June 19, 2013

Some Final Thoughts on the Indians’ Opening Day Roster

March 29, 2011 by 14 Comments

Now that the dust has settled on the Indians’ opening day roster, we can finally spend some time combing through the decisions the Indians made this week.  Let’s take a look at the various groups to see if we can divine any of the motivations, upside and consequences of the first iteration of the 2011 25-man roster.

Starting Pitchers: The opening four have been set since sometime in November, with Carlos Carrasco, Justin Masterson, Fausto Carmona and Mitch Talbot being guaranteed spots in the rotation.  [Read more...]

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Waiving Goodbye to Jensen Lewis?

March 23, 2011 by 4 Comments

I’m sure some of you will be terribly offended by this post, since you already know MLB’s waiver rules like the back of your hand.  If that’s the case, by all means, accept my profoundest apologies.  But for the rest of us who need a little schoolin’ on some of the finer points of MLB’s transaction rules, let’s get it on.

On Monday, Ken Rosenthal tweeted that Jensen Lewis had been placed on waivers.  And some people—not you, of course; you’re very smart—didn’t quite understand what that meant.  Was Lewis cut?  Was he still allowed in camp?  If a team claimed him, could the Indians pull him back and protect him?  Was Jack Hannahan to blame?  What about Russell Branyan?  I love blaming that guy for stuff.

So all together now, let’s get on the same page.  According to Keith Law, formerly a member of the Toronto Blue Jays front office and writing at baseballanalysts.com:

There are three kinds of waivers in MLB: [Read more...]

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Vetting the Indians’ Bullpen

March 15, 2011 by 8 Comments

It seems to be fairly accepted wisdom that the Indians were not good last season.  There’s an advanced sabermetric statistic that does a nice job of conveying this.

It’s called “losses”, and the Indians had 93 of them.

But, for whatever reason, the Indians actually had some pretty good results out of their bullpen in 2010.  In an otherwise pathetic campaign, we were treated to a breakout performance from Chris Perez (2-2, 1.71 ERA), respectable bouncebacks from Raffy Perez (6-1, 3.25 ERA) and Jensen Lewis (4-2, 2.97 ERA), and reasonably effective showings from Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, Frank Hermann and Justin Germano.  And, in case you forgot, Andy Marte flat-out dominated. [Read more...]

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Red Sox 3 Indians 1: Shelley Duncan is My Hero

August 4, 2010 by 24 Comments

Let me just say that there is nobody in Major League Baseball who you would rather have on your side during a fracas than Shelley Duncan.

Sure, his career is nothing to write home about. For the most part he has been a journeyman who has shuttled between AAA and the majors with the Yankees organization for the previous three seasons. But the one thing that is known about him is that he is not only a great teammate, but a stand-up guy. So it was really no surprise that he was right in the middle of the eighth inning skirmish with Red Sox starter Josh Beckett. [Read more...]

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Tribe Snaps Losing Streak & Good Riddance to Kerry Wood

August 1, 2010 by 10 Comments

For the second time in five days, Josh Tomlin stepped up for Manny Acta and the Indians pitching staff.  Pitching on three days rest, Tomlin got the nod at the last minute as Jake Westbrook was scratched from the lineup with a trade to St. Louis falling into place.  Tomlin, once again, filled in extremely well and aided a pitching staff and bullpen that Mark Shapiro characterized as “severely taxed.”

Tomlin was not expected to pitch deep into the game with the plan being to cover your eyes and cobble together some innings with Tomlin on the front end and the recent bullpen call ups through the rest of the game.  The youngster ended up pitching into the sixth, however, with complete control and efficiency.  He gave up four hits and one run while striking out five in just 83 pitches.  It was exactly what the Tribe’s pitching staff needed and as it turns out, kept the Tribe’s scuffling lineup in it on this day as well.

[Read more...]

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SABR-Toothed Triber: Options, Bad & Worse

May 13, 2010 by 9 Comments

With Kerry Wood’s return, Jon Steiner is back to tell us why the Indians opted to send down Jensen Lewis and if it will ultimately prove to be the right decision.  I’ll give you all two guesses to that answer.  This one is light on math, but still heavy on science.  Enjoy.

I know this sort of thing gets overdone on the series of tubes, but I’m going to present you with two relief pitchers, and you’re going to tell me which one is better:

Pitcher A:  66.1 IP   8.41K/9   3.93 BB/9   4.61 ERA   4.44 xFIP

Pitcher B:  48.0 IP   6.00K/9   4.69 BB/9   7.31 ERA   4.73 xFIP

[Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting… Cavs/Celtics Game 3, Cleveland Football, Wood Promoted

May 8, 2010 by 5 Comments

While We’re Waiting serves up an breakfast buffet of WFNY-esque goodies for your daily viewing pleasure (on weekends too!!) Have something else you think we should see? Send it to our fancy tips email address at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

Starting off with one of my favorite sites, take it away Johnny: “On Friday night, LeBron and the Cavaliers responded. LeBron knew what the stakes were, and he set the tone by playing aggressive and putting the Celtics in a hole right out of the gate. He looked for his mid-range jumper early and made every shot he got a look at, going 5-7 from outside the paint in the first quarter.” [John Krolik/Cavs: The Blog]

Continuing with the recaps, here’s another Cleveland-centric blog and their thoughts: “For the game, the Cavs shot 59.5%, and that was after cooling down in the last few minutes. Cleveland, after leading the rebound battle by an astonishing 34-14 after three quarters, settled for a 15 board advantage, and also won the assist battle handily.” [Ancient Mariner/Fear The Sword] [Read more...]

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White Sox 6, Indians 0: At Least the Weather Was Nice

April 6, 2010 by 29 Comments

For your 2010 Cleveland Indians, it was go time. Hope springs eternal. All teams are 0-0, and optimism reigns. I’ve been drnking the Manny Acta Kool-Aid for the last month and a half. Tribe fans like me couldn’t wait to see the start of something new for the first time since 2002. To say the Acta era began with an inauspicious debut is putting it mildly.

On a beautiful day on the South Side of Chicago, The White Sox and veteran starter Mark Buehrle completely shut down the Indian Express in the 6-0 pasting at US Cellular Field. The Tribe offense was stagnant, managing just four singles against the left-hander and two relievers. Jake Westbrook made his long awaited return from Tommy John surgery and the rust showed. Trouble found him just three batters in.

He walked big Carlos Quentin and was touched up for a two run shot by noted Tribe killer Paul Konerko. Trailing 2-0 in the third, Jake loaded the bases with one out one a single, walk, and hit batsman. With journeyman DH Mark Kotsay stepping to the plate, the time was now for a patented Jake double play ball.  [Read more...]

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So Boring, Even the Owner Falls Asleep

August 5, 2009 by 28 Comments

sick-wahooLost in my euphoric look into the future yesterday (ha ha) is the fact that the current version of the Indians is still a very flawed collection of players. I know it worked for one night last week, but when an opposing pitcher looks at the Tribe lineup and sees a 6-9 of Chris Gimenez, Luis Valbuena, Andy Marte, and Trevor Crowe, you know he licks his chops. The Twins Scott Baker, who owns the Tribe to begin with, completely shut down the “Columbus crew plus five” for seven shutout innings during a 10-1 loss at Dolan Field.

I was “lucky” enough to be down at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario last night with the family. Since the game was pretty much a complete snoozer, I’ll give you a few quick highlights of my game experience.

[Read more...]

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All-Star Break Analysis: The Indians Bullpen

July 14, 2009 by 5 Comments

Indians White Sox BaseballNext to the job status of everyone’s favorite Grinder, Eric Wedge, you’d have to say the bad, bad, Cleveland Indians bullpen is the favorite topic of Tribe fans all over this great land of ours. For those of you who still are interested, the 2009 Indians bullpen is reaching legendary status in terms of its futility.

From Vinnie “the regrettable” Chulk to Winston Abreu, its been a combination revolving door/rollercoaster ride. Round and round and up and down these players have gone, without one single player not named Kerry Wood staying on the roster from opening day through the break. I had written about this last week and essentially in every recap the day after bullpen implosions throughout the first half. To borrow a phrase from the legendary Boston Celtics radio man Johnny Most, the Tribe bullpen can been summed up as “a typical disgusting display” of relief pitching.

[Read more...]

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Jensen Lewis Makes Annual Visit to Triple-A

June 27, 2009 by 2 Comments

Jenny LewisWe will likely never know the answer, but if the decision to send Jensen Lewis to Columbus was made before yesterday, he surely didn’t help his case very much by walking the first two batters he faced in yesterday’s 9-2 win over Cincinnati.

Lewis (2-3, 5.03 ERA) will head down Rt. 71 to make room for the recently added Jose Veras.

The walks and the home run ball have been the bane of Lewis’ existence.  Around this point last season, Lewis was sent to Buffalo for a similar stint.  He returned to the club later in the year and proceeded to lead the league in saves.  Now, I wouldn’t anticipate a similar role – assuming he can collect himself with the Clippers – but perhaps simply throwing the ball over the plate and not allowing it to go over the outfield fence would be a start.

At least this gives DP another player to skewer over the next few weeks…

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Indians Sweeps Rays, Pull Within Seven Games

May 29, 2009 by 7 Comments

david-huff-tampa-rays-cleveland-indiansSure, the title above may sound a lot better than it really is.  In all actuality, the Indians are still seven games under .500, and are still in last place within the Central Division.  But thanks to having played more games than every division rival (save for Minnesota), math is currently our friend as we sit 6.5 games out of first place.

While admittedly nervous watching rookie David Huff (0-1, 10.97 ERA) take the hill, the lefty had his best outing of his young career, allowing four hits in four scoreless innings.  He may have went even further in to the game if not for a two hour and forty minute rain delay.  Unfortunately, mother nature also cost Huff the win. 

Oddly enough, of Huff’s seven starts for the Clippers, the AP reports that six of them were effected by rain.  Shawn Kemp has nothing on him…

And while this may have been a huge issue earlier in the year, it appears that the Indians bullpen may actually be turning the corner.  No, seriously.  Stop laughing.

[Read more...]

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Changing The Ink in the Pen

May 7, 2009 by 6 Comments

tPretty amazing that we are a month into the season, and what we thought would be the strength of the team has now become its biggest problem. I’m of course talking about the Indians bullpen. Back in February I wrote “The bullpen could be the best the Tribe has had since the 2005 lock-down crew with Bob Howry, Raffy Betancourt, Arthur Rhodes, Scott Sauerbeck, and Bob Wickman.” I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I figured Jensen Lewis’ finish to the ’08 season would carry over. I figured the ’08 version of Rafael Betancourt was the exception, not the rule. I figured Rafael Perez would continue to be his dominant self from the left side. I figured Joe Smith would be the perfect “different look” compliment to the big three in front of new closer Kerry Wood. I figured Adam Miller would finally live up to all the hype and be throwing heat wherever Eric Wedge would need him. What I didn’t figure on was that all of these guys would either be hurt or perform so poorly. Lets recap:

Heading into Spring, conventional thinking had the bullpen looking like this: [Read more...]

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Sinking To New Lows

May 6, 2009 by 14 Comments

nuclear-bomb-badger350This one was bad, even by the 2004 Bullpen From Hell – Part Deux standards. You remember that year don’t you? When the Wahoos went into the season with Jose Jimenez, Scott Stewart, and Rick White as the back-end of the pen to start the season? Change the names on the back of the jerseys to “Perez,” “Chulk,” and “Lewis” and you felt like you were right back in those bad old days.  I’ve got news for you – we are right back there.

You flat out cannot win ball games when your bullpen brings a torch to the mound every single freaking night. This team has become a shell of what it should be. You can call out manager Eric Wedge all you want, but he isn’t the one out there on the mound dousing the fire with gasoline. [Read more...]

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Tribe Recap: Indians BLOW (another late inning lead)

April 30, 2009 by 20 Comments

Jenny LewisIts been said a lot lately; the sign of a bad team is one that can’t seem to do everything it takes to win on the same night. Examine if you will the three game series the Cleveland Indians just concluded with the Boston Red Sox. In game one, Cliff Lee pitched eight scoreless innings, but the offense was a complete failure in the 3-1 loss. In game two, starter Anthony Reyes couldn’t get out of the third inning, but the offense (helped by three Boston errors) put up nine runs and the bullpen pieced together seven solid frames of one run ball in the 9-8 win. Then we move to last night, the conclusion of the series. Fausto Carmona was good (his best start of the season, pitching into the seventh), the offense put up five runs, but the defense and bullpen failed them, blowing a 5-0 lead and losing a game they had in the bag 6-5. [Read more...]

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Yankees Top Tribe 7-3: Umpires Bad, Bullpen Worse

April 20, 2009 by 20 Comments

Trevor Crowe Jorge Posada Home RunI don’t even know where to start with this one. The suspect umpiring crew all weekend long coming to a head in the bottom of the 7th? That absolute joke of a stadium with a right field porch so short Duane Kuiper could hit 20 homers in a season? A spectacular pitching performance ruined by over-managing? A bullpen that yet again failed to hold a lead? A bright sun that fooled a Tribe outfielder to the tune of three runs?

Let’s rewind.

If I would have told you that Carl Pavano would go into Yankee Stadium, where he is despised by both Yankee fans and former teammates and toss six innings of one run, four hit ball, would you have asked me to take a drug test to see what I was on? Well, that is exactly what the “American Idle” (as the NY Papers dubbed him) did. Pavano was borderline masterful is his dissection of the Yankee lineup. He stayed away and down with his pitches most of the game and was painting the outside corner. This was exactly the kind of start Eric Wedge was dreaming of for his over-worked bullpen. Even with a 16 run lead Saturday, Fausto Carmona could only muster six innings because of a high pitch count. [Read more...]

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What’s Wrong with Rafael Perez?

April 16, 2009 by 6 Comments

During the recap yesterday, I started going off on a tangent about Rafael Perez.  However, after a few paragraphs that dove into different aspects of his game, I opted to edit it out and stick only to things that had an impact on the final score in general instead of going pitch by pitch.  But since I edited it out, I needed somewhere else to put it, and this would be the place.  Be forwarned, what follows encompasses a lot of numbers.  However, I’m also including some pictures with lots of colors and stuff in the event that that’s more your thing as well.  Do enjoy.

medium_rafael-perez-2009Last season, the Indians had an issue with the whole “closer” role.  We started out with Joe Borowski, he of the 83 MPH fastball.  Then we tried others like Masa Kobayashi before settling in with Jensen Lewis.  And while he didn’t exactly strive in the ninth inning, Rafael Perez wound up being one of the best set-up men in the game.  In 76 innings pitched, Perez fanned 56 batters.  He finished the season with an ERA of 3.54, but this can be skewed by a few bad outings coupled with the lack of total innings pitched.  However, his peripheral numbers were excellent including a WHIP of 1.18, OBA of .234 and a HR/9 of 0.94. 

Well, if you have watched any of the last few games that featured Mr. Perez, you have undoubtedly seen a different player.  He has yet to record a strikeout.  Left-handed batters (typically his specialty) are hitting .250 against him, with righties hitting .455.  Last season, neither side hit more than .243 against him.  He’s tossed five innings, has already allowed a home run and has walked six batters.  The early percentages are not pretty: 18.00 ERA, 2.60 WHIP, .368 OBA. 

So what’s wrong with our would-be stud set-up man? 

[Read more...]

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Hallelujah! Pitchers and Catchers Report Today

February 12, 2009 by 10 Comments

Today is the day Tribe fans. Your 2009 Cleveland Indians embark on their long journey back to the top of the AL Central division in sunny, beautiful, Goodyear, Arizona. The Indians new Spring Training facilities are the envy of all other Cactus League teams. You can call the Dolan’s cheap all you want, but this incredible complex was their baby. Don’t think it isn’t a great recruiting tool for so many free agents, like Kerry Wood, who make their off-season homes in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.

Pitchers and Catchers report and start their work today and it is quite the interesting group.  While the catching position probably has the best depth of any in the organization, the biggest question mark for the 2009 Tribe is the rotation. While the options are plentiful, the potential for disaster is there. The bullpen could be the best the Tribe has had since the 2005 lock-down crew with Bob Howry, Raffy Betancourt, Arthur Rhodes, Scott Sauerbeck, and Bob Wickman. Lets get deeper. [Read more...]

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Indians Bullpen Update

November 20, 2008 by 8 Comments

Scott Radinski's MulletI intentionally held off on this news until today as we had quite a bit of Indians news go down yesterday.  And heaven forbid we talk about all of our teams year round…

If you would have asked me a week ago about the Indians bullpen coach, I would have told you that it was a matter of time before Scott Radinsky got the nod.  You do not release a coach with the tenure of Luis Isaac without a plan in place.  At least that’s what I thought – which goes to show – given the way that the team promoted Eric Wedge up though the farm system.  Why not Radinsky?  I mean, the guy went Anne Sullivan on a slew of this team’s arms. 

When Cliff Lee was hurting last year, Radinsky worked with him in Triple-A.  When Jensen Lewis’ stuff wasn’t working early on, the team sent him down to Buffalo to get the kinks out.  Scotty Rad to the rescue.  He even rocked a killer mullet back in the day.  But apparently the team would rather Radinsky work with our slew of arms that are coming up through the ranks, which I guess isn’t terrible.  I just hope that it somehow impacts the big league team that will now have its bullpen in the hands of Chuck Hernandez.

[Read more...]

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Cleveland Indians Recap 2008 Part 3 – Where Do We Go From Here?

October 3, 2008 by 10 Comments

Well, here we are. We’ve talked about what happened in 2008 and also how much we paid for it, but unless you all are gluttons for the punishment that only Skip Carey and Joe Buck can provide, it’s time to move on to 2009. The Tribe has some question marks heading into the off-season. Scott and I will do our best to identify those issues and put our collective keyboard to work to answer them.

Where to start? Let’s look at off-season issues for the Tribe, each in the context of: a) what are the holes; b) what’s available (either in-house of via trade/FA); and c) what we think the Tribe should and will do. [Read more...]

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