Your 2018 Cleveland Indians

[mult336]

Judging by my rough math only 17 out of the Indians remaining 87 games our teams that are above 500. I just find that schedule hilarious at this point of the season.. That is including fringe teams like the Angels and Cardinals that are above 500 now but may not be when we play them. The 2018 AL central could be one of the worst divisions of all time aside from the Indians.

 

[MGMT]

Salazar has resumed throwing on flat ground according to roto. Snippet said he’s probably still a ways away so hopefully there’s enough time to build up strength to be a bullpen weapon because being a viable starter seems like it’s out of the question at this point — for this season at least.

 

[Derek]

Kipnis in 29 games since May 18th:

.275/.336/.486 (.822 OPS) with 6 HRs

 

[sportscoach]

Kipnis in 29 games since May 18th:

.275/.336/.486 (.822 OPS) with 6 HRs

He is starting to look strong and he is talking more walks than he did last year as well. We just need to keep him down in the lineup and keep the pressure off of him. I really do not mind him in the 7-8 spot for the time being honestly.

Honestly Bieber wasn't originally going to be on the team when the season started, but with Tomlin struggling then Salazar, Morimando, Merryweather etc being hurt and now Carrasco on the DL, Bieber is really getting his chance. If anyone remembers my preseason predictions I had him added to 40 man roster before the season started so it is not like I don't believe in the kid, I just didn't see them going with him so early, but the way he is pitching and the injuries really gave him a chance and he is taking advantage of it.

That being said, do you guys see us getting a veteran starter rental like a J.A. Happ to help finish the season?

 

[Urban]

That being said, do you guys see us getting a veteran starter rental like a J.A. Happ to help finish the season?

I doubt it, unless Carassco has a set back or someone else goes down. Last year leading up to the deadline they didn't have a whole lot of consistency/reliability outside of Kluber and Carrasco and didn't make a move. The team is on the verge of running away with the division, I think they'll make moves with the playoffs in mind. Plutko, Bieber, and Tomlin can give spot starts down the stretch to keep the main starters fresh.

 

[Derek]

He is starting to look strong and he is talking more walks than he did last year as well. We just need to keep him down in the lineup and keep the pressure off of him. I really do not mind him in the 7-8 spot for the time being honestly.

Honestly Bieber wasn't originally going to be on the team when the season started, but with Tomlin struggling then Salazar, Morimando, Merryweather etc being hurt and now Carrasco on the DL, Bieber is really getting his chance. If anyone remembers my preseason predictions I had him added to 40 man roster before the season started so it is not like I don't believe in the kid, I just didn't see them going with him so early, but the way he is pitching and the injuries really gave him a chance and he is taking advantage of it.

That being said, do you guys see us getting a veteran starter rental like a J.A. Happ to help finish the season?

Tomlin struggling was easy to predict, as was a Salazar injury. Merryweather might have gotten a chance if healthy, but I think Bieber probably would have jumped over him either way. Same with Morimando, he would have needed to actually pitch well at Columbus, which is far from a given.

And yeah, the 40 man thing was odd because it didn't seem like you were predicting him to actually play which would have been the only point of adding him to the 40 man.

RE: Happ, I don't see the point in wasting resources, however minimal, on a guy who isn't going to pitch in the playoffs.

Our top 4 is set in stone, they're great. Bieber looks like he's our 5th, but should be falter we have enough options internally to get by.

 

[AZ_]

Tomlin struggling was easy to predict, as was a Salazar injury. Merryweather might have gotten a chance if healthy, but I think Bieber probably would have jumped over him either way. Same with Morimando, he would have needed to actually pitch well at Columbus, which is far from a given.

And yeah, the 40 man thing was odd because it didn't seem like you were predicting him to actually play which would have been the only point of adding him to the 40 man.

RE: Happ, I don't see the point in wasting resources, however minimal, on a guy who isn't going to pitch in the playoffs.

Our top 4 is set in stone, they're great. Bieber looks like he's our 5th, but should be falter we have enough options internally to get by.

Bieber was always ahead of Morimondo, Merritt and Merryweather regardless of what level he was at.

 

[Urban]

Some Bauer excerpts from Travis Sawchik's latest article:

After his Saturday start, Bauer led all American League pitchers in FanGraphs WAR (3.9), jumping over Justin Verlander and Luis Severino

Bauer trails only Chris Sale and Gerrit Cole in strikeouts per nine innings (11.78). In the past month, Bauer is striking out a remarkable 14 batters per nine innings and 39.6 percent of batters faced, rates we see from elite relievers

His slider ranks 14th in baseball among sliders in run value, according to Pitch Info’s pitch values. Batters are hitting just .102 against the pitch with a .133 slugging mark. Batters are whiffing 39.2 percent of the time against his slider, which ranks 32nd out of 102 stating pitchers to throw at least 100 sliders. His curveball is generating whiffs at a 39.1 percent mark.

Bauer also worked on developing his changeup this offseason, to compliment the sider, and we’ve begun to see him trust the pitch more often and get whiffs with the pitch. It’s generating whiffs at a 37.2 percent clip, which ranks 25th among the 99 starting pitcher to throw at least 100 changeups

Those new pitches, along with improved command (career-low walk rate) of his fastball and career-high fastball velocity (94.6 mph), has given the Indians another ace

 

[sportscoach]

Bieber was always ahead of Morimondo, Merritt and Merryweather regardless of what level he was at.

Ability wise, without a doubt, but when the season started, I don't think he was since he hadn't pitch above AA last season.

Tomlin struggling was easy to predict, as was a Salazar injury. Merryweather might have gotten a chance if healthy, but I think Bieber probably would have jumped over him either way. Same with Morimando, he would have needed to actually pitch well at Columbus, which is far from a given.

And yeah, the 40 man thing was odd because it didn't seem like you were predicting him to actually play which would have been the only point of adding him to the 40 man.

RE: Happ, I don't see the point in wasting resources, however minimal, on a guy who isn't going to pitch in the playoffs.

Our top 4 is set in stone, they're great. Bieber looks like he's our 5th, but should be falter we have enough options internally to get by.

I really do think they (they meaning upper management) wanted him to sit another year in the minors in a lot of ways, but I am not going to complain or fight about being wrong about him being up so early since I even said in the preseason that he could be added to the 40 man roster since I felt like if injuries happened, he was going to be a factor. Honestly if Merritt, Morimando, Salazar etc didn't get hurt and were healthy and Tomlin was pitching well (though he has a 2.64 ERA since being switched to the bullpen), he wouldn't be in the pros right now. IF you agree or not, I personally don't think the plan was to have him in the pros, but all of us agree on the fact he has truly earned the right to be in the pros with the roster.

I am also looking at Happ is a veteran Lefty as well, so it's possible he could be out of the pen in the playoffs as well. I get what you are saying as well since we do have a ton of candidates from in house to fill in that 5th spot. It just depends then on if the organization trusts Plutko/Bieber to hold down the 5th spot or if they want to go with a veteran to finalize the roster. Also depends on the price since if we get him for a Ryder like we did for Bruce then I am okay with it, but if we trade a higher ranked prospect then I am not either.

So would you guys trade for a Happ if the price is low?

What would you give up for a guy like Hand from the Padres?

 

[Otsego Mar]

Hey sportscoach lets see you in the game threads more.

Where is Birdy and Pyro?

 

[Kevalier]

Ability wise, without a doubt, but when the season started, I don't think he was since he hadn't pitch above AA last season.




I really do think they (they meaning upper management) wanted him to sit another year in the minors in a lot of ways, but I am not going to complain or fight about being wrong about him being up so early since I even said in the preseason that he could be added to the 40 man roster since I felt like if injuries happened, he was going to be a factor. Honestly if Merritt, Morimando, Salazar etc didn't get hurt and were healthy and Tomlin was pitching well (though he has a 2.64 ERA since being switched to the bullpen), he wouldn't be in the pros right now. IF you agree or not, I personally don't think the plan was to have him in the pros, but all of us agree on the fact he has truly earned the right to be in the pros with the roster.

I am also looking at Happ is a veteran Lefty as well, so it's possible he could be out of the pen in the playoffs as well. I get what you are saying as well since we do have a ton of candidates from in house to fill in that 5th spot. It just depends then on if the organization trusts Plutko/Bieber to hold down the 5th spot or if they want to go with a veteran to finalize the roster. Also depends on the price since if we get him for a Ryder like we did for Bruce then I am okay with it, but if we trade a higher ranked prospect then I am not either.

So would you guys trade for a Happ if the price is low?

What would you give up for a guy like Hand from the Padres?

Every prospect not named Shane Bieber would be available for Brad Hand. He’s my dream reliever acquisition at the deadline.

 

[sportscoach]

Every prospect not named Shane Bieber would be available for Brad Hand. He’s my dream reliever acquisition at the deadline.

I really doubt we would have to trade any less than what we did for Miller at the end of the day, so the question is who do we package something around. Mejia, Civale?

Hey sportscoach lets see you in the game threads more.

Where is Birdy and Pyro?

I have been working most nights sadly so I don't get to watch the games until they are reruns to be sincere. I wish I could get in the game threads since those are usually fun! lol

 

[Hurl Bruce]

What's gotta happen to get Roberto Perez out of here?

.144

 

[col63onel]

What's gotta happen to get Roberto Perez out of here?

.144

Or, as Hue Jackson calls it, "wildly successful"

 

[KluberSociety]

What's gotta happen to get Roberto Perez out of here?

.144

Eh, yeah it's ugly but at least he does something. Guyer is .158 and he's on the team to hit.

You could say the number is sample size (and it is to a large extent) but he also went 4-44 (.091) in rehab.