Heading into Saturday night’s game the Indians have lost six of seven. They hardly look the part of a playoff contender anymore, having been outscored 42 to 19 during those losses. The pitching, sans another good start by Zach McAllister, has been atrocious and the hitting inconsistent at best. The team is finally running out …
Jeanmar Gomez’s time in the rotation, or even in Cleveland itself, has to be coming to an end soon, right? After his latest clunker Saturday against the Astros, Gomez’s numbers are barely – barely– above replacement value. His peripherals – 4.32 K/9, which ranks among the worst in baseball, 3.21 BB/9, 1.23 HR/9 – are …
In an underrated move – and one that was most likely missed by most fans – the Indians acquired right-hander Esmil Rogers from the Colorado Rockies for cash considerations a few days ago. Rogers, 26, has spent parts of four seasons in the big leagues, making 72 appearances, 22 of them in the rotation. He …
Former GM and current team president Mark Shapiro was one of the, if not the, featured stories in Sunday’s Plain Dealer. It covered a lot of topics, but many centered on the business of the game. At times it was quite candid, something, I suspect, not many teams presidents would conduct. But, as with anythin, … Continue reading »
Indians closer Chris Perez went on a bit of a famous – or at least locally – postgame ranta few weeks ago, more or less issuing a challenge for fans to show to games and support the playoff-spot-challenging team. Surprisingly, or at least to me, it was pretty well received by the fans and Perez … Continue reading »
Analyst Tom Tango linked to an article written by David Laurila over at FanGraphs a few weeks ago and as Tango put it, “the Indians’ view on batting orders intersect(s) to a good degree with what’s in The Book.” The Book, for those unaware, provides the proper context for baseball’s “conventional wisdom”, either supporting or … Continue reading »
Three years have gone by for the Tribe’s 2009 draft class and enough data has accrued – at least in most cases – to make conclusions with a fairly high level of accuracy. Below are the top 10 picks as well as notable late round selections. # 1 (overall pick #15): Alex White, RHP, University … Continue reading »
In a pick that’s eerily reminiscent of the organization’s draft philosophy a decade earlier – and one that was highly unproductive – the Indians selected Texas A&M outfielder Tyler Naquin, a polished collegiate bat likely to move quickly through the lower levels of the minors but has a rather limited ceiling. Naquin has a decent … Continue reading »
Back when I first started writing about the Indians – on a now defunct blog – one of the first pieces I posted was about the Indians terrible draft record, particularly in the first round. And with this year’s draft a few hours away I figured it would be best to delve back into the … Continue reading »
Josh Tomlin’s return from the DL earlier week was a little less than auspicious. He lasted only five innings and gave up four hits – two of which were homeruns, one to Eric Hosmer and the other to Brayan Pena – and four runs while striking out four and walking two. And despite a rather … Continue reading »
