Bullpen, Brantley keep Tribe perfect against Reds
July 3, 2011While We’re Waiting… Paying Joe Thomas, Replacing Carmona and Missing Rookie Ball
July 5, 2011Happy July Fourth to all! We don’t often do this, but we’re taking the day off. A few links here for discussion and feel free to use this as an open thread. There’s always a chance one of the staff gets inspired and wants to write something, but chances are this is it for the day. Have a great one with family and friends. Go Tribe!
“If Hafner is healthy, the Tribe will be able to weather the loss of Shin-Soo Choo. The team will be able to take the ebbs and flows of rookies breaking in at second and third. They will be afforded time to wait and see if Grady Sizemore will ever turn into Grady Sizemore again. Hafner will remain the lynch pin going forward. He is the lynch pin because this pitching staff is not going anywhere.
Fausto Carmona’s injury on Saturday is a blow in name only. Depending on the severity, the team is only going to need to come up with a replacement for the innings he has pitched this year. He’s given them almost nothing more. Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin should continue to turn in strong starts on a consistent basis. Carlos Carrasco might even put up better than he did in the first half numbers, although it should also be cautioned that as his innings pile up, he might hit something of a wall. Mitch Talbot is Mitch Talbot, don’t expect much and he won’t disappoint.” [Indians Prospect Insider]
–
“Here’s one for you: Only two pitchers have had a quality start percentage of 90% or better in a season. You should be able to guess it, I think. I like giving trivial questions where people can actually get the answer. So what do you think? Two pitchers with 90% quality start percentages in a season. Go ahead: Start the Jeopardy music. Think about it. I’ll wait for you. Don’t look ahead.” [Joe Blogs]
–
“Remember that period of the schedule that put the Indians through the gauntlet that would provide some insight as to whether the Indians were as good as they looked in April and May? Well, they weren’t as good as they looked in April and May and they aren’t as bad as they looked in June, so July represents an opportunity to take advantage of a schedule that looks favorable…and not just because of the opponents. Of those 24 games, 16 of them will be contested at the friendly confines of Carnegie and Ontario and, more importantly, the Indians’ offense may actually be able to consistently score some runs as Toronto, Minnesota, Baltimore, and Kansas City have 4 of the 5 worst team ERA’s in the AL. With no Choo, with Sizemore looking more lost than he ever has in his career (how much is attributable to injury is debatable) until just recently, and with Brantley oftentimes looking like he needs to catch his breath, the Indians need to get that momentum going again on offense to see if they can win some of the games that their pitching staff is putting them squarely in place to win. Whether the Tribe staff can keep up this torrid pace is another seemingly debatable subject as, while voices local and national continue to sing that the Indians pitching isn’t this good, they now have a starter with a 2.85 ERA on the season in Masterson, one of the hottest pitchers in the league in Carrasco, and a bullpen who seems to enjoy being counted out and overlooked. Going back to that July schedule, it is worth noting that Minnesota, Los Angeles, White Sox, and Royals are all in the lower half of the AL in terms of team OPS, so the Indians’ pitching staff may find some breathing room after they attempt to tame the Yankee lineup this week.” [The DiaTribe]
–
“Team employees are not permitted to have even remote contact with players, their agents or even their friends or family members, meaning the lines of communication between the two sides are completely cut off. Players, meanwhile, can’t use team facilities or enjoy the many perks that come with the NBA lifestyle.”
“It’s kind of like sending your kids off to summer camp,” one general manager said this week. “You want to make sure they have all the stuff they need, all the clothes they need, and all the tools they need, all the money they need and everything they need. But then it’s out of your control. Some kids come home crying and some kids have the best experience of their lives. That’s really what this is.”
“You can’t talk to their agent, to their uncle, their brother, some buddy of theirs. Nothing. I think the commissioner [David Stern] is going to threaten people with such an incredible amount of money or draft picks that people will obey.” [Amick/SI.com]