Tunnel vision: Indians ace Shane Bieber on the art of deceiving hitters with his lethal fastball-curveball combination



Zack Meisel 1h ago 2
When Austin Hedges crouches behind the plate and flashes one finger or two, he knows, more often than not, Shane Bieber will place the baseball precisely where he requests.

But Hedges sometimes needs to remind himself which sign he displayed, because that curveball he thought he called for sure looks like a fastball zipping toward home plate and he could have sworn the plan was for a two-strike breaking ball but this is spinning like a fastball, and if it looks like a fastball and it spins like a fastball then it has to be a fas— oh, wait, there it goes, plunging into the dirt like originally intended, phew!

The top priority for any pitcher, not just the Indians’ ace, is to devise ways to make life difficult for the hitter, to unearth advantages with one’s pitch mix, sequencing and movement profiles. Pitch tunneling is a basic concept, the art of duping the hitter into believing he’s swinging at a fastball when it’s actually a breaking ball diving away from his bat.

Bieber has mastered the execution of this tactic, making his curveball resemble his fastball for as long as possible, which leaves many a hitter miffed as he retreats to the dugout, head down, bat in hand, confidence shattered.

Here’s how Bieber expertly plays his curveball off his fastball:


Pitch tunneling helps explain why hitters lunge at the curveball even when Bieber buries it in the dirt in front of home plate, and why it seems teams — starting with the Yankees in the 2020 wild-card series with the Indians — have made it their mission to resist the temptation to offer at that lethal pitch. It’s easier said than done, though.

Last season, Bieber’s curveball produced whiffs on 52 percent of swings, and batters posted an .095 average and .143 slugging percentage against the pitch. It ranked as the top curveball in the majors, and it propelled Bieber to become a unanimous choice for the American League Cy Young Award. That whiff rate has dipped a bit this season, but hitters are still coming up empty on 43 percent of their hacks. Bieber said he lost his feel for his curveball and slider for a couple of starts, though he may have corrected that two starts ago against the Tigers, when his curveball prompted 13 swings-and-misses (and his fastball induced nine more).

When the curveball is working, even for Hedges, it’s difficult to differentiate between the two pitches before they arrive at the plate.

“When pitches are moving and breaking that fast and that sharp,” Hedges said, “and you know he can bounce a pitch in front of home plate, but the guy’s going to swing at it, so I have to block it — it’s nasty, but the nice thing about Bieber is he executes at such a high level, so when it’s in the dirt, it’s supposed to be in the dirt. When it’s for a strike, it’s supposed to be a strike. So you kind of have an idea of what it’s going to do. But the tunneling off the fastball and the curveball is about as good as I’ve ever caught.”

So what has allowed Bieber to perfect that craft? Bieber chatted with The Athletic during the Baltimore series about this topic.

First, his mechanics should be replicated at every instructional camp. He’s able to repeat his delivery in a seemingly effortless manner: same motion, same rhythm, same release point on every pitch.

“It comes down to repeating your mechanics — just trying to keep everything the same and throwing with intent,” Bieber said.

Also, the spin of the two pitches looks the same. It’s actually reversed (topspin vs. backspin), but a batter can’t decipher between the two. It’s known as pitch or spin mirroring, and it messes with a hitter’s ability to recognize which pitch is whizzing his way.


A multiple-exposure view of Shane Bieber’s delivery. (Nick Cammett / Diamond Images via Getty Images)
The pitch itself, independent of how it plays off other pitches in a particular arsenal, still needs to be effective. A pedestrian curveball would keep hitters off balance for only so long.

“The pitch has to be good,” Bieber said, “and in terms of tunneling, the best way to summarize it is — you’re very rarely going to fool a hitter 100 percent on a pitch, but it’s, how long can you keep them committed to what they think it was? How long can you get them to commit to it to where they can’t hold up?”

Consider this sequence to Ildemaro Vargas, then of the Cubs, last month. Vargas fouled off a 1-0 fastball in the zone.

He then swung through a 1-1 curveball in the zone.

Bieber then convinced him to chase a 1-2 curveball out of the zone.

“Sometimes when my curveball gets loopy,” Bieber said, “maybe I’m trying to land it for a strike or I’m not throwing it with that exact intent or confidence. When it’s on and I’m throwing it for strikes and commanding it below the zone, I’m throwing that thing hard; it’s around 83 to 84 (mph) and I take the hump out. I’d say the best way to do it is just to throw everything with conviction and throw it with a fastball mindset and just trust your delivery.”

How much of Bieber’s sorcery is his ability to befuddle the hitter and how much of it is the movement, velocity and command of the pitch?

“It’s an interesting thought,” Bieber said. “Some of the swings-and-misses on breaking balls down, whether it’s a curveball or a slider, not just for me but for everybody — I ask hitters all the time, ‘Is that more of, were you fooled and thought it was a fastball, or was it that you saw the spin, thought you could get to it and couldn’t?’ I’m not really sure what the majority of swings-and-misses are. I think it’s less than what people think of how hitters are being fooled. Yeah, maybe they see a fastball out of the hand. Major-league hitters can recognize spin and then it just comes down to how much the ball is moving and breaking and whether you can still fool them. I’ve always been curious. It’s interesting to think, did they really think that was a fastball the whole way, or were they just not able to hit it? They were already committed and just couldn’t get to it?”

Bieber is quick to credit his pitching coaches and catchers. (He referred to Roberto Pérez as the team’s “commander in chief.”) But not every pitcher is capable of conquering such an advantageous element of pitching. It demands pristine mechanics, elite command, and the talent and intelligence to understand how to make a collection of pitches more potent.

“The only comparison that I’ve ever had to him was I got to catch Craig Kimbrel back in the day,” Hedges said. “It’s the same type of thing. That’s very high praise because Craig Kimbrel is one of the best relievers of all time. For Bieber to go out there and do it as a starter, when you have that type of spin on a fastball and a curveball — it’s the same pitch. And you have to pick one, and if you guess wrong, you’re going to look foolish.”

Over the next month, we’ll learn who the 2021 Cleveland Indians really are

By Zack Meisel 2h ago 8
CLEVELAND — The Indians can no longer lean on Mother Nature or MLB’s schedule-makers for assistance. They’re about to embark on a stretch of 30 games in 31 days, a relentless sprint to the All-Star break.

They should be well-rested, having had four days in the last week and a half to binge-watch “Mare of Easttown,” skeptically examine opposing pitchers’ spin rates, or whatever it is that big leaguers do on off days.

We should learn a lot about this team over the next month, and the results should shed some light on how the front office will approach the trade deadline.

Winnable games
Here’s how this stretch begins:

• Three games against the Mariners, who own MLB’s worst batting average and on-base percentage and the second-worst slugging percentage

• Four games versus the Orioles, who possess baseball’s second-worst ERA and second-highest loss total

(I know what you’re thinking: The Indians are 2-5 against those teams this season. Yeah, it’s quite odd. The Indians are 11-11 against winning teams, the fourth-best mark in the American League, behind Houston, Tampa Bay and Boston.)

• Three games at the Pirates, who have the league’s fifth-worst ERA and third-worst wRC+ (overall run creation)

• Two games at the Cubs and four games at the Twins, who reside in the AL Central basement

• Three games against the Tigers, who are 23-72 against the Indians since 2016

(I know what you’re thinking: Detroit’s record in past years against Cleveland has no bearing on this season’s outcomes. That’s true. It’s just hard to fathom one team being so inept against another year after year, even when considering the roster talent gap. By win percentage, the Tigers’ best single-season record against the Indians in the past six years is 6-13.)

Anyway, that’s an awfully soft portion of the schedule, though it will require the Indians to play just about every day, which will put pressure on the pitching staff. They’re staring up at the White Sox in the standings, but Chicago lost second baseman Nick Madrigal on Thursday to a hamstring tear.

Rotation of abomination
A barrage of off days has permitted the Indians to navigate the past few weeks with only 40 percent of their starting rotation intact. Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale are averaging 6 2/3 innings per start this season. The sextet of Triston McKenzie, Logan Allen, Cal Quantrill, Jean Carlos Mejía, Eli Morgan and Sam Hentges, who have covered the final two — and with Zach Plesac sidelined, the final three — spots in the rotation, has averaged about 3 1/3 innings per start.

Those six pitchers, in their starts, have combined for an 8.35 ERA with a 1.81 WHIP.

(I know what you’re thinking: Those are some unsightly numbers. That’s an astute observation. Well done.)

Hey, those starters have racked up 92 strikeouts in 78 2/3 innings.

The Indians won’t be as free to manipulate how they structure their starting pitching during this stretch. They’ll recall McKenzie, who has impressed his past two outings, to pitch Saturday, in between Civale and Bieber. Mejía and Quantrill could kick off the Baltimore series next week.

There are no more training wheels, though. The Indians need these young hurlers to work deeper into games.

“At some point, you have to start getting some length out of more than two starters,” manager Terry Francona said.

The Indians rank 23rd in the league with a 4.74 ERA from their starters. It’s their worst mark since 2012, when a group that included Derek Lowe and Jeanmar Gómez posted a 5.25 ERA.

Plesac is expected to initiate a throwing program in the coming days. His return from the filming of “When Shirts Attack” will be immensely beneficial for the rotation.

(I know what you’re thinking: There’s no way he fractured his finger by “aggressively ripping off his shirt.” But wouldn’t the team have concocted a more believable story if that were the case?)

The lineup questions
Opposing pitchers will see a heavy dose of the slimmer Bobby Bradley over the next month. He leads the Indians with a 1.300 OPS, just ahead of McKenzie’s 1.000 OPS. Granted, Bradley has tallied only 10 trips to the plate. His three extra-base hits, however, put him only two behind Jake Bauers, who has totaled 117 plate appearances this season.

The Indians traded Bauers to the Mariners on Thursday for a player to be named later or cash. And as fate would have it, the Mariners visit Progressive Field this weekend, so Cleveland fans won’t have to wait long to watch a tribute video of their favorite bygone first baseman.

(I know what you’re thinking: You’ll always remember where you were and who you were with the moment you first learned the Indians were cutting ties with Bauers.)

The top half — well, the top five-ninths — of Francona’s lineup has risen to the level of “formidable” in recent weeks. Since the start of May, Cesar Hernandez owns a .794 OPS and Amed Rosario boasts a .301/.352/.451 slash line. That has allowed José Ramírez to actually bat with runners aboard, which used to be illegal in all states but Michigan.

The Indians have scored in the first inning in only 20 of their 59 games, but half of those 20 cases have come in the last 16 games.

Harold Ramirez’s metrics suggest his placement in the middle of the order isn’t as crazy as it might seem for a guy who was claimed off waivers a few months ago. And Eddie Rosario has officially heated up after offering a few of those 70-degree-day-in-early-March-type hints.

That’s not to say this lineup is a well-oiled machine, or even an oiled machine, or even a machine. Bradley’s promotion at least provides some thump, sorely needed with Franmil Reyes sidelined with an abdominal strain. (Reyes is “doing well,” Francona said. He’ll be out another few weeks, at least.) The Indians will need Bradley and/or Josh Naylor to carry the bottom of the lineup, or Owen Miller to emerge.

(I know what you’re thinking: We have yet to see any evidence that a turnaround is in Miller’s near future, or that the bottom of the order can muster any production. The Indians will play 30 games in the next 31 days, though. There will be plenty of opportunities for all. We’re going to learn a lot about this team.)

That’s not to say this lineup is a well-oiled machine, or even an oiled machine, or even a machine.

Meisel was on fire today.

Indians’ Amed Rosario settling in

By Jason Lloyd 2h ago
The Indians may have found their new shortstop. He was briefly their new center fielder and could be again someday. For now, however, he’s back at his natural position and thriving.

Amed Rosario’s .358 average over the last month ranked second in major-league baseball entering Saturday. Since Andres Gimenez was optioned to Triple-A on May 18 and Rosario took over as the everyday shortstop, he has slashed .375/.430/.542.

And since Rosario will forever be linked to Francisco Lindor, there’s this: Rosario’s slash line for the season is up to .279/.335/.411 after a miserable start. Lindor’s slash line is .215/.309/.346.

The Indians asked Rosario to learn the outfield during spring training, but when Gimenez struggled badly to begin the season, they sent him to Columbus and returned Rosario to his natural spot full time. It would seem to reason that returning to his natural position on the field has led to his surge at the plate, but Indians manager Terry Francona isn’t so sure.

“He was a better hitter than he had shown before and guys usually kind of get to their level,” Francona said. “I think he was handling what we were asking him to do really well. It may have taken more of his energy because he was having to take balls in both places and extra balls in the outfield. I’m sure it hasn’t hurt because he’s in a routine right now.”

Where Rosario ends up long term remains to be seen. When I asked Francona if the center field “experiment” was over, Francona was quick to correct me that it wasn’t an experiment. He was their center fielder, period. And with so many shortstop prospects coming up through the system, Rosario could ultimately land in the outfield anyway. It may be a couple of years yet before we know who is Lindor’s long-term replacement at shortstop.

For now, however, Rosario has solidified the No. 2 spot and strengthened the top of the lineup at a time when the Indians desperately need offensive production.

“He’s using the whole field and he’s going to be a guy that can get really hot and probably go the other way, too,” Francona said, “just because he’s an ultra-aggressive hitter.”

Speaking of hot hitters, in just 14 at-bats, Bobby Bradley has managed to match Jake Bauers’ production in Cleveland. Bauers was sent to Seattle after hitting two home runs and driving in six in exactly 100 at-bats this season. Bradley accomplished that in his first four games.

Bradley has made some swing adjustments, such as getting his elbow up after he was dropping his top hand too low.

“All those starry-eyed moments are gone,” Bradley said after his home run Friday night. “I see myself as one of these big leaguers now.”

Francona has cautioned not to get too excited over a handful of at-bats, probably because both of Bradley’s home runs have come off fastballs.

I don’t understand why a pitcher would ever throw Bradley another fastball until he proves he can consistently hit breaking pitches. For now, however, the Indians have a first baseman who can hit the ball out of the park on every swing. That’s not a bad thing, particularly in this lineup.

Indians and Chris Antonetti have plenty of trade deadline paths to pursue: Meisel’s Musings


By Zack Meisel 1h ago 4
CLEVELAND — President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti, understandably, tends to not reveal much about the Indians’ plan of attack ahead of the trade deadline. But there’s no harm in placing his comments under a microscope and examining them as if they’re a bunch of microbes.

Antonetti met with reporters before the team’s series finale against the Mariners on Sunday. Without further ado …

“We look at the trade deadline as another opportunity for us to try to strengthen the organization. I think you’ve seen at different points in the past that we’ve approached that with a very open mind.”

The Indians tend to be active each summer. They used to strictly add to the roster.

2016: Traded for Andrew Miller, Brandon Guyer and Coco Crisp and attempted to trade for Jonathan Lucroy

2017: Traded for Joe Smith and Jay Bruce

2018: Traded for Brad Hand, Adam Cimber, Josh Donaldson and Leonys Martín (and Oscar Mercado)

Then, the strategy evolved into dealing from their starting pitching surplus in an attempt to address short- and long-term needs.

2019: The three-team Trevor Bauer trade landed Cleveland Yasiel Puig, Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, Scott Moss and Victor Nova. (The Indians also dealt for Christian Arroyo and Hunter Wood.)

2020: The Mike Clevinger trade landed Cleveland Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, Owen Miller, Austin Hedges, Joey Cantillo and Gabriel Arias.

This team needs a hitter or two (or three). The rotation has seen better days — as in, just about every day for the last five years. How aggressive should the front office be in pursuing upgrades? That might depend on how the Indians fare over the next month, as we all try to determine their potential.

“I don’t think we look at it strictly as buyers and sellers terms. I think it’s a lot more nuanced than that. Again, if you look back at our history over the last few years, I think that’s probably a good indication of how we try to be flexible in the way we look at it.”

Their starting pitchers are 26 or younger and all earning the league minimum or thereabouts, so lightning won’t strike for a third consecutive summer. Perhaps, however, they would entertain moving a veteran hitter such as Cesar Hernandez or Eddie Rosario. Neither player would bring the club a haul, and it’s not like the Indians are oozing capable hitters, so the only motivation for that sort of maneuver would be if they wanted to grant Miller or someone like Nolan Jones an extended look. Otherwise, there’s not much for the team to sell.

“Explore (a trade for starting pitching), absolutely. I think that’s part of our responsibility, to not only look at our internal alternatives but the external alternatives as well. Whether or not we’ll find that right fit is hard to handicap. But we’ll certainly explore those options.”

The Indians haven’t employed a veteran outsider in the rotation since 2015, when Shaun Marcum and Bruce Chen combined for eight starts. They haven’t traded for starting pitching help at the deadline since they acquired Ubaldo Jiménez in 2011.

The Indians are operating at the moment with a rotation of Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale and three pitchers du jour. J.C. Mejía will start Monday. He lasted two-thirds of an inning his last time out. Quantrill will start Tuesday against the Orioles. He recorded four outs before exiting his last start, also against the Orioles. The Indians are scouring the classifieds for a starter for Thursday.

They could surely use a reliable arm. Then again, so could just about every team. There will probably be a ton of demand for starting pitching this summer, as many teams are dealing with injury lists as long as the Nile. Not to mention, many pitchers have matched or eclipsed their workloads from last season, and there are still another 16 weeks left before the playoffs.

“Well, we’re not back to normal, but it’s certainly better to have guys playing in organized baseball games compared to last year at this time, when we were looking at alternate sites and trying to piece together information from different technology sources or video that we had. So, it’s an improvement from last year, but not back to normal.”

The one way the Indians could make a significant strike is to acquire a player with several years of team control for a few prospects. They boast a deep farm system, and they have an impending 40-man roster crowd.

The issue, though, is that teams are working with a murky view of every prospect. There was no minor-league season last year, which placed a bundle of orange barrels in each player’s developmental path. Even this season, there’s not as much information to study because the minor-league season started a month late and players were shedding so much rust.

“There’s no specific number, specific timeline, but the losses were massive. I think I said at the time it would take years for us to recover from it, and I still think that’s the case.”

No, they won’t be taking on the prorated portion of Max Scherzer’s $35 million salary.

Quote to note
“(Yu) Chang caught in high school, which was good enough for me. We actually got him a mask last night during the game and I think the guys had some fun with it, but that’s not a good feeling.” — manager Terry Francona, revealing the identity of the team’s emergency catcher

Final Thoughts
1. There will be plenty of attention paid to pitchers’ spin rates, their forearms, their gloves and the brims of their caps in the coming weeks as the league cracks down on the use of foreign substances on the mound. It’s difficult to draw sweeping conclusions at this juncture about what the mandate will mean for any particular pitcher. A drop in spin rate doesn’t necessarily mean a decline in productivity.

Bieber’s average spin rate on his curveball Sunday was his lowest of the season. His second-lowest average, however, came on May 22, and his spin rate spiked during the start after that. Bieber has said for weeks he’s been struggling to harness his curveball and slider, and adjusting the grip of a pitch can alter the spin. His fastball spin rate has remained steady. This isn’t to pick on Bieber. There’s nothing to deduce at this point. It’s simply something worth monitoring with all pitchers.

Bieber surrendered more than four runs in a start on Sunday for the first time since July 19, 2019.

“I think it’s searching for that feel,” Bieber said. “Pitches, pitch grips, feel with them comes and goes throughout the long season.”



2. Jake Bauers and his fiancée spent the early part of last week in Cleveland, going to the movies and out to eat. Finally, on Wednesday night, he learned the Mariners were acquiring him from the Indians. He drove north to Detroit for Seattle’s series finale against the Tigers. Then, he returned to Cleveland as a visitor. When he arrived at the ballpark on Friday afternoon, he was told three different times he was using the wrong entrance by staffers accustomed to seeing him in Cleveland gear.

“I was like, ‘No, no, I promise, I’m the visiting team now,’” Bauers said. “Getting all my stuff sent over, it sucks and it’s tough, but it is what it is.”

Bauers acknowledged the irony of spending his first full series with his new club in the ballpark he’s called home for the last three years. He admitted it would be difficult not to “be trying a little extra hard” against his old teammates. And he said he’s looking forward to an opportunity in a new environment: “New city, new people, new fans, everything. It’s just going to be good to reset.”

He said he didn’t have answers as to why his Cleveland tenure didn’t produce the results both he and the team desired. Bauers logged a .218/.305/.352 slash line in 160 games with the Indians. He notched a pair of hits against his former team Sunday.

“Sometimes, things just don’t work out,” Bauers said, “whether it’s for a reason or not. I’m hoping things didn’t work out there for a reason and that I’m supposed to be here.”

3. Phil Maton has watched plenty of his younger brother’s at-bats this season, and he’s confident about how a matchup — one they’ve dreamed about for years — would unfold.

“Oh, I’d get him out for sure,” Phil said.

Nick Maton, a rookie, worked his way into the Phillies’ middle-infield mix before the club optioned him to Triple A last week. He was hitting .252 with a .669 OPS in 110 plate appearances.

The brothers have spent time trying to determine when the schedule-makers might pit the Indians and Phillies against each other. Many of their conversations are filled with trash talk, Phil said.

“It’s been really fun to watch him,” Phil said, “especially as a pitcher, watching a hitter and what he’s doing, how I would pitch him. It’s been super cool. He’s doing a great job. I’m really happy for him.”

4. From the “fun facts that don’t exist because of the Indians’ ninth-inning rally” department:

Triston McKenzie avoided becoming the first Cleveland starting pitcher since 1992 to suffer the loss during an outing in which he did not allow a hit.

He would have joined a list that includes four members over the last century: Scott Scudder (September 1992), Mike Garcia (May 1949), Al Milnar (May 1943) and Sherry Smith (September 1923).

One of the better of the deals:

attempted to trade for Jonathan Lucroy BUT DIDN'T. wouldn't have been able to trade Francisco Mejia for Brad Hand. I guess losing Greg Allen Shawn Armstrong and Yu Chang wouldn't been so tragic

How Cal Quantrill is aiming to follow in Carlos Carrasco’s footsteps for the Indians


By Zack Meisel Jun 24, 2021 17
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s not that Cal Quantrill doesn’t think about his role, his pitch count or his pitching itinerary. He just doesn’t pay those details as much attention as, say, curious reporters or dedicated fans.

Is he starting or relieving? Is he pitching today or tomorrow? Is he stretched out to 55 pitches or 75?

“You guys care 10 times as much as I care,” Quantrill told The Athletic earlier this month. “It’s OK, though. I get it. It’s a storyline. It’s interesting. I think my life has become simpler when I took that storyline out of it and just made it, ‘I have to get my three outs.’”

At certain points this season, those three outs accounted for an entire outing. Now, however, Quantrill has assumed the role of de facto ace, perhaps the most reliable entity in the Indians starting rotation, as a result of Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale landing on the injured list. Civale, the latest casualty, is expected to miss four to five weeks with a middle finger sprain.

Quantrill is as stretched out — and as experienced — as any starter in Cleveland’s patchwork rotation, though this isn’t exactly Olympics-level competition. Quantrill, Sam Hentges, J.C. Mejía and Eli Morgan have combined for 159 innings as major-league starting pitchers, with Quantrill accounting for nearly three-fourths of that total. In fact, Hentges, Mejía and Morgan have combined to make only seven starts at Triple A, spanning 31 1/3 innings.

Career innings as a major-league starter

Quantrill: 116 1/3
Hentges: 18 2/3
Mejía: 12 2/3
Morgan: 11 1/3

Quantrill is scheduled to start Friday against the Twins. The Indians will need to find a fifth starter for Monday, the first game of a home series against the Tigers. Triston McKenzie would be pitching on regular rest. Manager Terry Francona said the team would no longer ask any of the starters to pitch on short rest since they are more stretched out.

Quantrill threw a season-high 77 pitches on short rest Saturday in Pittsburgh and logged five scoreless innings before Cleveland’s bullpen imploded in the eighth. Yet he’s still tackling his appearances in three-out chunks, following a recent conversation with Civale about breaking each game into bits and pieces.

“Essentially, it’s one inning at a time,” catcher Austin Hedges said. “If I’m going out here and starting this game, I need to get a zero this inning and if they say, ‘Go back out there,’ OK, I’ll go get a zero that inning. If they say, ‘Go get another one,’ I’ll go get another one. It’s basically, ‘I’m going to keep going and get one zero at a time until they say my day is done.’”

It sounds simple, but Quantrill swears by its effectiveness. He said earlier in his career, he placed unnecessary pressure on himself when he started, fixating on the fact it might be his only chance to contribute that week. In his career, Quantrill has a 5.18 ERA as a starter and a 1.91 ERA as a reliever.

Carlos Carrasco took a similar approach when he transitioned back into the rotation after a three-month stint in the bullpen in 2014. He continued to throw out of the stretch and warm up like a reliever. The rest of that season, Carrasco posted a 1.30 ERA in 10 starts. His career took off from there.

Quantrill learned about Carrasco’s renaissance a few weeks ago and briefly studied his career path.

“It’d be hard to argue it didn’t work for him,” Quantrill said. “I don’t know Carrasco that well, but just based on my experience with him last year, I bet it was similar for him. … I caught myself early in the minors and my first year (in the majors) trying to check boxes. ‘Starters do this, so I’m going to do that.’ And maybe now I realize all that matters is, are you ready to pitch? Are you ready to get the outs you need to get? At this moment, it seems that a long warmup isn’t necessarily what makes me feel better. It was one of those, ‘You don’t fix something that’s not broken,’ so let’s just go with a reliever warmup and go for it.”
Quantrill’s track record has always highlighted two qualities that fuel his effectiveness: throwing strikes and limiting hard contact. He threw 51 of his 77 pitches for strikes Saturday and boasts one of the better walk rates on the team (3.0 per nine innings). He allowed an average exit velocity of 80.6 mph Saturday, which is exceptional. Quantrill ranks in the 94th percentile in the majors in opponent hard-hit rate. His sinker-slider-changeup combination induces weak contact at nearly three times the league average rate. Since shifting into the rotation, he has mixed in an occasional curveball as well.

In his last two starts, Quantrill has limited opponents to one run on six hits and two walks over nine innings.

“The mindset thing, that’s been the biggest noticeable change I’ve seen from him,” said reliever Phil Maton, who also played with Quantrill in San Diego, “especially coming from the Padres to here. He doesn’t make a big deal about the start day. He just goes out there and competes — and looks like he’s pissed off the entire time he’s pitching, too.

“The results speak for themselves.”

Josh Naylor’s injury, potential Indians roster moves and Sam Hentges’ homecoming: Meisel’s Musings

By Zack Meisel Jun 27, 2021 17
MINNEAPOLIS — The scene was surreal, one of those stomach-sinking visuals that’s difficult to dismiss. Josh Naylor rolled around in the outfield grass as if his uniform had caught fire. Cleveland’s trainers rushed out of the dugout. Teammates hustled over to offer encouragement. Manager Terry Francona deliberately limped toward the huddle. Fans sat silently, an eerie hush replacing the constant stream of cheers sparked by the Twins’ offensive outburst.

“I was really in shock,” Harold Ramirez said.

Naylor suffered a significant lower leg injury as he tried to avoid a head-on collision with Ernie Clement on a bloop single Sunday. When Naylor planted his right foot in the grass and attempted to spin out of the way, his ankle appeared to turn the wrong direction — and that’s an intentionally ambiguous understatement. He crumpled to the ground and writhed in pain, smacking the grass in frustration.

A 12-minute delay ensued as medical personnel placed an air cast on Naylor, strapped him to a stretcher and carted him off the field, Naylor shouting in agony throughout the process. He headed to the emergency room at nearby Hennepin County Medical Center with James Quinlan, the Indians’ head athletic trainer. After the game, Francona said they knew Naylor had a “fracture,” but he couldn’t specify where that fracture was, if there were additional injuries or what measures lie ahead. Those details will trickle out in the coming hours and days.

Update, June 28: Josh Naylor suffered “a closed fracture and dislocation of the right ankle” on Sunday. He’ll travel back to Cleveland on Monday. He’ll be evaluated later this week to determine the extent of the injury and timetable for an operation.

“The way he reacted,” René Rivera said, “it was heartbreaking.”

Ramirez escorted Clement, who suffered a cut to his chin, to the dugout to get checked. Clement tugged his cap to cover most of his face as he walked off the field.

“I was just trying to remind him that it wasn’t his fault,” Ramirez said.

Francona surmised Naylor could have made a shoulder-high catch, though he said it’s on the right fielder in that circumstance to call off the second baseman. He said there clearly wasn’t sufficient communication.

“That’s not an easy play,” Ramirez said. “Everybody is coming at the same time at full speed. I don’t think everybody had time to react.”

In terms of what this means for Cleveland’s roster, there are several moving parts.

The Indians had already planned to meet with Franmil Reyes on Monday to discuss the next step in his recovery from an oblique strain, if there even is another step aside from simply activating him from the injured list.

No matter Reyes’ status, they will likely want an outfielder to join Eddie Rosario, Bradley Zimmer and Ramirez. They could summon Daniel Johnson, Oscar Mercado or even Nolan Jones to fill that role. They could add Andrés Giménez to the roster and shift Amed Rosario back to center field. Giménez entered Sunday’s action with a 1.210 OPS and seven home runs in his last 12 games at Triple-A Columbus.

Johnson, Mercado and Jones all got off to miserable starts at Columbus, but they’ve gained steam at the plate in recent weeks.

Overall slash line at Triple A:

Mercado: .216/.327/.392
Jones: .222/.355/.405
Johnson: .224/.302/.453

Recent hot stretches:

Mercado: .284/.393/.580 slash line over his last 24 games
Jones: .286/.420/.554 slash line over his last 17 games
Johnson: .282/.346/.563 slash line over his last 18 games

Yu Chang hasn’t started a game since June 19 and hasn’t logged a plate appearance since June 21. His time at first base, already dwindling since Bobby Bradley joined the roster, could completely disappear once Reyes returns and occupies the designated hitter spot, forcing Bradley to first base on a daily basis. There doesn’t seem to be a need to carry both Chang and Clement as utility infielders with José Ramírez, Cesar Hernandez and Amed Rosario rarely receiving days off.

Hentges’ homecoming
David Hentges was asleep when his son, Sam, called home in mid-April to alert his parents he was being promoted to the majors. His wife, Mary, was still awake at 10:15 p.m. that Friday night as she contemplated, after a long week of teaching, whether she could put off the laundry until the weekend.

Mary woke up David to relay the news and by 11 a.m. the next day — all three loads of laundry complete — they were in Cincinnati for Sam’s first day as a big leaguer. Sam didn’t pitch until Tuesday, in Cleveland against the White Sox. His parents followed the team north so they could watch his first appearance.

Two weeks later, he was scheduled to make his first start — the Indians ended up using an opener — and about 15 members of the Hentges contingent traveled to Kansas City to witness the outing. David and Mary trekked to Cleveland on Memorial Day weekend to watch Sam pitch against the Blue Jays.

But his outing this weekend is one they had circled for weeks. The Hentges family lives about 20 minutes from Target Field, in Shoreview, Minn., where they moved when Sam was 5. David grew up in Jordan, about 35 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis. He remembers visiting Metropolitan Stadium, which was demolished in 1985 and eventually became the site for the Mall of America. He played center field for the University of Minnesota.

Mary was raised in St. Cloud, about 65 miles northwest of downtown. She played softball and her dad coached at St. Cloud Tech High. There, he coached Jim Eisenreich, who spent 15 years in the majors (and went 4-for-8 with a homer for the Marlins in the 1997 World Series).

David and Mary regularly took Sam and his siblings to the Metrodome and to Target Field. Sam was fond of Torii Hunter and Johan Santana, a fellow left-handed starter.

Sam’s guest-pass list was 35 people long, and that didn’t include friends who had secured tickets on their own. His parents estimated at least 50 to 60 Hentges fans were in attendance on Sunday. Sam figured his mom would be enjoying every moment of the afternoon, and his dad would be hunched over in his seat, exhibiting far more anxiety than the guy on the mound.

“To me, it’s so much harder to watch than to play,” David told The Athletic earlier in the week. “I played a lot of baseball games, and it’s so much harder to watch when your son is involved.”

“He’s a very even-keeled kid,” Mary said. “We get upset and we’re freaking out, like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is going to hurt him.’ But he’s like, ‘It’s on to the next game. It’s going to be fine.’ That helps him.”

It wasn’t Sam’s first time standing atop the mound at Target Field. Seven years and 10 days earlier, he pitched Mounds View High to a state championship in a 9-0 shutout. The next day, he flew to Cleveland to sign with the Indians, who had selected him in the fourth round of the 2014 MLB Draft.

When Sam called his parents last week to tell them he was lined up to start in his hometown, his mom asked how he felt about it.

“Well,” Sam told her, “I really like Target Field. The last time I pitched there I did OK.’”

When he was in high school, Sam’s future was thought to be at first base, but Cleveland area scout Les Pajari contended he had a high ceiling as a pitcher, given his size (6-foot-7) and the fact he could throw in the low-90s. Now, he wields a mid-90s fastball, which he pairs with an effective curveball and a slider. He said he lacked fastball command, didn’t possess his sharpest breaking balls and struggled to find a rhythm Sunday.

“All in all, not a great day at the ballpark,” he said.


Sam Hentges allowed six runs and four walks in 3 1/3 innings. (Brad Rempel / USA Today)
Sam spent the off day Wednesday with his family, celebrating his sister’s birthday with a bonfire. Other than that, he fended off invitations from friends and acquaintances who sought any free time he might have, as he preferred to focus on his pitching assignment.

The Hentges family attended all four games of the series. They arrived Saturday expecting Sam to pitch, but Mother Nature foiled that plan. Instead, once the game was postponed and he completed his round of catch in center field, Sam conversed with family and friends and fellow Minnesotans down the third-base line for 40 minutes.

On Sunday, the family full of 6-footers — David is 6-foot-5, brother Jack emphatically says he’s 6-foot-9, Mary’s brothers are about 6-foot-6 and David’s three sisters are all about 6-foot — filed into the first few rows of seats behind home plate.

“Good family tree,” David said.

There were red, white and blue Hentges jerseys. Jack filmed some of his brother’s pitches as he sported a navy No. 72 uniform, Sam’s number from past spring trainings. They seemed to be the only fans in the section who didn’t stand and applaud when the Twins scored.

“There was a little bit more cheering (for me) than normal,” Sam said.

(Top photo: Brad Rempel / USA Today)

Latest from Zack! (And Jason Lloyd)

Indians trade deadline banter: Who (and what) should Cleveland target next month?




By Zack Meisel and Jason Lloyd 1h ago 5
CLEVELAND — When the Indians sat at 8-11 — a new-look, inexperienced team stumbling out of the gate — had I told you they would proceed to lose Franmil Reyes, Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale in the weeks to follow, would you have guessed that they would be in position to add talent at the trade deadline?

The path toward late-summer contention isn’t the most inviting, given the team’s injured list and upcoming schedule, but the Indians have weathered the storm to this point. There are a number of strategies they could employ at the trade deadline next month. Will they add a starting pitcher to aid the tattered rotation? Will they add a bat or two to the lineup? Will they pursue any rentals or focus strictly on controllable players?

The deadline is July 30. Jason, let’s pretend president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff are out sick and left us in charge. (God help us all.) What move sits atop your priority list for the Indians?

Lloyd: The ultimate answer, as we talk through this, might actually be to do nothing. At least nothing major. This feels so much more complicated than most years. Before settling on what this team needs, don’t we first have to gauge how good the Indians really are and what their ceiling can be? And how much flexibility is there within this paper-thin payroll?

When they made the Andrew Miller trade in 2016, the front office correctly believed they were really close, one piece away from the potential of a deep postseason run. Do you really get that same feeling looking at this roster?

Meisel: Maybe not, but there’s still so much we don’t know about this team. And lining up a healthy Bieber, Plesac and Civale in a postseason series, with an offense bolstered from trade-deadline acquisitions, at minimum, makes you think when pondering the wide-open American League, no? I’m getting ahead of myself. As currently constructed, thanks to injuries and inconsistency, the roster is a bit of a mess.

Lloyd: The obvious answer is to go get a starting pitcher. But who? Pitching always comes with an inflated price, and the Indians historically aren’t willing to overpay. When was the last time they obtained an impact starter at the deadline? Ubaldo Jiménez 10 years ago?

Texas’ Kyle Gibson will be a popular name in trade rumors between now and the deadline. Gibson is having a fantastic year and his price will never be higher. Do you really want to buy at the top of the market for a career .500 pitcher with an ERA over 4.30?

José Berríos would be great, but he’s reaching the point in his contract when the Indians typically trade those guys away, not acquire them. (Berríos will be a free agent after the 2022 season.) And there’s a close to zero chance the Twins would trade him within the division.

Colorado’s Germán Márquez is only 26 and makes a ton of sense, particularly since he’s making a very reasonable $7.5 million this year and is under team control through 2024. It would take a big-time offer to get him, but the Indians are about to hit a 40-man roster crunch that will require bundling a number of prospects in trades similar to what the Padres have done the last couple of years. If I was in baseball jail and could only make one phone call, it would probably be to Denver to gauge the price on Márquez.

Meisel: What crime did you commit to land in baseball jail? Never mind.

The 40-man roster crunch is a significant storyline. The Indians are well aware they’ll need to protect a bunch of Rule 5-eligible players this offseason, and that could prove tricky, so packaging a few prospects in a trade seems plausible. But keep in mind that because there was no minor-league season in 2020, teams are less informed about certain prospects than they usually would be, so the Indians might need to find a team that is either confident in its evaluations or doesn’t mind taking risks.

Anyway, my sense is the Indians don’t feel like outbidding anyone for a rental. That’s not to say they won’t seek to acquire someone signed through only 2021, but they won’t be forking over a ton to do so. Per usual, they are prioritizing long-term solutions. They want players with multiple years of control.

So, while a stopgap starting pitcher makes sense in theory, I’ll turn my attention here toward players who could help for the long haul. (Márquez, by the way, could help, but his price tag soars after this season, and while I think the team’s payroll will increase some in the coming years, I’m not sure he would fit in its plans.)

The Indians are stocked with young middle infielders, but they remain thin in the outfield. Harold Ramirez is intriguing. Maybe Amed Rosario eventually winds up back in center field. George Valera is mighty talented, but a few years from contributing in the majors. Eddie Rosario will probably play in a different uniform in 2022.

Bryan Reynolds catches my attention, and the Pirates seem inclined to at least listen. They could be a team that covets low-level minor leaguers, since they won’t be contending for at least several years, and the Indians have plenty of low-level prospect capital to offer.

Reynolds is the perfect fit. He can play all three outfield spots. He can hit for average and power. He’s a switch hitter who has fared well against lefties and righties. He boasts above-average walk and strikeout rates. His metrics back up his stat line. He’s under team control through 2025. Imagine plugging in a guy slashing .312/.399/.532 into the lineup between José Ramírez and Reyes.

He should be the Indians’ dream target. It would be costly, but they have amassed prospects the last few years to position themselves to be able to make this sort of trade. And it’s the type of deal that makes sense for Cleveland, whether the team sinks over the next month or continues to defy expectations.


Bryan Reynolds has 20 doubles, 13 home runs and 44 RBIs this season. (Charles LeClaire / USA Today)
Lloyd: I love Reynolds’ swing nearly as much as his spectacular mustache that occasionally makes an appearance. I would be shocked if the Pirates made him available, just as I would be if the Rockies actually move Márquez. But there’s a reason Pittsburgh has four winning seasons in the last 28 years, and your point about it seeking low-level prospects is valid.

I guess that’s what makes this a bit of a wonky trade deadline for the Indians, at least to me. This front office has gotten so creative and advanced well beyond the labels of “buyer” and “seller.” They traded Mike Clevinger when the Indians were a game out of first last summer in a deal I initially hated, but have come to appreciate and understand. (The fact Clevinger won’t throw a pitch this year certainly makes it easier to like.)

To that end, Andrés Giménez is scalding-hot right now in Columbus. The Indians have a month to promote him and see if it translates to the majors. If it does, would it really be shocking if Amed Rosario shifted to second and Cesar Hernandez were traded? Particularly if they think Tyler Freeman will be ready to play second base next year? I’m just saying, this front office is usually three moves ahead of everyone else.

And while we’re talking about controllable bats who can play in the outfield, I’ll add Trey Mancini, whose name always seems to creep up this time of year, but has more merit now that he’s only under team control through next season. Mancini is this year’s Carlos Carrasco: an absolutely beloved teammate in Baltimore who missed a year to colon cancer and is now back and thriving. He has played only first base this year, but he has experience in the outfield.

I guess where I get stuck is: What is the target? Are we making moves simply to bolster a potential playoff run this year? Or is the focus on moves to help the club for the next two to three years?

Meisel: Why not both?

Lloyd: When Bieber, Civale and Plesac are healthy, those are three formidable arms to throw at any team, whether it’s September or October. But then what? If the focus is this season, the Indians need at least one more arm to realistically maintain their position in the AL Central.

If the focus isn’t simply surviving the summer and playing into October, then the priorities might shift because eventually/hopefully Triston McKenzie figures out his command issues and evolves into the type of pitcher we’ve seen glimpses of him becoming, and maybe Logan Allen or Cal Quantrill or Sam Hentges figures it out by 2022.

In other words, Cleveland’s pitching needs feel incredibly short term this summer, but also absolutely critical to any serious playoff bid this year.

Meisel: Yeah, that’s where this gets complicated. It’s ambitious enough to strive to acquire a player or two who can help for the next three to five seasons, but if the Indians are still hanging around a few weeks from now, how do you not address whatever weaknesses exist, especially if the rotation remains in shambles? Maybe the Pirates would toss in JT Brubaker. Maybe I’m being incredibly greedy.

The starting pitching market is tricky. I’ve heard from several executives around the league recently that teams want to evaluate opposing pitchers for a bit to see whose performance can withstand the crackdown on sticky stuff. Plus, everyone needs starting pitching. Injuries have spiked across the league, not just in Cleveland. So, demand outweighs supply, which means prices will start out high, and that doesn’t pique the Indians’ interest. That’s why you’ve seen a move like signing Brad Peacock and not a trade for, say, Gibson.

That said, we’re running the show in this exercise, and I’d be searching for any starting pitcher with a pulse who can eat innings and wouldn’t cost a prospect of significance. The bar can’t go much lower.

But the top priority is to fortify the roster for years. Plural. So they’ll need to map out ways to pursue moves of differing consequence. And that doesn’t include your comment about Hernandez. Had Owen Miller demonstrated he could handle big-league pitching, I’d deal Hernandez and not think twice about it. That still shouldn’t be off the table. As you noted, you could reconfigure the infield to make it work.

Lloyd: I’m annoyed I didn’t think of Reynolds. That’s a great call and he does fit perfectly anywhere in the outfield. So let’s play this out. What gets it done? This feels like it would take a package similar to what the Indians received for Clevinger last year. Pitching always comes with a higher price, as we’ve established, but Reynolds is under team control longer (through the 2025 season). The Clevinger return was six players, ranging in experience from MLB-ready (Quantrill, Austin Hedges and Josh Naylor) to close-to-ready (Owen Miller) to very young (Gabriel Arias and Joey Cantillo).

So who are the Indians shipping to Pittsburgh? Brayan Rocchio? Lenny Torres? Aaron Bracho? Ethan Hankins? (Guys coming off Tommy John surgery are traded all the time now.) Hentges? Daniel Espino? Who’s the highest-rated player they’d have to include?

Meisel: Well, is anyone untouchable? I’d say no, but I’d place Freeman, Valera and Bo Naylor in a separate category of players I’d prefer to avoid trading at all costs. They all fill an eventual (or immediate) need at an important position on the diamond. With Freeman, sure, the Indians have plenty of middle infielders, but he seems like a slam-dunk to rack up 180-plus hits a season for a decade.

A trade like that would probably get a bit uncomfortable for the Indians, but they’re going to have to package some prospects who might develop into productive major leaguers. You’re right, though: I wonder if teams will ask for a larger group of players to increase their odds of hitting on one or two of these unknown commodities.

There are other players of Reynolds’ ilk who would make sense. I doubt the Diamondbacks feel inclined to move Ketel Marte, but once healthy, he’d be another no-brainer for the Indians to inquire about, as would Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins, who has already proven he likes spending time with Cleveland’s pitchers. If the Reds opt to sell, teams will be lining up to ask about Jesse Winker, the Indians included. I’m setting my sights ridiculously high with these names, but it’s where I’d start if I had a desk on the fourth floor of the Progressive Field offices.

Lloyd: I have to at least acknowledge that while we’re sitting in the press box at Progressive Field typing out all of these names of hitters the Indians should pursue, the actual Indians hitters have set a season-high for runs in a game (13). Detroit showed up on the schedule right on time.

Anyway, I have one more name. This is going to sound strange and ridiculous, but hear me out: Will the Rays listen to offers on Austin Meadows? He has the second-highest OPS on the team entering the week, so the initial reaction might be “they’re not trading Austin Meadows.”

But these are the Rays. They traded their starting shortstop a few weeks ago for a couple of relievers. They’ll trade anyone at any time (except Wander Franco), and Meadows is basically stuck as their fourth outfielder/full-time DH. It would take a painful amount of prospects to get him, but he is just entering arbitration this winter, and if Franco proves over the next few weeks he’s MLB-ready, moving Meadows would free up the DH slot for a Tampa Bay roster with plenty of candidates to rotate through.

Is it unlikely? Perhaps. But I’d at least make the call. These are two of the most creative organizations in baseball. If anyone can get a deal done, these would be the guys to figure it out.


What about Austin Meadows? (Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today)
Meisel: Oh, that’s fascinating. Any other team but the Rays would hang up on us (we’re used to it), but with the Rays, there’s always a chance.

The main takeaway here is the Indians can cast a wide net. They won’t be the only team seeking upgrades next month, but they have the prospect ammunition and motivation to be as aggressive and creative as any team.

Lloyd: I’m not sure we’ve solved anything, but you’ve at least provided me with clarity through this exercise. Pitching is obviously what this team needs more than anything as it enters July, but for a lot of the reasons we’ve already laid out, a bat still seems the most logical move. Or nothing. Do nothing. I could’ve made a stronger case, and tried, for pushing all-in last year, knowing it was probably the Indians’ final season with Francisco Lindor and Carrasco. They didn’t really do that.

This team doesn’t feel like it’s ready to make that deep postseason run, even with one or two slight alterations. So I wouldn’t hate it if the Indians sat out this trade deadline, except for the 40-man crunch that’s looming this winter. That’s real, and it might create the necessary incentive to be aggressive at the deadline — more than the current standings.

Indians’ Harold Ramirez, once an unheralded waiver claim, is playing his way into their outfield plans



By Zack Meisel 4h ago 13
CLEVELAND — Sandwiched between a who’s who of elite hitters on a particular statistical leaderboard is a familiar name in Cleveland: Ramirez.
It’s not José Ramírez who popped up on the list, though.

A player not as heralded, Harold, did.

“He’s been a godsend for us,” president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said.

Harold Ramirez never walks, but he rarely strikes out. He’s ultra-aggressive at the plate, but notably laid back away from it. He’s a free-swinger, yet he almost always puts the ball in play. And seemingly every time he makes contact, he impales the baseball.

He presents a fascinating set of traits, a skill set that has fueled an .806 OPS and a team-leading .289 batting average. That output has earned Ramirez more playing time and more consideration as the Indians attempt to identify their short- and long-term outfield options.

Only one hitter in the league (with at least 150 plate appearances) walks less frequently than Ramirez: Texas catcher Jose Trevino. Only 10 hitters strike out less frequently than Ramirez, a group that includes productive contact hitters such as Michael Brantley, Yuli Gurriel and Luis Arraez.

Ramirez is the antithesis of the three-true-outcome player who has become so prevalent in today’s game. When he steps into the batter’s box, action ensues.


Harold Ramirez homers against the Pirates on June 20. (Charles LeClaire / USA Today)
He has nearly as many extra-base hits as strikeouts.

Ramirez has collected six home runs (including three in a 24-hour span earlier this month in Pittsburgh), nine doubles and one triple. He has totaled 19 strikeouts in 158 trips to the plate. In other words, he strikes out once every 8.3 plate appearances, whereas the average major leaguer strikes out nearly once every four trips to the plate.

Among players with at least 10 extra-base hits, Gurriel is the only big leaguer with more extra-base hits than strikeouts (29 to 28). Brantley has tallied 28 of each. José Ramírez has registered 35 extra-base hits and 38 strikeouts.

After Harold Ramirez swung and missed at a fastball at his chest to seal his second strikeout Sunday at Target Field, he patted himself on the helmet, a reminder that he can make contact with most, but not all, pitches. He wound up with his first three-strikeout game of the season.

He ranks among the top 30 hitters in baseball in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate.

Ramirez ranks 28th in the league in hard-hit rate at 50.4 percent, just ahead of José Abreu. He ranks 29th in average exit velocity at 92.1 mph, right behind Kyle Schwarber, who socked another home run in the time it took you to read this sentence. In other words: He hits the ball really hard and does so a ton, and those two qualities typically translate to a healthy supply of hits.

It’s the first thing every coach or front-office evaluator notes about him, too.

“Even in the batting cage,” hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo said, “it’s like, ‘Damn, the ball really comes off this guy’s bat.’”

The amazing thing about Ramirez, though, is he owns one of the worst chase rates in the league (39.9 percent). He doesn’t exhibit much patience, as evidenced by his super-low walk rate, so he’s up there hacking, even at pitches out of the zone.

And yet, Ramirez doesn’t swing-and-miss often. He ranks in the 79th percentile in whiff percentage. Only 49 hitters have been more adept at making contact. And, as we’ve established, when he makes contact, he’s usually bruising the baseball. Another element that helps him: He ranks in the 89th percentile in sprint speed, so he can convert singles into doubles or beat out infield grounders on the off chance he makes weak contact.

His expected batting average and slugging percentage, based on the quality of his contact, rank near the top of the league leaderboards.

His .304 expected batting average (xBA) ranks seventh in the majors. (League average is .243.) That’s the leaderboard referenced at the top of this piece, one that slots Ramirez behind only Brantley, Kyle Tucker, Aaron Judge, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alex Kirilloff and Nick Castellanos. Winker, Soto and José Ramírez round out the top 10.

Harold Ramirez’s .506 expected slugging percentage (xSLG) ranks 40th in the majors. (League average is .403.) For reference, José Ramírez, whose metrics suggest he should torment pitchers all summer, sports an xBA and xSLG of .303 and .558, respectively. Essentially, Harold Ramirez’s metrics indicate his sterling start to the season isn’t a fluke, as long as he maintains his frequency of punishing baseballs. Should he demonstrate a bit more patience, that could help his cause as well, as one evaluator pointed out.

“He stays through the middle of the field so well, and he gets the barrel to it,” manager Terry Francona said. “He gives himself a chance. I’ll tell you what, he’s been really big for us.”

None of this guarantees anything. The metrics provide a framework to better understand the type of hitter Ramirez is and explain why the Indians are intrigued by his potential. But he remains a bit of a mystery since he has a limited track record and was plucked off waivers from the Marlins in spring training. The Indians identified some attributes that compelled them to devote a 40-man roster spot to him, but those in the front office are quick to admit he has far exceeded their expectations to this point.

Ramirez registered a solid rookie season with the Marlins in 2019, with 11 homers and 20 doubles in 119 games. He batted .276 and logged a .728 OPS. His 2020 campaign was marred by a bout of COVID-19 and a hamstring injury, limiting him to three games. That clouded his outlook.

“We thought it was a worthwhile gamble,” Antonetti said, “and he’s made the most of the opportunity.”

When the Indians signed Eddie Rosario to a one-year deal in late January, they considered him a stopgap solution in left field. A stopgap to what, exactly, no one knows. Josh Naylor was receiving regular playing time in right field before he suffered a fractured ankle over the weekend. Ramirez figures to occupy more time in right the rest of this season. Nolan Jones and Daniel Johnson could enter into the mix in the near future.

There’s opportunity, though. And Ramirez is on the path to seizing it.

“He’s been a big contributor to what we’ve been doing,” Francona said.


Zack Meisel is a writer for The Athletic covering the Cleveland Indians. Zack earned first place in both sports coverage and feature writing from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2019. He has been on the Tribe beat since 2011 and is the author of four books, including "Cleveland Rocked," the tale of the 1995 Indians. Follow Zack on Twitter @ZackMeisel.

Tribe has a pretty good record of picking guys up from the scrap heap. Maybe their new name should be the Cleveland Dumpster Divers.

that would be appropriate!

As an oldtimer, as we all are this stat seems appalling to me:

the average major leaguer strikes out nearly once every four trips to the plate.

Maybe the Friars since half our team is from the Padres.

seagull wrote:Tribe has a pretty good record of picking guys up from the scrap heap. Maybe their new name should be the Cleveland Dumpster Divers.

The thing about Harold Ramirez is that he hit freaking .276 with 11 homers, .412 slugging and .728 OPS as a 24 year old with the Marlins. In only 421 at bats. And in the National league with no DH.

And he was free for the taking.

He should have been an obvious pickup for any number of teams - grateful he fell our way but seems a no brainer.

the fact that no picked up him when guys like Ben Gamel found homes made me assume there was nothing there. But that was wrong.

Of course I could have added in that first sentence "Ben Gamel and Tyler Naquin" and look what Naquin has done. Change of venue is all it took??? [12 homers 46 RBI in less than half a sense and not playing every day!]