Has anybody noticed that hitting is down fairly significantly from years past?  The AL-wide OPS this year is .740, with the previous 5 years all ranging from .755-.776.  I'm not statistically savvy enough to put that in any perspective, but I'm using it as a glimmer of hope in light of our offense struggles.

Of course, the Indians are 3rd last, ahead of Baltimore and Seattle, and a whopping .028 behind Oakland, at .678.  But still, everybody is hitting worse.

At least we're 4th if you sort alphabetically.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2010-standard-batting.shtml

On my co-ed softball team, we decided to be idiots and have everybody pick an at-bat song to be played over a portable ipod dock.  Most of the picks are pretty expected - Crazy Train, Baby Got Back, Eye of the tiger, TNT - but one friend is trusting me to pick something good for her.

I'm stumped.  It needs to be something with Latin flair, but I never pay enough attention at the games to notice a good song, much less figure out the name.

Help!

Ideas from this post on BTB.  Quick stats on B-Ref.

The quick strategy is that your best 3 hitters should bat 1, 2 and 4.  Next best bats 5th, then 3rd (flipped if the guy going into the 5 hole is a homer-or-nothing guy), then 6-9 as logic dictates (preferring a speed guy at 6).

The Indians top 3 are Choo, Victor and Hafner, but let's assume Grady should be there.  Next up is Garko, then Drubs, with the riff-raff filling out the bottom of the lineup.  I'll give Jhonny the benefit of the doubt and put him atop that list, since we know he's capable.

Here's how I see our best (with Victor behind the plate, Hafner playing, no roster moves) lineup:

1 - Choo (high obp)

2 - Hafner (high obp, could/should be Sizemore)

3 - Garko (cringe - 5th best hitter)

4 - Victor (best hitter with power, could be Hafner)

5 - Sizemore (would be Victor, if Sizemore was 2nd)

6 - Drubs

7 - Jhonny

8 - Francisco

9 - Carbuena

When Shoppach plays and bumps Francisco, I'd leave him 8th.  If he bumps Garko, I guess Jhonny would be 3rd? And Francisco/Shoppach 7th or 8th is a wash.

What does everybody think?  Personal catchers aside, who should trot out behind Lee tonight?

Not sure if I'm figuring this right, but I believe that a combination of 29 Indians wins and 1st place teams losses would catapult the Tribe into the postseason.

Of course, with 19 games remaining, that means going undefeated requires an 8-10 finish for Chicago.

I think our biggest enemy is the 3 game series between Minnesota and Chicago.  Is it possible for them both to lose?  With some help from a surging Royals team, it could happen.

Go Tribe!

No, I'm not here to say we, or anybody, should sign him.  Every so often when I'm on Baseball Reference, I end up on Bonds' page to make a comparison. 

Today, for the first time, I used the "neutralize stats" stats tool that allows you to normalize all stats to a specific environment.  The high end option is the 2000 Rockies.

Bonds' numbers, legit or not, are always mind-blowing and today they were even more so.  Converting his numbers to that 2000 Rockies standard of a 162 game season, with an average team scoring 6.25 runs per game, Bonds projects to hit 100 home runs. (To say nothing of his also hitting .400 and driving in 196 runs) 

100 home runs!  That that is even projectable, by any player placed into any environment, absolutely blows my mind.  For comparison's sake, Babe Ruth tops off at 75, Maris 77, Sosa 81, and McGwire 90.

Yeah, he's finally getting his at bats.

No, he's not producing.

What gives?

Looking over his stat line, it's not surprising to see why his numbers are so low: a BABIP of .221.

In 2006, in the same numbers of at bats he has YTD, he put up a respectable 707 OPS at the age of 22.  Has he really regressed that far?

In 2006, he had an XBH in about 1 of 8 at bats.  This year, it's more like 1 in 18.

Walks are down slightly, from few to very few, while Ks have held steady.

His LD% is the same and he's hitting fewer grounders, but the flyballs aren't flying enough.

Even in 06 his BABIP was unusually low at .264, about .030 lower than expected, and this year it's more than 40 points lower.

So is it just prolonged awful luck, small sample size (he's approaching a full year's worth of PA for his career) or can he just not hit?

It's still pretty dumb, but my early season suggestion that the Giants could hang around long enough to have an interest in CC is a little more viable today than it was last week or last month.

They just completed a sweep of the division leading, earth scorching Diamondbacks:  http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=280529129, and now the Padres, a struggling division rival, is up next.

They're still 7 back, but if they made it through June where they are or slightly better, wouldn't they have to have an interest in bringing back the Cy winning local product?

Since I doubt they'd give up Lincecum, who do they have that we might want?

I know I'm not the first to mention this, but given our offensive ineptitude, it bears repeat mentioning:

Barry Bonds, the greatest hitter of all time, is available.

Hafner is showing signs of waking up and with Ben Francisco plugging along, there is one less outfield spot available.  Bonds is not a guy's guy and Eric Wedge won't give the time of day to anybody who won't go for a steam with him.  Third dumb argument blah blah blah.

The Indians need to be exploring ways to jump start the offense and reaching out the Bonds definitely falls into the scope of due diligence in that respect.  I know we're not throwing a ton of money at him.  I don't care that he might not be fan friendly.  But he can hit, and he might just be willing to do it on the cheap for a team with a shot at a ring.  Shapiro is obligated to make that call to Jeff Borris if nothing else.

Anybody think CC is going to take the home town discount?

No, not for Cleveland - for Oakland.  Well, somebody at ESPN does - at least subconsciously.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/notebook?page=bbtn/080416

Check out the chart for "Most Consecutive Decisions Lost to Start a Season".  That's right, CC followed up his Cy Young campaign with 3 straight losses as a starter for the A's.

If the writer/typo-ist IS psychic, at least we can have faith that CC is going to bounce back strong for another Cy.

I know it's definitely too early to worry.  That's not what this is about.  But I want to see how everybody else is thinking about the season so far.

Early on I watched the Tigers lose and figured each of those losses gave us a step up in a 2 team race.  Now the Indians have been less than brilliant, albeit with 2 of 3 series's on the road to start, while a team like Kansas City looks pretty good early.

Am I wrong to keep looking at this as a 2 man race?  Are the Indians a flawed team?  Is it possible our division is as weak as the AL West?  Do I need to take off the glasses that obscure the records of the Royals, White Sox and Twins?

For now I'm still content measuring our post-season odds as our record vs the Tigers record.

What does everybody else think?  It's a long season, but are you still checking the Tigers box score right after the Indians or do you take in every game and hope the Indians rise to the top of the standings soon?

http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/03/cleveland_browns_sign_houston.html

Seems like a solid linebacker - at least a good tackler, when he's healthy.

I guess he replaces Chaun Thompson.  Are we still in the market for other LBs?  Seems like it would still be worth our while to ink Clark Haggans, since Orr would probably play inside in our scheme.

In case anybody has yet to see this, it's a before and after picture with Shawn Merriman.

The before is May 2005, pre-steroid bust, and the after is a recent picture.  Anybody still wondering why San Diego's defense is down a bit?

Jesus, he was basically two people, and now he's back down to one.

No shocker there.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3119020

http://www.baseballwriters.org/awards/2007/2007_AL_mvp.html

I just want to point out that our boys got a bit of respect.  Victor came in 7th, Grady 12th, CC 14th and Fausto 23rd.  None of them got higher than a 4th place vote.

Go Tribe!

How about Martinez mashes?
http://swarheit.blogspot.com/2007/11/study-k-players-strikeout-more-often.html

Apparently, people are more likely to go with things that share an initial.  Jason is more likely to buy a Jeep, as Frank would buy a Ford.

The research done incorporated baseball and found that players like Kenny Lofton were more likely to K.

Maybe Kasey Blake has been spelling his name wrong all along?

For those who haven't seen this yet...

Only click if you are a masochist!

http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2007/10/believe_it_someday_indians_in.html

I'm not sure if this is worse than when the Yankees AL East champs clothing went on sale, but it hits much closer to home.

Also, I know these guys are on deadlines, but does the form need to be so generic?

It's been a magical year for Cleveland - and all of Ohio. (Cincinnati is part of Kentucky for all I care.)

We're this close to bringing every championship in site to our town.  We won't be winners until we expect to win, so I turn my eye to the Cleveland sports team just getting started as this magical Indians season comes to a close.

Let's Go Cavs!

www.LeCavs.com