Former Buckeye Contradicts Ray Small
May 27, 2011While We’re Waiting…Cavs Should Stand Pat, Camp Colt, West Coast Offense Primer
May 28, 2011
It took a mere pitch for Ezequiel Carrera to win over the Cleveland fan. It may be many more before the the lighter-holding (or cell phone toting) are afforded an encore.
The lighting quick 23-year-old Carrera was optioned to Triple-A Columbus during the Tribe’s day to recuperate – after all, they were eviscerated by the Boston Red Sox a day prior – clearing the way for the pending return of fellow outfielder and fan-favorite Grady Sizemore. Sizemore, who had been placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier in the month due to a right knee contusion, was activated on Friday afternoon with the Indians taking their talents to just north of South Beach via a three-game stint with the Tampa Bay Rays. In his return, Sizemore will bat sixth and be the team’s designated hitter.
Sizmemore was recently spotted in Cleveland participating in several baserunning drills. Prior to the slide that subsequently shelved the center fielder, Sizemore – the team’s leadoff hitter at the time – was leading the Indians in OPS (.974), ISO (.359) and wOBA (.413). His home run total trails only that of Asdrubal Cabrera despite 132 fewer plate appearances due to a DL stint following offseason knee surgery.
His return will come at a potentially much-needed time where the Indians’ lineup managed to post seven runs over the last three games; the team’s top-three hitters combined for a .235 average (8-for-34), largely anchored by Asdrubal Cabrera’s 4-for-11 series. The return will also lighten the load that is the team’s current disabled list as other occupants include designated hitter Travis Hafner and hopeful phenom pitcher Alex White.
Interestingly enough, Sizemore’s pending activation comes on a day when the team announced the promotion of former hopeful phenom Adam Miller who has been sent to Akron following a run of relatively surprising baseball – in his last seven games, Miller has allowed only six hits in 10 innings, fanning 13. It’s fitting that this season, where the Indians are still sitting atop all of baseball entering June.
Suicide squeeze bunts in a major league debut and Adam Miller’s finger is still attached.
What if?
19 Comments
Queue lineup discussions here:
Brantley
A. Cabrera
Choo
Sizemore (at DH)
Santana
LaPorta
Buck
O. Cabrera
Hannahan
Brantley
O Cabrera
A Cabrera
Duncan
LaPorta
Sizemore
Santana
Kearns
Hannahan
ghost’s lineup works for me.
more kudos for Ghost’s lineup here.
Did everyone else already know we have a reliever in Akron who would cause widespread chaos if ever called up to the Tribe?
C.C. Lee
my mind = blown
and the site also has him listed as our 18th best prospect:
http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com/2011/03/2011-indians-top-50-prospects-18-chen.html
…feel free to ignore mine. you know, the one that they’re actually using tonight…
@Scott – so if the offense struggles tonight, look for our pitchforks 🙂
shelly duncan’s walks back to the dugout after a K remind of the chris farley show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNBIyGxV7Ek#t=68s
Anybody know when the earliest is we can call up Lonny chi. and still have guarantee him under contract for the max? I respect hannahan’s and o-Cabrera’s efforts and leadership skills so far but this offense needs a spark. Sizemore can’t be relied upon for the whole season as a 1 man offense…
“Sizemore will bat sixth” OMG YES!!!
And Acta is finally putting Santana down where he belongs…amazing.
Chisenhall is not on the 40 man roster, so if they brought him up somebody would have to go. I think Manny has shown that he is very loyal to the veteran guys on this team. Austin Kearns for example, I thought he was going to be cut a month ago when he was hitting .140. But to his credit, Kearns has picked it up a little at the plate and hes made some great plays in the outfield.
To get to the point, I dont see them bringing up a guy like Chis until they have to. I dont think Manny will rock the boat and cut loose a veteran guy with the team in first place. Chisenhall also has 7 errors at 3B this season, so it would be kinda risky to bring up a guy who has had some struggles defensively and has yet to see big league pitching.
How it should be –
Normal:
LF Brantley
SS A.Cabrera
RF Choo
C Santana
DH Hafner
CF Sizemore
1B LaPorta
3B Hannahan
2B O.Cabrera
For now:
LF Brantley
SS A.Cabrera
CF Sizemore
C Santana
RF Choo
1B LaPorta
DH Buck
3B Hannahan
2B O.Cabrera
What I really like about the first one is that against a lefty, the lefties aren’t all in a row – and teams can’t use a lefty RP for a whole inning for matchups.
But against a righty, the pitcher would face 6 straight lefties to start – and good ones. That’s got to stink if you’re the pitcher.
Well Grady’s been activated and he is hitting 6th, Scott was right
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110527&content_id=19634628&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
If I ever decide to take up hypnotism, I’m going to Orlando Cabrera for lessons.
just a good tweet exchange with @CLE_PJamesK (user turk here) about OC batting second. he’s down on it, i’m good with it, here’s why.
i grew up watching the tail end of the high mound, no DH, pitching dominated 60s. and i vaguely remembered that the prevailing wisdom then was that you wanted a contact hitter batting second. i did a little research at baseballreference and i think i can back up my memory.
if you look at the WS participants from 68 to 77, the 2 hole batters are all around 8-9% SO rate (MLB avg around 18%) and without flashy OBPs.. like .340. mickey stanley, bud harrelson, don buford, gene clines, joe rudi, joe morgan, ken griffey, roy white, bill russell all fit this profile.*
OC career SO% is like 9%, his groundball/flyball ratio is above average. his OBP career is .320 and is at .290 now. so that sucks. but i think acta — especially with his love of hit&run — just wants someone who wont K or popout.
it also makes sense to adopt the winning strategies of that era given that we seem to be heading into a new pitching domination era. i mean: how many stud pitchers are there? take the reds out of it and in the last week we’ve seen peavy, floyd, beckett, lester. tonite it’s david price and tomorrow it’s james shields. i mean.. day-um.
so let’s give it chance with OC at #2. manny’s been pretty savvy so far, no?
*morgan’s K rate was on target but his OBP is an outlier. in 75 his OBP was a ridiculous .462.
I saw your lineup Scott!
Jim – Just because something was well-regarded then doesn’t mean it should be well-regarded now. We have come a long way in lineup construction since then and ‘it just feels right’ is not an acceptable answer. Also a .340 OBP then would have been easily above average. Cabrera’s OBP isn’t just below average, its pathetic. You simply cannot afford to give away outs at the top of the lineup. It’s not like weak groundballs lead to more runs than K’s or popups. In fact, behind a leadoff hitter that doesn’t have much power, groundballs can lead to an increase in double plays, making them more dangerous for the offense than a K or popup.