May 24, 2013

Lou Marson to 15 day DL; Indians recall Yan Gomes and Scott Barnes

April 28, 2013 by 2 Comments

The Indians have sent Lou Marson to the 15 day disabled list to nurse a sore shoulder. The shoulder had been bothering the tribe catcher since spring training limiting him to just 3 appearances this season.

On the year Marson is 0-3 in five plate appearances, with walks in the others. He’ll be making his second trip to the DL this season after being shelved back on April 9th with a cervical strain.

With Marson on the disabled list, the Indians recalled catcher Yan Gomes from AAA Columbus. Gomes received his first big league call up in wake of Marson’s earlier stint on the DL appearing in 6 games for the tribe. Gomes was 4-19 at the plate with 2 home runs on his first trip to the majors, including homering for his first career hit.

Lefthander Scott Barnes also received the call up today, bringing the Indians roster to 26 men for Sunday’s day/night double header. Barnes began the year in AAA Columbus making 7 relief appearances and acquiring a 2-0 record with a 4.70 E.R.A.

[Related: Tribe Notes: A Kansas City Preview]

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Indians activate Lou Marson, option Yan Gomes

April 24, 2013 by 2 Comments

The Cleveland Indians have activated catcher Lou Marson from the 15-day disabled list (neck).

Marson had been on the disabled list for the first time in his career following a collision with Tampa Bay’s Desmond Jennings at home plate on April 9 in Tampa Bay. He was previously hitless on the season, walking twice in two games.

To make room for Marson on the 25-man roster, the Indians have optioned catcher Yan Gomes to Triple-A Columbus. Gomes was hitting .211 in six games of relief efforts, adding two home runs, a triple and three runs batted in. He also threw out two would-be basestealers and amassed a bit of a cult following amongst Indians fans on Twitter.

[Related: Indians 3, White Sox 2: Where there’s a Bro, there’s a Way]

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Tribe Weekend Recap: Baseball Is a Strange Game

April 8, 2013 by 32 Comments

Justin MatsersonWe’ve waited a long time for the much anticipated 2013 Cleveland Indians season to begin. The complete makeover of the team, a culture change if you will, has been universally lauded across our fair city. It starts with manager Terry Francona. I think it was a good thing that the Indians started on a tough six-game road trip to AL East beasts Toronto and Tampa Bay. Because of how things would shake out, they would see arguably the two best starting rotations in the American League right from the jump. The question was how would the new, deeper lineup respond.

After taking two of three in Toronto where they scored 15 runs in three games, the Wahoo attack looked extremely sleepy Friday night, where they were completely befuddled by hard-throwing lefty Matt Moore. They only managed two hits – both by Michael Bourn – in a 4-0 loss. The Indians didn’t get into the Tampa are until 4 AM Friday morning, that certainly didn’t help matters. But they figured to get back on track a night later against second year righty Alex Cobb. Instead, the bats extended their slumber a second game, as Cobb and two relievers blanked the Tribe 6-0. They could only muster six singles in this one. The Tribe faced a sweep yesterday as the Rays sent Cy Young Award winner David Price to the mound. It looked like quite the daunting task. But days like Sunday are what makes baseball such a great game. [Read more...]

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MLB News: Joe Maddon says Indians intentionally hit Evan Longoria

April 7, 2013 by 6 Comments

Saturday night’s Indians game was a rough go-around: A 6-0 final deficit, Trevor Bauer walking the first four batters, the crash at the plate with Lou Marson and Bauer eventually hitting in the game.

But what reportedly irked Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon the most post-game was how he believed Cody Allen intentionally hit Rays star Evan Longoria in the seventh. The pitch clearly hit Longoria in the back-side.

“It’s pretty much a consensus opinion that he did it intentionally,” Maddon said. “I’ll say one thing unequivocally, I know it didn’t come from Tito [Francona].”

In regards to any sort of retaliation, Maddon was pretty adamant about where he thought it was directed.

“I know it was a clean baseball play that did not deserve that kind of retaliation. . . . For me, it had to come from one of the players, and I would absolutely point to their bullpen.”

After the hit-by-pitch, both teams were warned about future plunkings by the umpires.

The Desmond Jennings-Marson collision took place in the bottom of the third. Marson had to leave the game, forcing Carlos Santana to move from DH to catcher, making the Tribe the first AL team since ’99 to have a pitcher bat. Marson is listed as day-to-day with a neck strain.

Overall, it’s just another facet to an unusually chippy game for just the fifth contest of the season. But more importantly, with a third straight loss, the Indians now sit at 2-3 and on the verge of a series sweep this afternoon in Tampa.

[Related: Rays blank Cleveland again, Tribe falls 6-0 in Bauer’s debut]

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MLB Injury News: Lou Marson day-to-day with neck strain

April 6, 2013 by 1 Comment

After a collision at the plate, backup catcher Lou Marson left Saturday’s game against Tampa with a neck strain. The Indians announced that he’s day-to-day.

Marson took a monster hit from Rays CF Desmond Jennings in bang-bang play at the plate. In the bottom of third, with no outs and Desmond Jennings on third, Matt Joyce hit a dribbler to Lonnie Chisenhall, who threw home for the fielder’s choice.  Jennings arrived just after the throw and went shoulder first into Marson’s helmet. Marson was bowled over, his head whipping back and hitting the dirt, but he held onto the ball and recorded the out.

Team doctors examined Marson on the field, but he stayed in the game and finished out the rest of the inning. However, Marson didn’t come back out for the bottom of the fourth. Carlos Santana, who started the night as DH, was inserted behind the plate. And since Santana started the night at DH and moved to the field, their pitchers were forced to bat in place of Marson (which was 9th).

Saturday night was Marson’s first appearance of the season and he walked in his only plate appearance. Marson, 26, appeared in 70 games for the Indians last season and hit .226 with 8 doubles and an OPS of .635 in 195 at-bats.

[Related: Tribe Preview Part I- The Position Players]

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Tribe Preview Part One: The Position Players

April 1, 2013 by 6 Comments

Nick SwisherFor those of you who are/were concerned about me after Kansas’s stunning collapse against Michigan Friday night, I can assure you that I am OK. Remember, I am from Cleveland. I have seen plenty of gag jobs in my day. Of course, it didn’t help watching Michigan easily dismantle a completely overrated Florida team to get to the Final Four. But hey, it is time to move forward. Time to put all of my focus on my first love, the Cleveland Indians and the game of baseball.

Today is Opening Day in cities all across the nation. Tomorrow, your Wahoo Warriors begin the 2013 season in Toronto against a Blue Jays team that like the Tribe, majorly overhauled their roster for the better. They are in “go for it” mode as well, adding “The Miami Four” in starter Josh Johnson and Mark Buerhle, shortstop Jose Reyes, and outfielder Emilio Bonafacio, as well as NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey to head a loaded pitching staff. Throw-in cheater extraordinaire Melky Cabrera and the face-lift has many picking the Jays to win the AL East. Dickey will be on the mound chucking his knuckler the Tribe’s way in the season opener. [Read more...]

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MLB News: Kazmir, Giambi, Raburn make Indians roster

March 25, 2013 by 4 Comments

As expected, the Indians made some decisions and announcements this afternoon as it pertains to their Opening Day 25-man roster. The team’s official Twitter account broke some of the nuances, none of which were all that surprising based on existing predictions.

Notably: LHP Scott Kazmir, RHP Carlos Carrasco, LHP Nick Hagadone, RHP Bryan Shaw, 1B/DH Jason Giambi and IF/OF Ryan Raburn all officially will be on the team’s roster. Technically, Carrasco will be serving a six-game suspension at the start of the year, so the Tribe will be down to 24 men.

The fact that Kazmir and Carrasco might both make the team was not news today. Because of Carrasco’s suspension, and the fact the Indians start the season with 13 straight gamedays, it was thought that the front office might decide to roster 6 starters. This also delays the eventuality of deciding who might be the No. 5 starter long-term, as Kazmir had the better spring, but both haven’t pitched much since 2011.

On the position player side of things, both Giambi and Raburn were expected to land near-final 25-man nods. Along with C Lou Marson, these three beat out IF Cord Phelps and C Yan Gomes, who both were sent down to Triple-A Columbus.

The last decision remaining is for one final reliever on the roster. The two most likely candidates are RHP Matt Albers and LHP David Huff.

Finally, the @Indians added one vital caveat to these tweets today: “barring injury.” That’s almost the entire for now and we’ll see for certain if anything changes between now and next Tuesday, when the Tribe open the season in Toronto against the Blue Jays.

[Related: Four Stat-Lines to Watch on the 2013 Indians]

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Indians 3, Tigers 2: Kluber Ends a Potential “Streak III”

September 4, 2012 by 5 Comments

If you are my age or older, you have grown up with the Indians being relegated to playing “spoiler” over the last month of the season more times that you’d like to remember. See, what all of you in your born in the 90′s don’t realize was that September baseball was meaningLESS more than meaningFUL before Jacobs Field was born. It wasn’t all just Albert Belle home runs, Kenny Lofton stolen bases, and Manny Ramirez gap shot doubles. My September’s as a kid had expanded rosters galore and the likes of Luis Medina, Carmelo Castillo, and Kevin Rhomberg getting those late season at-bats to try and thwart the Toronto’s,  Detroit’s, and Kansas City’s of the world from making it to the playoffs.

In essence, we are watching 1983 or 1984 or pick any year of my late 70′s and 80′s youth baseball right now. Insert Corey Kluber for Roy Smith. Kluber is one of the Indians “young arms” that they are taking a long look at over the last month and a half of the season. He’s not considered a top prospect by any means and essentially he is here because of the failures of the projected rotation. He jumped the line this year (well, you can’t really say it was an impressive line to begin with when it is three people deep and one of them is David Huff) and made his sixth start yesterday in Detroit and against the hated Motor City Kitties. [Read more...]

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Box Score: Indians 5, Red Sox 2

August 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Brent Lillibridge. Zach McAllister. Ezequiel Carrera. Those are your three stars of the night.

Lillibridge finished 3-for-4 with his first home run in nearly 12 months while McAllister went eight strong innings as the Indians (53-61) won their second in three days against Boston (56-59) at Progressive Field. Carrera entered the game late as a defensive replacement, but also had an RBI single and an impressive final catch to end the game.

After the game, STO’s Katie Witham asked Lillibridge about the home run, and he said, “hopefully it’s a good sign for the next couple months.” He talked about finishing the season strong and how he’s just trying to help out the team. Witham also asked about Lou Marson’s RBI squeeze bunt that scored Lillibridge in the seventh.

And yes, Jon tweeted this during the game. That’s how we know the world has finally gone mad.

The Indians and Sox are back at it at 1:05 p.m. tomorrow. Corey Kluber (0-0, 6.10 ERA) could be making his final start in Cleveland before heading back to Columbus as he faces off against Boston lefty Jon Lester (5-10, 5.36 ERA).

Scoring Summary
Bot 3rd: Cleveland
- B. Lillibridge homered to deep left
Top 4th: Boston
- A. Gonzalez doubled to left, J. Ellsbury and C. Crawford scored, D. Pedroia to third, D. Pedroia out at home
Bot 5th: Cleveland
- B. Lillibridge singled to shallow left center, M. Brantley scored
Bot 6th: Cleveland
- M. Brantley hit sacrifice fly to left, A. Cabrera scored
Bot 7th: Cleveland
- L. Marson sacrificed to pitcher, B. Lillibridge scored
Bot 8th: Cleveland
- E. Carrera singled to shallow left, C. Santana scored
 Boston
AB R H RBI HR BB K SB LOB Season Avg
J. Ellsbury cf 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .254
C. Crawford lf 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .258
D. Pedroia 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .275
A. Gonzalez 1b 4 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 .307
C. Ross rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .275
J. Saltalamacchia c 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .229
R. Lavarnway dh 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .105
M. Aviles ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .252
P. Ciriaco 3b 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .333
    S. Podsednik ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .379
    D. Valencia 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .198
 Totals 30 2 4 2 0 0 4 0 4
 Batting
2B – J Ellsbury 2 (12, Z McAllister 2); A Gonzalez (35, Z McAllister).
S – C Crawford.
RBI – A Gonzalez 2 (76).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out – A Gonzalez 1, J Saltalamacchia 1.
Team LOB – 2.
 Fielding
DP – 1 (D Pedroia-M Aviles-A Gonzalez).
 Cleveland
AB R H RBI HR BB K SB LOB Season Avg
J. Donald 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .186
    J. Hannahan 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231
A. Cabrera ss 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 .281
S. Choo rf 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 .287
C. Santana dh 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 .240
M. Brantley cf 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 .291
S. Duncan lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 .216
    E. Carrera lf 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 .385
B. Lillibridge 3b-2b 4 2 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 .202
C. Kotchman 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .224
L. Marson c 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 .242
 Totals 27 5 6 5 1 4 7 3 7
 Batting
2B – C Santana (21, C Breslow); B Lillibridge (3, M Melancon).
HR – B Lillibridge (1, 3rd inning off F Morales 0 on, 0 Out).
S – L Marson.
SF – M Brantley.
RBI – M Brantley (50), E Carrera (3), B Lillibridge 2 (4), L Marson (10).
2-out RBI – E Carrera.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out – S Duncan 1, B Lillibridge 1.
GIDP – C Santana.
Team LOB – 5.
 Base Running
SB – A Cabrera (6, 3rd base off F Morales/J Saltalamacchia), S Choo (13, 2nd base off F Morales/J Saltalamacchia), E Carrera (2, 2nd base off C Mortensen/J Saltalamacchia).
 Fielding
Outfield assists – M Brantley, S Duncan.
 Boston
IP H R ER BB K HR WHIP Season ERA
F. Morales (L, 3-3) 5.1 2 3 3 4 6 1 1.16 3.29
A. Miller 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.01 3.03
M. Melancon 1.1 2 1 1 0 0 0 1.50 7.39
C. Breslow 0.2 2 1 1 0 1 0 1.12 3.38
C. Mortensen 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.95 1.71
 Cleveland
IP H R ER BB K HR WHIP Season ERA
Z. McAllister (W, 5-4) 8.0 3 2 2 0 4 0 1.22 3.46
C. Perez (S, 31) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.20 3.80

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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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Ubaldo Steps Up Again, Tribe Tops Rays

July 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Despite nobody but the 20,000+ in attendance seeing it live, Ubaldo Jimenez’s hot streak of the past two months did continue, as he went up against another solid team and shut them down for six innings. With one major mistake on the day, Ubaldo helped lead the Tribe to a 7-3 victory to take game three of a four game swing heading into the All-Star break.

The turning point for Jimenez in this period has been his command of the strike zone. In 97 pitches, 60 of them found the strike zone and he walked just one batter. Other than losing a pair of fastballs in the fourth to Ben Zobrist for a double and then Luke Scott for a two-run homer, Jimenez seemed to have command of all his pitches and got half of his eight strikeouts via the changeup.

It’s no secret that I’ve been one of the most vocal critics of the Ubaldo Jimenez trade executed last July by Indians General Manager Chris Antonetti. I remain concerned that Drew Pomeranz will in time turn into a top-flight left-handed force in Colorado or someone else’s starting rotation for years to come. However, it would be foolish for me not to at least eat a bit of crow regarding the way that Ubaldo Jimenez has pitched in the past 7 starts. If this is the Ubaldo that we primarily have for the next year and a half and the Tribe can parlay that into a playoff appearance or two, my concerns are foolish and I am entirely wrong in my objections to this trade. I hope I’m wrong, because this version of Ubaldo Jimenez is quite tolerable and, dare I say it, enjoyable to watch. When Jimenez isn’t his own worst enemy with falling behind in counts and walking people, he’s quite difficult for opposing hitters to square up and hit. [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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Indians 4 Tigers 2: It’s A Ubaldo Sighting!

June 6, 2012 by 3 Comments

OK, how many of you had this one?

The Indians traveled to Detroit to play the Tigers, a city in which they had lost 23 of their last 26 games. Starting for the Tigers was rookie left-hander Drew Smyly, a guy they had never faced. The Indians entered 4-12 and ranked dead last in the AL in batting average and on-base percentage against left-handed starters. Taking the mound for the Tribe was Ubaldo Jimenez. He of the 9.00 road ERA and a guy the Indians had just skipped in the rotation.

If you were in Las Vegas, you’d have to have bet a sawbuck on the Tigers in this one, right? Well as a wise man once said, “That’s why they play the games.”

Smily opened the game by striking out the side in the first. In the bottom of the frame, things started in usual Ubaldo fashion. He hit lead off man Quintin Berry, watched him steal second, and then gave up an RBI double to Miguel Cabrera. “Here we go again” is what I thought. But then something happened. Ubaldo turned back the clock to 2010. [Read more...]

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Only Losers Live Here: Re-imagining What Might Have Been In The Cliff Lee Trade

March 23, 2012 by 34 Comments

It is a sore subject for Tribe fans as it should be.

Back on July 29th of 2009, the Indians sent Cy Young award winning starting pitcher Cliff Lee to Philadelphia. At the time, the Phillies were streaking towards the postseason while the Indians were in full regression mode. It was the second consecutive year in which the Tribe dealt their best assests to reload with prospects. Lee was their biggest chip and it was of the utmost importance that they cashed in on him big time.

The Phillies were flush with top tier prospects. In 2009, everyone knew their best guy was AA starting pitcher Kyle Drabek. Next on the list were a pair of outfielders, Domonic Brown and Michael Taylor. The Indians tried everything they could to hold out for Drabek, but the Phillies refused to include him. Brown and Taylor were intriguing, but at the time, the Tribe thought they were set long-term with Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, and a soon to be ready Michael Brantley in the outfield. They wanted arms. So they settled for the next best options.  [Read more...]

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Assessing the Indians Offseason Options: A Look at our Trade Chips

October 12, 2011 by 38 Comments

There arises a certain degree of skepticism among Indians fans when the subject of signing free agents is mentioned.  This feeling is not without cause, nor is it worth going into any great detail searching for an explanation.  We know that whatever free agents we add are likely to be of the complementary nature—a utility player here or a bullpen arm there.  We’ve been conditioned to believe that we play in the shallow end of the pool when it comes to free agency due to circumstances that are, by and large, beyond our control.

On the other hand, there is some reason to believe that the Indians might be willing to add some talent and (yes!) even some payroll this off-season.  For one thing, Chris Antonetti said so himself.  For another, the 2012 season looks like that “contending” year that we’ve been waiting for.  Did it make sense to sign a big name before the 2010 season?  Not really, we were at our nadir as a team.  But now?  One or two pieces could make a big difference to a club that is otherwise ready to start competing.

The problem, of course, is that the free agent pool isn’t looking all that advantageous for us.  [Read more...]

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Indians At the Break: Infield and Catcher

July 12, 2011 by 6 Comments

The Indians head into the All-Star break a surprising 47-42 and a half game out of first place in the AL Central. Many experts think they have done it with smoke and mirrors. I believe they have gotten this far thanks to Actaball- a combination of great pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting. Regardless of how they have gotten to this point, during the break from the action, WFNY will take a look at the four cogs of this roster, how they evolved during the first half, and where they look to be going forward through the rest of the season. Yesterday we assessed the outfield and DH positions. Today in the second of our four part series, we will move to the infielders and catchers. [Read more...]

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Twins 3 Indians 2: Another Demoralizing Defeat

June 9, 2011 by 14 Comments

I’m running out of adjectives to describe my frustrations with the Indians offense. Is it possible that this is the same team that was being trotted out in April to rave reviews? It can’t be, can it?

Yes, Travis Hafner is missing and he leaves a Grand Canyon sized hole in the middle of the order, but this offensive futility has become, well, offensive. “We continue to struggle in the middle of our lineup, and it’s just snowballing,” Manny Acta said after another painful one run loss. “We need a few of the guys to start swinging the bat.”

Here is a fun stat – the Indians are 1-40 with runners in scoring position since June 2nd.

Take this latest defeat to the Twins for example. Once again, the Tribe had every chance to take this game but couldn’t because they failed to drive in runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, they wasted another solid starting pitching performance from Justin Masterson and lost a home series to Minnesota, the team with the worst record in baseball with a lineup that would make the 2010 Indians blush. [Read more...]

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What the Big Three Trades Have Meant to the 2011 Indians

June 3, 2011 by 18 Comments

In 2008, the front office started the long and arduous process of ripping my heart out.

In July of that year, they admitted what I wasn’t ready to: the team wasn’t good anymore.  Whether it was due to injury, poor luck, or simple regression didn’t matter.  Only that the team wasn’t good enough to win the division, and that it wasn’t likely to get better before we lost our biggest pieces to free agency.

Once that was established, the front office worked to cut costs, ship out talent, and roll the dice on the trade market.  This process culminated with Victor (and me) crying on an otherwise beautiful July afternoon in 2009.  For me, that was the most devastating sports loss of my life: watching a guy that wanted nothing more than to play for my team, a guy I loved watching and rooting for without condition, a guy who was everything that was right about caring about sports, be sold for parts, chop-shop style. [Read more...]

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Cleveland Indians Google Player Popularity Rankings – 4-25-2011

April 25, 2011 by 5 Comments

Back in March I decided to analyze the popularity of Cleveland Indians players on the roster based on Google results. That was March 10th and the landscape has changed significantly since the season started and the Indians started pretty hot. There are some outliers like Jayson Nix (who won’t make the next list as he is no longer on the team) who were artificially inflated because of a transaction. Nix was traded for cash to the Blue Jays which led to a lot of hits in Google.  Also, keep in mind in total the list had a 57% increase in hits from then to now.  This is representative of the effect of just being in season officially.  Still, the rankings are interesting.

And… we have a new number one.  Grady Sizemore led the list to start the year, and despite coming back from injury and playing well, he was still overtaken.  Check the list after the jump. [Read more...]

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Royals 5 Indians 4: WFCTS – Waiting For Carlos To Swing

April 20, 2011 by 30 Comments

This one had the making of a loss from the get-go.

The Indians came in winners of four straight. Their starters had gone a whopping 11 consecutive games of six innings or more and this tilt would be the season debut of Jeanmar Gomez. The 23-year old Venezuelan is fresh from Columbus, where he was replacing the injured Mitch Talbot. Kansas City sent out lefty Bruce Chen, who was 3-0 against the Tribe a year ago. You just had the feeling that this wasn’t going to be their night.

The thing is, it almost was.

The 5-4 loss ended with Carlos Santana looking at three straight strikes from Royals closer Joakim Soria with the bases loaded. You certainly can’t say the Tribe didn’t have their chances to win this one. [Read more...]

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