Wednesday, April 27, 2011
A Quest Called Tribe
Tomlin's counterpart, Jeff Francis, topped out at a lowly 84 this evening and relied mostly on a 69 mph slow curve as his out pitch. Francis did not get a lot of outs. The Indians sent ten men to dish in the first, plating five highlighted by a bases clearing double from Orlando Cabrera. Francis was gone a batter into the 4th having gotten knocked around to the tune of ten hits. It honestly looked as if the man was throwing BP.
Acta announced after the game that a move to bring another reliever up from the minors will be announced tomorrow morning, seemingly because he cannot agree with GM Chris Antonetti on exactly which one. That is striking as the only three AAA relievers on the 40-man are Frank Herrmann, Jess Todd and Josh Judy. Todd has been an abomination thus far and Judy has zero major league experience. Herrmann, on the other hand, was demoted only because Joe Smith came off of the DL. If there is a discussion to be had, I have no idea on the argument. Whoever gets the call will likely be around for just two days before returning to Clippers in exchange for Saturday's starter. That is still expected to be Alex White, but I suppose Manny could just go ahead and start Justin Germano (please, no).
The Tribe has won nine in a row at home. Everyone else in the AL Central lost tonight, so the lead grows to three and a half games. The Indians are now officially the only team in the division above .500. Keep on keepin' on boys.
In case you were wondering, Jack Hannahan leads the American League in hitting against left handed pitching. Jack is 9-for-17. That's .529. Nice.
Cheers.
I'm Dreaming Of A White April
Should the dominoes fall logically, Joe Martinez would move into the Columbus rotation. This would open up a spot in the Clippers' bullpen for one Nick Hagadone. This is, of course, just idle talk.
Eric Berger, who made five starts for the Clips last summer, could be moved up from Akron. Paolo Espino would be another bland option. He too started for the Clippers in 2010 and began '11 in the AAA 'pen until six runs and a loss in his first two innings pitched led to a quick demotion.
We shall see.
Cheers.
The Day After the Clip Joint
David Huff (3.00 ERA) took the pill for the Clips and provided a yeoman's effort. Huff went seven to earn his second win, surrendering four earned runs on nine hits with neither a walk nor a strikeout. David threw 94 pitches and I would officially classify him as unavailable for Saturday.
Zach Putnam threw perfect ball for the final two frames. He struck out three to notch his third save.
I know I've said this before, but Scott Barnes IS supposed to pitch tonight for Columbus against the Gwinnet Braves. If he doesn't make it out for tonight's 7:05p first pitch, we will know something is amiss.
Other Minor Points of Interest --
Nick Hagadone tossed three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and K'ing four, to secure the win for Akron in the second game of yesterday's double header. Hagadone (0.00) has allowed just eight baserunners in 13.2 innings this season and has fanned 18. The Columbus bullpen is already crowded, so, if Nick continues his outstanding work, some have speculated that he might jump straight from AA to the Jake this season. I doubt it, but his performance in 2011 doubtlessly bodes well for the future.
Akron starter Austin Adams did fare so well in the first game. Adams (1-2, 3.86) began the season hot, cooling off significantly in recent appearances. Yesterday, he lasted just eight hitters, six of which he put on base (3 H, 3 BB) before getting yanked. He was not pleased with his removal. Austin remains a prospect with great upside, though a start of less than a full inning will give all the scouts some pause.
Before I go, I'll share yet another odd baseball occurrence that I saw for the first time in 2011. On Monday, I was watching Phil Humber dazzle the Yankees. Rafael Soriano came in to pitch the top of the ninth. After he got two strikes on Alexei Ramirez the Yanks' infield move back to the cut of the grass. Ramirez proceeded to pop the ball up on the infield. Soriano followed through to first base side of the mound and stood there, rooted like a tree, while pointing to indicate the pop fly. Derek Jeter sprinted in but the ball fell in front of him for a single. The ball hit, I swear, two feet from the pitcher's mound. I know that pitchers aren't generally supposed to chase these, but Soriano absolutely needs to go after it until someone calls him off. A 65 foot fly ball hit. Never seen it before.
Cheers.
A Quest Called Tribe
#3) Grady Sizemore - Sure, he's Grady Sizemore, but the perception of Grady coming into the season was, at best, cautiously optimistic. I myself only hoped for about 80% of the Sizemore that we had come to know and love. Instead, we have been treated to a hitting show that is everything that it ever was and might be more. After two doubles and his 3rd dinger against KC last night, Grady is hitting .406 with a 1.332 OPS. He is raking in a way that no one, no one could have predicted. Sadly, it seems that, coming back from microfracture surgery, Sizemore has lost a step off of his once blazing speed. I'm not drawing this conclusion from one failed steal attempt, but, rather, from his general unwillingness or inability to take the extra base. It remains to be seen if he can return to former glory on the basepaths, but, wherever he lands in the lineup, his hitting is the sort of rare treat that it is simply a joy to behold.
#2) Justin Masterson - Masterson is now 5-0. In 2010, Justin started 0-5, didn't win his 5th game until the end of August and finished 6-13. In fact, six is the highest win total that he has accumulated in any of his three previous MLB seasons. While his last two starts have not been as stellar as the first three, Masterson's ERA still sits at 2.18 and his WHIP at 1.12. All five of his starts have been quality. In the off-season, I suggested that Justin's future success would be found at the back end of the bullpen, that he simply did not have the type of consistency to become a front line starter. So, what changed? I have previously discussed how he has shown excellent command of all of his pitches, especially within the strike zone. How has he made the leap? As is the case with every pitcher, repetition of delivery is paramount to Masterson. At a lanky 6'6" with a funky arm slot, it had always been difficult for him to utilize the same mechanics pitch after pitch. Justin seems to have solved that problem in 2011. Although he has more work ahead of him (on, say, avoiding clusters of hits) the production he has provided this April has been the cornerstone of a pitching staff that has led the Tribe to the top of the division.
#1) Jack "Mother E'ffing" Hannahan - Again, I was not a fan during spring training. I could, perhaps, be described as the furthest thing therefrom. Then on opening day his home run sliced through my haze and turned by bold prediction prophetic. Since then, Jack has done nothing but play the best third base I have seen from an Indian in my lifetime and hit at a level that he has never even approached in the bigs. Following a game that featured two solo blasts off of Luke Hochevar, Hannahan is hitting .286 with an .872 OPS. His four homers are tied for the team lead. His 13 runs scored are tied for the team lead. His 11 RBI are tied for third. The guy bats 9th and plays about five times a week. Of all of the things that had to go exactly right to push the Indians into first, none was an unexpected or unlikely as this boon from a dude who hit .237 at AAA last year. During March, I wrote that he could never be the next Casey Blake. I stand by that. Instead, Jack is carving out a niche all his own that will make taking his starting job away nearly impossible. Put succinctly, the Jack attack is back, baby.
Oh, and Vinnie Pestano? N to the asty! Unreal.
Cheers.
Thank Goodness That Ke$ha Is A Who-Er
Because that's all she's got on this chick. More on Allison Williams to come.
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