Josh Gordon reactions from the web: While We’re Waiting…
August 28, 2014Josh Gordon exploring options in the Canadian Football League
August 28, 2014This one was supposed to go down differently. With the Chicago White Sox playing well-below .500 ball, being kept afloat in the AL Central by only the Minnesota Twins, and the Cleveland Indians streaking off of their fourth straight win, Corey Kluber’s mere presence on the mound in the south side of Chicago should have cemented the Tribe’s good fortunes. Add in the fact that, as our friendly play-by-play crew shared, the Indians win roughly 70 percent of the games in which they score first (and vice-versa for the Sox), well—the Tribe should have left this one winners of five straight.
But if Kluber is Cleveland’s Superman, as he has been through much of the 2014 season1, White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu is undoubtedly his kryptonite, taking his gargantuan right-handed swing and shooting the ace’s pitches to every part of the park, ultimately giving Chicago the 3-2 win.
The two met four times on this very evening with Abreu delivering the first blow on a first-inning meatball thrown by Kluber. A cutter right over the middle of the plate, the mashing first baseman shot the pitch down the first base line and into the right field corner, earning himself a stand-up double.
In the bottom of the third, Abreu struck again, smacking another middle-of-the-plate pitch into center field for a hard-hit single. Kluber, typically touting pin-point accuracy with his pitches, didn’t appear to have it when Abreu stepped into the batters box. The Tribe’s ace would get the better of the Sox’ slugger, sending him down swinging in the bottom of the fifth, but the big man won the war, shooting an off-speed pitch right back up the middle to score what would eventually be the game-winning run.
The unfortunate part of this entire sequence: With men on the corners, one out, and two strikes, Kluber actually made a great pitch, forcing Abreu to simply throw the head of his yellow-handled bat at the diving ball—more often than not, a grounder back to the pitcher with one on would result in an inning-ending double play. In this one, however, Abreu got just enough of the ball and Kluber couldn’t spear the come-backer, allowing the run to score, just moments after Lonnie Chisenhall had knotted things up with a fence-scraper to right field.
Should we talk about the sixth inning really quick? We probably should given the Indians and their perpetual desire to give away outs. After sending the White Sox down 1-2-3 in the fifth—the second straight inning of such success—the Tribe came to the plate and ultimately produced one of the more futile innings in recent memory. Catcher Roberto Perez singled on a bunt ground ball to third baseman Conor Gillaspie. Michael Bourn, as he did earlier in the game, shot a four-seam fastball right back up the middle, putting two on with no outs. Having not met his bunt quota for the innings (let alone game), Terry Francona had Jose Ramirez toss down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third—which he did. To piggyback off of Jon a bit, Ramirez is hitting .292 in August. Nevertheless, the bunt “worked,” and the Tribe had the potential to put themselves on top with their two best hitters coming up. Unfortunately, Michael Brantley sent a can of corn out to left field and Carlos Santana drove a four-seamer right in to the waiting glove of Chicago shortstop Alexei Ramirez. Inning over. No runs. But hey—the Tribe expanded their league-wide lead in sacrifice bunts in 2014.
That was the death blow as the Indians removed Kluber from the game after just 6 1/3 innings. Abreu, standing on first base with his third hit of the evening, improved his batting average against Kluber to .462 (6-for-13), a mark that is twice that of the pitcher’s against the entire league in 2014 (.233).
Also unfortunate: Kluber has had his team score three or fewer runs in six of his past seven starts. Typically, this can be attributed to ace-based matchups like last month’s bout against Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners. But the Indians weren’t facing All-Star lefty Chris Sale on Wednesday night; they were stifled by a guy who, even with the win, is under .500 and is sporting an ERA of 4.75. As Jon iterated on Tuesday, the Indians effectively need to go 24-9 over their last 33 games if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive. They’re now 1-1.
The Tribe will look to take the rubber match on Thursday night when Carlos Carrasco (5-4, 3.14) squares off against John Danks (9-8, 4.96).
***
Joining Abreu in the Big Winners column? This guy, who proves why adults never need to bring their glove to the ballpark.
Well done, Tommy Tanktop. Here’s hoping U.S. Cellular comped you that draft. Also, if you can bring those fielding talents to Cleveland, that’d be appreciated. Cheers.
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(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
- How about a 1.15 ERA since the All-Star break? [↩]
12 Comments
Abreu, Puig, Cespedes, etc. are the kind of free agents the Tribe should pursue, young guys with potential (and some risk) versus 30-something guys on the downside of their career.
They were in the hunt for Cespedes, but were outbid. Shocker of the year, I know.
https://waitingfornextyear.com/2012/01/report-indians-one-of-six-teams-with-interest-in-yoenis-cespedes/
https://waitingfornextyear.com/2011/11/should-indians-pursue-cuban-defector-cespedes/
https://waitingfornextyear.com/2012/02/mlb-news-cespedes-reportedly-signs-with-oakland-as/
The whole bunting discussion is getting to be a daily thing. It is ridiculous. Is there anyone speaking to Tito about how little value the bunt has there? In fact, it is at the point where if Bourn leads off with a double they bunt him over. In the first inning. With TJ House on the mound. Does he expect 1 run to win every game?
Also, Abreu killed the Indians last night. And in the 2 situations he came up with runners on base there was also a base open and whiff/double play machine Adam Dunn hitting behind him. Francona manages like its 1987. TRUST YOUR VETS!!! GET THE BUNT DOWN!!!!
despite it all, I still thought we were winning the game last night right up until that last harmless pop fly. just seemed like we were outplaying them despite the scoreboard.
oh, and Abreu just eats up our starting pitching though there is some hope for tonight. here are his numbers:
v. Kluber 6/13, 2b(1), HR(1), BB(0), SO(4)
v. Bauer 3/4, BB(0), SO(1)
v. Salazar 2/5, HR(2), BB(0), SO(3)
v. McAllister 1/3, HR(1), BB(0), SO(0)
v. Carrasco 0/3, BB(0), SO(2)
v. House 1/1, 2b(1), BB(1), SO(0)
(departed)
v. Masterson 0/5, BB(1), SO(2)
If we’re throwing Tito under the bus, how about the decision to send Kluber out for the 7th after he had already thrown over a 100 pitches and didn’t seem to have his best stuff? Did not like that decision.
So we should sign good free agents? Novel concept.
Also, Cespedes is turning 29 this year. Abreu will be 28. So yes, they’re younger than Bourn and Swisher, but I wouldn’t call them young and would go so far as to argue that both Abreu and Cespedes are on the downside of their career (if you buy the Bill James aging curve for position players).
We did sign Yandy Diaz, a 22-year-old Cuban defector, who is currently playing top notch third base while showing great plate discipline with the Mudcats.
and I’m not sure we can trust any of those ages to be accurate.
I can’t wait for Boston’s new Cuban OFer to play alongside La Potencia!
I, too, was wondering if anyone in the media was asking Tito about his affinity for the bunt. Not saying they have to try to sound smarter than him or play revisionist history or whatever, but just kindly, simply ask…
http://media.tumblr.com/d93ff91c8dcdc88e7e7f17b504b0a596/tumblr_inline_nakdzlhS8B1s5jcoi.gif
Bring back Acta!!!
Verducci’s article today both disheartens and emboldens hope for the Tribe’s playoff quest.
First disheartening…
In 19 years of wild card play, 156 teams have made the playoffs. Only 25 of them began September out of playoff position, or just about one per year. Here’s the inverse: 84 percent of teams holding playoff positions on Sept. 1 finish the season in playoff position.
Then, hope emboldened…
Here are the biggest deficits on Sept. 1 for any playoff team in the wild card era:
2011 Cardinals 8 1/2
2011 Rays 7 1/2
1995 Mariners 7 1/2
2007 Rockies 5
2013 Indians 4 1/2
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So, while it doesn’t happen too often, last year’s Tribe was one of the 5 best teams at overcoming the odds.