Cleveland Sports Forum

So much of this year's problems are bad luck, mainly all those pitching injuries. and then this week a few days after the league's worst fielding first basemen is traded, our starting first baseman is hurt and will miss a month.
Suddenly our only options at 1st are David Fry and Arias-- just when he was supposed to get a major tryout at shortstop.
checking on Calhoun: 9 career games at 1st, 1104 in RF

only 1b on the 40 man roster may be Jhonkensy Noel who's played at all corner positions but probably will wind up at 1st.
He's probably not ready for the majors but no less so than Jose Tena; Noel has 18 homers and 18 doubles in Columbus this year.
220/304/418 Strikes out 26% of his at bats; that's a bit better than 28% last year at Akron
he's done quite a bit better since June: 97-19-27-17 six doubles 4 homers 279/333/464 8 walks 22 strikeouts= 21% of at bats
Considering the try-out nature of the current roster, I'd expect him to get a look

Things could get worse. We could lose J-Ram for a month or so.

Veteran outfielder sees an opportunity with Guardians at first base

Updated: Aug. 04, 2023, 7:48 p.m.|Published: Aug. 04, 2023, 6:13 p.m.




By Joe Noga, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Kole Calhoun arrived in Cleveland on Friday ready to play wherever the Guardians need him, and after a week of trades and injuries, the veteran outfielder could see himself getting innings on the infield in the near future.

Calhoun, 35, said it seemed like he was at Triple-A Oklahoma City for a long time this year waiting for a big league opportunity. When he woke up Thursday morning, he received a call from his agent indicating that Cleveland was looking.



“About two hours later I was told I had a flight and I was out of there,” Calhoun said. “It happened pretty quick. So, it’s been kind of crazy.”

The Guardians traded away first baseman Josh Bell on Tuesday and placed Josh Naylor on the injured list Friday with an oblique strain that could sideline him for 3-6 weeks. That leaves David Fry and Gabriel Arias as the only other players on the roster with experience at first base.


Calhoun said this is the first time in his career that he has bounced around during a season between different organizations.

“I’ve usually been on one team per year, and been on a few different teams, few different clubhouses, but I’ve kind of ping-ponged myself all over the country this year,” Calhoun said. “It’s been different. But it’s been kind of fun, and I’m excited to be back.”



Guardians manager Terry Francona credited Cleveland’s front office with finding a veteran that fit what the club needs, saying that is not an easy thing to do.

“To find a veteran that not only understands the role, but probably respects the role and then can be a help to our younger players while also helping on the field, that’s not the easiest thing to do,” Francona said. “Especially off the waiver wire, or however it goes.”




Cleveland was able to acquire Calhoun in a trade for cash with the Dodgers because the 11-year veteran had spent the entire season in the minors and had not been on LA’s 40-man roster.

“We caught a pretty good break there,” Francona said. “For the longest time across the field, you admire the way he plays. I always have, and it’s not just me. He’s really excited. A kid that’s got almost 10 years in the major leagues, he went to Triple-A and had been having a really good year.”

When Calhoun first arrived in the majors in 2012 he played both outfield and first base. Then he moved to the outfield on a permanent basis. Francona said he approached Calhoun about playing on the infield with Cleveland if he is comfortable there.

“He’ll go out to take some ground balls there just to see how he feels, because it’s kind of the obvious place that there are some at-bats,” Francona said. “I don’t want to do something with a player that is unfair. But he’s willing to try, and I think that’s good.”






Calhoun seemed excited about the possibilities of playing with Cleveland’s young team.

“Guys are getting an opportunity to show what they can do and try to stick in the league,” Calhoun said. “This is about putting a veteran in here. This is who they get to learn from and see what it’s like. Hopefully I can be that presence and show ‘em the right way.”

An opportunity to play for Francona also appealed to Calhoun.

“I’ve been a fan from afar for a long time, always loved Tito,” Calhoun said. “This is pretty cool to be in a clubhouse with him and get to share the same uniform as him. I don’t know what the future holds and how this thing play out, but I’m happy to be here right now and represent this club.”

Bob Nightengale
@BNightengale
·
2m
Suspensions come down from brawl:
Tim Anderson: 6 games
Jose Ramirez: 3 games
Emmanuel Clase: 1 game.
Guardians manager Terry Francona: 1 game.
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol: 1 game
Guardian coach Mike Sarbaugh: 1 game

Jose appeals. Clase takes his day off today. Francona out today. Sarabaugh takes his day off tomorrow. All are fined too; so is Arias for letting Anderson snipe at him all day long.

It's not just a day off.

You don't get paid while serving a suspension.

They'll need to clear another spot on the 40 man roster for Laureano. Vaillmont was totally expendable. Don't know who they would want to expel next. They won't be moving Quantrill to 60 day IL, he's going to start a rehab in Akron soon.

maybe I;m wrong; I just counted up to 40 on the roster including Laureano. If they do need a place after all, the two DFA candidates could be Peyton Battenfield and Hunter Gaddis who have had very ineffective seasons, worse perhaps in AAA than in their work in Cleveland this year

These are their Columbus stats:
Battenfield 5,.50 ERA and 9 homers in 34 innings only 17 strikeouts.
Gaddis 6.34 ERA and 14 homers in 55 innings

By the way, Plesac is started to pitch well at last, his overall Columbus numbers are
5.42 ERA with 15 homers in 54 innings and 30 walks
last 4 games: 19 1/3 innings 12 hits 2 homers 3 runs but still only 10 strikeouts and an unfortunate 12 walks.

Bibee is still not among the top contenders for AL ROY but if they award a Rookie Pitcher of the Year [some entities or websites probably do] he'd be on top; Hunter Brown on Houston has won a similar number of games but his ERA is more than a point higher.

Would not be surprised to see the FO go after this guy. Left-hander Richard Bleier .

rusty2 wrote: Wed Aug 09, 2023 6:52 pm

rusty2 wrote: Wed Aug 02, 2023 5:41 am I am glad to see Josh Bell get traded. I do not think his time in Cleveland was a disaster. Bell is a historically streaky hitter and i would not be surprised if he does well for the Marlins.

It is hard to find free agents that want to play in Cleveland and that the FO thinks they can afford. Wish it had worked out.

Some guy with the same name as that stiff Bell, just hit 2 HRs today.

The team should be pretty cheap next year no matter what happens. Good time to put on a controllable big bat through free agency or trade. If I was another team I would want Tena and Brito. I would be offering Arias and Freeman. You still have Rocchio and Gimenez. You still have Martinez. Something has to give. Got to believe someone wants SpongeBob.

I would see if Tena could play some outfield.

If you want an outfielder with power you want to look at Johnathan Rodriguez whose power has not diminished a bit since he left Akron for Columbus. Slightly less of a free swinger than Gonzalez. Baseball America refuses to list him the top 30 prospects, he's now no. 24 on the MLB,com list. I';ll post his writeup at Minor Matters.

The best relay Francona has ever seen? You bet

July 8th, 2023

[Over a month old but I never saw this one.

Gotta admit that I have never seen such a textbook relay as this one.]

CLEVELAND -- Guardians manager Terry Francona has been around baseball his entire life. So often, when an elite feat happens in front of him, he gets asked about whether it was the best performance he has ever seen. Rarely does he know how to compare all of the moments that are stored in his brain.

That was, until Saturday night, when he watched the most textbook relay from center fielder Myles Straw to second baseman Andrés Giménez to catcher Bo Naylor to cut down a runner at the plate.

“I actually think that's the best relay I've ever seen,” Francona said. “Shoot man, if somebody sneezed it’s gonna not work. From Myles to [Giménez] to Bo, that was really something to watch.”

THE RELAY

https://youtu.be/zUqZkcuSh-w


ANOTHER LOOK

https://www.mlb.com/guardians/news/bo-n ... -vs-royals


That was awesome!! Text book crow hop by Andres!! Gotta see all 3 Takes!! Best In Full Screen Mode

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