May 22, 2013

Indians Roster Notes: Lopez Released, Tomlin to Have Arm Evaluated

August 12, 2012 by 7 Comments

For the fourth time this month, the Indians announced today they have released a veteran player DFA’d 10 days earlier. This time, it was utility infielder Jose Lopez, following in the footsteps of, chronologically, Johnny Damon, Jeremy Accardo and Derek Lowe.

Indians beat writers, who had a nice Twitter fling with Lopez throughout the season, were saddened by the announcement:

In other notable Indians roster notes, recently-converted reliever Josh Tomlin will have his right arm examined in Cleveland this week. He was originally rumored to see well-known specialist Dr. Lewis Yocum while the team is in Southern California this week, but supposedly the doctor is unavailable.

According to various Twitter reports, Tomlin has fought elbow soreness dating back to last season, possibly resulting in his poor performance to date this year: 5-8 with a 5.82 ERA in 20 games (16 starts).

It’s very possible that Tomlin will be moved to the DL this week to make room for Roberto Hernandez, who is scheduled to start Wednesday. It is also possible that lefty Chris Seddon or righty Corey Kluber also could go back to Columbus, while outfielders Matt LaPorta or Russ Canzler could be activated from the Clippers roster (h/t @MLBastian).

[Related: Contention Windows and Depth Charts: Analyzing the Cleveland Indians’ Future]

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Jose Lopez Designated for Assignment

August 7, 2012 by 15 Comments

Following the likes of Johnny Damon and Derek Lowe, veteran infielder — and one-time clean-up hitter — Jose Lopez has been designated for assignment by the Cleveland Indians.

Lopez was hitting .249 with 13 doubles, four home runs and 28 runs batted in during 66 games with the Indians. He was designated for assignment earlier in the season, but cleared waivers and was later assigned to the Columbus Clippers only to be called-up shortly thereafter where he would be plugged into the fourth spot in the teams lineup merely for having a bat that is swung from the right side of the plate.

Taking Lopez’ roster spot will be right-handed pitcher Frank Herrmann. The 28-year-old has spent the entire season with the Clippers where he has seven saves in nine chances and a 4.28 ERA. This move was likely predicated upon the Indians’ starting rotation bleeding the bullpen dry over the month of August. Monday night’s starter Zach McAllister lasted through one and two-thirds of an inning prior to giving way to Josh Tomlin.

[Related: Cleveland and Detroit – Similar Markets – Except When It Comes To Baseball Ownership]

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Indians All-Star Break Review: The Infielders

July 12, 2012 by 15 Comments

As we do each summer at WFNY when the Cleveland Indians hit the All-Star break, we take a look back at the four facets of the team on the field. There’s been been a lot to talk about with this club. Their 44-41 record is good enough for second in the American League Central, but the team has shown some serious flaws. GM Chris Antonetti continues to tell us that the Indians have not played their best baseball yet. I hope he is right. Additions will need to be made and in-house improvements will be a must if the Tribe plans on playing October baseball.

We started by looking at the starting rotation. Yesterday it was the bullpen. Today we will move to the position players, starting with the infield.

During the winter, the Indians had a decision to make. They knew they needed to add a bat, but would it be at first base or in the outfield? Second base (Jason Kipnis) and shortstop (Asdrubal Cabrera) were locked and loaded. At the hot corner, there would be an open competition between stud prospect Lonnie Chisenhall and incumbent glove-man Jack Hannahan. The catching position would be manned by the Carlos Santana, who many expected to take that next great leap towards stardom. Lou Marson would be back as his backup. The right-handed hitting Jason Donald was the odds on favorite to be the middle infield utility man. [Read more...]

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Indians 9, Angels 5: Offense Explodes Through The Rain Drops

July 4, 2012 by 3 Comments

Baseball is such an amazing game. As I wrote yesterday, the beauty of the game is that there is no need to dwell on a loss because another game will be there before you know it. Last night at Progressive Field, 24 hours after looking like a they were attempting to hit a golf ball from Jeff Weaver, the Indians offense veered back into the Baltimore series mode and knocked around Angels starter Dan Haren, who entered the game undefeated with a 1.80 ERA in five career starts in Cleveland.

In front of 29,292 fans who were waiting to see postgame fireworks, the offense decided that would provide them earlier then expected for their faithful. It didn’t take long. Shin-Soo Choo, who is hotter than Kate Upton these days, greeted Haren with a leadoff triple. He came across on Jason Kipnis’s RBI single to center. It was just the beginning of a nine-run, 14-hit barrage that none of us saw coming. In the second, the Tribe added two more on a sac fly from Shelley Duncan and a two-out RBI double from Jack Hannahan. Duncan added more to the fun with an absolute titanic blast way up the bleachers in left.  [Read more...]

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Indians Weekend Wrapup: Defying The Odds

July 2, 2012 by 6 Comments

I swear I will never be able to figure out this particular Indians club. They entered Baltimore on a five-game losing streak, looking as bad as they have all season. The offense couldn’t score in Amsterdam’s Red Light District with a fist full of hundreds, and the pitching had become extremely suspect. It was (and still is) danger time for our Wahoos. Scheduled to face three lefties in four days, things seemed really bleak. The White Sox were streaking. The Tigers were charging. It seemed like the Tribe was starting their fade.

A team meeting was held before Thursday night’s game where Manny Acta cleared the air, got everyone to re-focus, and told his team to just relax and get back to having fun.

Again, I know I felt extremely concerned that this series could be a make or break situation for them. I thought the Tribe had to come away with three of four at a minimum to keep pace in the AL Central and to weather the storm of this brutal portion of the schedule. After this ten-game trip, The Angels and Rays come to Cleveland. So doing well in Baltimore was a must. [Read more...]

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Tigers 7 Indians 5: Comeback Comes Up Just Short

June 8, 2012 by 10 Comments

The good news was that the Tribe was that they already had won the series. The bad news was that they were going to be facing yet another lefty they hadn’t seen before. But didn’t we get past that two days ago against Drew Smyly?

It was getaway day at Comerica Park, and the Indians played early as if they couldn’t wait to get on the plane for St. Louis. When sinker-baller Derek Lowe pitches, you know a lot of balls are going to be in play. In this one, the Tigers hit them where the Indians weren’t in the first inning and put our Wahoos in a serious hole.

Four of the first five Detroit hitters knocked singles through the holes in the infield, putting the Tigers ahead two nothing. They would add two more with two out on a wild pitch and a two-out RBI single by the light-hitting Don Kelly. Lowe was clearly frustrated, but things would shortly get worse for him.

In a 4-1 game in the fourth, Lowe was one out away from ending the inning. Instead, Brennan Boesch, who entered the game in a 2-30 slump, ripped an RBI ground rule double to deep center. One batter later, the great Miguel Cabrera popped a two-run blast off the railing in right field, just over the out-stretched arm of Shin-Soo Choo.

“We’ve been throwing a lot of sinkers early in the count. I’ve left a few up and they’ve taken advantage of it. You have to constantly learn from it,” said Lowe. “”I fell behind Boesch. That was, for me, the biggest at-bat.” [Read more...]

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Royals 6 Indians 3: Another Average Start Does Them In

May 31, 2012 by 7 Comments

Remember a week ago at this time we were all so high on our Cleveland Indians? They were completing a three-game sweep of their rival Detroit Tigers, the pitching was great. The hitting was just good enough. Outside of Jack Hannahan, the Indians were healthy. All seemed well in Wahooland.

Fast forward seven days and all of a sudden the Indians look like they could be in some trouble.

Carlos Santana is on the seven-day DL with a concussion. Travis Hafner is going to miss the next four to six weeks after needing a knee scope. Hannahan came back for one game and then was placed on the 15-day DL with a calf strain. Asdrubal Cabrera just returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing three games. If we know anything about this year’s Tribe, it is that they do not have the depth to sustain a glut of injuries. Without the likes of the aforementioned starters, Jose Lopez became the cleanup hitter, Casey Kotchman was moved up in the order, guys named Juan Diaz and Luke Carlin have been seen regularly. Even Aaron Cunningham got a start.

Yesterday’s 6-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals capped a really rough six-game stretch for the Tribe. The hope was that they could salvage the afternoon tilt to take the series and temporarily right the ship.  Yes, they had to face another lefty, veteran Bruce Chen, but they would have plenty of chances to get to him. [Read more...]

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Indians 6 Mariners 5: Beating The Grinder With Some Progressive Field Magic

May 18, 2012 by 7 Comments

When Eric Wedge was the manager of the Indians, I have to admit, I was a fan. I know I was in the minority, but I always liked the fact that he never got too high or too low. He was the same guy, win or lose. I look back at his time here now differently. He made the playoffs just once (2007) and had a winning record twice (2005, 2007) in seven years. He wasn’t exactly Rex Ryan with the media, and Indians fans never really took to him. So when he returns to Cleveland with his Seattle Mariners, it is always fun to watch him squirm.

Let us put it out there – his team is not good. Between the Minnesota Twins Monday and Tuesday and the Mariners Wednesday and Thursday, the Tribe has seen the soft underbelly of the American League and they have liked it. Actually, they have loved it. But torturing their old manager is twice the fun.

Just a quick 14 hours after dispatching King Felix Hernandez, the Wahoos took their shots at Hector Noesi. It seemed like a relatively easy task, considering how they handled Hernandez a night earlier. For the first six innings however, the Tribe offense looked like they normally do on these getaway day, putrid. Since the beginning of last year, the Indians had lost nine of their 10 weekday afternoon home games and were outscored 65-26. Their lone win was a 1-0 shutout of the Red Sox last April. [Read more...]

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McAllister, Lopez Recalled From Columbus, Tomlin To DL, Donald Optioned

May 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The Indians made two roster moves before tonight’s game against the Boston Red Sox. First, they recalled Zach McAllister from Columbus to make the start in place of Josh Tomlin. Tomlin, who injured his right wrist reportedly gripping the ball too hard in his last start on Monday, was placed on the 15-day DL.

In an additional move, the team also optioned Jason Donald to Triple-A Columbus and recalled Jose Lopez. Donald has struggled defensively at both third base and shortstop and is hitting just .178/.188/.178 with 4 RBI in 45 at-bats this season. Lopez was designated for assignment when the Tribe activated Johnny Damon, and he was hitting .190/.190/.381 with 1 homer and 3 RBI in 21 at-bats. He cleared waivers and ended up in Columbus, where he is red hot, hitting .522/.542/.696 with 4 RBI in 6 games (23 at-bats).

The one drawback is the Donald move leaves the team with a backup shortstop of either Lopez (57 career games at short, all in his 2004 rookie season) or Jack Hannahan (2 career games in 2009).

To open up the 40-man roster spot for Lopez once again, the Indians designated OF Nick Weglarz for assignment. Weglarz, 24, is hitting just .202/.295/.333 with 3 HR and 12 RBI at Double-A Akron. The third round pick of the 2005 draft has battled injuries and fallen out of the team’s future plans.

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Indians Spring Training Battles: The Last Two Bench Spots

March 29, 2012 by 9 Comments

In a year they plan on contending, the Indians brass has to make sure they have a capable and versatile bench they can count on in a pinch. How the bench is shaped has a lot to do with the injury to Grady Sizemore and the decision to keep Jack Hannahan as the starting third baseman, sending the future at the hot corner Lonnie Chisenhall, to AAA. For the sake of this piece, we are going to give the open left field job to Shelley Duncan, who seems to have won the job by default.

There are a couple of sure things: Lou Marson will be the backup catcher and Jason Donald will be the infield utility man, also mixing in an occasional center field appearance. That leaves two spots open. Those come with an interesting decision. Do they keep two extra outfielders or a second infielder along with the fourth outfield option?

Things haven’t exactly played themselves too well for the guys battling to make the team. It has been well documented that the Tribe essentially brought in as many minor league free agents with major league experience as they could to fight it out. The names include such luminaries as Fred Lewis, Ryan Spillborghs, Felix Pie, Christian Guzman, and Jose Lopez. They also added Russ Canzler and Aaron Cunningham via trades. Unfortunately, none of these guys have separated themselves from the rest of the pack. [Read more...]

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