The B-List Lite: 5/13

The Tribe gives Zack Greinke his first win, and today's game recap features:

• David Huff is bad
• Ducks on the Pond
• The badness of David Huff
• Squander Ball against Bad Robinson Tejeda
• David Huff's badness
• The predictable failure of Grady Sizemore
• David "Mr. Bad" Huff

There are lots of places to watch the Indians strand 11 runners, but only one place to read The B-List.

Indians Lean Hard to Port

Rob Neyer is off for a couple days, so he asked some of the SweetSpot bloggers to submit a piece in the theme of "What should your team do about [ill-performing player X]?"

For the Indians ... well ... singling out ONE ill-performing player is kind of a challenge.  Given that we have exactly two hitters doing well (arguably four, I guess), my piece would have been an eight-column installment plan, mostly ending in "scream helplessly and cry."

Instead, I sought a class of trouble we're having: namely, a near-total inability to hit left-handed pitching.  For more details, check out my entry on Rob's blog.

THEN you can scream helplessly and cry.

The B-List: 5/12

The Tribe wins the series in KC in a rain-drenched affair, and today's game recap features:

• Fausto Carmona's weasel factor
• Aaron Laffey and Chris Perez add more weasality
• Tony Sipp: not a weasel
• Russ smash!
• Drooby Doo!
• Super Trey Hillman's Parade of Bad Decisions
• Terror on the Basepaths!

There are lots of places to watch the Royals strand 13 runners, but only one place to read The B-List.

The B-List Lite: 5/11

The Tribe takes the opener in KC, and today's game recap features:

• Jake Westbrook adjusts, looks much the same
• Russ Branyan connects!
• Russ Branyan doesn't connect!
• Plate discipline is not simply taking walks
• The horror of the KC bullpen
• Small Sample Size Follies
• Mark Grudzielanek, useful player

There are lots of places to watch KC's bullpen combust, but only one place to read The B-List.

The B-List Lite: 5/7 - 5/9

The Indians do not lose a series and actually beat the Tigers, and today's game recaps feature:

• Masterson fights Verlander to a draw
• Talbot fights mediocrity to a draw
• Branyan fights Suck, loses by split decision
• Our new old closer
• Our old new closer
• The guy who probably ought to be closer
• Good things from Travis Hafner and Mark Grudzielanek
• Serial badness

There are lots of places to watch Luis Valbuena make another error, but only one place to read The B-List.

The B-List Lite: 5/5

The Tribe blows a 2-run lead in the 9th on an error and a bomb, and today's game recap features:

• Why Fausto's walks weren't as bad as you think
• Why Luis Valbuena's error doesn't invalidate his game
• Why Chris Perez' gopher ball doesn't invalidate his game
• Why Matt LaPorta's two singles don't validate his game
• A cheap shot at Mike Redmond's advanced age
• Dept. of Not Surprise
• Why two bad plays don't invalidate the five-out save

There are lots (and lots and lots) of places to watch Russ Branyan strike out AGAIN, but only one place to read The B-List.

The B-List Lite: 5/4

Extreme Blunderbuss Action does in the Tribe, and today's game recap features:

• Sage advice for Jake Westbrook he already knows
• Sage advice for Jensen Lewis he might not already know
• Grousing about the bullpen in general
• Except Chip Ambriz
• Credit Where Credit is Due
• Dept. of Not Surprise
• Two-out RBI sighting!

There are lots (and lots and lots) of places to watch Russ Branyan strike out, but only one place to read The B-List.

The B-List Lite: 5/3

Brett Cecil retires the first 19 in a row as the Tribe loses 5-1, and today's game recap features:

• Mitch Talbot and a lesson from archaeology
• Tony Sipp's quiet emergence
• Jhonny Peralta's golden eye
• Manny Acta's continuing Manny Acta'ing
• A snide comment about John Buck's neck
• Irrational disdain for Mark Grudzielanek continued
• Very little else

There are lots of places to watch your team lose on a bunt, but only one place to read The B-List.

Poaching

The Cleveland Indians are at a point in their developmental history where we have to resign ourselves to the truth that there are four ways in which we can hope to have talent:

1) Draft (or otherwise sign, as in Latin America) & develop

2) Trade for prospects & develop

3) Trade for or sign second-tier-salaried major-leaguer

4) Sign an NRI and get lucky

We've had some recent success with (1): Lonnie Chisenhall, Jason Kipnis, and Cord Phelps are performing well enough in the minors, and recent successes like Jhonny Peralta, Fausto Carmona, and the recently-departed Victor Martinez show we have had success in non-draft-elligible players in the past.  (Tony Sipp is a draft product who is actually useful in the majors.)  Most people accept that (2) is actually one of Mark Shapiro's strongest suits, yielding (for example) Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, and Luis Valbuena.  It's also resulted in some busts (Andy Marte) and guys of questionable value (Tofu Lou) and the jury's out on a bunch of last year's haul (LaPorta, Hagadone, Knapp, Carrasco, Barnes), but it's been one of the things Shapiro has done well at times.

The B-List Lite: 4/30 - 5/2

A three-game set with the Twins ends as most Indians three-game sets do, and today's game recaps feature:

• A lack of concern for Fausto's bad outing
• An expression of concern for Grady's bad start
• A managerial head-scratcher
• An acknowledgement of Justin Morneau's demigoddery
• Jhonny Peralta's hot streak
• Tofu Lou's hot streak
• Raffy Perez as Fredo Corleone
• Welcome to the club, Man Named "Chip!"

There are lots of places to watch your team lose a 4th consecutive series 2 games to 1, but only one place to read The B-List.

The B-List Lite: 4/28

The Tribe lose on Howie Kendrick's mighty walkoff bunt, and today's game recap features:

• Cautious optimism for Jake Westbrook
• Completely unwarranted euphoria for Tofu Lou
• Somewhat unjustified railing for Grady Sizemore
• A calm, rational discussion of Chris Perez
• No, wait, I didn't do that.
• Extreme yelling at Chris Perez
• Acknowledgements of bullpen arms
• But not Joe Smiff

There are lots of places to watch your team lose on a bunt, but only one place to read The B-List.

What is "bush league?"

"It was a bad baseball play that happened to work out," Perez said afterward. "I don't want to say it was bush league. But you never see that. Ninety-nine percent of hitters in that situation would rather win the game with a hit, not a bunt."

Okay, so Howie Kendrick's bunt was not "bush league," at least according to noted expert Chris Perez.  However, when you say, "I don't want to say it was bush league," this is much akin to Kanye West saying, "I'ma let you finish," which of course means, "I'ma not gonna let you finish."  Perez is going out of his way to say the play was not bush, which means that he totally believes the play was bush.

What defines a play as "bush?"

The B-List Lite: 4/27

The Tribe rebound on the strength of Austin Kearns' resurgence, and today's game recap features:

• Mythic Mitch!
• In praise of Tofu Lou
• No, really!
• Austin Kearns, best NRI signing ... ever?
• A potential surplus on the squad
• The Bullpen of Death!

There are lots of places to watch your team leave 14 men on base, but only one place to read The B-List.

The B-List Lite: 4/26

It's time for Manny Mouse and the Failketeers, and today's game recap features:

• Pitching fail
• Contact fail
• Hitting with RISP fail
• Strategy fail
• Pinch-hitting fail
• Luck fail
• Fail

There are lots of places to watch your team leave 14 men on base, but only one place to read The B-List.

The B-List Lite: 4/23 - 4/25

The Tribe wins every game in which they ... score, and today's game recaps feature:

• ¡Fausto!
• The skillful skill of Mike Redmond
• Even with a bat!
• Trend analysis of Justin Masterson: he is stinking
• Jake Westbrook pitched
• The efficiency of Tony Sipp
• How Not To Productions Presents: Sustaining a Rally
• Our team defense is ... good?

There are lots of places to watch your team ground into double plays in four consecutive innings, but only one place to read The B-List.