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February 25, 2015Reams of information are digitally thrown around during Spring Training. In the end, I would estimate that only 10% of it really matters. The catch? We will not know which 10% until May (at the earliest). All Cleveland Indians fans should be informed, however, so I will post the potentially important nuggets of information and we can figure out which ones actually matter later.
Here we go:
The early reports have all been glowing about Gavin Floyd with Francona and Callaway not being shy about stating that he is in contention for the #2 spot in the rotation.
Indians manager Terry Francona has hinted more than once that Floyd might even slide as high as second within the rotation, easing some of the pressure on the team’s younger arms. As things stand, Corey Kluber projects as the No. 1 starter, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer are virtual locks for jobs, and Danny Salazar, T.J. House, Zach McAllister and Josh Tomlin are the main candidates for the final spot.
Gavin still has some work to do though.
Early in camp, the Indians are limiting Floyd’s use of his curveball — he only threw five in his most recent mound workout — but the pitcher is mostly unrestricted. Cleveland is optimistic that he will be able to pitch in a game environment by the second week of March.
Jordan Bastian posted a bunch of great quotes from Francona about the RF logjam, Lonnie Chisenhall’s defense, our left hand hitting heavy line-up, and his thoughts on Carlos Carrasco building off of his great stretch run of starting.
“If we get to a point where somebody’s aggravated because they’re not playing, that’s probably a good thing. I’ve never really had a problem finding guys that are producing ways to get at-bats.
“I think Lonnie can be a good defender. He’s got good reactions, he’s got a good body and he’s got plenty of arm.
“Well, if we don’t hit lefties it does [create a problem]. But we have [Santana], who’s a switch hitter. Swish is a switch hitter. I think it comes down to how the guys do.
“he might not go 12 starts in a row where he has a 1.70 ERA, but I don’t think it was a fluke that, however [many] starts he had, he was at the top of the league in just about every category. He didn’t walk people. He struck out people. His stuff is off-the-charts good. It’s a nice feeling for us.
Not that he has much choice, but McAllister is willing to accept any role (he’s out of options, so if he doesn’t win the 5th starter job, then it is assumed he will begin the year in the bullpen). I think that he will continue in the bullpen role with which he thrived in last September.
The 27-year-old did finish strongly, however, posting a 2.84 ERA in September, when he also had a 2.77 ERA in seven relief outings. In his last five appearances (all in relief), McAllister saw a jump in velocity (96-97 mph) and spun 7 2/3 shutout innings.
Mid-March seems a bit optimistic of a timetable for Nick Swisher to be returning to action and the team has also said that they will not be rushed to hit any specific date with him. But, it is still worth tracking (potentially).
The 34-year-old Swisher had surgery performed on both knees on Aug. 20, and he is also expected to be sidelined from games until mid-March. Swisher, who also plays right field and first base, has been cleared for full hitting and throwing work, but he is also on a gradual running program.
The days of not having left-handed bullpen options appear to be in the past. Hard to tell for sure with a bullpen, but it is usually better to have more options.
As things currently stand, lefty relievers Marc Rzepczynski, Nick Hagadone and Kyle Crockett appear to be virtual locks for the Tribe’s relief corps. The Indians have also added veteran southpaws Scott Downs and Bruce Chen as non-roster invitees, giving the club even more left-handed depth.
When Trevor Bauer wasn’t building drones or being told not to fly drones in the offseason, he apparently has been working really hard on becoming a better pitcher.
Bauer spent portions of his offseason traveling around the country to visit an assortment of pitching specialists. Along the way, the pitcher continued on his usual program of using high-definition, slow-motion footage of his delivery and pitches (and the pitches of others) to make adjustments. For a bulk of the winter, Bauer said he does a three- to four-hour throwing program six days per week.
Michael Bourn understands Father Time is undefeated. As such, he enlisted help to ease the strain on his problem areas. Hopefully, the work helps keep him on the field more this season.
For three months this past winter, Bourn teamed with University of Houston track coach Leroy Burrell, a former Olympian and past world-record holder for the 100-meter sprint. Bourn focused on his running form with the goal of reducing stress on his hamstrings, which have been problematic for the center fielder over the past two years with the Tribe.
Carlos Santana is confident about the team that we brought back. He also seems appreciative that he can focus on being a first baseman this year instead of needing to learn several positions.
“We have a good team,” Santana said. “I understand that we didn’t have too many moves, but the front office tried to do what was necessary — Brandon Moss, Gavin Floyd, a couple veteran players. We’re fighting for the division.”
Santana said. “This year, I feel so great, because I only play one position, first base.”
Finally, the anti “best shape of his life” article on former Indian CC Sabathia. He had many of those articles written about him a couple years ago when he lost 30lbs. However, he struggled so much since losing the weight that he decided to purposefully put it back on this season. So, he gets the first “roundest shape of his life” article written about him (unless Panda Sandoval beat him to the punch).
31 Comments
The only thing I’m interested in this spring training is how healthy guys coming off injury are. God knows we have enough of them. Other than that, everyone just please stay healthy.
Saweeet…pumped GJ MG
One guy I havent heard any news on is Shaun Marcum. As for a Major League reference, I wish we had him last year.
We did.
also, Marcum is mostly being talked about as a possible bullpen role. I think mostly because he hasn’t put any real work on his arm the past couple of years. here is an article saying that he feels healthy, but it’s hard to know anything until he actually gets out there:
http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasybaseball/update/25080402/indians-shaun-marcum-healthy-ready-to-contribute
Yes, tracking what they are saying about the injuries is the main reason I will be doing the notes section at all. As they change, it’ll be easier for me to update who is behind or ahead of schedule.
mgbode, good to see you zoning in on the Tribe bits. I read recently on Cleveland.com (I know, it’s bad for the health), and there was the usual who’s in shape run down (Swisher was one big one they highlighted). One of the guys listed was Ramirez, who apparently came into camp bulked up. The spin was that the Tribe wanted him to put on a few pounds. However, I found another blurb elsewhere saying that the Tribe called him in from the Dominican early and found out he’d gotten puffy (aka Kipnised) and were working off the weight. Spring spin springs eternal.
Yeah, sorry to be so negative when you’re just starting to cover them. It’s just my own frustration over the pointlessness of Spring Training.
To add something positive to the conversation (something I think I brought up before), I read somewhere that Josh Tomlin has supposedly improved his curveball a good deal over the break. That may be something worth watching in Spring Training.
I saw that today. Somebody asked Dave Cameron about it in his Fangraphs chat.
For what it’s worth……
In a forum for lesser Indians fans.. the merits of a player coming to camp are being debated, specifically, SS Jose Ramirez, the Indians projected starting SS.. He comes to camp 23 pounds heavier.. The debate is.. he’s going to be too slow and will lose ranger.. versus.. he’s more mature, stronger and will up his power totals.. Which side do analytics tell us we should lean towards for this 22 year old?
Dave Cameron: That you shouldn’t put any stock on any of these stories.
Oh, and it’s also worth noting that Ramirez has been in Arizona since January. So he has been working out under team supervision for nearly two months now. If he’s still 23 pounds overweight, that means he must have gained like 40 pounds in the three months between the season ending and January. Which is my long winded way of saying, I’m not worried about it.
Yeah I saw the mention of him (and Salazar and someone else from the DR) being asked in early, so I had the same thoughts. Supposedly the reasoning was that they are all young guys out of country who could tend to stray from routines and structure. Salazar was one who came to camp last year with a weak arm, partially attributed to the offseason (again, supposedly). The guys were publicly lauded by the FO for selflessly coming in early and sacrificing their free time…the truth of the matter is probably paternalistic in that they weren’t totally trusted (and they are key guys for us).
EDIT: I don’t put too much stock in these things, but there’s often some fire where wahoo smoke. Coming on the heals of guys like Kipnis, I raise an eyebrow
That’s how I read it too. Just the team making sure their players don’t do anything stupid. And I’m sure this reassured them that they need to keep the leash tight.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/04/report-cleveland-police-investigating-danny-salazar-and-roberto-perez-for-sexual-assault/
What’s the April schedule like? Do they even need 5 starters in April? Use that roster spot differently?
There’s only eight games in the first eleven days. Then it’s 13 in the next 14.
Related question: why is the season starting late this year? The opener is on Monday, April 6th. Why waste that whole first weekend?
So the ground can thaw? This winter…brutal.
But we open in Houston.
Rivals?
No worries. I expect some frustration and negativity. I have a thick skin, let it out 🙂
And, yes, Tomlin is one of the many starting pitchers that has reportedly improved. It is worth tracking which of these guys is not fluff though it’s really hard to get good info (and the feeds on MLB.tv for Spring Training have not been the best in the past).
Yes, thanks to nj0 and you for this conversation. I have read the same things on Ramirez. He let himself go a bit in the offseason, but he came into camp 4 weeks early and he’s back to his playing weight now. It doesn’t really matter if he’s in shape, but obviously it makes you feel more secure if he doesn’t have to work so hard to keep his weight down.
it’s the same thing MLB did last year. they have the Japan series start first, then they have 1 or 2 games on Sunday and let everyone go full bang on Monday.
The strangest part to me is that they are running a whole bunch of Home Openers in direct competition with the Final-4 Championship game. Why MLB, why?
Thanks, so they’ll probably break camp with 4 starters, and probably Marcum/McCallister to serve as long reliever when somebody inevitably gets shelled, then add a guy week 3.
Zach will almost assuredly be the long relief man when we break camp as he is out of options.
We certainly can start the year with 4 starters, but it will likely depend on who wins the 5th job and if we don’t mind them getting their first start in Columbus.
Thanks and I will definitely be spending most of my time on the Tribe.
Awesome. And commenting too. Like a player-manager…the Lou Boudreau of WFNY if you will.
Barring weather, they have five straight games from April 8-12, so they’ll certainly open with five starters on the roster.
Thank you. Misread the schedule. I missed that we get the Tuesday after opening day off.
Though we don’t need a 5th starter until April 12th due to that Tuesday, so we could wait until then to add the 5th guy.
From everything I’ve read, they’re not doing any overseas games this year.
My best thought is that it’s to avoid the Final Four which is on the 4th. But I still don’t think that’s a good reason to give up a weekend.
Can’t find anything more recent…
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/mlb-unlikely-to-play-overseas-games-in-2015-after-taiwan-talks-stall-101414
Proof why saying X games in Y days can be misleading.
True, they could go a few days an extra roster spot. Knowing Francona, he’ll have used eight relievers and will be trying to figure out how to get a ninth in there.
Okay, Taiwan fell apart. So, they could have gone to Japan, Korea, China, or Australia. I do not like them giving up that opportunity.
St. Louis versus Chicago Cubs is on Sunday.
The other 28 teams open on Monday.
Only the Indians @ Astros is in direct competition with the NCAA tournament final on Monday, but several others will likely have some overlap. And, when you consider traveling to/from the game itself, they will definitely have some overlap.
I don’t understand why MLB would take one of it’s premier events and share the stage.
I just don’t get why the opener isn’t on Thursday and then have everyone else open on Friday. I’m sure there has been overlap before with the NCAA tourney before.