The Browns First Move in Free Agency Should be…
July 19, 2011Cavaliers 2011-12 Schedule: Notes and Analysis
July 19, 2011Clip Show aims to be your weekly update for all things Columbus Clippers. Check back each Tuesday afternoon for team records, roster updates, and performance updates on some of the brightest prospects in the Tribe system.
Now that’s more like it! After some well-deserved rest for most of the roster–and in spite of a swell of roster moves due to the Tribe’s injury situation–The Ship came out of the All-Star break with all guns blazing. The Clippers are currently riding a four-game winning streak, and have pushed their IL West lead up to 12.5 games. Put it this way: there are still seven weeks left in the season, and their magic number is already down to just 36 games. In addition to their division dominance, the Clip Show also have a nice six-game lead over Lehigh Valley for the best record in the IL.
This Week: 4-1
Season Record: 62-34, 1st place (of four) in ILW (International League West)
Results
7/14 vs. Indianapolis – Indians 7, Clippers 4; LP Huff (8-3)
7/15 vs. Indianapolis – Clippers 4, Indians 3; WP Judy (3-2)
7/16 vs. Indianapolis – Clippers 7, Indians 5; WP Lee (2-0)
7/17 vs. Indianapolis – Clippers 6, Indians 4; WP Putnam (5-2)
7/18 vs. Scranton/WB – Clippers 7, Yankees 6; WP Judy (4-2)
Roster News
7/14 C Michel Hernandez recalled from Akron
7/14 OF Ezequiel Carrera recalled to CLE
7/14 RHP Jeanmar Gomez sent to Mahoning Valley (later recalled to Cleveland)
7/15 IF Nick Johnson off of DL
7/15 RHP Paolo Espino recalled from Akron
7/15 LHP Scott Barnes to DL (knee)
7/15 C Luke Carlin to DL
7/17 OF Shelley Duncan optioned from Cleveland
7/18 LHP David Huff recalled to Cleveland
7/19 RHP Tyler Strudevant recalled from Akron
7/19 RHP Mitch Talbot on ML rehab assignment
OF: Shelley Duncan, Tim Fedoroff, Jerad Head, Chad Huffman, Donnie Webb
IF: Jason Donald, Jared Goedert, Nick Johnson, Jason Kipnis, Matt McBride, Cord Phelps
C: Michel Hernandez, Paul Phillips
SP: Paolo Espino, Justin Germano, Corey Kluber, Joe Martinez, Zach McAllister
RP: Nick Hagadone (L), Josh Judy (R), Chen-Chang Lee (R), Zach Putnam (R), Carlton Smith (R), Tyler Sturdevant (R), Mitch Talbot (R)
DL: RHP Hector Ambriz (torn right elbow ligament); RHP Anthony Reyes (torn right elbow ligament); RHP Hector Rondon (torn right elbow ligament), LHP Jeremy Sowers (left shoulder), C Dwight Childs (broken hand), LHP Scott Barnes (knee), C Luke Carlin (right elbow)
Upcoming Schedule/Probables*
*subject to change
7/19 vs. Scranton/WB, Paolo Espino
7/20 vs. Scranton/WB, Corey Kluber
7/21 vs. Scranton/WB, Justin Germano
7/22 @ Lehigh Valley, Joe Martinez
7/23 @ Lehigh Valley, Zach McAllister
7/24 @ Lehigh Valley, Paolo Espino
7/25 @ Lehigh Valley, Corey Kluber
Players to Watch
How are the kids doing? Let’s take a look at a few…
Batters
Leading off this week is INF Jason Donald, who is getting the bulk of the every-day time at third base with the promotion of Lonnie Chisenhall. Donald had a solid kick-off to his second half, going 8-for-16 (.500) with three doubles, four RBI, five walks (for a mind-boggling OBP of .619 for the week), and seven runs scored. He even stole two bases. Through 36 games in Columbus, Donald is hitting a solid .320 with four homers, eight doubles, 14 RBI, and 28 runs scored. He generally hits out of the two-hole, which accounts for low RBI totals, and his .424 on-base percentage backs that up. Donald finally looks to have licked the injury bug that plagued him earlier in the year.
Now literally leading off, here’s 2B Jason Kipnis, who is seeing time at the top of the order with the departure of Ezequiel Carrera for Cleveland. It’s not a bad move, despite the initial head-scratching I did, considering his season-long .370 OBP, 43 walks, 68 runs scored, and 12-for-13 in stolen bases through 88 games. Still, you’d like to see his pop a little lower in the lineup. For the week, Kipnis scuffled at the plate with just two hits in 18 at-bats (.111 AVG). He did drive in a pair of runs and score a pair of runs, however.
Taking some time to re-adjust is INF Cord Phelps , who has now played in eight games since coming back from Cleveland. He’s hitting just 7-for-29 in that span (.241), with a homer, a double, three RBI, and five runs scored. Of note, however, is that he’s 6-for-19 (.316) since the All-Star break, doing almost all of his damage since the rest period. Perhaps this is a sign of good things to come.
The one true constant in this lineup all season has been none other than OF Jared Head. Head’s not a piece of a long-term puzzle, but he’s making the most of his every-day playing time this season. He went 8-for-20 (.400) this week, with a homer, two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored. Through 79 games, Head is hitting .298 with 15 homers and 47 RBI, and has an .878 OPS.
Relegated to first base, INF Jared Goedert just can’t seem to get it going at the plate. Having never had a hernia before, I don’t know where the cut-off for “getting it back from an injury” and “can’t hack it” really is, but Goedert is certainly coming to that crossroads. In 39 games in AAA, he’s hitting just .182 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 143 at-bats.
Pitchers
IL All Star starter RHP Zach McAllister was decent but not great in his first post-break start, working just 5.0 innings and allowing two earned runs (ERA: 3.60) on four hits and six walks, while striking out five. He did not factor into the decision. In the AAA All Star Game itself, McAllister started for the IL and worked 2.0 innings of scoreless ball to get the win (don’t ask me how that works…). He allowed one hit and walked one while striking out two. Not a bad showing!
A busy, but quite good, week for RHP Josh Judy. Judy worked in three games, and factored into all three by going 2-0 with a save. He worked 3.1 innings and didn’t allow a run, while giving up two hits and walking three. He was overpowering, though, striking out five along the way. Despite being shuffled around, Judy has been stellar in his last 10 trips out for Columbus, working 11.0 innings and not allowing an earned run (he did allow five unearned runs in one appearance, to be fair). He’s 2-1 over the 10-game stretch, and has allowed just five hits with eight walks while striking out 17 over that span. He’s lowered his season ERA to 2.80 in 32 appearances.
Another guy who’s been very good over his last 10 appearances is LHP Nick Hagadone. He worked three times this week, allowing four runs–just one earned–in 4.2 innings. He also notched a save. Over his last 10, he’s 1-0 with a save while working 14.2 innings and allowing just two earned runs (ERA: 1.23). To be fair, he has allowed seven runs total, but five of them were unearned. He does seem to give up a lot of hits (15 in that span), but encouraging is that he has only walked three while striking out 16 over those 14.2 innings. For the season, his ERA is down to 3.90 in 20 appearances spanning 27.2 innings.
In the “meh” category this week is RHP Zach Putnam, who made two appearances and was 1-0. He worked a combined 3.0 innings, but allowed two earned runs (ERA: 6.00). He allowed four hits, walked none, and fanned four.
A Quick Word…
…about RHP Chen-Chang Lee. You might have noticed his name is conspicuously absent above, and this is the reason why. His numbers have been solid in Columbus thus far, as the 24-year-old righty from Peng-Hu County, Taiwan, has yet to allow a run in eight appearances spanning 12.1 innings. He’s allowed just seven hits, walked three, and has a stunning 19 strikeouts. Those numbers are obviously a great start to his AAA career!
But, I wanted to take a moment to write a bit more about him, as I finally got my first chance to see him pitch in person on Saturday night. Watching him warm up, the first thing one notices is his size. He’s listed at 5’11” and 175 pounds, and to the eye that appears to be generous. He warmed up as he entered the game, and the radar guns had him throwing an 88-MPH fastball with a mid-70’s off-speed pitch. I was confused as to how this guy was blowing people away.
Let it be noted that he clearly saves something for live hitters.
Watching his delivery, he reminds you of David Riske a bit, not only because of his stature, but because of his sneaky three-quarters delivery. He clearly hides the ball well, as hitters looked completely clueless as to timing him up when I saw him. His in-game fastball came in routinely at 93 MPH, and his off-speed stayed in the mid- to high-70’s. From my angle (to the first base side) it was difficult to tell how much movement his stuff has, but there’s clearly some life on his fastball. On Saturday when I saw him, he worked 1.2 innings of no-hit ball, allowing just one walk while striking out two. But what I noticed is that no one really made solid contact off of him.
It’s still early to tell on this guy, but at age 24 he’s certainly young enough to factor into the equation in the bullpen, and his stuff appears to have a solid enough foundation to build onto. We’ll have to see if AAA hitters start to adjust, but the early returns are sensational!
And Finally…
…a pretty big series in terms of competition level is coming up, as the Clippers head to Lehigh Valley for four games with the IL East leaders. IL supremacy is on the line!