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July 1, 2015Mike Dunleavy signs three-year deal to stay in Chicago
July 1, 2015Bullpens have become a popular topic in baseball circles since Tom Verducci penned a fantastic article detailing the dominance of the modern bullpen on Tuesday. In the article, Verducci details how the Houston Astros’ and the Kansas City Royals’ continual outperformance of expectations in the standings can largely be attributed to their bullpens. The Tampa Bay Rays also get a mention, though it is noted that their bullpen has been merely league average in 2015. The Cleveland Indians took advantage of that bullpen for the second game in a row as the Indians defeated the Rays by a score of 6-2.
A bullpen in baseball is much like an offensive line in football. The only times that most people notice them are either when they are a problem or when they are completely dominant. As the 2015 Cleveland Indians bullpen has not been completely dominant (though quite good in May and June), nor has it ever been the biggest issue with the team1 the bullpen has largely been ignored.
Overall, as can be seen in the above table, the Indians bullpen has been largely effective. Tribe relievers have utilized a mixture of strikeouts and soft contact rate to help their ERA stay below the expected FIP rate even in a season where the defense has been largely ineffective on the whole. The one issue that remains with the staff though is that its home run rate has stayed high and relatively consistent throughout the season (0.98 in April, 1.0 in May, 0.92 in June). It is an issue that can keep fans on the edge of their seat late in close games. However, the bullpen should be applauded for its effectiveness thus far through the season.
Keys of the Game
Headcrusher defense:
Does everyone remember when the defense was something to be talked about in hushed tones when in polite company? When the defense was being discussed as potentially historically horrific and there was some question as to whether the team leather had been lined with lead? When the defense was completely nullifying good performances by the starting rotation?
Well, pay no attention to the outfield defense2 , but the infield defense has been fantastic lately. On Tuesday, the young, talented left side duo of Francisco Lindor and Giovanny Urshela decided to show off their skills. First up, Lindor:
Evan Longoria takes his trademark even swing through the heart of the ball to send it scorching up the middle of the field, which should have been good enough for a hit in most settings. Now, notice the high hard hop that the line drive takes as Lindor is making his dive to increase the difficulty of him just knocking that ball down. Honestly, stopping that ball from reaching the outfield would have been considered a pretty good play. That Lindor had the presence of mind to gracefully pop up to his feet and make the quick, accurate throw to Carlos Santana for the out is just incredible.
Not to be outdone, Giovanny Urshela had perhaps his finest defensive play since joining the Indians on Tuesday as well. David DeJesus hit a hard ground ball towards where the shortstop would normally be positioned. However, the Indians had a soft shift on (Lindor shaded much closer to the second base bag) and Urshela was left to man the left side of the infield by himself. It took all of his range and concentration to haul in the ball, but Urshela managed to utilize his momentum to complete a quick barrel roll before snapping the throw to Santana to complete the out.
Salazar’s Husk Musk:
Danny Salazar’s pitching might have magical properties. It is possible that it can be utilized as a hair growth product, a cure for cancer, and perhaps the path to world peace can be found within it.
On Tuesday, Salazar did not have his best strikeout pitches working, as he only struck out two Ray batters. However, he still masterfully worked through the lineup as he had a perfect game going through five innings. Yes, he had some help from his infield defense, but he was in control of this game throughout. Even after finally yielding a walk in the sixth inning to end his bid at a perfect game, Salazar induced Jake Elmore to hit into a double play.
It was not until the eighth inning that Salazar got into any type of trouble. Unfortunately, it was the one time that the defense could not pick him up. Logan Forsythe reached base via walk before Steven Souza Jr. flied out to Brandon Moss in right. Then, Asdrubal Cabrera ended the shutout and no-hit bids with one powerful swing of his bat into the right-center gap all the way to the warning track for a double.
Francisco Lindor made a tough play on a Jake Elmore groundball to him for the second out, but he finally demonstrated that he is capable of making mistakes when he bobbled the next ground ball and rushed his throw. Carlos Santana couldn’t pick the short-hopper out of the dirt, but he did not and the Rays scored their second (and last) run.
Offense finally releases the monkeys:
Erasmo Ramirez was nearly matching Danny Salazar pitch-for-pitch. The Indians were not stranding runners and missing opportunities to score. Ramirez was merely setting them down (seven strikeouts) and keeping them off the bases. Only a Jason Kipnis home run in the third inning was able to make the scoreboard operator awake from his slumber to change the “R” column in the early innings.
But, the offense woke up when the Rays went into their bullpen. Carlos Santana got things moving in the seventh inning (after a David Murphy comebacker for the first out) when he watched himself into a 1-2 count before fouling off two pitches. He let an obvious ball go by before ripping a single up the middle. It was a good at bat.
Brandon Moss took his walk on four pitches. Now, when a pitcher walks a batter on four pitches, he often wants to groove in a fastball for a strike to the next batter just to get himself back on track. Steven Geltz grooved in such a pitch, and Giovanny Urshela was sitting on it, waiting to give it a ride into the seats beyond the outfield wall for his second career MLB home run. It was a huge hit in a huge situation, and kudos for him recognizing it.
In the eighth, Michael Brantley and David Murphy wanted to get in on the action, and did so by hitting a double and a home run in successive at bats off of Kirby Yates. All of a sudden, the Indians had a 6-1 lead and the game was all but decided.
On the night, the Indians went 2-for-3 with RISP. Both of those hits were home runs. Imagine that.
Key Moment Scorecard:
Tampa Bay Rays: 0
Cleveland Indians: 3
Old Friends; Help or Haunt
Asdrubal Cabrera: Cabrera busted up the perfect game with a walk in the sixth, then doubled in a run before scoring on the Lindor error in the eighth. He was the Rays offense on Tuesday. HAUNT
Grady Sizemore: A day after he breaks up a perfect game with a home run, Grady goes 0-for-4. Soup in the bag, Fran? Soup in the bag? HELP
The Nine
Jason Kipnis: Kipnis hit the ball well early, but struck out his final three at bats. His home run gave the Indians the early lead though.
Francisco Lindor: Love this kid.
Lindor made awesome diving play today. Showed something that this was his reaction to the error he made in the 8th: pic.twitter.com/wLaBODlTVY
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 1, 2015
Michael Brantley: I think I heard WFNY’s TD Dery scream when Brantley bunted foul to start his at bat in the sixth inning. Thankfully, Brantley thought wiser of it and punched a single there and a double in the eighth.
David Murphy: On a day when he looked a bit lost and his contact with the ball was soft, Murphy erased all of it with an insurance home run in his final at bat. Well played.
Carlos Santana: Yes, it would have been nice if he could have come up with that short-hop to save Lindor from the error, but there’s a reason the error was on Lindor as it’s a tough play to make. Santana’s hitting is showing some signs of life, though he has not had the power outburst yet that we are all waiting on.
Yan Gomes: He caught and called a good game behind the plate. He swung hard when it was his turn at the plate though he didn’t make any good contact, I’m sure the fans seated behind home plate appreciated the breeze.
Brandon Moss: He continues to be patient at the plate and take pitches.
Giovanny Urshela: What a game. If not for the Lindor diving stop, then Urshela would be getting all of the praise for his breakout performance.
Michael Bourn: Even a good center fielder was not getting to the Asdrubal Cabrera double, so he did not make any egregious errors in the field, but he still managed to draw some ire when he was caught stealing by about five feet in the sixth inning. I would not have even been all that upset with it except that he was staring down the catcher throughout the run rather than putting his head down and going full bore towards second. Yes, he managed to steal a base in the next inning. No, it did not make up for it.
The Arms
Danny Salazar: Just another day in the life of a MLB ace that is somehow just another one of the guys on this elite rotation.
Zach McAllister / Cody Allen : Another perfect performance for the bullpen.
- Even their early season struggles were somewhat masked by team-wide troubles. [↩]
- Again, fixing the outfield defense is phase three. Phase one was bringing up young aces. Phase two was fixing the infield defense. Phase three is going to be fun once we determine which guys of Holt, Ramsey, and Naquin are capable of playing at the MLB level. [↩]
15 Comments
Come on Tribe!
You only have to be good until the Browns start. 😀
And then get good again after the Browns go 0-3 😉
Then they can both stink again when the Cavs start. lol
Last night was finally ready to shift from the intensity of Cavs playoffs to relatively mellow June baseball. Deep thoughts:
– Disregarding Lindor’s late error for big picture. The last time we saw any infielder on the left side act like they actually want the ball hit to them was, what, 15 years ago? (I know Cabby had his moments on slow grounders but I’m talking about the hungry, crouched panther body language). Both these kids think they have a chance to throw everyone out.
– Brantley’s 13-pitch battle before his double was something else. The reliever gave a visible, exhausted exhale just before grooving the last pitch. Then Murphy hit his next pitch out. That’s a professional stick there.
The Indians need to make it to the postseason to tide over until the Cavaliers begin games.
I did not mention it above, but you can see the energy has transferred to Kipnis as well. He is immediately flipping the ball at full speed to the bag and just assuming that Lindor will be there and make the play. There is a trust between them that I have not seen since Omar and Robbie were playing in our uniforms.
9-3 allstar break puts us at .500
Love the way he plats the game too. Excited when he gets hits, always smiling, having fun. Hope we get to see this kid play well for a while.
Oh hey maybe I missed it but where is the Kids in The Hall reference?
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PgPVQUtr2CE/0.jpg
Was thrilled that our “kids” on the left side of the infield showed the way last night. Our good starting staff should now have even more confidence with these two behind them. I also think our new hot corner man has some pop and may develop into a nice hitter. Very encouraging.
How did I not include Buddy Cole in the above references? Epic failure on my part, but that is why you are here. To pick up such failings. Thank you.
In case serious:
Links to the sketches for Headcrusher, Husk Musk, Release the Monkeys, and 35degrees in Tampa are easter eggs in the recap.
Ah, YouTube is blocked here so I didn’t see them, thanks for filling me in 🙂
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