Are The Natives Turning on Izzo?
June 15, 2010Updates on Cleveland’s Recently Acquired Minor League Pitchers
June 15, 2010Clip Show aims to be your weekly update for all things Columbus Clippers. Check back each Tuesday afternoon for team records, roster updates, and performance updates on some of the brightest prospects in the Tribe system.
The Clippers are doing their best to keep moving forward despite all of the roster overhaul they’ve seen of late. And while they are still in first place, their lead was trimmed to 1.5 games after another ho-hum week. Let’s take a closer look at the Clippers’ week…
This Week: 3-4
Current Record: 39-27, 1st place (of four) in ILW (International League West)
Results:
6/8 vs. Rochester – Red Wings 7, Clippers 5; LP Sowers (1-3)
6/9 vs. Rochester – Clippers 9, Red Wings 0; WP Carrasco (5-2)
6/10 vs. Rochester – Red Wings 10, Clippers 9; LP Gomez (3-7)
6/11 vs. Rochester – Red Wing 7, Clippers 6; LP Pino (6-3)
6/12 vs. Norfolk – Clippers 6, Tides 2; WP Germano (2-1)
6/13 vs. Norfolk – Clippers 5, Tides 4 (10); WP C. Smith (1-0)
6/14 vs. Norfolk – Tides 6, Clippers 3; LP Carrasco (5-3)
Roster News:
Obviously, the biggest move of the week came on Friday, when the Tribe called up catcher The Big Smooth Carlos Santana. Lou Marson returned to Columbus to complete the transaction. Other moves included the promotion of 2B Cord Phelps from Akron and the promotion of reliever Carlton Smith back from Akron. 3B Brian Buscher was sent to Mahoning Valley to make room.
Full Roster:
OF: Michael Brantley, Jordan Brown, Jose Constanza, Matt LaPorta, Nick Weglarz
IF: Brian Bixler, Jared Goedert, Wes Hodges, Cord Phelps, Josh Rodriguez
C: Chris Gimenez, Lou Marson
SP: Carlos Carrasco, Jeanmar Gomez, Aaron Laffey, Yohan Pino, Josh Tomlin
RP: Justin Germano (R), Josh Judy (R), Vinnie Pastano (R), Carlton Smith (R), Joe Smith (R), Jeremy Sowers (L), Jess Todd (R)
Upcoming Schedule/Probables*
6/15 vs. Norfolk, Jeanmar Gomez
6/17 @ Pawtucket, Yohan Pino
6/18 @ Pawtucket, Josh Tomlin
6/19 @ Pawtucket, Aaron Laffey
6/20 @ Pawtucket, Carlos Carrasco
6/21 @ Rochester, Jeanmar Gomez
*subject to change
Players to Watch:
Thumbs UP:
It’s hard to find much wrong with OF Matt LaPorta’s first seven games back in Columbus… other than maybe the fact that his play in Cleveland necessitated the trip. In his first seven games, LaPorta is hitting 11-for-27 (.407) with five homers and 9 RBI. Add four walks and a double to all of that, and you have an OBP of .484 and a SLG of 1.000. That’s right, his OPS is sitting at almost 1.500 through his first week back. The only real blemish is the six strikeouts, but you live with that when you’re getting those kinds of overall numbers.
Since being called up and getting his first start on Thursday, 2B Cord Phelps is turning some heads. In five games, he’s 7-for-19 (.368) with two doubles, a home run, and four RBI. He’s also walked twice and scored two runs, and his OPS is north of 1.000 also. Not a bad start. Plus, his name is Cord, so there’s that, too.
One guy who’s picked it up is OF Michael Brantley. Over his last eight games, Brantley has gone 12-for-32 (.364) at the plate—including a 5-for-5 night last Tuesday—to raise his season average up to .296. For the year, his OBP is up to .374, which is closer to what we’d like to see from our leadoff man.
Another great bounce-back week, this time from Big Red OF Nick Weglarz. After an 0-fer skid that had been going on for a bit, he hit in six of seven games this week, going 10-for-28 (.357) to raise his season average to .230 (that should give you an idea of how much he was scuffling). Weglarz notched four doubles and a triple, though overall his slugging is still a bit lacking for a corner OF: he has no home runs in 74 ABs for Columbus spanning 21 games.
With the move down of Brian Buscher, a guy who looks to get more playing time is 3B Jared Goedert. So far in eight games (including stats in the last four after the move), Goedert is hitting at a nice .367 clip (11-for-30), with eight of his 11 hits going for extra bases (six doubles, two home runs). He’s driven in five, scored three runs, and walked twice. He, too, joins the parade of recent additions to the Clippers’ roster with an OPS north of 1.000 (1.173).
Though not really an every-day guy, someone who deserves mention is INF Josh Rodriguez. With the shifts in the infield of late, he’s gotten more action in the month of June, and is making the most of his opportunities. Hitting .327 in 17 games with Columbus, his last 10 games dating back to May 31st have been especially good: in those games he’s gone 13-for-32 (.406) with three doubles, two home runs, six RBI, and nine runs scored. He’s also walked eight times in that span, pushing his OBP over those 10 games to .525 and his OPS to 1.213 over those 10 games.
Much like Rodriguez, I think it’s important to recognize the play of INF Brian Bixler as well over the month of June. Bixler has also seen a lot of time with the movement of the infielders throughout the organization, and the Sandusky native is doing his best to make the most of his time in the lineup. Over his last nine starts dating back to June 2nd, Bixler is hitting 12-for-35 (.343) with five doubles, a triple, a home run, seven RBI, and seven runs scored. He also has six walks and four stolen bases in that span, and over those eight games his OPS is 1.068.
Thumbs DOWN:
One guy who just can’t seem to keep anything positive sustained (perhaps due to his extended injury time this year) is OF Jordan Brown. Brown played in just five games this week, and went 4-for-22 (.182) to see his season average drop to .265. He managed just one extra base hit and drove in just two.
The loud ticking sound you may be hearing is the clock of “prospect status” running out on 1B/3B Wes Hodges. It’s almost not even fair to keep the “3B” next to his name as he’s primarily playing at 1B and DH. He went 3-for-24 (.125) this week, and his season average is down to .266 with just five homers and 26 RBI. He can’t really play third base anymore (he’s been a bit of a butcher over there since I’ve been watching this team for 15 months), and he’s now going on 26 years old (September). We may be drawing close to the end of the Wes Hodges era in the Tribe organization.
Another rough outing for RHP Jeanmar Gomez. He worked just 5.1 innings, and allowed eight earned runs (ERA 13.50). He walked just one, but he was victimized by the long ball, as three of the nine hits he allowed left the yard. He fanned four.
Likewise, it was a rough start for RHP Yohan Pino. He worked just 5.0 innings and allowed seven earned runs (ERA 12.60). He, too, was victimized by the gopher ball, giving up three. He didn’t walk a batter but struck out just two and overall allowed 11 hits.
Thumbs SIDEWAYS:
It’s still a little early for C Lou Marson, but here’s a quick good news/bad news on Lou. First, the bad: he’s notched just two hits in nine at-bats so far (.222). Now, the good: those hits both went for extra bases with a double and a homer, and he’s also walked three times for a .417 OBP.
It was a tale of two starts for RHP Carlos Carrasco. We detailed his start from last Wednesday (recap link above) in which he went 8.0 scoreless innings, kept the ball down, and was almost unhittable. Unfortunately, he followed that up with a 7.0 inning, 4 ER start (ERA 5.14). He allowed seven hits, but again was able to limit his walks (just one) and strike out a good few (eight). So, overall, he worked 15.0 innings, gave up four earned runs (2.40), allowed just 10 hits and two walks, and fanned 17.
In two starts this week, LHP Aaron Laffey had almost identical results: both starts went 5.0 innings, allowed three earned runs (ERA 5.40), included three walks, and had two strikeouts. The only difference was one was four hits allowed and one was five. Both starts ended in no-decisions for Laffey.
With a no-decision to show for it, RHP Josh Tomlin turned in another decent-but-not-great start this week. He worked 5.0 innings and allowed just two earned runs (ERA 3.60). He allowed just three hits and a walk with two strikeouts. The downer? Two of the three hits were solo home runs.
A guy who appears to be settling into his role in the Columbus bullpen is RHP Josh Judy. The 24-year-old righty has now worked 13.1 innings in 11 appearances, and has whiffed 18 in that span against just three walks. He’s also been better about keeping guys off the scoreboard of late, having not allowed a run in his last three appearances spanning 4.1 innigs. For the year, however, his ERA is still sitting at 4.73 after some struggles early.
Figures. After highlighting his recent streak of scoreless work, RHP Jess Todd faltered a bit this week. In his first appearance, he worked 1.1 innings and allowed two earned runs. He was able to right the ship on Sunday, however, with a perfect inning including two stikeouts.
A Quick [Final?] Word…
…about (much like last week with Frank Herrmann) what I hope will be the last discussion of C The Big Smooth Carlos Santana in the Clip Show context. By this, I mean that I hope he has enough success in the majors to never be back in Columbus. We all know he’s the perceived future at the position for the Tribe, and as Rick pointed out this morning (and as I’ve hopefully conveyed so far through Clip Show) Santana definitely passes the eyeball test. So, hopefully he doesn’t struggle too much along the way. And, even though I’ll miss seeing him regularly here in Columbus I think commenter Jason summed it up best on Friday by saying:
“I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they’re gone. I guess I just miss my friend.” – Red
The Big Smooth ended his brief stay here in Columbus with stellar numbers:
G | AB | H | AVG | BB | OBP | 2B | 3B | HR | TB |
SLG |
OPS |
RBI | R | K | SB | CS |
57 |
196 | 62 | .316 | 45 | .447 | 14 | 1 | 13 | 117 | .597 | 1.044 |
51 |
39 | 39 | 6 | 0 |
There’s not much there to complain about. And, while it’s a bit crazy to immediately have dropped The Big Smooth into the 3-hole in the lineup, I won’t be totally surprised if he keeps on hitting nearly as well in the big leagues. It’s a lot of pressure to heap on a guy, but as Rick pointed out, Santana looks like a guy who can handle it.
Godspeed, Big Smooth!
And Finally…
…something interesting happened on Sunday at the game my wife and I were attending. Norfolk’s pitch Brandon Erbe was literally throwing a perfect game through five innings. He had a 3-0 lead, and he was making the Clippers look almost foolish at the plate. By my count, only three balls were hit to the outfield through those five innings, and maybe one of them was anything but a can of corn. In short, Erbe was dialed in.
So, I found it a bit surprising and chuckle-inducing when the Clippers greeted him in the bottom of the sixth—with the bottom third of their order, mind you—with a home run from Lou Marson, followed by a home run from Cord Phelps, followed by a mound visit from the coach, followed by a sharp single by Jose Constanza, followed by the hook. That’s right: he went from “pitching a perfect game with a 3-run lead and making everyone look ridiculous” to “hitting the showers with the tying run on base”. The Clippers went on to win the game in 10 innings.
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[…] we’ve documented repeatedly in Da Clip Show, one of the young pitchers who has definitely struggled for most of the season is Jeanmar Gomez. […]