Matt Y.
Mar 26, 2008 May 31, 2012 14 2460
a fan of
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Asdrubal Cabrera placed on bereavement list
Asdrubal Cabrera has gone on the bereavement list. According to the link, the deceased was a member of his immediate family in Venezuela, and he has returned to the country.
Nick Hagadone has been called up from Triple A, and Jason Donald will start at SS tonight in his absence.
Thoughts and prayers to Asdrubal and his family in their loss.
An article on Justin Masterson
I was surprised and pleased to come home yesterday and see him on the cover of the latest issue of this newsmagazine that I subscribe to. The article's mostly about his faith. Probably not really a topic to discuss very much here, but in case anyone would like to read it, here it is.
Matt Y. as Armchair GM (Contest)
by Matt Y. on Jul 26, 2011 5:09 AM EDT
on Let's Go Tribe
So here we are, a game out of first place in late July. We are contending a year earlier than we had planned; however, the team's play over the past two months has put a big damper on our hopes. As the Indians' GM, I want to improve the team and give us as strong a chance to make the playoffs as possible, without crippling our farm system's ability to supply us with talent in future seasons. Even if we improve the team, we may not succeed this season, and if the farm system has been decimated, then I as the GM will really be in a pickle. On the other hand, you must make an effort to take advantage of the opportunities that you have, for you cannot count on the future. While we think this is the beginning of a window, 2007 was also supposed to be the beginning of a window, and we know what happened after that.
What to do?
6 comments
Game thread, July 19, 2011
by Matt Y. on Jul 19, 2011 8:26 PM EDT
on Let's Go Tribe
Here is a game thread for our July 19 game against the Minnesota Twins, if you would like one. If the mods put one up shortly, I'll delete this.
Matchup: Justin Masterson vs. Francisco Liriano
Lineups -
CLE:
E. Carrera, CF
O. Cabrera, 2B
A. Cabrera, SS
C. Santana, 1B
M. LaPorta, DH
A. Kearns, RF
J. Hannahan, 3B
L. Marson, C
T. Buck, LF
MIN:
B. Revere, CF
A. Casilla, 2B
J. Mauer, 1B
M. Cuddyer, RF
J. Thome, DH
D. Valencia, 3B
D. Young, LF
T. Nishioka, SS
D. Butera, C
Evaluation at the Half-way point
by Matt Y. on Jul 3, 2011 3:13 PM EDT
on Let's Go Tribe
With the season at its halfway point, the Tribe finds itself with a 44-37 record and a 1.5 game lead over Detroit in the AL Central division.
On May 23, that would've sounded a little disappointing. 45 games into the season, the team at the time was 30-15 with a 7-game lead over the Tigers. But overall, this is a pretty good spot to be in, especially for a team that was picked to finish fourth or fifth in the division prior to the season.
How many teams, I wonder, have been in first place at the half with an Opening Day starter carrying around an ERA over 5.50? I wonder how many more of those teams had finished last in their division the year before.
THE OFFENSE
The Indians' hitters are 13th in baseball in runs scored, with 351. That's 4.33 a game, good for 7th in the AL and 3rd in the AL Central. So overall, it's middle of the pack; however, that doesn't tell the whole story. They were one of the best in baseball in the first 8 weeks or so, but then terrible from late May to late June. They've been decent in 4 of the last 5 series, so hopefully they can maintain a decent scoring average in the second half, with some help from recent call-ups Lonnie Chisenhall and Cord Phelps, or perhaps Jason Kipnis if he gets the call.
In OPS, they are, as expected, in a similar position. 14th in baseball, 8th in the AL, 3rd in the AL Central.
The good: Travis Hafner has a 975 OPS, though in only 150-odd PAs because of injury and his inability to play the field in NL parks. Asdrubal Cabrera has emerged as a star shortstop, with an 846 OPS and 14 home runs. Carlos Santana has a 780 OPS and has been one of the best at drawing walks.
Any other good things? Well, I'm not sure if this is good, but three other regular hitters have an OPS over 700: Brantley (717), LaPorta (733), and Sizemore (745). Brantley, who is batting lead-off, was very good early on, but scuffled in June. LaPorta was typical frustrating LaPorta, looking great one game, then horrible for 3 games. Sizemore has only a 291 on-base percentage.
I must mention our leader in OPS: Josh Tomlin, with a 2.000 OPS in 2 plate appearances!
The bad: Everyone else. Choo had a disappointing 687 OPS, but he seemed to be coming around before going on the DL. He'll be out till September. Orlando Cabrera's OPS is 645, Jack Hannahan's is 639. Shelley Duncan is at 606 and Austin Kearns is at 552. Craptastic.
THE PITCHING
We are 11th in baseball in ERA at 3.77, 6th in the AL and 1st in the AL Central. In FIP and xFIP, we are 6th in the AL and 15th and 16th respectively in baseball.
Breaking it down further, the Indians starters are nothing to crow about overall. They're 10th in the AL and 22nd in baseball in starting ERA, at 4.12. We can blame Fausto Carmona and Mitch Talbot for this, as our top 3 are good. Justin Masterson and Carlos Carrasco are a strong 1-2 punch with good stuff, and Josh Tomlin's strike-throwing ways make him a good mid-rotation starter. He has never gone less than 5 innings in any of his major league starts.
The bullpenmafia# has been excellent. Its ERA is 4th in baseball and second in the AL at 3.02. Man by man, our top five relievers: Chris Perez, 2.37 ERA. Vinnie Pestano, 1.47 ERA. Tony Sipp, 2.65 ERA. Rafael Perez, 1.60 ERA. Joe Smith, 0.99 ERA. They are the driving force behind our success this year.
Edit: As of July 5th, after 83 games, the bullpen's FIP is 3.66, which is 11th in baseball, 6th in the AL and 2nd in the AL Central. By xFIP, they're 21st, 9th, and 3rd, respectively, at 3.98. And by tERA, they're 7th, 3rd, and 1st, respectively, at 3.71.
I'm not sure which of those three is better for evaluating bullpens.
Looking at other stats, our bullpen's 7.22 K/9 is one of the lowest; it's 25th in baseball and 10th in the AL (ouch). We make up for that somewhat by being 8th in baseball and 4th in the AL with a 3.36 BB/9, and we're 14th in baseball and 6th in the AL with a 2.15 K/BB.
The rotation is 19th in FIP and 13th in xFIP.
OUTLOOK
In team ERA, the White Sox are right behind us at 3.79, while the Tigers are down at 4.41. They say pitching wins championships, so this race could come down to us vs. the White Sox, although that might be speaking more of a playoff series than a regular season pennant race. The Tigers do have an excellent offense, plus an ace in Justin Verlander, that they are hoping to ride to claim the pennant.
If we are to win this race, the offense has to avoid another month-long slump. Someone - Sizemore, Brantley, Chisenhall, Buck, LaPorta, Phelps? - is going to have to step up and help out Asdrubal, Hafner, and Santana. Perhaps more importantly, we need Fausto and Talbot to settle down and pitch well; or if they don't, a minor leaguer or two may need to come up and give us some decent innings. We should probably expect a trade acquisition or two, but hopefully we can get some real help without decimating the farm system.
At this point, I'm cautiously optimistic.
AL Central starters compared by xFIP
by Matt Y. on May 22, 2011 5:22 PM EDT
on Let's Go Tribe
Noticing Beyond the Box Score's recent comparison of AL Central starters by FIP, I decided to create a post comparing the starters by xFIP.
The following graph includes all pitchers with 39+ innings pitched prior to Sunday. (Sunday's games are not included in these numbers).
via nces.ed.gov
A few observations:
- The Royals are bad.
- The Tigers 1-3 is the best in the division.
- The Indians are pretty decent. Carmona and Carrasco did better than I expected. Tomlin is due for some regression, but it shouldn't be terrible.
- All of the teams except the Indians have 5 players on this chart. Your division leaders have only 4 because of injuries.
Royals call up Hosmer
The Royals have called up first base prospect Eric Hosmer, demoting Kila Ka'aihue. Interesting move for a couple reasons: (1) They are starting Hosmer's service time clock early. (1a) He has less than 350 plate appearances above single-A. (2) They didn't give Ka'aihue much time. To quote from the link (Royals Review): "Yes, after multiple avowals that the Royals would give him a season to prove himself, the Royals gave him 96 plate appearances." (3) This may suggest that the Royals are trying to contend this year.
One might argue that the Indians did the same thing with Alex White, but at least that was a spot opened up by an injury, and as far as I can tell, White should go back down when one of our two injured pitchers returns, either Carrasco sooner or Talbot later.
Royals fans debate the move at the link.
Help B-Ref find each player's Attractiveness Quotient
At the link, you can rate the attractiveness of current and past major league baseball players. Here is the current top-10 all-time:
1. Jeremy Guthrie (1756)
2. Jerry Denny (1754)
3. Will Clark (1754)
4. Greg Minton (1754)
5. Gus Mancuso (1753)
6. Jack Warner (1752)
7. Topper Rigney (1752)
8. Kent Tekulve (1752)
9. Jim Beattie (1752)
10. Ryan Howard (1751)
(What? No Grady? For shame!)
Here, B-Ref explains what they're doing. Attractive people have higher self-confidence due to their looks, therefore they perform better. They are gathering data in preparation to add this previously overlooked consideration to their projection system. So far, they have found that a player's OPS increases by one point for every 40 points of AQ (Attractiveness Quotient).
You will be shown pictures of two players and asked to choose which of the two is more attractive. Have fun!
If you want help, this link may assist you.
For your amusement. . .
Cowboys' leaked draft board
This is apparently the Cowboys draft board, perhaps in the 4th round. It offers a look at one team's rankings. A couple interesting things: Colt McCoy was given a third-round grade, Carlton Mitchell was given a fourth-round grade. I haven't spotted Hardesty or Ward yet.
Draft Matters
by Matt Y. on Apr 17, 2010 10:44 PM EDT
on Dawgs By Nature
I know, I know, another post about the draft. But hey, in a week it'll be over.
*My Official Mock Draft Contest Entry*
by Matt Y. on Apr 12, 2010 1:25 PM EDT
on Mocking The Draft
Here's my entry for the mock draft contest. It's my first-ever mock, so tear it apart if you like, but politely please. :)
Possible third-round QBs not named Tebow, McCoy, or LeFevour
Who should go when Hafner returns?
by Matt Y. on May 15, 2009 2:55 PM EDT
on Let's Go Tribe
Hi everybody. This is my first Fanpost after about two years of lurking and occasionally commenting here.
As the title indicates, I'm wondering who will lose his spot on the roster when Hafner comes off the DL. I've seen some of you speculate that LaPorta will be shown la porta, and that may be correct. But my current inclination is to disagree with such a move. (If I've missed detailed analysis of this, I apologize).
There are a couple of options that I would be OK with.
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