Thoughts and things

[CIMO.]

Just a couple things I've noticed and read tonight as this game's going to extra innings.

 

 

1. Chris Perez is a badass. He won't win a Cy Young like Lee, he won't be the face of the team like Vic, but I love watching this guy pitch and he's easing the pain of losing those guys. Gave up a rocket double on his first pitch tonight, two pitches later a WP sent the man to 3rd, can't command his slider....and he proceeds to strike out the next two and give up a soft grounder with his 96 MPH fastball to end his 14th straight scoreless inning.

 

2. For those interested, or like me cringing every time you see him, about Kerry Wood's vesting option...I finally found some stats. His 3rd year is guaranteed if he reaches 55 games finished. Well, this site keeps track and says he's currently at 39.

http://hosted.stats.com/mlb/getleaders.asp?rank=141

 

3. Carlos Carrasco is living up to my expectations. Here's Lastoria

 

Carrasco Dominates

 

Triple-A Columbus right-handed starter Carlos Carrasco seems to have taken it to heart when people kind of overlooked him as the biggest prize in the Cliff Lee deal a few weeks back. At least that is how it is looking based on his performance since Carlos Carrascojoining the Indians organization.

 

In five starts, Carrasco is now 4-1 with a 3.57 ERA for Columbus. He has pitched into the seventh inning in each of his last four starts, and into the eighth inning in three of his starts. In his 35.1 innings with Columbus he has allowed 27 hits, six walks, and has 33 strikeouts. Prior to joining the Indians, in 20 starts for the Phillies affiliate Lehigh Valley he did not pitch into the eighth inning in a single outing, yet in three of his five starts with Columbus he has done so. He is seemingly getting stronger and better with each outing, and his confidence may be at an all time high. With his performance to date, the Indians and fans right now are seeing exactly what made him a Top 50 prospect in all of baseball coming into this year.

 

We also may have seen Carrasco evolve in the short amount of time he has been with the Indians. When the Indians acquired him, he came with a bad wrap as a pitcher who often had one inning meltdowns where he lost his focus and was "soft" and unable to battle and get himself out of jams. He lived up to this billing in his second start on August 6th when he had allowed just one run and two hits through seven innings, but proceeded to blow up in the eighth and allow four runs. However, in his two follow up starts after that he went into the eighth inning and cruised before having to be lifted due to pitch count and not because he ran into trouble.

 

Carrasco has had outstanding command of his fastball since joining the Indians and his secondary stuff has been very effective. He has shown no sign of wear in the late innings as his fastball has consistently been hitting 95 MPH in the eighth inning. With the announcement that the Indians will be backing off left-hander David Huff's innings and not letting him exceed 160-170 innings, it looks like it is not only a way to lessen Huff's exposure to a high inning workload this year but also a way to get a guy like Carrasco into the rotation for a start or two in September. Either way, he is expected to be a callup sometime in September and could make a handful of starts in Cleveland.

http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com/2009...te-in-fold.html

 

4. Why is Wedge playing the matchup game in extra innings and with Ohka gassed? Oh well.

[CIMO.]

5. What a way to end that homerless streak.

 

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=6241949

 

 

6. Valbuena's been great lately. Really cutting down on his strikeouts and putting up an .839 OPS since the all-star break. I love his game. As a matter of fact...

 

 

7. This team is starting to be really fun to watch. The lineup was boring with slow, predictable 20-25 HR sluggers down the order (Garko, DeRosa, Peralta, Francisco, Hafner, Shoppach) and a whole lot of soft throwing pitchers to start the year. Finally we're seeing some actual excitement (Marte, Gimenez, and Shoppach aside) in the box and a new wave of actual, talented pitchers. I love watching Sizemore, Choo, Cabrera, and Valbuena. I'm always crossing my fingers when LaPorta's up now. I still can't stand Peralta but Hafner still has something when he's at the plate....maybe just nostalgia but who knows. I'm excited for every Laffey and Masterson start. If Fausto stops walking so many people I'm sure he'll be fun to watch again, too. Once Carrasco gets the call I'll be waiting to watch him. And who would've thought, two months ago, that our freaking bullpen would actually be exciting. It's mainly Chris Perez and Sipp, but Todd and especially Smith are looking good, too. Just amazing that this group used to consist of Matt Herges, Greg Aquino and Mike Gosling.

 

Call it an inferiority complex if you will, but this whole firesale thing has actually grown on me. We weren't going anywhere with what we had, why not maximize our assets and start fresh. And while some (if not most) were writing this team off as the Pittsburgh Pirates, it looks like we'll be one of the better teams in the AL post-trades, and our 2010 doesn't look too bad. Laffey and Masterson look like two (at worst) reliable starters. If Carmona is decent (like he's been his past few starts) and Westbrook is healthy, that's not looking too bad. I'm obviously really high on Carrasco and Rondon, assuming one of them wins a rotation spot and the other (and/or Huff) is there if/when injuries pop up...I like that rotation. Combine that with a much better bullpen, even if Wood is allowed to keep the closer spot. Our offense will at least be pretty capable. Who knows with the Central the way it is. Just need a manager that has us in contention at the all-star break.

 

Obviously Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez make any team better, but it's just reality that they weren't going to be here past 2010. And even when we lose an ace in Lee, we end up with at least one capable starter in Masterson and who I think will be a good one in Carrasco. Adding the high upside guys Knapp and Hagadone makes it a win-win for me.

 

 

You know, I'm sure no one cares about any of that, but I think I might like this thread. Expect more pointless rambling in here without me needing to start anymore threads. And feel free to join me.

 

 

8. I stumbled on this one while looking for Chris Perez talk. Everyone knows by this point I'm a complete Shapiro fan, but this little paragraph jumped out at me. A little says a lot, in my opinion.

 

Cleveland paid a reasonable price to acquire DeRosa this past off-season from the Chicago Cubs. I took a look back at the trade last week. The Indians essentially gave up one B-level pitching prospect in Jeff Stevens, and two C-level pitching prospects in Chris Archer and John Gaub. All three prospects, though, have seen their values rise in 2009. In trading DeRosa mid-season, the Indians got back a young MLB reliever with closer potential (and experience) in Perez and a low A- or high B-level prospect in Todd (as well as half a season of DeRosa’s production). In other words, Cleveland bought low on DeRosa and then sold high on the veteran. The Indians did not win just one DeRosa trade; they won both.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/t...in-tribes-favor

[CIMO.]

Valbuena comes through again with a 3-run shot off Soria. Looks like Jason Donald will be our shiny new Jamey Carroll, I don't see Luis going anywhere.

[CIMO.]

Yeah....I'm starting to question my own baseball knowledge based on my decent amount of Eric Wedge support in the past. Why he has Chris Gimenez, a CATCHER, playing right field is completely lost on me.

[CIMO.]

Chris Perez gets his first in what should be a long line of saves. Wood on the pine might mean Wedge finally got the memo....we can't let Wood hit that 55 games finished mark.

[Spectrum]

Watching that ball go over Gimenez' head (Saturday I think) made me flip out. I had just turned on the game to see a backup, at best, catcher playing RF. As if there is any shortage of outfield options on the team.

 

A little note on Perez as well. While watching him in St. Louis, he looked to me like a guy who was rushed to the majors. And I really thought the Indians would be best served by sending him down to Columbus immediately after the trade. But after some rough outings here in Cleveland, he's really started to come around. There's no question he's a legit arm, but his control and composure has been the issue the last 18 months.

 

last month line on Perez:

9.1 IP, 10K to 1BB, 0.00 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 1 Save, 2 Holds

 

oh and Sipp...

12 IP, 13K, 1BB, 0.75 ERA (1 earned run), 0.50 WHIP, 3 Holds

 

No doubt about that this team is becoming very fun to watch. I get much more excited watching guys like Valbuena, Cabrera, Marte, LaPorta, Choo than I do watching older guys who have already shown exactly what they are. It's exciting to see the young guys start to show what they can become. This team is going to be better than people think next year.

 

My one remaining fear is that the young guys playing so well keeps Eric Wedge employed into next season.

[LCDawgFan13]

Wasn't Laporta supposed to be a liability in the outfield? I don't see him that way. He made a great catch, going into the stands to catch a foul ball the other night and then he came back and made that perfect throw to nail Wigginton easily at the plate from left field. I see him developing nicely out there. He could end up being a long-term option there in left field.

[Guest Masters]

Wasn't Laporta supposed to be a liability in the outfield? I don't see him that way. He made a great catch, going into the stands to catch a foul ball the other night and then he came back and made that perfect throw to nail Wigginton easily at the plate from left field. I see him developing nicely out there. He could end up being a long-term option there in left field.

 

The liability question on LaPorota (and I was one of the people that brought this up when he was wanted on the roster in April) in the OF was his arm.

 

He has improved since what I saw i spring training, both at the plate and in the field, so the time in the minors did him good. But I still think his future is DH/1B, not in the OF.

[CIMO.]

Watching that ball go over Gimenez' head (Saturday I think) made me flip out. I had just turned on the game to see a backup, at best, catcher playing RF. As if there is any shortage of outfield options on the team.

 

A little note on Perez as well. While watching him in St. Louis, he looked to me like a guy who was rushed to the majors. And I really thought the Indians would be best served by sending him down to Columbus immediately after the trade. But after some rough outings here in Cleveland, he's really started to come around. There's no question he's a legit arm, but his control and composure has been the issue the last 18 months.

 

last month line on Perez:

9.1 IP, 10K to 1BB, 0.00 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 1 Save, 2 Holds

 

oh and Sipp...

12 IP, 13K, 1BB, 0.75 ERA (1 earned run), 0.50 WHIP, 3 Holds

 

No doubt about that this team is becoming very fun to watch. I get much more excited watching guys like Valbuena, Cabrera, Marte, LaPorta, Choo than I do watching older guys who have already shown exactly what they are. It's exciting to see the young guys start to show what they can become. This team is going to be better than people think next year.

 

My one remaining fear is that the young guys playing so well keeps Eric Wedge employed into next season.

 

Agreed on every word. I know it's almost the exact same thing we were saying last year about Lewis and the other Perez, but Chris Perez and Sipp just seem like the real deal, with actual pitching talent and not just "grit". I was skeptical on Smith, mainly because of my Gutz love, but I like him on the team...he owns righties and has shown he can work a full inning. Todd has been roughed up so far but he has some good looking stuff and great minor league numbers. Conor Graham and Bryan Price are some more actual upside options and anything we get from Kerry Wood, I'll take. I've kind of lost hope on Jensen Lewis but I really feel like Raf Perez is bouncing back and can be a good left handed option.

 

Really amazing how good our bullpen looks in the immediate future....especially considering how few of these guys were on the team prior to this season.

 

 

As for LaPorta, I agree he's probably bound for 1B, or DH once Hafner is gone, but that's more because of the other options we have. I'd rather have Brantley in Left, and Crowe as my 4th outfielder.