Kyle Kelly’s 2018 NFL Mock Draft 1.0
April 9, 2018LeBron says “family, winning” will determine free agency decision
April 9, 2018It’s amazing to see how desperation plays out in a Major League baseball game when the temperatures hit record lows. And when you’re talking about Cleveland record lows, you know that it’s really cold. So when the weekend series against the Kansas City Royals ended on a day in which the 32-degree temperature at game time was the lowest in the history of Progressive Field, you know it was a very special weekend.
That didn’t stop Yan Gomes from hitting a towering fly ball into the left-field seats yesterday, giving the Indians a 3-1 Walk-Off victory over the Royals. While the game ended in explosive fashion, the two teams could only muster 10-total runs in the three-game set. With the Indians taking two of three games against their division rivals.
First off, I have to give Yan Gomes all the credit in the world. The Indians’ starting catcher hasn’t had an easy go of it since he burst upon the scene with the Tribe in 2013 and 2014. Since then, injuries and slumps have kept Gomes from taking the next step, and the emergence of Roberto Perez has left many questioning whether or not Gomes should be garnering more games than his counterpart. When you add the Columbus catching tandem of Francisco Mejia and Eric Haase to the mix, you have a job that is precarious at best.
His knock offensively has always been a questionable approach at the plate. His BB% has always been suspect, reaching a low of 3.3 in 2016. Prior to 2017, Gomes had never walked more than 5.6% of his plate appearances in any big league season. Last year, Gomes saw a jump to a more respectable 8.1%, but when you connect that percentage to his 25% strikeout percentage, you still have a hitter that is likely guessing more than not.
Taking all of that into account, you have to give Gomes the credit he deserves for his best at-bat of the season. Sitting at 2-2, Gomes held off on a Brandon Maurer slider that looked like it clipped the zone for strike three. He didn’t get the strike call, then began the journey of fighting off Maurer’s 95 MPH+ four seamer. When Maurer left that four seamer down and in the middle of the plate, it was all but over. If there’s one place you don’t put a pitch against Gomes…it’s down, and in the middle.
How bad was that pitch to Gomes?
Really bad.
Gomes launched the fastball at a 36% angle (Ted Williams perfect launch angle was 28%) with 100 MPH exit velocity. On a normal day, that ball likely ends up halfway up the seats in the bleachers. On Sunday, it barely made it over the wall.
I can’t wait until this team gets out of the arctic tundra.
Oh wait, Gomes does other things too?
While the debate rages on regarding the Gomes vs. Perez starting options behind the plate, Gomes continues to do some fun things. While Gomes isn’t considered as good a framer as Perez, he has showcased solid pop times (the time it takes a ball to get to the infielder after the ball hits the glove of the catcher…so glove-to-glove time), and continues to possess one of the best arms of any catcher in baseball.
In the fourth, with one on and one out, Jorge Soler broke for second, and Gomes went to work.
My unofficial pop time on that throw is 1.69 seconds, which is pretty elite.Gomes wasn’t done there either.In the fifth, Mikey Moustakas decided to screw around at first base. Enter Gomes.
The pop time from Gomes glove to visually seeing Alonso in that frame is 1.37 seconds. You can make a decent claim that the ball got there a long time before we see that frame of Alonso tagging.In other words…he good.
Zimmer the Winner
What I loved the most about Kenny Lofton was his singular ability to completely disrupt a game. While measuring a player via WAR is commonplace, I can likely point to eight or nine games a year in which Lofton tilted the game towards the Indians’ column, by virtue of his speed and defense.
Zimmer is going to be that guy too, as long as he doesn’t destroy himself running into a wall.
Gomes threw a 90 MPH strike from center, and it was beautiful to watch. You can quickly see him eyeballing the run before he takes the short hop, grabs it like an infielder, takes a short crow hop, and rifles it to Gomes waiting glove, right in line with the runner, John Jay. Perfect throw that beats him by seven or eight feet.Later in the game, Zimmer took it upon himself to get the Indians a run. He stole second.
Note the jump. While the throw was off, Zimmer is three steps into his steal before the release from the pitcher. The 93 MPH fastball was below the zone, and the frantic throw had no shot. Francisco Lindor sacrificed Zimmer over, and in one weird at bat, Jose Ramirez sorta got the bat in the way of a 94 MPH fastball, and nubbed the ball between the pitcher and the third baseman, allowing Zimmer to score.Manufacturing runs is a thing, and the Indians needed that thing, at that moment. Gomes homer won the game, but who knows what happens if the Indians don’t tie it in the eight.
Brantley’s back…
It’s good to see Brantley back, doing Brantley things. Hopefully he stays healthy for longer than half a season.
Chisenhall’s calf
Brantley is back, and Chisenhall is hurt…proving that having both healthy at once is virtually impossible. Chis hurt his calf again, making you wonder if he’ll ever be healthy again. He had the offseason to get right, and if that length of time doesn’t do it, what will?
Maybe it’s time to move on.
The Bobby Bradley watch is real
How about a two-run blast to give the Rubberducks a win.
Oh…what it is to know it all…
It’s hard to be a sports fan. It’s fun to be a sports fan. What am I getting at here? Most fans bring their own set of criteria to a game. Let me give you an example of one such set of preconceived criteria.
I used to have season tickets. For 15 years, I attended 40-81 games a year, both at Cleveland Municipal and at Jacob’s/Progressive Field. I’ve been a writer of Indians’ baseball since 1995, in one form or another. I attended 70-plus minor league games since 2000, at both the High-A and Triple-A level. During that stretch, I sat a majority of the games with area and team scouts, as well as pitchers and catchers charting games from both teams.
It gives me a certain skill-set but also means absolutely nothing. Can I chart a game?
Yep.
Can I give you a general idea of what a scout thinks about a player?
Yep.
Does it mean anything?
NOPE.
I’m firmly aware of this. I’m aware that the Indians handle specific players differently than others. There’s a reason why Cody Allen spends basically one full season in the entire minors and another reason why a player like Lindor spends nearly one full season at every level.
There’s a reason why they call up Francisco Mejia in September and another reason why they call up Jose Ramirez. It all means something, and while we can make educated guesses, it’s impossible to know. It’s equally impossible to take ANYONE in the organization at face value. I can think of at least five different occasions in which the same person involved in the organization told me one thing regarding a player, and told another good friend of mine covering the Indians the exact opposite…or a differing story.
It’s the nature of the beast.
One thing I can tell you is that attending a ton of games, as a fan, as a writer, or as a mixture of both, gives you insight, but that’s it. And that insight doesn’t mean a whole lot…because each player brings a different skill-set, and equally brings a different opinion regarding the Front Office, and the Field Management. I can’t tell you how many times a minor league manager has told me, “he’s as good as it gets defensively,” only to hear a quote from the Major League team that says, “he still needs work.”
Favor means everything, and if you don’t have it…you don’t have it.
What’s my point?
Take EVERYTHING with a grain of salt. Bring your knowledge to the table, and always have a good take, that you realize needs fine-tuning. Hashing out the errors in our thinking is what makes baseball great, and what makes baseball for true fans, a sport worth coming back to. It’s never the same, even when you think it is.
The (cold) List:
1. Jose Ramirez–Okay, JRam makes some plays, and he just makes things happen.
But we know he’s not #JRam yet. Even cold JRam is better than most though.
2. Jason Kipnis–Kip has roped some baseballs that I think would be home runs in regular weather. They aren’t finding spots. I think they will as the season progresses.
3. Lonnie Chisenhall–Too much money, too little time on the field. Get the guys up that can play, and give them the innings. It’s time for the Indians to move on.