The Tigers have lost their first two games against the Yankees in their current series.
Is it just 2 well played games by the Yankees or are the Tigers' pitchers finally starting to come down back to earth?
What recent rookie callups will have the biggest impact on their team? Jered Weaver of the Angels? Lastings Milledge of the Mets? Or Liriano of the Twins?
Of course it will depend upon how long each rookie stays on the major league team, but just to highly touted prospects to keep an eye on. Weaver will be facing the Indians this friday so I should be able to get a good look at him then. I think Liriano could have a great year, but the Twins might be so out of whack that very few will notice. However, atleast the Twins are being agressive with a prospect this time instead of babying many of their past prospects.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Questions of the Week
Last week i asked several questions about baseball and the sporting world....
Would Sabathia continue his strong performance? Yes, he pitched well against the Tigers only giving up 3 runs and striking out 10 in 8 innings.
Are the Detroit Pistons that much better than the Cavaliers?
Happily no where near it. Cavs have won 3 straight and look to close out the series tomorrow night.
Between the Reds and Tigers, which teams' starting pitching would fade first?
The Reds went 2-4 on the week, and their pitching certainly wasn't great, but in the games the pitching was good..they got very little if any run support. The Tigers haven't fallen off one bit and are tied with the Whitesox for first in the Central.
Next Monday i will have a new set of questions up to look at.
Would Sabathia continue his strong performance? Yes, he pitched well against the Tigers only giving up 3 runs and striking out 10 in 8 innings.
Are the Detroit Pistons that much better than the Cavaliers?
Happily no where near it. Cavs have won 3 straight and look to close out the series tomorrow night.
Between the Reds and Tigers, which teams' starting pitching would fade first?
The Reds went 2-4 on the week, and their pitching certainly wasn't great, but in the games the pitching was good..they got very little if any run support. The Tigers haven't fallen off one bit and are tied with the Whitesox for first in the Central.
Next Monday i will have a new set of questions up to look at.
Payback is a ...
Last week when the Tribe got swept by the Royals, it seemed as like the Indians couldn't get any worse. Well, it got even a bit more worse after being swept by the Sox afterwards.
But after a losing streak of 6 games, the Indians responded by sweeping the Royals back to Kansas City. Hafner has started to really heat up, Sizemore has continued to get on base and hit with power. Blake has yet to cool down, and the Indians got good or decent starting pitching for 2 games, and got a complete game shutout from Westbrook Teusday night.
As the Pirates come to town, the Indians need to get these three games to make up for their recent struggles.
But after a losing streak of 6 games, the Indians responded by sweeping the Royals back to Kansas City. Hafner has started to really heat up, Sizemore has continued to get on base and hit with power. Blake has yet to cool down, and the Indians got good or decent starting pitching for 2 games, and got a complete game shutout from Westbrook Teusday night.
As the Pirates come to town, the Indians need to get these three games to make up for their recent struggles.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Another One
The Indians have been swept 2 consecutive series after losing 3-2 to the Tigers. The Indians led 1-0, until a critical defensive miscue by Eduardo Perez broke the door open for the Tigers to score 3 runs in the seventh. Jason Davis pitched well and Cabrerea pitched well after allowing his inherited runners to score.
Rafael Betancourt should come off the DL tomorrow, and I am not sure who would be sent down to replace him. Carmona, who was just called up to replace Graves, should be safe because I can't imagine the Indians' wanting to be jerking him around. I would find it fun to watch Carmona work on his game in the bullpen and eventually work his way back to the starter the Indians expect him to be.
Rafael Betancourt should come off the DL tomorrow, and I am not sure who would be sent down to replace him. Carmona, who was just called up to replace Graves, should be safe because I can't imagine the Indians' wanting to be jerking him around. I would find it fun to watch Carmona work on his game in the bullpen and eventually work his way back to the starter the Indians expect him to be.
Indians drop another.
Apparently, someone is taking the Tribe's losing streak pretty hard.
At Rick's Tribe Report yesterday, Rick made some comments about the Indians' 3-0 loss to the Tigers. Read his latest column and check out our discussion afterwards in the comments section.
For anyone that has read my posts on this site they would know I am an avid Indians fan. This losing streak is bothering me as much as anyone, but I still find time to point out some positives or still find some hope in a loss. Blaming Sizemore's baserunning yesterday is not an option in my opinion. The Indians' defense and inability to have good AB's against Bonderman were the issue.
At Rick's Tribe Report yesterday, Rick made some comments about the Indians' 3-0 loss to the Tigers. Read his latest column and check out our discussion afterwards in the comments section.
For anyone that has read my posts on this site they would know I am an avid Indians fan. This losing streak is bothering me as much as anyone, but I still find time to point out some positives or still find some hope in a loss. Blaming Sizemore's baserunning yesterday is not an option in my opinion. The Indians' defense and inability to have good AB's against Bonderman were the issue.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Tribe Struggles Again
Another loss by the Tribe tonight, this time to the Tigers 5-4. Lee didn't have one of his best starts, but the bullpen looked a lot like last years atleast. The offense only scored four runs, but with the amount of runs we scored in the KC series and got nothing from it, you can't be upset at them for ONLY scoring 4 runs. Carmona was brought up after the Indians' finally released Graves, but they still intend to make him a starter in the future. A few years back the Twins did the same thing with Johan Santana, and we all know how succesful that turned out to be. I think a similar outcome is possible with Carmona, and it will be interesting to see.
Indians' Bullpen Needs Soon to be Adressed
I was going to comment on what kind of bullpen changes could possibly be made in the next couple of days, but Shapiro beat me to it.
As the Indians' open their series with Detroit later today I hope that with both Lee and Sabathia starting our current bullpen flaws can be put aside for atleast 2 games of the series.
As the Indians' open their series with Detroit later today I hope that with both Lee and Sabathia starting our current bullpen flaws can be put aside for atleast 2 games of the series.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Pitching spoils good offense
The Tribe lost a 2nd game in a row to the Royals. This time they lost 10-7, but they blew leads of 2-0, 4-2, and 6-4. Johnson, Graves, Sauerbeck, and Davis all contributed to the Royals looking like the RedSox. I don't have a lot of anaylsis in relation to the lost, but I can only guess how concerned Shapiro is with the pitching staff giving away as many games as they have already.
My guess is that Sowers might see some action relatively soon, because we need to stay within a reasonable range of the WhiteSox and Johnson and Byrd don't appear to be the answer. Im sure Boone and Michaels are a concern to Shapiro as well, but the offense is still way above average even with two starters struggling.
My guess is that Sowers might see some action relatively soon, because we need to stay within a reasonable range of the WhiteSox and Johnson and Byrd don't appear to be the answer. Im sure Boone and Michaels are a concern to Shapiro as well, but the offense is still way above average even with two starters struggling.
Productive Out?
I said last night I would find articles discussing the productive out, this link encompasses about every avenue you can imagine.
Indians failed after getting what they wanted...
In the 7th inning of the Tribe game last night they were trailing 4-2. Blake led off the inning with a double. Sizemore then got him to third. Right there most if you are thinking, Sizemore did his job and got Blake to third with one out. Because Michaels should have gotten him in the run in his at bat. Here lies the problem with this theory.
First of all, never is it just Sizemore or any other hitters job just to get a man to third when you are trailing by two runs. Sizemore is one of the leading OBP guys for the Indians. His job is always to get on base, period. The Indians have one of the best offenses in baseball, their job is to get guys on base as often as possible so Hafner and Martinez get as many as at bats as possible. Michaels lining out to first with Blake on first isn't poor execution. He got unlucky. He was trying to push a single to right and instead hit the ball too hard. However, you can't get mad at him for that, you want all of your hitters to hit line drives...it leads to the most hits.
The bottom of the seventh was finished by Paul Byrd which was mostly uneventful, but it was nice not to have to use the bullpen an extra inning.
In the eigth, Hafner led of with a double against Wood, Martinez flied out deep to left getting Hafner to third base. So same situation as last inning. One out and a man on third. At this point the Royals bring in Andy Sisco (L) to face Broussard, but the Indians counter with Perez who strikes out in the at bat. At this point most fans are thinking, thats 2 opportunities the Indians blew to score a run and possibly tie the game. As hard as it is not to be upset, let me tell you why you shouldnt be.
Their is no statistical proof that says a "productive out" exists. It's nothing more than a media created waste of on out. Basically if the batter didn't reach base..he failed. Its too late of an hour for me to research articles that prove what I am saying but I will find them later today and provide you links so you can make your own conclusions.
However, at this point in the game I told myself in the order for the Indians to win they need to do two things.
1. Get as many people on base as we can to possibly get through the top of our order and get Hafner and Martinez one more shot.
2. Keep the Royals at 4 runs.
Well the Indians did both of those things. In the 8th inning after Perez's strikeout, the Royals brought in their "closer" Burgos, who went on to walk Belliard before he stuck out Boone on a splitter. (Burgos hadn't thrown anything but a fastball for a strike, but Boone still swung at that crap down and low. ) Anyways with Belliard's walk you got close to what we wanted. We were guaranteed that Michaels would be up in the 9th inning.
Secondly, Cabrera came in and faced the minimum in the bottom of the 8th.
So we got what we wanted for the most part. We kept the game at 4-2, and we weren't too far from getting Hafner and Martinez one last opportunity to get us a win/tie. What happened in the ninth was almost picture perfect. Although Blake began the inning with an out, Sizemore followed with a solo HR. After a Michaels strikeout, Peralta set the table for Hafner with a single to left. Hafner then walked, leaving it up to Martinez who swung at the first pitch and popped foul to third. Almost got what we wanted.
We all know the Tribe lost 4-3 , but they did some positive things near the end of the game. I would have preferred Martinez to take a pitch or two seeing that Burgos didn't seem very confident against Hafner, but hopefully they will execute better tomorrow.
First of all, never is it just Sizemore or any other hitters job just to get a man to third when you are trailing by two runs. Sizemore is one of the leading OBP guys for the Indians. His job is always to get on base, period. The Indians have one of the best offenses in baseball, their job is to get guys on base as often as possible so Hafner and Martinez get as many as at bats as possible. Michaels lining out to first with Blake on first isn't poor execution. He got unlucky. He was trying to push a single to right and instead hit the ball too hard. However, you can't get mad at him for that, you want all of your hitters to hit line drives...it leads to the most hits.
The bottom of the seventh was finished by Paul Byrd which was mostly uneventful, but it was nice not to have to use the bullpen an extra inning.
In the eigth, Hafner led of with a double against Wood, Martinez flied out deep to left getting Hafner to third base. So same situation as last inning. One out and a man on third. At this point the Royals bring in Andy Sisco (L) to face Broussard, but the Indians counter with Perez who strikes out in the at bat. At this point most fans are thinking, thats 2 opportunities the Indians blew to score a run and possibly tie the game. As hard as it is not to be upset, let me tell you why you shouldnt be.
Their is no statistical proof that says a "productive out" exists. It's nothing more than a media created waste of on out. Basically if the batter didn't reach base..he failed. Its too late of an hour for me to research articles that prove what I am saying but I will find them later today and provide you links so you can make your own conclusions.
However, at this point in the game I told myself in the order for the Indians to win they need to do two things.
1. Get as many people on base as we can to possibly get through the top of our order and get Hafner and Martinez one more shot.
2. Keep the Royals at 4 runs.
Well the Indians did both of those things. In the 8th inning after Perez's strikeout, the Royals brought in their "closer" Burgos, who went on to walk Belliard before he stuck out Boone on a splitter. (Burgos hadn't thrown anything but a fastball for a strike, but Boone still swung at that crap down and low. ) Anyways with Belliard's walk you got close to what we wanted. We were guaranteed that Michaels would be up in the 9th inning.
Secondly, Cabrera came in and faced the minimum in the bottom of the 8th.
So we got what we wanted for the most part. We kept the game at 4-2, and we weren't too far from getting Hafner and Martinez one last opportunity to get us a win/tie. What happened in the ninth was almost picture perfect. Although Blake began the inning with an out, Sizemore followed with a solo HR. After a Michaels strikeout, Peralta set the table for Hafner with a single to left. Hafner then walked, leaving it up to Martinez who swung at the first pitch and popped foul to third. Almost got what we wanted.
We all know the Tribe lost 4-3 , but they did some positive things near the end of the game. I would have preferred Martinez to take a pitch or two seeing that Burgos didn't seem very confident against Hafner, but hopefully they will execute better tomorrow.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Questions of the Week
Every Monday I am going to start asking a few questions about the sports world, and I will answer them and give comments as they get answered.
Are we going to see the Sabathia we saw Sunday against the Mariners more often this year?
Meaning similar performances of 105 pitches and no walks through 8 innings.
Are the Pistons that much better than the Cavaliers? Or was it a combination of the extra days off/time to prepare, and the Cavs having a let down after their first playoff series win?
Basketball isn't my strong suit, but as a die-hard Cleveland fan I hope they make it a series.
Between the Reds and Tigers, what surprising MLB team's pitching is gonna fade first?
If you look at each teams expected W-L record (XWL) you can see that the Reds are overperforming their RS/RA ratio, while the Tigers are actually a game worse than expected based on those two components. Detroit has allowed the fewest runs in the league, I can't think of anyone who would actually think they could maintain that for another month, let alone the rest of the season.
Are we going to see the Sabathia we saw Sunday against the Mariners more often this year?
Meaning similar performances of 105 pitches and no walks through 8 innings.
Are the Pistons that much better than the Cavaliers? Or was it a combination of the extra days off/time to prepare, and the Cavs having a let down after their first playoff series win?
Basketball isn't my strong suit, but as a die-hard Cleveland fan I hope they make it a series.
Between the Reds and Tigers, what surprising MLB team's pitching is gonna fade first?
If you look at each teams expected W-L record (XWL) you can see that the Reds are overperforming their RS/RA ratio, while the Tigers are actually a game worse than expected based on those two components. Detroit has allowed the fewest runs in the league, I can't think of anyone who would actually think they could maintain that for another month, let alone the rest of the season.
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