Yardbarker: Vinnie Chulk

BBA AL Manager of the Year

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:18:00 -0500

As I mentioned yesterday, I have the honor of being included in the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, a network of bloggers representing every team in the MLB and then some from all over the internet. We vote on all our respective league's awards, just as the writers covering teams do.

The first award coming up is the Manager of the Year. The last time I checked, Cleveland was in the AL, but I'm sure we all wish they were in the NL in a division with the Pirates, Nationals and the Mets. So yeah, I'm voting for the AL Manager of the year.

My first inclination is to give Eric Wedge a vote.

I'm kidding! Seriously... Wow.. Don't start groaning about how I suck.

Here's my official ballot. Yankee and Red Sox managers excluded, because, they are. Since we are an Indians blog and we are looking for a manager and we just fired ours and I'm really really sarcastic, it makes perfect sense to throw Tribe commentary in here. Enjoy.

3. Ron Washington, TEX

So you've got Ron Washington here and quite honestly, if he wins the award, I believe he should share it with Mike Maddux. The smartest move the guy did was to bring in the brother of the future hall of fame pitcher Greg Maddux to finally get some semblance of a rotation down in Texas.

Things really didn't change for the Rangers. Same group of names as the past few years with Scott Feldman moving from the bullpen. Tommy Hunter, Kevin Millwood, a crapp Vincente Padilla. It was all there and Maddux made it work.

But Washington still had a lot to deal with. It seems like their best player was always hurt with something new. Josh Hamitlon must have missed at least three periods of extended time. Ian Kinsler had his issues, Michael Young was out of the lineup at one point, and he had a rookie who wasn't supposed to hit a lick in at shortstop.

Give that man some credit for being the best team to not make the playoffs in the AL.

2. Ron Gardenhire, MIN

I resisted not giving my first place vote to Ron Gardenhire because the AL Central is complete garbage. But he deserves a vote for being awesome at his job and never getting the respect.

Especially this year more than any other. Okay so the Central sucks, but someone has to win it and give credit to the Twins for making the push they did despite missing Justin Morneau down the stretch. It wasn't just at team getting hot, it was a team that believed in whatever message was being fed to them.

Throwing guys like Anthony Swarzak and Jeff Manship (Manship? really? What is that?) into the rotation and still managing to win a division is good. I envy the Twins for they can find someone as good at his job as Ron Gardenhire is.

1. Don Wakatamsu, SEA

I have the utmost respect for anyone that can take an absolute ball of crap, spray paint it gold, and pass it off for a kings ransom.

The Mariners were probably not as crappy as we all thought they were. This was a team a few years removed from a decent run for a playoff spot that fell short. It was more of them playing below their talent level last year than it was reflective of how good they actually were.

But no one expected Don Wakamatsu to come in with a somewhat rebuilt team and do what they did. The Mariners were supposed to be Cleveland and Cleveland was supposed to be Seattle.

Is it any freakin' wonder they've got a former Indian rocking his ass off in center field?

I'll go back to it again. I screamed bloody murder when this team traded Franklin Gutierrez. All he needed was some confidence instilled in him. A guaranteed spot in the lineup and a consistent spot in the batting order day in and day out.

Wakamatsu should earn the award just based on the fact he used Gutierrez correctly. In other words, he used him period.

Anyway, enough about our misery. Wakamatsu is my pick. I keep using him as the comparison as to who the Indians should go out and get. Not someone exactly like Wakamatsu, but someone that can make an impact to the effect he did in Seattle. There is talent here, young talent, but talent that can do something.

Just come in and guide it in the right direction.

-

So there's my top three. Joe Girardi does not get any sympathy for a 100 win team that shelled out nine-thousand million dollars in free agent acquisitions, even if he got A-Rod to be clutch. Eric Wedge in a way does deserve a vote. Just winning a single game with a bullpen of Vinnie Chulk, Luis Vizcaino, Greg Aquino, and Matt Herges deserves a ton of praise.

In honor of this occasion, I reach back into the vaults of this ridiculous blog and pull out one of the better images I've shared with the masses.

The Eric Wedge Gray Hair Watch... Now that he's fired and we'll probably be no more than a bench coach for whatever team he ends up with, his rate of hair going gray will no doubt slow down. But it was startling how fast his entire goatee went from original color, to a gray clump of sadness and aging.

And that picture was most recently in 2008.. One can only imagine how many white hairs he's sporting now that he's undergone a season even worse than 2008. In the most recent picture I can find from his last game, it looks as if his entire beard is turning gray. Ouch.

Morning Update: IT'S TODD TIME!

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:17:00 -0500

Called-Up to Cleveland...Five!

Get ready for a new culture of ridiculousness with the addition of Jess Todd.

The nickname within a name is here and with a fictional television character that shares the name, expect nothing less than this.

Jose Veras out, Jess Todd in.

Veras has finally been DFAed and so goes the final awful relief pitcher that this team acquired for no reason this year.

Our bullpen is finally looking not like a safe-haven for flailing AAAA relief pitchers.

Winston Abreu, Jose Veras, Matt Herges, Mike Gosling, Greg Aquino, and Luis Vizcaino. Just awful.

I like Vinnie Chulk so I'm not throwing him in there. You cannot hate Chulkamania.

This is good though. Let the movement continue. The Todd Time is now!

Bullpen Improvement Five!

Jose Veras said that if he does pass through waivers, he'll report to Columbus, if the Indians want him to that is.

Speaking of Bullpen, Justin Masterson's stay in it might be a rather short one.
"It could be as early as next time around [the rotation]," Wedge said. "We'll have him work out of the bullpen at least one more time and work from there." Masterson said he's been blessed with a rubber arm in his opinion. And if you saw the pregame interview he did yesterday before the game, you could just imagine the facial expression he had when he said that. He's' a great interview, a real funny guy. Easy-going and very confident in my eyes. I really think we got a winner here. Heck with Buchholz, I'll take this kid and the prospects we got.

With Masterson and Carlos Carrasco though, they are both being looked at to be short-term answers to not only help ease the loss of Cliff Lee, but also add to a suspect rotation.

"We've gone out and added some plus arms and some guys already developing Major League pitches," Willis said. "We like the people that are going to make the crowd."

"I'm never going to be comfortable, pitching wise," Shapiro said. "But I am much more comfortable now than I was a month ago. I think we will continue to infuse more pitching talent and add more pitchers, maybe via free agency."

Hey I'll give Shapiro his due. He's always said that about not being comfortable about his pitching staff and the one year he said he was remotely comfortable with the bullpen, look what happened.

Now Eric Wedge is on record that he is going to give Marte a shot. He talked about his rookies, but also mentioned Marte and Trevor Crowe specifically.
"They're going to get regular work," said Wedge. "I'm hesitant to say they're going to play every day because everything is subject to change."

"He's been more under control at home plate," said Wedge. "This time, more than at any point in time for him, he really went down and got better. He approached some of the things that he learned up here, applied them down there, and got back up here."

"I just want to see Marte a little bit more," said Wedge, when asked to compare this year's version to last year's. "I've seen him take some good swings. I just want to see how consistent he can be and how he handles the pitching up here.

If you want to see Marte a little bit more, you better play him consistently. I've got a strict eye on that. If he isn't in the lineup tonight, expect a lashing.

Crowe has said that the awe of being in the big leagues never got away from him the first time around and he thinks that's why he was the way he was in the first go-around.

Ok let's get to last night... Which I don't even remember.

Five hits, two by Peralta and Hafner, one by Marte. Yikes...

David Huff was just... Bad.. Period, he was bad... Not good, yukkie, crud, stanky, just bad.

If David Huff is going to be good though, this is a learning experience he needs, because every pitcher, at least in my mind, needs to be humbled as a major league player before they can be successful.

"I didn't do my job," Huff said. "I need to be more efficient with my pitches. I'll learn what I can from this and go from there."

"It wouldn't be three, four or five [rough starts in a row in the Minors]," he said. "It would be one, then I'd figure it out and come back the next time. It happens. It's a learning process."

And nothing helped matters that Scott Baker always seems to have the Indians number. Those types of pitchers always seem to do. Baker was on his game last night.
"Baker was really good," said Wedge. "He did a great job of coming right after us and moving that fastball around up in the zone. He puts the ball in spots where it's tough to lay off of."And we're now brought back to the realization that the Indians are starting three rookies at times and have guys like Marte in the lineup.

And there are still some rational fans out there.

A new Indians Inbox is up and AC lead off with a fantastic e-mail.

Why are all these "fans" so vindictive of the trades made by the organization these past few weeks? Sure, Cliff Lee was nails on the mound every fifth day and Victor Martinez was the face of this franchise. But Tribe fans need to ask themselves if they would rather watch Lee win 10 or 12 games and Victor hit .300 for one of the worst teams in baseball for the next year and half, or suck it up, bite the bullet and trust that the organization is trying to build us all a winner over an extended period of time.

Tribe fans are all shouting, "We will never go to a game again!" Well, congratulations for contributing to the reason we cannot keep players, because nobody came to games while Lee and Martinez were here, anyways.

We all have to remember that we are Indians fans first. Don't spite the team for trying to create what you want. Players come and players go, but Chief Wahoo is forever.
-- Andrew, Erie, Pa.

Bravo... Bravo... Couldn't have put it any better myself.

Then we've got comments like this.
I have always loved the Tribe. Please tell me why I should continue to care?
-- Shannon P., Columbus, OhioMAYBE BECAUSE YOU LOVE THE TRIBE AND THE GAME OF BASEBALL?!

Hey, far be it for me to tell you to care, but you know what, if you have to ask, maybe you shouldn't. I don't understand how you can go from loving the Tribe, to thinking, hey maybe I shouldn't anymore.

I've maybe made jokes in the past about killing myself or maybe even said something like, "Maybe I'll be a Pirates fan today!" But never ever ever ever, would I seriously consider doing something like this comment.

I mean really now...

As AC said, It's baseball... And that's all that needs to be said.

It's baseball... Continue to care, because it's baseball and you should care about baseball. And this going to sound slightly Kenny Mayneish..

But if you care about baseball, then you watch baseball. But if you don't care about baseball, then you don't watch baseball.

And as one commenter pointed out in the section of this inbox.. I'm not affiliated with the Indians and I'm echoing everything AC said and really, I'm going to be even more vocal and outgoing about it.

Finally... I just have to laugh that Albert Belle is a angry and bitter man still. Maybe he and the group of Indians fans that don't want to care anymore can be best of friends.

Minor Issues: Kipnis Signs, Smith Replaces Pestano on EL AS Team

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:14:00 -0500

WHAT'S THE NEWS

Since we last talked earlier this week, more retreads have been purged. Sort of.

Both Jack Cassel and Kirk Saarloos were placed on the disabled list earlier this week.

Vinnie Chulk is on the DL as well. Room needed to be made for Rafael Perez, Jeremy Sowers, and Hector Rondon and with Wyatt Toregas going through an injury issue, the Clippers needed to temporarily add a catcher, Dwight Childs, this year's 18th rounder currently at Mahoning Valley, just in case something happens to Damaso Espino.

I'm trying to update the boards, had them done on Wednesday until excel froze on me and ruined everything.

There is one more injury to note. Down in Akron, Vinnie Pestano was placed on the Disabled List. Now if you remember, The Gangster was on the EL All-Star team, so he'll need a repalcement. Lucky for the Aeros, the replacement is being taken from their team in Carlton Smith.

Congrats to Carlton.

Instead of recapping the past few days that I've missed, just read the new Minor League Happenings. Rondon and Popham were very good this past week going deep into their games with perfection.

Also... Check out this story on Jason Smit, who's ripping it up for the Valley.

Finally, one more left... With the signing of second round pick, Jason Kipnis, the Indians have just one more big draft pick to get inked in Alex White.

Kipnis officially signed with the Indians. Once White signs his deal, that would give the Indians control of their top 20 picks.

COLUMBUS

Well... The Indians have been pretty down on having Carmona return right out of the All-Star Break and last night's game won't help his cause.

Carmona was good for awhile, then he gave up a four run inning. He would end up giving one more in his seven innings of work off eight hits and two walks.

I'm guessing Carmona is going to have to give it one more go.

Jensen Lewis pitched a perfect frame by striking out the side in the eighth.

Two hits and a RBI each for Michael Brantley and Jordan Brown. Brantley scored twice and stole a base, while Brown doubled.

Andy Marte knocked in a run and swiped a base.

AKRON

Erie beat Akron, in large part to a rough first-inning for starter Bobby Livingston.

Livingston gave up four runs in that inning, six total in his six innings of work. Newly named All-Star Carlton Smith stated his case by going two scoreless.

Nick Weglarz and Carlos Santana knocked in a run a piece while Johnnie Drennen doubled twice.

KINSTON

Kinston beat Potomac yesterday behind a successful Kinston debut by Alexander Perez.

Perez went six scoreless, giving up six hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

Bo Pickens and Ron Rivas had two hits and a run batted in, Lucas Montero doubled in a run, and Roman Pena knocked in two runs. Lonnie Chisenhall scored a run and had two hits.

LAKE COUNTY

In a game in which the Captains committed three errors and gave up 12 hits...they lost. Duh.

Kaimi Mead took the loss after he gave up five runs in 3.2 innings of work after Brian Grening went 2.1 innings. Mead only gave up on earned though.

Bo Greenwell had two hits, including one of the Captains two runs knocked in.

MAHONING VALLEY

Clayton Cook didn't need much run-support after his six scoreless innings in which he gave up just three hits and a walk.

But that didn't stop the Scrappers from scoring 8 runs.

Ben Carlson and Lurvin Basabe knocked in two runs each, including Carlson's double. Basabe hit his first home run of the year and scored twice.

Greg Folgia knocked in a run with two hits and Rafael Vera also knocked in a run.

ARIZONA LEAGUE

The AZL Indians put up another big crooked number with 16 runs off 21 hits against the Mariners back on the ninth of July.

Jesus Brito - 4/6, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, 3B
Chris Kersten - 5/6, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B
Darling Read - 2/3, 3 R, 1 RBI, 2B, HBP
Casey Frawley - 3/5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B, SB

Trent Baker, Roberto Perez, and Rolando Petit all had two hits. Kelvin Rucker was the lone AZL starter wtihout a hit, but he walked twice and scored.

Game 79: White Sox 11, Indians 4 (7 innings)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:35:50 -0500

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP This picture is too reminiscent of a time that I miss for me to not use it. Browse more photos » After an extended rain delay, the game today was finally called final with the Indians suffering yet another loss. Today's loss was out of the ordinary in that it involved an abysmal Cliff Lee performance. For whatever reason, Lee just didn't have it today and managed ...

Minor Issues: Gimenez Scratched, Captains salvage organization

Sun, 31 May 2009 07:31:29 -0500

WHAT'S THE NEWS

I promised more draft coverage and that's what you is gonna get!

Brad Grant talked about the upcoming major league draft and here is a nice little rundown of that.

I'm expecting us to go with a college pitcher with the first pick. I'd like a nice power arm really, starter, reliever, it don't matter.

The draft is pitching heavy, which is good for us because all signs are pointing to a pitcher being taken.

COLUMBUS

Chris Gimenez was supposed to play last night, then he wasn't.. Then he did...

Columbus did lose last night to Norfolk, just loss..

We'll talk about this more later, because it pertains to the big league club more than it does Columbus. But Gimenez was a late scratch, not because of an injury, but maybe a call-up? He did get into the game though as a defensive replacement to Wyatt Toregas, who was ejected.

Yeah and Hafner didn't play either, we'll talk about that too.

The Clips didn't do much offensively, just two runs scored. One was scored by Michael Aubrey, who doubled twice, the other was knocked in by Aubrey.

Kirk Saarloos was meh.. Three runs in six and two thirds innings.

Joe Smith on rehab assignment pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

The invincible Vinnie Chulk gave up a run for what seems like the first time in forever.

AKRON

The Aeros aren't accustomed to losing like this, but they are. They lost again, such a surprise. We get greedy though.

It was the Carlos Rivero show offensively though. Three hits, the lone Akron run knocked in. He had himself a good game.

Hector Rondon wasn't awesome. He went just five innings, giving up four runs, not horrible, but not Rondon-like. He didn't walk anyone, but he gave up eight hits, and he did strike out eight.

The mascot Zach Putnam with two scoreless innings of relief. Is it time to start thinking of giving him a call-up? He's pretty much blowing right through Double-A hitting. Test that new Mark Shapiro philosophy?

KINSTON

Winston-Salem blasted the K-Tribers last night. Point blank.

Russell Young got the brunt of that blast with seven earned off eight hits and two walks. Kyle Landis did give two shutout innings.

Lonnie Chisenhall took an 0-4 night but knocked in one of the Kinston runs. Richard Martinez did the same thing.

Lucas Montero had a few hits, including a triple and the other RBI. Tim Fedroff and Cord Phelps both doubled, and Fedroff had a few hits.

LAKE COUNTY

Haven't said this in a while, it seems like.

A one run game for the Lake County Captains, in extras as well!

It's the Lake County Specialty and they've now got it down to a science to where they can win them too.

The only run in the first nine innings for the Captains was a Abner Abreu solo shot.

Tip your hat to TJ House and Mike McGuire. House went 6.1 with one earned, five strikeouts. While McGuire went 3.2, with just one hit and one walk. Fantastic effort to get the win.

He got the win, Smith got the save as he came in to pitch a scoreless bottom of the 11th after Donnie Webb doubled home Karexon Sanchez.

Minor Issues: Right Time For Jordan Brown Time?

Tue, 26 May 2009 13:29:49 -0500

WHAT'S THE NEWS

You probably wonder why the Captains are always down offensively. Why they are so good pitching. It just sort of works out that the Captains get all the good pitchers and Kinston gets all the good hitters. It happens because it just does. The pitchers need more work, while most good hitters just bypass the level.

Not Abner Abreu, who played in the GCL last year. He needs seasoning.. But he's for real and Tony Lastoria has the downlow on Abreu with the Captains and now that he's heating up, how he's impressing the people around him.

Steven Wright is going back to Columbus, boards updated... Somehow..

COLUMBUS

After winning the first two games against Buffalo, the Clippers have dropped the final two games of the series to come away with just a split. So disappointing. The Clips couldn't hold them down after they scored and in the end, lost 5-3.

That will kind of happen though when all of your offense comes from one player. Which is pretty much what happened with Columbus. Jordan Brown hit two home runs, that's three in the last two games if you are keeping track, both solo shots in his best strong man impression. He also had two more hits.

Time to start thinking about Jordan Brown getting a shot in the show? He's hitting like a man on fire right now and I think he's been in Triple-A long enough.

Tomo Ohka did give up three runs in six innings and Vinnie Chulk was tagged with two unearned runs keeping his sparkling 0.00 ERA in tact. He committed the error though so mabe he did that on purpose.

Rafael Perez Update: Perez went one scoreless and struck out two with no walks or hits and just ten pitches, with NINE yes NINE of them for strikes. Very good.

PRONK WATCH: Travis Hafner got three at-bats in this game, getting a walk and a hit.. He was pitch-hit for later in the game. He should be in Cleveland today and we'll find out if he's coming back.

AKRON

We are accustomed to seeing the Aeros lose some games, but not losing 8-1.

Josh Tomlin probably gave Chuck Lofgren the call to Columbus with his four inning, four earned run performance.. He did give up six total runs, with seven hits and a walk. Scott Roehl and Neil Wanger both gave up runs.

Carlos Santana had two hits, including a double, and a run scored, via the Matt McBride sac-fly. But that was it for Akron's offense.

KINSTON

After breaking up their losing funk, the K-Tribe fell back into the rut with a 7-5 loss, which happened after the Kinston battled back from a four run inning to take the lead int he seventh. They would then go on to lose that lead as well.

Nate Recknagel hit his first Kinston home run, a two-run shot in the sixth inning. Cord Phelps and Lucas Montero also had RBI hits, as did Ron Rivas who had two hits.

Oh yeah Lonnie Chisenhall doubled...

Everyone for Kinston gave up runs.. Corresponding to the number of innings they pitched really. Berger four innings, four runs. CC lee, two innings, two runs. Meyer one inning, one run.. give or take a few outs in there.. Suck it.

LAKE COUNTY

The Captains had to make it hard didn't they?

They had to make it a one run game didn't they?

They had to blow T.J. Houses' nice lead didn't they?

Blaaaaaarghhhh.

Judging by my reaction, you would think they lost, but they didn't. Nope.. Not at all.

But it was a one run game in extras, and it was a blown game by Steve Smith, who did pick up the win.

But T.J. House was pretty good. He went six scoreless, giving up just two hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.

To win the game though, Abner Abreu led the inning off by singling and he was eventually brought home by Chris Nash on a single to end the game in the bottom of the tenth.

Abreu did have two hits, as did Donnie Webb who knocked in a run for the Captains as well.

Minor Issues: Weglarz Named EL Player of the Week

Tue, 19 May 2009 08:01:38 -0500

WHAT'S THE NEWS

Congrats to Nicky Weglarz on being named Eastern League Player of the Week for last week's worth of gaves.

Wegz doubled three times, homered, and knocked in six runs. He's really starting to turn it on and put that extra slow start to rest.

Here be a piece on Josh Tomlin making the move to the Starting Rotation. Wait well.. For awhile I thought we were moving starters to the bullpen.. Ahh yeah whatever.

FYI No Morning Update...

COLUMBUS

Okay I'm getting on to bed and this game isn't ending. It's a 4-4 game in the 11th inning.. SO I'm going to tell you what you care about.

PRONK WATCH: Travis Hafner got the DH start and had five at-bats, maybe he'll get more.. He's scored a run, walked and collected three hits.. Whoooooooooooo whoooooooo

Jordan Brown also had three hits, Tomo Ohka was good, Vinnie Chulk as well. That Blaire Near (Blaine Neal? okay?) guy gave up a few runs. Screw him.

Tony Sipp has struck out everyone so far.. So.. Suckaaaah

Who cares if we win or lose at this point.

AKRON

Heyyyyyyyyy Day Off!

Aeros resume with a three game set in Trenton on Tuesday.

KINSTON

Might as well have lost this game to rain too.

Because Kinston can't buy a win right now. Matt McBride's call-up has seemingly killed this lineup.

Just three K-Tribers with hits in Kinston's 1-0 shutout loss to Potomac. Cord Phelps and John Allman both had two and Lucas Montero chipped in with one. But no runs.

The unlucky friend on the mound... Well Russell Young lasted long enough without giving up a run, going six scoreless, giving up seven of the eight hits collected, but he didn't give up the hit that counted.

After CC Lee pitched two scoreless with just two walks, Matt Meyer gave up the game in the ninth inning.

A hit, an error and a groundout would force the run to comem across to score, Potomac picks up the save and the K-Tribers lose.

LAKE COUNTY

Hey...

1

Run

Loss

CAPTAINS!

They made a valiant three run comeback in the last two innings, but it was not enough, and it ultimately ended in them actually making it a one run game.

Abner Abreu had the big big big big smash, going 2-5 with a two-run home run and another RBI on the game. Donnie Webb and Chris Nash knocked in the other runs.

Pitching wise, eh.

Trey Haley made his official season debut for the Captains. Kind of shaky.

He went 4.1 innings, gave up seven six runs, five of them earned, off seven hits and four walks. Yeah not good.

Matt Langwell cleaned up the fifth and it was Bryce Stowell also making his season debut for the Captains (soon on his way to Kinston for sure), and encouraging signs from him. He went three scoreless, giving up just one run and striking out... wait for it.

Wait for it...

SEVEN!

Seven of nine outs recorded via the punchout, outstanding.

I don't know if I'm just

Sat, 02 May 2009 19:37:38 -0500

bloated from going out to eat and ordering the pie, but I don't feel like talking about this game.

In fact I'm not going to.

Okay.... I am.

I was watching the last few innings from way back in the restaurant on a little TV, so I couldn't see.. But I saw the damn home run.

Really... I've about had it with this bullpen. There is no more excuses for them, the starting pitching isn't sucking anymore... The offense is scoring runs... They SHOULD NOT be giving up these games like this.

This pen has been reconstructed all too well for them to be mucking around.

Vinnie Chulk did a good job for the most part, really picked us up in a bad spot.

But then Eric Wedge hands the ball over to Rafael Betancourt, his most trusted relief pitcher at this point, and he goes ahead and gacks it up.

I swear I don't know anymore.. And don't go second guessing Wedge for taking Sipp out.. He got out of that inning. He set it up as best he could, who the hell else is he going to go to? No one else can be trusted.

And now apparently, not even The Gavel.

I'm fed up with this mediocrity from what was supposed to be the most solid unit on the team.

That game was hand-delievered on a SILVER PLATTER for that team.. The offense got several breaks, took advantage of the miscues, and put the team in a position to win.

And the bullpen gacked it up... And I'm pissed.

Rafael Betancourt Cap Counter: 26

[BOXSCORE]

Morning Update: Is Asdrubal's Ascension For Good?

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:33:31 -0500

Oh I wore shorts today... And yesterday when I cut the grass.. But today is better because I'm on campus and I woke up this morning and it looked like it was mid-afternoon. And now the weather is just perfect.

It isn't too hot, but it isn't cold.. The wind is just right.. It's a gentle breeze and I can wear shorts.

Not khakis either.. My nice comfortable Adidas shorts.

Weather is good.. Now don't screw it up Betsy Kling.

If there is one thing you can say about ALL of the starts from Aaron Laffey... It's that they've kept his team in the game. And seeing as how this staff has had trouble of doing that.. Those starts have been a bit of a godsend.
"With all of his starts, he's given us a great chance to win," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "That's all we can ask for and even more than we ask for. What you can ask for is a good chance to win the game, and he's been giving us an excellent chance to win those ball games." Wedge said he did put himself into jams, but he's good about getting out of them with the double play ball and Wedge admitted that Laffey was getting kind of tired towards the end.

The real story was Tony Sipp though and Wedge praised him to no end. "Tony Sipp really, really picked us up today," Wedge said. "You can't be in a tighter situation, later innings with those hitters coming up. Just did an outstanding job." How can you not be happy to see what he did? He came in and struck out a AL MVP with the bases loaded and one out. Then he struck out one of the hottest hitters in the game right now. Laffey said it was a "Welcome to the Big League" moment. Sipp knew the situation he was in and all he did was focus.

"I really just tried to stay within myself," Sipp said. "I've got enough pressure there, and facing Morneau doesn't help the situation."

"Hopefully, I'm building something for myself here," Sipp said. "But if you look at it, it's just two innings and nothing more."

Oh but don't mistake anything about it. Sipp knew what he was getting into.
"I was about as comfortable as you can get given the circumstances," Sipp said. "I knew what was at stake. I knew it was a lot different than the Kansas City game."Sipp was also happy to keep the win up for Laffey, who he's gone through the system with.

Then there is Masa Kobayashi.. Who is just looking for a spot. Wedge thinks he can use him everywhere... Masa knows this, but he's still trying to adjust.

"With our bullpen, it's tough to put people in specific roles," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "Masa's role, for me, is that every time we go out, he's pitched everywhere -- way early, way late. Regardless of what I need, he can fill that role for us."

"When I signed my contract with the Indians, I knew I wasn't going to be the closer, and I knew I had to prepare to pitch the seventh, eighth or ninth. It wasn't something new that popped up.

"In Japan, I was the ninth-inning closer, so it was easier for me to prepare. From the seventh inning on, I would be up in the bullpen to warm up, then as the game went on, I was getting ready for the ninth."

One thing Masa would not do is blame cultural reasons... Masa is a great guy though. He just needs to step up everytime he gets out because... honestly he's on the shortest leash of all the relief pitchers now. There is Vinnie Chulk, but if Masa just gets bad, he will be gone in one shape or way.

Overall going back to Sunday though.. Wedge was happy with the offense yesterday than on Saturday. He said the team worked a little harder offensively in their at-bats.

Peralta is one of those guys, and Tribe Third Base Coach (Not hitting coach as the article points out), said the thing Wedge said Peralta and the Indians did a bit more of. "Right now, we need to continue grinding it out and doing the things we need to do, throughout the course of the whole game," Skinner said. "There are times when you can just pick things apart. We do these things every day. You need to try to win the first inning and go from there."Can you argue with that philosophy? They won the first inning this game and they won the game. That's how the Twins do it, that's how it should be done.

This scuffling though... It prompted a change.

One change was Asdrubal Cabrera being thrown up to the top of the lineup, and paired with his defense, Wedge has nothing but good things to say about the youngster. Oh and this move is more than one a time thing, it might be the official point where he takes over if he keeps hitting well.
"That's the level you want to see him play at," Wedge said. "He was outstanding for us in the two-hole in '07. He'll be there [Monday]."And now we turn our focus to the Red Sox on Monday.. And Cliff Lee facing his favorite team.

When it comes to RBI Baseball that is.
"Then, I'm a Red Sox guy," said Lee, referring to the classic Nintendo game. Lee, Kerry Wood, and Victor Martinez do a lot of RBI Baseball. Lee says Victor is the champ, and that he's beat Wood just about every time they've played minus once.

Other than that, this really doesn't have anything to do with the series this week.

Cliff is pitching much better though and doing a better job, more towards what he did last year, rather than what he did in the first few games.

That's ridiculous....

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:05:21 -0500

HOW ON EARTH WAS THAT LAST PITCH A STRIKE!?

What a load of garbage that was.

It doesn't help matters that Mariano Rivera has that stupid cutter that kills hitters, but when he gets those bogus calls on the inside and then gets one as blatantly as a ball as that last pitch to DeRosa was, how on earth are you supposed to beat him?

Whatever.

Phil Cuzzi was awful today... Really that was just a horrendous day and that last at-bat with DeRosa was pretty much summing it up. There is a pitch inside that gets called a strike, two pitches later it's thrown in the exact spot and it's a ball. Then of course the ridiculous strike three.

As I said, whatever.

That was just a ridiculous loss.

Mark DeRosa had the home run in the first inning, which was great. But then for some reason Anthony Reyes couldn't keep the ball in the park. Luckily no one was on base for any of them. DeRosa went 2-5 with the home run and two RBI.

Reyes' final line, five innings, five hits, three runs all off solo shots to Damon, Teixeira, and Cabrera, three walks, and a strikeout.

He left with the lead but he wouldn't get the win.

This was basically five solo home runs and an error.

That's how the Indians loss this.

Zach Jackson came in and gave up a solo shot to Robinson Cano. He got two outs and then Smitty came in and struck out Jeter.

Francisco knocked in a run with a single, Damon couldn't get Hafner at home, his arm is reaallllly weak isn't it?

DeRo knocked in Cabrera in the 5th to tie the game and then it was Victor Martinez with a sac fly to take the lead. A Ryan Garko double to left field made it a two run game. That should have been it.

But obviously the Cano home run made it a one run game and when Vinnie Chulk came in to pitch the seventh, he was good pitching wise. But his stupid error not only let Damon get to third but let him score. So it's a tie game just like that off an error.

And then Jensen Lewis surrendered a "pop fly" according to Underwood to Derek Jeter. That pop fly was a home run.

I'm just so pissed.. That was so unnecessary to lose.

Now we are at 3-8 instead of 4-7. A three game win streak would have been great, but we have to find a way to screw it up.

Fausto Carmona and Mr. Wang tomorrow. Ground ball city and hopefully a redemption for today's loss.

[BOXSCORE]

My God The Pants Are Coming Down!

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:00:07 -0500

Wendell Stamps

It feels like a giant pair of pants are coming down.

ONE AND SEVEN.. I mean, really?

The game isn't officially over, but it really is over at this point. And this guy that is shouting in the stands is going to find my foot up his ass if he doesn't shut up. I don't even understand what he's saying, but it's still annoying.

Carl Pavano was actually not awful tonight.

He went six innings, struck out 8.. Did give up eight hits, but no walks, which you can take.

Four runs isn't awesome, but four runs spanned over six innings is something we can work with.

It still has to get better though.

Perez comes in and he continues to look like he's still finding himself.

That slider that he threw to Mike Jacobs really shouldn't have been hit.. But it was... Kudos to him.. Nothing you can do.

Then he loads up the bases after giving up an extra run and that opens the door for Chulkamania to give up the grand slam.

The offense again just not getting all the hits they need. Tonight was okay. Peralta squandered a shot early in the first inning. Sizemore let one go with a runner on third and less than two outs, but DeRosa picked things up with a hit.

I don't know why Joel Skinner sent Cabrera on that throw though. All the way from first? It's crazy, Joel.

Trevor Crowe struck out with a hitter on third and he did it rather quickly..

Then of course the stupid strike'em out throw'em out in the 8th, which pretty much signified the end of the game.

DeRosa had a couple of hits and the RBI, Victor scored a run and had two hits as well. Peralta, Francisco, and Shoppach all had hits, Peralta finally getting his first RBI of the year. Cabrera knocked in that one run as well.

It's just frustrating at this point.

Choo got the start in the cleanup spot, but I wonder why. Why not slide Peralta up there for that? Seriously, what the hell are you doing Eric? Peralta did it last year and yet you keep him in the fifth no matter the circumstance?

I also have to wonder if he brought in Vinnie Chulk as a death sentence. Basically saying, if you get out of this, we'll probably keep you.. If you blow, well, I think it's time to move on.

It wouldn't shock me to see them try and get Chulk through waivers when they bring up Aaron Laffey.

This is now getting ridiculous as far as this team not winning ball games. I'm not panicking, but I'm starting to get fed up with the losing and the laughing stock they are becoming. It has to stop and it has to stop soon or else this year will be another one we can just throw away, which is not something I'm looking forward to.

[BOXSCORE]

Scott Lewis to the DL, Vinnie Chulk Added

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:21:53 -0500

Scott Lewis is hurt...

Maybe it explains why he suddenly started to lose it after pitching well.

Or maybe it doesn't.

Lewis has a strain in his throwing arm, specifically the elbow. He's going to the 15 Day DL and he'll be having an MRI soon to find out the extent of the injury. Lewis said he was feeling a little bit of that strain in his final starts of spring.

To replace him on the roster, the Indians have called up Vinnie Chulk from Columbus, who pitched on Thursday, so he's a little fresh in case the Indians need an arm after the past two days in which everyone in the bullpen has been used.

Chulk will also take the final spot on the 40 man roster that was open.

That leaves the Indians without a starter for Wednesday's game at Kansas City. Since Chulk was added to the 40-man roster, you would figure Aaron Laffey or Jeremy Sowers would get the first shot, but there's no telling where the Indians could go.

We might get a good indication tonight. Last night, Aaron Laffey was supposed to start for Columbus, but the game was rained out. If he pitches tonight, that means he might be out. If he's held out or pitches a little, that could mean he's the guy. I'm just speculating though.

Kirk Saarloos and Jeremy Sowers follow Laffey in the rotation, just an FYI.

Another note for this game, Travis Hafner is getting a day-off. Nothing is wrong, but I assume this is Wedge's idea of keeping Hafner fresh, and getting Shoppach, Garko, and Martinez all in the lineup.

He's hitting the ball real well these past few games. Luckily, Shoppach went deep in his last game, Garko's been great in the two game's he's played, and Vic is slugging the ball just as well, so it's not like Wedge is sitting him in favor of people who aren't hitting.

Hafner is 4-14 against Halladay in his career, with 1 RBI, 3 BB, 4 SO, and 2 Doubles.

Garko is 4-9 against Halladay, with a double and 3 SO.

Shoppach is 0-6 with 3 SO.

The Comings and Goings in Cleveland

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:35:29 -0500

Indians Place Dellucci on DL; Recall Crowe from Columbus

With just one week until they open up against the Rangers in Texas, the Cleveland Indians tweaked their opening day roster once again to make sure that it is just right. Their basic moves are that they placed outfielder David Dellucci on the 15-day disabled list where he will be until the middle of April. To fill his spot on the roster, the Indians recalled outfielder Trevor Crowe from their AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers of the International League.

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Crowe has been the doll of the Indians’ farm system for some time now and they even made a few different attempts at altering his position to see if it would bring him to the majors at a faster pace due to the team’s immediate needs. For a while when he was with the team’s AA affiliate, the Akron Aeros, he was attempting to learn second base and even took practice doing double plays for basically a straight month until they decided that he should stick to the outfield unless the switch is really needed. Crowe has impressed many with his range in the outfield and if he is able to hit at the big league level as he did throughout most of his career in the minors, the Indians will finally have someone to help Grady Sizemore out with production from the outfield positions. Although he is by no means a large person, Crowe is very similar to Sizemore in that he has a good amount of speed and a decent amount of power, showing that he could be a very well rounded ball player.

Dellucci has done little during his few year stint with the Tribe to win over many of the Wahoo’s followers. Even though he has come through with some clutch hitting in very key situations over the past two seasons, the deal that he signed was too large for his capabilities and he has pretty much become a platoon corner outfielder. Even general manager Mark Shapiro will openly admit that signing Dellucci to that kind of deal was a mistake.

Overall, the Indians seem to have a pretty well rounded line up and no doubt look better than they did on opening day last year. With this being said, there are no shortage of holes in the team that need to be figured out. The team will probably have to wait a while to see what, exactly, is going to happen with some of the pieces that they are attempting to use to fill some of their perceived holes.

Tribe Signs Lara to Minor League Deal

With opening day just over a week away, the Cleveland Indians are still putting their nose to the grind and trying put together pieces of their team in order to fill some holes that really weren’t expected at this point. The Indians continued their love affair with pitcher Jaun Lara on Tuesday as they signed him to a minor league contract. Lara was originally singed by the Indians as an amateur free agent in 1999 and he has been all over the organization since then.

It took him until 2006 to make his major league debut and he has only appeared in the majors in two separate seasons. The left hander appeared in nine games as a reliever during the 2006 season as he pitched a total of five innings and compiled an ERA of 1.80. In 2007, at the age of 26, he appeared in just one game with the Tribe where he went 1.3 innings and gave up two runs. Despite the fact that Lara has had almost a decade to prove himself to the Tribe, and has not been able to convince the brass thus far that he is capable of pitching to their level, the Indians still see some promise in him and believe some of his best years may be ahead of him.

Pitching was not a problem that the Indians thought they were going to have for some time going into last season. At the end of the 2007 season they had a stable rotation with two players who finished in the top five in the American League Cy Young voting, and the player who led the league in saves. In 2008, their pitching blew up on all fronts as their closer could not enter a game without giving up the lead and they were forced to trade their ace because they could not afford him.

This will no doubt be an interesting season for the Tribe as manager Eric Wedge enters his seventh season at the helm. It really is hard to believe that he has been in Cleveland that long with all of the talent that they continually claim to have. While there is no doubt that he has caught some bad breaks throughout his time with the Tribe, he has also been given a longer leash than most major league managers could ever dream of.

Perhaps the best thing that could happen for the Indians on their home opening weekend is for it to snow because the last time they had to cancel games due to snow, they won the Central Division.

Tribe Trades Mujica; Sends Chulk to Minor League Camp

To make their problems in the bullpen more complicated, the Indians decided to get rid of another player who seemed to have a good amount of promise just two years ago. The Tribe officially traded pitcher Edward Mujica to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday and got virtually nothing in return. These kinds of trades are always astounding as the Tribe will receive either a player to be named later or some possible cash considerations. One has to wonder if they were just looking for a respectable way to send Mujica out of town.

The Indians also assigned reliever Vinnie Chulk to minor league camp despite having two roster spots open. Chulk has had a more impressive spring than some of the players who are still on the roster, so it shouldn’t be long before he gets the call to come up to the big club.

With just 38 of the 40 roster spots filled and still many question marks about the team, it raises the question of why aren’t a couple of players being given a longer look since they are allowed to stay with the club at this point.

The more time passes, the more it seems that a good amount of the Indians team seems to be in flux. The stability that seemed to be eminent for the club just last season, seems to have flown out the window. There is no doubt that the Tribe has some talented players, especially with Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee, but those two are not going to be enough to really get this team anywhere. Some of this is not the fault of the team’s management because it is know that a player who had a decent season one year was going to drop off the face of the earth during the next spring training.

Josh Barfield seems destined for a position with the team if not more out of his effort than anything else. Barfield has had trouble getting his batting average to the Mendoza line this summer. That’s right. Not getting above it, but getting to it. Even though this is true, he has made an effort to show manager Eric Wedge that he will play any position and never complain which may gain him a spot after all.

If this happens, one has to imagine that players like Matt LaPorta will be wondering how much more seasoning they need at the plate in the minors before they will be allowed to overtake a player like Barfield for a spot on the roster. This is not saying that LaPorta does not need more time in the minors, it’s just something to consider.

Bill Jordan is a contributor to BaseballReflections.com. He can be reached by e-mail at BillJordaniv@yahoo.com.

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Non Roster Invitee: Vinnie Chulk - Indians

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:56:55 -0500

I?m not sure what it is but there is something about Vinnie Chulk. He?s never been the type of pitcher to blow batters away and despite being designated for assignment by the San Fransisco Giants after a 4.83 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 31 2/3 innings he still comes across as the type of [...]

Indians Sign Chulk to Minor League Deal

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:12:45 -0500

On Tuesday the Indians signed pitcher Vinnie Chulk to a minor league contract. The right hander was originally a 12th round draft pick by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2000.

The reliever made his major league debut on September 8, 2003 as an end of the season call up to the Jays. He has spent parts of the past six seasons in the majors with the Jays and the Giants, compiling a record of 7-14 in 244 games. His career ERA stands at a respectable 4.36 in a total of 264.3 innings.

Even though the Indians have bolstered their bullpen this off season with the signing of closer Kerry Wood, having Chulk in the minors is not a bad idea. He will receive an invite to major league spring training and a real shot at making it with the Indians to start the season. If he doesn?t make it then, he could very well be the first reliever called on to jump up from AAA Columbus when a pitcher goes down with an injury.

During his career, Chulk has recorded 185 strikeouts, 98 walks and has allowed 265 hits. With spring training just two weeks away, Chulk figures to be one of the last players to have a slot with the team this spring.

He is coming off of a season where he appeared in 27 games and compiled an 0-3 record with an ERA of 4.38. If he can provide some sort of steady force out of the bullpen for a few months in the season, the Indians will be glad they acquired him.

Bill Jordan is a contributor to BaseballReflections.com. He can be reached by e-mail at BillJordaniv@yahoo.com .