Pretty Girl 08.15.11 - Candice Swanepoel

How could I have neglected her for so long?  Point out a flaw.  I dare ya'.

Sometimes It Ain't Pretty At the Clip Joint

CC Lee

This one certainly did not start out well.  Mitch Talbot (1-1, 5.40) did indeed get the start, though he retired only six hitters en route to giving up 6 earned on 6 hits.  The three run bomb in the 1st did not set a positive tone.  Fortunately, the relief corps was up to the task of holding the Red Wings right where they were.  The combination of Matt Langwell (3 IP, 5 H, ER, 3K), CC Lee (2 IP, H, BB, 4 K), & Zach Putnam (2 IP, H, 3 K) would allow just one more run in their 7 innings out of the pen.  Lee (5-1, 1.99) returned from a family funeral in Taiwan and picked up right where he left off.  CC has excelled since his promotion to Columbus (3-0, 1.14) and significantly elevated his organizational standing.  In fact, he was the piece that San Diego asked in exchange for Ryan Ludwick.  The Indians declined.  Lee, whose most eye popping statistic is his 12.93 K/9, will most likely not see time on the lake this season, though he will compete for a bullpen spot next spring.  Langwell, tremendously effective for AA Akron (4-1, 2.66), has labored since joining Columbus (7.27 ERA, .342 OBA), but today's outing was certainly encouraging and good for his 1st AAA W.

I am not quite sure who reminded Jared Goedert that he does not always need to swing for the fences.  Whoever it was, Goedert (.252) responded with two doubles, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored on his way to posting a 5-for-5 night and raising his batting average over .250 for the first time all year.  Also, from nowhere, Tim Fedroff (.258) had 3 hits (2 2B) and five RBI.  Ho hum, 2 more hits and 2 more RBI for Chad Huffman (.251) who is mashing at .550 (22-for-40) with 11 XBH (8 2B, 3B, 2 HR) and 11 rib-eyes during his current 12 game hit streak.  Luis Valubena (.304) drove home 2 runs of his own.

The Clips remain in Rochester tomorrow for a 6:05p tilt with Joe Martinez taking the pill.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Friends from Youngstown like to call them the Crappers, but these Mahoning Valley guys are anything but shitty.

Tony Wolters -- Poised as the top prospect currently under contract with the Indians, Wolters has impressed all onlookers in his first full professional season.  On top of a great number line (.311, HR, 17 RBI, 17 SB), Tony has tremendous tools (+speed, +arm, +bat speed) and intangibles that causes coaches to rave.  He possesses not only outstanding instincts and baseball IQ, but also a professionalism of well beyond his 19 years.  Wolters has been even better of late, batting .400 over his last 10, including a 5-hit game on August 3rd.  Expect Tony to be an elite prospect in 2012 and begin the campaign at Low-A Lake County, although he will not stay there long.

Jake Lowery -- My pick as the top Indians catching prospect, the 2011 4th round pick is coming off of a Junior season at James Madison that earned him both All-America honors and the Johnny Bench award (top collegiate catcher).  Lowery came out of the gate hot (.313, 2 HR, 10 RBI in June) and has tailed off some since (.258, 5 HR, 36 RBI overall), but seems to be back on track of late.  Jake is 3-for-8 with 3 RBI in his last two games, with all of those hits being doubles.  The Tribe system does not have substantial catching depth at the middle levels and Lowery is fantastic behind the plate, so it is entirely possible that he will skip to High-A Kinston in 2012.

Alex Lavisky -- A local product (St Edward's) and former battery mate of Pirates fireballer Stetson Allie, Lavisky has endured some substantial struggles in 2011.  He began the year at Lake County with mixed results (.207, 8 HR, 24 RBI, 66/38 K/H) before descending to the Scrappers.  Alex's performance was expected to improve, yet it has remained pretty much the same (.207, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 48/40 K/H).  While he is an asset behind the plate, his discipline (114 K, 25 BB in 377 AB) is a huge concern.  One would image that Lavisky will get the bulk of the catching duties with the Captains next season.

Cheers.

Pretty Girl 08.14.11 - Felicity Jones

UK beauty from Like Crazy.  I sure could go crazy with her.  Or do the TMD thing.  Whatevs.

A Quest Called Tribe

I guess that Manny Acta must read the blog.  Tonight, with the tying run on base, Acta chose to bring in Raffy Perez to face Tsyoshi Nishioka.  What did we learn yesterday?  Nishioka hits .171 against lefties.  What happened?  Raef threw 3 pitches.  Nishioka swung three times and made exactly no contact before slinking back to the bench.  I do not have many positive comments to make on Manny these days, but I will say that he is not a big enough dolt to make the same mistake in consecutive games.

How about a little love for Josh Tomlin?  Dude went out and tossed another beauty.  Tomlin (12-5, 3.97) was masterful in allowing just three baserunners through the first six before Matt LaPorta's dumb ass (we shall get to that) and a healthy respect for Jim Thome ushered him from the mound.  Still, Josh lowered the fifth best WHIP in the AL to 1.038.  I, unrepentantly, love watching Josh Tomlin pitch.  Command seems to have returned to his cutter (15 of 24 first pitch strikes) and he has shown a noticeable progression back to form over his last three starts.  While I would have left him in today, I begrudge Acta nothing for making a move rather than just watching.  By the way, Tomlin has now pitched 5+ innings in his first 36 career starts (different than the appearances record that he continues to extend), one shy of the MLB record held by former Indian John Farrell.

So, we know LaPorta is an imbecile.  Even so, each day brings a new opportunity for Matty to show what a bag of mulch he truly is.  Today, after misplaying Justin Morneau's smash to begin the 7th, LaPorta took a Sunday stroll down the first base line, allowing Morneau to reach second, the first Twin to do so all night.  And then, of course, Morneau would score Minnesota's only run.  I will call it now.  Matt LaPorta is a colossal bust.  I no longer hold any hope for his eventual success.  He is the object of my ire and, by far, the most aggravating Indian.

I complain quite a bit, so I will leave with what I dug the most about tonight's game -

- Asdrubal Cabrera cracking his 20th career home run (accounting for all 3 Tribe runs), after belting just 18 in his career prior to 2011.

- Jason Donald.  His fire.  His attitude.  His hustle.  And the way he stays right on the ball before lasering a line drive.

- Captain Jack's phenomenal play to begin the 4th.

- 1-2-3 from Chris Perez to Jimmy Thome.  Nice.


Here's to sweeping our first series since Pittsburgh in mid-June. (Hey, I was there!)

Cheers.

Clip Joint's Outta Control

Zach McAllister started both games of a double header yesterday.  Andrew Baldwin, Rochester's starter in Game 1, threw 138 pitches.  Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall had hits for the Clippers.  Confused?  You should be.

Friday afternoon saw the completion of a June 10th game between the Clippers and Red Wings that began in Columbus and was suspended due to a rain storm, the likes of which I had never before seen.  IL scheduling being what it is, the game was completed in Rochester.  Baseball rules being what they are, none of the statistics became official until the contest passed the four and a half inning mark.

Thus, McAllister (9-3, 3.27) was finally credited with the work he did back in June (3 IP, 3 H, ER, 4 K) in addition to the performance that he actually turned in yesterday.  It was nearly a gem.  Zach shut out the Red Wings over the first 6 frames of the 7 inning game, before allowing four hits in the 7th and leaving one out shy of a complete game victory.  The outing (6.2 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 6 K) was still good enough to earn him his first victory since June 21st.  The combined line of 9.2 IP, 0 BB, 10 K, not too shabby.

Brett Brach, who you might remember from a dazzling spot start with the Aeros early in the season, entered with the resumption and tossed 4.2 innings of solid ball (6 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 K).  Brach notched the W and has now won at three different levels of the Indians' organization in 2011.

Nick Hagadone struggled with his control (1.1 IP, 3 BB, 2 K) in closing out game 1, but still earned his 4th save.  Despite the wildness on Friday, the issue of command has seemingly resolved itself for Hagadone (2.73 BB/9).  All of his numbers look great (6-2, 2.59, .212 OBA, 9.62 K/9) and I would be surprised if Nick, already on the 40-man, does not see time with the big club in September.

At the dish, Jerad Head (.282) finally got credit for home run #22.  With 66 RBI, an .862 OPS and a right handed stick, Head is the top candidate to fill the empty spot on the 40-man, should the Tribe not make a waiver wire deal.  Cord Phelps (.301) led the charge in game 2 with a two run, first inning shot and Chad Huffman (.249) continued to tattoo the baseball (2-for-3, 2 2B, RBI, .594 over his last 10).

The Clips took both games (6-3, 4-3) and now sit at 76-45 (.628), tied for the 2nd most wins in all of minor league ball.

The Clippers have not announced their starter for tonight's 7:05 tilt (it is David Huff's spot, but he starts for the Indians tomorrow).  If I was forced to guess, I would go with Mitch Talbot.  ;-j

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Here is the cream of the crop for the Captains.  Make the drive and check them out.

Felix Sterling -  Felix spent the first half of 2011 at extended spring training, before making six appearances for the AZL Indians (2-3, 4.10, 10.59 K/9).  He was promoted to Lake County in late July and has made three starts thus far (2-1, 2.20).  Sterling is a big kid (6'3", 200) and has explosive stuff.  The challenge going forward will be command.  While he has limited Midwest League hitters to a .179 clip and fanned 13 in 16.1 innings, he has walked 13 as well.  His last outing produced more than half of those (5 IP, 2 H, ER, 7 BB, 5 K) and resulted in his first loss.  The Tribe will bring the 18 year old along slowly, so expect 2 or 3 more starts this year and a return to Eastlake in 2012.

Luigi Rodriguez - L-Rod tore up the AZL (.379, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 12 SB, .987 OPS) before a July promotion and has entered a period of adjustment at the new level.  His numbers (.256, 5 SB) are not bad, but it is clear that the 18 year old has never competed against this type of talent before.  There are no shackles on Rodriguez, he will advance as quickly as his performance does.  Similar to Sterling, expect him back at High-A in 2012.

LeVon Washington - 2011 has been an injury plagued and frustrating season for the 2010 2nd round pick.  LeVon did not get into game action until mid-May and has just returned from another month on the shelf.  While his production has clearly been affected (.228, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 13 SB, .667 OPS), he delivered an inside-the-park home run yesterday, in his first game back.  Overall, Washington is 8-for-17 (.471) in his last five with 5 runs scored and 4 RBI.  Where the 19 year old ends up in 2012 will be entirely dependent on what he shows over the next month and his ability to stay healthy.

Kyle Blair - The 2010 4th rounder was not expected to spend this much time at Low-A.  Blair, who turns 23 next month, has dealt with a nagging right knee injury all season and it has notably affected his performance.  The hefty (6'3", 236) lefty has sturggled (3-5, 6.09, 1.66 WHIP) through 16 appearances and has only just returned to active duty.  Kyle pitched 2 innings out of the pen last night and showed rust (3 H, ER), though he also avoided much damage (0 BB, K).  He does not have much time left to make his mark in 2011 and, at this point, it is a coin flip as to whether be begin 2012 with LC or Kinston.

Michael Goodnight - Dude is not really a prospect, but I love his name, so we shall take a look.  A promising season (5-4, 2.49 through mid-June) for the 2010 13th round has circled straight down the crapper.  Over his last 10 starts Goodnight is 0-7 with a 7.48 ERA and a .318 OBA.  It had been ever worse before a solid outing on the 8th (5 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB 4 K).  In the four starts prior Michael had posted a 10.69 ERA and a 2.06 WHIP.  The end result of these streaks has been a mediocre statistical line (5-11, 4.45, .234 OBA) and a sense of urgency for the right-hander to deliver down the stretch to ensure his place in the system.

Cheers.

Pretty Girl 08.13.11 - Imogen Poots

Another Brit, she's the eye candy in Fright Night.  I'd bite her.

A Quest Called Tribe

I can no longer abide by Manny Acta's sins of omission.  Tsuyoshi Nishioka bats .245 against righties.  Not great.  Guess what he hits off of left-handers.  Go ahead.  I will wait.  Ready.  One.  Seventy.  One.  .171.

One play does not make a game.  That I understand.  We could banter all night about how the Tribe failed to take advantage of the Twins' defensive miscues of the 6th and 7th.  It is true; I admit it.  The boys should have had more runs on the board.  Still, Acta ostensibly paces the dugout while he actually straddles the fence.  "Should I pull him or should I not?  I just do not know."  Personally, I would have yanked Justin Masterson (7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K) after Jim Thome's at-bat.  The key is not just to throw your starter until he is absolutely exhausted, it is giving your team the best opportunity for success during every single circumstance of the game.  Obviously, Bat had lost his good stuff, his command at the very least.  If you leave him in to get that second out, you certainly make the move with Nishioka coming up. 

I have often said that managers only have a pronounced effect on game outcome during the post-season.  Good managers get wins and poor managers take losses.  Manny Acta has caused me to drastically reconsider my position.  The Indians hang around in nearly every contest.  Therefore, the regrettable non-calls of a man who seems more committed to his fashion eye-wear than to fasioning victories have an exaggerated effect.  How does any sane human being take the bunt off of Jason Kipnis with runners on first and second, nobody out in the 6th, in a 1-0 game?  How do you not put those two runners in scoring position for your best fucking hitter?  Acta will come out after the game and drop his usual line of bullshit about how all decisions can be second guessed and how the team had other opportunities to win the game.  You know what, shithead?  Your job is to give them more chances to win, not take them away.  Your job is to understand each situation and act accordingly.  I am not second guessing.  If I sit idly by, wait for Manny to do what he will and then chastise him if it does not work, that is second guessing.  Even if Masterson (9-7, 2.69) had gutted his way through the 8th, the success would have been in spite of Acta, not because of him.  I call the guy out in real time because he is, incontrovertibly, a fucking idiot.

Thank god for Carlos Santana (.375, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 4 2B, 4 multi-hit games in his last 8) and a little bit of luck.

Here's to a lot more of both.

Cheers.

Strike Up the Band And Drop the Confetti

Austin Kearns has been DFAed!

Oh yeah, and Shin Soo Choo was activated from the DL.  I would guess that Kosuke Fukudome will move to left.

Cheers.

UPDATE:  I did not see this one coming.  Kusoke to center.  Ezequiel Carrera batting 9th in left.  Choo in right... leading off?  I guess we shall see.

Jade Bile

The night is hot and sticky; it reminds me of my youth.  There is a foreign town and a pretty girl and all of the wonderment attained rather than denied.  I see things that I cannot remember, hear things that I will never forget.  The rest is a blur, but I can still feel the warm rush of anticipation running through me.  Now, forever distant, it would seem that I must alter my wishes, evolve my desires.  I neither want to, nor intend to.  If it is irrational to deign a set of values as worthy and staunchly adhere to them, then please be man enough to lock me up.  In a world of naught but concession and rationalization, I reject their necessity.  The only dead dreams are those that I might strangle with my hot, bare hands.  While many might lay comatose, struggling to breathe, the proverbial plugs have not yet been pulled.  Deny compromise.  Ignore the demands of an irrelevant society.  On to find unique order in a sea of cookie cutter chaos.  Don't like it?  Fuck you.  Moving on.

Youth Is Wasted On the Young

Siddown, Bryce.