Cavs ranked eighth in ESPN’s NBA Future Power Rankings
May 31, 2013WFNY Stats & Info: Indians’ two-out barrage best in MLB since 2011
May 31, 2013As you’ll certainly note, this is neither a TD-recap nor a live-blog recap, which means we’re treading in dangerous, deep and foreign waters. In an attempt at brevity and concision, allow me the crude crutch of numerically ordering my thoughts on the Indians 7-1 victory over the intrastate Reds last night.
1. Of the game’s 17 half innings, only one deserves any specific mention: in the bottom of the fourth, the Indians did something pretty fascinating. Here’s the inning:
- Asdrubal Cabrera hit by pitch (0 outs)
- Nick Swisher strikes out looking (1 out)
- Carlos Santana singles; Cabrera to second (1 out)
- Mark Reynolds strikes out swinging (2 outs)
- Michael Brantley singles; Cabrera scores (2 outs)
- Yan Gomes singles; Santana scores (2 outs)
- Ryan Raburn doubles; Brantley scores (2 outs)
- Michael Bourn doubles; Gomes and Raburn score (2 outs)
- Jason Kipnis singles; Bourn scores (2 outs)
- Asdrubal Cabrera doubles; Kipnis scores (2 outs)
- Nick Swisher flies out (3 outs)
That’s six consecutive two-out, RBI hits, accounting for all seven Indian runs. I don’t feel like looking up the last time that happened, but it seems likely to me that this is somewhat rare (Editor’s note: It is rare. Very rare). Also notable that Nick Swisher made two of the innings three outs. That guy really sucks, huh?
2. Scott Kazmir looked very good. He worked seven innings, allowing just one run on back-to-back hits from Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce in the top of the sixth. He struck out five, which is actually a bit low for him, but walked only one, which is also wonderfully low. Uncharacteristically, he induced twice as many groundballs as flyballs which helped him avoid the long-ball. This, along with his tendency to lose command and issue walks, will be his bugaboo when he’s not on his game. He’s starting to look like the sort of pitcher who will either dominate or get shellacked, and you’ll know pretty early on in the game which it’s going to be. What frightens me is that I feel that way about our entire rotation (save McAllister, I suppose): any of these guys can look like aces. But they can just as easily look like a late-model Derek Lowe. You never know what you’re gonna get, but unlike boxes of chocolate, you could end up with a steaming pile of defeated feces. Unless you buy really weird boxes of chocolate.
3. You can get your hat personally embroidered for $10 at a Progressive Field merchandise stand. The Indians announced this new promotion (service? accommodation? solution?) and appeared to push it rather hard during the evening’s telecast. Basically, you give them $10 and some kid stitches whatever personal epigraph you’d like on your Indians merchandise. I feel about this the same way I feel about getting a tattoo. In the abstract, I see the appeal and find the attempt toward individuality to be largely laudable. But when it comes to actually picking the thing out that you think is important enough to permanently etch onto your body/cap, I end up paralyzed by the thought of future regret. What if I no longer like that Beckett quote? What if I change my Twitter handle? What if I am drunk, and what I think of as clever is actually otherwise? I am, therefore, still tattoo-less. I imagine I will also eschew the personal embroidery option, but I’d suggest that this might say more about me than anything else.
4. The Indians recorded their first 24 outs by way of left handed pitching. Kazmir took care of the first 21, and then Nick Hagadone came on for an eight-pitch eighth inning before yielding to Matt Albers in the ninth. I’m not going to look this up, but I’ll go ahead and guess that this is the first time that the first 24 outs were recorded by southpaws since Cliff Lee’s salad days.
Unless David Huff did it once. Dammit, I bet he did.
[……………………………]
Yep. You’re the worst, David Huff. Thanks for making me look that up.
5. Dontcha know, there was OTHER STUFF ON TV!!!!!1111one11!!! A bit of inside baseball I suppose, but my entire twitter feed was watching the basketball game last night. And that’s fine. I would never tell someone what to watch in her free time, and I’d hope that my reticence would be reciprocated. Telling people how to enjoy their leisure activities is a fairly offensive past time.
Which is just to say: please don’t try to make me watch basketball or curling or open-wheeled racecar driving, and I won’t try to make you watch baseball. It’s these sorts of compromises that allow civilizations to emerge, so let’s remember to be especially civil about one another’s proclivities.
6. Quick Numbery Numbers:
- Michael Brantley now has a .352 on-base percentage. Granted, he is not nearly the base-stealer I hoped he’d be, but a .350+ OBP and good corner defense makes him valuable. Also, there is some reason to believe he’s getting better. I’m not crazy about extending him right now, but he’s projectable enough that it’s not necessarily crazy-talk.
- Mark Reynolds has 13 home runs. Which is more than: Travis Hafner (12), Casey Kotchman (12), and Shelley Duncan (11) had all of last season. In fact, Reynolds’ 13 HRs would’ve placed him fifth on the Indians last season, behind only Santana (18), Asdrubal (16), Choo (16), and Kipnis (14). Also, it’s May.
- Yan Gomes is hitting .319/.333/.638 (.971 OPS) for the season. He’s pretty clearly a better defensive catcher than Carlos Santana, and I may even be thinking serioudly about some sort of semi-permanent move. My issues, however, are two-fold. First, Gomes is just not this good—he’s never slugged like this in his career, and his power is the biggest asset of that slash line. (It would appear, for one thing, that he has no patience: 2 walks in 72 plate appearances. Pitchers will figure this out and soon.) Second, Santana really is good, and making Gomes an everyday player would necessarily make Santana something else. That is, unless you bench Stubbs and move Swisher to RF. Which could be an option, but I love the outstanding defensive outfield we have most nights, and tend to think that Gomes as an everyday player would be sorely exposed.
- Dividing Scott Kazmir’s starts into two rough categories, here are two lines:
- 3 starts; 11.1 IP; 11.9 ERA; 9 K; 7 BB
- 5 starts; 29.0 IP; 2.48 ERA; 32 K; 8 BB
So yeah. I want that second guy. But like I said before, like most of our rotation, he’s pretty Jekyll-and-Hyde right now.
7. Ohio Cup! The Indians and Reds split their four-game road-home series. So the Indians win the Ohio cup. Because there are no ties in baseball. This is so stupid. I believe Solomon should propose a solution that we can all abide.
Even though it feels like this stretch of tough competition should be almost over, we’re not even halfway done. Next up the Tampa Bay Rays come to town, followed by road series against the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers. And that jaunt leads to a homestand that opens against the Washington Nationals. You get through that stretch still above .500, and you can start thinking your happy September/October thoughts. We’ll know a lot more about this team in a month.
Photo: Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer
44 Comments
Curling is awesome! You don’t know what you are talking about. 😀
The Tribe is back!..not. Move back into first, stay there, and then I’ll get excited. I won’t believe this team is “different” until they prove it.
What I liked most about the 6 hits in a row was that it looked like a lineup of stone-cold professional sticks: no homers, every guy going with the pitch. A radio announcer early in the game was going through the Tribe 2010 lineup the last time they played. Trever Crowe hit leadoff and the others I can’t even type without leaking defeated feces (what exactly is that, Jon? Uh, never mind).
I also fantasize about Gomes starting, and I don’t care if he ends up at .240. Strength up the middle, baby, and is it my imagination or do pitchers look more comfortable when he’s back there in charge? (Harrumphs and refuses to research comparative ERAs). I’m just not a Stubbs lover – to me he looks like an elite athlete trying baseball, and I see vasts stretches of flailing at the plate in his future as the AL pitchers get their book.
remember when we signed Reynolds and we said “it’d be nice if he hit like 2009 again” and we all laughed because best-case scenarios don’t happen to the Tribe?
Interesting thoughts on Gomes/Santana. Gomes passes they eyeball test as a major league catcher, but excellent points on his BB rates and his newly found power. It seems that the team is playing well with him on the roster, so why fiddle with it for now?
you must open your heart in order to love again, Roo.
One bullet at a time…
1: Is this trend good, or bad? I know it’s great to get 2 out runs, but is this a trend that will hurt us later in the year? It’s starting to look like a team in football who is last in the league in Turnovers. It’s the main reason why they are good, but it hurts them when it matters most because they revert back to league average. Just wondering if I’m alone on that one?
2: Kaz is really starting to look good. Votto went hitless and the rest of one of the best lineups in baseball did relatively nothing all night. I’m going to see him on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, better keep up those groundball outs!
3: Get an American flag if you get anything, no one will make fun of you for having an American flag on your Wahoo hat.
4: Looking at that box score I noticed two things: That Indians lineup was very BAD, and hey, we traded Austin Kearns and got ZMac!. Go Shapiro! Wahoo!
5: Civilizations emerging! Yeah!
6: Brantley is valuable as the 7th hitter. He’s probably one of the best 7th hitters in the League. Gomes needs more starts, let him prove that he deserves the semi-permanent move. I’m not crazy about Santana as a 1b/DH, but it at least deserves a look. Reynolds at 3b, Swish/Santana at 1b/DH and Gomes at C is pretty nice. Giambi can break it up some nights and this should be the regular until Chiz is back.
7: We are in the toughest stretch we will have until August, and yes as long as we stay above 500, we will be “in it”. September is a very easy month for us( relative to the other ones) so as long as we are in striking distance by then, we should have a fun season.
Spoken like a true Butthead
Yes it worked with Reynolds because we didn’t start the rumination with “What if…”
I actually watch this during the Winter Olympics, lol, the fact that there are quite a few babes sliding them stones probably doesn’t hurt either!
You just jinxed him congratulations!
Tigers didn’t look very good against the mighty Pirates. Raise the jolly roger!!!!
In softball, I once got all three outs in an inning. I’m wasn’t very good at softball, but my team was. Sometimes I wonder if I was just the “mascot.” Like Radio.
Hah! I was also Radio on a fab team, or more accurately, Wally Pipp. My substitute blasted the game-winning homer in the 7th inning of the league championship game.
I have displayed the championship plaque proudly in my home (only one despite years of playing) and never confessed the game details. Until today.
just remember, if you weren’t clogging up the starting spot for that guy, then he may have wasted his HR Xavier Paul style. you helped him save his shot for that moment (that’s how it works, right?).
I gave you an uptick, just because you seem like you need it.
Cheer up, bro!
They really won because they freed the YANIMAL!!!
Or maybe after the kids were born my swing would start getting long, interest would wane like my lazy flies to the left fielder, I’d miss some games and the single guys who cared more would be heating up while I pondered if I shouldn’t be with the fam instead of having the mandatory post-game beer with our sponsor. Actually, what you said.
UpTheRoo!
Wait, you just described my life. I have an 8:30 game tonight that I’m trying to think of an excuse . . . er, justification . . . for being AWOL.
I also noticed that we have a light September. I was happy until I noticed that the Tigers do also. They end the season with a 3 game set against the Marlins. THE FREAKING MARLINS!!
My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with a girl who saw The Roo pass out at 31 Flavors last night! Save The Roo!
For what it’s worth, the AL Central will be decided by how well we do against the Tigers/White Sox, not how the Tigers do against the Marlins. So, hopefully DET is 4 games back going into that series…
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/sochi-unveils-medals-2014-winter-olympics-160221628.html
Pulled shin muscle?
The Wild Thing is on board.
I personally prefer the Winter Olympics. There’s more danger and excitement. Even the figure skaters wear razor sharp blades on their feet.
And yet, the upticks are not rolling in. Do we need a telethon or something? Let’s go people.
UpTheRoo!
Save TheRoo!
Of course you went to Akron.
.. and that’s it. We have our Friday movie quote, in context. Shut ‘er down, boys.
if Swish doesn’t look at someone else soon I might off myself.
Now you know how I feel GO now you know how I feel! I upticked ya long ago, for the record.
I will never root for a team from Pittsburgh. Tigers should have crushed them!
Not me! Uptick TheRoo!
Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering!
I draw the line at having your back entirely to many misconstructions possible there are!
I don’t think Gomes can go full time but he certainly has played well enough to warrant a few more starts. I do agree for another converted catcher not only does he look better behind the plate then Santana but starters seem to do better as well. With the positional flexibility on this roster there is definite room for both Santana and Gomes in the lineup.
As far as Stubbs goes, can he throw a football?
Yoda?
Imagine how his teammates feel.
Today’s kids have no sense of permanence!
You (and others like you) need to strengthen yourselves. Make commitments! Learn to make concrete decisions.
GET A TATTOO!
too many Kent State and OU alum on the board?
and the AL West will be decided by which team actually loses a game to the Astros
This Tampa series should be interesting. Same overall record, same home/away record and pretty close run differential. Facing a great pitcher (Moore), a debut rookie (Archer), and a middle of the rotation arm (Hellickson), so pretty good cross section of their entire rotation. Was hoping Roberto/Fasuto would get the call, but looks like his turn through was the other night.
if Jon goes Chris Anderson on us, then I actually might figure out this instagram thing just for the associated pictures.