With a host of wing players on the roster, the Cavs have some decisions to make
September 28, 2017Thad Matta’s clean Ohio State program cost him his job in the end
September 28, 2017Champagne was sprayed and spilt and perhaps even a bit consumed within the confines of Progressive Field on Wednesday night. A couple weeks after the Cleveland Indians wrapped up their own 2017 postseason berth and AL Central division crown, the Minnesota Twins backed into the second AL Wild Card position after the Los Angeles Angels lost in extra innings to the Chicago White Sox. While it is worth a tip of the cap to the Twins outplaying their metrics en route to earning a bid into October, it is satisfying Paul Molitor and his crew were forced to celebrate after a loss as the Tribe controlled the Wednesday night affair and won, 4-2.
With the postseason bids wrapped up, one might wonder why it would be worth watching the final four games of the Indians regular season before the ALDS kicks off next Thursday. Well, the Indians are in a bit of a unique position where there are many underlying arcs still playing out over the course of the last weekend.
Here is why you need to watch.
No. 1 seed still in play
The Indians currently sit at 99-59, which is a full game ahead of the Houston Astros over whom they hold the tiebreaker. The lead might as well be two games as the Astros must finish with a better record than the Tribe to claim the first overall seed. If the Indians go 2-2, then the Astros would need to win out their final four contests to jump them.
The Dodgers sit with a similar stranglehold on the overall No. 1 seed in the MLB postseason. They would need to lose out and the Indians win out for the Tribe to claim that position.
The most likely scenario here is that the Indians go over 100 wins for just the third time in franchise history, await the AL Wild Card Game winner for their ALDS matchup, and would need anyone other than the Dodgers to advance to the World Series to hold home field advantage through the postseason. But, it is not like opponents haven’t gifted the Indians favors in the past. So, we’ll see.
Josh Tomlin vs Danny Salazar
Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Trevor Bauer have locked up the first three rotation positions. It is possible that the Indians will not need a fourth starter, but, should the need arise, they have a decision to make between Tomlin and Salazar with Mike Clevinger having been moved to the bullpen. By the way, Clevinger is settling into his role nicely as he pitched on back-to-back nights and has yet to surrender a run in his new role.
Tomlin has pitched well in the second half of the season. Despite his last start, he has a 3.38 ERA in eight starts with a .256/.274/.419 slash against. The Little Cowboy has been with the team for a long time and is a big reason they were able to scrape their way to within a win of a World Series championship last season.
If Salazar is right though, there is no decision. He has the potential to be absolutely filthy with his pitches especially if he is allowed to treat his start as a three-to-four inning stint with Clevinger coming in to provide some middle relief innings. Salazar looked the part on Wednesday as he had nine strikeouts in just 4.2 innings pitched. Tomlin gets one more start this weekend, but pay attention to team messaging about how Salazar is feeling too.
Injury Watch
Carlos Santana has given Tribe fans a reason to breathe a sigh of relief as it appears his shoulder is not damaged from the weekend collision. Jason Kipnis is still ramping up- as painful as watching him attempt to play center field might be on the eyes. Yandy Diaz and Lonnie Chisenhall came back on Wednesday from injuries. Some of their initial timing issues demonstrate why it is so imperative for Michael Brantley to get some at bats this weekend if he has any realistic opportunity of helping the team in the ALDS.
Oh, and that Andrew Miller guy appears to be back in top form after a slow climb back from his own injury. That might be sort of important.
67 Comments
Will be there Friday and Sunday. Hard to believe these are the last two games for this year. Would love to see 100+ wins.
Wouldn’t want to be CLEFO and Tito on these roster decisions. Such a huge team effort this year. Depth was incredible.
“While it is worth a tip of the cap to the Twins outplaying their metrics…”
Wait a sec. You mean the all-knowing numbers were wrong?
https://media.giphy.com/media/ohBeIPJ4MEuas/giphy.gif
When are the game times announced? After Sunday, or after WC games?
You’re missing the point here RGB. The algos are more right than the humans. Except for some algos. And some humans. But mostly, yes, that’s it, mostly.
Thanks for reading an Indians post.
It’s almost time to start paying attention to them.
Sooo, the numbers are right, except when they’re wrong.
i gotcha.
Kinda like people, but more so.
The Astros-Sawx series this week could be pretty intense or a total snooze.
If Indians, Yanks, and Astros all win the next two games, the Astros could be playing for ALCS Home Field and the Sawx could on the verge of dropping to Wild Card.
Otherwise, Astros and Sawx have nothing the play for. Will likely play 7-9 straight games, which is pretty cool.
“Oh cool! A parade! Sounds fun. Go Tribe!”
Going to be in Medina next weekend. Will be getting in too late to see Game 1. I’ll have to find a place to watch Game 2.
Let me guess… you’re coming in for the Browns game aren’t you?
No. My brother’s wedding.
On Sunday.
During the Browns game.
https://media.giphy.com/media/1zOggkwwUyB8c/giphy.gif
Yes. More often correct than people but when people figure out a deficiency in them that other people are trusting, they can exploit it (oh hello there elite defense and baserunning).
Lucky you. I envy your obligatory Browns vacation. You may not realize it, but you’re one of the lucky ones.
The elite defense thing really clicked for me reading Hattery’s piece on arb. More hidden value for the money.
I bust on the algos because some of the metrics purists can’t see past them, which really is not the case here, but I’ve learned a ton about the game the last few years by better understanding saber.
I think what you are doing with your LL kids at such a young age is remarkable and will benefit them tremendously. Wish I knew a lot of this when my kids were young.
I’ll chime in on these:
#1 seed – we should be able to win that for AL, and honestly, I am not sweating LAD getting the MLB seed. I dont think LA is getting out of the NL.
#4 starter – first off, looks like Cleavinger made a huge point of keeping the ball down in the zone last night, love to see that. I am not getting worked up on the #4 starter. Bullpen usage may render all that moot. Both have looked fine.
Injuries: Carlos squared up those first two at bats really well. He is fine. Chiss had a horrific at bat and needs some more reps. Tito seems married to Kip/Allen so be it. Side note – I did see Gio come in there at top of 6 I think and was perfectly placed for that liner to 3rd.
Miller – should we care that he never went over 93 last night? What he did have was filthy though.
Bought eight tickets with some buddies for Sunday and combo’ing with a Browns tailgate. Should be quite the party. Looking forward to it, even if it’s just a AAA All Star game.
“I did see Gio come in there at top of 6 I think and was perfectly placed for that liner to 3rd”
Shhhh!!!. Steve can hear you 🙂
Is there concern with overworking our top 3 starters – Kluber, in particular – after what happened in Game 7 last year? Or is it not really an issue since he had time off already this year?
Unlike last year, Tribe actually has four starters. So no, I don’t think that will be a problem. Maybe shrink to 3-man later, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s a lot of baseball to be played against some very good teams
(AL teams look way better than last year and are all pretty hot to end the season)
All these are interesting questions, but the number one reason to watch is this is one of funnest and best teams in the history of Cleveland sports, and I would argue tops in both.
They also have an owner who is not a grifter, don’t passive-aggressively tweet about each other, or burn $18M in cap space for something down the road. This team is well run, top to bottom. They show up and bust their butts every night. They are an absolute treat.
The baseball community is so amazing. Here I am a loser-athlete that couldn’t play baseball worth a lick. No one has cared. So many guys have taught me how to coach and what to look for to improve the kids; now the advanced stuff that is coming out I can relay directly. All because these guys with nothing to gain for it are willing to share.
Indians POTY.
Good personalities, good attitudes, but most importantly, good baseball.
Sorry, thought I had replied here.
Last year they announced game times the day before the AL WC games. Expect the same this year.
Big screen behind the alter during the ceremony.
Sure, but those things are why you should have been watching the whole season. The last four games have less meaning without the above 🙂
And, don’t worry. The yearly column is coming on those fans who only pay attention in the postseason. Perhaps for Monday.
Don’t forget arts & crafts time.
I admit it doesn’t really show, but I appreciate Urshela’s defense as much as anyone else, and with a 40 man roster, or as many guys as we’ve had banged up, using him liberally as a defensive sub is helpful.
Postseason on both sides is going to be brutal.
Great… just what the Tribe fan base needs most… the HGTV crowd. Maybe they can turn the old bullpen into a cozy backyard retreat
I’ve had my moments, and I’ve seen otherwise normal, rational humans completely lose their minds, but the sum of my experiences have been exponentially more positive than negative.
The biggest tourney we played in we eventually lost, and the way those kids and parents handled it told me as coaches we did our job well. I’d buy stock in every one of those kids.
http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/pfx.php?month=9&day=27&year=2017&game=gid_2017_09_27_minmlb_clemlb_1%2F&pitchSel=453192&prevGame=gid_2017_09_27_minmlb_clemlb_1%2F&prevDate=927&league=mlb
I saw 95 and Pitch F/X had him at 95 as well. I’m still waiting on the max 96-97 velo, but if he has that filth control like last night, then it won’t matter.
If we move Kipnis, does that pay for most of a Carlos Santana payraise? I realize not likely but just spitballing here.
Who would take Kip, ARI, NYM, LAA? Trying to think of non-rebuilders that would take on salary.
In a short series, I’d rather play Boston than NYY. In a long series, I’d rather play NYY. So, the Indians should be rooting for Boston to drop, but I don’t think it is likely.
okay I was at the game watching the CLE scoreboard on every pitch and they were only 83/84 and 93. There was one batter (2nd out – a strikeout?) that they didnt put it up to flash a K messasge.
TOR, but Shapiro is notorious for insisting on excess over market value, so not counting on it.
That’s the most important thing there.
Santana seems like he’s a $20M guy to me, and I expect him to get really darn close to that. But I wouldn’t sell low on Kipnis.
I realize the home scoreboard is not gospel and open to manipulation but could only go by what I saw.
That’s fair & no idea what they use for it. Pitch F/X is fairly normalized, so he should be OK.
TV was showing mostly 93, a few 94, and I think one 95. For reference, Salazar had some 96/97 and Allen was around 94/95. Those last two seem consistent, which tells me that Miller still has 1-2 mph to go.
when you realize if the Browns lose, you won’t have wasted 4 hours
https://i.imgur.com/bu55I70.gif
Let the scoreboard show Tomlin at 104mph for all I care.
Mark gets to rebuild and start a new culture and all that. No way he takes Kip/
/dangles some Matt Lawton and Alex Escobar in front of TOR frobnt office
But, it’s the Jets. They might actually win.
Maybe.
Sure sounds like they are going to move Donaldson, but maintain the illusion of not rebuilding. In that sense, a package with Kip in it makes some sense.
okay I am guessing that 2nd out (K) was the high heat – highest MPH, the one they didnt show.
I like he broke out a full off-speed pitch for his first throw. All year he’d done this baby slider on his first pitch to get ahead that people have hit this year, so he threw something kinda nasty right outta the chute. That was real encouraging.