You're Waiting For a Train...: Jun 14, 2011

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Clip Joint Ready For Prime Time

Jason Knapp

Your Columbus Clippers have completed a four game sweep of the Buffalo Bisons and have won 8 in a row overall. The Clippers now sit at 44-22, the 4th best record in all of minor league baseball. Personally, I am in favor of just recalling the entire team and assuming that they can do better than 2 wins in 12 games.

Scottie Barnes picked up the victory and has shown, hold your breath, a great deal of consistency over his last seven starts. Over that streak, Barnes is 3-0 with a 2.17 ERA and 12.29 K/9. Nice. Tonight, he was removed after 5.1 as he had thrown 104 pitches. While only 58 were for strikes, he walked just two, while allowing a run on five hits and punching out 7. Scott has elevated himself into the big league mix. One would have to assume that he would be a better choice than David Huff, with only Zach McAllister and Jeanmar Gomez higher on the radar.

Jason Kipnis tripled twice and has become the hottest Clipper hitter since Luis Valbuena's hit streak came to an end. Kip is 11-for-22 in his his past five games with three triples, two homers and seven runs scored. Non-options Jerad Head and Chad Huffman added long balls of their own.

The Clips move on to Scranton ~~tomorrow~~ Thursday with McAllister again looking for his 8th victory in a 7:05p start.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Jason Knapp, the most highly regarded talent acquired in the Cliff Lee trade, has been shut down for the season with soreness in his pitching shoulder. He had surgery today and will begin rehab in six weeks. This, in all likely hood, indicates that Knapp will not pitch until the fall's instructional league. Knapp's season ended even before it started as he never made it out of extended spring training in Arizona. Jason has thrown just 40 innings in the organization since being acquired in 2009, although he has fanned 59. He is still just 20 years old, but this is his second shoulder procedure. In the words of another pundit, "Be worried."

Travis Hafner had a successful beginning to his rehab assignment at Akron as he put up a 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. If you like to be optimistic, there is a possibility that Pronk could rejoin the big club for the weekend series with the Pirates.

Bryce Stowell, think Ricky Vaughn before he got the glasses, made his 2011 debut for Lake County tonight. Stowell, who progressed as far as AAA in 2010, was utterly unable to command his pitches in spring camp. He made one appearance on the big league side and walked a pair around a two run dinger. If Bryce has his head back on straight, he is a great talent (11.7 K/9 career) that could be in Cleveland by September (no pressure). Today, he threw two scoreless innings with a walk. Assuming consistency and command (big if), he should not be with the Captains for very long.

Aeros infielder Matt Lawson, the player that the Tribe acquired in the March trade for Aaron Laffey, has retired. Lawson, 25, had been dealt twice in the past year and was not receiving steady PT in Akron. Still, he was hitting .267 in 2011 and had produced a career .282. The best of luck to Matt, who I had the pleasure to meet once, on the rest of his endeavors.

Home town hero Anthony Gallas has been promoted to Kinston. In his first two games at the High-A level, Gallas cranked a pair of doubles and drove in three. Anthony had hit .314 with a .910 OPS for the Captains. Always the best to the undrafted free agent, who is truly living the dream.

Cheers.

A Quest Called Tribe

I will be the fist to admit that I have not posted extensively during the losing streak. Every day has dawned with the hope that the skid would come a halt and the minutia of the mess could be dissected in the bold light of winning. Still, day after day it has endured. On May 1st the Indians were 19-8, 4.5 games up. As late as May 23rd, the lead was 7. On June 1st, they were 33-20, a full five games on top and visions of playoffs danced in our heads. Even I chose to believe, tacking a +5 onto the wins that I expected from the Wahoos. Now, reality has come crashing down.

Over their last 26 ballgames (9-17) the Tribe has scored 77 runs. That is 2.96 runs per game, which is awful. Take into account that 45 of those 77 runs have been scored in just five of those contests and the RPG in the remainder drops to an inconceivable 1.52 over twenty-one games that the Indians have managed just five victories in. Since June 1 the team is 2-10 and has scored 20 runs (1.67 per) with seven of them coming in the near comeback during the first game in the Bronx. The Tribe has been shut out in five of their last 18 and has scored one run in four more of those.

Today, on the heels of posting six times as many strikeouts as hits, the Indians have fallen out of first place for the first time since April 7th. The team needs an infusion of offense, from anywhere. Cord Phelps (1-for-14) has not been the answer over his first 4 games. Something must be done. Unless some sort of trade can be executed, and soon, the only option is a wholesale call-up from Columbus. By wholesale, I mean Lonnie Chisenhall, Jason Kipnis, Jared Goedert, Ezequiel Carrera, Luis Valbuena and anyone else with a chance to knock the ball around. I am sure that there exist a myriad of arguments that can be made against this strategy, but, simply put, the kids could not possibly do any worse. As opposed to young pitchers, who might get shelled for ten runs without recording an out, the batsmen can only register a plain old 0-for-4. You cannot score fewer than zero runs. There. Is. No. Downside. To do nothing aside from sitting and waiting for the drought to end is sheer madness.

The impotence with the stick is not just the responsibility of the scrubs. Grady Sizemore is batting .200 with 1 homer and 26 K's in 60 at-bats since returning from the DL. Orlando Cabrera lost his everyday job because he is striking just .153 over his last 21 games. Matt LaPorta's average is .186 since May 20th. After seemingly getting his train on the tracks, Shin-Soo Choo has driven in just one run over his last 13 while knocking at .160. And on, and on, and on,

A good friend commented the other day that, although the inexperience of the club is now on full display, the season will likely result in a .500 record or slightly above. As fans, he suggested, we should be grateful both for this and for the two months that young'ns spent in first. I am inclined to agree with this assessment, but it does nothing to quell my anger in the moment. The dudes on the 25-man roster are playing like chicken fried shit. In fact, if we are no longer playing for today, then all the more reason to get the prospects on the lake front. I mentioned five recalls and there might not be room for all of them. Adam Everett, Austin Kearns and Chad Durbin, though, could be cut tonight without a single person, outside of their families, shedding a tear.

Enough of my mad lament, time to eat some crow. In the midst of this abomination, Carlos Carrasco has thrown very well. He has earned both of the team's victories since the first of June by throwing a combined 15.1 shutout innings, allowing eight hits and four walks, while fanning 13. I had called for quick trigger with Carlos prior to those two outings and, admittedly, he has risen to the challenge. It remains to be seen how much consistency the young man can establish in 2011, but he has earned enough of my respect that I will support him through the growing pains of his first full MLB season.

At least it cannot get any worse tomorrow.

Cheers.