jeanmar Gomez was pitching, and I will tell you this: he did not appear particularly interested in the actions of the runners on base.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In one sense, this is fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s your debut for the year, you are fourteen years old, concentrate on the hitter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Marson’s CS stats for the year are gonna take a while to catch up.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Credit Where Credit is Due Dept.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">While not entirely “excited” to see Chad Durbin come out to replace Gomez, I understand that he’s more a quality pitcher off to a bad start than a schmoe with no talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Relievers are volatile, but it’s pretty hard to spin “3 R, 6 H, and 4 BB in 3 2/3 IP” into anything but “Brian Sikorski after the fall.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Last night, though, Durbin was quite excellent, retiring all 8 batters he faced with a pair of strikeouts and pretty good command: 19 strikes in 28 pitches is a big improvement for a guy coming into the game at a walk an inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think getting out of the jam in the 5<sup>th</sup> gave Durbin confidence, and he sawed through the 6<sup>th</sup> on three groundouts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sample sizes endemic to relievers don’t make overall stats all that predictive, but he LOOKED better last night and his RESULTS were outstanding.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In the same vein, I mentioned yesterday that Justin Germano may have been unfairly judged on his first bonechilling outing rather than on the quality followups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He, too, located well, and while he walked Wil Betemit after getting ahead 1-2, he got the next three hitters to ground out and finished a scoreless, hitless inning of his own.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I’m not drawing any Great Conclusions about what this means for bullpen usage in the long term or specific situations, but good is better than bad, and these guys were good last night.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Open Question</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Chris Getz’ triple drove in the first run of the game because Al Escobar had beaten out an infield single to short.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a bit of background, I’m on the record as saying I hate giving up infield singles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truthfully, at this point, I am overly-sensitive to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went through a stretch in 2006 or 2007 in which we seemed to give up a <place w:st="on">LOT</place> of infield singles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re nowhere near as ineffective any more, but because of that stretch, I still cringe.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So … here’s the thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I look at that play, and while my initial instinct was to blame Asdrubal Cabrera, I’m wondering … if Matt LaPorta had been playing first base, is that a hit?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Things I cannot explain</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Adam Everett drew two walks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is hitting .385 with a .500 OBP.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Bruce Chen is 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Cleveland</span></place></city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> has stolen more bases (10) than their opponents (8) despite never once catching any opponent stealing a base (0).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Travis Buck, whose .611 OPS was truly dreadful when he was demoted, still had a higher OPS than Shin-Soo Choo.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Austin Kearns.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-42932725897097215062011-04-19T14:58:00.000-05:002011-04-19T14:58:58.948-05:00The B-List: 4/18<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>FINAL</strong> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 <strong>R H E</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Indians (12-4)</strong> 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 <strong>7 13 1</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Royals (10-6)</strong> 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 <strong> 3 7 2</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: J. Smiff (1-0) L: T. Collins (1-1)</span></span></div></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, this is the sort of dogfight you expect from the 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> place ballclubs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then you replace dogs with drunken seagulls, then with box jellyfish, then with irritated fiddler crabs, and finally bring one of the dogs back to face a kangaroo mouse with lumbago.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Picking nits for no fun and absolutely no profit</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One of the obsessions of a baseball analyst is to try to determine what things that have happened suggest about the relative likeliness of something happening in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, if Fausto Carmona induces double-digit groundouts in sixteen consecutive starts, and pitch f/X shows significant downward movement on his pitches, and you watch video and he’s throwing sinkers with late movement that guys are beating into the ground, it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that unless something significant changes, Fausto Carmona is likely to induce a lot of ground balls in his remaining starts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have to constantly update your data, as it were: if he begins losing velocity or starts throwing nothing but knuckleballs or gets a tattoo of Bert Blyleven with the caption “60 HR or bust!”, well, you have to adjust your expectations for such things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the guiding principle of analysis is that without new information, you expect things to go pretty much as you’ve observed them go.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The distinction in recent times is what you mean by “things” has become more nuanced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of expecting a pitcher to collect Wins, you gain an appreciation for just how OTHER-dependent a thing like Wins are and instead make predictions based on things that are more INdependent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as you’re trying to predict something that is actually kind of predictable, you’ll probably make some reasonably good predictions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Predicting that Jack Hannahan will hit fastballs thrown at more than 90 mph to other way is pretty reasonable: predicting that Jack Hannahan will always produce extra-base hits in extra innings is not.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I have reached a bit of an impasse with Carlos Carrasco, as I can’t entirely tell which of his traits have predictive value and which don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through five innings of work, Carrasco gave up two hits, although one was a booming double to Jeff Francoeur that ultimately produced KC’s first run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had 4 strikeouts against 1 walk (the Royals have been leading the <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">AL</place></state> in walks in the early going, so this is more notable than it might sound) and his pitch count was reasonably low buoyed by 3 perfect innings in 5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He looked thoroughly in control of a Royals lineup that has to this point been pretty productive as an offense.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And then in the span of seven pitches, he was behind.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">After a single on an 0-1 count by Mike Aviles, Carrasco gave up an RBI double to Melky Cabrera on a 1-1 pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then each of the next two hitters (Alex Gordon, hitting .353 in the early going, and Billy Butler, hitting .368) singled through the box.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To his credit, Carrasco defused the situation with a foulout and a double-play grounder (to Francoeur), but … it’s weird, it’s like all of a sudden, the Royals turned on a light and said, “Oh, yeah, he throws it <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">right there</i></b>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then they whacked the snot out of the ball.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Let us not question whether Carrasco has sufficient “stuff” to survive at the major-league level: he clearly does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t trust the gun at the K (Royals bloggers have questioned it in recent years), but I do accept that Carrasco is throwing in the low-mid 90s, which is plenty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seems to have some adequate movement on the ball, usually generating more grounders than flies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And look: before the sixth, his start was outstanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even counting that and the leadoff hit in his 7<sup>th</sup> inning of work, Carrasco finished with pretty sound numbers: 3 runs on 7 hits in 6 1/3 IP, including 65 strikes in 93 pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He commands the strike zone well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But if you’ll remember the Angels game, there was the comically-implausible error by Asdrubal Cabrera that ended his shutout bid, and shortly thereafter, he gave up a mammoth homer on a horrifying pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So at this point, the one question I would have about Carrasco would be, “Is there a concern that the still-young Carrasco might need development in the ability to regain his concentration after something goes wrong?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It should be noted that this was an issue in evaluating him as a prospect.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Before you get too defensive, I do understand that getting OUT of the 6<sup>th</sup> obviously required some degree of focus and real skill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he limited the damage in the 3<sup>rd</sup>, turning runners on 2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> with 1 out into 1 run on a sac fly and nothing else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s a pro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not questioning that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">All I’m saying is, right now, Carrasco looks to have very good stuff and commands it well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one thing that distinguishes him between “hey, Carrasco’s going tonight, he usually pitches pretty well” and “cancel my appointments, I’m watchin’ Carrasco shut down the Placeholders tonight!” is the ability to keep one hit from becoming a string of three or four.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, that describes not only a lot of pitchers, but kind of the POINT of PITCHING in the FIRST PLACE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I mean with Carrasco is a little more specific: he looks so CAPABLE of sawing through a lineup that I’m building the EXPECTATION that he SHOULD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not bad for what amounts to a “rookie-and-a-half.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Terror on the Basepaths!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Shin-Soo Choo and Mike Brantley each stole their third bases of the season last night.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But this is not why I called.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In the top of the 3<sup>rd</sup> inning, Grady Sizemore led off with a double to right, his third extra-base hit in his second game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all ball, Sizemore advanced to third on a single by Asdrubal Cabrera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then on an 0-2 count, Shin-Soo Choo lifted a fly ball to deep center that was plenty deep to score Sizemore and give <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> a 2-1 lead.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Suddenly, a dark cloud formed over the first base box seats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A shadowy form emerged from the mists, with dark robes and a strangely spherical head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Concerned whispers could be heard from the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Kansas City</place></city> fans … it was none other than Lord Peraltamort!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waving his ashen wand, Peraltamort spat harsh syllables as he hovered over the first base coaches box, and Cabrera began moving slowly with spasmodic jerks toward second base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the dreaded Imperius Curse!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely he was not in control of his own body!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one would intentionally take so foolish a gamble by running in so uncoordinated a manner!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forced by Lord Peraltamort in the direction of second, Cabrera was thrown out and a big inning was avoided.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">His work done, Peraltamort left the stadium with a chilling cackle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only much too late did the jovial, dreadlocked form of Rubeus Mannygrid ride into the stadium on a gigantic motorcycle in the bottom of the 8<sup>th</sup> inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After an error by Orly Cabrera and a walk of Billy Butler by reliever Raffy Perez, Mannygrid sidled over to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Butler</place></city>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“You really can mash, young fella,” he said.<br />
“I thought you retired, sir,” the DH said politely.<br />
“Yeah, I got some free time on my hands,” Mannygrid admitted.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Perez got Kila Ka’aihue to ground to Matt LaPorta at first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inspired by Mannygrid’s appearance, LaPorta threw poorly to second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mannygrid nodded his approval.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The umpire at second ruled that <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Butler</place></city> was safe because of the errant throw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mannygrid threw his arm jauntily around <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Butler</place></city>’s hulking form.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“You know, kid, you’ve got the swing, you’ve got the build, you’ve got the D …” he began.<br />
“I don’t really have the D, sir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My coach won’t let me play first base again until he becomes an astronaut,” <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Butler</place></city> lamented.<br />
“No, don’t you see, man, that’s beautiful!” Mannygrid beamed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Now all you have to do is hit!”<br />
“Well, and run the bases,” <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Butler</place></city> sighed.<br />
“No, see, that’s even more beautiful, because if you’ll just step over here with me for a sec …”<br />
“Yeah, okay, I’ll just stand over here in the infield …”<br />
“And … wait for it … “ Mannygrid motioned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“There!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No more baserunning!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only the sweet, sweet art of hitting!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love this crazy kid!”<br />
“Aw, man …”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">After this, Joe Smiff came in and walked Jeff Francoeur, and the entire state of <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Missouri</place></state> fell through a rip in the spacetime continuum.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Adventures in Squander Ball</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Carlos Carrasco did not allow for much in the way of “rallies” to occur, and his counterpart Kyle Davies somehow managed to cough up his Quality Start of the year as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Indians nickle-and-dimed a couple runs off Davies, but generally he kept them off balance as well as the board, striking out 7 Indians in 6 innings of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>6 innings of 2-run ball lowered Davies’ ERA to 7.20 on the season, suggesting the Tribe might have missed a couple of opportunities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Out came giant dope-smoking reliever Jeremy Jeffress, who immediately began the 7<sup>th</sup> inning by walking Mike Brantley on four pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brantley took third when Jeffress used up both of his accurate throws getting ahead of Matt LaPorta, buttering his hand and tossing one to Not Kila Ka’aihue and allowing Brantley to advance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LaPorta then singled him home on a lunging broken-bat single.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point, Jeffress’ command didn’t so much “desert” him as “stood off in the distance, mocking him with lowered trousers.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wild-pitched LaPorta to second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got Jack Hannahan out, then walked Grady Sizemore, then walked Asdrubal Cabrera, then left the mound.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">With the bases loaded, Shin-Soo Choo greeted reliever Aaron Crow by watching 2 straight balls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, he cleverly swung through the 2-0 pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, he cleverly swung through the 2-1 pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he cleverly watched strike three and scored no runs whatsoever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inspired, Carlos Santana tried to swing through a 2-0 pitch, but popped out the shortstop instead.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Royals got the go-ahead run to second base on a single and a bunt, but Al Escobar grounded out and Mike Aviles posted a swinging K against Vinnie Pestano on a full count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, this was minor-league Squandering, but there’s something to be said for the classics.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Not to be upstaged, the Indians put two men on against Crow on a pair of walks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They almost hit the ball out of the infield twice, but did not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jack Hannahan struck out, necessitated by the fact that they burned the only left-handed hitter on the bench (Travis Buck, now in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Columbus</place></city>) as a pinch-runner for Travis Hafner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a pinch-runner, Buck lasted one pitch, being forced out at second.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Kansas City</span></place></city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> was not going to take this lying down, not in front of the home fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were going to take this FALLING FLAT ON THEIR FACES, dammit!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Alex Gordon reached on one of the more awkward pratslides into first on a throwing error by Peraltamort … er, Cabrera, Butler walked, then got thrown out near second after he should have been thrown out <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">at</i> second <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> he was thrown out at second, then Smiff walked Francoeur, then the state of Missouri disappeared, then the state of Missouri was put back, but just slightly off so you couldn’t initially find where you’d parked your car, then Smiff struck out Wil Betemit and the Royals had really one-upped the Indians in terms of Squander Ball Deluxe.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And then Cabrera laid down a poor bunt to not advance the runner and Shin-Soo Choo grounded into a double play to end the top of the ninth, but really now, that seemed pretty bush league in terms of really Squandering an opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So hackneyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So bourgeois.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The KC fans rightly scoffed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Chastised, the Indians abandoned the entire conceit in the 10<sup>th</sup>.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Captains Clutch!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">LaPorta’s single in the 7<sup>th</sup> really did tie the game, and good for him, but I’ll be darned if that was a good piece of hitting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took a slider breaking to the low outside corner and tried to pull it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To his credit, he was able to haul the ball through the hole between short and third and it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">worked</i>, but that doesn’t make it good hitting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the words of Brian McPeek last night on Twitter, “There was a lot of Andy Marte in that swing.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Note: don’t look now, but Matt LaPorta is now hitting .260/.367/.460 with 9 RBI.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The batting average is a little lower than you want, but that’s credible production, even given that he’s a first baseman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I proclaim myself “encouraged” without actually being “convinced.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">You know who was actually clutch?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shelley Freakin’ <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Duncan</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man gets five plate appearances a week and won’t get to play the field until Ned Yost is an astronaut, but on an inside mid-90s fastball from Tiny Tim Collins, Duncan turned on it and drove it into the corner for the go-ahead RBI.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Duncan</place></city> is a limited player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he sure can hit left-handed pitching, and he sure did a great job last night.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The rest of the inning was somewhat surreal: by pinch-running Adam Everett for <city w:st="on">Duncan</city> once he got to second, we squeezed out a fifth run: because the throw on LaPorta’s potential inning-ending double play ball was botched, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city> scored on the play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then Jack Hannahan, 0-for-4 up to that point, mashed a double off the wall in leftish center, and Grady Sizemore drove him home with a blort single, and by that point I was pretty sure someone had tampered with my soda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the whole damn inning, the only things that made a lick of sense were that Orly Cabrera couldn’t bunt and Shin-Soo Choo struck out against the lefty fireballer, who was left out there for the whole damned thing to the tune of 30 pitches.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) In case there was not enough surreal for you there</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And then Justin Germano pitched a perfect 10<sup>th</sup>, including retiring both Gordon and <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Butler</city></place>, with 9 strikes in 13 pitches and ended the game.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Actually, is it time to reassess what exactly we have in Germano?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely his initial outing against the White Sox was monumentally bad, no question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then, so was Fausto’s, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then, Germano has made two appearances, each scoreless, each hitless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His X-Treme flyball stuff doesn’t play well with me (5:14 GB:FB, 3 K in 6 IP, a bad combo), but it’s not like he’s completely pointless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m gonna stop short of demanding he be used in high-leverage situations, but maybe more than once a week might be in order.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Dueling leadoff men</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Sizemore banged out three hits and walked once in 6 trips to the plate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Brantley singled and walked twice in 5 trips to the plate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Neither guy is going to collect an outfield assist any time soon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This is workin’ out pretty good so far.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) A word about roster construction</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">We ended up with Adam Everett as our <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DH</b> last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I understand this was a quirk of pinch-running, but … your lineup should never have Adam Everett and Jack Hannahan in it at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really now.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Naturally, we swapped Travis Buck out for a pitcher.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-88490564324979469782011-04-18T12:33:00.000-05:002011-04-18T12:33:06.308-05:00The B-List: 4/15 - 4/17<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E<br />
Orioles (6-6) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indians (9-4) 0 0 4 0 0 1 3 0 X 8 12 0</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Masterson (3-0) L: Britton (2-1)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Orioles (6-7) 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">Indians (10-4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 1</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">W: Tomlin (3-0) L: Guthrie (1-2)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><br />
FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Orioles (6-8) 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 11 0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indians (11-4) 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 4 5 1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Carmona (1-2) L: Bergesen (0-2) S: C. Perez (5)</span></span></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The latest the Indians were ever TIED in a game was the bottom of the THIRD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest they ever trailed was … <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">never.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) A Lack of Adversity</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At some point, it will be necessary to see how Justin Masterson adjusts to adversity, whether this is not having his best stuff, falling behind early, having the defense fail behind him, an extraordinary performance from the opponent, a few flat pitches with rotten location, or a combination of all of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We won’t mention the other thing that can go wrong because it already has with another, similar pitcher.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The fact is that the complete absence of such things is not something that’s going to cause me a lot of lost sleep.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">All Masterson did was saw through the <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Baltimore</city></place> lineup with roughly the difficulty of Charles Barkley faced with a quarter-pound hamburger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider this: in the spirit of C.C. Sabathia’s Inning of Crap™, Masterson’s worst inning by FAR was the 4<sup>th</sup>, in which he allowed a single, an infield single, and an RBI single.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, no two of the hits were consecutive, and between them he induced a routine groundout, a swinging K, and another routine groundout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Outside of this inning, Masterson retired 18 of 20 hitters, allowing a single and a walk in 6 (other) innings of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both other baserunners came in one inning, meaning that fully five of Masterson’s innings were 1-2-3 affairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He threw 66 strikes in 90 pitches to complete the 7 innings, and was lifted more to take advantage of a more favorable matchup against left-handed hitters than any sort of fatigue or ineffectiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His last inning was perfect with a pair of groundouts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Using the same K+GO measure introduced last week, Masterson’s 12 groundouts and 3 whiffs produced another 15, above the minimum of 14 set in his previous start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But more than just a raw number of outs or types of outcomes, the fact is that Masterson simply controlled this game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Six batters of 26 reached a TWO-ball count off Masterson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He threw first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 26 hitters he faced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And part of the reason was because his strikes were not grooved, get-me-over type pitches just to say they were strikes, but rather because the quality pitches with late movement he threw were also in the strike zone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">If there is a nit to pick, it would be that before this season, Masterson was one of the few credible strikeout pitchers in the rotation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus far, he has only 12 strikeouts in his three starts and a rather pedestrian K-rate of 5.31 per 9 innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this appears to be a minor concern given the way he is thus far handling opposing lineups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After hovering around 17 pitches per inning over the past three years, he is so far using a mere 14.7 in his three starts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he’s not getting hit-lucky: if anything, his BABIP of just over .300 (15 for 49) is slightly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">un</i>fortunate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will take more than three starts in cold weather against teams without elite offenses to convince skeptics that this is anything more than a great early start, but right now, you simply couldn’t ask for more.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">(Note: Fangraphs shows Masterson’s BABIP as .242, which IS low, showing that I don’t actually know how to calculate BABIP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would trust them over me in this case, but I don’t see my error.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it’s because I’m counting things like double play outs and basepath outs in going off the number of innings pitched, and they’re not, because they’re correct, and I’m not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it should be noted that extreme groundball pitchers form a class that holds BABIP down more than more “centrist” pitchers.)</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Did someone mention BABIP?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In contrast, Josh Tomlin has allowed 9 hits in 45 hitters that put the ball in play for the defense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a .200 BABIP, and that’s just unsustainable.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">(Again, Fangraphs lists his BABIP as a comical .164, even MORE obviously unsustainable.)</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The AP writeup said that Tomlin had no problem being pulled after only 79 pitches:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Acta said Tomlin was "one pitch from disaster."</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">"I was," Tomlin said.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Exactly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With another brisk 5:9 GO:FO ratio, we got to see first-hand what the danger of those fly balls is when two of them flew out of the yard for homers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To Tomlin’s credit, they were solo shots, in no small part due to the fact that he didn’t walk anyone to diminish his 4 Ks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he certainly did a wonderful job of getting out of a jam in the 5<sup>th</sup> when, with no outs and runners on 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup>, he escaped damage with a fielder’s choice, a sharp single that didn’t score a run, a popout, and a grounder to first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is certainly something to be said for composure, poise, and quality stuff.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I remain convinced that there will be starts in which a homer comes with a runners on base and another couple of balls drop in for hits, and we’re talking about a David Huff 5-or-6-run outing and Josh Tomlin morphs rather unceremoniously into Just Some Guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For now, he has a 3-0 record, a 2.75 ERA, and a 0.92 WHIP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s certainly rude to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth, as long as you remember that, at the end of the day, the horse was a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gift</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey, it’s a free horse!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just not something I feel you can DEPEND on yet.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) You can barely see that crater in the rearview</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">After being aired out in his last start, Fausto Carmona had a rather leisurely 7-inning 101-pitch affair that resulted in his first win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huzzah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Was this his best start?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll have to say no, for among other reasons he was somewhat scattershot with his location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it might have been easy to rationalize not starting an aggressive Angels’ lineup with first-pitch strikes, a lousy 9-for-25 against the O’s is beginning to look more like a disturbing pattern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of the 101 pitches, only 61 were for strikes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, Carmona only walked one hitter and didn’t get into many jams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He ripped through the first three innings in order, and the first two times he had a runner in scoring position, he simply induced a double play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His second run allowed was unearned in that it came from a walk, a single, the runners advancing on a bobble by Shin-Soo Choo, and a sacrifice fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(He then induced a pair of groundouts to end the inning, his last (the 7<sup>th</sup>).)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With 5 hits and a nice 5:1 K:BB ratio, Carmona’s 11:5 GO:FO ratio was right in the Carmona Comfort Zone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One of the interesting things in watching the game though was that this did not appear to be the archetypical Sinker Fest: Carmona was using his slider more than I’d deem typical, and instead of a change-of-pace pitch to change the batter’s horizontal plane, it was a real purpose pitch with some good effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While hard sinkers are likely to be the main weapon in Fausto’s arsenal for the foreseeable future (that is, two years), having the slider be a quality pitch instead of simply one that exists will make it more likely that he can have good stretches of success rather than just scattered good outings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While his overall numbers will need more time to overcome the helium of his first start, Carmona has now produced three starts over which he’s amassed:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">21 2/3 IP<br />
11 H<br />
4 R<br />
15 K<br />
6 BB</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">That’s a 1.66 ERA with a 0.78 WHIP, supported by a 6.23 K/9 and a 2.5 K:BB.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So … yeah, that’s damned good.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) So much for the Weakest Link</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On the season, the starting rotation has made 15 starts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are now 9-3, averaging nearly 6.5 innings per start, sporting a 3.26 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP, which is very good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, remove the first two starts, which were really quite bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Carrasco’s case, it was Simply Awful, while Carmona’s Opening Day start was Abject Failure.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Over the last 13 starts, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> starters have allowed 18 earned runs, 57 hits, and 26 walks in 87 innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have averaged 6.69 innings per start for an ERA of 1.86 and a WHIP of 0.95.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only start that was not a Quality Start was Mitch Talbot’s first start, in which Manny Acta called on the bullpen for the Fifth Inning Save (he still allowed only 2 runs, but didn’t make the requisite six innings for the QS).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The team’s Quality Start percentage even WITH the first two games is 80%.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Day-um.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Welcome Back!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">All Grady Sizemore did in his return from the disabled list was smash a homer and a standup double from the leadoff spot.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Look, I literally have no ideas that are better than randomly-generated platitudes about knee surgeries whether Grady is back to “100%” or “his old self” or “a shadow of his former greatness” or “for the entire week.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t play a doctor on television have haven’t stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in my entire life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll stick with the basics: having the Old Grady Sizemore clearly makes this a better team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having the 2010 Grady Sizemore clearly makes this a worse team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that he looked more like the former than the latter is very encouraging indeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Past that, I got nothin’ in the way of insight.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Let’s look at something for a moment, though: I think a lot of people were concerned about slotting Sizemore into the 1 hole right out of the blocks, for two reasons:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">a) Sizemore wasn’t guaranteed to start fast after a year off<br />
b) Mike Brantley was doing a bang-up job as leadoff</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And it’s well documented, here and elsewhere, that Brantley has been getting on base, often twice a game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s really good, and very encouraging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet, after all the games on base and the long hit streak to start the season and all that, Brantley is hitting .302/.367/.377 on the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is nothing to sneeze at: regardless of how you feel about batting average, .300 is still a good one, especially since it comes with enough free passes to drive the OBP up to .367.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But here’s the thing: I consider this kind of the ceiling of reasonable expectations for Mike Brantley in 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is better than I expected … it’s kind of the best-case scenario … </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">… and it’s … not really all that great.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Again, .367 OBP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some speed on the bases, patience at the plate, hits to all fields … I get that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not denigrating it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a fine thing, and if the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> leadoff hitters finish the year with a .302/.367/.377 batting line, I will feel pretty satisfied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s a lot closer to “adequate” than it is to “exciting,” right?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Brantley is a big-league player, but moving him down to the bottom third of the order on the chance that Sizemore can provide something further toward the “exciting” end of the spectrum doesn’t seem like a bad idea, especially since we have some confidence that Brantley could always do the “above-adequate” job if need be.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Also, Joe Smiff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of all the low-arm-slot right-handed ex-Met relievers we’ve ever acquired in a Franklin Gutierrez trade, Smiff is the one who wears #38.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) Pronk Smash!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Given a gale force wind in his face Friday night, Travis Hafner was so fazed that his home run travelled only 390 feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Off a left-handed pitcher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His homer Sunday cracked 400 feet, so everything is back to normal.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Joining Hafner in the hit parade were Carlos Santana (dead center), Shin-Soo Choo (opposite field), Orly Cabrera (down the line), and Sizemore (from 2009).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Duckless ponds!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On Friday night, the Indians batted with a runner in scoring position 9 times and collected 6 hits.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On Saturday night, given 9 more opportunities, they collected a mere 5 hits.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">When asked, the author admitted that he preferred 11-for-18 to 0-for-8.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">(On Sunday, the team went a mere 1-for-5, but the hit was from Travis Buck, so it should count as at least two.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">8) Upside Down Lineup Dept.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On Saturday, the top four hitters (Brantley, Asdrubal Cabrera, Choo, and Santana) combined to go 2-for-17 with a solo homer and a walk.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The 5-8 hitters (Hafner, Orly, Buck, and Matt LaPorta) went 10-for-16 with 3 doubles and a homer and drove in 7 runs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I do not recommend changing the batting order.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">9) Linus Van Pelt’s Favorite Player</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Jack Hannahan is now hitting .220/.289/.390 on the season.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">10) Ho Hum Dept.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Raffy Perez threw a scoreless inning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Tony Sipp threw a scoreless inning on each of two consecutive days.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Chris Perez threw a perfect ninth on Sunday for his 5<sup>th</sup> save.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">11) Managerial Back-Patters</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It was important to get Joe Smiff some major-league action, and I thought Acta’s pitcking Friday night’s comfortable lead as the spot was a fine choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also liked that, since the game was fairly comfortably in hand, he didn’t panic when Smiff allowed some baserunners and let him finish the inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To Smiff’s credit, he threw strikes (15 in 19 pitches).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To his lack of credit, the results.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Similarly, getting Chad Durbin a couple of successful outings will help the bullpen in the long run, and Saturday’s low-pressure situation was a good choice, in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, I will credit Durbin for the results: a scoreless inning with a strikeout, and (possibly more important) 10 strikes in 13 pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, I understand that giving up hard-hit balls isn’t good, but I think it’s the lack of command of the strike zone that’s Durbin’s more immediate problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The walks and wild pitch are what got him in trouble against the Angels: if he can get some confidence that his pitches will in fact be strikes, he can take the next step and make them quality strikes to boot.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Indians did not have a single sacrifice bunt all weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huzzah!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">12) The Ryan Garko Commemorative Meteor Strike Polar Bear Triple</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">When I read that Matt LaPorta hit a triple, I had to guffaw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This had to have been a misprint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So when I saw it was a triple to LEFT, I realized that something defensively extraordinary must have happened.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It was a little anticlimactic to see the replay in which LaPorta hit a high fly ball double off the wall on which he simply made a Very Bad Decision to run to third.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, the ball bounced away from the outfielder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, it was still not a good gamble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, the throw was off-line and you were safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, you are still Matt LaPorta.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I would like Matt LaPorta to finish the year with one triple.</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-51146202729561466512011-04-14T14:05:00.001-05:002011-04-14T14:10:55.699-05:00The B-List: 4/13<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So much squandering … such bursts of “Gah!” ...</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>FINAL</strong> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 <strong>R H E</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Indians (8-4)</strong> 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 <strong>3 7 1</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Angels (7-5)</strong> 0 0 0 <strong>3</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <strong> 1 4 6 0</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Takahashi (1-0) L: Durbin (0-1)</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0) Administrative Note</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This is one of those times when Real Life intervenes: between a work rush and having to run my son home from school with a fever, this column will be shorter than normal.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Hopeful Hope, or One Bad Pitch II</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">As with Fausto Carmona, Carlos Carrasco’s first start was a Thing of Not Beauty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will stop short of calling it Ugly, insofar as Carmona’s set the standard so inachievably “high,” but it sure wasn’t any good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carrasco returned with a wonderful outing against the Mariners, although the 10-run outburst from the offense coupled with the truly astonishing ineptitude of the Mariners’ offense made it rather difficult to effectively evaluate his performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had good stuff, and he had good results: beyond that, well … the saying is that if you have two watches that say different times, you don’t actually know what time it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You had to figure he wasn’t as bad as his first start (based on his late-2010 run of moderate success), but past that, you didn’t know.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, really, except for one pitch, there is virtually nothing to complain about from last night’s start.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Do you like ground balls?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do, and I was rewarded with quite a few.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not certain if Carrasco’s fastball is a true “sinker” or perhaps just a two-seamer with late movement, but Carrasco garnered a brisk 11:5 GO:FO ratio, including a pair of induced double plays to erase a couple of the low number of baserunners he allowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While two of his five hits allowed were for extra bases (and ended up scoring runs of one form or another), most of the rest of the time the Angels were unable to square up well on anything Carrasco threw.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Do you like control?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carrasco pumped 59 strikes in 90 pitches, getting 5 strikeouts against a pair of walks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This includes 11 swinging strikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one nice sequence, Carrasco put a runner in scoring position with a solid single and a sacrifice (the most valuable use of Brandon Wood at this point in his career).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then struck out Peter Bourjos swinging and got a groundout to end the inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither hitter got to ball three, and each saw at least three strikes (Howie Kendrick fouled a couple off).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This represented the SUM TOTAL of the Angels batting with runners in scoring position (0-for-2) until the 12<sup>th</sup> inning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Do you like efficiency?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m a little confused by Manny Acta’s decision tree for when a pitcher will be sent out after the 7<sup>th</sup> inning, but Carrasco is significantly younger and less experienced (not to mention smaller) than Mitch Talbot or Fausto Carmona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, 90 pitches for 7 innings is quite nice, and each of the 6<sup>th</sup> and 7<sup>th</sup> were 9-pitch affairs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, you can’t fully cover Carrasco’s outing without mentioning the hanging, gravy-dripping, minty-fresh slider he threw to Torii Hunter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christina Kahrl tweeted last night that it was possible that Carrasco lost his focus after Asdrubal Cabrera immolated himself in short left field to produce Caliheimgeles’ first run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While purely speculative, there might be something to this, especially given that he’d just walked Bobby Abreu on five pitches (immediately between the Cabrermolation and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">self</i>-immolation).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, it was horrifying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put that pitch in the “Do Not Use” bag.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) Party Like It’s 2008, 2009, or 2010!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Leading off the bottom of the 4<sup>th</sup>, Howie Kendrick smoked a breaking pitch over Mike Brantley’s head for a clear double.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brantley relayed the ball to Asdrubal Cabrera.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">At this point, accounts differ.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">There are some who say that Cabrera tried to overthrow the ball, reaching back for a little something “extra” in order to make a superhuman throw to second base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are some who say that perhaps he lost his footing, or was hindered by snacking on something deep-fried between pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A select few will try to convince you that because the game was played within driving distance of Los Angeles that a drug-addled alien seeped out of the earth and temporarily possessed poor Asdrubal for just a split second.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I cannot tell you exactly what happened, but hear me out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The throw by Cabrera was so atrocious that is skipped by everyone and Kendrick SCORED.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From SECOND.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a throw that was GENERALLY HEADING TOWARD HOME PLATE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this reason, I feel more confident than ever that it was Jhonny Peralta’s fault.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) Party Like It’s 2008, 2009, or 2010 Redux!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I do not want to belabor the point that the Indians hit 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, but look: when you have a runner on third base with fewer than two outs, you really ought to score a run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should you score a run every time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, that’s unreasonable to expect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it sure seems like a wasted opportunity if you don’t score.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And truthfully, the Indians scored two of their three runs from exactly this setup: Shin-Soo Choo’s sacrifice fly in the first, and his RBI groundout in the 8<sup>th</sup>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But there were THREE MORE TIMES this was true, and we DID NOT SCORE.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One of these is reasonably harmless: desperate to tie the score in the 8<sup>th</sup>, Adam Everett stood on third base with another runner at first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this situation, you have to make kind of a snap decision whether to “go on contact” or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city> ran in on a ground ball to third, but it was handled cleanly and he ended up in a rundown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, it wasn’t even something that would make a close play at the plate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Annoying from a fan standpoint, but not fundamentally bad baseball.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One of these is pretty loathesome: with no outs and men on the corners, Travis Hafner can do just about anything on Earth and it would score a run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Choo on third, a ground ball would probably be treated as a double play opportunity rather than a chance at the plate (it was 1-0 in the top of the 4<sup>th</sup>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fly ball is a run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A hit, a HBP, a watercress sandwich … pretty much anything but a strikeout.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Hafner struck out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Okay, well, then there’s another opportunity with Orly Cabrera at the plate, as long as he doesn’t hit into a double play.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Orly</span></place></city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> hit into a double play.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But it was the THIRD opportunity that brought back nightmares of Seasons Past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given a second shot at driving in Choo from third with one out, Hafner knows that all he has to do is make contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He struck out the time before, and this resulted in great dishonor on him, dishonor on his family, and dishonor on his cow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as he made contact, everything would be fine.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Everything was not fine.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">On a 2-2 pitch, Hafner struck out swinging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then Choo went completely insane, temporarily channeling the spirit of … I don’t know, Mr. Magoo?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gibby from “iCarly”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bullwinkle Moose?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, Congressman Hank Conger picks him off third and the inning is over.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Again, the implication is clear: I blame Jhonny Peralta.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Death by Bullpen</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This has two connotations: the first type is the kind we enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vinnie Pestano entered the game in the 8<sup>th</sup>, struck out two of the hitters he faced (including a very bewildered Peter Bourjos), and completed a perfect inning of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tony Sipp continued his early-season dominance, and then Acta used what I thought was good, prudent, and somewhat off-book judgement by bringing in Chris Perez in a tie game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Texas</place></state> just lost two games because they would not bring their closer in in a non-save situation (tie game), so I’m grateful and impressed that Acta doesn’t fall victim to that particular brand of orthodoxy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perez used 11 pitches to retire 4 hitters and finished the 11<sup>th</sup>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And then Chad Durbin came in.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, it’s far too early to write off Chad Durbin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had success last season, and relievers have notorious performance swings because of the low samples they get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I will tell you this: in his four-pitch walk of Alberto Collapse-O, not ONE of the pitches bore any resemblance at all to something that might penetrate the strike zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then on a 1-1 pitch to Mark Trumbo, he uncorked a wild pitch that put men on second and third: while the next two balls were intentional to load the bases with one out, his 8:11 strike-to-ball ratio was not entirely undeserved.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And then he allowed the game-winning sacrifice fly to be hit by Jeff Mathis, a hitter so feeble that he often strides to the plate with a stuffed bear and a blanket instead of a bat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So that wasn’t any good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) A Word on Expectations</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Jordan Bastian is the new MLB “beat writer” for the Cleveland Indians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I follow him on Twitter at @MLBastian, and he’s a good read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hesitate to compare him to Anthony Castrovince because I’m much more familiar with the latter, but I recommend him without hesitation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Still, he <a href="http://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/58362192399052800"><span style="color: purple;">Tweeted</span></a> something last night:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I see the negative reaction I'm getting after this Indians loss as a positive. Team went 4-2 on road and people are upset? That's progress.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In one sense, he’s got a point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People expected little of the Indians this season, and I think most credible predictions had them winning about 70 games or so (maybe a range from 67 to 75).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is, without extraordinary developments, not a playoff team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The talent it has is young and inexperienced, and the rotation had greatly outperformed reasonable projections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For fans to be upset about a 4-2 West Coast road trip suggests that <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> fans are not simply resigned to another Lost Season.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But here is what he is missing, in my opinion: we have seen this many times before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not the 4-2 road trip, but the nonsensical behavior, the abject pratfalling, the baserunning acumen of tasered frogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Bastian comes from <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Toronto</place></city>, where the games consisted primarily of bursts of pitching greatness punctuated by Jose Bautista home runs and John McDonald hitting in the manner of a Pantomime Queen Elizabeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be that he is unaware of the Legend of the Three-Run Error, or the Getting Tagged Out Exactly Halfway Between Second and Third, or the Twelve Men Left on Base, or any number of mind-addling mental and/or physical gaffes that have defined Cleveland Baseball from the death throes of the Eric Wedge Era to the start of the Manny Acta Tenure over the past five or so years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short, the negative reaction is not because we lost, but because we lost in precisely the manner in which we lost some hundred-odd other games over the past few years.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">We have seen this show, Mr. Bastian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not a good show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it has rendered most of us spleenless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you still have a spleen, we both envy and pity you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enjoy it while you can.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-63491633832377636082011-04-13T12:12:00.000-05:002011-04-13T12:12:44.686-05:00The B-List: 4/12<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>FINAL</strong> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 <strong>R H E</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Indians (8-3)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <strong>0 1 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Angels (6-5)</strong> 0 0 <strong>1</strong> 0 0 0 <strong>1</strong> 0 X<strong> 2 4 1</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Haren (3-0) L: Carmona (0-2)</span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Sometimes, the other guy is just better than you are.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1) Righted Ship</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Is it fair to say that the memory of Fausto Carmona giving up 10 runs in 3-plus (the plus stands for Extra Fail!) innings on Opening Day is simply a Data Point of Badness and we can all move on with our lives now?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This game wasn’t quite as good as his previous start against the Red Sox, but it was still damned good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of 2 hits, he allowed 4, and of course, instead of 0 runs, he allowed 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, he actually threw more strikes and struck out more batters (6 to 4) while getting more swings-and-misses (14 to 9).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s going to be hard to top a scoreless outing when giving up a home run to Peter Bourjos, and of course he lost the game, so there is no argument for this start being “better.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, it’s equally hard to argue that it wasn’t high-quality.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">One of the interesting things about Carmona’s pitch location was that he started only 9 of the 30 hitters he faced with a first-pitch strike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually, I would complain about this: it seems like one of the easier things to control about an outing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, given his overall numbers, I wonder if maybe there wasn’t some Method to the Madness involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Angels of the 21<sup>st</sup> century have been an aggressive team at the plate, taking the character of their manager and hitting coach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While statheads tend to deride such things, the fact is that it has generally worked for them, and they went through a stretch where they routinely “out-performed” their “Pythagorean Projection” of how many games they “ought” to have won based on a simplistic calculation based on run differential.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And the fact is, Carmona *did* throw strikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he did walk three batters, each was Bobby Abreu, who apparently gives off some sort of hypnotic force field from the batter’s box that influences both pitchers and umpires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I introduced the idea of the “Tyner Zone” to describe hitters with a higher OBP than SLG, which generally means the guy will draw a walk while being utterly powerless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bobby Abreu is technically in the Tyner Zone with an OBP that is 29 points higher than his SLG.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except that his SLG is .500, and his ISO is .132.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His OBP is .529.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>FIVE twenty-nine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, he won’t finish the year like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, Bobby Abreu knows a thing or two about talking a pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Two of his walks came on full counts.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Overall, Carmona tossed 70 strikes in 118 pitches, which isn’t bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Against all hitters who were not Bobby Abreu, Carmona threw 64 strikes in 98 pitches, which is actually pretty good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, since he wasn’t walking anyone else and wasn’t throwing a lot of 2-0 or 3-1 meatballs, it would appear that Carmona’s falling behind in the count was more in the Abreu-Thome mold in which he didn’t mind trying to get the Angels to reach for a pitch before getting down to business later in the count.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Through the first five innings, exactly two Angels managed to hit the ball OUT OF THE INFIELD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, one of those was the home run to Bourjos, who hit a pretty bad (elevated and flat) pitch on a line over the left field wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later, Mark Trumbo hit a pretty GOOD pitch inside the pole for the other offense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides that, Carmona used excellent movement to generate a bunch of garbage off the Angels’ bats: 13 groundouts, a few foulouts and not much else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not certain it was truly valuable to send him out for the 8<sup>th</sup> inning, but the same discussion about Talbot yesterday applies here as well (and he’ll get an extra day’s rest due to the travel day tomorrow).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">2) The early front-runner</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">If someone other than Dan Haren wins the Cy Young this season, I hope the Indians make it through the regular season without facing him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Obviously it’s premature to anoint someone the Cy Young after three starts, but it’s literally not possible to pitch a lot better than Haren did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well done, sir.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now get a haircut.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3) A game of inches</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Consider the game of baseball for a moment.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Fausto Carmona threw an execrable pitch to Peter Bourjos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is indisputible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bourjos is not normally much of a power hitter, but there are literally hundreds of guys in the pros who will hit that ball out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, you still have to DO it (and not miss by a fraction of an inch, producing a hard smash to third or a popup to left), and he did, so good job.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Mark Trumbo did a good job to jerk a low pitch down the line for a homer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is quality hitting, and sometimes, as I’ve said, the other guy just does a good job.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Two pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was a mistake by Carmona, one was an abnormally-good job by the hitter.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This is the difference between Dan Haren and Fausto Carmona last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two pitches.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And going further, Mitch Talbot gave up MORE hits with FEWER strikeouts, and because Bobby Abreu got slightly under a pitch with a runner on first, it was the final out of the 3<sup>rd</sup> inning on a fly ball to medium-deep center rather than a two-run homer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Which would have been the game-winning blow for the Angels had Matt LaPorta not been able to muscle an outer-half fastball 380-plus feet over the right field wall off rookie Tyler Chatwood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, two pitches.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So the difference between Haren and Carmona was close to negligible, while the difference between Carmona and Talbot was virtually negligible, and the difference between Talbot and Chatwood wasn’t really VERY large.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because after the homer by LaPorta, Chatwood didn’t give the Indians much in the way of offense at all.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Now, I’m not going to try to apply some warped version of transitivity to claim that Dan Haren wasn’t really all that much better than Tyler Chatwood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really, he was that much better than Tyler Chatwood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were any number of times that I thought the Indians would string a couple hits off Chatwood and chase him screaming from the mound like Justin Bieber at an assembly at an all-girls middle school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was literally NO point last night at which I thought the Indians would GET A HIT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that Shin-Soo Choo was able to single was quite amazing to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haren was That Good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I guess the point is, though, you can look at one performance and declare it amazing, and another performance and declare it pretty good, and another one and declare it a struggle, and at the very top level of the game, you’re not really talking about things that are on different planets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They might barely be on different slices of bread in the same loaf.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Yeah, I’m gonna stop thinking about that now, too.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">4) Terror on the Basepaths!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">There are some basic rules for stealing a base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You should get a good jump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You should study the guy’s motion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You should not get picked off when Andy Pettitte balks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, basic stuff.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s one thing you should not do: begin running BEFORE THE PITCHER EVEN GOES INTO HIS MOTION.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Had Orly Cabrera not been picked off, we would still have lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But don’t do that again.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5) Resignation</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I like that Frank Herrmann throws strikes and is aggressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I swear, the man has no “out” pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None whatsoever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not motivated enough to look up what his foul ball percentage is with two strikes, but it seems like about 1000%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is pretty weird, given that he struck out 5 in 2 innings on Opening Day against the ChiSox, but that’s looking more and more like the outlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His scouting report says he “doesn’t really have a pitch that could get left-handed hitters out,” and that might be the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not much of a scout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Torii Hunter is right handed, and he didn’t have a pitch that could finish him off, either.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In fact, Herrmann gave up runs in each of his two previous outings precisely because he gave extra swings to guys with two strikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His epic battle with Adrian Gonzalez comes to mind.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I don’t know whether this means he needs to learn a new pitch like a cutter or a splitter, or if he simply needs a bit more polish on his command, but right now, Frank Herrmann looks very much like Just Some Guy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">6) End of an Era</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Mike Brantley’s on-base and hitting streaks came to an end last night.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Since Haren made EVERYONE look feeble, I’m not gonna get real worked up about that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7) Flashing the leather</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Look, Jack Hannahan remains Jack Hannahan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had a hot week, and now he’s back to being the Jack Hannahanniest Jack Hannahan that ever Jack Hannahanned.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But I will tell you this: I GREATLY prefer to watch him play third base than ANYONE I saw man the hot corner for <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> last season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not that either of the nice plays he made in the second were show-stopper highlight materials, but they were good plays, above-average plays, and plays that would have had a decent chance of being Bollixed But Good And How last season.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Someday, I will demand more than “above-average defense, and nothing else” from my third baseman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>April 2011 does not contain that day.</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-7034487917437569072011-04-12T13:46:00.002-05:002011-04-12T13:48:00.144-05:00The B-List: 4/11<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>FINAL</strong> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 <strong>R H E</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Indians (8-2)</strong> <strong>1 3</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <strong>4 6 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Angels (5-5)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0<strong> 0 5 0</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Talbot (1-0) L: Chatwood (0-1)</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only two hitters in the lineup with OBPs under .300 hit 3<sup>rd</sup> and 4<sup>th</sup>.</span></span> <br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) Destination Semi-Known</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have loaned my copy of Jim Bouton’s seminal work, “Ball Four,” to my father for a while, so I am spared the effort of trying to find the exact quote, but for all the alcohol and underpants and ill-conceived behavior, the thing that sticks with me from the book is when Bouton talks about control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t remember the quote verbatim, but broadly put, he said the idea of “pinpoint control” is nonsense and a myth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You can’t hit a spot on the outside corner, exactly where you want it,” I paraphrase him saying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I aimed for the middle, knowing I’d be off 6 to 8 inches in some direction, and that would make it a good pitch.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This might be exaggerating a bit, but I do think that it is the exceptional pitcher who has what we’d consider great control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It bears remembering that while Bouton had an injury-shortened, unspectacular career, in his early days he was a high-effort high-quality high-velocity pitcher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wasn’t just some journeyman, even if he career ended up there after he was hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The way I’ve always read this is that sure, there are a small percentage of pitchers who can hit a spot more often than not, the majority of pitchers settle for “quadrants” and leave it at that.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was reminded of this last night watching Mitch Talbot pitch, because I swear I never saw him throw a pitch that ended up precisely where I predicted it would.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would throw a pitch, and I’d see in my mind’s eye a “path,” maybe bending down slightly from the middle toward the outside knee area, and all of a sudden at the end of the flight, the ball would “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">voop</i></b>” somewhere else (often bending in to right-handers).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would throw a slider, and it would be singing along, and then at the end, “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">voop</i></b>,” it wasn’t there any more.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously, any pitch that goes “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">voop</i></b>” is going to have an enormous advantage over any non-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">voop</i></b>ing pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ask Mariano Rivera or Cliff Lee about that. And a great deal of Talbot’s vooping had a downward bent, which led to a lovely 13:7 GO:FO ratio, which was 13:5 through 7 innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until the 9<sup>th</sup> inning, Talbot allowed only 4 hits, and two of them did not make it out of the infield.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I was thinking about this watching Talbot walk Bobby Abreu a second time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, Abreu is a notoriously patient hitter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, he’s off to a fast start, hitting .378 with a .511 (!) OBP through the first 10 games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bobby Abreu knows what a strike looks like, and he has never been all that interested in swinging at pitches that don’t meet that criterion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’ll routinely take a second strike while looking roughly as concerned as The Crusher was when the Masked Karat unleashed his initial flurry.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s the thing: from a pure pitch location standpoint, Talbot’s pitches all looked like Charles Nagy Commemorative Nibbles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Off the plate away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Outside corner low.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just off the corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True, he bent one inside half for a called strike, but he threw six pitches, got a break when one outside was called a strike, and walked Abreu (with a four-run lead … leading off an inning … in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sixth</i>) on six pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is where I normally break out some old saw about hitting a five-run homer or something.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But while it’s probably prudent not to groove one to the borderline Hall-of-Famer hitting .378, who proves this point in the 9<sup>th</sup> by fighting off a RIDICULOUS pitch for a “double” down the third base line to end Talbot’s night (a TERRIFIC piece of hitting by Abreu), I don’t think Talbot was nibbling in the pure Nagian sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think he was AFRAID to throw strikes to Abreu; I think his pitches MOVED too far.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think this is where we are with Mitch Talbot: not only does he have that titanic changeup that moves about a foot away from lefties, I think ALL of Talbot’s pitches have some sort of natural movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I don’t want to paint Talbot as some eyes-closed hurler out there: against everyone who was not Bobby Abreu, Talbot gave up 4 singles, 4 Ks, and 0 walks in 8 innings of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even with the two walks, Talbot threw 72 strikes in 112 pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the staff would have to improve their performance to date to reach this ratio. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, Talbot was in total command, preventing the Angels from making great contact and efficiently mowing through the lineup multiple times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think when you look at HOW Talbot pitches, I think it is to pitch a six inch square, throw the pitch toward it, and realize that, hey, it’s probably going to end up a little bit off from there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Voop</i></b>!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hitters aren’t all that happy about that.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) You don’t actually get credit for that, but thank you anyway</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wasn’t all that thrilled to see Talbot go back out for the 9<sup>th</sup>, but this is where I defer to the human management skills of the manager.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talbot’s a big lad, he’s not really young any more, he’d been efficient, and 106 isn’t a grotesque, Livan Hernandez number of pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, did I imagine the shoulder fatigue in September?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, he got a shot, he gave up a hit, he got the wazoo, 6 pitches aren’t going to ruin Mitch Talbot.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In runs Vinnie Pestano.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m rooting for Pestano a lot more than I am actually CONFIDENT in Vinnie Pestano.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He deserves the shot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My track record liking and unliking and re-liking and being driven insane by right-handed Cleveland Indian relievers is really, really long and almost universally misguided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Closers of the Futures Ferd Cabrera and Tom Mastny say hi!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll give Pestano this, though: if he fails, it is not going to be because he minces about and nibbles at the corners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey, he might miss the plate altogether, but the man is not going to get cheated out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, with Abreu in scoring position, Pestano puts together a whiff and a pair of flyouts and that’s the ballgame.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because Abreu hadn’t scored and the lead was 4, there is no save for Pestano.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vinnie’s not going to get a lot of saves this season with Chris Perez in the role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll tell you this, though: right now, he might be the only right-handed reliever besides the closer I feel I can watch without wanting to dive out the back door to hide from the real-time results.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) Drooby Doo!</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four hundred three feet!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four hundred bloody three feet!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Straightaway center, homes!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The man’s slugging .659.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s just silly, man.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4) Boom goes the dynamite!</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With two on in the second inning, Matt LaPorta unleashed the kind of swing that makes one understand what it is that makes him an attractive player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angels Stadium is an oddly-shaped affair, so if a right-handed hitter gets one out to right-center, he’s hit the ball a pretty long way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not sneaking one over the wall in New Yankee Stadium: this is hitting something over a wall an appreciable distance away.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, let’s be honest: this is the type of shot that made me think that Jhonny Peralta could be a special player (at least as an offensive middle infielder), too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pitch was on the outer half, and LaPorta went with it, showing great strength to pop it over the wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I saw a comment on Twitter last night to the effect that Chatwood is effectively a AAA pitcher and that’s why LaPorta was able to hit him, the dirty secret is that Chatwood held the Indians to four hits over five innings and was undone more by a high pitch count (4 walks) than Super Hittability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, this was a quality piece of hitting, going the other way, and doing so with authority.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But here’s the other point: with all the noted understandings of small samples included, LaPorta is now hitting .241/.361/.483 on the season after hitting his second homer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is the .241 good?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, it isn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is the .242 SLG sustainable?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that LaPorta is a legitimate power threat, but that seems higher than I’m willing to expect from him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe .200 as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">goal</i>.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But look at that OBP again: .361.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First off, I will take .361 from Matt LaPorta in 2011, I absolutely will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, this is obviously buoyed by a number of walks: he had another last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this might be the most encouraging thing: despite being derided by fans, despite being threatened by more Santana at first, despite not hitting particularly well, LaPorta has maintained his plate discipline, going up to the plate with a PLAN about how he wants to attack the ball, and with a .242 SLG, is doing that.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I remain skeptical, but here’s the other thing to keep in mind: how much does Mitch Talbot’s entire season’s worth of work in 2010 make him more comfortable, confident, and skilled in 2011?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not saying I’m interpreting his first two starts as some sort of a state change, but I think as fans we tend to nod sagely at other teams’ young players getting a couple years under their belts before we’re willing to consider them one thing or another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we watch THESE guys EVERY DAY, it SEEMS like they’ve had PLENTY of time to “develop.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, they haven’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LaPorta has battled injuries, inexperience, and guys like Jayson Nix and Jhonny Peralta peppering him with random missiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is he clearly “breaking out?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heck, no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s hitting .241.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The track record is not good yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But … well, that was a nice piece of hitting last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cross your fingers.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5) Ho Hum Dept.</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike Brantley got a hit and a walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In nine games (he got one off), he has reached base twice in SEVEN of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has at least one hit in each one.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6) Schmoe Hum Dept.</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After LaPorta drew a 5-pitch walk off Chatwood to lead off the 5<sup>th</sup>, Jack Hannahan flew out on the first pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to me, sir: do not listen to the nicknames.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not point to the .469 SLG.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are Jack Hannahan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kid is losing his grip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not swing at the first pitch unless you can POUND it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lazy fly ball to the opposite field?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not POUNDing.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brantley then drew a 5-pitch walk, making Hannahan look that much more Hannahanny.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Asdrubal Cabrera worked a walk off a full count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re keeping score at home, this loads the basis, and only Hannahan has actually struck the ball into play.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shin-Soo Choo did not swing at the first pitch: he worked the count full.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then …</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">… double play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>End of inning.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feh.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7) Schmoe Hum Dept. II</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vern Wells is hitting .091/.149/.114.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That deal … that’s a bad-looking deal right there, Wink.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8) Credit Where Credit is Due Dept.</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Austin Kearns boomed another double right before LaPorta’s homer.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9) Cause for concern?</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like the jumping out to the early lead and all that, but after LaPorta’s blast:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6 2/3 innings<br />
2 singles<br />
0 runs</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(To be fair, also 5 walks)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It is okay to keep scoring after you have the lead.</span></span> <br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-6028490903519045142011-04-11T13:12:00.000-05:002011-04-11T13:12:07.289-05:00The B-List: 4/8 - 4/10<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indians (5-2) 1 0 0 10 1 0 0 0 0 12 17 1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Mariners (2-5) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 3 6 1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Carrasco (1-1) L: Vargas (0-1)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indians (6-2) 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">Mariners (2-6) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">W: Masterson (2-0) L: Fister (0-2) S: C. Perez (3)<br />
<br />
FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indians (7-2) 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 11 0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Mariners (2-7) 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 4 5 1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Tomlin (2-0) L: Bedard (0-2) S: C. Perez (4)</span><br />
<br />
Consider this: the Indians had as many hits on Friday as the Mariners managed for the WHOLE SERIES.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we scored 50% more runs … in that one game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we had two more games worth of offense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Seattle</place></city> had two more games of Brendan Ryan and Ryan Langerhans.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">1) Son of Rebound</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Fausto Carmona’s debut was worse, but this says more about Carmona’s performance than Carlos Carrasco’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carrasco’s first outing against the White Sox was nothing to write home about either, unless it was to write home to say, “Boy, that wasn’t very good, was it?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granted, the White Sox have a better offense than the Mariners, which is a bit like saying that jackals are more fearsome than banana slugs armed with salt shakers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, Carrasco looked lousy, and his performance Friday was in no way guaranteed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">All Carrasco did was throttle the Seattle “offense” soundly, getting three swinging Ks in the first two innings and facing one over the minimum through three because he inexplicably walked Ryan Langerhans on four pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After an interminable wait through a half-hour top of the 4<sup>th</sup>, Carrasco was able to retain enough concentration to toss another scoreless inning before giving up a run in the 5<sup>th</sup>, but was able to end that frame with another swinging K before collecting one last forwards-K in a scoreless 6<sup>th</sup> inning of work.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Although Carrasco did allow 3 walks plus a hit batsman in 6 innings and only threw 55 strikes in 99 pitches, his stuff was good enough such that he was still able to throw quality strikes when behind in the count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This as much as the end result was the most encouraging development from the outing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly six innings of 1-run ball is going to win you a lot of ballgames, but I found myself as encouraged by things like falling behind 3-0 to Miguel Olivo, then striking him out, or behind 2-0 to Adam Kennedy before getting him to routinely ground out on a 2-2 pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carrasco was going to throw his pitch regardless of the count, and with runners in scoring position, he got the M’s to go 1-for-4 with a pair of (swinging) Ks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">One thing to watch for: in the miniscule sample size that two starts allows, Carrasco is faring a little more poorly against lefties than righties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is hardly surprising, but he posted such a large <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">negative</i> platoon split last year that it bears keeping an eye on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2) I can’t even see the corner from here</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Is it premature to declare that Justin Masterson has “turned the corner” or “flipped the page” or “become really, really good?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, it probably is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, this is not Ken Schrom coming out of Nowhere of Any Real Consequence to have a hot start to the season: astute observers would note that Masterson posted ERAs of 3.28 and 2.25 in August and September (respectively) last season, although September was in a hybrid starter/reliever role to hold down his innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>6 of his last 8 starts featured no more than 2 earned runs, and 5 of those 6 included 1 or fewer ER.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The point was made at the time that he looked to be locating a lot better after a minor mechanical adjustment whose nature escapes me right now, but Tribe fans were encouraged to see if it would carry over to the next season.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So far, I would have to say it has carried over to this season.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Of course, in his first start against <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Chicago</place></city>, nervous glances were wondering if it meant anything that he didn’t record a single strikeout, even though he did allow only 1 run due to a sparkling 16-groundout performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s probably going to be okay, since Masterson was able to punch out NINE Mariners in 6 innings of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time, you might look at the odd (for Masterson) 5:5 GO:FO ratio, but looking at it another way, Masterson has recorded at least 14 outs with groundouts-plus-strikeouts in each of the two starts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to consider a GO+K:FO ratio for Masterson, it is a combined 30:8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That seems like it will work okay.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">What did Masterson do in this game?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I suppose it would be disingenuous not to bring up that he faced the Mariners, who really are an atrocious offensive club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, really now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Chris Gimenez went 1-for-3 Sunday, he became the team leader with a .333 OBP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>5 players in Sunday’s lineup hit .200 or below, and they moved Adam Kennedy to the 3 slot for an offensive spark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They moved ADAM KENNEDY to the THREE HOLE for an OFFENSIVE SPARK.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Still, this doesn’t take away from the fact that Masterson is currently generating terrific movement on his pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not just his trademark sinker, but on his fastball and slider as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In particular, here is a stat I copied off ESPN’s Stats Inc. </span><a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310409112"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">writeup of the game</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The M's went 1-11 (.091) in at-bats that ended on pitches located in the "middle" sections, including 3 of his 9 strikeouts. - The M's were 1-7 (.143) in at-bats that ended on a slider. Last season, Masterson held foes to a .195 mark against the slider.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Now, they neglect to mention that of the 4 hits Masterson allowed, each was to a hitter batting left-handed (two are switch-hitters).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the season, lefties still hit .300 off Masterson, while righties struggle mightily at .111.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, left-handed hitters produced 8 of the 9 strikeouts as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would appear that the slider, not particularly intuitively, is an effective weapon against left-handed hitters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would I like to see him add Mitch Talbot’s change?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, the man has a WHIP of 1.05 and only gave up a run because Manny Acta went to the well in the 7<sup>th</sup> with Masterson up over 105 pitches already.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s a big lad and I’m not reflexively concerned, but I’m not sure that was really all that necessary, either.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">3) Fitting data to preconceived notions</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Josh Tomlin has set some sort of esoteric team record by lasting at least five innings in each of his starts since his debut last summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s been fine and successful and we talked a little last time about how I’m not entirely sure how he does it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Tomlin allowed only three hits in six and two-third innings, keeping the Mariners off-balance and in check until the 7<sup>th</sup> when his fortune ran out on a two-run blast by Langerhans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is very fine stuff indeed, especially since it was only one run on two hits through six complete innings of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two problems with this:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">a) He walked his third batter in the 7<sup>th</sup>, two batters before the homer<br />
b) He posted a scary 5:11 GO:FO ratio</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">What is scary about a 5:11 GO:FO ratio?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, for one thing, balls hit into the air tend to travel further than those on the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And eventually, even in Safeco, even against <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Chico</place></city>’s Mariners Bonds, long fly balls tend to turn into runs on the board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walking guys (even Jack Cust) tends to compound this problem.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So yeah, Tomlin was excellent if perhaps sub-dominant through six innings of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I couldn’t help but feel that the fly balls would catch up to him at some point, and that point turned out to be the bottom of the 7<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, Tomlin had a five-run cushion and the Indians were able to ride the back end of the bullpen to the win, but listen: look my in the eye and tell me you are confident having Tomlin pitch a hot summer game in New Yankee Stadium or The Jetstream in Arlington.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(You can be as sincere as you want, I’m not going to believe you.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This having been said, Tomlin’s ERA now stands at 2.63, his WHIP is 0.88, and he’s 2-0.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, that’ll do.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">4) Wonder Uncle Nephew Powers, Activate!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Yes, I understand that Orly Cabrera is not actually Asdrubal Cabrera’s uncle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a joke by the Elder Cabrera, and I liked it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Still, has there been a better off-season signing than the Indians nabbing Orly Cabrera?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, Cliff Lee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But was there a better signing that the Indians could plausibly have done?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, maybe Jack Hannahan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s a complete gork.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Signing Orlando Cabrera was a good move, okay?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And whether there’s a actual blood relation or not, some sort of mystical power has seeped into Asdrubal’s game as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only is his career high in homers currently SIX, he had never hit more than TWO in a month before this season, in which he’s already hit three in his first nine games.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Over the weekend, not only did each Cabrera get at least one hit in each of the three games, but they jump-started the offense in each game:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Friday: Asdrubal homered in the 1<sup>st</sup>, went 1-for-5; <city w:st="on">Orly</city> went 3-for-3 with a walk<br />
Saturday: Asdrubal went 2-for-4 with a run, <city w:st="on">Orly</city> drove in the only <city w:st="on">Cleveland</city> runs (1 earned, 1 not) and went 1-for-3<br />
Sunday: Asdrubal homered in the 1<sup>st</sup> again, went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Orly</place></city> went 2-for-4 with a double</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">In all, the pair collected 12 hits in 24 AB, including 3 extra-base hits and 5 RBI.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So, I’m having fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, I’m considering changing my name to Steve Cabrera.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">5) Cabrerattack!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">In fact, I was so inspired by the Uncle/Nephew team, it colored my perception of the 10-run 4<sup>th</sup> inning Friday night:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Shin-Soo Cabrera led off the inning with a single to right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carlos Cabrera reached on a broken-bat infield single, on which Shin-Soo Cabrera alerted got all the way to third.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Travis Cabrera then lined an RBI single to center before Orly Cabrera scored Carlos Cabrera on another single up the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Austin Cabrera temporarily put his season-long slump on hold long enough to smash an RBI double off the left-field wall, and Matt LaBrera drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jack Cabrerahan then went the other way with a pitch for an RBI single to left.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mike Cabrera was able to ground a single up the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Asdrubal Cabrera struck out swinging, but Shin-Soo Cabrera was able to coax a walk to load the bases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carlos Cabrera then scorched a two-run single to right before Travis Cabrera pounded a 400-plus-foot monster off a restaurant, conjuring memories of Jim Cabrera hitting the SkyDome windows back in the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Orly Cabrera had another single in him before Austin Kearns pinch-hit for Austin Cabrera and struck out to end the inning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Manager Manny Cabrera was unavailable for comment as his facial muscles were frozen into a broad smile.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">6) Lost in the shuffle</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mike Brantley-Cabrera continues to provide consistent table-setting performance from the leadoff slot, reaching base twice Friday, twice more on Saturday, and once on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has hit safely in each of the 8 games in which he’s played, which includes starting against three left-handed starters in Mark Buehrle, Jason Vargas, and Erik Bedard.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Open question: when Grady Sizemore finishes his rehab assignment, where does he bat?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you automatically slot him in at leadoff because he’s “comfortable” there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you try to leverage his power in the 3 hole?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you try to “ease” him back into everyday playing by slotting him 7<sup>th</sup> (splitting up him and Hafner in the 5 hole)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does Brantley play at all?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I haven’t thought about this carefully because it’s too much fun simply enjoying the team’s performance, but my off-the-cuff impression is that Brantley should continue to play and the “power” we get from LF is not really very important right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I say put Grady and Brantley in CF and LF in some permutation, let Grady lead off, and hit Brantley 9<sup>th</sup> behind Jumpin’ Jack Hannahan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, even as I type that I dislike it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose if Grady weren’t an Actual Human Being, I could tell him to sit in the bottom third of the order and like it, but he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just think it’s important to try to put Sizemore into a position that maximizes his chance of success, and I think at this point in their respective careers, that means Sizemore 1 and Brantley in the bottom third.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this the Very Best Numbers Move?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rather doubt it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of those situations where I’m willing to believe a Real Major-League Manager has insight I lack.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bottom line: we keep winning, and Grady can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">catch</i> for all I care.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">7) Chemistry is what you have when you’re winning</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Although tongue-in-cheek, I actually believe this statement has more than a germ of truth to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Good chemistry” is most often the result of post hoc analysis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But look: again acknowledging that we’re rooting for Real People here, it’s obviously more enjoyable to play for a team on a string like this, when everything seems to work out for the best.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">With this in mind, I’d like to take a moment to point out how valuable it is to have a couple of lefty-mashers on the bench who have thus far made the most of their limited playing time: Shelley Duncan smacked his second double in as may starts to go 1-for-4 with an RBI (his 3<sup>rd</sup>), and Lou Marson continued his torrid start with a 1-for-3 day including a walk (the hit was his second double as well).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Duncan</span></place></city><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> may very well be the victim of the roster squeeze when Sizemore returns (for this reason, it might actually be Brantley, but I think that would be a mistake), but he shows no outward signs of being concerned about his diminished role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Marson must wonder what happened to the plan to play Carlos Santana less frequently behind the plate, because he’s only appeared in 2 of 9 games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He, too, does not appear to be doing anything except being excellent when called upon.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I think Marson will see some more time behind the plate as the season wears on, especially since Matt LaPorta has been so useless at first base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The main advantage of Carlos Santana behind the plate is that it should allow for a more-productive hitter at first base, which is ostensibly easier to find.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is negated if Tofu Lou out-hits whatever mook we happen to slot in at first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, it’s way early to make any pronouncements about LaPorta’s fading star or Marson’s “Obvious Breakout” (which is plainly neither).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get frustrated, okay?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">By the way, were <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Tampa</place></city> not so horrifyingly bad, Shelley Duncan would make a world of sense there to replace Manny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yep, I’m serious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they are, so we get to keep him, which is fine with me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">8) Clearly everything is fine now!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yeah, I’m trying to convince myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But look: in a series with two left-handed starters, Shin-Soo Choo reached base twice in each game with a 1-for-3 + BB, 2-for- 4, and 2-for-4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, none of the hits was for extra bases, and no, he didn’t drive in any runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of this was because Asdrubal Cabrera was busy homering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More seriously, while extra bases and RBI are handy, valuable things, if you reach base twice per game, I’m not going to worry much about you.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">9) Bullpen Roundup</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Justin Germano pitched the least-efficient hitless two innings mopping up for Carrasco on Friday, walking two and whiffing two on 23 strikes in 41 pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a marked improvement on his first outing, in which he simply removed his pants.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I like Frank Herrmann’s tenacity and strike-throwing, but these traits will become more valuable when he actually manages to get through an inning without giving up a run.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Chad Durbin’s crucial strikeout against the Red Sox is looking more and more like the outlier.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I forget: is it Raffy Perez = Paul Assenmacher, Tony Sipp = Eric Plunk, and Chris Perez = Jose Mesa, or Raffy Perez as Raffy Perez, Sipp as Raffy Betancourt, and Chris Perez as Bob Wickman?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d have to say the former, because as wonderful as Sipp has been, he cannot throw strikes like The Monitor Lizard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I do not recommend Carlos Santana execute the Tony Pena Head Slap on Chris Perez, as I think his family would miss him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">10) Hey, we had one of those!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Aaron Laffey tossed two meaningless innings with a near 1-to-1 strike-to-ball ratio.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Chris Gimenez collected a single in three trips to the plate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Jamey Wright threw a pair of scoreless innings.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Eric Wedge is managing a baseball team that executes poorly and is off to a slow start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cleveland</place></city> fan just had a heart attack from Not Surprise.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">11) Completely Accurate Statement for the Google Search Engine</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">To any <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Seattle</place></city> bloggers:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">If you begin attaching an absurd, wildly-inaccurate, completely-fabricated statement to the end of each game recap, Wedge will be fired within three seasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know it seems like a long time, and really, it will seem like a REALLY long time, but trust me: just put forth the investment now, and in 2014, you’ll be thanking me profusely.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Also, you need to bring back ShaveEricWedge.com (explanation </span><a href="http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050523&content_id=1059860&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">, among other places).</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Finally, a word about your manager.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ha ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ha ha hee hee ho ho ho ho ho!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hee hee hee hee ho ho heebee heebee yuk yuk yuk yuk ho!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel your pain, man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately for you, it only makes me laugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ha ha ha snort hee!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Also, hee hee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ha!</span></div>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-37227452630703675962011-04-08T12:28:00.000-05:002011-04-08T12:28:35.485-05:00The B-List: 4/7<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>FINAL</strong> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 <strong>R H E</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Red Sox (0-6)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <strong>0 4 0</strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Indians (4-2)</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <strong>1</strong> X <strong>1 3 0</strong></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: R. Perez (2-0) L: D. Bard (0-1) S: C. Perez (2)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">At the beginning of the year, had you told me we’d be 4-2 after playing <city w:st="on">Chicago</city> and <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Boston</place></city>, I’d have taken that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the first four innings of Game One, I would have been pretty pleasantly surprised that the team had not all been sold to a cosmetics firm for scientific experimentation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1) ¡Fausto!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What a difference a week makes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Granted, I’m pretty sure no one out there thought that Fausto Carmona was a 30.00 ERA pitcher, or that Opening Day was anything but an exaggerated pratfall by the nominal Ace, but I’m equally sure that yesterday’s performance was not something many fans would have laid serious money on, either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All Carmona did yesterday was:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">a) Held the Red Sox to 2 hits over 7 innings<br />
b) Allowed only 4 baserunners total<br />
c) Posted four 1-2-3 innings<br />
d) Allowed more than one baserunner in an inning one time</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Carmona certainly wasn’t flawless: he threw too many balls and too many overall pitches to get through 7 innings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He walked two more hitters and only posted a 9:8 GO:FO ratio, which is very low for Fausto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had nine three-ball counts before he retired his first batter in the 6<sup>th</sup> inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he was the beneficiary of a couple of fine defensive plays, notably a catch of a Youkilis liner by Orly Cabrera in the top of the 2<sup>nd</sup>.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a name='more'></a><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">On the other hand, with Jon Lester spinning what was arguably an even BETTER performance on the other side of the ledger, Carmona matched him inning-for-inning, and this after coughing up 10 runs in 3-plus (the plus stands for extra ulcers!) innings in his first outing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He showed much better movement on all his pitches: not just his sinker, but his “other” fastball and slider as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did not notice a great changeup, but I admit I don’t have the best eye for that sort of thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was pretty obvious that he had a better feel for the ball than he did in the opener, though.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Here’s an open question: let’s say Carmona believes that his third baseman is likely to catch the ball and subsequently throw it to his first baseman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s further speculate that he thinks his shortstop will show some range, and that his second baseman will have more armstrength than a blancmange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this likely to influence Carmona’s confidence to pound the strikezone a little harder?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus far, there is little evidence of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, a handful of outings like this one would go a long way toward producing a very effective season for Fausto.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Underrated point: the Red Sox were waiting for Carmona to struggle with his control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through the first four innings, a span of 15 hitters, only Jacoby Ellsbury in his second plate appearance swung at the first pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carmona responded by throwing first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 25 hitters he faced, including the first three, 6 of the first 7, and 9 of the first 10.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">2) Smallball glory</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There are very few strategies in baseball that are universally bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joe Posnanski hates the intentional walk, but admits that there are times where he can at least understand its use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stealing bases may be overrated, but it’s hardly a skill with no intrinsic value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heck, if you successfully steal home, it’s by definition a run-scoring event, although the risk usually dwarfs the reward.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So while I’m on the record many (many) times as saying that in GENERAL I dislike (loathe) the sacrifice bunt as a (fungus) strategy, there are times when using it will increase your team’s chance of winning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not only intuitively clear, but can be supported by using the widely-accepted Run Expectancy Charts floating around the Interwebs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Now, it is one thing to apply this to, say, Austin Kearns in the 7<sup>th</sup> inning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a runner on second and no outs in a 0-0 game in which offense is dribbling through a very clogged pipe indeed, it makes some sense to attempt to move the runner to third with one out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 7<sup>th</sup> inning is still a little sketchy for me in a tie game, and the fact remains that there are other ways to move the runner over that don’t involve bunting (hitting a ground ball to the right side, or getting a bloody hit, or letting Dennys Reyes pitch).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, <place w:st="on">Kearns</place> tried to bunt, failed rather spectacularly, and the Indians did not score.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">(An interesting piece of post hoc analysis asks what would have happened had <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Duncan</place></city> made it to third with one out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt LaPorta followed with a ground ball to third: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">probably</i> not a run-scoring play anyway.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But the 8<sup>th</sup> inning … the 8<sup>th</sup> inning is what Smallball is all about.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Adam Everett, who had earlier in the game already exceeded my predicted hit total for the season, started the inning against fireballing Dannyboy Bard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, listen: I got to watch Adam Everett not hit many times when he was in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Houston</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was in 2003-2007.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a couple of early gork years, he settled into the .230/.285/.325 groove we all know and love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then his skills deteriorated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think about this for a moment.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Okay, stop thinking about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No sense giving yourself <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Bell</place></city>’s Palsy or anything.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">He “hit” .185/.221/.247 last season in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Detroit</place></city>, necessitating the acquisition of Jhonny Peralta.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think about THAT for a moment.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I suppose what I’m trying to get across here is that Adam Everett cannot hit.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Thankfully, he did not have to: Bard walked him on five pitches.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">With a 2-0 count on Orly Cabrera, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city> stole second off Jarrod Streptolocuccus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was somewhat bold, but Bard doesn’t hold runners on well, Strepty doesn’t throw very well (despite catching Carlos Santana earlier in the game), and <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city> still has a bit of speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a good play, and huzzahs all around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then Cabrera laid down a sacrifice to move Everett to 3<sup>rd</sup>, which is like Kearns’ move in the 7<sup>th</sup> except that it was the 8<sup>th</sup> and Everett runs better than Shelley Duncan and Orly Cabrera can actually bunt and it was actually successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise, it was déjà vu all over again.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">At this point, Bard is somehow reading from the Book of Zumaya and just blasting pitches all over God’s Green Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seriously, at this point, Bard had thrown 9 pitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was a called strike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was fouled off by <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was bunted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Six were scattershot elsewhere to Points Unknown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dan Bard is not on top of his game at this point.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">His first pitch to Asdrubal Cabrera misses the strike zone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">His second pitch to Asdrubal Cabrera misses the strike zone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The 2-0 pitch was fouled off.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In retrospect, that foul ball set up the winning (in fact, only) run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had Drooby shown something there, Bard at least might have figured something was coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it was, Bard threw yet another pitch out of the strike zone, but with <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city> running on the pitch, Cabrera was able to focus, reach out, and lay a fine bunt down the third base line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city> scored easily without a throw home.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So, for those of you scoring at home, that’s one run on no hits, one stolen base, and two sacrifice bunts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I consider a sac bunt to be “smaller” than a sac fly, and also “smaller” than a stolen base, so I literally cannot imagine a run smaller than that one that doesn’t involve defensive errors or a team whose coach takes them to Dairy Queen after the game.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Was it awesome?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, it was awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do I want to see again real soon?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, not real soon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">3) In the interest of full disclosure</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Not only did <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Everett</city></place> have one of the three hits the Tribe collected off Jon Lester, but three players reached base twice yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was Marcos Scutaro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was Jacoby Ellsbury, who was rejected from “The Weakest Link” to take part in a pilot production of “The Feeblest Link.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the other was Adam Everett.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So, in terms of an offensive show, the overall game was somewhere between “Plan 9 From Outer Space” and “Dougal.”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">4) The Dangers of GameDay Revisited</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The final out of the game was originally recorded in ESPN’s GameDay application as:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">J Drew infield single to third, D. McDonald thrown out at third.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This is some mental image, is it not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Darnell McDonald on first base (pinch-running for Poly Ortiz with two outs), J.D. Drew hits the ball to … third base?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where Adam Everett scoops it up and … waits for Darnell McDonald to run into him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What the heck kind of play is that?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As it turns out, Drew actually hit the ball soundly up the middle, where it struck pitcher Chris Perez and caromed off in the general direction of <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McDonald, having rounded second, alertly fell down, and <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Everett</place></city>’s throw to second beat him back to the bag for the final out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It was kind of <a href="http://twitpic.com/4i0woo"><span style="color: purple;">hilarious</span></a>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">5) A quick public service announcement for <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Chad</place></country-region> Durbin</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Strikes are good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">6) Now leading the A.L. in wins: Raffy Perez</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Yeah, pitcher wins aren’t the most-meaningful statistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you seriously going to tell me that Raffy’s two outs had anything approaching the value of Fausto’s twenty-one?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Raffy gets the win because Adam Everett wandered around the basepaths while the Indians collected multiple Not Hits?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This having been said, for the second consecutive game, Raffy Perez followed up Chad Durbin with a runner in scoring position and completely throttled the opposition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He actually recorded three outs, having struck Dustin Pedroia out on the pitch before Pedroia grounded out to Perez, who made an athletic play on a ball topped out to the left side of the mound (his right).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think Perez’ body consists of 85% “limbs.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">After the game, Perez said, “<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that about sums it up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">7) Offense Roundtable</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Matt LaPorta got a hit.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Shelley Duncan doubled.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Both teams drew four walks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The end.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">8) Guest Commentator Snidely Whiplash</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Do you wonder why the Tribe put on the bold play to have Asdrubal Cabrera squeeze bunt in the 8<sup>th</sup> inning?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Might it have had something to do with the fact that in his previous three trips to the plate, he had struck out three times?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">(Author’s note: probably not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those three times were all hitting right-handed against Lester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was batting lefty against Bard, and he’s not as good a hitter from the right side.)</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div></span>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-62410018101638171722011-04-07T16:43:00.000-05:002011-04-07T16:43:03.561-05:00The B-List: 4/6<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>FINAL</strong> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 <strong>R H E</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Red Sox (0-5)</strong> 0 <strong>2</strong> 0 0 0 0 <strong>2</strong> 0 0 <strong>4 7 "0"</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Indians (3-2)</strong> <strong>2 1</strong> 0 0 0 <strong>4</strong> 0 1 X <strong>8 8 0</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: R. Perez(1-0) L: Matsuzaka (0-1)</span></span><br />
<br />
You might say that Asdrubal Cabrera’s homer barely cleared the wall, but was it really that much shorter than Adrian Gonzalez’?<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>1) Managerial Back-Patters</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mitch Talbot was fine last night, with flashes of real goodness (I still love his change) and a surprising 7 Ks. I normally start with the starting pitcher in the first List item, because he normally has the most material to delve into, and there’s plenty to talk about there. We’ll get to it shortly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To me, it seems like it would be terribly unjust if the first focus didn’t go on Manny Acta’s handling of the 5th inning before anything else.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing I didn’t mention about Tuesday’s “save” by Chris Perez was the point at which Acta came out to talk to Perez with a 2-0 count on David Ortiz with two men on base. I called this a “mature, gentle Tony Pena head slap” in a conversation on Twitter (follow me at @stevebuffum) last night. Whereas Pena’s will always live more fondly in Cleveland Lore, especially since it resulted in physical abuse to Jose Mesa, Acta’s was equally effective in that it got Perez to focus, throw quality strikes, and retire the batter.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With this backdrop, Talbot ended up in a bit of low-wattage trouble in the top of the 5th by walking Carl Crawford, watching him steal second, and then getting Dustin Pedroia on a runner-advancing groundout. After falling behind Adrian Gonzalez, the one Boston hitter who has resisted the Global Newtification Process, Talbot decided to use the better part of valor and finished the walk intentionally.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was it for Talbot, who had given up 2 runs through the first 4 frames and led 3-2. It was not clear whether the Cleveland offense would score many more runs off Daisuke Matsuzaka or the Parade of Death that potentially loomed in the Red Sox bullpen. You can’t necessarily insist that one point in the middle of the game is definitely the crucial juncture, but it seems reasonable to say that this situation was a pretty big deal.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acta called on Chad Durbin rather than try to squeeze a couple more outs out of Talbot. He didn’t call on Justin Germano just because he’s the nominal “long guy:” he called on a right-handed reliver with the capability to strike out a hitter and at least flash some groundball stuff just in case. Now, this was somewhat bold in that the second-to-last thing you need there is a guy who might fall behind, and Durbin had walked his first batter of the season on 4 pitches. However, Durbin is a veteran and was a logical choice based on usage and stuff.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Choosing between Durbin and Someone Else frankly goes deeper down the Minutiae Well than even I care to go. The interesting point to me was that Acta identified the opportunity and acted decisively. That Durbin was outstanding almost seems beside the point. Almost, but not really: Durbin threw three strikes in three pitches and recorded the second out without either runner moving an inch. (With Crawford on third, almost any batted ball that wasn’t a short popup or a double play would have scored a run.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just as decisively, Acta went to Raffy Perez to face David Ortiz: while you might think this smacks of knee-jerk orthodoxy, the fact is, orthodoxy does not spring from the earth fully-formed from nothing. It becomes orthodox in no small part because it works. You bring in the lefty to face Ortiz with men on base because that gives you the greatest chance of a successful outcome. And to Raffy’s credit, he retired Ortiz (then stayed in the game for another perfect inning, although that’s kind of a different topic).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s the thing: if you wanted to think about this game as a modular, non-sequential series of innings, what happened in a sense was that Durbin acted as the setup man for Raffy to finish off the save. The fact that this occurred in the FIFTH inning is somewhat irrelevant. And the fact that Manny Acta was willing to take that approach is a good thing, not only in my opinion, but something that is supported by any number of statistical analyses about win percentage and leverage.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>2) When you end up throwing more pitches per inning than Daisuke Matsuzaka, something has gone awry</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I remain unconvinced that Mitch Talbot is ever going to be truly Good, but it’s not like your team is doomed if he’s one of your five best starters. He has a terrific changeup but average stuff overall: without better command of his fastball, he’s probably got a ceiling of, say, Danny Darwin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This having been said, the man struck out 7 guys in 4 innings on the strength of being able to move his pitches around, both in terms of location and in terms of movement. He struck out left-handed hitters (Gonzalez, Drew), right-handed hitters (Pedroia, Youkilis, Scutaro), and no-handed hitters (Ellsbury, Ellsbury). He had three innings in which he struck out more than one guy. Does this mean Talbot has transformed himself into a strikeout pitcher? This is unlikely. He got only 7 swings-and-misses, although 4 of those were strikes three. I think it’s more telling that he got 22 foul balls, which to me suggests his pitches have good late movement. He’d walked only one hitter through the first four innings (91 pitches), so he was working well around the strike zone. The thing is, Boston is a patient lineup historically, and Talbot spent a lot of time deep into counts due to foul balls and close misses.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two-run “outburst” in the second was the result of mostly gunk: a single, an opposite-field single on a 1-2 pitch after two fouls by J.D. Drew, a walk, an infield single that was more of a dying grackle, and a groundout to first. It probably didn’t help Talbot to fall behind 6 of the 7 hitters he faced, but he was hardly getting pounded.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, Talbot looked like a net asset in the rotation: his final 7:3 K:BB and 60:42 strike-to-ball ratios get a little skewed by his running out of gas in the 5th (2 walks, 3:8 strike-to-ball).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>3) This having been said</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Watching Daisuke Matsuzaka pitch is really, really, really, <em>really</em> painful.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>4) Chicks dig the long ball</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am far from being ready to declare that Shin-Soo Choo is “totally back now, you bet, for real, all righty then” just because he hit a home run off Matsuzaka in the first inning. I will say this: Choo did not get cheated on that one. And starting the game off with a 2-run lead allowed us to absorb the second-inning gunk without developing much panic or hopelessness.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After scoring the Jason Varitek Nimnud Run in the 6th, Asdrubal Cabrera was able to lift one far enough for a three-run homer that essentially ended the game. This is kind of the extent of Cabrera’s power: he’ll get some doubles and probably even a triple in that he has gap power and some degree of speed, but if he hits even 10 homers, it’ll be quite surprising (career-high: 6 in 131 games). It sure was awesome, though.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am far from being ready to declare that Matt LaPorta is “even functionally adequate” just because he hit a knuckleball over the wall.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>5) The Inadequacy of Words</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I always read through various recaps and game logs the day after the game, not only to prepare for the column, but because I’m interested in the play-by-play aspects of the games. I also watch using MLB.tv, though, so I can see the plays as well.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consider these two plate appearances:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Adrian Gonzalez: Strike (looking), Strike (foul), Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Gonzalez homered to right</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>…</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Jacoby Ellsbury: Ball, Strike (looking), Strike (foul), Foul, Foul, Ellsbury grounded out to second</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These may look functionally similar: pitcher is throwing strikes, batter is able to ruin two-strike pitches, and ultimately the good hitter does well while the poor hitter fails. Or maybe you want to blame the first pitcher and credit the second. Perhaps you want to congratulate both the hitter and pitcher from the first pair.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me tell you what ACTUALLY happened, though:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the first instance, Frank Herrmann was tenacious and fearless. He was not going to give in to Adrian Gonzalez, no sir. Herrmann’s head appears to be made of a substance of great hardness indeed. And he threw pretty good pitches: Gonzalez may have helped him on two of the EIGHT foul balls by swinging at something out of the zone with two strikes, but for the most part, Herrmann threw strikes and Gonzalez fouled them off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s the thing, though: there was NO POINT in that ENTIRE SEQUENCE in which I felt Frank Herrmann would get Adrian Gonzalez OUT. I’m not saying that Herrmann is bad, or even that Gonzalez is Super Good (although he is an excellent hitter). I’m just saying that as I WATCHED the sequence, the only way that Gonzalez would going to be out is if Herrmann got a strike call on a borderline pitch or if Gonzalez made a mistake. Gonzalez was in TOTAL COMMAND of that plate appearance: he had Herrmann’s stuff timed, and Herrmann simply has no pitch in his arsenal that Can’t Be Touched. Again, this doesn’t make Herrmann a schmoe: I see his potential upside in the Cliff Politte / Matt Guerrier mold. He’s big, throws pretty (but not VERY) hard, and throws strikes. I do love me some strikes. But he has no answer for a superior hitter, and Gonzalez eventually beat him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the second battle, the was NO POINT in the ENTIRE SEQUENCE in which I felt Jacoby Ellsbury would hit the ball OUT OF THE INFIELD. He was thoroughly overmatched by Vinnie Pestano. I wish that said something Sooper Awesome about Vinnie Pestano.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It does not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>6) For the record</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pestano did look good. But sawing off Jacoby Ellsbury proves very little.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>7) For the nostalgic</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Admit it: a small piece of you misses Jhonny Peralta.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fortunately, you don’t need him around every day to be reminded of his unusual qualities. Dennys Reyes’ head has a similar spherical shape. And, on a bases-loaded ball hit to third, the Best and Even More Very Best of Peralta came to the fore.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, after Matsuzaka mercifully wore out his welcome, it was perfectly reasonable to bring in the lefty Reyes to face Buck, LaPorta, Hannahan, and Brantley, three of whom hit left-handed. However, I still don’t think this was the right time for Reyes to unveil his new Pinata Pitch, in which he allows himself to be blindfolded and spun around three times before blindly flinging the ball toward home plate. I suppose that hitting Buck on a 3-0 pitch could be explained through other means, but I doubt any explanation would be better than that one.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With a runner on first, Reyes had to remove his blindfold to hold the runner on, but instead sprayed his hand liberally with WD-40. Although this resulted in an accidental strike to LaPorta on a 2-0 pitch, the next pitch hit him and now there were two on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point, we have to note the special team-first scrappiness of our best power threat, Jack Hannahan. It’s not usual for a guy sliugging .500 to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but in a 3-2 game, Hannahan has that team-first gritty guttiness that allows him to sacrifice his stats for the good of the team, and sure enough, there he was, squaring around to bunt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first pitch was not really buntable.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second pitch was not really buntable.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The third pitch was really, REALLY not buntable.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, with the blindfold back on and the WD-40 reapplied, Hannahan drew a walk.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Out came Dan Wheeler to face Mike Brantley. Brantley worked the count full, then blorped a garbage shot to Kevin Youkilis, who, overcome with the Spirit of Peralta still surrounding the bag, dropped the ball. Youkilis is a little more sentient than Peralta, so he had the presence of mind to step on third for the force out. Now, poor Travis Buck, who had hung around the bag so as not to be doubled off, ran for home, where he would surely be out by roughly a parsec … except that Jason Varitek, absorbing the Peralta Rays emanating from third base, simply stepped on the plate instead of tagging Buck. Since Youkilis had stepped on third, there was no force at home, and Buck scored the Indians’ 4th run.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, Cabrera’s homer rendered this all quite moot indeed, but somewhere, Jhonny Peralta could feel the disturbance in the cosmos.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>8) Ho Hum Dept</strong>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brantley singled and drew a walk to reach base two more times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tony Sipp threw 9 strikes in 15 pitches to complete a perfect inning of relief.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>9) Ducks on the Other Guy’s Pond!</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only Red Sok to get a hit with a runner in scoring position was Marcos Scutaro. In all, Cleveland pitchers held the Sox to 1-for-10 with RISP. Asdrubal Cabrera was 2-for-2 by himself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-73856336285077988302011-04-06T12:11:00.000-05:002011-04-06T12:11:35.137-05:00The B-List: 4/5<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>FINAL</strong> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 <strong>R H E</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Red Sox (0-4)</strong> 0 <strong>1</strong> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <strong>1 4 1</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Indians (2-2)</strong> 0 0 0 <strong>2 1</strong> 0 0 0 X <strong>3 5 1</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Tomlin (1-0) L: Beckett (0-1) S: C. Perez (1)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Joe Tait: It's a beautiful night for baseball!</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Everyone else: You're totally lying, dude.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Joe Tait: So I am.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>1) All he does is win</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last season, spent a good portion of my time trying to figure out exactly what it was that Josh Tomlin did WELL as a starting pitcher. His ERA was solid enough, but seemed a little lucky. He wasn't a complete puffball, but his 5.30 K/9 rate wasn't anything to write home about. (Not that I ever actually <em>write</em> home. Look, I'm 46: I *<em>am</em>* home. I guess I text home fairly frequently. I wouldn't text Josh Tomlin's strikeout rates <em>home</em>, either.) He had good enough control, sporting a K:BB ratio over 2, so that's good (especially compared to yoots like David Huff and Aaron Laffey). He just didn't seem like he had some singular, signature skill on which to hang his hat. Like a monocranial Zaphod Beeblebrox, he was just this guy, you know?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">One thing he most certainly did NOT do well is keep the ball on the ground.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Consider this: Scott Elarton used to terrify me with his ungodly flyball rates. Elarton was horrifying at this. His career GB/FB ratio was 0.52. With the Indians in 2005, it was a hard-to-fathom 0.49. This led Elarton to allow SLG rates in the stratosphere, from .470 and .458 in Cleveland in 2004-5 to .510 in KC the next season. It is not in-and-of-itself a bad thing to be an extreme flyball pitcher, but it sure leads to some scary moments unless you have the stuff of a real power pitcher.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Elarton didn't, and he was kinda lame.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Josh Tomlin's GB/FB ratio last season was 0.47.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Now, again, the man was 6-4 for a lousy team and had a middle-of-the-road ERA. He wasn't getting bombed out there, and he'd performed well in the minors. I'm just pointing out that while some of his peripherals might have supported a lower ERA (like a 1.25 WHIP or a .315 OBP, his .458 SLG and high XBH percentage allowed) put a damper on what I thought was reasonable to expect.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm not going to draw a lot of conclusions from one game in miserable weather against a cold team (figuratively and literally: they came in hitting like .200, and it was about 40 degrees with a light rain to start). But I will point this out: last night, Tomlin recorded 12 ground ball outs to 5 in the air (3 Ks, 1 on the bases). In the first three innings, Tomlin didn't record a single air out, including 5 grounders and 3 punchouts. In fact, his only trouble came when he gave up a long drive to J.D. Drew that turned out to be a double. (His only run allowed came when the next batter singled, although Drew was thrown out at the plate to end the inning before further damage could occur.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Tomlin wasn't entirely masterful after that: he did walk a batter in each of the 4th and 5th and gacked up an error in the 7th, but the walked batters were both erased on classical double plays, something he only induced 6 times in 12 starts last season. But the numbers don't lie: 3 hits and 1 run in 7 complete innings in an efficient 91 pitches is really a very good outing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In watching the video and listening to Manny Acta, it would seem that Tomlin's best feature is using four pitches to keep hitters off balance, and it should be said that of all the swings the BoSox got last night, only Drew's double was hit with any real authority. I doubt that this signals any real State Change or Paradigm Shift or Very Large Occurrence with Tomlin's repertoire or approach: he didn't add a Super Drop Ball or take lessons from Jake Westbrook over the winter. His X-Treme Flyitude last season might have been a bit of a gork, and this might have been one the other way. <span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">He did say explicitly that he was trying to keep the ball down and away to left-handed hitters to prevent them from hurting him deep to right, suggesting a certain degree of self-awareness.</span> I'm just noting that the ball stayed down and I liked it (and the results) significantly more. It's the "keeping hitters off-balance" thing that's sustainable, and he did it well last night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Tomlin may not yet have That One Thing To Look For, unless that thing is a "W." Which would be okay, especially from your near-rookie #4 starter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>2) I would apologize to Charles Dickens, but he'd dead and doesn't know who I am</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Jacob Buffley</em></strong>: You will be haunted by three ghosts ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Chris Perez</em></strong>: I'm not afraid of ghosts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Jacob Buffley</em></strong>: But they are really very terrifying ghosts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Chris Perez</em></strong>: Dude. I'm not afraid of ghosts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Jacob Buffley</em></strong>: But they are the ghosts of Really Big Bob Wickman.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Chris Perez</em></strong>: And ... ?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Jacob Buffley</em></strong>: Nope, that's it. Just Really Big Bob.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Chris Perez</em></strong>: I thought you said "three."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Jacob Buffley</em></strong>: Have you seen Bob Wickman? Do you really think he can be contained in one ghost?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Chris Perez</em></strong>: Wait a minute, Bob Wickman's not dead. He's your age, dude.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Jacob Buffley</em></strong>: Will you shut up?! You will be haunted by three ghosts. Heed them well, or you will never be a True Closer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>Chris Perez</strong></em>: Whatever. Bring him on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Wickman</em></strong>: First, you must allow a hit to a punk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Chris Perez</em></strong>: Okay, I can do that. Now what?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Wickman</em></strong>: Now, wait until there are two outs ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Chris Perez</em>:</strong> Yeah? Yeah?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Wickman</em></strong>: Then walk the most irritating man alive!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>Chris Perez</strong></em>: Okay, I can do that too. Have you seen my Blunderbuss Pitch?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Wickman</em></strong>: I have. It is most impressive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>Chris Perez</strong></em>: That means a lot, dude.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Wickman</em></strong>: Then fall behind to the hitter at the plate, who represents the go-ahead run!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>Chris Perez</strong></em>: Wait, I don't like this plan so much ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Wickman</em></strong>: Silence! Then ... and only then ... can you retire him on a line drive out that, if hit just a little better, would have tied the game!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Chris Perez</em></strong>: Wait, old man. This plan sucks. I hate this plan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>Steve Buffum</strong></em> <em>(ripping off cheap mask)</em>: Well then bloody well stop doing it, you long-haired git! Throw strikes, dammit!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>Ferd Cabrera</strong></em>: Hey, why didn't you tell ME that super secret strategy?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>(Buffum beats Cabrera to death with his laptop. Exeunt.)</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>3) A new Deputy in town</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It would be pretty cold-blooded to suggest that there won’t be any place for Grady Sizemore in the lineup when he returns from his rehab. Sure, he was awful last night in an exhibition game, taking a Size Four Collar, but it’s cold and early and it’s an exhibition game. The fact is, Sizemore has the highest immediately-attainable ceiling of any outfielder in the system not named Shin-Soo Choo. If Sizemore is back to being some sizable percentage of what he’s demonstrated he can do, he belongs in the lineup. (If he’s not, he’ll probably play anyway. What part of “nine thousand fans” confuses you here?)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This having been said, for all the questions I’ve raised about Mike Brantley’s suitability in leading off a major-league lineup, the fact is, Brantley has done what a leadoff hitter must, must, must do: get on base. In each game, Brantley has at least one hit, and in three of the four games, has reached base twice. The sample size of 15 AB is obviously negligible, but all a player can do is perform in the situations he’s put in, and Brantley has done that, drawing two walks to go with his 5 hits for a .389 OBP. To put this into perspective, Sizemore’s career-high OBP was his .390 in 2007. Of course, that’s over 750 plate appearances: Brantley has 17. I would bet a rather large sum that Brantley will not finish with a .389 OBP, but that’s only because a .389 OBP is really quite excellent. I’m not saying Brantley isn’t excellent, even though I do believe he is not, but … look, .389 is great. Mike Brantley is 23. I’d be surprised, that’s all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One nice thing about Brantley’s approach thus far is that it has produced a pair of doubles, including one last night, when he turned on a ball and pulled it to right. And he also can go the other way, flying out to left: he’s been using the whole field, which is important for a guy like him without serious power. Finally, he stole his first base of the season, something that might look more impressive had Matt LaPorta not managed the same trick later in the game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m going to refrain from writing Brantley in on any All-Star ballots for the time being, but the fact is that he looks both like a legitimate major-leaguer and a legitimate leadoff man, and we’ve been kinda short on the latter since St. Grady left the building.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>4) Meet the new guys, virtually nothing like the old guys</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you remember Josh Barfield and Luis Valbuena? I sure hope you get therapy for that. Because Orly Cabrera and Jack Hannahan do not remind me of Josh Barfield and Luis Valbuena.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think it would be unwise to think that Orly Cabrera at age 36 is having a Career Renaissance and will slug .188 on the season. The last time he posted a SLG over .400 was his .404 in 2006, and that was the result of a .122 ISO. Small samples are hilarious. But with another hit last night, Cabrera now leads the team with 5 RBI and is playing fine defense for a team that has produced 28 ground ball outs in 14 starter innings over the past two games. Is there a reason to be playing Orly instead of breaking in Jason Kipnis in 2011? Several, I suppose, but harkening back to the idea of Opportunity and Performance, Cabrera’s done a fine job.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hannahan, on the other hand, collected his 4th RBI with a go-ahead two-out single up the middle off Josh Beckett, and is overperforming expectations by a factor of about three zontillion. Hannahan, simply put, is a mook. He’s a placeholder for developing yoots (ostensibly Lonnie Chisenhall), and that’s fine. Still, his hot start has really lifted the Tribe and prevented things like the Jayson Nix Strikeout Experience and the Wes Hodges Frine Pan Experience and the Jared Goedert Misspelled Name Experience. He leads the team with 12 assists on defense as well. And just because he’s a schmoe doesn’t mean he’s not doing a good job or playing well. He’s doing both. Huzzah to you, sir!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>5) Terror on the Basepaths!</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With three steals off Jarrod Meckeleckahighmeckahighdyho last night, the Indians now have three steals on the season. This is known as “picking your spots,” or “paying homage to Victor Martinez.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>6) Ho Hum Dept.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tony Sipp threw 5 strikes in 7 pitches and retired all three batters he faced.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>7) Nice Hose / Dept. of Not Surprise</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I tell you a crucial run was cut down at the plate by an outfield assist, do I even need to tell you which player uncorked the throw?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>8) Pronk Quasi-smash!</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although it was only a double, Travis Hafner did unleash a rocket off Beckett that went for extra bases. He has wrested the team lead in slugging from Mr. Hannahan for those players with more than 4 plate appearances.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look, Hafner hitting for extra bases is awesome. It would be so, so very valuable for this offense. Let’s enjoy it while it’s going on. Am I slightly concerned that his only extra-base hits have been dead pull jobs? Slightly, I guess. It’s a sample of 6 hits in 16 AB. Let’s take the half-full glass of the .250 ISO over the half-empty glass of “maybe the power only comes from hitting correct guesses.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>9) Credit Where Credit is Due Dept.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Matt “Matt” Albers, Fat Bobby Jenks, and Danny Boy Bard faced a total of 11 hitters. One flew out. Two walked. The other eight ALL STRUCK OUT.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To date, the Cleveland bullpen has performed admirably and has flashed some power stuff. But that’s just mean-spiritied.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Note: the K-rate is the same as was posted by Frank Herrmann and Vinnie Pestano on Friday, but Herrmann gave up a run, and each allowed at least one hit.)</span>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628224136320348735.post-83634274311144035782011-04-04T12:28:00.001-05:002011-04-05T21:32:24.819-05:00The B-List: 4/1 - 4/3<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">White Sox (1-0) 2 0 4 8 0 0 0 1 0 15 18 0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indians (0-1) 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 2 1 10 17 0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Buehrle (1-0) L: Carmona (0-1)</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">White Sox (2-0) 1 4 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 8 11 2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indians (0-2) 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Ed. Jackson (1-0) L: Carrasco (0-1)</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">White Sox (2-1) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Indians (1-2) 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 X 7 11 1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">W: Masterson (0-1) L: Danks (0-1)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not sure which was more exciting: the Indians turning a triple play, or me punching a hole through my monitor in the 4th inning on Friday.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) CFL All-Star</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the exciting things about the Canadian Football League is that there are only 3 downs. Instead of third-down conversions, there are second-down conversions, meaning that you really pretty much have to get 5 yards a play in order to move the ball. Other exciting things include 12 players per team, a wider, longer field, scoring points on tremendous punts, occasional yetis devouring unwary cornerbacks, and teams owned by Meat Loaf.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It takes some getting used to, though, realizing that an incomplete pass on second down pretty much means you have to punt, so the game is fast-paced, pass-oriented, and completely devoid of interest. Still, you could imagine this kind of innovation being carried over to baseball: you could see, for example, an effort to squeeze an entire baseball game into the 4 hours of daylight Canadians are rationed in Spring Training by going to 3 balls for a walk and 2 strikes for a strikeout. We’ll call this sport Canadian Rules.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Canadian Rules Baseball, Fausto Carmona was AWESOME.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consider this: in the U.S., Carmona’s 4-hit, 2-run first inning was what we might term “not very good,” but in C.R.B., Carmona struck out six hitters in the first inning alone. I mean, that’s really tremendous, right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consider this: Carmona faced a total of 21 hitters in 3-plus (the plus stands for Extra Fail!) innings, and collected thirteen “Canadian Strikeouts,” also not known as “Kanadians.” He started Juan Pierre off with an 0-2 count … and gave up a single. He started Gord Beckham with a 1-2 count (a swinging Kanadian) … and gave up a double. He actually got Adam Dunn to conventionally strike out, which is akin to getting Patton Oswalt to yell. In fact, he got 2 strikes on 9 of the first 10 hitters over the first two innings, including 4 real strikeouts: only A.J. Pierzynski showed the patience of … well … A.J. Pierzynski … grounding out on a 1-0 pitch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there is some goodness to be had here. Carmona got 9 swinging strikes in 88 pitches, a pretty good ratio for him. He struck out 5 hitters in 3-plus (the plus stands for Exploding Spleen!) innings, balanced by only 1 walk. And he got at least two strikes on 13 of the first 18 hitters he faced, throwing 65% strikes (52 of 80) before completely derailing (walk Pierre, single Beckham, double Dunn, shower Carmona).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But look: the man gave up 7 hits with two strikes. The White Sox hit FIVE THIRTY EIGHT with two strikes on them. Five thirty eight! That’s simply atrocious. I don’t think there’s a whole of analysis here: Carmona threw reasonably hard and was in the strike zone, but to be effective, his pitches must move more than eroding sandstone, and they did not. The Sox pounded Carmona, and that’s the end of the thoughtful analysis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fun fact: according to the arcane and non-intuitive metric “Game Score,” Fausto’s performance was a 1. (50 is average. Carlos Carrasco was terrible … and he scored a 26. Fausto got a ONE.)</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) The Jason Davis Commemorative Wazoo</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Long, long ago in a galaxy … well, about four cubes over, I’ve moved, but … back in 2006 I wrote that the long-man-slash-swing roll might not be well-suited to Jason Davis. I mean, one of the first articles I ever wrote for theclevelandfan.com was about how Jason Davis irritated the excrement out of me, but the fact was, Davis wasn’t good enough to start (not with the mighty Paul Byrd on the roster!) and wasn’t really good enough to be a setup guy (that was really independent of the roster), so if he wanted to be on the roster, he had to be able to thrive in the oddball “swing” role where you get to sit for a long time and then come in when Jake Westbrook gets gout in the second inning or what have you and come out and throw multiple innings before a series of assorted Raffies were able to finish off the game. It wasn’t the case of that role being the best for Davis’ skill set, necessarily, but more the case that this was the role we needed a pitcher to do, and if Davis couldn’t do it, then he was not useful to the team.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It turned out that Jason Davis could not do it and was not useful to the team. Or, in fact, any team.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, Justin Germano did not give up a single run in spring training. He showed flashes of brilliance and long stretches of adequacy in the last couple of months of the 2010 season. He is not a complete putz. But the fact remains: this is the role we have, and the role we need someone to be able to execute. He was able to execute in this role for stretches last season, as as a guy who has started some in the past, he should ostensibly be suited for this role.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday’s incarnation was about as badly as someone could possibly execute this role.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) In all, or at least some, fairness</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, Germano was fine in the fifth and sixth, pitching two scoreless, hitless innings with one walk. But he was really amazingly bad in the 4th inning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other thing, of course, is that Justin Germano is almost completely irrelevant to the Cleveland Indians’ success in 2011. If he is pitching, it is a bad game. How he pitches is almost beside the point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He sure was bad, though.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4) Silver Lining Dept.</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let’s get this out of the way: Carlos Carrasco’s second inning was awful. His command wasn’t very sharp, and he gave up every one of the four runs he allowed. He wasn’t any good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This having been said, consider his third through sixth innings. Carrasco is most effective when he is throwing groundball stuff with some swing-and-miss mixed in. In these four innings, Carrasco was able to settle down and posted a 6:3 GO:FO ratio with two swinging Ks (the other out was on the basepaths). He walked one hitter (Adam Dunn, largely prudent leading off the inning) and gave up a pair of singles in the 6th after three hitless innings. He even got two quick outs in the 7th before allowing a single on his 103rd pitch to end his day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Before we get any further, I think it was perfectly fine to give him the 7th: you could argue that he was running out of gas and 6-3 is still a winnable game, but this argument requies a bit of hindsight in my opinion, and didn’t have much impact in the grand scheme of things.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can’t simply dismiss the abysmal nature of his first two innings: making small sample sizes smaller has no inherent value. All I’m saying is that I’m not going to dismiss Carlos Carrasco as a viable starting pitcher because his first two innings of the season were lousy. I saw enough in the 3rd through 6th to make me think that Carrasco has enough talent two warrant an entire season in the rotation, especially in a season that isn’t likely to have a lot more intrinsic meaning than an episode of “Flapjack.”</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5) Crushed Velvet Speedbump</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Justin Masterson’s first pitch was a strike. His second pitch was also a strike. His third pitch was a ground ball out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lather. Rinse. Repeat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unlike Carrasco or Carmona, Masterson had good command with good movement, throwing 17 first-pitch strikes and 63 of 98 overall. More importantly for Masterson’s long-term success, he induced an ungodly 16 groundball outs to just 3 in the air. It might be a little worrying to note that he didn’t strike out a single batter, especially since he was the only starter in the rotation last season who had anything approaching a decent K-rate, but frankly, if you’re going to complain about zero strikeouts in a 7-inning 1-run outing in which he held the Sox to 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and gave up one extra-base hit (a double), you’re going to get more give-and-take from some other column.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note that also he didn’t record a strikeout, he did get 7 swings-and-misses, so his stuff is still quite fine. He is still going to have to find a way to be more effective against lefties, as 5 of the 7 hits came off port-siders for a brisk .455 AVG against, but … did I mention the sixteen groundball outs?</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6) Nostradamus Weeps</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had someone approach me on Twitter asking what the over/under date would be on when I proclaimed Jack Hannahan a “fungus.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, you might consider looking in the archives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, the answer is certainly NOT April 4th.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Early-season stats are obviously filled with hilarity, as the sample sizes are laughable and you end up with Shelley Duncan sporting a 2.000 OPS because he singled in his only plate appearance. Shelley Duncan is not going to finish the year with a 2.000 OPS unless he leaves the team tonight to pursue a career in terraforming. Orlando Cabrera is not going to lead the team in RBI, and Shin-Soo Choo is not going to slug .083 for the year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s still fun to look at the small-sample numbers, though, because they yield gems like:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a) Cleveland has SIX hitters slugging over SIX HUNDRED … and three of them are Orly Cabrera, Tofu Lou Marson, and Jack Hannahan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">b) Cleveland has SEVEN hitters hitting at least .333, and this includes Mike Brantley.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">c) The Indians have SIX hitters with an OBP at least FOUR HUNDRED, and this includes Austin Kearns, who is hitting .000.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But let’s face it: the huge surprise thus far is that Hannahan not only has 4 hits in 11 AB … not only has 3 RBI and is hitting .364/.417/.636 … but he leads the team in homers! Okay, it’s with one, but team lead is team lead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yeah, he made an error. Ask me if I miss Jayson Nix.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7) Dept. of Explicit Responses</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(I do not.)</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8) Power super, super power</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tony Sipp: 7 strikes in 9 pitches, 2 Ks, perfect inning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chris Perez: 9 strikes in 12 pitches, perfect inning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frank Herrman: 23 strikes in 29 pitches, 5 Ks in 2 innnings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vinnie Pestano: 11 strikes in 14 pitches, 3 Ks in 1 scoreless inning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Raffy Perez also struck out a hitter in a hitless, scoreless inning, but he walked two guys, pumped 9 of 18 pitches for strikes, and hit Slider.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure, Herrmann gave up a run, but … I could TOTALLY embrace this kind of relief pitching. That was FUN!</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9) Welcome to the club!</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chad Durbin: not as much fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Handy tip from the Amateur Pitching Coach: throw strikes! Walking your first hitter on four pitches is a lousy way to make a first impression, man.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10) Pronk smash!</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Am I excited that Travis Hafner jerked a homer over the right-field wall? Shoot, I might be more excited that he played three games in a row without requiring surgery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But … hey, why try to hide it? Heck yeah, I’m excited! Woo hoo! I mean, he’s no Jack Hannahan, but hey.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11) Let’s turn three</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With no outs and men on first and second, Weather Vane Ramirez tried to lay down a bunt with a 1-0 lead. This is reasonable sensible: Masterson is a groundball pitcher, you certainly don’t want a double play, it puts two men in scoring position (albeit with Omar Vizquel and Juan Pierre coming up, but hey), and Ramirez is a decent-enough bunter. It’s the “obvious” play, although I am on record as comparing bunting to performing enemas on strangers for charity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ramirez fouled off the first pitch, but with ersatz first baseman Carlos Santana charging on the 0-1 pitch, Ramirez tried again, this time with the runners going.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Santana made an excellent diving grab, certainly not looking like a novice first baseman. Should he have thrown to second? Yeah, he probably should have thrown to second. He ended up blooping a lollipop to first, and then Orly tossed a meatball to second, but this is how far gone the baserunners were. Had Santana run to the dugout, grabbed a pogo stick, and hopped his way to first and second while the remaining Cleveland players performed the “Electric Slide,” it would STILL have been a triple play.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Was I amused? Yeah, I was pretty amused.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12) As if that weren’t enough</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, Santana wenre 6-for-13 over the weekend, including a homer, 2 runs, and 3 RBI. He currently leads the team in every offensive category except “sucking,” in which he is dead last.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">13) Sotto voce</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shin-Soo Choo has a higher OPS against left-handed pitching than right-handed pitching … at .311. He wears a handsome Golden Sombrero from his performance against Ed Jackson and Chris Sale. He has six strikeouts in 12 AB. He has fewer hits than Lou Marson or Matt LaPorta.</span>Steve Buffumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02278063613609933846noreply@blogger.com12