DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Indians Continued

I think scoring 19 is the only way to make sure the bullpen can't be a factor.

Can we please get to the World Series so I have another excuse to go to Cleveland.

Plutko got the save in a 19-4 game.

what about the AFC championship game though?

Kinda big game tonight.

It sure would be nice to see some production from the bottom third of the Indians order tonight against Severino.

Well, 19 runs is the new target for the Tribe as far as leads safe with this bullpen.

Need to address bullpen and hang onto this lead.

"make it so, Number One." Always worked on Star Trek. ::shrug

Shoulda spread some o’ that offense over the last two games, we’d have swept them.

For everyone wondering it is a save situation if a reliever pitches 3 or more innings in relief

Yeah.

Plutko's save will likely be the worst statistical save performance this year.

Innings pitched - 4
Earned runs allowed - 3
Hits + walks allowed - 8
E.R.A. - 6.75
Whip - 2.00

I would have to guess that it is really hard to stay on point with a massive lead.

Jose Ramirez, the 5-foot-9 third baseman signed for pocket change on the international market when he was a teen, is now tied for the major-league lead with 28 home runs.

https://twitter.com/ZackMeisel/status/1017571793954136064

4-4 top of 6

Jose Ramirez has 28 HR in 92 games for the Indians. That sets a pre-All-Star break club record for homers. Albert Belle it 27 in 85 games in 1996.

Your @MLB home run leaders currently:

T-1. Jose Ramirez - 28
T-1. J.D. Martinez - 28
T-3. Francisco Lindor - 25
T-3. Aaron Judge - 25
T-3. Mike Trout - 25
T-4. Manny Machado - 23
T-4. Jesus Aguilar - 23
T-4. Nolan Arenado - 23

Why do you let kluber pitch batting practice for 7 innings. I get the BP sucks but man why put the wear on his arm

Yea, Kluber didn't have his best stuff but he gritted it out and kept them in it as long as he could. He had no business being out there in the 8th with 110+ pitches and it's a shame there isn't a single arm in the bullpen that Tito really trusts...

Yeah that’s pretty much what I mean. He wasn’t that good tonight. He should have been pulled before he got to 100 and just let what happens with the BP happen. It did anyways. He’s the one guy you don’t overwork if you don’t need to in a meaningless game before the ASB. I haven’t been able to watch much of the tribe due to not getting the extra innings package, but just causally following and catching national games, I have to ask. Why is Kipnis still on the team.? He doesn’t seem to bring much of anything offensively and there are much better defensive options

Me too, which is why I'm glad they are paying the Yankees... that's almost a guarantee to get on television.


Dunno.. I can only assume that Tito views him as the best option.. and Tito knows just a tad more about it than I do so my only option is to trust him...

MLB.TV is only $39.99 for the rest of the season. You can watch it on basically anything (Phone, laptop, tablet, Amazon Fire Stick, Chromecast, Roku, PS4, XBOX, etc.). You can even pay $29.99 and only watch Cleveland games.

Side note: If you live in the Cleveland area don't get this because local games are blacked out on the app.

https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/subscribe?affiliateId=MLBTVREDIRECT

Tough game ... Tito didn't trust the bullpen obviously

Bounce back today ... German is shaky for NYY

Post season pitching won't be a problem for long if the Tribe doesn't break this pattern and fix the bullpen, or at least improve it. Burn out your best arms and blow games in the late innings with lousy pitching and poor hitting.

Tribe should be better than this. Do you see them trending up or down now? Some of the regulars are liabilities IMO.

The Indians are like 3rd in the majors in HRs, 7th in average, and 4th in runs scored. They aren't losing games because of poor hitting... considering the really slow start they had, that's pretty remarkable...

According to this site the Indians are:

30th (dead last) in the majors in runs allowed in the 9th inning at .52 runs per game..
24th in the 8th inning at .52 runs per game..

then it gets better from there..

There is a Rumor going around that the Tribe and Yankees are going hard after Madison Bumgarner (I hope the Giants aren't that stupid) and (the Indians need bullpen help more than a starting pitcher)

No idea if it's true.. but you take the 4th or 5th starter and put him in the bullpen.. you don't pass up a chance at Bumgarner.. You make the starters and the bullpen better with one move.

Indians want him for the 5-hole in the batting order. That guy can rake.

Corey Kluber received an injection in his right knee & will be inactive for Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Corey will be out 7 days, but this treatment will enable him to be ready for the 2nd half.

His next scheduled start will be July 23 vs. PIT.

He’ll be replaced by TB’s B. Snell.

https://twitter.com/Indians/status/1017832226715774976

More Francona on Kluber’s injection: “This isn’t a DL (move). We didn’t have to really tell you guys he was getting the shot.” Tito stressing that Kluber will be good to go for 2nd half.

https://twitter.com/PatChiesa/status/1017862843335692288

maybe that explains why he was a little off

Guy on 92.3 The Fan - Adam the Bull - is hammering the Indians for not putting Kluber on the DL. I wonder which phenom he thinks we should call up from Columbus to take Kluber's roster spot.

By the way, I heard on the radio that the Indians DFA'd Ryan Merritt. He'll have to clear waivers for them to send him to Columbus. I'm guessing they thought "we already have one Josh Tomlin - two would be too many.". (One might be too many.)

Tito and Kluber minutiae: July 13

Prior to Friday’s game against the Yankees, Indians manager Terry Francona and ace Corey Kluber met with reporters to discuss the pitcher’s decision to back out of the All-Star Game. Kluber received a gel injection in his right knee on Friday morning and is slated to start on July 23 vs. the Pirates.

Q: Looking at the numbers, Kluber hasn’t looked like himself for a few weeks. How long has the knee been bothering him?

Francona: “Last night was way closer. He left a pitch up to [Brett] Gardner that he wants back. Then we kind of fumbled the bunt that would’ve been a double play. Now, all of a sudden, we’ve got traffic. Then, he pitches into the eighth and gives up runs. So, I thought it was a little skewed. He’s trending in the right way. You look at his arm slot, which is working its way back up where it needs to be, which is all good. We’ve had this in the works for a while.

“I think, competitively, you don’t ever go out and announce something a couple weeks ahead of time. He got the gel shot. We’ll bring him back the fourth [game] coming out of the break, so he can have a little bit of a break, because he’s going to shoulder a huge load. And the gel shot, for some people, it’s like they saw God. For other people, it’s OK. But, there’s nothing bad. Just from talking to him semi-extensively, he doesn’t want anything to get in the way of his routines, because it’s so meaningful to him. Doing this will help that.”

Q: He doesn’t need to go on the DL?

Francona: “No.”

Q: But, he will be down for 10 days?

Francona: “We have other things that we’re doing. We’ll get to that when [it’s appropriate].”

Q: His release point has been lower. Is that a case of the knee causing his body to drop down more in his delivery?

Francona: “He was sinking on his back leg at times, as opposed to maybe pushing off and gliding through. That lowers everything.”

Q: How difficult is it to balance having guys working through this sort of issue with trying to win games?

Francona: “We always try to do the right thing. This isn’t a DL. We didn’t even have to really tell you guys he was getting a shot. After talking to him, I didn’t want him to go to the All-Star game and get [asked], ‘OK, why are you not pitching?’ I just thought being honest was the best way to go about it. There’s a lot of times these things happen and nobody knows. As far as him pitching, he should be pitching. And there’s no reason to not pitch him.”

Q: You guys designated Ryan Merritt for assignment today. Can you take us through that decision?

Francona: “We did so many things. We DL’d him. We rehabbed him. We sent him to get second opinions. He checks out. His velocity has just dropped off. Knowing that roster spots are going to be important, we designated him. Everybody has an emotional attachment to him, because of that game in Toronto. Not just us, but fans, too. We’ll see if he gets claimed. If he doesn’t, we’ll try to get him going, see if we can ramp him back up to what he was. He’s never going to break the radar gun. But, it’s still diminished from where he was.”

Q: Will Andrew Miller’s mound workout on Saturday be similar to a simulated game?

Francona: “I don’t know about that. He’ll face hitters [at Double-A Akron]. I don’t know if they’re going to run the bases. He’ll be on the game mound and he’ll face hitters. And they’re not our hitters. So, I think that helps a little bit. It seems like a good step on the way to maybe getting into a game.”

Q: Can it be challenging to properly evaluate an outing in that kind of setting?

Francona: “I don’t know that we have to evaluate him. I think we’re just trying to get him repetition where he feels… Once he feels really good — which he’s getting there — then, just repetition will get him where he needs to go. I watched him throw the other day. His stuff is tremendous. At times it looked electric and it was just a bullpen session. Now, it’s just trying to ramp him up properly and being fair to him.”

Q: You guys gathered Statcast data on his bullpen session on Wednesday. What did you guys see in the numbers?

Francona: “It was good, which made us feel good. He can go out there and throw with what he did the other day and be better than most relievers. Again, with the load he is going to carry, we’ve got to be fair and do this right.”

Q: Do you guys have a day in mind yet for Josh Tomlin to resume throwing?

Francona: “Yeah, tomorrow.”

Q: How much was the knee issue impacting your mechanics?

Kluber: “I think if we looked at the data, there are some things that have changed. I don’t want to try to use it as an excuse or anything, but I think, if anything, it made it a little bit harder to constantly repeat the delivery the way that I would want to.”

Q: Was it causing you to scrunch your body more after starting to throw a pitch?

Kluber: “My arm action has been the same. It’s just the release point is lower, which kind of goes hand in hand with what you were saying. Not quite staying strong on the backside and kind of collapsing on it, which makes it harder to drive the ball downhill.”

Q: How long has this been going on?

Kluber: “I don’t know exactly when it started. Maybe a few weeks, I don’t know.”

Q: How hopeful are you that the timing of this — with the All-Star break — can allow you to get the proper amount of rest and get rid of this thing?

Kluber: “Yeah, I think that’s why we decided to do it now. Obviously, I would have liked to have pitched in the All-Star Game, but I think, obviously, the big picture, being healthy for the second half is more important. With the timing of it and having a break, kind of being able to do this and get some down time to let it work, and then not necessarily miss time, miss starts, things like that, it seemed to make sense.”

Q: Will this impact your routine before your next start?

Francona: “I don’t think so. I think the idea is to hopefully get me back to where I’d like to be, where I feel normal, so to speak. I mean, I guess with the All-Star break things were going to be different anyway. I think that I’ll be able to do things as I normally do or would.”

Q: This is the second year in a row you won’t be available for the All-Star Game. Knowing you’re not going to take part in the game, can you still get something out of the experience?

Kluber: “Again, like I said, I would have definitely liked to pitch. I’ve had that opportunity to do that before and it was really cool, a fun experience. But, at the same time, I’ll still get a chance to go and support my teammates that are going to be playing in the game. I did that last year, because I pitched the last game before the break. It was still fun to be able to just kind of kick back and relax and watch your teammates go out there and let them do their thing. That was fun, too. I think I’ll still enjoy it.”

Q: They said you need to be shut down for seven days due to the shot?

Kluber: “Yeah, I don’t think I’m necessarily shut down until then, I just think that’s how long they want me to wait to really, really ramp things up.”

— JB

https://bastian.mlblogs.com/tito-and-kluber-minutiae-july-13-61f0398ef3fa

I wonder if there's a trade in the works.

Bieber just fell off a cliff

Gomes is struggling behind the plate tonight. He’s responsible for two runs

Jram is amazing

Indians up 2 in the 8th. That's not a good sign.

Ugh. I really like Merritt. It's a short career, granted, but in his 9 games in the Majors, over 2 seasons, he has a 1.71 ERA, with 4 walks and 13 K.

I am shocked that we couldn't find a spot for him in the bullpen. This one really makes no sense to me.

I also don't get the Josh Tomlin reference. He is a left hander, throws strikes, and has given up no HR.

These two teams are really evenly matched IMO .. the Yanks have won more lately, but each game is in the balance

From the Plain Dealer today:

Indians insider

ALCS hero Merritt designated for assignment

From staff, wire reports

Ryan Merritt was activated from the 60-day disabled list Friday and designated for assignment by the Indians.

Merritt, whose gutsy performance in Game 5 of the 2016 American League Championship Series helped send the Indians to their first World Series appearance in nearly 20 years, never quite regained his form after battling knee and shoulder injuries in spring training.

Manager Terry Francona said the team tried a variety of approaches in an attempt to get Merritt back into game shape, but ultimately the lefty's velocity dropped off, necessitating his release.

''Everybody has an emotional attachment to him because of that game in Toronto, not just us, but fans, too,'' Francona said. ''We'll see if he gets claimed. If he doesn't, we'll try to get him going. See if we can ramp him back up to what he was. He's never going to break the radar gun. But it's still diminished from where he was.''

Merritt struck out three Blue Jays hitters and did not allow a walk in 4⅓ innings against Toronto as the Indians punched their ticket to the World Series on Oct. 19, 2016, at Rogers Centre.

He made nine career appearances for the Indians in the regular season between 2016 and 2017, including five starts, posting a 3-0 record in 31⅔ innings, allowing six earned runs. He owns a career 1.71 ERA with 13 strikeouts and a 1.137 WHIP.

Last season Merritt and Danny Salazar were the only pitchers to start games for the Indians other than the team's regular five-man rotation of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin and Mike Clevinger.

The 26 year old from McKinney, Texas, was taken by the Indians in the 16th round of the 2011 draft and made his big-league debut May 30, 2016, against Texas.

**********

The Tomlin reference was that they are both finesse pitchers whose stuff is borderline at best, and batting practice at worst. Both Tomlin and Merritt need picture-perfect command and location to succeed in the Majors, and even then it was an adventure the second time through the batting order, because Major League hitters adjust. I admire their grit, but really, they should both go visit Tom Candiotti and ask him to teach them to throw a knuckleball. If you can throw a fluttering knuckler (which would be a pretty good rock band name) for strikes, your 85-87 MPH fastball will look like the Nolan Ryan Express to hitters.

Yeah, he rocks. That one hit where I was like... well there's a foul but it stayed in was awesome. That might be the play you were referring to.

Good win last night.

yeah, when i watch him i expect him to get a hit every time...its amazing we got him so cheap...Lindor could take a page from his book. But man having those two under control for a few more years is awesome...best tandem in baseball...if somehow we can get machado and have him play 3rd and put Jram at 2nd and get rid of kipnis...man what an infield. We may not have cash, but we have a pretty damn good farm with quite a bit in the asset department..

Per WTAM, Indians recalled Francisco Mejia and optioned Bieber back to C-bus. Mejia is at DH tonight, Edwin at 1B, and Alonso sitting down because Sabathia's pitching for the Yank-me's.