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August 10, 2010Cleveland Browns Depth Chart News: The Turnstile Still a Starter
August 10, 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.
OK, now I’m finding myself alarmed a little bit. The Clippers had another very rough week, and in two weeks’ time have seen their 10.5 game division lead trimmed to 2.0 games. Overall, with 28 games to go, the Clippers have a magic number of 26 for their division, and are now in third place for the best overall IL record–2.0 games behind Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and 5 games behind Durham. Let’s take a closer look at the Clippers’ week…
This Week: 1-5
Current Record: 67-49, 1st place (of four) in ILW (International League West)
Results:
8/03 vs. Louisville – Bats 4, Clippers 3; LP Smith (1-3)
8/04 vs. Louisville – Clippers 9, Bats 8; WP Todd (4-2)
8/05 @ Buffalo – Bisons 11, Clippers 4; LP Smith (1-4)
8/06 @ Buffalo – Bisons 7, Clippers 5; LP Pestano (1-2)
8/07 @ Buffalo – Bisons 6, Clippers 2; LP Carrasco (9-5)
8/08 @ Buffalo – Bisons 6, Clippers 3; LP Espino (0-1)
8/09 @Syracuse – PPD (rain)
Roster News:
I will guess that the continuous roster turn-over has something to do with the Clippers’ recent struggles, but at some point they need to play with the same moxie that had them winning like crazy even when they had roster turn-over earlier in the season. At any rate, here’s another week’s litany of roster moves since our last publication:
8/2 – RHP Marty Popham transferred to Kinston
8/3 – RHP Paolo Espino transferred from Akron
8/3 – CA Lou Marson recalled by Cleveland
8/3 – CA Richard Martinez transferred from Kinston
8/3 – LHP David Huff recalled by Cleveland
8/4 – CA Wyatt Toregas placed on disabled list
8/4 – CA Dwight Childs transferred from Lake County
8/4 – CA Dwight Childs transferred to Lake County
8/4 – INF Kyle Smith transferred to Lake County
8/5 – OF Nick Weglarz placed on disabled list (retroactive to 8/3)
8/5 – OF Ezequiel Carrera activated from disabled list
8/5 – CA Damaso Espino transferred from Akron
8/5 – INF Argenis Reyes acquired from Boston via trade
8/6 – INF Wes Hodges claimed via waivers from Colorado
8/6 – OF Michael Brantley recalled by Cleveland
8/7 – INF Drew Sutton claimed via waivers from Cincinnati
8/8 – RHP Jensen Lewis optioned from Cleveland
8/8 – RHP Shane Lindsay placed on disabled list (retroactive to 8/6)
OF: Ezequiel Carrera, Jose Constanza, Matt McBride
IF: Jared Goedert, Jerad Head, Cord Phelps, Argenis Reyes, Josh Rodriguez, Drew Sutton
C: Damaso Espino, Richard Martinez
SP: Eric Berger, Carlos Carrasco, Paolo Espino, Yohan Pino, Jeremy Sowers
RP: Josh Judy (R), Jensen Lewis (R), Vinnie Pestano (R), Zach Putnam (R), Carlton Smith (R), Bryce Stowell (R), Jess Todd (R)
Upcoming Schedule*
8/10 @ Syracuse, Yohan Pino
8/10 @ Syracuse (make up of 8/9 game), Jeremy Sowers
8/11 @ Syracuse, Eric Berger
8/12 @ Syracuse, Carlos Carrasco
8/13 vs. Louisville, Paolo Espino
8/14 vs. Louisville, Yohan Pino
8/15 vs. Louisville, Jeremy Sowers
Players to Watch:
Thumbs UP:
It would be hard to imagine circumstances in which OF Michael Brantley ends up back in Columbus this season. And I think he’s earned his trip to Cleveland. Let’s take a quick look at Brantley’s two seasons in Columbus since coming over in the CC Sabathia trade (note on his age: his birthday is May 15, and I’m using the age after his birthday each year):
Year | Age | G | AB | H | BB | K | AVG | OBP | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | R | SLG | OPS | SB |
2009 | 22 | 116 | 457 | 122 | 59 | 48 | .267 | .350 | 21 | 2 | 6 | 37 | 80 | .361 | .711 | 46 |
2010 | 23 | 67 | 273 | 87 | 34 | 28 | .319 | .395 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 29 | 54 | .425 | .820 | 13 |
There’s a lot to like here in Brantley’s progression. Remember also, he will still be only 23 on opening day next year. Other than the stolen bases category, Brantley’s numbers generally improved by quite noticeable margins. He raised his average over 50 points, raised his OBP 45 points, and raised his slugging by almost 65 points. A .319/.395/.425 split for your leadoff hitter is a good thing, definitely. Here’s hoping that Brantley can get comfortable at the top of the lineup in Cleveland for the next two months and catapult himself into the starting leadoff man job in 2011.
A nice little bounce-back for 2B Cord Phelps this week. He did only play in four games, but went 6-for-17 at the dish (.353) with three doubles, two RBI, and three runs scored. Having now played in 45 games in Columbus, Phelps is still hitting at a nice .335 clip, and has 21 extra base hits (14/3/4) for a .524 slugging percentage; he also has 19 walks (OBP: .411) as well.
Welcome to AAA, OF Matt McBride! Through his first 10 games in Columbus, McBride has hit in nine of 10 games, and is 15-for-42 (.357) with two doubles, a home run, three RBI, and six runs scored. The 25-year-old McBride was originally a second round supplemental pick of the Tribe in 2006 out of Lehigh University. In 94 games in Akron this year, he was hitting .285 with 17 homers and 64 RBI as well as an .852 OPS.
Who is INF Argenis Reyes? I know I had to ask, I’m ashamed to say. Originally signed in January of 2001 as a UDFA by the Tribe, he’s bounced around the Tribe’s system until moving to the Mets’ system in 2008. He played a combined 58 games in the majors for New York in 2008 and 2009 with a combined .208 batting average, before moving on to Boston’s system this year. He spent much of the year inactive, and played in just 14 games for Pawtucket between June 20th and July 23rd. He was acquired last week for cash considerations mainly as a filler for the roster whilst all the turnover is taking place. For whatever all of that’s worth, Reyes has made his first three games with Columbus count, going 6-for-11 (.545) with a double and an RBI as well as two runs scored. Hooray!
A big jump up for C Richard Martinez after all of the injuries and call-ups. The 23-year-old split time this season between Mahoning Valley and Kinston, and was hitting a combined .138 in 53 games. Y’ouch. Nothing like being pressed into emergency service at AAA! Martinez gets a thumbs-up from me, however, for going 4-for-14 in his first four games above A-ball. Three of those hits were doubles, and he drove in six runs!
Some love for INF Jerad Head. Back up with AAA and actually getting some playing time this time around (actually in the outfield), Head has started out fairly well in this stint. After going 0-for-9 in his first two games, his last six games have been solid: 8-for-24 (.333), three doubles, four RBI, and six runs scored.
We finally have a little bit of a book on LHP Eric Berger. The 24-year-old has now made three starts for the Clippers, and has a pretty solid line to show for it. He’s worked a combined 15.2 innings, and allowed just five earned runs (ERA: 2.87). He doesn’t yet have a decision, but has allowed just 10 hits while striking out 10. The one major blemish? He has walked a staggering 16 batters, which is not so hot. Still, not too bad a start for the lefty in AAA.
Thumbs DOWN:
This week was a struggle for INF Josh Rodriguez. He played in all six games, and managed just four hits in 27 at-bats (.148). Two of the hits went for extra bases (double, homer) and he drove in a run and scored two. But, he struck out 10 times in six games (including an 0-for-5 on Sunday with 4 Ks) and walked only twice. Not good times.
It’s my hope that the 3B Jared Goedert bandwagon is only pulled over to have the oil and tire pressure checked, and that the wheels have in fact not fallen off. He went just 4-for-21 this week (.190) with just two doubles, and is just 7-for-40 in has last 10 games with no homers and only three doubles. In 22 games since the All Star break, Goedert is hitting just 19-for-87 (.218) with only two homers and eight RBI. His slugging percentage was .724 before the ASB, and is only .391 since. Not good times.
Another rough outing for RHP Yohan Pino. In 5.1 innings, he allowed a staggering 8 earned runs (ERA: 13.50). He allowed nine hits—three homers—and walked three against just three strikeouts.
Making four appearances after coming back to Columbus RHP Jess Todd was not sharp. He worked 3.1 innings across those appearances, and allowed a total of five earned runs (ERA: 13.50). He had one solid appearance where he didn’t allow a run and notched a win, which highlights how rough the other three appearances were. He walked five, and allowed three hits including a home run.
In what will be a theme below, it was a tale of two appearances for right hander Carlton Smith. Only Smith, however, is demoted from thumbs-sideways to thumbs-down. Why, you ask? You’ll see .The 24-year-old worked Tuesday for 1.0 inning and took the loss, and allowed an un-earned run while surrendering two hits and a walk and fanning one. Here’s where it all goes wrong for Smith: on Thursday, he worked another 1.0 inning and again took the loss. He allowed five hits (including a tater), walked one, struck out no one, and allowed SEVEN earned runs (ERA: 63.00). His season ERA shot up from 5.66 to 7.25 because of that one appearance ALONE.
Thumbs SIDEWAYS:
It was good to see RHP Carlos Carrasco back on the bump this week. He worked on Saturday for the first time since July 25th, and it wasn’t the best and wasn’t the worst start. He worked 5.2 innings, giving up three earned runs (ERA: 4.76). He took the loss, despite allowing just five hits and walking just one. The problem was that two of those hits came in the sixth inning after two were out: a single and a homer back-to-back. So, when he first got through 5.2 innings, he was sitting with a line of: 1 ER, 3H, 1BB, 2K. It was the two hitters immediately following that killed his line. At any rate, it was good to have him back out there and not looking awful.
It was a bit of a mixed bag in the first two AAA starts of RHP Paolo Espino’s career. In his debut, he was solid, working 7.0 innings and allowing just two runs (ERA: 2.57) on six hits and no walks all while striking out four. He was less effective his second time out, taking the loss after lasting just 5.2 innings and allowing four earned runs (ERA: 6.35) on six hits and three walks while striking out just two.
Another guy with an up-and-down is RHP Vinnie Pestano. He worked twice more this week, going 2.0 total innings. He worked a scoreless inning on Tuesday while allowing just one hit and fanning one. However, he came back out on Friday and allowed two runs on three hits (including a gopher ball) to take the loss. For the season with Columbus, Pestano still has solid numbers: he has made 33 appearances out of the pen spanning 36.1 innings, and is 1-2 with a 1.98 ERA and nine saves. He’s walked 12 and fanned 47.
Sensing a theme? RHP Josh Judy also made two appearances this week, one good and one not so good. In his first appearance on Wednesday, Judy worked a perfect inning while striking out two. However, he, too, came back on Saturday with a bit of a clunker, working two innings and surrendering two runs on four hits and a walk. In 28 appearances for Columbus, Judy has worked 36.0 innings and allowed 13 earned runs (ERA 3.25) while walking 11 and striking out 41.
A Quick Word…
…about pitching. A month-or-so ago, I spent some time in this space talking about a great run the Columbus starting rotation was on. Now? Not so much. Whether it’s roster turn-over (Jeanmar Gomez, David Huff, and Josh Tomlin have all been recalled to Cleveland) or injuries (Carlos Carrasco’s forearm, Yohan Pino spent some time on the DL in July), the starting rotation that was cruising along so nicely a month ago is all but gone. Pino and Carrasco are still here, but aren’t pitching the way that they were pre-injuries.
And that, honestly, is probably the main reason the Clippers have been struggling for the past couple of weeks. Factor in the additions and changes to the bullpen, and the Clippers had to expect some kind of drop-off.
The Clippers managed to weather the loss of some of their best hitters because of the continuity on the pitching staff. Now, with where the Tribe’s season is sitting, every good young player that’s “ready” to get a shot in the majors is either up there already or has been back and forth recently. The Clippers and manager Mike Sarbaugh are to be commended for keeping things going this long with all of the flux; at this point, however, I won’t be surprised by a slip out of the playoffs simply because there has just been so much turn-over on the roster and Sarbaugh and company are starting over from scratch in many ways trying to get a whole new group of players acclimated to AAA with 28 games to go.
And Finally…
…the Clippers’ 2.0 game lead is over Louisville, Cincinnati’s AAA affiliate. The Clippers open a crucial three-game series with the Bats at Huntington Park this Friday (August 13th), and close out the season series with the Bats in Louisville on the 26th and 27th. Those five games could go a long way toward deciding the IL West division race.