Tribe visits Cincinnati July1-3; Battle for Ohio (Series Thread)
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Heretic
royal_k;820874 wrote:Take the best pitcher out of a staff at playoff time and see how they do. Their chances go down dramatically.
Should there be designated fielders for good hitters, too? I mean, I bet St. Louis would be a lot happier if Pujois hadn't gotten hurt on defense. Or the Giants if they hadn't lost Posey for the year. -
wes_mantooth
Yeah, I would like to get rid of the DH, but it is more likely to be implemented in both leagues....before it ever goes away. Like Heretic said....it lengthens careers, so the players association would never let it go away. -
Heretic
BR1986FB;820913 wrote:Oh, as far as the Kouzmanoff/Marte debate I'll take Kouz every day of the week and twice on Sunday's. Everyone remember Kouz's debut? Grand slam in his first AB.
Are you sure? I mean, Marte is hitting .218 in Pittsburgh's AAA club. Which means he's fallen from a guy who can rake in the minors, but do nothing in the bigs to a guy who sucks everywhere. -
karen lotz
Heretic;820929 wrote:Should there be designated fielders for good hitters, too? I mean, I bet St. Louis would be a lot happier if Pujois hadn't gotten hurt on defense. Or the Giants if they hadn't lost Posey for the year.
+1 -
FootwedgeBR1986FB;820658 wrote:Not related to today's game but...
ABOUT THE INDIANS . . .
1. The Tribe is giving serious consideration to promoting Jason Kipnis from Class AAA Columbus in the near future -- especially if Cord Phelps continues to struggle defensively at second base. Kipnis has been sensational lately, hitting .368 with three homers and eight RBI in his past 10 games (through Friday) and his defense has been improving.
Jason Kipnis.JPGView full sizePD fileSecond baseman Jason Kipnis.
2. Phelps made five errors in his first 10 games at second. While that's out of character for Phelps -- he had only 20 errors in 240 minor-league games at second since 2009 -- his struggles with the glove have made the Indians consider Kipnis.
3. The 24-year-old Kipnis was hitting .301 (.907 OPS) with 11 homers and 50 RBI heading into Saturday. The Tribe loves that Kipnis seems to hit everyone . . . everywhere. The left-handed batter is hitting .333 against lefties, .286 against righties. He's at .305 (.915 OPS) at the Clippers' hitter-friendly park, compared with .298 (.900 OPS) on the road. He's hitting .329 with runners in scoring position.
4. Kipnis has a .305 average in 21/2 minor-league seasons. He was the Tribe's second-round pick in 2009, and converted from the outfield to second base in 2010. The Indians had a brief discussion about using him in the outfield because of the lack of depth in Cleveland. But they believe he is the second baseman of the future -- and want to keep him at second.
5. Phelps began his pro career in 2008, so he's a year ahead of Kipnis in terms of development. He also was a second baseman at Stanford, and the Indians still believe he can be a significant part of the team in 2012. But Kipnis is playing better in Columbus than Phelps did. Kipnis is second in the International League in total bases and runs scored, third in OPS (.907), third in slugging percentage (.526) and sixth with 50 RBI.
6. Kipnis started 2010 at Class A Kinston and was promoted after 54 games to Class AA Akron. He played 79 games with the Aeros before batting .455 (10-of-22) for Columbus in the playoffs. I have always favored Phelps getting the first shot with Cleveland because he had 521 Class AAA at-bats, and was a better defensive second baseman than Kipnis in the minors. I still think Phelps will hit and settle down in the field.
7. The Indians say they are playing to win now. It's why they promoted Alex White early this season -- not worrying about future free agency and arbitration dates. It's why they turned to Lonnie Chisenhall last week to play third, rather than Jason Donald. And it's why they are talking about Kipnis replacing Phelps.
8. If they don't promote Kipnis, it could be Donald -- hitting .314 in his past 10 games. He's finally healthy after his spring training hand injury, which was followed by a knee injury. With Chisenhall in Cleveland, Donald is playing a lot of third base. He batted .253 (.690 OPS) with four homers and 24 RBI in 296 at- bats as a rookie with the Tribe last season. A right-handed batter, he hit .286 (.833 OPS) against lefties.
9. Some fans have been pushing for Jared Head to be promoted. The outfielder is hitting .298 (.861 OPS) with 11 HRs and 38 RBI. Most of his production is at Columbus' Huntington Park. He's batting .342 (1.053 OPS) at home and .258 (.687 OPS) on the road. He's 28 and considered a so-so prospect.
10. The Tribe rates Ezequiel Carrera higher than Head because he's only 23 and has excellent speed. Carrera is 27-of-31 in stolen bases and considered an above-average center fielder. He is hitting .287 (.726 OPS) this season but has only 13 extra-base hits in 289 at-bats.
11. Nick Johnson's surgically repaired wrist has been giving him some trouble, and he was in Cleveland this week to have it re-examined. The veteran first baseman is expected to be out a few more days, and then try to play again. He is hitting .220 with no power.
12. Luis Valbuena is having a big year at Columbus -- .314 (.892 OPS) with 11 HRs and 51 RBI. He is only 25 and has hit .321, .313 and .314 in parts of the past three seasons at Class AAA. That may persuade a team to deal for him when the Indians try to acquire a veteran outfielder.
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2011/07/draft_neglect_digs_holes_in_cl.html
Cord Phelps was a much better defensive player than Kipnes. And he hit better than Kipnes. Sure, he played awful in the field once he was called up, but both Kipness and Chisenhall were defensive liabilities. -
Footwedge
I think both Jeanmar and McCallister have earned the right to pitch up here. I would also consider Hermann as a starter. Talbot and Fausto need to go. Not all that impressed with Barnes' nor Huff's numbers.royal_k;820861 wrote:They have 4 guys to choose from.
Gomez 9-2 2.46 ERA
McAllister 8-3 @.97 ERA
Huff 8-2 3.74 ERA
Barnes 7-2 3.40 ERA -
BR1986FBHeretic;820931 wrote:Are you sure? I mean, Marte is hitting .218 in Pittsburgh's AAA club. Which means he's fallen from a guy who can rake in the minors, but do nothing in the bigs to a guy who sucks everywhere.
Haha...he's still in baseball? -
Heretic
BR1986FB;821002 wrote:Haha...he's still in baseball?
Scary thing is that he was one of the last cuts, which had me worried that he'd be kept for infield depth. Fortunately, common sense took over and the retread's stuck in Indy while guys with potential MLB futures like Chase d'Arnaud and Josh Harrison have been the call-ups when needed. -
vball10setHeretic;820931 wrote:Are you sure? I mean, Marte is hitting .218 in Pittsburgh's AAA club. Which means he's fallen from a guy who can rake in the minors, but do nothing in the bigs to a guy who sucks everywhere.
Heretic, are you pretty familiar with Pittsburgh's AAA club in Indy? I was just wondering how LHP Justin Thomas is doing, and if there's a chance he may get a call up. -
Heretic
vball10set;821006 wrote:Heretic, are you pretty familiar with Pittsburgh's AAA club in Indy? I was just wondering how LHP Justin Thomas is doing, and if there's a chance he may get a call up.
5-2 and three saves with a 4.14 ERA all in relief, but has a solid 1.14 WHIP, which is comparable to guys like Watson, Moskos, Leroux who have moved up to the bigs. The problem is that he's not on the 40-man roster (got DFA'd, but stuck around, during the off-season) and the only pitchers who are that I'd say are expendable in the near future are Tim Wood (was up for a bit, did well in no-pressure situations, blew it when there was pressure), Mike Crotta (first few outings were good, next few sucked, went on DL and then was optioned to Indy when he came off) and elderly, oft-injured Joe Beimel. Well, and Leroux, who isn't anything special, but was called up to essentially replace Wood for bullpen depth. -
HitsRus
Las Vegas sets the odds on whose pitching that nite. -
hoops23
No shit Kouzmanoff is better than Marte, but it's not like Kouzmanoff is anything to fret about losing...
Besides, we have the Chiz kid now.
Kouz so far this season:
4 HR, .221 BA, 17 RBI
Hell, Jack Hannahan is batting .213 with 5 homers and 21 RBI. And he's a wizard with the glove. -
jordo212000
Yeah Indians didn't really have much whichever direction they went. Both Marte and Kouz were disappointmentshoops23;821296 wrote:No shit Kouzmanoff is better than Marte, but it's not like Kouzmanoff is anything to fret about losing...
Besides, we have the Chiz kid now.
Kouz so far this season:
4 HR, .221 BA, 17 RBI
Hell, Jack Hannahan is batting .213 with 5 homers and 21 RBI. And he's a wizard with the glove.