DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum The 2016 Indians

Well folks, Spring Training 2016 is in the books. Indians head to Cleveland for the home opener against the Red Sox on Monday.

Starting Monday we have 6 months of baseball.

My detailed analysis:

The starting pitching is superb. The relief pitching is very good. The starting infield is decent. The starting outfield is a mess. DH is below average. No left-handed pitchers. (except journeyman Ross Detwiler - 7.25 ERA last year)

My one wish?

Brantley and Chisenhall make complete recoveries and exceed expectations. Rookie Wesley Naquin wins Rookie of the Year. The starting pitchers all pitch to expectations.Santana has a breakout year with 40+ homers.The infield stays healthy and productive. Cody Allen enters his prime. Bryan Shaw, Zach McAllister, Jeff Manship provide formidable middle relief. Somebody learns how to pitch left-handed. Maybe Brady Aiken and/or Justus Sheffield come up ( lefty 19 year-old pitchers)

Oppsss… Did I go over?

162 games. First one tomorrow. Last one, the Browns will be entering week #4.

My ranking (on a scale from 1-10)

Starting Pitching….…..9
Relief Pitching…………..7.5
Infield……………...……….6
Outfield, DH …..………..2

Am I there?

As far as lefties in the pen,TJ House and Kyle Crockett will likely be called up at some point this season. Don;t get hung up on the opening day roster.

I think this team is going to surprise some people this year.

Personally, I'd love to see them move Chisenhall, he reminds me of the busted Matt Laporta experiment. I like Brantley in left, Naquin in CF and let Byrd and Davis platoon in right. It'll be interesting to see how Naquin handles lefties.

Mike Napoli looks rejuvenated since having his sleep apnea surgery.

Headed to Opening Day tomorrow and it looks like it might be a wet one, Go Tribe!

*Just noticed Naquin's middle name is Wesley.

I don't want to hi-jack your thread but it looked as good a place as any for the prediction thread.

My hopes are high for 2016... if they can get off to a strong April, I say they will finish 92-70 and in the playoffs. If the cold weather hurts them, I say 86-76 and out of the playoffs.

We'll be okay if our offense can produce, and we limit fielding errors.

Chisenhall was one of the best defensive right fielders in the league last year.

I'm aware he's solid defensively.

Not solid. Best defensive right fielder in the American League.

Now if someone could only teach him to hit.

Meh, that's a stretch, but to each their own. Kole Calhoun and Josh Reddick are excellent defensively.

Chisenhall is a guy I am actively trying to upgrade.

It's his work at the plate that leaves a lot to be desired and is what bothers me about him. He lacks consistency at the plate.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier continue to develop.

Agreed. LaPorta did nothing well.

It seems like the Indians won't have to worry about the outfield for several years if all goes according to plan.

This very second Weather Channel legend Jim Cantore is standing on Progressive Field in Cleveland.



It looks like they’ll play today. Game time temps ~ 35 degrees. Snow possible.

I didn’t know Progressive Field has the largest scoreboard in the US.

For about the 40 games he played out there, yes, he was good.

Yep. They just finished installing it.

I absolutely love our pitching ... starters, relief, and depth ...... we have quality everywhere, and should be in every game as a result. I am really looking forward to seeing Tyler Naquin play on a somewhat regular basis. I liked the power he showed in spring training. Many people know that he hit 4 spring training HR .... but he also had 3 triples. 3! That is just incredible for 58 AB. He will not start the opener, due to a lefty being on the mound for the Red Sox .... but I am anxious to see him get some ABs. he could be a a piece of the answer in the outfield.

My shocker this spring? How about Yon Gomes hitting 6 HR in 50 AB? Last year he hit 12 HR in 350+ AB. Is he starting to mature as far as power, or was this just a spring mirage?

Despite the many questions our outfield has, our infield looks really solid. Urshela hit 5 HR this spring, and hit for average, and yet could not crack the infield out of spring training. Lindor looks like he is on a fast track to maturing as a Major League hitter, and his defense sure was there last year. I am excited to see him this year too.

Let's go Tribe!

Opening Day lineups:

Indians

1. CF Rajai Davis

2. 2B Jason Kipnis

3. SS Francisco Lindor

4. 1B Mike Napoli

5. DH Carlos Santana

6. C Yan Gomes

7. LF Marlon Byrd

8. 3B Juan Uribe

9. RF Collin Cowgill


Red Sox

1. RF Mookie Betts

2. 2B Dustin Pedroia

3. SS Xander Bogaerts

4. DH David Ortiz

5. 1B Hanley Ramirez

6. 3B Travis Shaw

7. LF Brock Holt

8. C Blake Swihart

9. CF Jackie Bradley Jr.


Pitching matchup: LHP David Price vs. RHP Corey Kluber

First pitch: 4:10 p.m.

No game.

Snow, rain postpones Red Sox vs. Indians on Opening Day

**sigh**

it's snowing hard right now here in CT

Undefeated in 2016!

Go Tribe and Go Bucs! Pirates beat St. Louis yesterday 4-1. Liriano, starting pitcher for the Pirates, got a single and an RBI. Way to help your own cause. Hope the Tribe wins tomorrow!

j/c

Bummer of a day, but the Indians, imo, have done right by the fans in a no win situation.

Fans who possessed tickets to Monday's season opener at Progressive Field have a decision to make.

They can attend Tuesday's make-up game and another home game in April or May, or they can attend any two home games in April or May.

Link

Board Member 2: "This guy here is dead!"

Rachel Phelps: "Cross him off, then!"

Geeze...32 out there today.

Only five degrees warmer than us up here in Alaska.

Is Byrd just a bigger guy, does he use a shorter bat, or is it both?

Coldest opening day in Indians history. Yuck.

I took off this coming Friday to potentially go to the White Sox opener against the Tribe (and it was a no school day too). I didn't buy tickets because the forecast said ~35 degrees. It would feel a bit colder than that with the wind and also most of the Cell seating is in the shade too. No thanks.

I don't mind being very cold at a Bears game, but I'm not sitting through that for baseball. Sorry Tribe, I'll catch you one of the other times you come through Chicago.

No hits for the good guys through three innings. Ugh.

Bats starting to come alive here in the 4th though.

Tied up!

Hats for bats; keeps bats warm.

Can we get a little global warming here?

Cancelled my single team subscription for the indians after about 36 hours.

Some of the worst customer service I've ever dealt with...

So they get sued for various issues (if you are a former subscriber you got the email in Feb or March) regarding viewership and viewing areas and all that, so they knock the price down of the full package and roll out this single team subscription offer, which for me, someone who roots for the indians but could care less about the rest of mlb, sounds awesome..

The info page on their site does not mention if the radio broadcast is included. So back when I recevied that email, I tweeted at their official account, and they reached out to me. I asked them about the radio stuff, and they directed me to the same info page. After I told them the info wasn't on there, they once again directed me to the same page (sweet job guys)

So I called to see if I could talk to someone with a pulse, and the guy over the phone assured me that the single team subscription included the Cleveland radio broadcasts)

and I try to flip on audio today, and NOPE.

I call and they give me this garbage about how they must have changed policy between my phone call and opening day.

Beyond awful. I can't stand Matt Underwood, so I'm probably going to wait until midseason and hopefully they're not 15 games under .500 and I can buy the whole package with all audio for 50 bucks.

I really don't understand why there can't be better customer service for these online plans. They're going to be a huge part of viewership over the next 10 years. The horror stories from NBA broadband aren't any better.

by Sperg above:

"Some of the worst customer service I've ever dealt with..."

As my hispanic friends would say (if I had any hispanic friends):

"No bueno".

As my non-hispanic friends would say (if I had any non-hispanic friends)

"That sucks".

This type of story lowers my expectations for the Indians. Lack of front-office professionalism.

It's not really a problem the Indians have any.m hand in. That's a league thing and they clearly don't care. Didn't try much to get me to keep my subscription.

But yeah, that Indians lineup sure won't make you go out and buy that single team subscription. My god. They refuse to accept the idea that you need to be better when it comes to scoring runs. I really hate that we'll probably look back at these years with Tito and this pitching and realize the people running this team have wasted a really nice window for the organization to be special.

Well it wasn't pretty , but it was win #1 of the new season !

I honestly was expecting loss #2 until Napoli's 7th inning homer.

Just couldn't stand watching Boston tie it up after the Indians scored 5 runs in the first two innings.

Alright, Ross Detwiler (the only left-handed pitcher on the Indians roster), has appeared in every game this season. (2)

His ERA is only 2.00!!!!

I go by ERA per inning.

If you’re one of those “old-school-traditionalist-sticklers” who goes by “ERA per 9 innings” that’s 18.00.

Ross’ ERA for 2015 was a miniscule 7.25. (but in his defense, that was 7.25 runs per 9 innings)

So, I have a question. Why is he in the majors? Is it to set-up right-handed relievers?

“Here’s the ball, Butch. Now hold that 6 run deficit.”

The Padres are on pace to give up 1,350 runs this season and score 0.

When will the Padres score their first run?

That's a new record (starting a season getting shut-out the first three games)

That didn't even happen when they used to use dirt clod balls and tree branches.

Robinson Cano is on track to hit 216 HRs this season.

Wait one second.

Let's see.. 4 homers, 3 games, 4/3*162= 216

OK, let's give him the 216.

I didn't see the game, but box score looks like today was promising.