May 18, 2013

The Tribe – The REAL Lead Sports Story in Town

May 17, 2013 by 220 Comments

NumbersI love my city. There is something special about our little community. We are all bound together by our misery. It is no secret that Cleveland is nationally viewed as a dying city, trying desperately to rebound. There are hundreds if not thousands of people here that do their best to promote programs to invigorate the town. The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission is one that comes to mind. But if there is one thing that all born and raised Clevelanders share, its our passion for our local sports teams. No matter where we may live, we represent our teams, perhaps even more loudly if you don’t live here.

That’s one of the many things I love most about Cleveland and its residents, yet it is also one of the things that bothers me the most about them as well. Now before jumping all over me, hear me out. [Read more...]

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Carlos Santana’s Coming Out Party

May 16, 2013 by 21 Comments

Carlos-Santana1You probably won’t be surprised when I tell you who the best hitter in the American League has been so far this year.  1

(Oh.  You should probably read the last footnote if you care about how we’re defining “best hitter”.)

Anyway, the best hitter in the American League so far this season has been Miguel Cabrera, and if that surprises you then you should come over here so I can hit you in the nose with my ballpeen hammer.  For the last decade, Cabrera has enjoyed a sustained and consistent excellence that has only been bested  in my lifetime by Albert Pujols’ reign in St. Louis and the late-stage Barry Bonds.  2

[Read more...]

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  1. We’re going to define “best hitter” using a stat called Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+).  Basically, we’re park- and league-adjusting a player’s value, using linear weights.  If you like wOBA (and if you don’t you’re a communist), then you should love wRC+. [back]
  2. I know and you know that Barry Bonds took great big barrels full of steroids.  But let’s go way back in time here.  Let’s go all the way back to 1992, back when Barry Bonds looked more like Sammy Davis Jr. rather than Dwayne Johnson.  From 1992 to the end of his career, guess how many times Barry Bonds had an OPS below 1.000.  Go on, guess.

    Ready?

    Once, in 2006, when it was .999.  One year out of 16, and it was still excellent.  A .999 OPS would currently be good for 10th place in all of baseball—and that’s the worst year of Bond’s 16-year stretch. That guy was freaking amazing. [back]

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Indians 10, Phillies 4: The Return Of The Big O

May 15, 2013 by 7 Comments

Asdrubal CabreraI know none of you were really concerned about the offense after the last three games, right? I mean, what you can’t forget is that there was a time earlier in the year where they were shut out back to back games in Tampa and then followed it up by dropping a 13 spot on the Rays. Make no mistake about it, this was a tired ball club. It is also a very streaky ball club offensively. These types of hot and cold streaks will probably continue most of the year. You just hope that the cold spells don’t last very long.

After scoring just three runs in three games Monday and Tuesday, the Tribe had a quick turnaround afternoon tilt against tough lefty Cole Hamels and his Philadelphia Phillies. It was their seventh game in the last six days in three different cities (Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia), so another bat slumber could have easily occurred. Then again, this is a new era of Tribe baseball. ActaBall is dead. Long live TitoBall.

One of the things you come to learn while watching years and years of baseball is that on the mid-week “getaway day” games, you often see both clubs give “getaway-day at-bats.” Guys swing early in the counts and strike-zones seem to be more liberal.  However in this one, the Indians approach against Hamels was the opposite. They were set to work the lefty deep into counts and wait for him to make mistakes. [Read more...]

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Phillies 6, Indians 2: Tired Tribe bats shut down again in Philly

May 15, 2013 by 13 Comments

Scott KazmirBaseball is a game of extreme ups and downs. The Indians won 12 out of 14 games with an offense averaging 6.5 runs per game and mashed their way to the league lead in home runs. On Monday, they were supposed to have a well-earned and much needed day off. But thanks to April rainouts, The Tribe played a traditional doubleheader against the New York Yankees. They would split the pair, but other than a Jason Kipnis first inning solo home run, the offense failed to score a single run.

After the brief spot at home, they went back on the road to Philadelphia for an interleague matchup with the Phillies. Ex-Tribe manager Charlie Manuel sent out rookie Jonathan Pettibone to the mound, a right-hander that the Indians had not seen. In the second inning, the bats looked like they were regain their mojo. Nick Swisher opened the frame with a single. Carlos Santana followed by going the other way for a double, which landed just fair down the line. After a Mark Reynolds pop out (on the first pitch) failed to bring in a run, Michael Brantley singled two center, scoring both Swisher and Santana. The inning ended with Drew Stubbs and pitcher Scott Kazmir striking out, but the offense was off to a good start, or so it seemed.

The game really changed course in the third. [Read more...]

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Tribe splits with Yanks in front of larger-than-expected crowd

May 14, 2013 by 8 Comments

Justin MastersonI attended last Thursday afternoon’s 9-2 Indians win over Oakland at Progressive Field. It was an absolutely perfect day; mid-70′s and sunny. We are talking shorts and t-shirt weather. Fast forward four days and I was breaking out the winter coat and gloves that I had put away about three weeks ago as the Indians and the New York Yankees played a traditional doubleheader.

There is certainly a buzz in the city about our Tribe. They entered this double dip winners of 12 of 14 and tied for first place in the AL Central. While the vibe was palpable, it had yet to translate into any real attendance spike.

Talking about attendance at Progressive Field is my least favorite topic. The Indians have been bad for five straight years. There hasn’t been a lot of trust between the fans, ownership, and the front office. The season ticket base had dwindled down to historic Progressive/Jacobs Field lows (though the Indians never speak on the subject, it is believed that the base is about 6,500). It takes years to build that trust back up. With Terry Francona and his shiny new toys on board, the Wahoos want to be more than just relevant in Cleveland again. They want to be the top dogs. [Read more...]

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Yan Gomes, Miracle Worker

May 13, 2013 by 12 Comments

Yan Gomes Chris Perez

As the Cleveland Indians clawed their way to a 4-3 extra-inning win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon, Tribe faithful rejoiced that the Wahoos were atop the leader board in the AL Central with Mother’s Day in the rear view mirror. Sure, the Indians were able to top the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics, but it was what they did against the Tigers and their infinite payroll that would matter. Once the Comerica Park visitor’s clubhouse cleared and various streaks were discussed—what with the Tribe winning 15 of their last 20, several wins being of high-leverage fashion—one such run that should be a story line is that of reserve catcher Yan Gomes.

[Read more...]

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Tribe Weekend Recap: How Does First Place Sound To You?

May 13, 2013 by 11 Comments

Nick SwisherSay it loud. Say it proud. Your Cleveland Indians are a first place baseball team. Sure, you can tell me how two years ago they were 30-15 and how last year they spent time on top of the AL Central during the first two months of the season, but this just feels different, doesn’t it?

Manny Acta’s clubs were fools gold. They won a lot of low scoring, one-run games thanks to a fantastic bullpen and timely hitting. The roster was not exactly loaded. The Terry Francona version play with a different sense of urgency and confidence. This is a group that expects to be good and plays like it. Of course it helps Francona to have veteran additions like Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and Mark Reynolds to go along with the maturation of Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley, and Carlos Santana. Having that deep and solid bullpen certainly doesn’t hurt.

Francona and his Wahoos ended their 8-1 homestand with a four-game sweep of Oakland and headed to Detroit for a measuring stick series with the AL Champion Tigers, who entered the weekend in first place. The pitching matchups for the most part weren’t going to favor the Tribe, but all weekend they battled and came out with a series win and a move into a tie for first with the team from that state up North. [Read more...]

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Tribe win streak snapped: Tigers 10 Indians 4

May 11, 2013 by 1 Comment

Corey KluberHaving won 10 of 11 and fresh off a four game sweep of Oakland, the Tribe headed north to the Motor City looking to stay hot for a weekend series against the AL Central leading Tigers. The Tigers however wanted no part of succumbing to the Indians’ winning ways and thumped the Tribe 10-4 with Max Scherzer getting the win and Corey Kluber picking up the loss.

The Indians jumped out to an early lead in the top of the 1st with a two out double from Nick Swisher, scoring Jason Kipnis who also doubled earlier in the inning. The lead didn’t last long as the Tigers tagged Indians’ starter Corey Kluber for three runs in the bottom half of the second.

Prince Fielder extended Detroit’s leadto 4-1  in the forth with a monster solo shot off the brick wall passed the stands in right center. ESPN Stats Inc. measured the homer at an astounding 460 feet.

The Tribe answered back thanks to Swisher’s one out triple in the top of the fourth and Santana’s ground out that scored him. Swisher would finish the day with 3 hits, a home run shy of the cycle.

In the bottom half of the inning with Detroit leading 4-2, last year’s Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera clubbed a deep three run homer extending the Tigers lead to five. The lead would move to six as Alex Avila singled in Johnny Peralta in the fifth, giving the Tigers runs in four straight innings.

Reynolds and Brantley would each knock in runs for Cleveland in the 7th, but the Indians two runs were matched by the Tigers who chipped in a run in both the 7th and 8th giving Detroit the 10-4 win. [Read more...]

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Hit Or Miss: The Indians and the One-Year Deal

May 10, 2013 by 26 Comments

Cleveland Indians v Chicago White SoxOne of the calling cards of the Mark Shapiro/Chris Antonetti front office era has been the one-year lottery ticket type players. Some came via the minor league deal, given a chance to make the roster in Spring Training. Others got one-year guaranteed contracts. Some came with nice price tags attached, some were incentive-laden. Most of them didn’t work out like the Indians had hoped.

Looking back, the hits were home runs.

In 2005, the Indians rolled the dice, one-year and $7 million for veteran right-hander Kevin Millwood, a Scott Boras client who thought he would get a big time multi-year deal. When that didn’t show up, Boras brought him to Cleveland and advised him to go out and show everyone what they were missing. Millwood not only won the American League ERA title, but he was the rock of the 2005 Indians staff. CC Sabathia, then a 24-year old budding star, still to this day credits Millwood and the season they spent together as the time when he truly “learned how to pitch.” [Read more...]

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Indians 9, Athletics 2: Kazmir Sweeps Out Oakland

May 9, 2013 by 18 Comments

Scott KazmirThe Indians just keep the train rollin’. They do it with power. They do it with some speed. They do it with solid defense. They do it with a lock down bullpen. They do it with quality starting pitching.

Wait….what did I just say?

Yes, that’s right, they do it with solid starting pitching.

A night after Justin Masterson was sharp for six of his seven innings of work and the Indians caught a major break from the umpiring crew, they went for a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics with Scott Kazmir on the mound.

Kazmir’s story has been well documented. He went from 21-year old phenom to All-Star to broken down to out of baseball at 27. He spent 2012 in the Independent Leagues trying to remake himself. The Indians watched him throw this winter and decided to give him one last shot on a minor league deal. He came to Goodyear this Spring with an outside shot at becoming the Indians fifth starter. He ended up not only getting the job, but won it in a walk. Manager Terry Francona spent the month of March raving about him. Unfortunately  the injury bug bit him and the start to his season was postponed by a DL trip. [Read more...]

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How good of a starting prospect is Danny Salazar?

May 9, 2013 by 22 Comments

danny salazarThe Cleveland Indians must have seen something in Danny Salazar before everyone else — and their early belief has paid off in a big way.

After the 2011 season, Cleveland’s organization surprised a lot of people by placing the 21-year-old right-hander on the official 40-man roster. Salazar actually had only made 15 starts in the previous two years because of Tommy John surgery and still hadn’t made it past the Single-A Midwest League with Lake County.

Yet, nearly 18 months after being protected from possible Rule 5 poaching, Salazar is rewarding the Tribe with the hottest start of any pitcher in professional baseball. In fact, following his fourth straight magnificent performance for Double-A Akron on Monday, he announced his own promotion to Triple-A Columbus on Twitter. And now, it’s time to wonder if he might be the best home-grown Cleveland pitching prospect in years. [Read more...]

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Indians 4, A’s 3: Its Better To Be Lucky Than Good

May 9, 2013 by 31 Comments

Bob MelvinWhen this series with Oakland began, I wrote that umpire Angel Hernandez was arguably the second worst umpire in the game behind C.C. Bucknor. Tonight, the crew chief was at second base. Three nights ago he did the Tribe a favor when he didn’t toss Oakland starter Jarrod Parker for throwing at the head of Mark Reynolds after giving up two homers earlier in the inning. If he had, we would have been robbed of the Reynolds revenge blast in the 7-3 Indians win. Last night, Hernandez may have topped himself.

I always like to begin my recaps start to finish, but in this case, I have to make an exception.

With the Indians nursing a 4-3 lead with two outs in the ninth inning, closer Chris Perez looked like he was on the verge of closing out another win. The usually light-hitting Adam Rosales took a 1-1 Perez pitch deep to left center, which looked to hit high off the wall for a double. At closer glance, it was thought to bounce off the railing above the yellow line on the high wall in left. Hernandez was the closest umpire to the action. A conference of the umpires was called after A’s manager Bob Melvin came out to argue that the ball should be ruled a home run. [Read more...]

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The Diff: Indians’ odd start and usual MLB run distribution

May 8, 2013 by 5 Comments

For my entire archive of The Diff at WFNY, click on this link. Last week, I wrote about historical expectations for regression to the mean in the NBA and how that relates to the 2013-14 Cleveland Cavaliers. This week, it’s back to baseball again.

The Diff

It’s been a strange start to the season for the Cleveland Indians, eh? Although the team is 16-14 and now performing better than or slightly around preseason expectations, it’s taken a wild ride to get here. There was the 8-13 start and now the 8-1 rally. But more significantly, it’s been a peculiar offensive run distribution that has made each coming game quite the surprise. [Read more...]

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Indians 1, Athletics 0: Zach Attack, We’ll Be Friends Forever

May 8, 2013 by 43 Comments

zach attack7:33 PM – A bit late getting started here, but luckily we haven’t missed much. Through two innings, both Zach McAllister and Tommy Milone are perfect.

7:35 PM – Oh look. Mike Aviles is playing left field tonight. That’s weird.

I remember thinking when they traded for Aviles that it was all but certain that Asdrubal would be traded and that Aviles would become our starting short stop. That obviously would’ve downgraded our infield: even if you think Cabrera isn’t a great fielder it’s pretty evident he’s a much better hitter than Aviles.

But I remember thinking to myself, Hey self: we could really use some starting pitching on this team, and if trading your starting SS with two years left on a contract that isn’t necessarily cheap would give us a real #2 starter or a young SP stud to dream on I’d probably do it. It’s not like our system lacks for impact SS prospects and it’s also not like Asdrubal is likely to stay in Cleveland beyond 2014 and it’s also not like we have any better trade chips right now and it’s also not like some of the bigger payroll teams don’t have gaping holes at SS right now.

[Read more...]

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Mark Reynolds and His Missing Strikeouts

May 7, 2013 by 26 Comments

reynoldsslamThere were not many sure things coming out of this off-season.  Maybe Michael Bourn would age gracefully or maybe he’d become Juan Pierre.  Maybe Justin Masterson would wrangle some control and be a front-end option or maybe he’d fall apart with his ongoing struggles against left handed batters.  Maybe Jason Kipnis would take the next step to developing into a power-speed second baseman or maybe he’d languish with a sub-.720 OPS for two straight years, reminding us all of that Josh Barfield jersey we burned last decade.

But one thing we were all sure of: Mark Reynolds would strike out.  A LOT.

Among players with more than 1,500 plate appearances, Mark Reynolds led the known universe in strikeout percentage from 2009-2012, managing to K in nearly 33% of his plate appearances.  Over that four year span, he struck out 790 times in just over 2400 plate appearances—averaging just a hair under 200 Ks per season.  The only other player to strikeout in more than 30% of his appearances was Adam Dunn, who could at least make up for his whiffs with a remarkably patient batting eye (15.2% BB-rate, compared to 12.7% for Reynolds). [Read more...]

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Indians 7, Athletics 3: Ubaldo & The Long Ball Sink A’s

May 7, 2013 by 23 Comments

oakland-athletics-v-cleveland-indians-20130506-164922-900The mark of a good team is always how they respond to adversity. The Terry Francona led Indians have had plenty of it thus far, thanks to slumps, shaky starting pitching, and a whole host of injuries. But when things were at their low point, they turned things around in a hurry.

Sunday brought the end of the six-game winning streak where they hit everything in sight and pitched better than they had all year. So how would they respond to their first loss in a week, coupled with the bad news that their set-up man Vinnie Pestano would indeed ned to go on the disabled list with his sore elbow. Nick Hagadone was recalled from Columbus and everyone in the pen would move up a spot.

The Tribe welcomed the Oakland A’s into Progressive Field, fresh off of their series win against the New York Yankees. Ubaldo Jimenez would get the ball from Francona. As we know with Ubaldo, you never know what you are going to get. The last time out, he threw seven shutout innings. However, he entered that start with an ERA over 10. So which guy would show up?

[Read more...]

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Tribe Weekend Recap: Streak ends, but series Tribe takes series

May 6, 2013 by 7 Comments

Jason KipnisRemember back just eight short days ago heading into the night-cap of the double-header in Kansas City, the Indians looked completely lost. They were sunk. They couldn’t hit. The couldn’t get any semblance of quality starting pitching outside of Justin Masterson. They were banged up and sitting in the basement of the AL Central. And then, with one big win, the light switch just turned on.

A four-game winning streak (two against Kansas City and two against Philadelphia) had energized the club and had them riding high into the weekend, primed to go over .500 for the first time since the first week of the season. The Indians welcomed the Minnesota Twins to town, who look like a shell of the team that spent close to a decade at or near the top of the division. While Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are still there, there isn’t much else to speak of outside of these two and Josh Willingham. With the way the Tribe has been playing, you had to like their chances to take the series and potentially keep the winning streak going.

The Wahoos ended up taking the first two games of the series behind more big time offense and stellar starting pitching, but the six-game winning streak came to an end yesterday as Minnesota’s Mike Pelphrey of all people finally shut them 4-2. But it is all about winning the series, and that is exactly what the Tribe did. But how did they do so? As we always do, let us take a look back on the weekend that was in Wahooland. [Read more...]

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Indians Rack Up Sixth Straight Behind Kazmir, Early Power

May 5, 2013 by 2 Comments

kipswishI’m not sure to me what’s truly more startling during this six-game winning streak: the Indians’ offensive explosion or the team’s consistent starting pitching. Scott Kazmir earned his first win in three years, lasting six innings and striking out seven with the Tribe using 12 hits (for the sixth straight game) to take game two of the series from the Twins 7-3. With eight players collecting a hit and six players driving in at least one run, the Tribe is swinging the bats with an unbelievable ferocity.

The bats did not waste any time in the first as both Jason Kipnis and Nick Swisher (in his first at-bat after missing multiple games due to a shoulder injury) hit solo shots off of starting pitcher Kevin Correia. It was the Tribe’s patience mixed in with attacking at the right spots with Correia that chased the 32-year-old righty from the game prior to the end of the seventh inning for the first time in his five previous starts this season. Correia lasted just five innings, giving up 4 runs (a season-high), 6 hits, while throwing 102 pitches. The Indians struck for a pair in each of the first two innings, but the Tribe only went 1-2-3 against Correia in the fourth inning. [Read more...]

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Wahoo Walkoff! Stubbs Makes It Five Straight For Tribe

May 4, 2013 by 9 Comments

stubbskipnisWith high-priced free agents Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher on the shelf for the last couple weeks and last few days respectively, one would think that Progressive Field was burning. Instead, that smoke you’re seeing is coming from the Tribe bats, who have stayed warm without their leadoff and cleanup hitters. Actually, they’ve heated up and diversified the contributions. Last night, it was ninth hitter Drew Stubbs in the starring role. The Tribe centerfielder had four hits, three of which were doubles, and secured the game-winning walkoff double high off the left field wall as the Tribe won their fifth straight game of the year 7-6 in 10 innings. [Read more...]

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Tribe Pen Living Up To Billing

May 3, 2013 by 9 Comments

Chris PerezAs much as we all worried about the Indians starting rotation heading into the 2013 campaign, I think we can all agree that the bullpen was the one spot where we felt the most confident. During the Spring, there were several candidates for only a few spots. A month into the season, Tribe manager Terry Francona has an embarrassment of riches and literally doesn’t have enough room for everyone.

Look at how things are breaking down starting from the back end down.

Chris Perez is the unquestioned closer. While “Pure Rage” has not had as many save opportunities as he would like, the man with the golden arm and mouth to boot has allowed just one earned run in his eight appearances. He is 3-4 in save chances and carries a WHIP of 0.88 with nine strikeouts. Vinnie Pestano mans the eighth inning and like Perez, has made eight appearances totaling eight innings of work. He has given up just two runs, has eight strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.13. His four walks aren’t great, but so far, Vinnie has been Vinnie. The triumverate of late inning guys begins with Joe Smith. Smitty is once again performing like a champion. He hasn’t allowed a single run in his 10 outings, has 11 K’s in eight and a third innings of work, and hasn’t walked a single batter.  [Read more...]

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