Cleveland Sports Forum

Great news on Danny Salazar:

Francona said the Indians were encouraged with what they saw in an MRI performed on Danny Salazar, who has yet to throw for Cleveland this season because of impingement tendinitis in his right shoulder.

Salazar has been shut down for at least a week after receiving a PRP injection in the shoulder, which Francona thinks will help in the long run.

"We were really pleased," Francona said. "It's more to promote the healing, but also, in the future, if he feels something ... it's not the end of the world. This was more to put his mind at ease."


It is definitely mind over matter for Danny. I think if they could unqualifiably guarantee to him that he will never hurt his arm again and that throwing a baseball is in fact a very natural human activity, he will be back in Cleveland and ready to contribute by the All Star Game.

Definitely always a relief to know that you aren't doing something career threatening as an athlete. A load off the mind.

Lindor lost a bet with his high school baseball team and had to shave his head.

https://www.mlb.com/cut4/francisco-lind ... -276171730

• Utility man Erik Gonzalez went 1-for-4 in a start at second base against the Royals on Sunday and is now batting .357 (10-for-28) through his 19 games for Cleveland this year. Francona was asked if he has considered giving Gonzalez more starts against left-handed pitchers in place of the struggling Jason Kipnis (.173 average and .509 OPS through 38 games).

"I think about a lot of stuff, but we also have to get Kip going," Francona said. "It was good he took the day [off Sunday], and he was up in the cage and he hit a bunch. That was good for him. I just think, I mean, you might see Erik play some against some of these guys, but Kip's a guy that, when we're a good team, he's playing every day. And that's what we need to get to."

Any month now:

• Outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall (10-day DL, right calf) traveled with the Indians to Detroit for the three-game road set against the Tigers. Francona said Chisenhall has been cleared to resume regular batting practice and continues to make progress in a running program.

"He's doing more and more," Francona said. "And, when you see him with us, that's a good sign. That means he's doing stuff on the field, taking BP. I don't think there's any timetable yet for when he can go out [on a Minor League rehab assignment], but he is making progress."

• Shortstop Francisco Lindor was named the co-American League Player of the Week (along with Seattle pitcher James Paxton) on Monday. Lindor is the first Cleveland player to win the honor in consecutive weeks since the award's creation in 1974. Over the two weeks combined, Lindor has hit .483/.516/1.017 with eight homers, eight doubles, 15 RBIs and 19 runs scored, plus a .635 weighted on-base average and 308 weighted Runs Created Plus.

Tough to watch baseball these days.

http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/i ... n-baseball

This won't shock you. The kind of people we're dealing with.

.

Chief Wahoo protester pleads guilty to theft of grant money
@ntoblarkin on May 18, 2018 at 8:00 AM in North America, Politics, Degradation

A man who has held protests saying the Cleveland Indians’ Chief Wahoo mascot is racist has pleaded guilty to stealing money from federal grants aimed at helping Native Americans.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland said Wednesday that 71-year-old Robert Roche pleaded guilty to two counts of theft from programs receiving federal funds.

Prosecutors say the Cleveland man conspired to divert money from the American Indian Education Center where he served as executive director.

They say Roche and a consultant embezzled at least $180,000 from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grants and that Roche diverted $77,000 for his personal use.

Sentencing is set for Aug. 29.

Defense attorney Larry Zukerman has declined to comment.

Scalp him.

Cleveland Indians: Can they fix the bullpen? -- Terry Pluto


Updated May 19, 8:51 PM; Posted May 19, 8:01 AM


By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealerterrypluto2003@yahoo.com


THE STARTING ROTATION

1. The starting pitching is borderline great. The rotation's ERA is 3.42, second best in the American League. It's even better than a year ago, when Tribe starters led the A.L. with a 3.52 ERA.


2. The rotation is even more impressive considering Josh Tomlin has been the No. 5 starter with an 0-4 record and 7.84 ERA. Otherwise, it's Corey Kluber (7-2, 2.36 ERA), Trevor Bauer (3-3, 2.59 ERA), Mike Clevinger (3-1, 2.87 ERA) and Carlos Carrasco (5-2, 3.66 ERA).

3. The average American League starter has a 4.36 ERA. The Tribe's rotation minus Tomlin is at 2.85.

4. No matter what the Indians and Kluber say, the Cy Young Award winner was bothered by a bad back in the playoffs against the Yankees. He has pitched the second-most innings (876) in baseball between 2014-17. Only Max Scherzer (878) has more.

So it's good news that Kluber remains strong and healthy at the age of 32.

5. This is Clevinger's first full season in the rotation. He has been excellent. Bauer is better than ever. Carrasco generally has been superb. The Indians have Adam Plutko ready in the minors if they want to replace Tomlin - and that's a move I'd have made a few weeks ago.

6. I'm dwelling on the starters because it's the rotation that gives the Tribe a chance to pull out of the early season funk - and to be a factor in the playoffs. The bullpen has been a mess, but it's easier to fix a bullpen than the rotation.




THE BULLPEN

1. This is where everything has gone wrong ... absolutely, positively EVERYTHING. Not a single reliever is pitching as well as he did in 2017. The problems are so much deeper than simply losing Bryan Shaw to Colorado via free agency.

2. A year ago, the Tribe's bullpen had a 2.89 ERA - best in the American League. This season, it's 5.68 - the AL's worst. Yes, the bullpen is as bad as it seems - if not worse.

3. It's fair to criticize the front office for not replacing Joe Smith or Shaw with at least one veteran reliever. Smith has had a miserable start in Houston with a 7.30 ERA after signing a 2-year, $15 million deal. Shaw is 1-1 with a 4.71 ERA in Colorado. His ERA is 9.35 in Denver, 1.46 away from the Mile High City, where thin air often makes life miserable for pitchers.

4. From 2015-17, Zach McAllister had a 9-8 record and 2.99 ERA. In 183 innings, he struck out 204 batters. The Indians thought the right-hander was a good candidate to move into Shaw's seventh-inning role. At the very least, they expected far more than McAllister's 7.47 ERA.

5. Dan Otero is also a member of McAllister's 7.47 club. That's right, they share the same sky-high ERA. From 2015-17, Otero had a 3.35 ERA. The point is Otero and McAllister had been effective for a few years, but both have collapsed this season.


6. A question facing the Tribe is, do they wait for McAllister and/or Otero to pull out of it? Or are they like some relievers who suddenly lose their edge? In 2015-16, Jeff Manship was effective. In 2017, he went to Korea for money. He's now out of pro baseball.

7. Nick Goody had a 2.80 ERA last season. He is out for a while with an elbow injury. His ERA is 6.94.

8. Andrew Miller's hamstring injury kept him out for 16 days. It was costly to have an All-Star reliever unavailable. Miller missed 37 games and was on the disabled list twice with knee problems a year ago. Can he stay healthy?

9. Cody Allen (2-1, 3.18 ERA) has converted 6-of-7 saves. But he's also had some rough outings. At times, he's putting in more innings than the Tribe would like because of all the bullpen issues.

10. Tyler Olson has a 6.23 ERA. But the Indians realize they have been using Olson too much vs. right-handed hitters. The left-handed reliever has held lefties to 3-for-26 (.115). But righties are 9-for-25 (.360).

10. Because the starters have often been so dominating, the bullpen has pitched the fewest innings in the American League. Just imagine how awful it would be if the Indians had an average rotation and the bullpen was needed even more?


11. Since Terry Francona became manager, the Indians have had an elite bullpen. In his first five years, they ranked first once, second twice, fourth and eighth. That's also why this has been such a shock not only to fans, but to the manager.

12. Is losing pitching coach Mickey Callaway (now Mets manager) the reason? Hard to know. The starting rotation is thriving under Carl Willis. The Indians changed bullpen coaches from Jason Bere to Scott Atchison. Blaming the coach often seems too easy an answer.

13. The front office is talking to other teams about trades, but few teams make trades in May. That usually doesn't happen until July, as the deadline approaches.

14. Meanwhile, they are sorting through recent bargain pick-ups. Ben Taylor (claimed on waivers from Boston) is intriguing. Neil Ramirez, Oliver Drake and Evan Marshall are guys added from other teams.

15. In the past, the Indians have found short-term help for the bullpen this way. Goody (Yankees), McAllister (Yankees), Otero (A's) and Olson (Royals) all came to the Tribe in minor deals.

16. What the Indians don't have is anyone in the minors ready right now to help. Cameron Hill had an impressive training camp. Francona was talking about the 23-year-old right-hander being a bullpen possibility this season. But Hill injured his forearm right before the Class AAA season opened. He came back a few days ago. Hill is 16-11 with a 2.24 ERA in the minors.


17. For now, the Indians are looking for help "internally." They are running auditions, hoping someone can help in the middle innings. They also need Miller to stay healthy.

ABOUT THE INDIANS

1. Melky Cabrera was 1-for-17 when he first reported to Class AAA. Since then, the veteran outfielder is 10-for-26 and getting into game shape. He could be with the Indians in 7-10 days. The Tribe ideally would like to give him another week in Columbus. The 33-year-old Cabrera wasn't signed until early May.

2. Yandy Diaz came into the season as a .321 career hitter in Class AAA. But he is hitting only .250 (.705 OPS) at Columbus. He had some minor injuries. He is 24-for-96 with only five extra base hits, 10 RBI.

3. Top prospect Triston McKenzie developed a forearm problem late in spring training. He has been pitching in extended spring in Goodyear. In about two weeks, he is expected to report to a team - possibly Class AA Akron. McKenzie was the Class A Carolina League pitcher of the year with a 12-6 record and 3.46 ERA at age 19 last season.

4. The Indians continue to work with Brady Aiken on arm strength. He also is in Goodyear. The 2015 first-rounder may report to a team in 6-8 weeks.

5. Erik Gonzalez is off to an excellent start as utility player, hitting .382 (13-of-34) heading into the weekend. I was pleased to see the Tribe play him at first base a few times against left-handed pitchers. Yonder Alonso is a .178 hitter vs. lefties in the last two seasons.


6. Tyler Naquin is probably out for about three weeks with his hamstring injury. He was hitting .333 when injured last weekend.

7. Why is Brandon Guyer playing against right-handed pitching? He is 1-for-30 with 12 strikeouts this season. For his career, he is a .222 hitter (.612 OPS) vs. righties compared to .278 (.829 OPS) vs. lefties.

8. Danny Salazar is starting to throw off the mound in Goodyear, but no timetable is set for his return. A healthy Salazar could help the bullpen, but who knows when he'll be healthy.

Hey Terry, why no mention of Bieber?

Yeah - at this point I would promote Plutko to the bigs and plop Tomlin to the bullpen. At the very least he can eat innings there. They may or may not but I'm pretty sure it's been discussed.

And when Salazar comes back it would be a no brainer to me to go to the bullpen as well.

I was listening to a broadcast one day for another team (can't remember) and they were talking about how many times they have seen bullpen guys "promoted" to higher leverage/stress roles and they couldn't handle it - they weren't the same guys. I see that as a possibility for Goody, McAllister and Otero.

Smoke gets in your eyes.

http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/i ... eft-behind

Can Melky handle the heat?

In answer to a question about how Tomlin would fit in as a reliever,

There is some risk to putting a player of Tomlin's attributes in a bullpen. The right-hander does not feature high velocity and he is prone to giving up home runs. Through 31 innings this year, Tomlin has allowed 15 homers. That's a rate of 4.4 home runs per nine innings in 2018, boosting his career rate to 1.6 over his nine seasons.

In 17 career relief outings, Tomlin has a 7.76 ERA and .981 opponents' OPS. Given the size of that sample, perhaps it's more fair to look at some career marks for Tomlin (starting and relieving combined).

Opponents' OPS by pitch count
Pitches 1-25: .745
Pitches 26-50: .764
Pitches 51-75: .830

Opponents' OPS by times faced
First PA vs. batter: .731
Second PA vs. batter: .781
Third PA vs. batter: .849

So, in theory, Tomlin might be better if he is limited to facing a handful of batters once as a multi-inning reliever. The righty excelled in that role during the American League Division Series against the Yankees last October, logging three no-hit innings with four strikeouts and no walks.

In those ALDS appearances, Tomlin featured his curveball 30.3 percent of the time vs. 24.1 percent of the time in the 2017 regular season. His cutter usage also rose (51.5 percent vs. 35.1 percent) and his fastball use dropped (18.2 percent vs. 36.7 percent). Tomlin focused on his best pitches in a limited-exposure relief role and had success. Maybe it can work this time around, too.

You get people out 3 ways. Velocity, Location and Movement

A soft tosser like Tomlin has to rely on location and movement. When he misses his location, he must hope for speed change and movement, otherwise he gets creamed.

Amazing that missing your location by inches can be the difference between an out and a HR.