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Indians set starting rotation ahead of Opening Day
Adam Plutko is headed to the bullpen

https://www.letsgotribe.com/2020/7/21/21333399/indians-set-starting-rotation-ahead-of-opening-day

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.

well... its about the same number of fans in the stands as the beginning of Major League as well...

just excited to get baseball back...

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.

Behind new ace, Tribe aims to reclaim title

https://www.mlb.com/indians/news/indians-2020-opening-day-preview

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.

Updated (7/22/20) odds to win AL-Central Division:

Minnesota Twins -130
Cleveland #Indians +240
Chicago White Sox +320
Detroit Tigers +5000
Kansas City Royals +5000

(via
@WilliamHillUS
)

really cool

The should have tested him and got him clearance to be up there by himself.

What would the harm have been?

Well, then, Wahooo! Color me relieved. I was guilty of rampant enjoyment. Especially some of the play by play from the booth.

Part of the Annual Cleveland Legacy Film Festival for Charity. We need these two, then Christmas Story. What others?

Check out "The Fortune Cookie" with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Parts of it were filmed at a Browns game at Municipal Stadium back in the 60's.

"Kill The Irishman", with Christopher Walken, was about the murder of Danny Greene, a Cleveland mobster.

I think "The Deerhunter", with Robert DeNiro was filmed here, as well as one of the Marvel movies from the last 5-6 years.

Wow!

Would you include, what was it, Draft Day? My wife didn't know anything about it, but she loved that movie!

I forgot about "Draft Day" - never saw it, but I don't see why it wouldn't be included, except maybe because a lot of people didn't like it.

Top Movies Filmed in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio

By Sandy Mitchell
Updated July 24, 2019

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.

https://www.liveabout.com/movies-made-in-northeast-ohio-752910

Game time

Beiber has 9 K through 4 innings.

14k through 6 innings. Tribe up 2-0.

Tuned in for a little earlier. He looked good.

If our rotation can stay healthy through 60 games, the division is ours.

j/c:

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!

We may not lose a game all season

9 innings and 18 K for Tribe pitching.

Not bad at all.

That's good stuff

Bieber was lights out

no kiddin!

Hope the kid stays healthy and keeps it up all year... especially in a shortened season pitching is going to be key this year...

Haha!

j/c:

Runner on second w/no outs and trailing by a run and the Indians don't bunt w/their 9th hitter in extra innings.

It might work out, but it's stupid.

Freaking ignorant.

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 ..

I hate this rule. New stat for MLB: Unearned Wins.