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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.

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.

Rant over

No hits, 1 walk, Royals win.

Karinchak came in and pitched 2 innings, 1 walk, no hits, no errors, 1 K, 1 "ghost" run, lost the game.

They won because they used an intelligent strategy instead of relying on hero ball.

I'll start watching again if teams start utilizing small ball again. Hero ball is boring.

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 ?

Haha exactly

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.

Cleveland's starting pitchers, through three games:

19 innings, 13 H allowed, 2 BB, 30 K, 1.89 ERA

Got it .. For the record Freeman and Baurs bat left and Leone is a switch hitter ..

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.

2-1 ... royals stink

Saw Corey Kluber hurt his shoulder in his start today. I hope he heals up quickly. He seems to be one of the good guys in baseball.

I really have been a fan of Freeman ever since he signed . Had a nice year last Season. Mercado will be one to watch at the plate this season ..

Every team in MLB is either 2-1 or 1-2.

I just thought that was kinda weird.

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.

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.

Whatever.

You are still playing with minor leaguers.

From today's Plain Dealer:

ON DECK INDIANS VS. WHITE SOX

When: Today through Wednesday.

Where: Progressive Field.

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.

Paul Hoynes

My point is that they planned for this exact event.

If it looks anything like Youngstown in Cleveland, they aren't going to play anything except maybe water polo.

Yeah, game was postponed - traditional doubleheader tomorrow.

Love a double header

Scribbling about Kluber trade, runner on second, first weekend for Cleveland Indians
https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2020/07/...erry-pluto.html

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.

Another W

Hand sure can make one wonder..

A glaring example of why today's MLB sucks. Home run or K.

Our #4 starter goes 6 innings, 2 ER, with 9 K. (and only 1 BB) In 4 starts, I think our starters have given up only 3 BB combined.

You seem to be watching a lot of a game you find boring....