SB Nation - Chris Gimenez

The Rookies Who Aren't

TheJay — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:00:16 -0000

A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).

The first part of the definition of a rookie in Major League Baseball is straightforward. Once a player reaches 131 at bats or 50 1/3 innings pitched, he's no longer a rookie. The second part is a little trickier. After all, service time numbers are hard to find. They generally come out once each year, in team media guides. Add in the fact that you have to subtract time in the major leagues after September 1st and on the disabled list and it's even harder to figure out who is truly a rookie.

It has already been mentioned this offseason that Mat Gamel eclipsed 45 days of service time before September. Gamel was recalled from Nashville on May 14th and optioned back on July 20th, giving him 67 days on the active roster during the "period of 25-player limit." So, even though he sits at 130 career at bats, the same number Scott Rolen had going into his Rookie of the Year season, Gamel cannot win the Rookie of the Year award (though that might not stop him from getting votes).

Gamel isn't the only such little-used non-rookie in the Brewers organization. Raise your hand if you realized Hernan Iribarren has 48 days of major league service time, all before September 1. Iribarren spent 20 days on the major league roster in April and June 2008, picking up 14 at bats. He spent 28 days in the majors in 2009, batting a mere 13 times. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict he wasn't going to win the 2010 Rookie of the Year Award anyway.

New Brewer George Kottaras also enters 2010 off the list of rookie players. He spent all of 2009 in the majors with the Red Sox, playing in 45 games with 93 at bats. Though he spent the month of August on the disabled list, he gave up his 2010 rookie status in mid-May.

Gamel, Iribarren, and Kottaras are not the only little-used rookies. Follow the jump for a list of all such position players to appear in the majors in 2008 or 2009. Please note it is lengthy and full of guys who have no chance at winning an award anyway. I will post a list of pitchers in the next few days.

Non-Rookies with 130 or fewer career AB:

Mat Gamel, 130 career AB
Joaquin Arias, 129 AB
Argenis Reyes, 127 AB
Jose Morales, 122 AB
Ivan Ochoa*, 120 AB
Michel Hernandez, 118 AB
Curtis Thigpen*, 118 AB
Ramiro Pena, 115 AB
Josh Whitesell, 115 AB
Luke Carlin, 112 AB
Chris Gimenez, 111 AB
Tyler Greene, 108 AB
Sam Fuld, 103 AB
Reid Brignac, 100 AB
Francisco Cervelli, 99 AB
George Kottaras, 98 AB
Freddy Guzman, 95 AB
Robinson Cancel, 94 AB
Guillermo Rodriguez, 92 AB
Steve Holm, 91 AB
Justin Ruggiano*, 90 AB
Nathan Haynes*, 89 AB
Diory Hernandez, 85 AB
Don Kelly, 83 AB
Dane Sardinha, 80 AB
Luis Maza*, 79 AB
Paul Hoover, 78 AB
Edwin Maysonet, 76 AB
Dusty Ryan, 70 AB
Clint Sammons, 68 AB
Tug Hulett, 67 AB
Drew Sutton, 66 AB
J.R. House*, 60 AB
John Mayberry, 57 AB
Gregorio Petit, 54 AB
Brian Myrow*, 51 AB
Chris Stewart*, 48 AB
Justin Christian*, 40 AB
Travis Denker*, 37 AB
Gustavo Molina*, 34 AB
Hernan Iribarren, 27 AB
Ryan Budde, 23 AB

* - last appeared in the majors in 2008

I warned you. If I missed anyone or included someone who should not be on the list, let me know in the comments.

Fire Everyone! - The Farm System

APV — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:28:49 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

Travis Hafner, soliciting coaching advice from outside the organization

Browse more photos »

This is the eighth installment in a 12-part series.

Part of the Tribe's failure this year can be blamed on the reality that when players were failing to perform in April and May (and there were many), no one was there in Akron or Columbus to step up and provide at least temporary relief. When Fausto Carmona was busy allowing 4+ runs in 10 of his first 12 starts, who was there to step up? Sure, David Huff was there to step in and promptly allow 13 earned runs in his first 6 innings of pro ball, but who was there behind him? And behind that guy? And when the bullpen was busy reading up on seppuku rather than "how to record a major league out" for the first two months, was there really no one better than Matt Herges and Greg Aquino available to fill the holes? Mark Shapiro has said nothing more frequently than the need for depth - the need to prepare for individual failures (which are inevitable) and insure against collective failures. So where was the depth when it was needed to keep the season alive?

One explanation is that it was a failure to acquire the right talent. This is a well hashed argument, and one which might have some validity. There is another possibility, however, that perhaps it is not that we have failed to acquire the right talent, but instead failed to develop the talent we have properly. Perhaps our developmental system, again one of Shapiro's trademarks on the organization has failed. Shapiro has been lauded for installing a system based on combining traditional scouting data with rigorous quantitative assessment and emphasizing consistency throughout the system. Players are supposed to enter into the organization and hear the same things at every level. Maybe some have been hearing the wrong things.

Trying to assess how good a developmental staff the Indians have is probably going to be a failed effort on my part. To really do it right, you would have to compare how the Indians fare relative to other organizations. The best hitters get out 60% of the time. Their greatness is only visible when assessed against everyone else, who get out 69% of the time. The success rate for prospects is much lower than either of the numbers. I don't have time for a thorough comparative analysis, sadly. But we can look internally at what the Tribe has done.

I consider the goal of the developmental staff to accomplish two things:

A good system should help players achieve the potential they were viewed to have when they were drafted/signed (with obvious injury caveats).
A great system should strive to raise the ceiling of their players, and strive to turn them into better players than other teams thought they could be.

How do they do this - I have no idea. But I would like to think they identify weaknesses in a player's game and seek to improve on them. Have the Indians done that? Here are some significant minor leaguers, either assessed by performance, draft or reputation, and how they've progressed (or regressed) while in the Indians system.

2003

Michael Aubrey - Injuries make his development impossible to assess

Brad Snyder - I think Snyder's failures are viewed as a contact problem. I think it is more that he didn't hit for enough power given his high strikeout rate. Here are his K/BB rates from A+, to AA, and two years in Buffalo - 2.5, 2.5, 3, +4...that's not good.

Adam Miller - see Michael Aubrey

Javi Herrera - college defensive catcher (and 3rd round pick), never learned to hit at AA

Ryan Garko - Seems like a success story. He's never developed a lot of power, but aside from his senior year at Stanford he never had a lot of power.

Juan Valdes - Injuries (too much coffee, no doubt)

Kevin Kouzmanoff - Kouz is a developmental success for Cleveland, a guy who raised his ceiling to the point of being trade worthy for future superstar Josh Barfield

Aaron Laffey - Big developmental success. While he's always gotten groundballs in bunches, his improving K-numbers throughout his minor league career attest to his improved secondary stuff, particularly his slider.

2004

Jeremy Sowers - I think it is hard to argue Sowers as a developmental failure. He has consistently dominated the minors. The translation to the big league level is not something I feel justified in blaming the minor league staff entirely for. An argument could be made that more of an effort should have been extended to improve his fastball velocity, but that is tough without incurring all sorts of other mechanical issues.

Justin Hoyman - never got started

Scott Lewis - I think a success story from a developmental perspective. Always did well, but was always described as likely having trouble at the next level. He kept doing well at the next level, up until his injury derailment in the majors.

Chuck Lofgren - Hard to know exactly what has happened or who is to blame for Lofgren, but losing the ability to throw strikes is something I'm happy to assign partial blame to the staff.

Mike Butia - Bad pick

Chris Gimenez - The Tribe turned this 19th round pick into a guy who can play multiple positions including catcher. He's not great, but that's not a bad job for a guy not many people probably thought much of.

Carlton Smith - Another guy who the Indians are trying to turn into something useful. They've managed to take his naturally sinking stuff and turn him into an extreme groundballer out of the pen in Akron this year. I say small victory.

Wyatt Toregas - selected in the 24th round, Wyatt's performance has been up and down, but at various points they've managed to get his plate discipline and/or power up to levels that made his appearance on the big league team this year not surprising. Success.

Tony Sipp - he was a late round flyer who I think we're all glad signed. A success obviously, but it is a little troubling that Sipp's control never showed any improvement.

2005

Trevor Crowe - After looking like he was nothing in 2007 in Akron, he did rebound more towards a reasonably projection given his college performance. Not worth a first round pick, but not the developmental staff's fault.

John Drennen - Haven't been able to put together a solid approach at the plate for Drennen. It's either mediocre power with huge K-rates, or zero power with mediocre plate discipline.

Stephen Head - they really should have worked on his mustache more, or tried to put together a coherent set of skills

Nick Weglarz - projectable big guy from Ontario with limited baseball experience turned into a top prospect...Yes!

Jensen Lewis - Again, from the minor league side of things, this looks like a success

Jordan Brown - Following his 2007 season in Akron, it looked like all he needed to do was add a little power and he'd be a good guy at the plate. Instead he fell apart, losing power, discipline and contact skills. He has rebounded a lot this year, but hasn't recovered his discipline at the plate and given his defensive liabilities, isn't viewed as part of the future. In terms of development, I think Brown is probably a draw.

Kevin Dixon, Joe Ness, James Deters - These three consecutive picks from 2005 all reached Akron and promptly had their careers end, I think we can assign a little failure.

Ryan Edell - Edell, the next pick in that draft, actually made it past Akron this year. Edell is not anything special, but he has followed an advance and struggle, then come back and improve trajectory to the point where he is a depth rotation option for next season. I say success from the development perspective.

Roman Pena - Toolsy, but failed to learn how to not strike out

Neil Wagner - Once viewed as a relief prospect sleeper, Wagner's control has gotten worse as he has moved through the system

2006

David Huff - similar story to Jeremy Sowers. He really looked like he was ready in 2008, but in 2009 his stuff has been lacking. I have a hard time saying this is a failure of the minor league development staff, though.

Steven Wright - he's not a guy we talk much about, but he has slowly and steadily progressed through the system and will likely be a major part of the Columbus bullpen next year. Not a glowing victory, but not a developmental failure.

Josh Rodriguez - Rodriguez has dealt with some injuries, but this seems like a failure. He was highly thought of and got off to a nice pro start in 2007.

Wes Hodges - Again injuries have played a role, but Hodges' power and discipline have deteriorated at each level to the point where now he is a deserved after thought.

Matt McBride - Here I largely question the developmental choices the organization has made. McBride was at catcher, but got moved to corner outfield. He had enough of a projectable bat to be a major league catcher, but it would have and will take a minor miracle to make him a serviceable outfielder. I say development fail.

Adam Davis - He got worse each of his final two seasons at Florida, so I don't blame Cleveland for him not being any good, just for drafting him.

Ryan Morris - A big high-school lefty who the Indians have been unable to teach how to throw strikes

Jared Goedert - Apart from a now legendary 46 game stretch in Lake County, he is 9th round organizational fodder

Paolo Espino - Espino has been moved back and forth from rotation to bullpen, but his improved control this season was a positive step forward for him. I say one for the plus column.

Josh Tomlin - a 19th round pick, Tomlin has been steady in his performance across levels, last season as a stalwart in Akron's pitching staff, to the point of being an interesting guy. Development win.

Vinnie Pestano - Enough marginal improvement in his BB-rate to call this a minor victory.

Chris Nash - Big and raw high school firstbaseman, the Indians have never been able to translate his strength into power or any kind of plate performance. Fail.

Ryan Miller - late round flier who showed signs of life for Lake County in 2008, totally blew up in 2009.

Others

Jon Meloan - not drafted, but clearly a developmental failure. Were never able to right his once promising ship.

Asdrubal Cabrera - huge victory. Cabrera was a hugely underrated guy when we acquired him, but he has been able to translate that potential into actual performance.

Fausto Carmona - huge victory....turned huge failure? But this also involves the major league staff.

Frank Herrmann - Transition to bullpen was successful this season and might prove to be a very smart developmental move. That said, he didn't actually improve any of his numbers in the process.

Hector Rondon - Definitely looks like a victory in progress, has been getting better as he has advanced (at least until the final month of this season).

Rafael Perez - Another victory in terms of his minor league performance. Was a borderline starter turned into a momentarily great reliever.

Jeanmar Gomez - Another seeming victory in progress. His stuff has become more effective as he has moved through the system.

Josh Judy - 34th round 2007 pick, his numbers have also shown steady progress. Could warrant a bullpen look in 2010.

Carlos Rivero - was looking good, but had a definite set back this season in his AA debut

Summary

There are lots of guys I have no doubt missed, and I have intentionally left most of the guys acquired from 2007-present out, because for most of them development is still a work in progress. Generally, I think the Indians developmental system has been adequate, if not extraordinary. We have had pitching successes (Aaron Laffey) and failures (Jon Meloan), hitting successes (Asdrubal Cabrera) and failures (Brad Snyder), college successes (Ryan Garko) and college failures (Wes Hodges), high school successes (Nick Weglarz) and high school failures (Chuck Lofgren). Again, a real study would try to assess this quantitatively and comaratively, but I don't have time for that.

I will say the Indians success with pitchers have seemingly been with developing downward movement on their fastball and/or the development of a slider in particular as an effective secondary pitch. There aren't a ton of changeup success stories in the system, or guys who have developed great power fastballs.

At the plate, it is my sense that certain players who have struggled have gone back and forth between trying to achieve their power potential, while also maintaining a reasonable plate approach. Beau Mills seems to be a case of this in progress, where last season he was showing some signs of actually improving in both areas (following a half-season debut with good power and bad discipline), only to come crashing down in many ways this season. I always find it disappointing when guys who showed plus defensive skills, like Brad Snyder, could not ever quite work it out at the plate enough to get a shot at the major league level. Fire everyone! - mabe. But I'd probably rather see an easing of the constraints on the system. Not an abandonment of the over-arching organizational philosophy on player development, but an openness to the reality that Cleveland is not the greatest organization on the planet and does not have all of the answers.

Just about any individual performance success story or failure can be viewed either as a result of the player's contribution or that of the coaches - so it is impossible to really get at the latter. Only systematic problems give reasonable evidence of organizational failings in this regard. By and large I don't think the Indians system has those. I question sometimes whether the one size fits all approach to development and advancement works for everyone, but some of the player development decisions made this year (Abner Abreu, Lonnie Chisenhall, Zach Putnam) suggest a more flexible approach on behalf of the front office. The bottom line is that I think the Indians do a good job of getting players to perform to the level that is expected of them. There are not that many examples of guys turning into something more than was ever thought possible, but I would guess these are rare in every organization. There are also not a lot of total failures which don't have some major injury component to them. Fire everyone! - maybe. But I'd probably rather just see more humility in the current organizational philosophy towards development. The Indians are not the greatest organization on the planet and do not know the answers to every (or these days any) question. Allowing a little flexibility and opening the channels of communication regarding development up to a few more smart voices might not be a bad idea.

Game 151: Tigers 3, Indians 1

Ryan — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:08:30 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

3 months ago: Cleveland Indians' Matt LaPorta, right, is tagged out by Detroit Tigers catcher Gerald Laird in the second inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, in Cleveland. LaPorte tried to score from second base on a single by Trevor Crowe. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Browse more photos »

One monotonous day is followed
by another monotonous, identical day. The same
things will happen, they will happen again --
the same moments find us and leave us.

A month passes and ushers in another month.
One easily guesses the coming events;
they are the boring ones of yesterday.
And the morrow ends up not resembling a morrow anymore.

-Constantine P. Cavafy

I thought the game was over when Ryan Raburn hit a home run in the third inning. It wasn't quite over, for the Indians would score a run, but it might as well have been. The Indians have been losing in boring, monotonous regularity, a feature of an especially awful baseball team. Many of the players on this team have futures, but it seems that everyone's taking their cues from their manager, who can see his end approaching. Tonight's loss made nine in a row for the Indians, a season high

Aaron Laffey pitched very well despite a tight strike zone. After struggling in his past two starts, Laffey pitched into the seventh, leaving with the Indians just down a run, a winnable situation for a club of any offensive ability. Unfortunately, the Indians' long run came after Chris Perez gave up two runs in the eighth. Although Cleveland would have an excellent opportunity in the bottom of the inning, three runs were too much to overcome for this punchless offense.

To make matters worse, Matt LaPorta had to leave the game with a hip injury. LaPorta's "only" hitting .235/.278/.426 this month, which ranks among the best on the team. Andy Marte, who is again buried on the bench in favor of Trevor Crowe, got a couple at-bats in place of LaPorta, but I expect we'll be seeing a Chris Gimenez start tomorrow.

Next Up: Porcello vs. Masterson, 7:05 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Aaron Laffey	.214	Jhonny Peralta	-.220
Shin-Soo Choo	.109	Luis Valbuena	-.189
Jamey Carroll	.095	Asdrubal Cabrera	-.148

Game 142: Indians 13, Royals 6

Ryan — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:06:03 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

Security was tight tonight, as this squirrel found out the hard way.

Browse more photos »

We're now headlong into baseball's garbage time - especially when a non-playoff team comes to town - and wins and losses don't mean a whole lot, but it was nice to see to see the individual performances that lead to tonight's blowout win. David Huff went six innings, and seemed much more in control of things than earlier in the season. The Royals sent out to the mound a panoply of bad pitchers, and the Indians did what they were supposed to do, knocking out 17 hits (eight of them for extra bases) and scoring 13 runs.

Foremost among the contributors to this offensive outburst was Michael Brantley, who went 4-for-5 on the evening. His career-beginning hitting streak ended at eight the night before, so he made up for the hitless night tonight. Five of his teammates also had multiple hits, including Jamey Carroll (3-5, 2 2B), and Asdrubal Cabrera (2-4, 2 2B, BB). Even the already infamous Niuman Romero got his first major-league hit tonight.

Even though the first two paragraphs hint at a blowout from the beginning, it wasn't so. The Royals lead 3-2 after the top of the fifth, and the Indians really broke the game open in the seventh, when they scored six runs off two Royals relievers, both of whom were September callups.

Next Up: Davies vs. Carrasco, 1:05 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Shin-Soo Choo	.243	Chris Gimenez	-.069
Jhonny Peralta	.167	Travis Hafner	-.063
Jamey Carroll	.139	David Huff	-.057

Game 129: Indians 5, Orioles 3

Ryan — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:10:37 -0000

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

Wyatt Toregas practices his steeplechase skills during a rain delay. The flooded dugouts caused a considerable delay.

Browse more photos »

The major difference between the Indians of the first half and the Indians in the past month has been the bullpen. Early in the season, a rain delay in the middle innings with the score close would have meant an almost automatic loss. Now, with the bullpen stabilized, the Indians are winning these battles of the bullpens.

The Baltimore grounds crew quickly pulled the tarp over the infield in the bottom of the fifth, and the delay was long enough to remove both starters from the game. Jeremy Sowers had given up his second run of the game just before the game was delayed, so the Indians were behind when play removed. But the hot-hitting duo of Matt LaPorta and Andy Marte quickly changed, for after Luis Valbuena singled in the sixth, LaPorta followed with a single of his own, and Marte drove them both home with another home run. That margin was all the bullpen needed. Tony Sipp finished the seventh and the whole of the eighth, and Chris Perez pitched the ninth to notch his first save as an Indian.

LaPorta ended the game with a perfect 4-for-4 line, and both he and Andy Marte have hit in ten straight games. Both were moved up in the lineup tonight, though Marte still hit behind LaPorta. Two weeks' worth of at-bats shouldn't make a long-term decision, but at the very least Marte has hit his way onto next year's roster as at least a part-time player. The Indians had always seen LaPorta as a everyday player, and his recent hot streak has only reinforced those views.

Next Up: Masterson vs. Matusz, 1:35 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Andy Marte	.301	Kelly Shoppach	-.123
Matt LaPorta	.200	Chris Gimenez	-.088
Tony Sipp	.118	Shin-Soo Choo	-.077

Early Weekend 6-Pack (8/27/09)

APV — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:00:13 -0000

August is almost over, which means this painful 2009 season is almost over. But the only thing worse than a painful season is a long and boring off-season. So we might as well enjoy our early weekend 6-packs while we still have them. Plus the Indians have actually been fun to watch of late, a nice change from earlier in the season.

1. Left field...where did we leave it?

Left field is not supposed to be an offensively challenged position. And yet this season the only position the Indians have gotten less production from is catcher. Here is the OPS by position, from best to worst, for this year's Tribe:

RF - 838

1B - 837

DH - 800

CF - 788

3B - 768

SS - 761

2B - 750

LF - 732

C - 698

Our production from LF last year was a little better (761), but still not great. It would be nice to see LaPorta out there for 140 games next year putting up a respectable compliment to Choo in RF. And before everyone jumps on Shoppach about our catcher production, he has actually put up a 721 OPS as a catcher. And Victor put up a 761 OPS while playing catcher (955 while playing 1B!), leaving the wonderkids of Chris Gimenez and Wyatt Toregas as the anchors.

2. It's getting better all the time

At least that is the case with our pitching staff this year. There is still a ways to go till we really get to the end of the season, but here is the first-half/second-half breakdown of our pitching staff as of now:

Starters, first-half - 22-37, 5.56 ERA, 811 OPS against, 1.55 WHIP

Starters, second-half - 16-13, 4.07 ERA, 741 OPS against, 1.39 WHIP

Bullpen, first-half - 13-17, 5.18 ERA, 795 OPS against, 1.52 WHIP

Bullpen, second-half - 4-3, 4.00 ERA, 701 OPS against, 1.25 WHIP

3. Ugh

This is hardballtimes.com's picture of the AL Central this season. It isn't pretty.

And I still think the time period circled in red is when the Indians should have acted dramatically to change the course of the season and fired Eric Wedge.

4. Mahoning Valley is scrappy

I try to not pay attention to the short-season teams because you are almost inherently facing small samples and the composition of the league changes quite a bit as draftees sign throughout the season. Nevertheless this year's team, with a 41-23 record, is doing quite well. I'm particularly interested in some of their offensive performances, so I thought it might be interesting to compare to Mahoning Valley performances over the past 5 seasons. Here are some notes:

Jordan Henry is putting up a .414 OBP with 250 plate appearances. The only Scrapper to top that with a comparable number of plate appearances was Todd Martin in 2007, but he was a 24-year old first-baseman, not a 21-year old centerfielder. Jesus Brito actually has a .438 OBP, but in far fewer plate appearances and inflated somewhat by his .340 batting average.
Henry also has 19 SBs and counting. Jose Constanza and Adam White have previously topped that total, but Henry's 19 against just 1 CS is nice.
Kyle Bellows has 7 HRs in about 220 plate appearances. That's a pretty big number for the Valley. In 2005 the renowned Evandy DeLeon hit 7 HRs in about 200 PAs, and in 2007 the aforementioned Todd Martin hit 8.
Jason Kipsnis has 10 extra-base hits (7 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 1 HR) in fewer than 80 plate appearances. The only guy to hit extra-base hits at a better rate was Stephen Head (2005), who had 4 doubles and 6(!) HRs in just 45 plate appearances before getting promoted all the way to Kinston.
In addition to the players mentioned above, Casey Frawley, Greg Folgia and Jason Smit have some interesting numbers.

5. Kelly is the man, but Choo's a safer bet

According to HitTracker.com, Kelly Shoppach has the longest true-distance HR for Cleveland this season, at 460 feet. Shin Soo Choo, however, has the next 3 longest shots, 434, 433 and 432 feet.

6. Chris Perez is better than bad

He's good. Here is his line over his past 16 appearances, stretching back to July 8th.

16 games, 16.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 20K, 4BB, 300 OPS against

Game 116: Indians 7, Twins 3

Ryan — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:03:09 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

Grady Sizemore watches his sixteenth home run of the year clear the baggy.

Browse more photos »

The Indians broke the game open in the fifth inning with four runs off Anthony Swarzak and Brian Duensing. It was a balanced attack, with several players having multiple hits. Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo both went deep, and Travis Hafner had three hits.

While Matt LaPorta continues to mash in Columbus, the Indians started Jamey Carroll in right field and Chris Gimenez at first base today. For a team looking towards 2010 and beyond, leaving LaPorta in Columbus is idiotic.

David Huff struggled to get through five innings, giving up two runs on nine hits. He got himself into a couple major jams, but he either worked his way out of it (first inning) or limited the damage (fifth inning). After Huff left, the Indians got good outings from Rafael Perez (1.1 innings, 1 hit), and Joe Smith (1.2 innings, 1 hit). Tony Sipp gave up a ninth inning home run to Joe Mauer, but recovered to retire the rest of the side in the ninth. Mauer had three hits on the day, and continues to lead the AL in all three "percentage" categoris (Batting Average, On-Base Percentage, and Slugging Percentage).

Next Up: Laffey vs. Blackburn, 2:10 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
David Huff	.187	Luis Valbuena	-.075
Shin-Soo Choo	.132	Chris Gimenez	-.043
Grady Sizemore	.093	Wyatt Toregas	-.029

Game 114: Cleveland 1, Texas 4

APV — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:30:28 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

Cleveland Indians' Jamey Carroll slides under the tag and karate kick of catcher Taylor Teagarden to score the Indians lone run of the day in the first inning.

Browse more photos »

The fourteen hours between last night's shutout at the hands of the Rangers pitching staff apparently did not give the Cleveland Indians enough time to figure out where they had placed their bats. Today's noon game saw the Indians get off to a good start, with a 1-0 lead in the first on a shallow sac fly from Shin Soo Choo, but not much else for the rest of the game. Some of the blame for today's game rests on the two rookies Eric Wedge has given considerable playing time to of late, Trevor Crowe and Chris Gimenez. Crowe actually has had a number of good games, but Gimenez has been clearly out-matched. Today the two went a combined 0-8 with 4 strikeouts, stranding 9 base-runners in the process. Even when the Indians were getting hits, they tended to be weak, bloop singles. Only Luis Valbuena's ninth inning double went for extra bases.

Jeremy Sowers managed to pitch into and out of quite a bit of trouble. Sowers loaded the bases in the 1st, but got Josh Hamilton to pop out to escape unscathed. Hamilton came back and got his revenge in the 3rd, knocking in Andruw Jones and Michael Young with a double, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead. An Elvis Andrus homerun the following inning extended the Rangers lead to 3-1. Sowers day was done after two more runners reached, and then one scored on a sac fly, to begin the 6th inning. Sowers was not terrible - but recording no strike outs and allowing four extra-base hits is not a recipe for success. The bullpen, Joe Smith and R.C. Perez, managed to keep the Rangers from scoring the remainder of the game, but also allowed four hits in the process.

Cleveland travels on to Minnesota next...

Next up: Masterson vs. Baker, 8:05pm

Highest	WPA	Lowest	WPA
J. Carroll	.116	C. Gimenez	-.181
L. Valbuena	.064	J. Sowers	-.176
K. Shoppach	.063	T. Crowe	-.156

Game 107: Indians 8, Twins 1

Ryan — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 03:28:27 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

Not a reliever.

Browse more photos »

The season to this point has been a bit of a waste for Aaron Laffey. For the second straight season, he lost a battle for a rotation spot, so he started the season in AAA, only to get called up after Scott Lewis got hurt. After making four starts, he got shunted to the bullpen because he was supposedly good at warming up quickly. Then, in his sixth appearance out of the bullpen, he got hurt, and spent six weeks on the Disabled List. While he was on the shelf, the Indians saw that they didn't have five starters better than Aaron Laffey, so he was put back in the rotation when he was activated.

You would hope tonight's start would finally put to rest the annoying suggestion that Laffey belongs in the bullpen. Aaron went eight innings on 112 pitches, and even struck out five. He's been able to get hitters out the third and fourth time through the order, a step up from some pitchers currently in the rotation.

Trevor Crowe took another step towards being next year's fourth outfielder, getting on base another three times tonight. He hit ninth, which gave the Indians a nice run of base runners the second time through the order onward. Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera both collected three hits, which helped to compensate for what looked like a rather thin lineup (Chris Gimenez and Jamey Carroll were the 5-6 hitters, for goodness sakes).

Next Up: Carmona vs. Blackburn, 12:05 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Aaron Laffey	.251	Jhonny Peralta	-.077
Trevor Crowe	.104	Chris Gimenez	-.059
Grady Sizemore	.094	Shin-Soo Choo	-.016

Game 104: Detroit 4, Cleveland 3 (12 Innings)

Ryan — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:43:09 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

Grady, gravity defier.

Browse more photos »

Now we're into that awkward phase, where the core players that were going to be traded have been traded, but the prospects that are supposed to take their places haven't come up yet. Hence tonight's lineup, with Wyatt Toregas catching, Chris Gimenez at first, Trevor Crowe in left, and Jeremy Sowers on the mound. And the Indians almost pulled off a win.

Rick Porcello, the best pitching prospect in the 2007 draft, showed the Indians a preview of what they can expect over the next six years. The Tigers were able to pick Porcello late in the first round because they were willing to go above MLB's "suggested" slot value, which earned them Bud Selig's ire... and Rick Porcello. The 20-year-old spent just a year in the minors, and made Detroit's Opening Day rotation. Despite being on a very strict pitch count, Porcello went eight full innings, allowing just four hits. 15 of the 24 Indian outs came on the ground.

Jeremy Sowers again started very well, not allowing a hit until the fifth inning, but things really fell apart for him then. He allowed three base runners and a run in the fifth, and four base runners in the sixth, and another run. That the Tigers didn't break the game open during those two innings was a minor miracle. After Sowers escaped the sixth, Justin Masterson made his Cleveland debut, going the final three innings of regulation without allowing a run. Justin will be stretched out into a starter over the next couple of weeks, and given that he'll probably be taking over for Sowers in the rotation, it makes sense that he lines up with Jeremy's starts.

The Indians spoiled Fernando Rodney's perfect record in save situations, tying the game on an Asdrubal Cabrera triple and a Jhonny Peralta sacrifice fly. They had opportunities in each of the extra innings, but only scored one run, and that was after Detroit had taken a two-run lead. Jose Veras allowed the two runs in the twelfth. The damage was largely self-inflicted; he walked the first two batters of the inning, and also balked home a run. That balked-in run was the difference in the game.

Next Up: Pavano vs. Galarraga, 1:05 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Higher WPA		Lower WPA
Asdrubal Cabrera	.343	Jose Veras	-.403
Jhonny Peralta	.166	Wyatt Toregas	-.372
Justin Masterson	.155	Chris Gimenez	-.301