What do we really have here and can we make it better internally?

 Saturday's defeat was potentially devastating but as I went to bed Saturday night I thought back to last year and, although I can't remember when, I know we had one or more of the same type of devastating defeats.

Sunday brought Bieber being Bieber and the stop to a  losing streak.  

Taking 1 of 3 from Cincinnati was the minimum I expected which makes Saturday's defeat that much more crushing as we had our #5 against the presumptive ace of the Reds staff, albeit in his first start of the season still trying to shake off the rust.   But, still.   Saturday's win would have helped us immensely with most of our division struggling right now in one way or another.

But, after today's game, I find myself still asking the question: What is this team going to grow up to be this year and how can we, internally, make this the best version of itself?

I know this is going to sound like a broken record but here goes:

Starting rotation - Looking at the minors this is as good as it gets right now and Allen and McKenzie jockeying back and forth for who is #4 only helps.   If Zach Plesac is not hurt and just is suffering from a dead arm this rotation is good to go.

Bullpen - I see no cracks in this bullpen.   I would like to see Quantrill and Stephan stretched out more as well as seeing Quantrill used in the 7th/8th inning high leverage situations to spell Shaw and Karinchak but, for the most part, not only is this bullpen performing solidly, I don't see any real holes in it at the moment.  

Catcher - This is as advertised and is good at the top and passable (defensively) at the bottom

Infield - Besides Hernandez not hitting, I think we are set at 2nd, SS and 3rd.   First base is another question.   I would still like to see us get rid of Bauers and bring up Bradley.    Bauers can't hit in a hitting position on the field.   We need Bradley.   Chang (INF) and Naylor (1B, LF, RF) being the utility guys make perfect sense to me in a contending team.  Having Ahmed Rosario to play SS against tough lefties really helps

Outfield - Rosario in LF, Rosario in CF and a combination of Luplow and Naylor in RF looks good to me.  I still would like to see Bradley Zimmer up instead of Gamel because, like Gamel, he can play all 3 OF positons and there is a chance Zimmer can actually hit.

DH - Reyes 

On offense we are living by the HR.   Just like in the beginning of previous years, our situational hitting frustratingly sucks raw eggs.  If we can steal some bases and do better in situational hitting we should be OK.   I can't believe that what I saw in Arizona out of Hernandez was just a mirage.   That is the player he is and him getting back to that level is, to me, the key to his lineup, along with two other things: Bradley comes up and hits like he did in the spring and Chang building on his recent success and getting his power stroke back.   These two changes and natural improvement as the weather warms up, if our pitching holds up, could dramatically help the W-L percentage going forward.  We just need a spark to get our offense to catch fire.   I think that spark comes from Bradley and a resurgent Hernandez with Chang's continued improvement as the icing.

Hey, we are still in the meat of this meat grinder part of the schedule.   It could all go south in the next two weeks.   Or it could take off.   So far I don't see much evidence to say that the 2021 Indians look that much different, all things considered, from the 2020 Indians.    So far!

You're a freakin' major leaguer. Catch the freakin' ball!!!!!!!!!

 N/T

Rant for a Friday morning

 Rant 1 - The Yankees suck and they have too much money

Right or wrong, one of the first things I taught my daughter to say when she was little was "The Yankees suck and they have too much money."   Real story!

At NJ.com Mike Rosenstein wrote an article about the Yankees Rule 5 losses this winter.  Here's the link:

Ex-Yankees prospect struggling with Indians following Rule 5 Draft - nj.com

In the article he seems to relish that Trevor Stephan has given up 4 runs in 4 innings.   He also talks about how Garrett Whitlock has been uber-successful for the Red Sox and how Kyle Holder was not successful in the spring and was sent back to the Yankees.

Well here's to you Mike.  I think it is time for you to move out of your bedroom in your parents' basement decorated from floor to ceiling with Yankees memorabilia and get your own place.   In case you aren't aware, here are two truths:

• The Yankees suck and they have too much money, meaning they can buy their way out of shortfalls in their farm system and free agent mistakes and
• The Rule 5 draft and the 6-year minor league free agency thing were set up because teams like the Yankees would just buy up all the talent and let them languish in the farm system, essentially keeping other teams from getting their hands on good prospects.

Trevor Stephan is a Cleveland Indian BECAUSE the Yankees don't have enough room on their roster for guys like him because of free agency and signing veterans to large contracts.   Without a salary cap the Rule 5 is one of the few parity-creating rules in baseball other than draft ordering and bonus caps for draftees/international signings.   

But that doesn't matter to you, does it Mike?  You just want all the prospects for your bloated salary team because, well, they are the NY Yankees and they just deserve it, right?

BTW, if Phil Maton had done his job on Wednesday, Trevor Stephan would have been looking at 4 IP and 2 ER for a respectable 4.50 ERA.   Instead, Maton titrated in the two hitters Stephan left on base, the second on a bases-loaded HBP, before looking out at the bases and realizing the next guy who scored actually went on his (Maton's) ERA.   [NOTE: I know that wasn't really what Maton was thinking and I know he was trying hard but this is one my biggest pet peeves in baseball, inherited runners scored, especially when it happens to rookies like Stephan.]  What makes it even worse is that indiscretion by Maton brings out roaches from the floorboards like Rosenstein who then writes about Stephan sucking meaning that there is hope that the Yankees can get him back.    

Mike, using 'logic' that I know must resonate with you, why would the king-of-baseball Yankees even want Stephan back if he couldn't even stick with the sucky, low payroll Cleveland Indians?   

Rant 2 - What is the statute of limitations on changing an offiical scorer's decision

Sorry, readers (all 3 of you!) but for a while, every time Logan Allen pitches, I will bring this up (at least for a start or two more).   In his first start Allen allowed two runs that were deemed earned because a one-hopper to Amed Rosario at SS that hit him in the gut was ruled a base hit instead of an error.   I hate that Merrifield then hit a HR and Allen got charged with 2 ER instead of those runs being unearned.    

If there isn't a statute of limitations on changing official scorer decisions (I think there is and I think it is 24 hours) then if I was the Indians I would continue to bring this up to the powers that be.   Logan Allen should have ONE earned run allowed up to this point, not THREE.   Now that may all be moot if he gets bombed in his start tonight but, if he doesn't and continues to have success, small things like this may be the difference between winning ROY and not winning it (unless of course he is competing against a player who plays for a big market team which means Allen is screwed anyway).

Rant 3 - Jake Bauers and Ben Gamel are still on the ML roster

There is no text associated with this rant.

...and we split!

 Thoughts on today's game and the series:

1. Assuming that Plesac is not hurt and his outing is just a dead arm glitch (he was only hitting 90 mph on his fastball) our pitching looked good in this series.   This weekend, with Allen and McKenzie going back to back in the Ohio Cup series, we will know more about the back end of our rotation.

2. Regarding Allen, is there a statute of limitations on changes in official scorer's decisions?   ln Allen's first start Rosario muffed a two-out grounder right in front of Whit Merrifield's HR.   It was ruled a hit which made the runs earned.   If Gimenez's play in the 9th today was an error then Rosario's play in the game against KC was CLEARLY an error and Allen should be charged with two less earned runs.   Just sayin'.

3. This game showed, once again, that we don't need to score that many runs to win, given our pitching.   We just need to score some runs.   Which brings me to my Austin Hedges comment.   His sacrifice was really important and, given his inability to hit, I think we need to treat him like a pitcher and have him sacrifice in every situation with less than two outs and a runner on.   Yeah, it is demeaning to the guy as a hitter but he hits like a weak hitting pitcher so, there's that.

4. How many of us think Oscar Mercado or even Delino Deshields gets to both the first inning blooper by Moncada and the 9th inning blooper by Mercedes?   I know that thought crossed my mind today.   There are two ways not to make errors:  (a) be a good outfielder and (b) don't get to any balls.  I am OK with Rosario in CF but he will cost us runs.  BTW, I think Zimmer gets to Roberts' drive in the 9th.   Naylor looked terrible on that ball and it is not the first time he looked terrible in RF this season.  He is not adding a lot on offense so what, exactly, is he adding over Zimmer?  Naylor misplayed a couple of other balls in this series.   He is not a right fielder, sorry to say.   What will we do with him now as he is an intriguing prospect?   Send him to the alternate site and let him work on his defense and on his batting eye so he can take more walks?

5. Civale is tough.   I mean, after that first inning he was just nasty.   Was he Rodon nasty?  No, but he was nasty.   Can't wait to see what our minor league system does with continued work with Hentges, Moss, Eli Morgan, Joey Cantillo and others.

6. Bauers got two hits today.  (I won't mention his two Ks, one with two runners in scoring position).

7.  Talk about Chang-like feast or famine.   Gimenez has a double, drives in a crucial run with a groundout and then lets that popup drop and muffs the groundball in the 9th.  Similar to Chang's evening on Monday.

8.  What the heck happened on Reyes' drive?  Did he hit it with topspin?   The Indians have had a number balls they hit this year that we all thought were gone and they died on the warning track.    Whereas when the other team hits the ball it seems to carry better.   I don't get it.

9. I still love Gimenez at SS and at the plate.   Although the results aren't always there when he is hitting, he just looks the part of, someday soon, becoming a really good hitter.

10. On to Cincinnati for the Ohio Cup this weekend!  As always, it is a fun series.

11. Final Note: Splitting the series against the White Sox this early in the year IS huge.  I am very happy to get out of town with that split. 

I think we need more hitting

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Thoughts for a Wednesday morning

 BIEBER

You know what really sucks?  When Bieber pitches it is really hard to tell whether the lineup is a bad one or a good one.   People tell me that the White Sox lineup is very good and all evidence supports that.   But, man, he just dealt last night and it was a thing to behold.   

One thing that was pointed out last night, but we all knew, is how good Perez is and how much the pitchers value pitching to him and how much he adds to their abilities.   But he has to have a day off some time, right?    I can only imagine the pitchers counting days and wondering if they will be pitching the day game after a night game where Hedges will likely be the catcher (like tomorrow's day game where Civale goes).  The question becomes that then we play the Reds where we have a night game, a day game and another day game.   Bieber is scheduled to go on Sunday.   How will the catching be set up so that Perez catches on Sunday.   Will Hedges catch McKenzie on Saturday, playing two games in 3 days?  It will all be interesting to find out but one thing is for sure.   We should set up that Perez catches Bieber, Plesac and Civale and then let Hedges catch one of Allen or McKenzie, whichever comes up to give Perez the appropriate number of days off.  This thought process may all be moot if his bashed finger from last night means he will miss some time.

Bieber's pitch count scared me.   I think large pitch counts impact the likelihood that pitchers will get injured or, at least, have their effectiveness later in the season impacted.  Is one game worth a season lost?  No way.

THE ZERO TWINS

Gamel and Bauers.   Bauers and Gamel.  Add in Hedges and we have the three hitless wonders.    In this time of COVID deaths and all the ethnic hatred it is really hard to hate on these guys.  But, man, they suck offensively.  I find myself rooting against them (especially Gamel and Bauers) just so that management has no choice but to read the writing on the wall and dump them.   But I hate myself, with death all around us, for rooting against them.   It is a conundrum but these guys do, in fact, suck.  I can even hear it in the announcers voices.   Do you think it is possible that the negative energy many of us are throwing on Bauers and Gamel can really impact their performance?   I have to wonder because except for their close relatives, I don't know of one person who still wants these 2 guys on the team and most want them gone today.   Can these bad vibes really be what is making these guys bad?

YU CHANG   

Regarding the Yu Chang hating.   First, RIDICULOUS.   On further thought...RIDICULOUS.   Looking at it from a purely baseball sense, we all realize that the reason he hit Grandal in the helmet is because (a) Gimenez hadn't gotten to the bag yet to set the target and (b) Grandal conveniently swurved outside the baseline as if to hit second making the turn for 3rd with Chang, not seeing the target, did what most infielders in his position would have done, throw to the outside of the bag.   So the 'error' came with multiple extenuating circumstances.   Should he have just taken the out at first?  Hindsight says yes but in the flow of the game, depending on how fast Williams is, maybe not. 

BASEBALL RULE CHANGES

Talking about baseball rules, MLB is trying out some new rules in the minors this season.   All have some level of merit...except for the two most recently proposed ones.  Let's look at the two latest proposals.

1. Move the pitching rubber back a foot: Designed to make it easier on the hitters because in the last 10 years the average fastball has increased by 1.7 MPH and they feel this change would drop the effective speed of the fastball back to 2010 levels.  I vote no on this one before it is tried.  Lowering the mound, deadening the baseball, when is it going to end?  Plus HRs are on the upswing.   And we are going to make it easier on hitters?  Do we want to turn this into slow-pitch softball?  Plus we would be favoring junk ball pitchers who depend on deception over power pitchers.   Who would you, as a fan, a guy flaming 100 mph fastballs or a guy getting hitters out with changeups or knuckleballs?   Taking the fastball away from pitchers by moving the rubber back is just stupid.

2. The double-hook designated hitter rule.   Your DH is only in the game as long as your starting pitcher stays in the game. The goal is to encourage teams to leave their starting pitchers in longer.   There are so many problems with this proposed rule I don't know where to start.   Where do you bat your DH as you might run into a scenario where your relief pitchers could be hitting cleanup for you?    Does this change who you want to DH as that player could be lost to you for the game if your pitcher gets knocked out early?  This proposed rule makes a mockery out of the DH and should never have made it out of the concept review in which it was first proposed.

Thoughts for a Sunday

 There is a story, maybe qualifying as an urban legend, that says that, back in the day, Indiana's not so good (at the time) football team came into Ohio Stadium to play the Buckeyes.   Indiana proceeded to take the first drive down the field for a touchdown, giving them a 7-0 lead.  The legend goes that, during the TV timeout, Indiana took a team picture with the scoreboard in the backdrop showing the score.   I think they lost like 49-7 but, for that instant, the scoreboard showed they were ahead.  

Now, I don't know if that is a true story but one school of thought says that we should all take our cameras right now and take a picture of the AL Central standings.   Why?  Because the Indians are in first place AND they are beginning a stretch against 18 teams that are either in first place right now or are teams that the prognosticators say have a great chance of making the playoffs.   The next stretch against the White Sox, Reds, Twins and Yankees will give us a better, albeit not complete, picture of where the Indians will be this season.

But, for right now, we are in first place after the Twins and White Sox blew their games today.   

But so much for scoreboard watching.   Everyone can put away their camera phones now, not to be taking pictures of the AL Central standings again until at least May 3rd.

So what about this weekend and the state of the Indians?  Here are my thoughts:

1. The starting pitching looks rock solid.   Although Logan Allen scuffles he has good results.   We will find out more about Triston McKenzie tomorrow against the White Sox but he can be electric if he just controls that electric fastball.

2. The bullpen looks good enough.  I don't see one guy I can say is a weak link right now.   Trevor Stephan scuffled yesterday in the 9th but, remember, he is the 26th player on the team and will be used to do mopup innings so his growing pains should not be THAT problematic.   Everyone makes it interesting, including our 3 backend guys.  But we appear to be in bend-but-not-break mode.

3. The lineup...ah, the lineup.   There is a likelihood that this team will be among the league leaders (in a bad way) of team LOB this year.   But they are showing signs that they will hit some with runners in scoring position AND produce some power, enough to score sufficient runs to give the pitchers enough to work with.  

The lineup with Rosario in CF and Luplow in RF  and Change at 1B against LHP looks solid.   That lineup does not contain Bauers, Gamel or Hedges.  That lineup scored 11 runs on Saturday.   The lineup on Sunday included Jake Bauers (but not Ben Gamel) but the Gamel-Bauer duo is still 1-2021 (not ABs, the year, at least for right now) but the players not named Bauer and Hedges hit the ball well and in the clutch, enough to give us a 5-2 win without the need for a HR.   That doesn't even count about 6 balls they hit right on the nose but right at infielders and outfielders, including one inning where they hit 3 line drives to Detroit's outfielders.   

The lineup looks solid enough to  win.

But, being a tinkering kind of guy, here are some thoughts:

1. Bring Bradley up now and send down Naylor.   Put Luplow in RF all the time and make Bauers a backup OFer.  I would like to see us add Bradley's bat to the lineup, Naylor can come back up once we make a decision about Bauers and Bradley gets to start at 1B, adding some power and not really doing much negatively.   Naylor might also come back up if we tire of Gamel.   Bottom line is that it should be Bradley time and this stretch would be a good time to see what he has.  If he struggles, we send him back down and run the Bauers experiment to completion.  

2. Let's use the bullpen more.   Yeah, it would be nice to see our starters go 7 innings every game but I am for them going 6 and allowing the bullpen to cover the last 3 innings.    Also, I think we limit McKenzie to 4 inning starts (much like an opener) and piggyback Quantrill for 2-3 innings.    If we need to eat innings in a blowout loss (or win) we give those innings to Stephan and don't waste any of our other relievers in those situations unless we absolutely have to.  I think this helps save those starters for later in the year and the hitting seems to be coming around enough to allow for a LITTLE run scoring against the bullpen.  

3. As far as the batting order, I like what Tito is doing (I like it because I proposed something like it).  The alternating L-R thing looks good although I am surprised that Gimenez was hitting leadoff instead of second.   All I can figure is that Tito sees Hernandez putting too much pressure on himself as a leadoff hitter and wants to give the kid a chance at the top of the order and let Hernandez relax.  Seems to have worked the last couple of days so let's let me maestro wave his baton. If Bradley comes up he slides into Naylor's position in the order to offer a little protection to Reyes (more than Naylor has been providing, at least).

All-in-all, we should be 6-2 at this point but 5-3 is not terrible.   Now, let's hope the next 18 games show that this team still has another gear it can shift into as it starts playing against the big boys.