Asdrubal Cabrera is going to be out for probably six to eight weeks after fracturing his forearm on this play during last night's Indians/Rays game. (Refresh the page to get away from that advertisement and just see the play.) What you see is Peralta at the short stop position, Cabrera at second, and the ball rolling up the middle. Cabrera dives for the ball, and then Peralta appears to run into him and breaks his arm.
I first saw this last night on WKYC Channel 3's Sports Report during the 11 o'clock news and my first thoughts were, why the hell was that fatass Jhonny Peralta playing short stop? Did Manny Acta all of a sudden forget how to manage his baseball team? It figures that the one time Acta would put him at short, Peraltass would do something like this...
However, upon further investigation, I found out that Hank Blalock was at the dish with a runner on first so Acta decided to employ a infield shift. That takes him off the hook for why we're without our leadoff hitter for the next six to eight weeks. And then I read several reports which said that even thought it appears Peralta ran into Cabrera's arm, he actually did not. To paraphrase one article that I read about it today (and I apologize for not remembering the article and writer), there is a hell of a lot we can blame Peralta for in terms of his performance on the field, but this is just not one of them. So, to set the record straight, Peralta and Cabrera were trying to avoid each other and Cabrera was the one who got the raw end of the deal.
Where does that leave the Tribe? Well, they've called up Jason Donald, a middle infield prospect acquired in the Cliff Lee trade last season. He was having a pretty solid season at the plate in Columbus, hitting .277 with 2 HR, 17 RBI and 10 doubles. He also stole 10 bases with only being caught twice. I think it was getting to be time that the Indians called him up anyway, I just wish it could have been to replace Luis Valbuena, who is strugg-a-ling at the plate.
Cabrera will most likely have surgery on his forearm, but the Indians should release more on that situation after Cabrera has been examined by a specialist in Baltimore tomorrow. In either case, I wish Cabrera a speedy recovery. His offense, defense, and stability at the top of the lineup will certainly be missed until he gets back.
~MAS
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
LeBron James - Will He or Won't He...? Part I
This is obviously the question on the mind of every Cavs fan, is LeBron going to leave? Well, it depends on who you ask. According to fanhouse.com columnist and Around The Horn analyst Jay Mariotti, he's got to leave in order to have a legitimate shot at a championship title. According to Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto, all of the trades Danny Ferry made to bolster this team to play against the Magic (which is really what they did, focus on beating the Magic and only the Magic) failed.
Personally, I've been hearing all kinds of things around C-Town about LeBron and his contract situation. What I was really getting from around town for the most part was that he was a sure lock to stay about two weeks ago, and now that the Cavs lost there's practically no way that he's going to stick around. I mean, people have been saying some pretty harsh words, for instance that LeBron quit on his coach and then his team by putting out little to no effort during Game 5 and then Game 6 wasn't much better. Others have said that LeBron was hurt and that his supporting cast completely let him down. I'm sure you can find hundreds of opinions on the entire situation, so I'm just going to quit the synthesizing and just give you mine.
I think (really really really hope) that LeBron is going to stay with the Cavs and I'll tell you why in a series of posts that will probably come every time I see/read/hear something that I find pretty ridiculous about rumors. But I figured that in the wake of the Cavaliers flameout it would be appropriate to talk about it.
I read this article on the subject today from nba.fanhouse.com that said LeBron would end up in Chicago. That's nothing new of course, but this columnist, Terence Moore, is also somehow convinced that Doc Rivers will be the coach next year. Yes, that Doc Rivers the current coach of the Boston Celtics. You might be thinking, as I was, what the hell is he talking about?
Well, Moore justifies this insane claim by saying that the Bulls will buy out the last year of Rivers' contract with the Celtics. He writes, "So, when the Bulls ask the Celtics for permission to buy out Rivers' final season, the Celtics could do the illogical thing by telling their coach who wants to go elsewhere that he isn't allowed to leave."
I'm sorry, the illogical thing? I need someone to explain to me how in the world it could possibly be illogical for the Celtics front office to let their coach just go to another team in the Eastern Conference that would compete for the same spot in The Finals. That makes absolutely zero sense. Especially when you have a team with the likes of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, the list goes on. I don't want to make this post too long, but I have to share with you some other quotes from this ridiculous article.
This one for instance. Moore is writing about how LeBron and Rivers have both been prepping to go to Chicago. James, of course, by faxing in the paperwork to switch his number from 23, which is retired in Chicago for some guy named Jordan, to 6. Right here is where Moore looses his credibility for me, as everyone knows when you go to a new team, you can switch your number. So if anything the case should be made that LeBron will stay in Cleveland because of that.
In any case, Moore writes that Rivers has also been prepping to go to Chicago because he "has been hounded by Celtics general manager Danny Ainge for the last few months to sign a contract extension, but Rivers keeps saying no...Most folks in the volatile coaching world of the NBA would have signed a new deal within seconds after Ainge asked the first time. Instead, Rivers keeps saying he will wait until the summer to decide his future." I think Moore might have a point with that argument, but not much of one. If someone wants to do business in the offseason when he has another year on his contract, why not let him? In my opinion, contract talk during the season becomes an immediate distraction that has an adverse effect on what happens on the court.
But here is Moore's final argument as to why Rivers will end up with the Bulls. "...Chicago is Rivers' home town. And his wife is from up the road in Milwaukee, where Rivers went to school at Marquette." ...Seriously? That is the best you come up with? It's crap like this from Moore and Mariotti from the Fanhouse website that makes me think that they are paid to come up with the most outrageous claims that they can to drive people to the website. These writers should be more credible than that. They shouldn't appear as if they are idiots standing at the street corner on a milk crate yelling into a megaphone about some crazy idea. To me, that's not sports writing, and it's certainly not journalism.
Well I guess I'll get off of my soap box too, cause that was for sure a long post. Thanks for reading, stay tuned for parts II through...well as many as we get through until LeBron signs with whatever team he signs with whenever he signs with them.
~MAS
Personally, I've been hearing all kinds of things around C-Town about LeBron and his contract situation. What I was really getting from around town for the most part was that he was a sure lock to stay about two weeks ago, and now that the Cavs lost there's practically no way that he's going to stick around. I mean, people have been saying some pretty harsh words, for instance that LeBron quit on his coach and then his team by putting out little to no effort during Game 5 and then Game 6 wasn't much better. Others have said that LeBron was hurt and that his supporting cast completely let him down. I'm sure you can find hundreds of opinions on the entire situation, so I'm just going to quit the synthesizing and just give you mine.
I think (really really really hope) that LeBron is going to stay with the Cavs and I'll tell you why in a series of posts that will probably come every time I see/read/hear something that I find pretty ridiculous about rumors. But I figured that in the wake of the Cavaliers flameout it would be appropriate to talk about it.
I read this article on the subject today from nba.fanhouse.com that said LeBron would end up in Chicago. That's nothing new of course, but this columnist, Terence Moore, is also somehow convinced that Doc Rivers will be the coach next year. Yes, that Doc Rivers the current coach of the Boston Celtics. You might be thinking, as I was, what the hell is he talking about?
Well, Moore justifies this insane claim by saying that the Bulls will buy out the last year of Rivers' contract with the Celtics. He writes, "So, when the Bulls ask the Celtics for permission to buy out Rivers' final season, the Celtics could do the illogical thing by telling their coach who wants to go elsewhere that he isn't allowed to leave."
I'm sorry, the illogical thing? I need someone to explain to me how in the world it could possibly be illogical for the Celtics front office to let their coach just go to another team in the Eastern Conference that would compete for the same spot in The Finals. That makes absolutely zero sense. Especially when you have a team with the likes of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, the list goes on. I don't want to make this post too long, but I have to share with you some other quotes from this ridiculous article.
This one for instance. Moore is writing about how LeBron and Rivers have both been prepping to go to Chicago. James, of course, by faxing in the paperwork to switch his number from 23, which is retired in Chicago for some guy named Jordan, to 6. Right here is where Moore looses his credibility for me, as everyone knows when you go to a new team, you can switch your number. So if anything the case should be made that LeBron will stay in Cleveland because of that.
In any case, Moore writes that Rivers has also been prepping to go to Chicago because he "has been hounded by Celtics general manager Danny Ainge for the last few months to sign a contract extension, but Rivers keeps saying no...Most folks in the volatile coaching world of the NBA would have signed a new deal within seconds after Ainge asked the first time. Instead, Rivers keeps saying he will wait until the summer to decide his future." I think Moore might have a point with that argument, but not much of one. If someone wants to do business in the offseason when he has another year on his contract, why not let him? In my opinion, contract talk during the season becomes an immediate distraction that has an adverse effect on what happens on the court.
But here is Moore's final argument as to why Rivers will end up with the Bulls. "...Chicago is Rivers' home town. And his wife is from up the road in Milwaukee, where Rivers went to school at Marquette." ...Seriously? That is the best you come up with? It's crap like this from Moore and Mariotti from the Fanhouse website that makes me think that they are paid to come up with the most outrageous claims that they can to drive people to the website. These writers should be more credible than that. They shouldn't appear as if they are idiots standing at the street corner on a milk crate yelling into a megaphone about some crazy idea. To me, that's not sports writing, and it's certainly not journalism.
Well I guess I'll get off of my soap box too, cause that was for sure a long post. Thanks for reading, stay tuned for parts II through...well as many as we get through until LeBron signs with whatever team he signs with whenever he signs with them.
~MAS
Monday, May 17, 2010
Jake Westbrook: Note of Praise
Everyone, I now believe it is safe to say that Jake Westbrook has regained his bearings and has started to feel comfortable out there on the mound. It makes a lot of sense to me that it would take a few starts to get back to some level of comfort and stability after being away from the Major League level of competition for nearly two years. I'm just glad that he has delivered two pretty darn good starts in a row to get his first two wins since the 2008 season.
When you take a look at the numbers, you can see just how good these last two starts were for Westbrook. Granted, he wasn't facing the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, etc. but a win against any team is the same in the column. In his start at Kansas City on the 11th of this month, he went 6 innings, gave up 1 run on 5 hits with 2 K's and 2 walks. That's a solid quality start that was good enough for his first win of the season.
He followed that up with a fantastic start against the Orioles this past Sunday, where he pitched a complete game for the first time April 8, 2008 against the Angels. It took him just 116 pitches and 77 of those went for strikes (That's 66% for those of you who like to keep track of that type of thing). Not only did he have those 66% strikes, he had 8 K's, only 1 walk, and really only made one mistake and that was a solo homer given up to DH Luke Scott. But here's my favorite stat: of the 27 outs, of course 8 were strike outs, but then 15 were ground outs and only 3 were fly outs. That is how you know Westbrook is feeling good out on the mound - the sinker is sinking and he's getting a whole lot of ground outs.
So Mr. Westbrook, I'm very glad to see that you're back in form and I sincerely hope that you keep it up. Not only because you play for the Tribe and I want to see them win, but because I think you're a class act and would like to see you have a successful season no matter who you play for.
~MAS
When you take a look at the numbers, you can see just how good these last two starts were for Westbrook. Granted, he wasn't facing the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, etc. but a win against any team is the same in the column. In his start at Kansas City on the 11th of this month, he went 6 innings, gave up 1 run on 5 hits with 2 K's and 2 walks. That's a solid quality start that was good enough for his first win of the season.
He followed that up with a fantastic start against the Orioles this past Sunday, where he pitched a complete game for the first time April 8, 2008 against the Angels. It took him just 116 pitches and 77 of those went for strikes (That's 66% for those of you who like to keep track of that type of thing). Not only did he have those 66% strikes, he had 8 K's, only 1 walk, and really only made one mistake and that was a solo homer given up to DH Luke Scott. But here's my favorite stat: of the 27 outs, of course 8 were strike outs, but then 15 were ground outs and only 3 were fly outs. That is how you know Westbrook is feeling good out on the mound - the sinker is sinking and he's getting a whole lot of ground outs.
So Mr. Westbrook, I'm very glad to see that you're back in form and I sincerely hope that you keep it up. Not only because you play for the Tribe and I want to see them win, but because I think you're a class act and would like to see you have a successful season no matter who you play for.
~MAS
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Grady Sizemore: Notice of Concern
In my high school time at Hawken, whenever a teacher felt a student got a bad grade on a test or simply like a student was really driving the struggle bus, they would send a "Notice of Concern" home to the student's parents. I've decided that I want to adopt a sort of similar concept here on the blog. On the flip side of the Notice of Concern there will be the Note of Praise for anyone who I think has really gone above and beyond in the Cleveland sports realm.
That being said, we've got to start out with a big Notice of Concern for Grady Sizemore. During spring training, I constantly read articles about him being 100% healthy, and how it was really apparent just how injured he was last year because he was now swinging the bat so well, and running so well, the list went on. And this wasn't just the writers opinions, I know I remember quotes from GM Mark Shapiro saying something right along those lines. Unfortunately, those predictions haven't paned out at all. Not even close.
Consider the numbers: Going into this next series with the (barely) last place in the AL Central Royals, Sizemore is hitting a very discouraging .213 with 0 HR, 12 RBI, 14 runs scored, and only 8 extra base hits (6 doubles, 2 triples). He's 2/3 on steals (2/3! Come on!), has only walked 8 times (as many walks as extra base hits! yikes!) and has an on base percentage of just .277. I know Grady is going to strike out a lot, that's just who he is, but right now he's working on 30 K's to just 23 hits and 33 total bases. If we go to some splits, it looks even worse. He's only hitting .111 against lefties. .111. 0 extra base hits from and an OBP of .184.
This is Grady's sixth full season in the big leagues, and by now everyone knows that as he goes, so goes the Indians' offensive attack. That being said, of course not all the blame for the lack of run production and waste of pitching can go to Sizemore. And there have been signs of improvement. He ended April with a .205 average and has hit .233 so far in May to bring his average up a few points.
Still, this Notice of Concern has been sent to Grady Sizemore because of his abysmal offensive production so far this season, and I believe it would be in his best interest (and in the best interest of Indians fans everywhere) for Sizemore to improve these numbers as soon as possible.
~MAS
That being said, we've got to start out with a big Notice of Concern for Grady Sizemore. During spring training, I constantly read articles about him being 100% healthy, and how it was really apparent just how injured he was last year because he was now swinging the bat so well, and running so well, the list went on. And this wasn't just the writers opinions, I know I remember quotes from GM Mark Shapiro saying something right along those lines. Unfortunately, those predictions haven't paned out at all. Not even close.
Consider the numbers: Going into this next series with the (barely) last place in the AL Central Royals, Sizemore is hitting a very discouraging .213 with 0 HR, 12 RBI, 14 runs scored, and only 8 extra base hits (6 doubles, 2 triples). He's 2/3 on steals (2/3! Come on!), has only walked 8 times (as many walks as extra base hits! yikes!) and has an on base percentage of just .277. I know Grady is going to strike out a lot, that's just who he is, but right now he's working on 30 K's to just 23 hits and 33 total bases. If we go to some splits, it looks even worse. He's only hitting .111 against lefties. .111. 0 extra base hits from and an OBP of .184.
This is Grady's sixth full season in the big leagues, and by now everyone knows that as he goes, so goes the Indians' offensive attack. That being said, of course not all the blame for the lack of run production and waste of pitching can go to Sizemore. And there have been signs of improvement. He ended April with a .205 average and has hit .233 so far in May to bring his average up a few points.
Still, this Notice of Concern has been sent to Grady Sizemore because of his abysmal offensive production so far this season, and I believe it would be in his best interest (and in the best interest of Indians fans everywhere) for Sizemore to improve these numbers as soon as possible.
~MAS
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