civ - Andre Knott indicated Tito was not pleased either - he wants to be able to generate runs.

Cleveland Indians thoughts: Shane Bieber’s brilliance, a scuffling lineup and a closer-less bullpen


By Zack Meisel Apr 16, 2021 37
Here are seven thoughts on the 7-5 Tribe …

1. Of all the dazzling numbers one could highlight — the strikeout feats that group him with Hall of Famers such as Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan; the league-leading ERA since the start of 2020; the pitcher-like slash line opponents have mustered against him — there’s one Shane Bieber statistic that’s most impressive.

Bieber is only 25 years old.

Corey Kluber made his big-league debut at 25 and didn’t pitch regularly in the majors for another two years. Jacob deGrom debuted a month before he turned 26.

Bieber has already claimed one Cy Young Award. He finished fourth in the balloting for another. He said he wanted to improve upon his unparalleled performance from last season, which initially sounded far-fetched. Through three starts, however, he has demonstrated his dominance was no 12-start fluke.

Opponents vs. Bieber in 2020: .167/.229/.265 slash line
Opponents vs. Bieber in 2021: .147/.238/.240 slash line

2. Bieber threw 85 of his 113 pitches for strikes against the White Sox on Tuesday. Since the start of the 2019 season, only one other pitcher has thrown that many strikes in an outing: Max Scherzer, in an eight-inning gem on June 30, 2019. Bieber induced 20 swings and misses, including 11 on his curveball. Hitters waving at that pitch as it plunges into the dirt has become a customary sight over the past nine months. Bieber also threw 11 curveballs and five sliders for called strikes. There aren’t many pitchers with such expert command of their off-speed weapons.

Bieber piles up strikeouts without overpowering hitters. He doesn’t possess a 100 mph fastball like deGrom. He has all but abandoned his cutter this season, instead relying on a steady diet of fastballs, curveballs and sliders. He ranks in the 96th percentile in the majors in whiff rate, the 93rd percentile in chase rate and the 94th percentile in strikeout rate.

On Tuesday, Bieber recorded the 14th Game Score of 91 or higher since the start of the 2019 campaign. (Statistician Bill James devised the metric to evaluate a starting pitcher’s performance. Kerry Wood holds the record for a nine-inning game, at 105.) Of those 14, four are no-hitters, authored by Justin Verlander, Lucas Giolito, Joe Musgrove and Mike Fiers.

Three of the 14 belong to Bieber. He earned a 92 for his 15-strikeout shutout against the Orioles on May 19, 2019. He earned a 94 for his one-hit shutout against the Blue Jays on July 24, 2019. Giolito and Chris Sale each have two entries on the list, but only Bieber has three.

Carlos Rodón registered a 15th entry on Wednesday, with a 94 in his no-hitter against the Indians.

3. About that no-hitter …

There will be nights like that for the Cleveland offense, especially as the club attempts to sort out who belongs and who doesn’t. The team’s .198 batting average and .275 on-base percentage rank 29th in the league, ahead of only the Cubs. Some of the advanced metrics (exit velocity, barrel percentage) are kinder to the Indians offense, but it hasn’t yet translated into better production. The offense certainly can’t withstand a José Ramírez 0-for-19 skid, which he snapped with a go-ahead home run on Thursday afternoon.

Jake Bauers and Ben Gamel seem to be operating on borrowed time, though Bauers did notch a pair of hits on Thursday. No, Bobby Bradley isn’t stuck at the alternate site in Columbus because of service time manipulation. That tactic — the entire existence of service time manipulation needs to be addressed and fixed in the next collective bargaining agreement, but that’s a separate discussion — is employed for young, surefire prospects. Bradley will turn 25 next month. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the Indians’ No. 19 prospect. He didn’t crack Keith Law’s organizational top 20. Andrés Giménez, on the other hand, is only 22 years old. The club could have sent him to the minors for a few weeks to gain an extra year of control, but the front office opted against it. Bradley deserves a chance to prove he can mash major-league pitching, but the reason he hasn’t received one yet is unrelated to service time preferences.

If/when the club decides to move on from Bauers, Bradley figures to be next in the first-base pecking order. After that, Josh Naylor or Nolan Jones could enter the mix. Jones has played some first base at the alternate site this month. First is Naylor’s natural position. He’ll likely play a game or two there this weekend, when the team follows National League rules in Cincinnati. Franmil Reyes is expected to see some action in right field.

4. Gamel really doesn’t fit this roster, and it’s becoming more evident each game. Jordan Luplow and Amed Rosario have started claiming at-bats against right-handed pitching, even though both have been far more productive against lefties during their careers. Gamel has fared better against lefties as well, but since he’s the only left-handed hitter in the center-field trio, he was initially batting leadoff against righties. Gamel is 0-for-13 to begin the season.

Luplow deserves to hit against every southpaw who even thinks about standing atop the mound. Since the start of the 2019 season, only three hitters in the sport — Nelson Cruz, J.D. Martínez and Alex Bregman — have excelled at a higher rate against left-handed pitching. He could shift to right field to make room for Rosario. Against righties, there’s an opportunity for another candidate. Daniel Johnson would make sense.

5. Many have wondered when manager Terry Francona will simply declare Emmanuel Clase the closer. Don’t hold your breath. Francona has been asked regularly about the alignment of the back end of the bullpen. His latest response: “I think they match up differently with different types of hitters. We’ll try to line them up where we think it works the best.”

“They” refers to Clase, James Karinchak and Nick Wittgren. “Closer” refers to a pitcher who handles the ninth inning, usually when the score is close. And while Clase will undertake that assignment as often as anyone, the Indians don’t want to limit him to those conditions. So, instead of designating the closer role to the club’s top reliever, consider a bullpen hierarchy. Clase and Karinchak are 1A and 1B. Whenever a pivotal, late-game situation arises, those are the top two candidates for the job. At the moment, Wittgren stands next in line, with Bryan Shaw occupying what Francona termed a “wild-card” role.

Nine days ago against the Royals, Wittgren pitched the ninth, as he faced the bottom of Kansas City’s order. Francona turned to Karinchak in the seventh to rescue Bieber from a jam (though he surrendered the tying run). Clase breezed through the eighth against the heart of the Royals’ lineup.

On Thursday, Wittgren handled the seventh, Karinchak the eighth and Clase zipped nosediving, 100 mph cutters past hitters in the ninth. It’s not an ideal setup for fantasy baseball enthusiasts, but it makes sense for the team.

6. That Indians-White Sox series had a bit of everything: a walk-off error, a captivating pitchers’ duel, extra innings, a benches-clearing altercation and a perfect-game bid that, after an entertaining ninth inning, resulted in a no-hitter. The teams meet again on Tuesday and Wednesday in Cleveland and they’ll reunite in Chicago for a three-game set April 30-May 2.

7. Happy Ohio Cup, to those who celebrate. The Indians have retained the trophy the past six years. Past Cleveland winners of the distinguished Ohio Cup MVP honor include Asdrúbal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis, Rajai Davis, Carlos Santana and, last year, Ramírez.

Franmil Reyes is the right-handed power bat the Cleveland Indians have coveted for years
By Zack Meisel Apr 12, 2021 21
CLEVELAND — The innocent baseball Franmil Reyes obliterated Saturday night had no business sailing into the right-field seats. When it crossed home plate, the ball sat nearly 4 feet above the dirt, even with Reyes’ ribcage. It was the second-highest pitch any big leaguer has hit for a home run this season.

The night before, Reyes yanked a first-inning fastball into the left-field bleachers. Five innings later, he powered Michael Fulmer’s 95 mph heater past the evergreens and into Heritage Park, where the screaming baseball roused the ghosts of Cleveland luminaries. At the start of each trot around the bases, Reyes pointed toward his family in right field.

When scouts describe a hitter as possessing “power to all fields,” Reyes serves as Exhibit A. Only a select few batters, however, boast power to match the Cleveland behemoth.

It’s why whispers about a deadened baseball never bothered him. Have you seen the hulking slugger, all 6-foot-5, 265 pounds of him? He could smack a bowling ball into the visiting bullpen.

When a clubhouse attendant was prepping baseballs one day during spring training, he suggested they wouldn’t soar the way the jazzed-up baseballs had in previous years. Reyes countered, in the clubbie’s ear: “Let’s see when Franmil hits it. Let’s see how far it goes.”

Reyes embodies what Cleveland fans long coveted when they clamored for an elusive “right-handed power bat.” He could launch a pitch into the stratosphere at any moment. He can change the complexion of a game with one hack. No Tribe player has reached the 40-homer mark since Travis Hafner in 2006, but that drought stands in peril as long as Reyes dons a Cleveland uniform.

The Indians traded for Reyes two years ago, but Clevelanders haven’t yet witnessed the full scope of his power potential. His most noteworthy contributions have come during spring training or in short bursts during the season. He hit 37 homers in 2019, but only 10 with Cleveland; four of those came in a three-game stretch. He hit nine homers last season, and all but one came in a three-week span.

So, how many homers could Reyes total this season? He said he doesn’t have a specific number in mind, but he has already socked four through the team’s first eight games: two to left, one to center, one to right.

Reyes said he fixates on the outer part of the plate; when he realized a few years ago he could drive pitches to right field, his slugging percentage spiked. If a pitcher opts to challenge him inside, Reyes said he trusts his hands enough to adjust accordingly. Buck Farmer snuck a slider past him in the eighth inning on April 4 in Detroit. Farmer tried it again on the next pitch but left the slider over the plate, middle-in — an area Tigers manager A.J. Hinch described as Reyes’ “love zone” — and Reyes clubbed it over the left-field fence. Derek Holland attempted to zip a fastball past Reyes on the inside part of the plate Friday, and Reyes muscled it beyond the 19-foot-high wall in left.

“When you see a guy hitting the ball like that the other way,” manager Terry Francona said, “there’s a pretty good chance he’s going to cover something in, too.”

Reyes stores videos of his majestic blasts on his phone, and he relishes any opportunity to review their flight paths. He’ll never forget Kenta Maeda’s face when he deposited the pitcher’s fastball into the second deck at Petco Park in 2019. His favorite video, in which he victimized his buddy Reyes Moronta, featured the slugger bashing a hanging slider toward the top of the left-field foul pole to put the Padres ahead in an April 2019 game.

His home runs never sneak over the fence; the bruised baseballs first orbit the moon before settling atop some E. 9th Street rooftop. He has long joked — well, at least he sounds like he’s joking, because his bubbly personality constantly makes others laugh — that he has the Progressive Field scoreboard in his crosshairs. Reyes, Hunter Renfroe and Manny Machado used to target the scoreboard every afternoon during batting practice in San Diego.

Reyes ranked fifth in the majors in average exit velocity in 2019, at 93.3 mph. His hard-hit rate was 51 percent, which ranked in the top 2 percent of all hitters. In common terms, Reyes hit the ball really hard and did so as often as anyone. That’s the foundation for a fruitful season at the plate.

His metrics, including one of the league’s worst whiff rates, slipped some in 2020, but so far in 2021 — small sample size and all — they suggest Reyes could finally piece together the type of season Cleveland’s front office envisioned when it dealt for him. Entering Sunday’s series finale against Detroit, Reyes’ average exit velocity was 97.0 mph. His hard-hit rate was 65 percent. Both rank among the league’s elite. It’s reflected in his results; through 32 plate appearances, Reyes has a .333/.375/.800 slash line.

“It’s totally different now, how I see the ball travel more,” Reyes said, “and recognize what is hanging, what is away, what is in. It’s unbelievable. It’s a good feeling.”

Since Reyes debuted in 2018, he has hit three home runs with an exit velocity of at least 114 mph. He’s one of 15 players in that span to tally three such homers, and the list is full of the major league’s most prolific sluggers, including Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton, Pete Alonso, Aaron Judge, Nelson Cruz, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Bryce Harper.

There’s no safe place to pitch Reyes. He and Cruz are the only hitters this season to notch an opposite-field homer on a pitch in what Baseball Savant classifies as “Zone 12,” the area above the strike zone on the first-base side. Cruz hit his off Fulmer. There were 17 such home runs in the majors last season. Reyes delivered one of them, also off Fulmer.

Francona has penciled in Reyes’ name between a couple of lefties this season, Eddie Rosario and Josh Naylor. The three are tasked with offering protection for José Ramírez, the heartbeat of Cleveland’s lineup. With homers to left, center and right, over the forest and to the bleachers, Reyes declared he’s up to the challenge.

“When he gets in a rhythm like this,” Logan Allen said, “(and) he’s doing his thing, he’s being himself — there are not a lot of better hitters on the planet.”

History, hysteria and hard-fought games: The Indians’ weird, wacky week and what lies ahead By Zack Meisel Apr 18, 2021 19
The week began with a walk-off error and ended with a record-setting ace laughing at a home run he surrendered to a former teammate who won’t return his texts.

Along the way, Triston McKenzie modeled his batting stance at the end of a media session. There was a captivating pitcher’s duel and a benches-clearing brouhaha. There was a no-hitter that came within a foot — literally and figuratively — of being a perfect game. There was a run-saving triple play and a critical two-out, ninth-inning gaffe that contributed to a crushing defeat. There were some series-salvaging home runs and a pair of Shane Bieber masterpieces.

This weird, wacky, wearying week had it all, from history to hysteria. And it’s still only mid-April. The Indians flew back across the Buckeye State on Sunday evening with an 8-7 record, tied for second place in the cluttered AL Central.

The Indians hadn’t hit into a triple play since Sandy Alomar Jr. fell victim against the Orioles on Sept. 1, 2000. They hadn’t been no-hit since Ervin Santana authored one at Progressive Field on July 27, 2011. And then both rarities haunted the Tribe in the same week, three days apart.

Cleveland ranks ninth in slugging and is tied for third in home runs, but it hasn’t yet discovered ways to produce runs that don’t involve swatting baseballs over fences. All six of their runs on Sunday came via homers. “Feast or famine” doesn’t accurately describe the lineup’s tendencies. It’s more like “consume a reasonably satisfying meal that includes an entree and a side or starve for days.”

They rank 28th in the league in batting average and 26th in on-base percentage, though metrics such as exit velocity and barrel percentage suggest they haven’t been rewarded often enough when they make solid contact.

Franmil Reyes’ double Sunday afternoon pushed him past McKenzie on the team’s weekly hits leaderboard. McKenzie hadn’t stepped into a batter’s box since his final year of high school in 2015, but he went 1-for-2 on Saturday with a single to right that earned him a fireside chat with Reds first baseman Joey Votto, who told him his “swing looked pretty nice.” McKenzie said he plans to gift the souvenir baseball to his mom, since his dad long ago anointed his younger brother T.J., who plays at Vanderbilt, “the hitter of the family.”

McKenzie’s average exit velocity (95.0 mph) outpaced his average fastball velocity (90.1 mph), but both he and pitching coach Carl Willis said they weren’t concerned with the fastball velocity fluctuation from start to start. The two have spoken about McKenzie’s “loading pattern and his posture as he travels down the mound,” Willis said. And it helps that McKenzie gets so much extension with his long arms, so his pitches can sneak up on hitters.

McKenzie didn’t factor into the decision on Saturday because of Josh Naylor’s blunder with two outs in the ninth. Every miscue seemed to prove extra costly for Cleveland during the past week. First base is Naylor’s natural position, and he takes grounders there at least twice a week so he doesn’t “lose that feel or lose the instincts there and movements,” he said.

In anticipation of the weekend series in a National League park, Reyes spent additional time working in the outfield and Naylor prepared to spend at least one game at first. Manager Terry Francona had no qualms about playing Naylor there or keeping him there late in the game. Naylor fielded two grounders cleanly to record the first two outs of the ninth before Max Schrock’s chopper bounced under his glove, through his legs and into right field to start a game-tying rally. Francona traded texts with Naylor on Saturday night to show support for the 23-year-old.

“This game is crazy,” Naylor said. “It can humble you quick.”

Zach Plesac and Logan Allen can relate. Plesac couldn’t escape the first inning of his start against the White Sox on Wednesday, the same night Carlos Rodón breezed through nine frames almost entirely unscathed. Allen cruised through two innings against the Reds on Friday, then failed to record an out in the third.

Those short outings forced the club to make its first roster move, optioning Ben Gamel to the alternate site and calling upon Sam Hentges for some bullpen insurance. Gamel never really fit on this roster, as an outfielder who fares better against left-handed pitching. Jordan Luplow and Amed Rosario carry the same scouting report but offer more upside at the plate. Luplow, who boasts a .250/.344/.714 slash line and shares the team lead in home runs with Reyes and José Ramírez, has started to receive more opportunities against righties.

The puzzle pieces still don’t quite fit together, though, especially at first base. Jake Bauers has struggled to nudge his way into the lineup, and his at-bats haven’t left anyone itching to see more of what he has to offer. At some point soon, the club should summon Bobby Bradley or Daniel Johnson from the alternate site. Even Bradley Zimmer would make some sense (more than Gamel, at least) as a defensive replacement in center field. (Zimmer did hit two homers in an exhibition game on Saturday. Unrelated note: Owen Miller has carried over his spring training performance, racking up hits at the alternate site.)

With the club reeling after a couple of losses to Cincinnati — one in lopsided fashion, the other in kick-to-the-groin fashion — the players could finally exhale Sunday morning. There was no better way to cap a long, grueling week than with Bieber on the mound.

“That’s why you call guys ‘aces,’” Francona said. “And he’s certainly lived up to that.”



Since the start of the 2020 season, Bieber owns a 1.86 ERA. With 13 strikeouts Sunday, he became the first pitcher since at least the days when players wore wool uniforms and took a horse and buggy to the games to tally 10 or more strikeouts in each of his first four starts of a season. His 48 strikeouts tie Nolan Ryan’s record (in 1978) for most ever through a pitcher’s first four starts of a season.

Bieber has eight or more strikeouts in all 16 of his starts since the beginning of last season. That positions him one such start shy of Randy Johnson’s record. Bieber has struck out 41 percent of the batters he has faced in those starts, the sort of strikeout rate typically reserved for elite, hard-throwing relievers. To match Johnson’s feat, he’ll have to master the Yankees, who delivered him his lone drubbing last year in the postseason. Following Monday’s off-day, the Indians will host the White Sox, Yankees and Twins in what promises to be another demanding stretch.

Bieber did have one noteworthy slip-up on Sunday, though. He aimed to pepper former teammate Tyler Naquin with fastballs up and away. Instead, in the eighth inning, in their final battle, Bieber tossed him a fastball down and “in his wheelhouse,” Bieber said. Bieber couldn’t hold back a smile as he threw his hands in the air while watching the baseball soar 428 feet off the backdrop beyond the center-field wall.

“Good for him,” Bieber said. “I’m happy for him and his start right now. He’s not replying to my text messages. Maybe he’ll start replying now.”

Bieber had plenty of other reasons to smile Sunday afternoon. And so did his teammates, who made it to the finish line of a bizarre, yet compelling, week.

I think Gamel was on board as our designated "some other team's reject who deserves one more final chance before retirement or Korean League" following in the distinguished footsteps of Hanley Ramirez and Juan Gonzalez II and Brady Anderson and oh so many more

if Miller were a pitcher he'd be one of those guys who the Indians race through AAA and into the rotation. They've done that with pitchers from Nagy to Bieber to McKenzie [who never pitched in AAA since the minors were shut down last year]

They could bring him and use him as a super sub for while [don't I remember that to be Baerga's role when he first came up from the minors as a hitting machine?] Or they could take a big leap and trade Hernandez.

Or.... Gimenez does have options left. Owen Miller to SS.

It sounds like Miller fits better at 2nd or 3rd or 1st. Which are occupied

Because we never got enough for (overpaid and over the hill) Kluber!

‘Good luck hitting that’: Emmanuel Clase, the Cleveland Indians’ 100 mph man and emerging relief ace
By Zack Meisel 3h ago 10
Franmil Reyes stepped in against Emmanuel Clase one morning this spring, and Clase slung a pitch near the slugger’s head. Reyes backed out of the batter’s box and motioned to the other members of his hitting group: Andrés Giménez, Gabriel Arias and Ryan Lavarnway.

“You guys face him,” Reyes said.

“Franmil, you go,” they countered.

“Yeah, I feel good,” Reyes replied. “I’m ready for the game. I don’t want to face him anymore.”

That’s a growing sentiment around the league. No one, whether a teammate taking live batting practice or an overmatched opponent bold enough to stand at the plate during the ninth inning, should want to face Clase.

Every time the bullpen door swings open and Clase emerges, it’s appointment viewing. For those at home watching on TV. For those at the ballpark, hoping to see steam rise from the baseball as it zips toward the plate. And even for those in Cleveland uniforms.

“Every time he’s throwing,” Zach Plesac said, “we’re all at the edge of the dugout watching.”

Sure, but watching what, exactly? Clase’s effortless delivery, perhaps. Maybe the movement on his cutter or the plunging action on his slider.

Or, more likely, the radar gun. It’s hard to blame anyone for having their eyes glued to the scoreboard in anticipation of another triple-digit reading.

“Believe me, I get stuck watching the radar gun, too,” assistant pitching coach Ruben Niebla said, “and I’m supposed to be watching the body move.”

“Doesn’t everybody?” bullpen coach Brian Sweeney said.

Clase’s heat generates a buzz in the ballpark, with everyone waiting to hear the distinct pop in the catcher’s mitt before they jerk their heads toward the nearest display of “100” or “101.”

“He has a slider that’s faster than most people’s fastballs,” Bryan Shaw said.

“It’s cool to see three digits pop up,” Aaron Civale said. “Ten miles per hour harder than most of my pitches.”

Clase was clocked with a radar gun for the first time at 14 years old. He threw 82 mph. He grew up in the countryside in the Dominican Republic and was always tasked with firing the final rock to knock down each coconut.

“I always knew I had some extra power compared to my peers,” he said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero.

In 2019, Clase’s first tour of the majors, his vaunted cutter averaged 99.2 mph. This year, through eight appearances, it has averaged 100.3 mph. He has thrown 67 pitches that registered at least 100 mph, more than twice as many as any other pitcher. He has thrown 51.5 percent of his pitches at that velocity, also tops in the league; Aroldis Chapman ranks second, at 28.3 percent.

“He’s obviously stupidly good,” Shaw said.

“He throws 100 (mph) at dudes’ hands,” Plesac said.

“It is really impressive,” Sweeney said. “When you get people just shaking their head — it looks like a slider, it moves like a slider and it says ‘101.’ That’s not something you typically see every day.”

Clase said he notices the velocity measurements, too. He just prefers to ignore them and focus on his battle with the hitter.

Those fortunate enough to put one of his triple-digit missiles in play this season have mostly pounded the baseball into the infield grass. The movement of the cutter complicates a batter’s bid to make solid contact. Clase owns a 71.4 percent groundball rate (league average is 45 percent). His average opponent exit velocity, expected ERA and chase rate all rank among the sport’s elite.

Of course, it has been only eight appearances. But the metrics match the pure ability Clase showcases.

“It’s unfair,” Logan Allen said. “It definitely makes you think about, how do people hit him?”

So, what’s next? To determine that, we need to rewind a year.

Clase kept his arm in shape last summer while serving his performance-enhancing drugs suspension at home in the Dominican. He sent the coaching staff video of his throwing sessions. Niebla ran point on communication with Clase since both speak Spanish, but connecting with him proved challenging at times. Service was spotty in Clase’s hometown. They used WhatsApp to stay in touch.

Clase worked out at the team’s complex in Goodyear, Ariz., in the fall, and the Indians were able to derive some data from his mound work and learn more about him. From there, they could explain to Clase what makes him so effective. It’s not just the velocity, though that obviously factors into the equation. Niebla wanted to ensure Clase understood why his motion — “the perfect combination of strength, power and mobility in delivering a baseball,” Niebla said — allows him to throw so hard, what the optimal ball flight is for his pitches, which routines would properly prepare him for a full, major-league season, and how he can sustain his effectiveness for years.

“He’s already bringing the most important element to the table, which is stuff,” Niebla said.

It’s a welcome addition to a bullpen that, over the course of the 2018-20 seasons, owned the league’s lowest average fastball velocity at 91.7 mph. Clase’s slider has averaged 91.1 mph this season, and it has sealed half of his 10 strikeouts. Sweeney suggested the unusual spin of the pitch forces it toward the dirt just as it reaches the plate.

“When you can have that kind of control over that type of pitch, it can be a huge weapon,” Sweeney said, “because it acts like a splitter. It’s coming at you with straight bullet spin and all of a sudden, at the end, the bottom drops out.

“Good luck hitting that.”

Clase hasn’t amassed gaudy strikeout totals in the past, but as manager Terry Francona has repeatedly noted, that could stem from his command and his tendency to live in the strike zone, where he can induce weak contact. He has maintained an exceptional walk rate since 2018. Now that his slider is more refined, perhaps his strikeout rate will soar. He has thrown the pitch about a quarter of the time, but the slider has flashed elite vertical and horizontal movement for a pitch of its velocity, and it seems to pair better with his cutter. Two years ago, the slider didn’t break as much horizontally.

Last homestand, Clase started Nomar Mazara — a longtime friend from their days together with the Rangers — with five consecutive cutters, ranging from 100.3 mph to 101.2 mph. Then he dropped in the decisive slider that spun toward Mazara’s feet.

So far this season, Clase has been convincing hitters to chase his pitches out of the strike zone more often, and they have made contact less often, a productive combination. His whiff rate (percentage of empty swings) of 32.8 percent has also increased by about one-third over his 2019 output.

The skill is clear for everyone to see. That includes Francona, who has already entrusted the 23-year-old with high-leverage opportunities in the late innings. Clase starts to get loose during the fifth inning, but Francona has saved him for the end of games. Clase has handled the ninth inning in all but one of his appearances, and he has been regularly summoned to retire the heart of the opposition’s lineup.

When Clase stands atop the mound, everyone is watching, waiting for the next radar reading, the next ugly swing, the next foul tip that delivers a jolt of pain to a batter’s hands, and the next strikeout.

“It’s something that fires me up,” Reyes said. “Like, ‘Here comes the big guy.’ There’s no chance they’re getting anything on this guy.”

Unless someone boots an easy grounder.

CLEVELAND -- It wasn’t until last week in Chicago that the Indians penciled Triston McKenzie as the team’s fifth starter due to the three off-days the club had in the first two weeks of the season. But after another off-day on Monday, Cleveland may be leaning toward changing the order of its rotation once again.

Indians manager Terry Francona prioritizes giving his relievers equal amounts of workloads as possible. Because the team had so many days off early in the season, and its starters were throwing at least six innings each time out, the bullpen was hardly touched. But over the last week, Cleveland had two short starts from Zach Plesac and Logan Allen, which quickly caused the bullpen to be overused.

Now, Francona has a plan to hopefully get his relief corps more consistent innings. Assuming weather doesn’t disrupt the Indians’ schedule this week, the team is planning to slot Shane Bieber -- who’s been eating up a lot of innings -- in the rotation on Friday between Allen (Thursday) and McKenzie (Saturday).

“I think the guys are getting more consistent work and we will certainly look to keep that that way,” Francona said. “When you have early exits, sometimes that can get a little challenging. Depending on weather, and that can be huge this homestand, we’re looking to get Bieber in between Logan and Triston. And we think that’ll help a little bit.”

Allen hasn’t thrown more than five innings this season, and the Indians are still keeping an eye on McKenzie’s workload. With Monday’s off-day allowing Cleveland to have the option of putting Bieber in between the two, this could help give the bullpen a less-taxing day in between Allen and McKenzie.

But this plan is all subject to change. With snow and cold temperatures forecasted over the next few days, Francona was asked about how the weather could affect the upcoming schedule.

“Sounds like unless things change, which they can here, we should be able to get the game in tonight,” Francona said on Tuesday. “It’s just going to be challenging. It’s going to be cold and windy, and as we progress, looks like some precipitation, whether it’s snow or rain, nobody quite knows yet. And I don’t think tomorrow looks real good. So that’s why we probably need to try to play tonight.”

Hernandez, Bauers fined

The Indians and White Sox announced on Tuesday night that Chicago outfielder Adam Eaton received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for his aggressive actions and for inciting a benches-clearing incident in Thursday’s series finale at Guaranteed Rate Field. Cleveland second baseman Cesar Hernandez and first baseman Jake Bauers both received undisclosed fines. [Bauers will needto stay on the roster a few extra days I guess to afford the fine, too bad.]

On an attempt to advance to second on a single to right, Eaton got tangled up with Indians shortstop Andrés Giménez as he put the tag down, and Eaton momentarily came off the bag and was ruled out. Eaton eventually shoved Giménez before Hernandez and Bauers stepped in.

The benches cleared and tensions grew, but Cleveland wasn’t expecting that to carry over into the two-game series at Progressive Field.

“I hope we come out with an edge every day,” Francona said. “But that seems like it was a year. That’s kind of how we operate. You play and you move on to the next and then you move on to whatever. That has no impact on our series.”

Hentges makes debut

With his parents and his fiancée in the stands, Sam Hentges made his Major League debut on Tuesday night in the Indians' 8-5 loss to the White Sox.

“Obviously I've waited a long time for this moment,” Hentges said. “It was just nice to get out there and get the first one under my belt.”

Hentges entered in the seventh inning and recorded two quick strikeouts of Adam Eaton and Yoán Moncada. Then, 2020 American League MVP Award winner José Abreu stepped in the box and launched a homer that just squeaked over the left-field wall. Hentges recovered to fan Leury García to end the frame.
“[Abreu] was an adjustment,” Hentges said, with a laugh. “But again, it was just kind of nice to get out there and pitch in the big leagues against big league hitters. So it was definitely a dream come true.”

Big-league brothers: Indians’ Phil Maton is a fan again watching Nick Maton’s Phillies breakthrough that he inspired

Matt Gelb 3h ago 13
A few days after the Phillies drafted Nick Maton, he was at a big-league ballpark. It was June 2017. The Maton family had so much to celebrate. Phil Maton, the oldest of four brothers, had just made it to the majors with the Padres. So, Nick attended one of his first games. They are separated by four years and never played together. One is an infielder, the other a pitcher.

But Nick could dream.

“Well, it’s pretty surreal watching him for the first time,” Nick said this week. “You’re like, ‘Oh, well, it’s actually possible. Like, you can do that.’ And you just keep grinding away, and I finally made it.”

Phil laughed Wednesday when retold this memory. He pitches for Cleveland now, and their game was postponed. So, he watched the Phillies on TV. His little brother was starting at shortstop in the majors for the third straight day. Neither Maton was ever a top prospect, but both of them found a path to the highest level.

“I mean, he’s been so talented,” said Phil, 28. “He’s worked hard his entire life. And it doesn’t surprise me he’s sitting there thinking he could do it. Because, I mean, he’s just that good.”

Nick stepped to the plate in the sixth inning with a runner on first. “What’s he got?” Phil said. “Who’s he facing?” Nick took strike one from Giants lefty Caleb Baragar. Then, he was jammed on an inside fastball. But he caught enough of it and slashed the pitch to the opposite field.

“Hey,” Phil said, “there we go!”

The ball skipped past Giants left fielder Alex Dickerson and rolled to the wall. A run scored.

“Let’s see how fast he is here,” Phil said. He laughed as Nick circled the bases. Nick bellyflopped into third base. “Atta baby,” Phil said. He laughed some more. Nick was doing it.



“He’s always been a lot more outgoing than the rest of the brothers,” Phil said. “But I mean, he’s really matured the last couple years. It’s just really exciting to see him up there because I’ve always known he’s a good enough player. I’m really happy he’s just getting the opportunity to prove it right now.”

Nick Maton made it to the majors with three weeks of experience at Double A and nothing more. He spent last summer training with the Phillies’ reserves at the alternate camp in Lehigh Valley. The former seventh-round pick profiles as a utility player in the majors, but he pushed his way into the picture for a reason when the Phillies needed bench help. Then, in the span of two days, Didi Gregorius and Jean Segura suffered injuries.

Maton could see regular time at second base while Segura is on the injured list with a strained right quadriceps. He is 5-for-12 with a double and four strikeouts.

“I don’t think you can say enough about what Nick has done filling in for Didi,” manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday. “He’s played really good defense. He’s swung the bat well. The game is not sped up for him, which you’re never sure what’s going to happen (when someone debuts).”

Maton didn’t look overmatched, and that is all the Phillies asked of him. This is what Larry Bowa stressed to Maton during their marathon infield sessions in spring training.

“He took me under his wing, I’ll tell you that much,” said Maton, 24. “A lot of reps every single day. Hundreds and hundreds of groundballs. I mean, he’s a good guy to have on your side. And he helped me out a lot.”

Bowa, 75, knows who merits his extra attention and who does not. He found Maton to be a willing learner — and adept at talking trash.

“He doesn’t lack confidence,” Bowa said Wednesday. “I’ll tell you that right now. He has all the confidence in the world, which he should. He’s got a lot of ability — whether it’s playing second, whether it’s playing short. I think you could put him anywhere. I’ve seen him play third. He’s very athletic.”


“He’s always been an outstanding infielder,” Phil Maton said of his brother, Nick. (Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
When Nick called Phil on Monday afternoon, the older brother could tell something was happening. “It’s always in the back of your mind,” Phil said. They became the 422nd pair of brothers to play in the majors; there are seven active brother duos in 2021. Phil wasn’t worried about Nick’s game. He told him to make sure he said hello to the manager. Check all of the professional boxes. Then, be you. That’s all.

“He’s got a good game clock,” Phil said. “He’s got a good feel for the game. None of that stuff I’m really too worried about. I just think the big thing is, just go out there and just be comfortable. Don’t be afraid to mingle with the guys. Don’t be afraid to take some big hacks at some pitches. Just go out there and play your game. I mean, you’re a good enough player to be up there. Just go out there and prove it.”

Their dad, Phil, ran track in college. Their mom, Ellen, played volleyball in college. The two other brothers are athletes, too; one was a college distance runner and the youngest is a pitcher at Coastal Carolina. Phil hasn’t seen Nick play much in the last few years. That’s what happens when you both have the same profession, but at different levels. They’re not close enough in age to have been teammates.

“I missed him in high school,” Phil said. “I graduated right before he was coming in as a freshman, which was probably a good thing because he would have probably taken my spot in the infield. He’s always been an outstanding infielder. It was frustrating growing up, taking groundballs. You’re like, ‘He’s already a lot smoother than I am. He’s tracking the ball a lot better.’ I’m like, ‘Man, he’s nice.’”


Phil Maton debuted with the Padres in 2017. Nick attended one of his first games. (Charles LeClaire / USA Today)
There is something the older brother pitcher can impart — how a big-league pitcher might attack him.

“When I typically see young players, I think OK, spin dominant,” Phil said. “But I don’t know. He looks really comfortable in the box. I mean, in his first game, I watched him handle 97 out of one of the relievers.”

This is something that caught Bowa’s eyes a few years ago when he saw Nick Maton play in the Florida State League. Part of his job as senior adviser to the general manager is regular visits to every minor-league affiliate. He submits his own reports and works with certain players.

“He’s a very good fastball hitter, which, that’s hard to teach somebody to do,” Bowa said. “Especially above-average fastballs. Once he learns to recognize what pitchers are trying to do to him … it’s very early here, I think he’s held his own. He’s going to get a lot of off-speed stuff. But he’ll make the adjustment. He’s the kind of guy who is not afraid. He’ll accept challenges.”

Maton said he’s added about 20 pounds in the last 18 months. He was a .259/.342/.378 hitter in the minors and he needed more strength. Phil said it became a major focus during his brother’s offseasons. That’s how a fringe farmhand can force some reassessments from the team’s evaluators.

He’ll have a chance in April to make an impression. He is, for now, ahead of Scott Kingery on the depth chart. The test will be the next adjustment. Cleveland didn’t play Monday, so Phil was able to sit at home and watch the entire game. He laughed when Kevin Gausman threw Nick a 95 mph front-hip sinker. “Yeah,” Phil said, “you don’t really see that in the minor leagues very much.” Nick struck out on a splitter in the dirt.

The next at-bat, he stayed on the splitter and snapped it for his first big-league hit.

“That’ll be exciting over the course of the year, how he adjusts and how he learns,” Phil said. “But he’s also very fortunate to be on a very older baseball team that has a lot of veterans. So I think it’d be really smart for him to lean on those guys and just try to absorb as much information as he can.”

Phil has logged 153 1/3 innings in the majors. For a few hours this week, he was a fan again.

“I mean, it was nerve-racking,” he said. “I feel bad for my parents because I know they’re 10 times more nervous than I am. It’s hard to describe. It was super cool watching him play. Of course, it was me sitting on the couch, telling him to look for certain pitches and all that. Being an armchair warrior.”

It’s a bond few can claim. They might not be similar on the field, but they are brothers. And, now, they are both big leaguers.

“It’s cool having someone that you can talk to,” Nick said, “that’s been through all this.”

The past and present of Indians aces: Shane Bieber following in Corey Kluber’s footsteps
By Zack Meisel 8m ago
Corey Kluber’s old locker is unoccupied these days, a product of the spacing protocols that keep players at a distance during the pandemic. For years, Kluber resided in the back corner of the room, beside Josh Tomlin and near Roberto Pérez, Lonnie Chisenhall and Andrew Miller.

Since Kluber last stepped foot in the home clubhouse, Cleveland’s roster has undergone a transformation. Many of the names on the placards pinned above each locker have changed in the last year and a half.

So when Kluber completed a nostalgic trek through the ballpark tunnel this week, he sought out his former coaches, the Indians’ training staff and the team’s clubhouse attendants. And, of course, he reconnected with Terry Francona and Chris Antonetti.

Those two spent about six years heaping praise upon Kluber on a daily basis. Kluber claimed two Cy Young Awards during his Cleveland tenure. He finished third in the American League balloting in two other years. He shouldered a heavy burden from 2014 through 2018, anchored the league’s golden standard rotation and cemented his legacy as one of the most prolific starting pitchers in franchise history.

Kluber served as a shining example for the organization’s pitching development gurus, who could point to him and say to those next in line in the pitching pipeline: You don’t have to possess the best stuff. You don’t have to top every top prospects list. If you work hard, here’s what could happen.

And now, all of the plaudits that Francona, Antonetti and every pitching coach and coordinator in the organization once tossed Kluber’s way, they’re instead assigning to Shane Bieber.

“When he first came up here, he was pretty polished,” Kluber said. “Didn’t run into too many speed bumps along the way. … I wouldn’t say I’m surprised. He has a great work ethic, a good head on his shoulders. He has no reason why he shouldn’t be able to continue improving.”

The Indians played a minute-long tribute video for Kluber on the scoreboard prior to the national anthem for Thursday’s series opener. Only a couple of Yankees stood in the dugout and watched. Kluber said he didn’t even know it was happening. Someone finally told him during the late innings of Thursday’s game.

The video showed Kluber standing near home plate on Opening Day 2018, clutching his second Cy Young Award trophy, the only pitcher in team history to collect more than one. It showed him striking out Dexter Fowler to begin the 2016 World Series, and retreating to the dugout that night as fans offered him a standing ovation, a demonstration of their appreciation for Kluber squeezing every inning possible out of his right arm that October. The video even showed Kluber smiling a few times, the equivalent of a montage of Halley’s Comet sightings.

“He means a lot,” Bieber said. “He’s done a lot for this city and this organization in his time here. I selfishly wish he was throwing here. Maybe we’ll see him in New York. It would have been cool to see what kind of welcome he would have gotten, even with a crowd at a certain percentage of capacity. He’s a special guy. He’s done plenty for this city, for this team, for this organization and for me, personally.”


Neither Kluber nor Bieber was a top prospect. Neither has ever wielded an upper-90s fastball. Both rely on expert command and breaking balls that make hitters look foolish.

Bieber arrived in the majors in 2018, fortunate to follow around Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger like a duckling waddling behind its mother.

“I was like a fly on the wall for any conversation I could be there for,” Bieber said. “I was trying to pick up as much as I could.”

He monitored their bullpen sessions, followed their daily routines and picked their brains after their starts. A rookie couldn’t ask for a better situation.

“When you reflect back on legacies, you think about not only immediate contributions that a player made in his time here,” Antonetti said, “but what lasting impact did he leave on the organization? And reflecting on Corey’s time with us, he was an incredible contributor on the field and in the clubhouse. He set new standards for what dominance and extraordinary performance looked like on the field, but he was also willing to help set that example and lead the way for another group and help the guys around him develop. And I think the culture within the pitching group in which there’s this idea of not only getting better individually, but helping others get better and passing the torch, we’ve directly benefitted from it.”

Kluber, far from the most vocal person in any clubhouse, said he never specifically set out to be a leader or mentor the younger pitchers, but that role developed organically as younger pitchers gravitated toward him in their bid to replicate everything he did on the mound and in between his starts. He said “it’s cool to hear” that he paved the way for the next iteration of Cleveland’s rotation.

“Kluber, specifically, is the standard model,” Bieber said, “for where you want to go and what you want to be as a starting pitcher.”

Kluber’s 2019 season, his last in Cleveland, never made it off the runway because of a broken arm and, later, a strained oblique. That same year, Bieber bloomed from the club’s No. 5 starter on Opening Day into the No. 4 finisher in the AL Cy Young Award race.

The following spring, with Kluber and Bauer gone, Carrasco returning from his leukemia battle and Clevinger recovering from knee surgery, Bieber carried himself like the staff ace. He struck out 14 on Opening Day in late July and never looked back, piecing together a historically dominant, award-winning season.

Two weeks after he captured the AL Cy Young Award, Bieber texted pitching coach Carl Willis that he had turned the page and was ready to plot out how he could improve in 2021. The early returns indicate Bieber’s 12-start masterpiece last year was no fluke. In fact, his strikeout rate has increased slightly, to 14.7 per nine innings from 14.2. He has limited opponents to a .160 batting average, a tick better than his .167 mark in 2020.

Bieber is only 25, so there’s plenty of time for him to join the guy he used to emulate as the only two-time Cy Young Award winners in team history.

“I think you can get spoiled in some ways by someone like Shane, who makes it look so easy,” Antonetti said. “It’s not. It’s the result of a tremendous amount of hard work. But what you see is it looks easy because there are very few hiccups and he pitches at an incredibly high level with great consistency.”

Antonetti used to say the same thing about Kluber, too.

The Jordan Luplow experiment, Jake Bauers’ ticking clock and Franmil Reyes’ wheels: Meisel’s Musings on the Indians


By Zack Meisel Apr 23, 2021 60
Cleveland’s decision-makers have flirted with this idea for several years now.

They know, without question, that Jordan Luplow can wreak havoc against left-handed pitching. Since the start of the 2019 season, only three hitters in the league boast a higher OPS against lefties than Luplow’s 1.076 mark before Thursday’s action. Those three — Nelson Cruz, J.D. Martinez and Alex Bregman — have all garnered All-Star Game nods and Silver Slugger awards in the past three years.

Luplow? He’s a part-time outfielder mired in a years-long, revolving-door platoon that has cycled through partners such as Tyler Naquin, Jake Bauers, Carlos González and Ben Gamel.

Until now, maybe.

Luplow never asked to be limited to facing lefties. In 2019, when he haunted every southpaw who took the mound — Manny Bañuelos, now pitching in China, is probably still having nightmares — he yearned for an opportunity to regularly stand in against righties. He admitted it was “a little bothersome” to be initially stranded on the short side of a corner-outfield timeshare.

Luplow had no trouble against righties in the minors, and when he broke into the big leagues with the Pirates in 2017, they didn’t platoon him. He didn’t receive a ton of at-bats in Pittsburgh before his 2018 trade to Cleveland, though.

So, he needs to prove he can conquer right-handed pitching. But he can’t do that without consistent chances to face right-handed pitching.

There’s never been a better time to hand him the keys. A boost in Luplow’s playing time would cost either Amed Rosario or, more likely, Bauers some trips to the plate. It seems wise to allot more playing time to a guy who is thriving in the batter’s box as opposed to a guy who has shown no evidence his bat belongs in the majors.

“If somebody’s trying to get hot,” manager Terry Francona said, “I don’t want to be the cooler.”

Hence, Luplow led off against Yankees righty Domingo Germán on Thursday. Two of his team-high five home runs have come against righties. (And that doesn’t include the double he socked off a righty that certainly appeared to clear the outfield fence and disappear into the seats a couple weeks ago.)

“I’m just taking advantage of the opportunity that’s given to me,” Luplow said. “That’s really all I can do.”

It’s possible it might not work. Luplow might just be a platoon partner. He might be Brandon Guyer 2.0 or Ryan Raburn 3.0 or Jason Michaels 4.0. The theme of this season is learning about what these players are capable of, and learning who deserves opportunities. Awarding Luplow some extra chances seems prudent in that regard.

Jordan Luplow's MLB splits
2017
29
.154/.241/.423
58
.231/.293/.365
2018
42
.211/.286/.421
61
.167/.262/.315
2019
155
.320/.439/.742
106
.216/.274/.299
2020
43
.270/.349/.432
49
.122/.265/.293
2021
32
.200/.375/.560
10
.333/.400/1.111
Quote to note
“I already said ‘hello’ to him. He was over talking to the trainers, so I popped in and said ‘hello’ to him. It was nice to see his face — clean-shaven face.” — Francona, on the return of the now beardless Corey Kluber, who is not scheduled to pitch for the Yankees against the Indians this weekend. The Indians played a minute-long video tribute to Kluber before the national anthem Thursday.

Final Thoughts
1. It’s easy to pile on Bauers at the moment.

That’s all. There’s no follow-up sentence that starts with “but” or “however.” That’s it. It’s easy to pile on him.

Bauers has three singles, a double and two walks in 34 plate appearances. His slash line is .129/.182/.161. That’s good for an OPS+ of minus-2. You’re not supposed to have a negative number in a statistic that includes a plus sign, no matter the sample size.

Even if Bobby Bradley and Daniel Johnson weren’t eagerly awaiting a call to join the big-league roster, patience would be wearing thin with Bauers. Sure, he’s still only 25, but he has logged 845 plate appearances in the majors and, remember, the Indians thought so highly of him last season, they granted him a whopping zero at-bats, even though they employed a futile outfield.

Yu Chang has manned first base when the Indians have faced a lefty, so Bauers has been protected in a platoon. Yet, he’s 3-for-25 against righties.

Overall, Cleveland’s first basemen have logged an 18 wRC+ (a comprehensive offensive metric in which 100 is league average). Unsurprisingly, that’s the lowest mark in the league. (Detroit has the second-worst mark, 54.) Indians first basemen have produced a .169 batting average (29th in the majors), a .222 on-base percentage (30th) and a .220 slugging percentage (30th), with zero home runs and the fourth-worst walk rate in the league.

2. The instant Nick Wittgren tossed ball four to Aaron Hicks to load the bases in the seventh inning Thursday, James Karinchak popped out of his seat to begin warming up in the bullpen. Karinchak seemed like a logical choice to start the inning, though, against the heart of the Yankees’ lineup. Instead, Wittgren, who has struggled all month, issued two walks and allowed two hits, resulting in the decisive runs.

Francona has preached deploying his relievers in the most advantageous situations, based on leverage and matchups, rather than pigeonholing each pitcher into a particular inning. That strategy, however, would suggest Karinchak — the club’s 1A or 1B reliever — is more valuable preserving a 3-3 tie against the middle of the order, rather than entering with a two-run deficit against the bottom of New York’s lineup.

“I like the idea of being able to pitch our guys when I think they fit the best,” Francona reiterated after the game.

Karinchak struck out Clint Frazier on six pitches to end the inning. Cal Quantrill took over in the eighth.

3. The Indians adjusted their rotation to stick Shane Bieber between Logan Allen and Triston McKenzie to safeguard against wearing out the bullpen on consecutive days. Allen’s starts have lasted five, five and two innings. McKenzie’s have lasted four and five. Bieber has averaged more than seven frames per outing.

As a result of the shuffle, Bieber and Gerrit Cole will duel Saturday evening in a rematch of the teams’ first postseason game last year. That wild-card-round outing represents Bieber’s only dud in the past 18 months.

4. Franmil Reyes recorded his first career triple Thursday in his 1,136th career plate appearance. He was tied with Renato Nuñez for the longest drought, among active players, to begin a career, though the Tigers designated Nuñez for assignment this week. Giants catcher Curt Casali is next on the list, with 978 triple-less trips to the plate. For what it’s worth, Reyes ranks in the 30th percentile in sprint speed this season, at 25.9 feet/second. “Elite” sprint speed is considered 30 feet/second.