Cleveland Sports Forum

Hillbilly wrote:Zack Meisel
Indians starting pitchers during this 13-game winning streak:

97 innings pitched
55 hits allowed
1.86 ERA

My goodness.

Not sure why this hasn't been said, and hope this is not the kiss of death but, in my best Hillbilly voice:

"We may never lose agin'

Another Chisenhall buss to help in next game.

His moustache is starting to look Hitler like.

Seagull - If we sign any of the Gourriel brothers, I'd rather take my chances with Lourdes.

Yulieski would be nice but we're doing a nice job of keeping it young. Yulieski is 32. Lourdes is 22. Lourdes has a ton of potential. It shouldn't take him long to reach the majors.

The problem is Lourdes is subject to international bonus pools, Yulieski is not (I think).

Bruce "would be very likely accept a deal there"

That really would be very nice of him.

Cleveland is just getting by offensively with Rajai Davis, Tyler Naquin and Lonnie Chisenhall in the outfield.

League-leader in steals along with 8 homers; 328 average and at least 5 each of doubles, triples and homers; and about a 300 average with an OPS of 1000 in June. I guess we are just getting by. All are probably overachieving but that's what we're getting by with now.

Still a great deal of reluctance out there to recognize how good the team is playing in all components of the game.

I don't know why we are talking about obtaining an OF'er and not a 1st or 3rd baseman.

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Mike Napoli has quickly become a popular figure with his Cleveland Indians teammates and with Tribe fans as well. He's hit 16 home runs, tying him with Carlos Santana for the team lead, and putting him on pace to hit 34 of them by the end of the season. No Indians player has reached 30 home runs in a season since Grady Sizemore in 2008, and fans have been been eager in recent years to see that drought end, so if Napoli stays on pace to clear that bar, his standing is not likely to decline. Becoming the first player on a team in eight years to reach 30 home runs would be cool, but not exactly historic... there is some history Napoli might make this season though.

In addition to those home runs, Napoli has also struck out 104 times already. He is on pace for 219 strikeouts, which would shatter the franchise record.

Indians single-season strikeout leaders:

1) Jim Thome (2001), 185
t2) Jim Thome (1999), 171
t2) Jim Thome (2000), 171
4) Cory Snyder (1987), 166
5) Grady Sizemore (2007), 155
6) Grady Sizemore (2006), 153
7) Jhonny Peralta (2006), 152
8) Shin-Soo Choo (2009), 151
9) Shin-Soo Choo (2012), 150
t10) Jim Thome (1997), 146
t10) Jhonny Peralta (2007), 146

Napoli is on pace to break Thome's record during the first week of September.

The MLB record is 223, by Mark Reynolds in 2009, so Napoli is only a hair off the pace for that. The 219 he's on pace for would be the third-highest total ever. Only five players have ever reached 200 strikeouts in a single season; unless Napoli misses a number of games or is able to significantly drop his strikeout rate during the rest of the season, he's going to join that group.

It's not as though a player can't put up great numbers while striking out a ton. The majority of those seasons listed above were very productive ones at the plate. Still, there's something about watching a player strike out in more than a third of his plate appearances that's somewhat off-putting. (Napoli's K% right now is 34.2%, which would be third-highest in MLB history. Thome has the franchise record at 28.7%.) Maybe the secret to Napoli's power is that he's often building a steady breeze at home plate.

Would you accept fewer RBI's if it meant fewer K's?

Napoli 1 for 9 today with 4 K's. One of the K's came against an infielder who was pitching.

I just want to put all these guys in a better position to succeed. Santana is as pathetic against lefties as Napoli was today against right handed infielders who pitched.

We pick up a big stud bat at 1B we can platoon these two and have them play when they are in a better spot to succeed.

After the game today I went out & got the mail and found these ...
It's been a good day!

You had the tix mailed? That's old school!

Napoli 1 for 9 today with 4 K's -- and a DP --. One of the K's came against an infielder who was pitching

That really is an unimpressive line!

Roster news:

Z McCallister will start today

Shawn Morimando recalled from Akron

(Morimando is 10-3 for @AkronRubberDuck this year in 16 starts, with 73 strikeouts and a 1.21 WHIP)

Michael Martinez designated for assignment

Indians purchased the contract of RHP Joe Colon and optioned him to Triple-A Columbus.

Jordan Bastian ‏@MLBastian 2 minutes ago
RHP Joe Colon had an out in his contract for today. That's why Cleveland did the paperwork move to add him to 40-man roster.

paul hoynes ‏@hoynsie 2 minutes ago Toronto, Ontario
Indians would have preferred to start Morimando, but weren't sure if he could get to Toronto on time. So they'll start McAllister.

So apparently the Indians didn't want to get Bauer warming up yesterday until they knew for sure Morimando had a passport and could make it to game today in time.

They told clubhouse worker at Akron to get his passport and bring it to Cleveland, break his door down if you have to.

He found Morimando's keys in clubhouse and went to his place and got his passport and took it to Hopkins airport in Cleveland.

Then the Indians started Bauer warming up in pen.

Bringing Morimando up just for today. Almonte will take roster spot tomorrow.

For today the Tribe only has 2 bench guys. Gomes and Lindor.

I love that:

So apparently the Indians didn't want to get Bauer warming up yesterday until they knew for sure Morimando had a passport and could make it to game today in time. They told clubhouse worker at Akron to get his passport and bring it to Cleveland, break his door down if you have to. He found Morimando's keys in clubhouse and went to his place and got his passport and took it to Hopkins airport in Cleveland.

I hadn't been aware that all the talent in the AL was in the East Division until the All Star team was announced.
18 players from the East. 8 from the Central. 7 from the West.

Records don't reflect that dominance: East is 11 over .500; West 2 over; Central even.