The Cleveland Indians have announced their starting rotation, which will consist of Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco, Aaron Civale, and Zach Plesac. The odd man out is Adam Plutko, who will start the season in the bullpen.
With Corey Kluber being traded to Texas in the offseason, Bieber, Clevinger, and Carrasco were the only sure things entering 2020. That left two spots up for grabs.
Plutko, who is out of minor league options, has been in and out of the rotation for the last two seasons, riding up and down I-71 as needed. His numbers have never been very impressive and last season was no exception, when he finished with a 4.86/5.23/5.54 ERA/FIP/xFIP line. But our own Chris Davies made the case for keeping him in the rotation, championing Plutko as a known quantity who could hold down the fort while Civale or Plesac continues to develop.
But the Indians have placed their bets on Civale and Plesac, both of whom are 25 years old and made their big league debut in 2019. LGT’s Matt Schlichting was effusive in his praise for Civale at the end of last year, touting him as having provided the greatest impact of all the rookie arms that the Tribe relied on during the season. He pitched 57.2 innings, sported a 2.34 ERA, and struck out 20.3% of the batters he faced while walking 7.1%.
Plesac made his final case for a rotation spot on Saturday, recording six strikeouts and allowing six hits and two runs over five innings pitched against the Pirates in an exhibition matchup. He is coming off a season in which he delivered a solid if unspectacular 3.81 ERA over 115 innings of work. With only 88 strikeouts to his name and a 1.23 WHIP, there is concern that he’ll regress in some way. But we won’t have to wait long to find out.
Is it wrong for me to laugh so hard at those two Major League movies and enjoy Wild Thing as much as I still do? I cherish the movies because the club can't seem to get it together.
Is it wrong for me to laugh so hard at those two Major League movies and enjoy Wild Thing as much as I still do? I cherish the movies because the club can't seem to get it together.
Go. Tribe!
No. Good movies are good movies. It was a comedy. It wasn't made to disrespect.
CLEVELAND -- At the beginning of Spring Training in February, the Indians reported to Arizona with the mindset of being the underdogs. After sitting atop the American League Central for three straight seasons from 2016-18, the Twins knocked the Tribe off its divisional throne last year. Whether the underdog mindset changes now that the season is a 60-game sprint, the goal of regaining the title remains the same.
Once again, the Indians will rely on their starting rotation, with Shane Bieber making the leap from their fifth starter last season to their ace in 2020. After trading away Corey Kluber in December, Bieber seems fit to follow in his footsteps. Mike Clevinger and Carlos Carrasco will follow Bieber in the rotation, with Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac filling out the back end of the starting staff.
• Here is the Indians' Opening Day roster
The Tribe’s infield has been set since the first day of camp, with Carlos Santana, Cesar Hernandez, Francisco Lindor and José Ramírez. The outfield still has some question marks and will likely remain a fluid situation throughout the season, but with the batting order having much more depth than it did to start the year last season, the Indians are in a much better spot to make a run in the shortened 2020 season.
What needs to go right? Aside from keeping the team healthy, especially the starting rotation, one of the biggest keys to their success will be Ramírez’s bat. The third baseman had a quiet ending to 2018 and got off to an excruciatingly slow start to '19, as the team was 11 1/2 games behind the Twins through the first week of June. But once he started to gain offensive momentum, the Indians jumped in the standings. From June 14 until the end of the year, Ramírez hit .314 with a 1.031 OPS, 19 homers and 62 RBIs over 63 games. In games in which he knocked in at least one run, Cleveland went 39-8, while also posting a 17-1 record in games where Ramírez recorded multiple RBIs. In a 60-game sprint, the Tribe will need to rely on his bat more than ever.
Big question: Is Franmil’s timing back and can he play the outfield? After a red-hot Spring Training during which he launched five homers in 10 games with 11 RBIs and a 1.631 OPS, Franmil Reyes returned to the Dominican Republic during the shutdown and did not face a live pitcher until Summer Camp started. It took some time for him to rediscover his timing at the plate, though his monster bomb against Bieber on Sunday indicated that he’ll be just fine offensively. The bigger question may lie in the outfield. The team is hoping that Reyes can spend some time in the corners to free up the designated hitter spot for Domingo Santana or others at times, but because he missed a few days of camp due to COVID-19 testing and back pain, he didn’t get the number of defensive reps the Indians were hoping he would. His defensive abilities are not his strong suit, but the Tribe is hoping he can give the club at least two or three games a week in the outfield.
Prospects to watch: Yu Chang, Cam Hill The Indians have a number of young players who are on the cusp of playing vital roles on their roster, but the two to keep an eye on in the immediate future are Chang and Hill. Chang has had a scorching Summer Camp, displaying tremendous power at the plate, while Hill has been catching his coaching staff’s and teammates’ attention since the start of Spring Training with his work ethic and arsenal. Both made such strong impressions that they both were carried on the Opening Day roster despite not being heavy favorites to break camp with the Tribe at the beginning of the month.
On the schedule Based on the win-loss totals of all teams last season, the Indians have the second-easiest schedule (.451), trailing only their division rival, the Twins (.449). However, Cleveland will have to play 17 consecutive days to start the season without a day off. One series to watch will be the four-game, home-and-home series against the Reds from Aug. 3-6. This will be the Indians’ first chance to face former Tribe pitcher Trevor Bauer, and it will only be a more competitive outing if his good friend Clevinger is opposing him.
Team MVP will be: Francisco Lindor There’s so much speculation of whether Lindor will still be with Cleveland at the end of the season. If the season consisted of 162 games, maybe he wouldn’t be. But the 60-game sprint makes it more likely to assume that Lindor has at least one more season with the Tribe.
Lindor's résumé speaks for itself: He's the only player in the Majors to have hit more than 30 homers and 40 doubles in each of the last three seasons. This year, Lindor's RBI total may increase (as much as it can in 60 games) now that he’s expected to drop down to the third spot in the lineup as opposed to leadoff.
Team Cy Young will be: Shane Bieber Not to discredit Clevinger, Carrasco or any of the other arms on the Tribe’s endless list of quality starting pitchers, but Bieber is set to thrive on the big stage once again. In his sophomore campaign last year, he won the All-Star Game MVP Award in front of his home crowd at Progressive Field and posted a 3.28 ERA with three complete games, two shutouts and 259 strikeouts in 214 1/3 innings in the regular season. Indians manager Terry Francona always mentions that he catches himself saying the same things about Bieber that he did about a young Corey Kluber. This season will show that Bieber’s success has been more than just beginner's luck.
Bold prediction: Bieber will win the AL Cy Young Award Bieber placed fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting last year, and his stuff looked like it was in midseason form all through Summer Camp. He has the likes of Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Charlie Morton to compete with in the AL, but the 25-year-old has a strong chance to be more than just the Indians’ best starter.
Cleveland's interesting ethnic neighborhoods, downtown streets, and sports arenas have been the backdrop for numerous major movies. Below is a list of our favorite movies filmed in Northeast Ohio.
The Fortune Cookie (1966) This movie was the first of many pairing Jack Lemmon and Walter Matheau and the results are brilliant. The film, directed by Billy Wilder, features the now-classic repartee between Lemmon and Matthau. Mattheau suffered a major heart attack after filming, but he won a best supporting actor Oscar for his performance. The film includes scenes filmed at St. Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood as well as the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
The Deer Hunter (1978) This classic film, starring Robert DeNiro and a young Meryl Streep, pretends to take place in the Pittsburgh area. The wedding reception scene, however, was shot at St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Chruch on Starkweather, in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood.
Christmas Story (1983) This "feel good" Christmas classic about Christmas in the 1940s, starring Darren McGavin and Peter Billingsly, was shot all over Cleveland: At the former Higbee's Department Store on Public Square, on W. 11th Street, and at various locations in the Tremont neighborhood. In late 2006, the house where this movie was filmed opened as an attraction.
Light of Day (1987) This somewhat forgettable film starring Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett is still fun for Clevelanders because of its local settings and references. The movie, about a brother-sister rock and roll duo, features scenes filmed in Cleveland Heights and Cleveland's University Circle neighborhood. There's even a glimpse of Trent Reznor, who grew up partly in Northeast Ohio, right before he burst to fame with "Nine Inch Nails."
Major League (1989) This fun film about a (sort of) fictional version of the Cleveland Indians in the 1980s features Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger as the last-place baseball team whose new (female) owner wants them to lose so that she can sell the team. Of course, they rally and win. Some scenes were shot at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium (although the majority feature Milwaukee's stadium).
Happy Gilmore (1996) This light comedy, starring Adam Sandler, tells the story of an out-of-work hockey player who tries to make it as a PGA golfer. Much of the movie is shot in and around Cleveland.
Air Force One (1997) This thriller starring Harrison Ford opens with shots of Cleveland's City Hall building and scenes from Case Western Reserve University. The movie purports to be in Moscow, but it's actually shot in Cleveland.
Antwone Fisher (2002) Based on a true story, Antwone Fisher tells about the life of a Cleveland boy, raised in foster care, who later, as a Navy seaman, explores and overcomes his troubled childhood. Portions of the film were shot in Cleveland.
Welcome to Collinwood (2002) This film starring George Clooney and William H. Macy traces the antics of five Cleveland small-time thieves. It was shot in Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood, in downtown, and in Slavic Village, at Broadway and E 55th St.
American Splendor (2003) This movie, starring Paul Giamatti as the Cleveland comic book writer, Harvey Pekar, was filmed entirely in the greater Cleveland area. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Sundance Jury Award.
Spider-man 3 (2007) A more recent addition to the list of movies filmed in Cleveland is Spider-man 3 (2007), with portions filmed along Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland.
The Soloist (2009) The Soloist stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx in a story about a Cleveland man, Nathaniel Ayers (Downey), from the Hough neighborhood who learned to play the string bass at the Cleveland Music School Settlement, earning a scholarship to New York's Julliard School. Before he could fulfill his promise, however, he suffers a mental collapse and falls to the depths of schizophrenia.
The screenwriter, Steve Lopez (Foxx) meets Ayers living in a tunnel in Los Angeles and tries to help him with mixed results.
Portions of the film, released in early 2009, were filmed in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood along the Detroit-Carnegie Bridge, and in the Flats.
25 Hill (2011) This film is about one boy's quest to compete in the Soap Box Derby despite his father being deployed in Afghanistan. The movie, written, directed and acted by Corbin Bernsen (of "LA Law" fame), was filmed almost entirely in Akron.
Tomorrow You're Gone (2011) "Boot Tracks," a psychological thriller based on a novel by Matthew F. Jones, was also filmed in and around Cleveland. The low-budget film stars Michelle Monaghan and Stephen Dorff.
Take Shelter (2011) This drama, produced by Chagrin Falls native Tyler Davidson, premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The film, which stars Michael Shannon, was filmed in Grafton, Chardon, LaGrange, Elyria, and Oberlin.
The Avengers (2012) This classic action film, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johanssen, was partially filmed in downtown Cleveland, along East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue.
Fun Size (2012) This teen movie, starring Nickelodeon's Victoria Justice and Chelsea Handler, was filmed in Cleveland Height's Coventry neighborhood along Fairmount Boulevard and at sites in Beachwood and Lakewood. The film takes place on Halloween when a teen girl loses track of her little brother.
Alex Cross (2012) "Alex Cross," based on the James Patterson Alex Cross series of mystery novels, was filmed in and around Cleveland including the Warehouse District during August and September of 2011. The movie stars Tyler Perry in the title role.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) The Winter Soldier was filmed in and around Cleveland in spring and summer, 2013.
Draft Day (2014) This Kevin Costner film was filmed in and around Cleveland during spring and summer 2013. Sites include a house on South Park Blvd. in Shaker Heights, the now-closed "Tilted Kilt" restaurant/bar in downtown Cleveland, and several locations in Berea. Unlike many other movies filmed in Cleveland, the city is not being used as a stand-in for New York City or another metropolis. In "Draft Day" Cleveland is Cleveland.
I wasn't going to watch baseball, but my son texted and said we have free MLB telecasts. I tune into the Indians game and this skinny dude for Cleveland has 14 Ks in less that 7 full innings. Amazing!
Terry is a darn good Coach ; but makes me scratch my head sometimes. My book tells me to pitch hit ( IN THE NINTH ) with a left bat for Mercado or Perez , or both ! ! ! Their kid had nothing against our Lefties ..
It’s just so much easier to score. I compare it to the NCAA overtime rules where you get the ball at the red zone .. it quickens the game and changes the dynamics drastically
My daughter was on a traveling softball team and my son was on a traveling baseball team. They both played in tournaments that implemented the 2nd base thing for extra innings. It's not a new concept. I understand why MLB is using it during this year's regular season.
And some news for Sunshine. Small ball is far more exciting than the current game where it is about hitting a homer or striking out.
Small ball is far more exciting than the current game where it is about hitting a homer or striking out.
I agree totally.
From the age of 5 I have been fascinated by baseball. Absolutely loved both watching and playing the game. To this day i am a terrible swimmer because of it. If the weather was nice enough to go to the beach or the pool, why would you do that? You could be playing baseball.
Now I hardly ever watch. Even when I get an Indians game here in NC. Because you are so right. The game is all about home runs and strikeouts. BORING. I love the stolen base, the hit and run, hitting behind a runner to advance him to 3rd.
I am offended by the proposal to disallow the defensive shift. Just learn to hit the ball to the opposite field.
I don't think its quite as black-and-white as small ball vs hero ball, but I agree that too many guys are going for the seats when all they need is a bloop, a bleeder, or even a medium deep fly ball. In the last two innings last night, the Indians left 4 baserunners stranded. 5 hitters struck out with the winning run (in the 9th) and the tying run (in the 10th) in scoring position. That's unacceptable. You have to put the ball in play. The problem is there's no longer any stigma attached to striking out.
Got task Dave.. Would you have gone with lefty pinch hitters for Mercado and or Perez in the ninth ?
I don't think we had any lefty hitters available - Zimmer, Johnson, and Allen had already been used - and Naquin is hurt again. In any case, I'm not a big fan of lefty-righty platoons, and Mercado and Perez have been pretty productive in the past. They just happened to gag last night.
I don't think Freeman or Leone are better options than Oscar Mercado and/or Roberto Perez. Bauers didn't make the team, but if he had I'd prefer Mercado and Perez over him. JMO.
i noticed that too. It’ll be interesting to see if (at all) teams break away from the pack. It’s awfully tough in baseball to make a lot of space in so few weeks
i noticed that too. It’ll be interesting to see if (at all) teams break away from the pack. It’s awfully tough in baseball to make a lot of space in so few weeks
In a normal season, every team is pretty much going to win 60 games, and lose 60 games. What they do with the other 42 tells the story.
In this season I am not sure how that is going to break down.
I have always felt the MLB season was too long at 162 games. I would love for it to go back to 154 or even 148. Start the season a little later (after it starts to warm up) and finish the WS in October. Optimize the weather and make each game more valuable.
Perhaps this short season will teach the owners that. Doubt enough (if any) will learn to appreciate a better product over the revenue.
I don't mind the number of games so much, but it does start too early. I don't know that taking away 10 or so games would do much, but I wouldn't be opposed.
I'd like to flashback and have some Sunday doubleheaders. Not day night deals, real double headers, maybe 30-40 minutes between games. Back in the day they drew in about twice the crowd. Everybody ate something.
But with what baseball players make these days that probably isn't possible.
Maybe make them 7 inning games...they do that in the minors.
14 Marlins tested positive. Their game got canceled today. They were playing the Phillies. Their game should probably be canceled as a precaution. This is what is going to lead to the whole league being shut down.
14 Marlins tested positive. Their game got canceled today. They were playing the Phillies. Their game should probably be canceled as a precaution. This is what is going to lead to the whole league being shut down.
Probably so. Hard to play games if 12 of your 25 man roster is shut down for 2 weeks or more. We will see more and more of this.
14 Marlins tested positive. Their game got canceled today. They were playing the Phillies. Their game should probably be canceled as a precaution. This is what is going to lead to the whole league being shut down.
Probably so. Hard to play games if 12 of your 25 man roster is shut down for 2 weeks or more. We will see more and more of this.
It’s a thirty man roster and teams have a taxi squad.
TV/radio: All games will be on SportsTime Ohio, WTAM AM/1100 and WMMS FM/100.7.
Pitching probables and starting times: RHP Dylan Cease vs. RHP Aaron Civale today at 7:10 p.m.; LHP Carlos Rodon vs. RHP Zach Plesac on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. and RHP Lucas Giolito (0-1, 17.18 ERA) vs. RHP Shane Bieber (1-0, 0.00) on Wednesday at 6:10 p.m.
Series: The Indians lost the season series to the White Sox, 11-8, last year. The White Sox lead, 1,098-1,082, overall.
Team updates:
White Sox — The White Sox lost two out of three games to the Twins over the weekend. Leury Garcia (.421, three HRs, seven RBI), Yoan Moncada (.344, four HRs, 12 RBI) and Jose Abreu .227 (17-for-75, four HRs, 14 RBI) had success against the Indians last year. Rodon (1-0) and Alex Colome (five saves) pitched well against the Indians last year.
Indians — The Indians took two out three from the Royals over the weekend. Roberto Perez (.341, three HRs, eight RBI) and Jose Ramirez (.222, five HRs, 11 RBI) had success against Chicago last year. Civale (0-1, 5.40), Plesac (0-2, 5.25) and Bieber (1-2, 4.62) took some lumps against Chicago last year.
Injured List: White Sox — RHP Reynaldo Lopez (right shoulder) and OF Eloy Jimenez (collision with outfield fence) left Sunday's game against the Twins. CF Adam Engel left Sunday's game for undisclosed reasons, while OF Nomar Mazar and RHP Jose Ruiz have missed time for undisclosed reasons. Indians — OF Delino DeShields (virus) and OF Tyler Naquin (right big toe) are on the injured list.
Next: Indians start six-game trip with four-game series against the Twins on Thursday night at Target Field.
By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio – Scribbles in my notebook as baseball came back:
1. I’m hearing a lot about MLB’s new rule of starting extra innings with a runner on second base. That happened in what became Saturday’s Tribe’s 3-2 loss to K.C. No one seems to like it, based on my emails.
2. Context is needed. The Indians open the season with 17 games in a row. That’s right 17 in a row. Most teams have a schedule like that. The 60-games are supposed to be played in 66 days. Given the compact nature of the schedule, teams don’t need to be playing 15-inning games in 2020 and destroying bullpens.
3. In the COVID-19 world, almost nothing is normal. People wear masks. There are new rules when you go to a store or restaurant. Many sports and schools have been canceled. The idea for most businesses is to figure out something that works as the virus looms ominously over our lives.
4. Life today is driving most perfectionists and control freaks crazy. Things keep changing. I didn’t think I’d like the runner-on-second rule in extra innings. After watching it, I’m intrigued. I want to see more.
5. The rule rewards fundamental baseball. The Royals bunted their runner to third, then brought him home on a sacrifice fly. The Indians had runners on first and second with no outs. Cesar Hernandez could not execute a sacrifice bunt. He struck out. Then Jose Ramirez struck out. Then Francisco Lindor struck out. Tell me what team deserved to win?
6. Let’s watch it and not make instant judgments. At least that’s what I’m doing about some other rules, such as a reliever having to face at least three batters. So far, I like it.
7. I was talking to an MLB executive about baseball expanding its playoffs from 10 to 16 teams. He said he didn’t like the idea in a normal season: “I think it diminishes the 162 games when more than half the teams (16-of-30) make the playoffs.” But he agreed this was a good year to try the expanded format. And maybe baseball has 12 teams (rather than 10) in the expanded playoffs next year.
8. I was sad to hear about Corey Kluber lasting only 18 pitches before leaving his Sunday start with a sore forearm. From 2013-18, he was one of the best pitchers in Tribe history. But in 2019, Kluber was hit in the arm with a line drive and suffered a fractured forearm. Before the injury, he was 2-3 with a 5.80 ERA. His velocity was down. He was throwing a little more sidearm, and his breaking ball was flat.
9. Kluber tried to come back late in the 2019 season, but that ended with an oblique injury. The primary reason the Indians traded Kluber to Texas was his $17 million salary. The reason his market value wasn’t high is many teams had concerns about his physical condition at the age of 34.
10. Meanwhile, the Indians received reliever Emmanuel Clase (suspended for the season for PED use) and outfielder Delino DeShields (out with COVID-19). Not sure what the trade will mean for either team in 2020. In a five-year span (2014-18), Kluber threw at least 200 innings each season. What a wonderful pitcher to watch!
11. Former Indian Trevor Bauer struck out 13 Detroit Tigers, throwing 105 pitches in 6 1/3 innings for the Reds. He walked only one and allowed two runs. The Indians have a strong enough farm system and staff that they could afford to trade Bauer and Kluber.
12. Granted, the Kansas City Royals are not destined to win a lot games. They have a young roster. That’s the disclaimer. But it doesn’t diminish the performance of Tribe starters Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger and Carlos Carrasco. There are several sparkling stats from that trio, but this stood out to me: They combined to strike out 30 and walk two. I repeat, a strikeout/walk ratio of 30/2.
13. We’ll see if the Tribe rotation holds up. Kluber wasn’t the only one with an arm problem. Houston’s Justin Verlander is out with a forearm strain. The Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw is on the injured list with a back problem. I expect to see more injuries because of the rushed version of spring training.
14. The importance of Strike One for a pitcher is enormous. Here’s how the Tribe starters did on “first pitch strikes”: Bieber 14-of-23 hitters, Clevinger 15-of-25 and Carrasco 20-of-24. All three had an average velocity on their fastball between 93.7 to 94.1 mph, according to Fangraphs.
15. It seems Tyler Naquin can’t catch a break unless it leads to a fracture. A healthy Naquin can hit, but now he’s out with a broken big toe. That has opened the door for Bradley Zimmer and/or Daniel Johnson to show what they can do in the OF.
16. It looks like Manager Terry Francona is going to see if Domingo Santana (3-for-5 heading into Monday night) can keep his hot start going. In his first 30 games of 2019, he batted .299 with 6 HR and 30 RBI. He will play a lot of RF, at least this week.
17. It would be nice to see fans in the stands (but a very bad idea right now). Baseball is a TV show, and it was good one with lots of viewers in its first weekend. It was record-setting ratings for ESPN and in many markets, including Cleveland. For the Indians, they are the only sports show in Cleveland right now. They can win a lot fans with a strong season.
Plesac is the #5 starter and Plutko is the #6 / Spot starter. Plutko started the second game of the DH yesterday to keep the rotation in order. It allowed us to open the Twins series tomorrow with our ace, Shane Bieber.
The White Sox lineup 1-7 might be as good as any in baseball. They remind me of the '93-94 Indians who could really mash at the plate but lacked good enough pitching to contend. Indians' pitchers kept them at bay for 26 innings, until they finally showed up in the 9th last night. A sweep would have been nice, but I'll take the series win. Keep winning series and you'll finish around 40-20, which should win the division.
Cleveland’s ability to develop pitchers is the envy of the entire league.
Definitely. It is astonishing how well they do it, and at replacement speed. Lose Kluber to injury and later trade him away? No problem. Trade away Bauer? No problem. It's almost where if Cleveland calls me for a trade, and they want one of my minor league pitchers, I'm saying .. "Um, no."
Not sure if it's been mentioned but....the "Social Distancing" of the Twins cardboard fans doesn't quite "Cut The Mustard" so to speak. A mere 2-ish feet apart???
"IN ALL GAMES" here in "THE CLE" our cardboard fans were 6' apart.
A year ago, Brad Hand struggled after making the All-Star team. The lefty closer was shut down with a “tired arm” in the final month of the season.
In 2018, Hand’s average fastball was 93.6 mph, according to fangraphs.com
In 2019, it dropped to 92.3 mph. By the end of the season it was slightly above 90 mph.
So far this season, Hand’s average fastball is 90.9 mph. The MLB average is 92 mph.
His arm is not as strong as it was when he was a dominating reliever from 2016 to the 2019 All-Star break.
I don’t want bury you in numbers, but the drop of velocity also has been accompanied by Hand allowing far more line drives and fly balls than he did in 2016-18.
Chris Davies of Let’s Go Tribe looks deep into the disturbing analytics about Hand in his excellent story, which I read while researching my approach to writing about Hand.
MEMORIES OF BRYAN SHAW
While Davies gives you spin rates and other high-level data, I’m going to add some common sense to what’s happening with Hand:
He’s wearing down.
The 30-year-old Hand made 283 appearances from 2016-19, second most in the MLB. Only former Indian Bryan Shaw (285) pitched in more games during that span.
This is not to write off Hand’s career, but it is to say he’s been in decline. The hope was a long rest after 2019 would help, but the early signs are not good. Perhaps Hand bounces back -- relievers sometimes do that.
But right now, the Indians have to strongly consider James Karinchak and Cam Hill as possible closers.
It’s also wise to remember how fast closers can lose whatever has been their edge. One of my favorite people in baseball, Cody Allen, went from breaking the Tribe’s All-time save record early in 2018 to being cut by three teams since then. The latest was Texas a few weeks ago.
The big reason the Tribe doesn’t give lucrative long-term deals to relievers is how they can fall apart suddenly. Hand has a $10 million option for 2021, and it’s doubtful the Indians will pick it up.
As for Shaw, he signed a 3-year, $27 million deal with Colorado after the 2017 season. He had a hard time with the Rockies (7-8, 5.61 ERA). Denver is a miserable place to pitch. He was cut a few weeks ago and just signed with Seattle.
With the Indians from 2013-17, Shaw was 21-22 with a 3.11 ERA and was one of the most durable pitchers in the Majors. But there were concerns all the innings and appearances had taken a lot out of his arm.
ABOUT THE MLB IN 2020
If you are a baseball fan, are you happy MLB is back?
That’s the big question.
Do you want to watch baseball for the rest of the season? Would you like to see what the Indians can do in the playoffs?
Even with no fans in the stands, has baseball on TV given you some relief from the dismal news of 2020?
If that’s the case, some of you need to stop whining.
In the COVID-19 world where sports can’t even figure out how to hold practices and play games, at least the MLB is trying to have a season and keep everyone relatively safe.
I was glad Commissioner Rob Manfred was right to put pressure on the Players Association to make sure the guys shape up or he’d shut down the season.
MLB announced Friday it conducted 11,895 tests this week...only 20 players tested positive. There were 18 with the Marlins, two with the Cardinals. This is the best issue, not the rule changes.
So what if they want to avoid long extra-inning games by starting each extra half-inning with a runner on second base? That rule intrigues me. I like how it forces a team to seriously consider bunting and playing “small ball” instead of taking huge swings while not caring if they strike out.
Seven-inning doubleheaders?
Do what is necessary.
Something happened with the Miami Marlins where they have been hit hard with virus infections. Other teams are being impacted. It has already messed up the schedule.
To play 60 games will mean doubleheaders. It could mean lots of doubleheaders.
Tribe fans may not have noticed it because Tribe pitchers have been healthy so far.
But MLB is being savaged by arm injuries to big names such as Corey Kluber, Justin Verlander and others. That was very likely because of the rushed summer camps to get ready to play.
Seven-inning doubleheaders can keep the strain off some pitching staffs.
My guess is they will have to make up other rules as they push to finish the season. The odds are that more than a few teams won’t play all 60 games not only because of the virus, but also old-fashioned rainouts.
That’s OK.
MLB should do the best it can with what the summer of 2020 allows. Have a regular-season champion based on winning percentage. Do whatever is needed to get to the 16-team playoff field.
MLB can sort out the rules for 2021 after this season.
But for now, enjoy the games because simply playing them is harder than ever before.
DON’T FORGET SATCHEL PAIGE!
I loved this note of how this was only the second time the Indians have ever had six consecutive starts by six different pitchers who went at least six innings, allowing two or fewer runs.
The Indians opened the 2020 season with Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco, Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale and Adam Plutko turning in those sparkling performances.
It ended with Bieber pitching eight scoreless innings in the Tribe’s 2-0 victory in Minnesota Friday.
In 1948, the Big Six to do it: Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, Sam Zoldak, Gene Bearden, Steve Gromek and Satchel Paige.
I love those names.
Just as Bieber ended the streak by coming back and not allowing a run, Paige took the mound and blanked the Chicago White Sox in 1948.
According to Baseball Reference, Paige was 42 years old when he threw that shutout. He had been in the Negro League for decades. His age was always a mystery. Paige had a 6-1 record and 2.48 ERA in 1948.
As for closers, I would go with dual closers. Closing is as much about opportunity as it is about being lights out.
They might only make 17 pitches a game, but if they do that 4 times a week, that is 68 pitches with little rest. It takes a toll. Those guys usually aren't change-up artists. They usually bring the smoke.
Save the arm. Rarely pitch a guy 2 days in a row until you get in to the playoffs.
I realize that win or loss in May might be the game that makes or breaks things. How many times have you seen a team finish 1-2 games out, or win by 1-2 games? Every win counts. Every loss hurts. They can happen at the beginning of the season or the end or the season. The focus is usually at seasons end, but that game you pulled out or lost in May might have been the game that got you there, or put you out.
Still, I think teams would be wise to go with a closer rotation like a starting rotation. Maybe it is just 2-3 players rather than the usual 4, maybe a 5th mixed in with a starting rotation.
Really poor at bats being put up by Indians' hitters today, and pretty much all series-long. Today they look like they'd rather be anywhere other than where they are.
Really poor at bats being put up by Indians' hitters today, and pretty much all series-long. Today they look like they'd rather be anywhere other than where they are.
In the 9th, we had Ramirez, Lindor, and Carlos Santana coming up - all three hitting into a defensive shift with only one fielder on the left side of the infield. Ask yourself - what do we need at this point, down 3-1? A baserunner, that's what. Each of them had power coming up behind them and should have been thinking of a way to get on - beat the shift. The 3rd baseman was playing SS, the pitcher, a righty, was flying off the mound towards 1B after each pitch. Shouldn't they have been thinking of dropping a bunt down the 3rd baseline just to get on? Instead, all 3 guys were just hacking, looking for the big fly.
Agree with you 100% But that is the way the game is played today
Yeah, I know. That's what announcers and talk show hosts keep telling me: baseball needs casual fans to survive, and casual fans love HRs. How do casual fans feel about losing?
Real similar to cavs blowing big leads and dropping games by throwing up brick after brick from three line. Like there were style points. This kind of hero ball drives me crazy to watch. A little short game would help, especially with the shifts. Not going to sell more beers in the stadium. Might just try to win games.
A snippet from The Athletic on the Tribe's hitting woes...
They haven’t had consecutive hits in 33 innings, dating back to Thursday night, when José Ramírez singled and Lindor homered. As a team, they have posted a — you must be at least 18 years of age to view this obscene content — .193/.285/.278 slash line. That’s essentially a lineup full of Michael Martínezes (career .194/.243/.261 clip).
They have hit six home runs as a team, as many as the Phillies, who haven’t played a game in a week. It’s one more than the Marlins and Brewers have hit, and those teams have been stranded in their hotel rooms. Of the teams that have actually been on the field, only the Diamondbacks have clubbed fewer homers.
The Indians outfield, a nightly grab-bag trio, has produced a .122/.238/.167 slash line and has created runs at a rate 81 percent worse than the league average.
Oscar Mercado has reached base twice in 25 trips to the plate. Jordan Luplow is hitless in 12 at-bats. The catching triumvirate of Roberto Pérez, Sandy León and Beau Taylor has collected three hits in 31 at-bats. Franmil Reyes, who possessed the Midas touch in the spring, has tallied six forgettable hits, none of them the sort of exosphere-reaching long balls he’s accustomed to swatting.
One way to illustrate Reyes’ struggles: He has one barrel in 22 batted balls this season. In simple terms, a barrel is a well-struck ball that, based on exit velocity and launch angle, should lead to a hit, often the extra-base variety. Reyes’ barrel percentage last season, 14.8 percent, ranked in the top 6 percent of the league. So far this season, his percentage sits at 4.5 percent. The Indians, as a team, rank 28th in the majors in barrel percentage.
Runners on first and second and nobody out. Top of the eighth. A prime opportunity to take the lead and never look back.
To get to that point, they needed another fine start from Zach Plesac. He went seven innings and allowed three runs. His only mistakes came to Nick Castellano’s and Joey Votto, who each meted out long balls as punishment.
Still — a 3-2 ballgame sat in the balance, and the Indians got a couple of nice breaks in to start the eighth. Greg Allen reached via HBP, then César Hernández grounded toward Freddy Galvis. It took a terrible hop on the edge of the infield grass and nearly domed Galvis; he managed to knock it down and flailed while flipping it to second. Allen reached without incident.
It felt like a little bit of luck might propel a rally for the Tribe. Or it might have felt that way to anyone who hasn’t watched the Indians this season.
José Ramírez struck out while flinging his bat all the way to second base. Then, Hernández got a terrible jump to second on a ball in the dirt. He still had a chance to sneak in before Barnhart’s throw reached, but a poor slide ensured the out. Lindor took the inning behind the dugout, shot it twice in the back of the head, then tossed it into the Ohio River with a brick tied to its ankles when he struck out on a not-very-close slider.
Shocking no one, the Indians went in order in the top of the ninth. Daniel Johnson, who made the last out, walked quietly to the dugout with the bat in his hand. The rest of the team packed their bags on the bench, no one chattering, no one making eye contact.
It’s one thing for a team to take some quality hacks and strike out trying to bring the runs home. What we saw in the eighth and ninth tonight — I’m not even sure what you call it. Remember the game when Rajai Davis lost two balls in the sun, or the time Mike Napoli and Jason Kipnis just stared at each other while a foul ball fell to the ground?
This felt worse than both of those because I knew it would happen. As soon as runners reached first and second with no outs, rather than getting excited about a possible rally, I asked myself, “How are they going to screw this one up?”
They’re running out of ways to one-up their own atrocities.
Other things that happened It wasn’t all bad. Just most of it.
Lindor went yard with two out in the first. Sonny Gray tried to sneak a fastball inside and failed.
Oscar Mercado got a bloop single to left center. He advanced to second base after Votto failed to snare a throw back to first, to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on a second wild pitch. Yes - one of the Indians’ two runs was generated by a gift hit and three mistakes.
Zach Plesac looked good tonight. He mixed his pitches well and managed to freeze a few hitters with a curveball up in the zone. His two aforementioned mistakes were regrettable but not insurmountable for a group of major league hitters. The Indians have yet to convince me that they have any of those this season.
The bullpen is also still good, but it doesn’t really matter when you’re always pitching from behind.
Tidbits to Tribe Someone, anybody, please, go make sure Franmil Reyes is actually the guy putting on his uniform everyday, because whoever it is sure doesn’t look like a baseball player at the dish. After the second inning, the Indians sent two batters more than the minimum to the plate. In all but two of those innings they went in order; in one, Lindor was thrown out trying to steal second. Zach Plesac is 0-1 in two starts with 17 Ks, 1 BB, and a 1.80 ERA. The Indians play the Reds again tomorrow. Shane Bieber takes the mound and I’m not sure I’d trade places with him for all the whiskey in Ireland.
A snippet from The Athletic on the Tribe's hitting woes...
They haven’t had consecutive hits in 33 innings, dating back to Thursday night, when José Ramírez singled and Lindor homered. As a team, they have posted a — you must be at least 18 years of age to view this obscene content — .193/.285/.278 slash line. That’s essentially a lineup full of Michael Martínezes (career .194/.243/.261 clip).
They have hit six home runs as a team, as many as the Phillies, who haven’t played a game in a week. It’s one more than the Marlins and Brewers have hit, and those teams have been stranded in their hotel rooms. Of the teams that have actually been on the field, only the Diamondbacks have clubbed fewer homers.
The Indians outfield, a nightly grab-bag trio, has produced a .122/.238/.167 slash line and has created runs at a rate 81 percent worse than the league average.
Oscar Mercado has reached base twice in 25 trips to the plate. Jordan Luplow is hitless in 12 at-bats. The catching triumvirate of Roberto Pérez, Sandy León and Beau Taylor has collected three hits in 31 at-bats. Franmil Reyes, who possessed the Midas touch in the spring, has tallied six forgettable hits, none of them the sort of exosphere-reaching long balls he’s accustomed to swatting.
One way to illustrate Reyes’ struggles: He has one barrel in 22 batted balls this season. In simple terms, a barrel is a well-struck ball that, based on exit velocity and launch angle, should lead to a hit, often the extra-base variety. Reyes’ barrel percentage last season, 14.8 percent, ranked in the top 6 percent of the league. So far this season, his percentage sits at 4.5 percent. The Indians, as a team, rank 28th in the majors in barrel percentage.
I can see having the playoffs in a bubble. There are multiple facilities with multiple fields. The Indians/Cubs facility in AZ could be one. Lock the boys up in a local hotel and bus them to the fields. There are probably some with on site housing. Atlanta would be a good site even though it is just one field. There is a big hotel right there.
You could still do two games a day. Maybe even 3 if you went outside the box and had a game at 10 AM. One at 10, one at 3, and one at 8PM. Three hours for the game and a hour to fumigate the clubhouse and dugouts Six teams in the hotel, each teams gets 2 floors, it could be done.
Probably more realistic to have 3-4 sites hosting 2 games a day. One early game, one late game. Got to give players a hour or so to warm up, batting practice, then give the grounds crew time to prep the field for play.
The Indians have taken much pride as an organization in keeping a clean clubhouse culture and doing things the right way. It’s part of the reason why Cleveland has endured success under Terry Francona, being one of baseball’s best with a combined regular season 380 victories from 2016-19.
That culture was thought to be more important than ever throughout the clubhouse in the preseason. In this unprecedented 60-game sprint due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization held zoom sessions leading up to it to educate players and make them aware of the threat of COVID-19. The organization held preseason meetings to develop an organized code of conduct. It was being stressed in media sessions how having a focus both on and off the field was especially necessary to avoid any bad situations, like the ones we’ve seen from the Marlins and Cardinals thus far.
After all of that, Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger’s Saturday night out for some beers in Chicago has caused distractions and a broken trust in Cleveland’s clubhouse.
The Tribe looked flat in Tuesday’s 7-1 loss to the Cubs, and it was easy to see why from Adam Plutko’s postgame comments. The right-hander, who lost out on a rotation spot in summer camp to Plesac and was filling in for Clevinger in Tuesday’s start, did not hold back when asked what the two could do to regain the rest of the players’ trust.
“They hurt us bad. They lied to us,” Plutko said. “They sat here in front of you guys (the media) and publicly said things that they didn’t follow through on. It’s going to be up to them. It really is. I’ll let them sit here and tell you how they’re going to earn their trust back. I don’t need to put words in their mouths. The term that I continue to hear and excuse my language, is ‘grown ass man,’ right? So, those grown ass men can sit here and tell you guys what happened and tell you guys what they’re going to do to fix it, so I don’t need to do that for them.”
The comments from Plutko, who carries a voice in the clubhouse and is the Indians player rep in the MLB Players Association, come off as bold yet warranted. The team went through a pregame meeting with Francona and the staff at Progressive Field, then held a players-only meeting to discuss Clevinger and Plesac’s violations before Tuesday’s game.
“2020 is a year of distractions as far as playing baseball, that’s for sure,” Plutko added. “Dealing with what we did pregame, (it’s) not ideal. (It’s) not really what any of us want to talk about, or really what any of us want to think about. But the reality is that’s where we’re at right now. It was another distraction for us tonight. I’m not gonna say that that’s the difference-maker but it contributes. Of the 28 other teams playing games tonight, no other team had to deal with what we had to deal with tonight. It is what it is.”
Clevinger and Plesac will undergo COVID-19 testing on Wednesday, Indians President Chris Antonetti announced Tuesday in a pregame press conference. While the organization has no reason to believe the two pitchers were not in the presence of a COVID-19 positive individual in Chicago, Cleveland has still elected to keep them quarantined for 72 hours and has not given details on a return to the club. Antonetti noted that Clevinger and Plesac both being on the restricted list was the Indians’ decision as an organization, not any sort of a rule from Major League Baseball.
Based on Plutko’s comments, and the fact that Cleveland has set a rotation of Aaron Civale on Friday, Shane Bieber on Saturday and Plutko on Sunday, it doesn’t look like either Clevinger or Plesac will be heard from this week.
On the field, this stings in numerous ways. The Indians were held to two or fewer runs for the 11th time in 18 games on Tuesday. They are fortunate to be 10-8, and that’s because of a starting rotation that’s been the best in baseball. On Tuesday, the club’s streak of 17 games to start the season without allowing more than four runs in a game was snapped.
What’s jarring is the comments made by both pitchers in the preseason.
“This isn’t going to be a ‘run to daddy’ kind kind of thing,” Clevinger said then. “We’re going to handle it in-house. This is a player discipline thing. Keep the coaches, front office kind of out of it. It puts a little extra accountability, kind of. Just having that trust in your teammates is a big thing, I think. It’s a big thing on the field. If you feel your teammate doesn’t trust you off the field how are you going to feel like he trusts you when you get between the lines?”
“There are common sense situations, where you see things are packed, or going out to the bars and drinking — doing stuff like that isn’t stuff that’s really important to us right now and shouldn’t be important to us right now,” Plesac said then.
The salt to the wound is the fact that Clevinger doubled down, reportedly sticking up for Plesac in a team meeting Sunday and lying to his teammates by being around them, and flying back to Cleveland from Chicago.
It leaves the Indians clubhouse in a strange predicament, one that only gets magnified by the times we are living in, and the timing of the season.
My brother in law is a Tigers fan. Several weeks ago he started texting me at 530am and trashing the Tribe, asking me how it felt to be looking up at the Tigers. Fast forward to today and I am texing him back at 530 am with this..
Indians have pretty much dominated the Tigers since the 90's, but it wasn't always that way. When I was a kid in the 60's, it was the other way around. I still remember a late-summer weekend series in Detroit in 1968, when the Indians were in contention, and we had Sam McDowell, Luis Tiant, and Sonny Siebert pitching against Denny McClain, Mickey Lolich, and Earl Wilson. We came into town a game out of first and left town 4 games out, and it was over. That was a great Tigers team that ended up beating Bob Gibson and the St Louis Cardinals to win the World Series. I still remember rushing home from school to watch that World Series matchup between Mickey Lolich and Bob Gibson in Game 7 that year.
5 runs given up with at least 4 of them coming on HR’s ... thats incredible ..
Any clue how many runners have gotten into scoring position on him? ...
I don’t watch MLB anymore .. not since they cancelled the WS back in 94 but last night my wife had her Pirates on and i glanced over a few times and was drawn in watching him pitch ... what a performance ... I’ll watch him whenever i can now ... love watching a great pitcher work ...
Last night was on Sandy Alomar. He is filling as manager right how, and he left Plutko in to completely self-destruct, when it was apparent that he had lost it.
I can't wait to see him pitch tonight. He's a tall, skinny kid, with a mid 90's fastball, and a really nice curveball. I saw him with the Scrappers a couple of years ago, and he showed a ton of potential then.
When Triston McKenzie was taken by the Indians in the supplemental part of the first round of the 2015 draft (42nd overall), he wasn’t as big of a story as a first round pick normally would be as Brady Aiken’s second first round selection was the primary headline. As Aiken was recovering from Tommy John surgery, however, McKenzie quickly became the top prospect not only from the 2015 draft, but in the Indians farm system as a whole.
He began his professional career in 2015 with the Arizona League Indians where the Indians were incredibly cautious, limiting him to four appearances, all four innings or less. Despite this small sample size, he showcased his great command and swing and miss ability, striking out 17 to three walks in 12 innings while allowing just four hits and one run.
After beginning 2016 in extended spring training, McKenzie opened the official season with Mahoning Valley. There, he opened his season with a 0.28 ERA, .193/.279/.257 batting line, 34 K and 12 BB across 31.2 innings and six starts. When he was regularly going six innings per start, the Indians promoted McKenzie to Lake County where, in his debut, he struck out 11 in five innings without a walk. While he wasn’t quite as effective there, he was only 18 years old, nearly four years younger than the average A baller.
The 2017 season would be McKenzie’s first full season with a team as he threw 143 innings with the Lynchburg Hillcats. There, he extended himself to a peak of seven innings and had his best career game, a six inning, 14 K, one walk, one hit, shut out effort against the Carolina Mudcats on May 9th. He finished the season with a 3.46 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 186 strike outs and 45 walks in 25 starts.
By this point, McKenzie was universally considered a top five Indians prospect and a top 50 prospect in all of baseball. Unfortunately, it was here that his career took a turn. Dealing with right arm pain, he hit the injured reserve to begin 2018. He recovered without surgery and began his season the first week of June with the Rubberducks where he quickly became their top starter, beginning with a shut out in his 2018 debut. He didn’t miss a start for the rest of the year and only pitched fewer than five innings in one start (he went 4.2). He was particularly dominant to end the season, posting a 2.09 ERA, .177/.255/.320 line against and 65 strike outs in 64.2 innings across his final 11 starts.
Just when it looked like he was ready to hit AAA, McKenzie had another setback. Dealing again with arm/shoulder issues, he never pitched after spring training in the 2019 season. Following the season, he was added to the 40 man roster to protect from being taken in the rule 5 draft and he joined the Major League club in spring training in 2020. While he worked out with the team, he never made it into an official game before the season was prematurely shut down. Instead, he was optioned to the alternate training site in Lake County where he has been pitching regularly and in full health all season.
Ready for the big leagues, he has been biding his time there until the demotions of Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac opened up a couple spots in the rotation. Now, McKenzie is slated to make his debut on August 22nd against the Tigers just five years after being drafted out of Royal Palm Beach High School. Despite being drafted earlier than Indians pitchers Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale (both 2016) and James Karinchak (2017), McKenzie is the youngest player on the Indians 40 man roster at 23 years old.
McKenzie has been an extremely interesting player throughout his minor league career largely because of his extremes. As a 17 year old when drafted, he has always been on the extreme young end of every team he’s pitched for. At 6’5″ 165 lbs, he’s stuck out as well as both the tallest and lightest as well. In fact, he matches Carlos Carrasco as the Indians tallest pitcher and sits just an inch (and 100 pounds) behind Franmil Reyes. His pitches are also extreme as it is very rare to have a combination of speed (mid-90’s), movement and command as is found in McKenzie’s fastball, curve and change (check out the full scouting report here).
There have been many who have questioned McKenzie throughout his career so far due to injury fears and his body type, but he has been nothing but dominant when on the mound. Now, he finally has the chance to prove himself in the big leagues and, with questions surrounding the pair of Indians starters demoted earlier, he could potentially stick around for quite some time.
The Indians organization continues to impress me with how the trade for, and draft, young talent coupled with their player development program for their pitchers.
C.C. Sabathia Jake Westbrook Cliff Lee Carlos Carrasco Corey Kluber Justin Masterson Mike Clevinger Shane Bieber Aaron Civale Zach Plesac
....and hopefully Triston McKenzie as well.
Little known fact: In 2005 the Indians drafted Tim Lincecum but he didn't sign with the team. He went on to have a handful for dominating years as a pitcher until something happened with his arm. Wonder if the Indians' system could have helped in that regard.
Announcers Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus were just talking about them on todays broadcast, and they think both will be back in the next couple days.
It now appears we are going to need to trade some starting pitching for an outfield bat. Indians hitters look like they all have killer hangovers today while making Tigers ham-and-egger pitchers look like Jack Morris in his prime.
Announcers Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus were just talking about them on todays broadcast, and they think both will be back in the next couple days.
It now appears we are going to need to trade some starting pitching for an outfield bat. Indians hitters look like they all have killer hangovers today while making Tigers ham-and-egger pitchers look like Jack Morris in his prime.
And the moment I posted this, Greg Allen hit a 3-run HR. LMAO.
We have 4 guys doing a semi-professional job at the plate .... 5 if you want your clean up hitter getting a ton of walks and that's about it. 6-9 in out lineup today, including replacements, are all hitting .169 ..... or less.
Why we haven't brought back Jake Bauers is beyond me. He cannot possibly be worse that what we are seeing from our outfielders right now.
JMO, but I don't think Jake Bauers is the answer. We have too many AAA outfielders on this roster already, and he's just another of the same. I had high hopes for Oscar Mercado, but like all our hitters, he fell in love with the HR trot instead of hitting hard shots to the gaps. Somebody in that clubhouse, whether its Tito or Sandy at manager, needs to get through to these hitters to stop swinging for the fences and to make hard contact.
Sandy really .... *ahem* irritated me .. when he left an obviously flailing Adam Plutko in to get shelled, the other day. Plutko is probably a great reliever/spot starter ...... but he's a guy who loses something the 2nd time through a lineup.
Back to hitters ...... what do they have to lose by bringing Bauers back up for a look? That maybe he can't hit .143?
I'd like to see them try to work a deal with the Yankees to bring back Clint Frazier. Frazier's going to get benched when Giancarlo Stanton comes off the IL in the next week or so, because the Yanks have so much outfield & DH depth.
Sandy really .... *ahem* irritated me .. when he left an obviously flailing Adam Plutko in to get shelled, the other day. Plutko is probably a great reliever/spot starter ...... but he's a guy who loses something the 2nd time through a lineup.
Back to hitters ...... what do they have to lose by bringing Bauers back up for a look? That maybe he can't hit .143?
I might agree. I just don't know the status of the bullpen. Has it been overworked? Sometimes you just feel you need to get innings out of the starter to rest the pen.
CLEVELAND -- For the first time in three weeks, starter Mike Clevinger will be back on the mound for the Tribe.
The Indians announced on Tuesday that Clevinger will be recalled from Lake County, Ohio, prior to the series finale against Minnesota on Wednesday (7:10 p.m. ET, live on MLB.TV). It will be his first start since Aug. 5, against Cincinnati. Clevinger spent the past 11 days at the Tribe's alternate training site after a four-day stint on the restricted list. Zach Plesac remains in Lake County.
"We have a lot of clouds over this organization right now, even though we're doing great things," Indians temporary manager Sandy Alomar Jr. said. "It's time to start the healing process with these guys. In order to go places, we're going to need these guys, and also we're going to eventually need [Terry Francona] back. It's time to get a little bit of sunshine out there, because we've been surrounded by clouds the whole time, even though we've stayed afloat."
After filling the only hole in the five-man rotation now that Triston McKenzie has at least secured one more start, Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti also reached out to Plesac.
"I followed up and talked with Zach to explain the decision and let him know that we don't yet have an opportunity for him at the Major League level," Antonetti said. "But as we all have seen time and time again, that can change very quickly. So it's up to him to continue to pitch the way he's capable of pitching, continue to put in the work and be an option for us whenever we have the opportunity for it."
Clevinger had gotten off to a shaky start to the year, as he was learning to trust his surgically repaired knee again on the rubber, but he showed more positive signs of settling in against the Reds -- despite his five walks -- while showcasing his new cutter for the first time all season. But now, not only will he have to worry about the sharpness of his stuff after missing three weeks of action, he'll also have to focus on repairing his relationships with his teammates, which Antonetti said is off to a decent start.
"I think Mike has had the chance to reflect upon a lot over the course of the last week-to-10 days and is really eager to rejoin the team and get back up here and help us win games," Antonetti said. "And I know in talking to our players, we're all ready to have him back and looking forward to him go out tomorrow night and pitch the way we all know he's capable of pitching."
After the Indians learned that Plesac broke team protocols in Chicago on Aug. 8, the team sent him home via car service immediately the next morning to eliminate any potential risk of COVID-19 exposure. But it wasn't known that Clevinger, who sat through a team meeting on Aug. 9 and flew home with the Tribe that evening, was also out with Plesac past curfew, until the day after that meeting, causing some of his teammates to express how much trust was lost in that process.
Clevinger and Plesac briefly faced their teammates in person at a meeting in Detroit on Aug. 14 -- the day it was decided that the best option would be for the pair of right-handers to be optioned to Lake County. The righties have since worked out at the alternate training site, with Clevinger throwing five simulated innings last Wednesday and a low-intensity bullpen session on Monday.
"I guess both of them have remorse about what happened," Alomar said. "They want the opportunity to be given the chance to prove that they changed. And we're human beings. We're going to make mistakes. I think a little separation from the club helped, and it's time for the healing process and for those two guys to let their teammates know that they've made some changes."
I'm a big fan of Carlos Carrasco, but I'm not sure he's still a starting pitcher, after all he's been through. His stuff doesn't seem to to hold up over multiple innings any more. The other day he came out in the 1st inning throwing 95, but he couldn't maintain it, and he got hit hard in the 3rd or 4th inning. I'd like to see Carrasco moved to a set-up / occasional closer role in the late innings, joining Karinchak and Hand to make up a 7th-8th-9th inning bullpen that would rival Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller, and Cody Allen in 2016. Go with a starting staff of Bieber, Clevinger, Civale, Plesac, and McKenzie over the last 30 games.
1. I’ve heard some fans talking about the Indians picking up a bat such Boston’s J.D. Martinez. Just stop. It’s not going to happen. The Indians are like several other mid-market teams in the COVID-19 era. They have no plans to add a dime to their 2020 payroll.
2. For what it’s worth, Martinez is batting .213 (.686 OPS) with three homers and 15 RBI this season. He’s a big-time hitter off to a slow start. In the previous three years, he averaged 41 HR and 113 RBI. He also has two more years on his contract worth $19.5 million annually.
3. The Indians have been cutting payroll even before the virus hit. Their payroll dropped from $135 million in 2018 to $119 million in 2019. This season, it would have been in the $90 million range if 162 games were played, according to Cots Contracts.
4. As Tribe President Chris Antonetti recently said: “We’ve been pretty transparent about the magnitude of our financial losses. That’s the case for a lot of teams across the industry.”
5. But the Indians were having financial problems before the virus. Part of the reason is they lost minor investor John Sherman, who purchased the Kansas City Royals. Sherman had an estimated 15-to-20 percent interest in the Tribe. I’m told his stake in the team is in some type of escrow account. The Indians will either add another minority owner or they have to buy out Sherman’s share. But I’m not sure what is the timetable for that to happen.
6. In June, Antonetti said: “Our financial losses will be extraordinary this year.” Nothing has changed since then. In fact, the Indians are one of many teams where employees have taken pay cuts and/or were laid off.
7. With the exception of some big market franchises, most teams are reluctant to make big moves. While it appears the season will be played to a conclusion and then have an extended playoffs, that is not a sure thing. The virus has hit some franchises very hard. Teams wonder, “What if we don’t finish the year and that cuts off the TV revenue?”
8. In the short term, that brings us to Mike Clevinger. The pitcher has about $750,000 left on contract for the rest of 2020. The Indians don’t feel any urgency to trade him. He has worked his way back into favor with the team and the players after his night out in Chicago.
9. Teams are calling the Tribe about Clevinger. The Indians do have an excess of starting pitching, one of the few teams able to make that claim. Clevinger has two more years left under team contract. That means a club trading for him can view it as a long-term acquisition.
10. The Indians are interested to making a Trevor Bauer-type trade for Clevinger, with one exception. They would not pick up a somewhat-expensive veteran OF such as Yasiel Puig, who was part of the deal in 2019. They would be looking for players such Franmil Reyes (under team control for four years) and pitching prospects Logan Allen and Scott Moss.
11. Puig agreed to a contract right before the season with Atlanta. He failed the COVID-19 test. Since then, there have been rumors about Puig signing elsewhere, but it hasn’t happened. That does tell you something about him and his market value.
12. One of the rumors floating around for a while has been Clevinger to the Yankees for some prospects starting with former Tribe OF Clint Frazier. It does make sense. The Yankees don’t need him when their OFs are healthy. In 462 MLB career plate appearances, Frazier is a .258 hitter (.785 OPS) with 18 HR and 64 RBI.
13. The 25-year-old Frazier has had some immature moments in New York. He has a history of concussions. But I think putting him in a stable, less-pressurized situation such as Cleveland would allow his promising bat to produce. But I don’t hear strong rumors about this deal right now. The Indians have made trades with the Yankees, including the 2016 deal for Andrew Miller that sent Frazier to New York.
14. Money will become a concern with Clevinger. He is arbitration eligible in 2021. His 162-game base salary was $4.1 million. That probably will increase to $7 million or more. That’s why it’s likely the Indians will trade him in the off-season if it doesn’t happen in the next few days.
15. I was wondering about Brad Hand being traded. After a slow start to the season, Hand has pitched well lately. He is is 9-of-9 in save opportunities with a 3.72 ERA. He has a $10 million team option for 2021. The Indians won’t pick that up.
16. James Karinchak is set to close in 2021. If they can move Hand for an outfielder, Karinchak can take over the role right now. He has allowed one run in 16 2/3 innings. He’s fanned 31 and walked only six.
17. The Indians will be making some painful decisions after the season. Carlos Santana has a team option for $17.5 million. That won’t be picked up, even though the Indians treasure their durable first baseman.
18. Santana will probably end up like a lot of free agents after the 2020 season: The market will be stingy and very tight. Perhaps he comes back to the Tribe on a very cheap contract. Hand is another who could find few teams willing to bid for him.
19. Of course, there will be the Francisco Lindor rumors after the season. He will be in line for a contract worth more than $20 million through arbitration in 2021. The Indians won’t pay him that.
20. A big problem for teams such as the Tribe is selling 2021 tickets. How many (if any) fans will be allowed to attend? Even if fans can come, how many will do so? COVID-19 keeps changing our behavior and also has delivered a major hit to disposable income for individual fans and those businesses that seek season tickets.
Painful changes are coming for many teams, not just the Tribe.
Tom Hamilton just said that Roberto Perez had 3 hits last night, raising his batting average to .167. That's awful. The bottom 4 of our line-up are awful.
EDIT: Indians win 2-1 in 12 innings. Yippee, or something.
Tom Hamilton just said that Roberto Perez had 3 hits last night, raising his batting average to .167. That's awful. The bottom 4 of our line-up are awful.
EDIT: Indians win 2-1 in 12 innings. Yippee, or something.
they really are, Perez is just never going to be a MLB hitter, and the catcher position in general for us. but Perez, Leon, Luplow and allen are really really bad. We are lucky our pitching is lights out. Def. the reason we've won as much as we have. Offense in general has been inconsistent. 14 runs yesterday on 20+ hits and today takes 12 innings to get 2
I know catcher is considered a defense-first type position, but come on, you gotta hit at least .220 or .230. Perez hit over 20 HR last year and now he couldn't hit a beach ball if it was tossed underhand.
Perez is a good hitter. He has missed a great deal of time with an injury, and only has only played 7 games this year, with a whopping 22 AB. Give him a chance to get going already.
Last year he hit .239 with 24 HR and 63 RBI. That is more than respectable for a "defense first" catcher.
Perez is a good hitter. He has missed a great deal of time with an injury, and only has only played 7 games this year, with a whopping 22 AB. Give him a chance to get going already.
Last year he hit .239 with 24 HR and 63 RBI. That is more than respectable for a "defense first" catcher.
You're right. I just got frustrated with the bottom of the line up, listening to and watching games so far this season. So tired of watching guys not even put the ball in play these days. They just swing and miss, it seems.
If Naquin can stay healthy, always a big if for him, he will contribute offensively. It looks as though DeShields is starting to come around. Carlos Santana is a huge concern to me. He's drawing walks, but even with leading the league in walks, he's only hitting just over .200.
We'll see what happens. We faced a very good pitcher today in Flaherty.
The babbling heads were talking last night on the TV broadcast, and the Indians have a very advantageous schedule from here out. After we finish up in St Louis tomorrow, our next 10 are 7 against KC, and 3 against the Brewers. That's a real opportunity to make some hay (as they say) right there.
Cleveland's pitching has been historically great so far in 2020 In related matters, Cleveland is now alone in first place in the AL Central
Cleveland's win over the Cardinals on Saturday (CLE 2, STL 1 in 12 innings) in tandem with the Twins' fourth straight loss means Cleveland is now alone in first place in the American League Central. So how does a team rise to the top of what's been baseball's toughest division despite an offense that's solidly below average in pretty much every regard? There's no surer way to overcome lackluster hitting than by dominating on the slab, and that's precisely what Cleveland has done in 2020.
Right now, Cleveland leads the majors with a team ERA of 2.75, which puts them just ahead of the second-place Dodgers, who have a team ERA of 2.76. However, the Dodgers play in a park that suppresses run-scoring, while Cleveland's home yard benefits the hitter. As well, the Dodgers have allowed 14 unearned runs in 34 games, while Cleveland has allowed four unearned runs in 33 games. Despite the earned/unearned distinctions, pitchers bear a great deal of responsibility for unearned runs. On top of all that, Cleveland has been significantly stronger than the Dodgers when it comes to underlying pitching indicators.
Really, though, saying Cleveland "merely" has the best pitching staff of 2020 thus far undersells how dominant they've been. So let's put their performance in context. To do that, we'll use a stat called "ERA+," which is sometimes known as Adjusted ERA. ERA+ is a pitcher's or pitching staff's ERA adjusted to reflect home ballpark and league environment. It's scaled so that a mark of 100 is league average, and the higher the mark the better from the pitcher's standpoint. An ERA+ of 110 means that the pitcher's park- and league-adjusted ERA was 10 percent better than the league mean. Likewise, an ERA+ of 90 means that the pitcher's park- and league-adjusted ERA was 10 percent worse than the league mean.
With that freshly in mind, let's look at the top 10 team ERA+ figures of all-time.
Rank
Team
ERA+
1.
2020 Cleveland
164
2.
2020 Dodgers
159
3.
1906 Cubs
151
4.
1909 Cubs
147
5.
1905 Cubs
146
6.
1907 Cubs
143
7.
1926 Athletics
139
8.
2017 Cleveland
138
9.
1942 Cardinals
135
10.
2018 Astros
134
These numbers from the very excellent Stathead are current as of Saturday morning, so they don't reflect the fact that Cleveland later on Saturday allowed one run in 12 innings. So that 164 figure is even higher now. Things as they are, Cleveland is on pace to set the all-time team record and then some. Yes, the 2020 regular season will span just 60 games, so discount accordingly because of the small sample size. Even so, that's dominance on a historic scale.
Speaking of dominance, the 2020 Cleveland pitching staff has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.26. The current single-season record belongs to the 2017 Cleveland staff with a mark of 3.98. As you can see, the current Cleveland model is on pace to smash that record to bits. That also means their sparkling ERA+ is backed up by excellence at the command-and-control level.
It's further impressive that Cleveland has been able to achieve this given that they traded Trevor Bauer last season and Corey Kluber this past winter. As well, Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac have been limited to seven combined starts because of their decisions to violate COVID-19 protocols. The personnel turns over, and Cleveland just keeps conjuring up arms who keep runs off the board. It's hard to overstate just how excellent the organization has been at developing pitching. To put a finer point on it, five of the seven pitchers who have made starts for Cleveland this season are homegrown -- that includes AL Cy Young front-runner Shane Bieber.
There's also this bit of aesthetically pleasing balance: Cleveland this season ranks first in MLB with a rotation ERA of 2.95 and third in MLB with a bullpen ERA of 2.38. No matter the inning -- early, middle, or late -- it's difficult to score runs against this team. More precisely, it's difficult to unprecedented extremes.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale is reporting that the Indians and White Sox are discussing a deal that would send Clevinger to the White Sox for Michael Kopech and Adam Engel. It doesn't make sense to me.
I agree with Jensen Lewis who tweeted that if it doesn't include Luis Robert, there's no reason for it. Kopech opted out this season, is coming off TJ surgery, and Adam Engel isn't going to fix this offense.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale is reporting that the Indians and White Sox are discussing a deal that would send Clevinger to the White Sox for Michael Kopech and Adam Engel. It doesn't make sense to me.
I agree with Jensen Lewis who tweeted that if it doesn't include Luis Robert, there's no reason for it. Kopech opted out this season, is coming off TJ surgery, and Adam Engel isn't going to fix this offense.
The 1st thing I thought when I read this is: "Someone's out of their ^$#^*) mind!"
To me, if I don't hear at least one of these two names - Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert - along with Kopech, I hang up the phone on the Sox GM.
Yeah, unless I absolutely rob them, they aren't getting Clevinger. I want heavy duty, controllable pieces in return for a guy who could conceivably compete for a Cy Young, and why is under control for 2 more years.
Josh Naylor is listed as 5-11, 250 lb. I have no idea about his speed or athleticism, but that seems pretty heavy. I'm guessing we better have a roadrunner playing CF if he's going to play LF.
I'm pretty ignorant about prospects, so I have no idea if its a good trade or not. I wish Logdog still came around, because he was very knowledgeable about the whole "Baseball America" front, with regards to other teams' minor leaguers. I'm sure he'd have some good insights. That said, it seems like a strange trade for a team contending for the World Series. More like a rebuild/reload type trade, IMO.
The main goal of the Indians is to turn a profit. Winning is not what is important.
If money was the motive for the trade, you would think they would have moved Brad Hand, Carlos Santana, or Lindor. Clevinger's salary wasn't that big a hit on their bottom line yet. He's still under team control for 2 more years.
I am a Indians and Braves fan. And I am disappointed.
The Braves have a very good good outfield prospect named Drew Waters. He has been a top line prospect since being drafted. He was with the Braves in spring training and really impressed many people. The hitting coach in particular. This kid is going to be a hard hitting corner outfielder for years to come. Left handed hitter with good power. A confident hitter. Just what the Tribe needs. He is young. Has not played yet at the major league level. But he is ready.
The Braves are in desperate need of a starter since Soroka went down with an Achilles.
Would have been a win win.
Instead the Indians trade for a bunch a guys. None of which are top end prospects.
The Braves ended with Milone who they started last night. He got shelled.
92.3 The Fan reporting that Zach Plesac and Oscar Mercado will be back with the big club tomorrow. Plesac is scheduled to start against the Royals tomorrow night.
Its still a pretty good rotation, but Pete Franklin is probably rolling in his grave that we traded Bauer, Kluber, and Clevinger in the last year. When Pete was on the radio he always said that when you think you have enough pitching, you need more pitching. In his world you just didn't trade good starting pitchers.
I'm starting to wonder if Tito walks away after this season for health reasons.
If not I thought the plan was for him to step down the end of next year anyways. Further, I always figured there was a succession plan in place for Sandy Alomar to eventually replace Tito this whole time.
I bet Bauer helped him make it. I remember when Bauer put together his farewell video thanking the Cleveland and the fans and immediately thinking, "the Indians have made terrible mistake trading him!"
I wonder if Dan Gilbert would consider selling the Cavs and buying the Indians, because I am so tired of watching the team get decimated by the loss of front-line players when they reach a salary status that makes them unviable for local ownership. The last 25 years should have been a golden age of Indians' baseball, but instead we've watched a long line of good (and some great) hitters and pitchers either get traded for prospects, or just flat leave in free agency. The Indians deservedly get a lot of credit for finding and developing pitchers for a while now, but the flip side is that they have come up woefully short in developing outfield and corner infield hitters.
The expansion of Major League Baseball’s postseason format to 16 teams this year made for an exciting Aug. 31 Trade Deadline, as some teams already in the playoff picture pushed their chips all-in to make a blockbuster deal, while others on the brink of contention made deals simply to help improve their postseason odds.
But when it was all over, and the deadline had passed, only one player from MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list, Taylor Trammell, had been dealt, going from the Padres to Seattle as part of a seven-player blockbuster.
That number is down from last year, when five Top 100 prospects were moved ahead of the Deadline. And for additional context, there were two Top 100 prospects traded prior to the 2018 Deadline, seven in ‘17 and eight in ‘16.
Overall, 20 players ranked on team Top 30 lists, as well as several more notable prospects, were traded before this year’s Deadline.
So who were the best prospects to change teams during this period? Below we have ranked each of the 24 prospects who have been traded since the start of the regular season on July 23.
1. Taylor Trammell, OF, Mariners (No. 6/MLB No. 60) (Acquired with Andres Muñoz, Luis Torrens and Ty France from the Padres for Austin Adams, Austin Nola and Dan Altavilla on Aug. 30)
The highest-ranked prospect traded before the Deadline for a second straight year, Trammell, 22, has now been dealt twice in five seasons since the Reds selected him with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2016 Draft. He batted only .234/.340/.349 with 10 homers and 20 steals last year in his first Double-A campaign, but has long shown the type of across-the-board tools, including an above-average bat and plus speed that helps him impact games on the bases and in the field, needed to develop into an everyday big leaguer.
2. Gabriel Arias, SS, Indians (No. 5) (Acquired with Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges, Joey Cantillo and Owen Miller from Padres for Mike Clevinger, Greg Allen and PTBN on Aug. 31)
Viewed as one of the top prospects in the 2016-17 international class before signing with the Padres for $1.9 million, Arias was challenged by the Padres repeatedly early in his career, with the club often assigning him to play against much older and advanced competition. Long considered to be a plus defender with a rocket arm at shortstop, Arias made strides at the plate last season as a 19-year-old in the Class A Advanced California League, hitting .302 with 17 homers and 21 doubles.
3. Joey Cantillo, LHP, Indians (No. 15) (Acquired with Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges, Gabriel Arias and Owen Miller from Padres for Mike Clevinger, Greg Allen and PTBN on Aug. 31)
One of the youngest players in the 2017 Draft, when the Padres selected him in the 16th round from Kailua High School in Hawaii, Cantillo blossomed as a prospect last year in his first full season, posting a 2.26 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 144/34 K/BB in 111 2/3 innings (22 starts) between Class A Fort Wayne and Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore. While nothing the 20-year-old southpaw throws is particularly overpowering, he has good feel for mixing four pitches, throws tons of strikes and has plenty of durability in his 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame.
7. Owen Miller, SS/2B, Indians (No. 19) (Acquired with Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges, Gabriel Arias and Joey Cantillo from Padres for Mike Clevinger, Greg Allen and PTBN on Aug. 31)
Miller has done nothing but hit as a pro since signing with the Padres as a third-round pick from Illinois State in 2018. He racked up 100 hits during his pro debut and finished the summer as Double-A San Antonio’s everyday shortstop, then returned to the level in 2019 to hit .290/.355/.430 with 13 homers and 28 doubles. Defensively, the 23-year-old is capable of playing either middle-infield position.
The guy was dead at the plate with an average play. You're right, it wasn't a force, but it would have been an out if he would have just made the play at 1st, and thrown home. Simple play that should have been made, and far more egregious than Naquin not being able to make a play at the wall. (and I like Carlos)
This offseason, after we trade Lindor, we need to take whatever money we would have given him via stalled contract talks and extend Bieber, forfeiting his arbitration years by giving him more money and extending him by a couple of years. His ceiling is amazing and it will help spell any fan animosity by trading their best offensive player.
hahaahha you are clueless about baseball. you know if you actually hit the ball you don't need walks, and santana is one of the worst fielding 1B in all of baseball. He should platoon at DH and not be fielding
'Los has the second highest OBP on the team. I'd still consider moving him back to the lead off position. Santana sees a lot pitches per AB.
His OBP is right around his career average, but his BA, Slugging, and OPS are all way down. Career OPS is .813, but this year its .694 (.750 is considered "average or adequate" for a ML hitter). More than any other Indian hitter, I think defensive shifts have messed with his mind. And while its great that he takes pitches and walks a lot, this line up needs him to provide power and drive in runs, especially given the offensive void at 6-7-8-9.
Soroka - gone for the year Hamels - has not pitched an inning Fried - currently on the IR was 6-0 due back next week Foltynewicz - demoted to minors Newcomb - demoted to minors Wright - a rookie was demoted. just brought back Hernandez - opted out
Every starter has been out.
Ozzie Albies - all star missed over a month. returned last night.
Acuna twice on the IR.
I would have not given them a chance. Amazing for them to be in first place.
Although I think they can not go far in post season.
Thought the nice thing about are line-up , where all the parts were movable. Well why not get crazy and change the batting order around ?? Move either Lindor or Santana to lead-off / Hernandez at two /Franmil or Ramirez at three or four .. Maybe Santana at five??
