2019 Series #25 | Tigers @ Indians | June 21-23

[Real Deal]

Cleveland fans can get Peyton Hillis on the cover of Madden but can't get Frankie as a finalist. Dolans had to make a lot of people check out.

 

[KluberSociety]

Daniel Johnson's OPS against lefties is .833. Barnes's OPS against lefties is .842. Saying that Johnson can't hit lefties, or that Barnes can do it significantly better, just isn't true.

Daniel Johnson is also older than Jake Bauers. He's about to turn 24. He's not exactly some super young dude who's going to be damaged by being called up to the bigs.

Why are you saying Johnson couldn't play everyday? Put Mercado in CF everyday, Johnson in LF (or RF) everyday, and leave the Luplow/Naquin/Bauers platoon to handle the other corner OF spot along with DH.

Finally, Daniel Johnson and Bobby Bradley's situations are nothing alike. Johnson looks ready to contribute at the major league level, with stats that are incredibly comparable to what Mercado did at AAA. Meanwhile, Bobby Bradley's K% is astronomical, at 32%, and only walks 8.2% of the time. Johnson's K% is only 18%, with a BB% of 8.9%.

Johnson is ready. Martin should be DFA'd. It's the right move to make yesterday.

Sample size. Johnson was horrid at hitting lefties last year and only seems to have good numbers against them this year at the AA level. He still only has a little more than 100 AAA ABs in his entire career.

Without a larger sample, it is generally wiser to assume a platoon disadvantage especially when the more obvious peripherals (K/BB splits) tell a pretty simple story.

Let him continue to prove himself at the AAA level and once he does, DFA Martin and call him up.

Speaking of sample size, Barnes is red hot. Do I think he's finally figured it out at age 33? Nah, probably not, but in his last 10 games he's hitting .351 with 8 HR in 37 AB.

 

[sportscoach]

Sample size. Johnson was horrid at hitting lefties last year and only seems to have good numbers against them this year at the AA level. He still only has a little more than 100 AAA ABs in his entire career.

Without a larger sample, it is generally wiser to assume a platoon disadvantage especially when the more obvious peripherals (K/BB splits) tell a pretty simple story.

Let him continue to prove himself at the AAA level and once he does, DFA Martin and call him up.

Speaking of sample size, Barnes is red hot. Do I think he's finally figured it out at age 33? Nah, probably not, but in his last 10 games he's hitting .351 with 8 HR in 37 AB.

If we call up Johnson it will be for everyday at bats pretty much outside of some days off against top lefty starting pitchers type of thing.

Barnes would have been called up by now if they felt he would be a good bench piece. Honestly what we do will be decided on if we are buying or selling at the trade deadline. If we are sellers, its possible we readd Barnes to finish the season, but more than likely I see us doing a mix of things at the trade deadline right now. I can see us trading Bauer and trading for Mancini/Eaton as well, reason why is because Bauer on paper won't be with us long term and we still can probably get some good young players back for him, while guys like Mancini (free agent 2023) and Eaton (team option years next two seasons) are under team control and could be a nice missing piece in the lineup and still allow us to contend for the wild card this season and the playoffs next season.

We may have to put a package of Oviedo, Johnson for Mancini and I would take it yesterday since he would fit well into our lineup (though he isn't great defensively) and its likely we could extend Mancini and keep him under team control until 2024/2025 season.

 

[sportscoach]

@KluberSociety

Martin was just DFA'd to add Civale to the roster, so if they were to add Barnes it would be essentially today/soon since they do need another bat up, and we do have two candidates to move to the 60 day DL (Anderson and Carrasco). I don't see it happening since its likely a swap of Josh Smith for Greg Allen to round out the roster, but i would almost rather have Barnes as the bench guy over Allen, since Allen I want playing everyday to see if he can work on his swing essentially rather than riding the bench. I feel its still a bit early to call up Johnson honestly.

 

[KluberSociety]

@KluberSociety

Martin was just DFA'd to add Civale to the roster, so if they were to add Barnes it would be essentially today/soon since they do need another bat up, and we do have two candidates to move to the 60 day DL (Anderson and Carrasco). I don't see it happening since its likely a swap of Josh Smith for Greg Allen to round out the roster, but i would almost rather have Barnes as the bench guy over Allen, since Allen I want playing everyday to see if he can work on his swing essentially rather than riding the bench. I feel its still a bit early to call up Johnson honestly.

Yep this is where I stand. I've sort of given up with Allen so I don't hate the idea of him riding the bench but his hitting is just Not Good, and his defensive metrics match the eye test of him taking some bad routes to baseballs (if he was a good defender I wouldn't mind him on the roster). I think it's tempting to look to players to just fill in and start contributing as a source of hope but I strongly doubt we have anything resembling an "impact player" at the moment.

 

[sportscoach]

Yep this is where I stand. I've sort of given up with Allen so I don't hate the idea of him riding the bench but his hitting is just Not Good. I think it's tempting to look to players to just fill in and start contributing as a source of hope but I strongly doubt we have anything resembling an "impact player" at the moment.

I haven't given up on Allen honestly, I think he just needs to adjust his hitting some (Kind of almost like get Kenny Lofton in a sense work with him for awhile since I feel he should be more of that style of hitter). For whatever reason he stopped taking walks when he got to AA and I feel he needs to be that guy who focuses just getting on base and nothing else.

 

[Lee]

This kid pitching today, what should I know about him?...…. game is nationally televised for some reason.

 

[Real Deal]

We might have to deal a few OFs considering we have Mercado, Naquin, Luplow, Bauers, Allen, Zimmer, and the future of Johnson, then you factor in Bradley and Santana becoming the DH tandem then there really isn't an extra spot to bat one of the OFs.

In a perfect world I'd like to see Johnson. But I think the Indians like Mercado in center, Bauers in left, Naquin in right, and Luplow platooning one of the corners.

Johnson, Allen, and Zimmer seems like the odd men out if Bradley gets the call to come DH.

I really want to see Johnson too, the Yan Gomes deal has been the best of the off-season.

 

[sportscoach]

This kid pitching today, what should I know about him?...…. game is nationally televised for some reason.

I did post a scouting report earlier in this thread lol

Well Civale is the starter tomorrow!

MLB.com 2019 Prospect Watch

Check out MLBPipeline.com's 2019 Prospect Watch to get rankings, scouting reports, video and more for MLB's future stars.

m.mlb.com

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Cutter: 60 | Curveball: 45 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 60 | Overall: 40

Civale was unhittable as a Cape Cod League reliever in 2015, then starred as a Northeastern starter the next spring and pitched his way into the third round, making him the second-highest-drafted hurler in Huskies history behind only 2006 first-rounder Adam Ottavino. In his first full pro season, he ranked third in the Minors in K/BB ratio (10.1) and walk rate (0.8 per nine innings). He continued to throw four pitches for strikes in 2018, overcoming a lat strain to hold his own in Double-A.

Civale's lone plus pitch is a cutter/slider that he throws at 85-88 mph. His four-seam fastball has fringy low-90s velocity but is effective because it has a high spin rate and he commands it exceptionally well. While neither his curveball nor changeup stands out for its quality, he does a nice job of sequencing them with his cutter and fastball.

Though he's following Shane Bieber's path and has the best command in the system, it's uncertain whether Civale can start in the Majors. His strikeout rate has declined as he has risen through the Minors, leading to questions as to whether he'll miss enough bats as a big league starter. He could find more success as a multi-inning reliever who focuses on cutters and well-placed fastballs.

That is his MLB.com scouting report

@Derek @EdMonix11 and whoever else knows, anything you want to add about Civale so these ladies know about him? lol

 

[sportscoach]

@Lee

Essentially he is a control pitcher that has a good mix of pitches, just lacks the velocity that you would like from a Right handed starting pitcher. Most people feel he will end up a long-reliever/multiple innings style of reliever in due time, but with the injuries he is the next man up (He would have been added to the 40 man roster this next off season anyways so his timeline like Plesac's just got moved up a season).

 

[sportscoach]

Mike Freeman is getting the start at 3rd today and Jose Ramirez is the DH.

Also they are going with 14 pitchers today, so I guess they don't trust Civale to go deep into this game especially after Bauers early night last night.

My guess is they will make changes in a day or two to add another bat to the roster.

 

[JFT]

Nice 3 strikeout start for the rook!

 

[Soar]

What the hell was Mercado doing?

 

[JFT]

There we go Jose!! If he heats up, we'll make the playoffs.

Edit: Ugh

 

[Soar]

Our base running is so fucking awful this year.