Cleveland Sports Forum

Contenders In Need Of A Right Field Upgrade
By Tim Dierkes [June 28 at 1:55pm CST]
As many as eight contenders might try to improve their right field situation:

Red Sox: They may just seek a right-handed hitter who can handle lefties, suggested WEEI's Alex Speier. Jeff Francoeur, Conor Jackson, Ryan Spilborghs, and Matt Diaz could be possibilities, or Michael Cuddyer if the team aims for a bigger name.

Tigers: When Brennan Boesch plays left field, Casper Wells and Magglio Ordonez are options in right. Wells has shown pop in a limited sample, and Maggs has a big contract. The Tigers' offense isn't lacking overall, so this isn't an urgent need. The same could be said for the Red Sox.

Indians: The Indians just announced that Shin-Soo Choo had thumb surgery today and recovery time is eight to ten weeks. That means a late August return in the best case, so the Tribe could look to upgrade on the Travis Buck/Austin Kearns platoon.

Phillies: They've got Domonic Brown and Ben Francisco in the current mix. Francisco normally at least handles lefties, but not this year. Brown has star potential, but it's unclear how much leeway the Phillies want to give him this year to learn on the job. They've got a middle of the pack offense this year, and have been linked to Cuddyer, Ryan Ludwick, and Josh Willingham.

Cardinals: Lance Berkman has taken over at first base in Albert Pujols' absence, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote yesterday that the Cards do not plan to pursue a hitter. Allen Craig could return from a fractured kneecap around the All-Star break and Jon Jay has done a nice job.

Pirates: The Bucs have employed Garrett Jones, Xavier Paul, and Diaz this year. Jones takes care of righties, so if Diaz returns to his lefty-mashing ways they'll be fine.

Giants: The Giants are using Nate Schierholtz in right, with Cody Ross also capable. Schierholtz has struggled against lefties.

Athletics: At six games out the A's are fringe contenders. They could end up selling right field candidates in Willingham, Jackson, David DeJesus, and Ryan Sweeney. Even if they do stay in the race an outfield acquisition seems unlikely.

The Red Sox, Tigers, Indians, and Phillies seem most likely to pursue right field acquisitions. Andre Ethier and Hunter Pence are unlikely to be dealt, leaving names such as Carlos Beltran, Jason Kubel, Kosuke Fukudome, Ludwick, Willingham, Cuddyer, Ordonez, Francoeur, Jackson, Spilborghs, Diaz, and DeJesus on the Major League market.

Did we get anything for Ludwick when he left us? If I recall he was a DFA since he really wasn't worth anything in exchange at the time.

No he was just released. Played for the Toledo Mud Hens for a year and then got a tryout with the Cardinals.

Pluto chat on Cavs and Tribe:

http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/ind ... _in_3.html

Prospect of the Day: Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B, Cleveland Indians
by John Sickels on Jun 28, 2011 8:00 AM EDT


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Mark Duncan - APMore photos »
Cleveland Indians third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Prospect of the Day: Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B, Cleveland Indians

Seeking to boost their hitting attack, the Cleveland Indians have promoted third base prospect Lonnie Chisenhall from Triple-A Columbus. Is he the long-term solution at the hot corner?

Chisenhall was drafted by the Indians in the first round in 2008, 29th overall, from Pitt Community College in North Carolina. As a freshman with South Carolina in 2007, he was charged with stealing computers and cash and was kicked out of the program, landing at the junior college level, where he dominated. He served six months probation in 2008, and the Indians were comfortable enough with his makeup to pull the trigger with the first round pick.



Chisenhall has always excited scouts with his quick, short swing, plus bat speed, and power to all fields. His plate discipline isn't spectacular, but it isn't bad, and he keeps his strikeouts under control. He's particularly strong against right-handed pitching, and scouts detect few flaws in his approach, saying that he handles fastballs, breaking pitches, and changeups well. Most scouts believe he'll hit for both average and power as he matures. On defense, he features a solid third base arm and enough range for the position. He won't win gold gloves, but he won't be a liability, and his reliability has steadily improved with experience.

As good as the scouting reports are, there are concerns. Chisenhall's statistical performance has been decent but not outstanding. He hit .290/.355/.438 in the New York-Penn League in 2008, then .258/.325/.472 with 22 homers combined between High-A and Double-A in '09. Last year resulted a .278/.351/.450 mark in Double-A, which comes out to an OPS of +10 percent compared to '10 Eastern League average. That's above average, yes, but not that good for a corner player. This year he's hitting .265/.352/.427 for Triple-A Columbus, which comes out to a +7 percent OPS. His MLE this year is approximately .245/.320/.370. Last year it was approximately .235/.290/.360. Statistically at least, this is not the stuff of which batting stars are made.

That said, Chisenhall is just 22 years old, and the fact that the currently-mediocre numbers don't agree with the strong scouting reports doesn't doom him. Without the legal problems, he would have been a high pick in the 2009 draft, and in that kind of alternate universe, reaching the majors within two years of being drafted would be quite impressive. He has plenty of development time ahead of him, and the fact that he keeps his strikeout rate under control is a positive.

Nevertheless, the dichotomy between the stats and the scouts indicates that our short-term expectations should be cautious. In the long run, I think Chisenhall's swing and approach will make him a solid major league regular, hitting in the majors about what he hits in the minors, say .270/.340/.450 with a decent glove at third. That won't make him a superstar, but it will keep him employed for a long time.

Those numbers look a lot like good ole' solid average Casey Blake don't they?

P.M. Cleveland Indians links: Why was Tony Sipp still pitching, and other water-cooler topics
Published: Wednesday, June 29, 2011, 1:27 PM Updated: Wednesday, June 29, 2011, 1:51 PM
By Chuck Yarborough, The Plain Dealer

This hasn't been a great road trip for Tribe reliever Tony Sipp. This shot was taken after he balked in the winning run in a 1-0 loss to San Francisco. Last night, he gave up a two-run walk-off homer to Arizona's Wily Mo Pena.
OK, it's water cooler time. You know what that is, right? It's when those of us who never played a down or an inning beyond Pop Warner or Little League -- maybe even high school -- slap our foreheads like we're having a collective V-8 moment and ask incredulously, "What was coach So-and-So THINKING?!?"

Today's installment concerns two non-moves by Indians manager Manny Acta that we, with all our vast experience and know-how, are convinced cost the Tribe last night's 6-4 game with the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

Specifically, why the HECK was lefty Tony Sipp still pitching when righty Wily Mo Pena came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth to wallop that walk-off two-run home run?

Here's what he told The Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes, who dutifully asked about the decision post-game:

Acta didn't want to use right-hander Vinnie Pestano against the right-handed hitting Pena because he'd thrown 32 pitches in Monday's 5-4 victory. He said he didn't want to walk Pena, pinch-hitting for winning pitcher Alberto Castillo (1-0), because the next hitter, Kelly Johnson, is "batting over .300 against lefties over the last three years."

Johnson had already homered and singled in the game.

"That was a the matchup we liked right there," said Acta. "Tony is a guy who gets righties and lefties out. Right-handers are hitting .200 against him over the last two years. Unfortunately, it didn't pay off."
The other one, and the one, frankly, we find even more perplexing, is not having right fielder Travis Buck bunt Grady Sizemore over to second after Sizemore singled to open the seventh inning. Buck, who went 1-for-4 with a ninth-inning double that was wasted by Lonnie Chisenhall's caught-looking K, grounded into a double play.

Early in the year -- like, when the Indians were winning -- Acta had 'em doing the "small ball" things like bunting runners over. In essence, he was using National League ball to beat American League opponents. Maybe he figured AL ball is what it will take to beat NL teams. That's the only reason we can think of for letting a career .247 hitter who's hitting .227 this year with only two dingers and 10 RBI, swing away in a game that was tied 2-2 at the time.

Speaking of Grady, perhaps its time for the Indians to invest in a new glove for him. Say one that looks like a spider's web. Maybe then he could catch a fly.

Chisenhall was drafted by the Indians in the first round in 2008, 29th overall, from Pitt Community College in North Carolina. As a freshman with South Carolina in 2007, he was charged with stealing computers and cash and was kicked out of the program, landing at the junior college level, where he dominated.


If we ever need another guy to break in and retrieve an illegal bat we may have one.

The Yankees series in Cleveland starting July 4th should feature a match up of Carrasco and Sabathia on July 5th. July 6th is an ESPN game.



Derek Jeter could resume chase for 3,000 hits when New York Yankees visit Cleveland Indians next week

Published: Wednesday, June 29, 2011, 8:26 PM

NEW YORK, New York -- Derek Jeter could be ready to resume his chase for 3,000 hits by early next week.

The injured New York Yankees shortstop went through his latest round of rehab work Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., and general manager Brian Cashman said if all goes well over the next couple of days Jeter might begin a minor league rehab assignment Saturday with Double-A Trenton.

He is likely to play at least two rehab games, and Cashman acknowledged it's possible Jeter could rejoin the team for a three-game series against the Indians in Cleveland starting Monday.

Sidelined by a strained right calf, Jeter is six hits shy of 3,000. A return next week could put him on track to reach the milestone at Yankee Stadium during a four-game series against Tampa Bay from July 7-10.

Then comes the All-Star break, and New York opens the second half with an eight-game road trip.

Jeter was eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list Wednesday, but wasn't ready yet. His bid to become the 28th major league player — and first with the Yankees — to get 3,000 hits has been on hold since he got hurt June 13 against the Indians.

New York has done just fine without its captain, going into Wednesday night's game against Milwaukee with a 10-3 record since he went on the DL.

The Yankees began the day with a 1½-game lead in the AL East over Boston.

Jeter, who turned 37 on Sunday, has struggled to find his All-Star form at the plate this season. He is batting .260 with two homers and 20 RBIs. He has 12 extra-base hits in 262 at-bats and a .324 on-base percentage.

Jeter ran the bases for the second consecutive day Wednesday at the team's minor league complex and increased the intensity of his running program. He also continued taking batting practice and fielding grounders.

"He's definitely going in the right direction," manager Joe Girardi said.

Forget Jeter, let's cheer Carlos:

Carlos Carrasco shines in Cleveland Indians’ 6-2 victory over Diamondbacks

By By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published: June 29, 2011 - 09:20 PM

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PHOENIX: With apologies to a beleaguered Indians lineup that produced 15 hits, Carlos Carrasco deserved to be the center of attention in the Tribe’s 6-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday at Chase Field.

Carrasco (8-4, 3.54 ERA) gave up two runs, four hits and no walks in seven innings to earn the win, but his most recent success is part of a longer pattern of achievement.

In his past five starts, Carrasco is 4-1 with an 0.98 ERA, and in nine starts on the road, he is 5-1 with a 2.60 ERA, an unusual accomplishment for a pitcher in his first big-league season.

But so is this: Carrasco has not walked a batter in 19‚ innings, and in his past eight starts, he is issuing walks at the rate of 1.3 every nine innings.

This is not the kind of acumen he displayed when he first came to the big leagues in September of 2009 and posted an 0-4 record and 8.87 ERA in five starts. He was so far from being major-league ready, observers couldn’t help but wonder why the Tribe’s deep thinkers called him up in the first place.

“I felt really nervous,” Carrasco recalled. “After a game, I would think, ‘This is really bad.’ But last year I got more focus, and this year I am more comfortable.”

There was no question that Carrasco would get another chance after his failed debut season. He arrived from Triple-A again last September and posted a 2-2 record with a 3.83 ERA in seven starts.

“When he came up the first year, he was so young,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “He was only 22 and pitched up here because of his stuff. But it’s about having confidence and having success. When he came up, I wasn’t here yet, but I know it wasn’t pretty.”

Acta calls Carrasco a work in progress, which, of course, is true, but he has learned enough to make repairs on his own.

“Two starts ago, I threw only fastballs in my bullpen,” Carrasco said. “That’s so I could get better command of my fastball. When I have my fastball command, everything else is easy. Today, I threw all [four] of my pitches. When I had a 3-and-2 count on [Miguel] Montero, I struck him out with a change-up.”

Acta wasn’t pleased that Carrasco had fallen in love with his change-up to the detriment of his other secondary pitches. But that has changed in the past few starts.

“Carlos was mixing up four pitches today instead of throwing his change-up so much,” Acta said. “His confidence is sky high. He looks like he can throw any of the four at any time [in the count].”

Carrasco’s body language also has changed.

“Now, he has that look — ‘They’re not going to hit me,’ ” Acta said.

One of the Indians’ offensive leaders in the game, Orlando Cabrera, offered this tribute to Carrasco: “Carlos has been incredible in his last five or six starts, when we’ve needed him.”

The Diamondbacks were unable to mount anything approaching a sustained threat against Carrasco, who gave up a home run to Justin Upton with one out in the fourth and a leadoff homer to Stephen Drew leading off the sixth.

Carrasco had the luxury of a few runs to work with early, which hasn’t happened routinely on this trip. First-inning singles by Orlando Cabrera, Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana produced a run in the first, and singles by Lou Marson, Michael Brantley, Orlando Cabrera and Asdrubal Cabrera added up to two more runs in the second.

“It was a good offensive day, but we did leave some guys on base,” Acta said.

Orlando Cabrera singled three times, doubled, drove in a run and scored two; Asdrubal Cabrera doubled, singled twice and had an RBI, as the middle infielders led the attack.

But to call the offense inefficient would be an understatement. The Tribe stranded 15 runners, eight in scoring position. The saving grace was a .286 average (6-for-21) with runners in scoring position.

In his past four games, Orlando Cabrera is 8-for-14 with four runs scored and two RBI, including a game-winning home run Monday night against the Diamondbacks.

“Not really, nothing is different for me,” he said. “I’m just going out and trying to do what I’ve done my whole career. Right now, I really need to step up. We are looking for anybody to do something.”

That was a reference to the team’s banged-up and downtrodden attack. But for one day, Cabrera and his lodge brothers could breathe easy, even if the temperature in Phoenix was 110.

Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters. Follow the Indians on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.¶

It should be good viewing that CC vs CC game.

Carrasco has been a very pleasant surprise. Not long ago he was looking like a stiff.

Tribe mulls upcoming Deadline deals

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 06/30/11 11:00 AM ET

CLEVELAND -- Indians manager Manny Acta is always quick to say that his ballclub is not exceeding his expectations. It must be noted, though, that Acta has gained a reputation as a perpetual positive thinker.

The reality is that Cleveland -- with its low payroll and band of young players -- has been one of baseball's first-half surprises. The Tribe has had its ups and downs, but remains in the hunt for the American League Central crown. Save for Acta, that is something no one saw coming.

Truth be told, the Indians are probably a year ahead of schedule in terms of their performance. Now, Cleveland's decision-makers are facing a kind of crossroads with the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline approaching. As the Indians aim for the playoffs, they can stay the course with the group in place or explore the trade market for help.


Cleveland is currently weighing all its options.

"We continue to evaluate both internal and external alternatives," Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said. "The dialogue with other tams has certainly picked up over the last few weeks, and I would expect that to continue here as we approach the Trade Deadline.

"Now, whether that means teams will be ready to move sooner or later, or we'll even match up, that's really tough to say."

On Friday, the Indians absorbed a significant blow when star right fielder Shin-Soo Choo had his left thumb broken by a wild fastball from Giants left-hander Jonathan Sanchez. Choo underwent surgery on Tuesday and will be sidelined until late August at the earliest, robbing the Tribe of his solid bat and strong arm.

Losing Choo has increased the urgency for the Indians to browse the available options via trades. There is one major problem: too many teams are still within earshot of first place in divisions across baseball. The market is still being defined, leaving few realistic trade partners at the moment.

"Even if our timetable may move more quickly, it's still June," Antonetti said. "It takes other teams to trade. A lot of other teams aren't ready to make those decisions at this point, both in terms of their competitiveness, as well as wanting to see what plays out over the next few weeks."

There is also the fact that replacing a player like Choo is no easy task.

"Where can you go to substitute Choo? To the moon?" Acta said. "You're not going to find a guy in a trade that's going to be better than him, and you're not going to find a guy in our system that's better him.

"We're just going to have to battle through it and maybe get better at other positions, or whatever it takes. Certainly, he's not a guy that you can substitute very easy."

That means Cleveland will plow forward with Travis Buck getting the bulk of the at-bats as the team's right fielder. The Tribe is also hoping lineup regulars like Grady Sizemore and Carlos Santana will heat up at the plate, ending the club's season-long reliance on Asdrubal Cabrera, Travis Hafner and Michael Brantley.

The Indians' place in the standings has not changed the fact that the team has little monetary breathing room. The club's attendance has been better than anticipated, creating a little more financial flexibility, but not to the extent that the Tribe can target high-priced players in trades.

"We need the guys that are here," Antonetti said, "to continue to get back to the point of being productive and to play to their abilities. That's where it starts for us, because we're not in a position to go out and make wholesale changes."

The Indians have already shown a willingness to turn to its highly-touted farm system to provide a lift for the Major League club.

Early in the season, pitching prospect Alex White was promoted to the rotation before a right middle finger injury sent him to the disabled list. More recently, the Indians called up second baseman Cord Phelps and the club's top prospect, third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall, to assist the offense.

Such internal options will likely continue to be Cleveland's answer for issues at primary roles on the club. If the Indians do swing trades, it seems more probable that the moves would be to improve the reserve roles throughout the roster. Playing a role is the Tribe's reluctance to part with its top prospects.

Highly-regarded prospects such as left-hander Drew Pomeranz and second baseman Jason Kipnis, along with players such as Chisenhall and White, are not going to be moved. They are viewed as integral pieces to Cleveland's upcoming core, and the club is not going to mortgage that future for one playoff run this season.

That does not mean the Indians will not consider dealing prospects.

"There's always a balance," Antonetti said. "We'd measure the talent we feel we'd be getting back, the potential impact on this year's team, their potential contributions to our team going forward and then weigh that against the acquisition cost both in terms of dollars and players."

First and foremost, the Indians need to stay in the postseason hunt.

"Ultimately, what matters is our competitive position," Antonetti said. "That's going to be one of the driving factors in determining what, if anything, that we do."

By Jim Ingraham

All of a sudden, the Indians have developed a Big Three in their starting rotation — and it doesn't include alleged No. 1 starter Fausto Carmona.

Better yet, the Indians' Big Three of Josh Tomlin, Carlos Carrasco and Justin Masterson, are all younger than Carmona. Tomlin and Masterson are 26. Carrasco is 24. The Tribe's Big Three are a combined 22-14 with a 3.45 ERA — and with a little run support, they would have won about half of the games in which they lost, which would put their record at 29-7.

The Indians' Big Three don't wow you with numbers — but their numbers are pretty good. And in one particular category, Tomlin's numbers are stunning.

Tomlin is a strike-throwing machine.

He leads all major-league pitchers with an average of 1.05 walks per nine innings. Want some context?

No Indians pitcher has done better than that for a full season in 103 years. If Tomlin could finish the season at 1.05, it would rank second on the Indians' all-time list, behind only Addie Joss, who holds the club record by averaging 0.83 walks per nine innings in 1908.

From 1992 to 1995, Greg Maddux won four consecutive Cy Young Awards. Maddux's average walks per nine innings in those four years were 2.4 in 1992, 1.8 in 1993, 1.4 in 1994 and 1.0 in 1995.

When Cliff Lee, another strike-throwing machine, won the Cy Young Award with the Indians in 2008, he averaged 1.4 walks per nine innings. His single-season best is 0.8 last year for the Mariners and Rangers.

Tomlin is at 1.05. He only walked two batters in June. That covers six starts and 37 innings. Two walks! Tomlin hasn't walked anyone since June 12. That was four starts ago.

He'll go into his next start with a streak of 242⁄3 consecutive innings without walking a batter.
Tomlin has only walked six batters in his last 14 starts. That covers 89 innings and 357 batters faced. In eight of his last 14 starts, Tomlin hasn't walked anyone.

In other words, if you want to beat Tomlin, you have to beat him. He isn't going to beat himself. He's 9-4 with a 3.86 ERA, and has, after Asdrubal Cabrera and possibly closer Chris Perez, the best chance of any Tribe player to be selected to the American League All-Star team.

Carrasco is 8-4 with a 3.54 ERA, and has been nearly unbeatable in the last six weeks. In his last nine starts, since May 17, Carrasco is 7-2 with a 2.55 ERA, while holding opposing batters to a 2.15 ERA.

In his last five starts, Carrasco has been flat out dominating: a record of 4-1 and a 0.98 ERA, while holding opposing batters to a .172 batting average.

The starting blocks for that run were consecutive 1-0 wins by Carrasco over the Twins and the Yankees — the first Tribe pitcher in nearly 30 years to win back-to-back 1-0 games. Carrasco's only non-win in his last five starts came in a game in which he allowed one earned run in eight innings — and lost.

Nobody, however, has been a more luckless loser than Masterson. In April, he was 5-0. He hasn't won since, but not because he hasn't pitched well. Since May 1, Masterson has a 3.34 ERA over 11 starts — and he hasn't won any of them. He's 0-6 in that span.

Hey, don't look at him. His Indians teammates scored a total of just six runs in those six losses. They were shut out in four of the six losses. So Masterson will go into his start Friday with an unremarkable record (5-6) but a remarkable ERA (2.98).

So regardless of how this Indians season plays out, we may look back on the 2011 season as the year the Indians found a Big Three. All of them are still early in their careers, so there is no guarantee the performance level they've pitched to this season will continue.

But so far, so good. That's three more quality major-league starters than the Indians thought they had at the beginning of this season. And it's because they now have a Big Three — plus the best bullpen in the American League — that it says here the Indians still must be taken seriously in the AL Central.

Last year, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series with great pitching and a mediocre offense. Let's put it this way: If you're trying to win a division and you have to be deficient in either pitching or hitting (how's that for a made-up category?), your chances are better if you're deficient in hitting.

If you're deficient in pitching, you aren't going anywhere.

The Indians aren't deficient in pitching, especially in their starting rotation, where they now have a Big Three that might be capable of taking them somewhere.

BIG THREE!!!

I remember when the Tribe had a big four!

Lemon,Wynn, Garcia, and Feller. (also Houtemann).

Talbot gives us a big 3 1/2.

Carmona a 3 3/4.