While We’re Waiting… Shaq’s Mobility, An MLB Playoff Preview, and Jamal Lewis’ 30th Birthday
August 27, 2009Shaq Hate Continues to Pour out of Phoenix
August 27, 2009
In mid-May, if I told you that the Indians bullpen would be set with a reliable set-up crew in front of Kerry Wood by late August, would you have believed me? Of course you wouldn’t have. But again yesterday, it was a flawless performance from the much maligned bridge to closer Kerry Wood that helped preserve a 4-2 win in Kansas City.
Remember when the Wahoos started their fire sale in late June and dumped IF/OF Mark DeRosa for reliever Chris Perez and a player to be named later (who turned into reliever Jess Todd)? We all heard the reports that “Perez-Right” was a future late inning guy who showed success as a rookie last year in St. Louis. “Closer of the future type” was another description you often heard of this hard-throwing righty.
After his first appearance as an Indian – when he infamously torched the situation in real Tribe ’09 pen fashion giving up four earned runs in 2/3rds of an inning – everyone thought “here we go again. another guy who doesn’t have it.” Well Chris Perez continues to prove that the debut was the exception, rather than the rule. Pitching a scoreless eighth in a two run game, the ex-Cardinal prospect completed his 16th consecutive appearance without allowing a run to score. The guy is a keeper folks.
In front of Perez was Joe Smith, another guy who looked like he came to Cleveland completely overrated, pitched a perfect seventh inning. I watched like you as the side-winder Smith floundered through April, May, and June, battling through injury and illness. Maybe all it took was a defined role and good health to see the best of him. Yesterday marked the 14th time in 15 appearances that Smith hasn’t been scored on.
What has gotten into these two?
Kerry Wood, in a rare save situation, closed out the Royals 1-2-3 in the ninth for just his 16th save, and an Indians series win. They are now 21-16 since the break heading to Baltimore.
It was an interesting day to say the least for the Tribe. On the way to Kaufmann Stadium in the morning, the team bus was struck by a skidding car. The team arrived later than it would have liked to since the police had to be called. On the bus was starter David Huff, who was sleeping. Whatever the accident may have done, it certainly jarred the rookie left-hander for the good.
Huff, who had been rocked in his last four starts for 17 earned runs, went six innings, giving up just two runs on seven hits in earning his eighth win of the season. He showed more more command and control than he has in a month. “I’m not going to go out and strike out a bunch of guys,” said Huff. “I’m going to be the guy who tries to get groundball outs, a bunch of double plays. For me, strikeouts are boring. I like a quick ballgame. I like guys to ground out in one pitch, two pitches.”
Offensively, the Wahoos had to be ready to get Tuesday night’s game out of their system as soon as they could. After Zack Greinke owned them for 15 strikeouts the night before, the bats supplied just enough to get a W. They scored single runs in the first (Asdrubal Cabrera RBI groundout), third (Shin-Soo Choo RBI double), fifth (Grady Sizemore on a wild pitch), and sixth (Matt LaPorta solo homer). The big blow was Laporta’s lazer over the left field wall, giving Huff and the bullpen insurance. It was his first bomb since his recall last week, but more importantly, it was more proof that given the everyday playing time, this kid has “it.” With two more hits yesterday, “Gator4God” is hitting .346 with a home run and five RBI’s in seven games in his second stint with the big club.
While his name won’t appear in most comments about the game, Jamey Carroll deserves mention. Hitting second and playing right-field, the 35 year old had three hits, raising his average to .290. He has played all over the diamond for the Tribe this year and deserves better than what his team has done this year. The Grinder has called him the “consummate professional” and “a true leader” over the last couple of weeks and he couldn’t be more right. He is the perfect utility guy – he plays everywhere, always gives maximum effort, never complains, and produces. I’m very surprised that a contender wouldn’t want him for their bench down the stretch.
The Tribe, now 13-10 in August, finish the week with their first trip to Baltimore to take on the Orioles. Interestingly just like last year, the Tribe and O’s play each other for the first time in late August, yet they have been done with the Yankees since May. It doesn’t matter who they play, the Indians are looking to keep this momentum going.
“We’re playing really good ball right now,” said LaPorta. “With everyone helping out, it takes the pressure off any one person.”
(photo by Ed Zurga/AP)
20 Comments
“had been rocked in his last four starts for 17 earned runs” – Isn’t that just over 4 earned runs per start? I wouldn’t say that is being “rocked”.
Viva LaPorta!
@ #1
Actually, it was 18 ER and those came in 19.1 IP…a nifty 8.38 ERA. So while the way the numbers were presented above was kinda misleading, the statement that he’d been rocked his last 4 starts is quite accurate.
Four earned runs is okay if you’re lasting nine innings per start.
Also, if you’re the fan of the “Quality Start” statistic (at least 6 IP, and 3 or fewer ER allowed), Huff has given a whopping 4 Quality Starts in his 19 starts.
That’s not just a problem with Huff, however…many of our starters have that issue:
Aaron Laffey – 7 QS in 12 Starts (58%)
Jeremy Sowers – 6 QS in 16 Starts (38%)
Fausto Carmona – 5 QS in 17 Starts (29%)
David Huff – 4 QS in 19 Starts (21%)
Carl Pavano – 11 QS in 21 Starts (52%)
Cliff Lee – 18 QS in 22 Starts (82%)
Overall, the Indians have gotten 44% “Quality Starts” this year, good enough for 27th place among all 30 MLB teams (and that’s WITH Cliff Lee’s ridiculously good ratio).
Though just to show why this isn’t always the best statistic…the team in 28th place in Quality Start %? The first place Los Angeles Angels (who have combated their poor starting pitching by scoring the second most runs in baseball).
Didn’t last year’s pen ably perform under similar out of contention circumstances? Weren’t you touting the likes of Jensen Lewis? Is Joe Smith a lights out set-up man or this year’s “Jenny Lew”? As Grady Sizemore said, there’s nothing to play for so it’s now free and easy. Careful what projections you make going into next season.
I’m still likin’ the uber utility man for next year’s bench. I’d not pay Shoppach and give the job to Giminez.
JD-good stuff, and that is INDEED a very worthwhile stat. Very telling, especially for David Puff/Fluff.
Huff is like Cliff Lee in one respect – early in their careers they were the beneficiaries of generous run support.
if i were the guy who hit their bus i would have had them all sign my “failure to operate a motor vehicle” ticket
A day cant go by without uber-negative Isis. awesome.
anyhoo, the game was a fairly basic game, nothing flashy, nothing spectacular…I do like the pen, and I think that they are rounding out into a nice bunch…I also like how wedge has used many of the same guys in the same situations over and over…it helps continuity…for everyone that complained about how bad this pen was, those people have nothing to say about it much anymore as they have pretty well overhauled the pen…for the better…
going forward, I would like to see them pull up another catcher, jettison that knob Shoppach, send Giminez back to the minors to work on his approach to the inside pitch (he doesnt bring his hands thru enough and just ends up fisting it or popping it off the trademark), let Marson and Toregas split the duty the rest of the year to see what kind of job they do behind the plate…anything we get from either of them will be a bonus if they can play solid D, handle the staff, and throw out runners…I’m so tired of watching Shophack play such horrific D…
It will be interesting to see what the Indians do with Shoppach this off-season. He will be eligible for arbitration, and primed to make far more than his 2009 performance would merit. I have a hard time seeing the Indians non-tendering him, but I kind of doubt that they really want to pay the arbitration price (or the price of a comparable one-year deal, which is their MO). I think that part of the reason they’re playing him so much right now is in hopes that he gets hot for a bit and boosts his overall numbers, inflating his trade value. Catchers who can hit are always at a premium, but Shop hasn’t hit and I can’t see them getting very much in return — not unless he has one heck of a September.
In retrospect, it’s really too bad that we didn’t trade him last off-season, when his value was at its peak. I’m not blaming Shapiro for this — there’s no way he could have predicted how far Shop’s stock would plummet. It just seems… unlucky.
Here’s hoping that Santana can finish polishing up his defense in a hurry. Victor Martinez and Sandy Alomar have spoiled me into assuming that a catcher should be able to mash.
@10: wait, we can’t be sarcastic about the Indians’ second half surge?
OK, try this: we are kicking K.C.’s TAIL by like 8 games, and they aren’t even in rebuilding mode like us! LaPorta feels NO PRESSURE and everyone is playing free and easy, like the A’s of the early 70’s, or the Mets of the mid-80’s. Feel something special building here … Re-sign Eric Wedge NOW. Let the core players sense the stability and know that if they excel they can be part of a great program for years to come.
2009: the longest Indian summer eeeeever.
@12 – some people have no hope, and thats ok…if you fit into that category, thats fine and somewhat dandy…i prefer to look at the positives that I can find, and there are many…if you want to spend your days complaining and constantly being down on one of the Cleveland teams, you have every right to do so…I would rather enjoy watching the kids, who you will be cheering for in a year or two anyways, develop, learn, and grow as a unit, rather than try to find ways to bring them down…the second half surge, etc…the pressure is off…Wedge is the problem…whatever else you’d like to call it…I like being happy in life, maybe you should try it sometime…
🙂
you have every right to say that eric wedge mishandled whatever…thats fine…but I havent really heard anyone at anytime this year, even people we traded, say ANYTHING, not even a peep, that eric wedge is a bum, or that shapiro was has a huge ego…nothing…nadda…zip…lee had nothing but good things to say, as did garko, vic, etc…if they are sooo bad, how come people that actually are in the situation or were, havent said anything? Pavano was no different…
seems to me like most people are way to ready to criticize when they are the same people that said trading Colon was a horrible trade at the time…or the same people that said LaPorta was ready back in the beginning of the year, which I believe he was not, regardless of at-bat…I watched two games in Tampa against the Rays in May, and he looked lost…
I am not advocating the keeping of wedge, as I am not entirely sold on his style of managing…I also am not saying that we should keep Shapiro…all I am saying is, when I watch the games, this is a different team than started the year…the lineup looks a lot better now than it did at the beginning of the year…same with the pen…starting pitching is coming around a bit, but they need to see what they have with carrasco and rondon…
I am not saying they will win it all in 201-, but I am saying that this team is improved, no matter how you look at it, now, as in comparison to earlier in the year, when we had lee, vic, garko, etc…our pen is better, our lineup is better…and if we can find a sold rotation, then our outlook is good…but many people will still prefer to be negative about it unless they go 162-0, have the cy young winner, the mvp (who would also be the triple crown winner), the GM of the year, the manager of the year, 9 silver sluggers, 9 gold glovers, and gave away 3 million dollars to each fan when anyone hits a homerun. I’m sure they still would find some fault…”the 3 million is taxable…WAHHHHHHH! *sniffle*”
some people are just like that i guess…
🙂
Go Tribe!
I guess I largely lump myself in with DK, but you’ll forgive me if I’m skeptical that this group of players will be immune to the April/May slump followed by the stretch of good baseball when the pressure is off. For whatever reason, Wedge-managed teams don’t handle pressure well (Exhibit A: after losing game 5 of the ’07 LCS, the pressure shifted squarely to them and they WILTED; Exhibit B: every season start save 2007). Once or twice is an anomoly. Six times is a trend.
I do agree DPD…I do not know the cause of it, nor can I offer any insight as to why it happens…is it the style of spring ball? the difficulty or lack thereof in their preparation? Is it because its flippin’ snowing here in May? I dont know…but I do agree that it is a trend…if you put emphasis on starting off strong, and you dont, do you then shoot yourself in the foot because you feel defeated if you dont start off well? if you try to lay back and play it easy, and then you dont get off to a good start, are you too loose? I dont know that there is a magic equation to getting off to a good start, but it certainly helps immensely…
DK:
I am not terminally glass-half-empty. Find a sarcastic comment fom me about the Cavs the last few years, there’s few if any. But venturing a guess that I have followed bad sports in this town decades longer than this blog’s average reader, and after enough time watching bad teams, while you might not be right every time, you learn to see the difference between the happy talk of a floundering organization and reason for optimism.
I loved watching the Indians of circa ’91-93, regardless of how often they won. I know the talent I saw and the plan and financial commitment being made. I know what I’m seeing now organizationally, financially. Regardless of the quality of talent being obtained, it will again require the lightening strike of a Carmona-out-of-nowhere, plus a plague descending on the stadium, to have a single exciting year by any other town’s standards.
Here’s why I’m sarcastic about this team, now:
-Shapiro @ 2009 press conference (paraphrase, but listen to the tape): “We are accumulating a core group to make us competitive FOR YEARS TO COME.”
– Paul Dolan, to PD in 2009 (paraphrasing): “if we can be competitive every 5 years or so, that will be a success.”
GM’s job, in part, is happy talk, as is manager’s. Their joc security depends on it. The owner, not so much.
Because the Dolans don’t have the pockets to make a mid-market team compete, we are perpetually one of those kids at the Lake County Captains kiddie park, running with the bungee cord, trying to touch the marker down the runway but never able to get there. We just had our periodic snap back to the starting place. We laugh and say, “again!!” For me, I’ve watched decades of hopeless sports. I like sports, just not happy talk for its own sake. Watch them for another 20 or 30 years, DK, and see if you don’t agree.
The Dolans poured my glass. I can only go by what I see.
“In mid-May, if I told you that the Indians bullpen would be set with a reliable set-up crew in front of Kerry Wood by late August, would you have believed me?”
Of course I would have! The Indians are out of contention and they’re playing without pressure.
I think that there’s reason to be either sarcastic or hopeful, depending on the player you’re talking about.
LaPorta? Hopeful. One of the young, undersized and under-velocity lefties? Hopeful, but don’t ask which one, it changes each month. Valbuena? Measuredly hopeful. Gimenez? Sarcastic. The bullpen? Both, basically all the time. Wedge? Sarcastic. Shapiro? More hopeful. Dolan? Hopelessly sarcastic.
So, everyone, lay off eachother. You’re on different sides of the same argument. Some are glass half full, some are glass half empty.
@ Harv – thank you for making the assumption that I dont or havent seen the same exact things for the past 20-30 yrs…or that I havent seen, or know nearly as much as you do…I appreciate you thinking you know me…
I would really like for you to go make a couple hundred million dollars, invest it into a small market team, within a group that doesnt have a salary cap, then continually blow your millions in order to make a team competitive with others that are world-wide revenue generating giants…I would also like for you to be the best at it, and not worry about giving out multi-year deals and being able to tell the future as to if someone will be good or not, if they will be injured or not, and accurately project draft picks and what theyre worth as well.
Then, I would like you to make my tickets affordable, while providing me with a quality team, atmosphere, and environment. I would also like for you to make me feel like you are doing this with me, the fan, in mind.
Then, I would like for you to WAKE UP TO REALITY. lol.
There is never enough optimism in the world, and because there is a lack, people are eternally looking for the other shoe to drop…thats an awful way to live…be happy with a win, find positives in defeats…good Lord, I remember back in tee-ball being taught that…
I am also glad you are part of the group that tends to think that a hurricane wiping out a team or a plague of locusts is required to make this team good…I love frontrunners who will bash them to no end when theyre bad, but be the first with their gear on in the playoffs or in the stretch run, boasting that “theyve been fans for decades”…it makes me laugh when I see these types of people…you can always tell who they are too…
what would you have liked Shapiro to say? we are looking to try and compete with Pittsburgh for the worst record, while staying inline with the Nationals to try and draft the Wonder Kid Catcher? we are offloading contracts because the fans in these parts whine unless we are winning every game? starting to sound like Cubs fans…
reality sucks doesnt it?
for the record, I have watched them for longer than you seem to think I have…and I have always supported them, regardless of how terrible they are…even at the beginning of this year, when I was saying that they needed to get rid of…hmm…Garko, Benny, and Shoppach…I still watched the games…still was happy when they won, and still watched the development of Cabrera, Choo, and Laffey…and I will still watch them and support them if they happen to falter again next year…
but again, thanks for showing me that regardless of who pours it, some people will find reasons to make it half empty…
@DK:
“I would really like for you to go make a couple hundred million dollars …”
Couldn’t you have considered stopping there? 🙂