Tribe’s Vaunted Rotation Is No Longer…Right Now

Just two weeks ago, the Cleveland Indians had a starting rotation that was remarkable. All five members were capable of dominating the opponents’ hitters.

Led by Cy Young Award candidate Shane Bieber, the Tribe pitchers blew through the first 17 games of the regular season without giving up more than four runs.

Then came the night of August 8th, when Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger decided to go out onto the mean streets of the Windy City, and had to be quarantined when they violated the protocol Major League Baseball and the Indians put forth in handling the coronavirus pandemic.

In the 11 games since the trip to Chicago, the Cleveland pitching staff has allowed more than four runs six times.

Carlos Carrasco hasn’t pitched well in his last three starts. Adam Plutko has been hit hard in his last two. So, right now, the dominance in the starting staff depends on Bieber, Aaron Civale, and a youngster who has one major league start in Triston McKenzie.

Can Carrasco return to form? Of course, Sandy Alomar Jr. discussed how the veteran is trying to make some adjustments and Alomar alluded to how Cookie is not moving the ball up and down in the strike zone.

Still, in his last 12 innings, over those three starts, Carrasco has allowed 10 earned runs (7.50 ERA) and has walked nine hitters, and given up three gopher balls.

Plutko, who to be fair, entered the season as the sixth starter/long reliever, has had issues getting through the batting order a second time in his three starts, pitching 10 innings and allowing 11 runs (9.90 ERA) and has just four strikeouts.

Does the front office really want to depend on the 23-year-old rookie in McKenzie, a guy who hadn’t pitched in a competitive game since 2018 before dominating the Tigers last Saturday night? That’s one helluva gamble.

And with the Cleveland offense struggling on a nightly basis to score runs, anything less than outstanding pitching seems to spell defeat for the Indians. That puts a heck of a lot of pressure on the two holdovers from the beginning of the season, Bieber and Civale.

Those two have been tremendous. As stated before, Bieber is a candidate for the Cy Young Award, going 5-0 with a 1.11 ERA in his six starts, striking out an ungodly 65 hitters in 40-2/3 innings.

Civale has been very good too, with a 3-2 record and a 2.91 ERA in 34 innings. He threw a complete game against Pittsburgh in his last start.

So, why we understand the move the organization made in putting Clevinger and Plesac on the restricted list first, and then sending them basically to the minor leagues, the fact is, the performance of the staff has suffered without them.

Therefore, it seems like time to smooth things over with the rest of the roster and get at least one of the two back with the big club right away.

Plutko is scheduled to make his next start against the first place Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night, and based on his last three outings, it would be a stretch to find a fan looking forward to that matchup.

What seemed like a historically great starting rotation has sprung leaks, and it is not due to injury. If the Indians want to make another deep post-season run, they should understand having one or both of these pitchers back is a necessity.

Until Ramirez, Lindor, C. Santana Start Hitting, Tribe In For A Bumpy Ride

Last night’s game between the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers marked the 27th game of the season, which would be the 1/6th point of a normal 162 game slate.

While many baseball people like to point to the quarter pole of a season (40 games), we think 27 games is effective because the campaign has gone along enough to make some judgments.

And despite occasional flashes from Tribe hitters, you have to conclude that the Cleveland offense isn’t very effective.

The Indians rank 13th in the AL in runs scored per game, ahead of only Kansas City and Texas. The other four teams that join them in the bottom five of this category have a combined 41-66 record, which is a .383 winning percentage.

The bottom five in the National League have a combined record of 47-63, which is a slightly better, but still poor .427 record of winning.

Therefore, it is remarkable that Cleveland has a 17-10 record despite their limited ability to score runs, but it seems important to winning games, that you have to produce some runs.

It also points to how unbelievable the Tribe pitching has been this season.

We anticipated the Indians might struggle to score runs because the bottom of their batting order was largely unproven, or in their because of their defense. The outfield was thought to be a possible problem all winter. It’s one of the reasons they signed Domingo Santana.

As of today, the highest OPS of the bottom four in the lineup (most frequently Santana, Tyler Naquin, Roberto Perez, and Delino DeShields) is 648.

The league average is 735.

However, the top of the lineup has also performed less than anticipated, with only Franmil Reyes and Cesar Hernandez doing what was expected.

Reyes is the only Indian hitter with an OPS over 800 (888), and the only Cleveland player with a slugging percentage of over .450 and an on base percentage over .350.

Hernandez has done his job, which was to get on base. He has a .370 on base percentage, and has seen a lot of pitches and worked counts.

Carlos Santana has been a walk machine, leading the league by a wide margin (27, next best player has 20), but he has just five extra base hits on the season, two doubles and three home runs, with a batting average of just .193.

Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor, the duo supposed to be the best offensive players on the team, have really scuffled.

Lindor is hitting .252 with just six walks (723 OPS), and has grounded into a league high seven double plays. To our eye, he is trying to pull outside pitches instead of hitting them into the gaps. And he is swinging at a lot of borderline pitches when he is ahead in the count.

The last couple of days, he is taking a bit of an opposite field approach in an effort to stay on the ball, and has had some hits.

Ramirez has had a couple of huge games (a pair of two homer contests), but hitting only .233, and hasn’t had a hit since last Sunday. He has taken some walks (he’s in the top ten in the AL), but has really been feast or famine in 2020, mostly the latter.

If the trio of Ramirez, Lindor, and Carlos Santana aren’t producing on a consistent basis, this offense is in big trouble. Their track records indicate they will hit at some point, but until then, it’s pretty ugly.

We’ve seen suggestions of moving Lindor back to the leadoff spot recently, but we don’t think that’s a good remedy. His career high in on base percentage (2016) is .358, which is less than what Hernandez is giving the team now.

Terry Francona and the front office can keep shuffling the deck in the outfield, but what will that accomplish? The hope that someone gets hot? Hope isn’t a plan.

Until the mainstays of the Cleveland lineup (Ramirez, Lindor, Santana) get going, this offense is going to struggle. The pitching will need to remain excellent until that happens.

Yes, Baseball Has Problems, But So Does Basketball

The other night, Padres’ young superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. swung at a 3-0 pitch with his team winning 10-3, and you would have thought an earthquake occurred.

There was a huge discussion on baseball’s “unwritten rules”, and how the game is stuck in the past, despite a show of support for the San Diego shortstop from Hall of Famers Johnny Bench and Reggie Jackson.

Maybe we aren’t reading the right things, but it seems the only people bothered by Tatis’ dinger were the managers of the Padres, and the team they were playing that night, the Texas Rangers.

And remember, the Friars’ skipper, Jayce Tingler used to work for the Rangers and may be friends with Chris Woodward, the Texas manager, and may have just been trying to take heat off Woodward’s caveman comments.

Still, it lead to discussions about the popularity of the National Pastime and why it seems to be dying, in the words of a former pro football player turned media person.

Look, there are plenty of things baseball needs to address. The defensive shifting, which led to the launch angle movement within the game, has led to lower batting averages and more home runs. A commercial once proclaimed “chicks dig the long ball”, and the round tripper is no doubt exciting.

It becomes less so when there are four or five of them in every game.

The emphasis on the home run has also led to more strikeouts. It used to be an embarrassment for a batter to whiff more than 100 times per year. Last season, the World Champion Washington Nationals had six hitters fan more than that.

Without question, baseball needs more action in the game. More baserunning, more stolen bases, more great defensive plays.

However, when people condemn baseball and prop up professional basketball as so exciting, we are here to tell you that’s baloney.

If the halcyon days of the NBA were the times Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan were on the court, the way the game is played today pales in comparison.

Today’s game is dominated by the long range jump shot. Why? One of the reasons is the same reason baseball is suffering a bit in style of play. Analytics have told basketball people three pointers are more “efficient” than two pointers.

Most teams in the league use the three as their primary weapon, and it is accomplished by having one player try to break down the defense, have the defense collapse on him and pass it outside for a long distance jumper.

The shooter is usually open because of the way defense is played today. Defenders aren’t allowed to use their hands to deter movement, so they have to play off the offensive player in fear they could blow past them and get to the rim.

So, while baseball has become a strikeout or home run sport, hoops has become a three pointer or layup game.

The Indiana Pacers took 32% of their field goal attempts from beyond the arc this season. Seems like a lot, right? They shot the least amount of threes in the NBA this year. Half of the shots the Houston Rockets take are three pointers.

Just 10 years ago, Orlando led the league in long range shots, with 35% of their field goal attempts being three pointers. Memphis was last at 15%. The Grizzlies still finished 40-42 that year.

The other reason was the success of the Golden State Warriors, who won three titles in the last five seasons, behind the shooting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. However, when the Warriors won their first title in 2015, they didn’t lead the league in three point attempts, they were 4th.

The title led to teams copying the style, which is where we are today for the most part.

There is an old boxing term that styles make fights, but it seems like in today’s NBA, most teams play the same style.

The game has marginalized the big man, which was the staple of the game throughout its history. You have to wonder how effective Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would be today, or if they could get on the court at all.

Basketball has just as many problems as baseball, but right now, the sport is the darling of the media and the younger generation. Sometimes popularity doesn’t mean good.

The best thing would be for some team to buck the trend and be successful. Then everyone will follow them.

On The Clevinger/Plesac Situation

When it was announced on August 9th that Cleveland Indians’ pitcher Zach Plesac had violated the protocol for COVID-19, it was greeted as a mistake made by a kid, an unfortunate error, but the hope was neither Plesac or any of his teammates would be infected.

The next day it was revealed that Mike Clevinger was with Plesac, and compounded the error by not letting anyone know, and flying back to Cleveland on the team plane.

Suddenly, the Tribe’s vaunted starting rotation was missing two pieces in a shortened season.

Now, a week later, the question of how this will play out is still up in the air.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported yesterday that veteran reliever Oliver Perez said he would opt out if the duo was returned to the active roster, and reportedly, the players as a whole are still very upset (and rightly so) that they were lied to by their teammates.

At the end of the day, the Indians’ organization has to do what is best for themselves both from a clubhouse standpoint and perhaps more importantly a competitive one.

There is no question the 2020 edition of the Tribe is better with Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac in the starting rotation. If they weren’t, then Adam Plutko would have been in the rotation to open the season, and one or both would have been in the satellite camp.

You have to also understand the players know this too.

That’s why talk of releasing the pair or trading them for essentially 20 cents on the dollar doesn’t make sense. The party who loses in this scenario is the Cleveland Indians.

People have referenced the Trevor Bauer transaction last season after the pitcher threw the ball over the centerfield fence in Kansas City in an act of frustration, but the Tribe got quite a haul for the right-hander, although we still think the deal was made more with 2020 in mind.

Our guess is if the return wasn’t there, Bauer would have finished the season in Cleveland. And we say that understanding Bauer didn’t put his teammates’ health in jeopardy.

At 13-9 during this abbreviated baseball schedule, the Tribe certainly has a solid chance to make the post-season, and perhaps win the division. The strength of the ballclub is the starting pitching. That would certainly be diminished without the men who started the second and fifth games of the season.

Without a doubt, the schedule was on the front office’s side in the disciplining of Clevinger and Plesac with three off days in an eight day span. Plutko has started twice in place of the former, and was okay in one start, and not so good in the other.

The team could’ve made the move to send Plesac to the minors anyway with all of the off days to bring up an extra position player or reliever.

We don’t want to marginalize the potential danger the pair put their teammates in, particularly when they saw the situations in Miami and St. Louis. Their reputations took a hit, as well they should have, but people need to understand this is not high school or college, so lesson learning cannot be the entire thing here.

This is professional sports and the players get paid to perform to the best of their abilities and the team is trying to win. Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac help the Indians in that pursuit.

And their teammates should understand they need them to win as well. So, cooler heads need to prevail.

First, both players need to throw themselves on the mercy of the rest of the roster. Be sincere, and in Plesac’s case, stop putting yourself out there on social media.

The team needs to accept this apology and start the healing process. Yes, the trust was broken, and only time will tell if it can be repaired.

There have been “bad guys” who have played Major League Baseball in the past, some who are well known (Ty Cobb), and others who have flown under the radar. We know the Indians’ clubhouse is especially tight knit, but no one says you have to like the people you work with, although it is nice.

It may sound callous to some, but the Cleveland Indians are a better team, and have a better chance to win with Clevinger and Plesac. Let’s hope everyone involved can understand this as well.

Can Tito Afford To Keep Handing It To Hand?

It is hard to come up with any criticism of the Cleveland Indians’ pitching staff. They lead the American League in ERA at 2.56.

They also lead the AL in strikeouts, least walks, and shutouts. The only category they are struggling a bit in is allowing the long ball. They’ve allowed the fifth most in the league, but that is really a product of being around the strike zone so much.

Most of the home runs are of the solo variety, and throughout the history of baseball, some of the game’s best hurlers have allowed tons of homers. The career leader is Jamie Moyer, and the next four pitchers are all in the Hall of Fame: Robin Roberts, Ferguson Jenkins, Phil Niekro, and Don Sutton.

However, there is one thing that should be a concern for Terry Francona and his pitching coaching staff of Carl Willis, Ruben Niebla, and Brian Sweeney. And it may be the most important pitching spot for a contending team. It’s the status of closer Brad Hand.

Last night, Hand picked up his 5th save, but it certainly wasn’t pretty. Coming in with a 3-0 lead handed to him by Shane Bieber and Nick Wittgren, Hand walked the lead off hitter on five pitches.

He then got Miguel Cabrera to lineout to LF, while the next hitter, Jonathan Schoop reached on catchers’ interference, which wasn’t Hand’s doing.

Another line drive to left was followed by an RBI double, so suddenly, the Tigers had the tying runs in scoring position. Cameron Maybin bounced to the mound, and the Tribe won the game.

In Hand’s 5-2/3 innings this season, he’s allowed five hits and four walks, along with seven runs, four of them earned.

He’s made seven appearances on the season, and has produced just one clean inning, that on August 4th. And he’s yet to protect a one run lead heading to the ninth.

He did come into a scoreless tie vs. the White Sox on July 29th, but proceeded to allow four runs (three earned) facing five hitters, retiring just one.

If the rest of the bullpen were struggling, we could understand Francona’s reticence to move away from Hand as the closer, but that is not the case. In fact, the skipper has started to use rookie James Karinchak in high leverage situations, aka the “Andrew Miller” role.

Nick Wittgren, who closed some a year ago when Hand was down with a tired arm, has pitched eight times (8 IP) to a 2.25 ERA and striking out 10. He’s prone to giving up the long ball, he gave up 10 gopher balls in 2019, but just one this season.

Another rookie, Cam Hill, has also earned a save, and outside of an outing against the Cubs last week, has also been very effective.

The questions are these for Tito, does he feel confident using Hand in a one run save opportunity? Would he use Karinchak in that spot, if he hadn’t already use him earlier? Would he go to Hill or Wittgren?

Again, it would be one thing if the veteran lefty, and three time All Star struggled once or twice, but he’s been shaky in six of his seven outings, and his velocity seems down, and he’s had command issues with his slider.

If Francona isn’t nervous, everyone else is.

This isn’t a normal 162 game season. The Indians are a little over a third of the way through the season, so patience is in short supply.

Perhaps Willis and his guys see something to indicate Hand is close to regaining his usual form. If they aren’t, it will be interesting to see what course of action is.

The Ugly Offensive Numbers For The Tribe

The Kansas City Royals have 63 extra base hits on the season, an average of more than three per game. And they rank only ninth in the American League in runs scored per game.

The top three teams in scoring in the AL are as follows–

Houston      5.18 runs          59 XBH
New York    5.18 runs          51 XBH
Detroit         5.13 runs          48 XBH

On the other end of the spectrum are the Cleveland Indians, who rank 14th in the league (second to last) in runs at 3.33, and have just 30 hits that weren’t singles.

We are now 18 games into the season, and only four Indians have more than two extra base hits on the season. They are–

Jose Ramirez 7
Francisco Lindor 6
Cesar Hernandez 5
Franmil Reyes 5

What is even worse is there are only two other players (Carlos Santana and Domingo Santana) who have two.

Cleveland ranks dead last in the AL in slugging percentage at .294. To give you an idea of how low that is, last season the Tigers had the least powerful offense in the Junior Circuit. They slugged .388.

Thankfully, the Tribe ranks 3rd in the league in walks, led by Carlos Santana who has taken a free pass 24 times, seven more than anyone else in the AL.

The downside to that is the Indians are below the dreaded “Mendoza line” as a team, with a batting average of .195. So, even with all the walks, the Tribe has an on base percentage of .303, 11th in the circuit.

You might think with all the walks, maybe Terry Francona’s squad is playing “small ball”, making up for a lack of pop by moving runners, stealing bases, etc.

Nope, Cleveland has stolen just two bases on the season and have actually been caught three times. They have one sacrifice bunt (we know, that makes people happy) and they also have just one sacrifice fly, ahead of only Boston, who have none.

Basically, when it comes to offense, the Indians aren’t doing much right.

They’ve scored 62 runs on the season, and 22 of those came in two games, the third game of the season vs. KC (9) and the last game of the Cincinnati set at Progressive Field when they exploded for 13 tallies.

In the other 17 games this season, the Tribe has crossed the plate just 40 times, for a 2.4 per game average.

Looking at that number, it’s really a miracle they a game above .500 at 10-9.

(By the way, that miracle is the work of their pitching staff)

Their catchers are a combined 4 for 61 (.066) with no homers and just one run batted in (a bases loaded walk to Beau Taylor), with seven walks and 23 strikeouts.

That’s pretty bad, but the outfielders (and we aren’t counting Reyes here because he’s mostly DH’d) are hitting just .135 with 3 HR and 12 RBI. They’ve mixed in 21 walks, but have 58 strikeouts in 170 at bats, which for the mathematically challenged is more than once every three times at the dish.

Those numbers don’t include Mike Freeman’s two hits on Sunday night against the White Sox, so if you wonder why he may start receiving more playing time, look at the previous paragraph.

Tyler Naquin was activated prior to the Cubs series, and while he isn’t exactly Babe Ruth, he may seem that way compared to those ugly numbers.

It is getting to the point that the organization has to find someone who can hit. We are getting to the point where we are close to the 1/6th pole in a normal major league schedule.

Unfortunately, the only real alternative that hasn’t been used within the organization that hasn’t been used is Jake Bauers. Could he be the next man up?

DeShields May Be Tribe’s Best CF Option For Now.

The outfield of the Cleveland Indians has been a supposed weakness for several years, at least according to the national baseball media.

Some years, Terry Francona’s use of the platoon advantages, the skipper covers up the problem. However, centerfield seems to have been an issue for several years.

A few weeks ago, we wrote a piece about Bradley Zimmer, detailing that he was called up in 2017 because Francona wasn’t happy with having to use Lonnie Chisenhall in center, and he needed a left-handed hitter to platoon with Austin Jackson.

Abraham Almonte wasn’t hitting and Tyler Naquin’s defense wasn’t gold glove worthy in the middle of the outfield.

The following year, Jackson, who was tremendous both offensively and defensively (869 OPS) was gone to free agency and the platoon was Greg Allen and Rajai Davis, neither of whom provided much offense.

That necessitated the deal for Leonys Martin, who unfortunately fell ill shortly after being acquired from Detroit.

Jason Kipnis was moved to centerfield late in the season after Josh Donaldson came over from Toronto at the end of August.

When Francona was hired in 2013, it coincided with the signing of Michael Bourn as a free agent. Bourn was never an offensive juggernaut (career high of 739 OPS to that point), and didn’t really hit in Cleveland either, compiling a 660 OPS here over two and a half seasons.

He also stopped stealing bases when he arrived in Cleveland, which was probably his best offensive weapon. And he was just okay defensively.

Last year, Oscar Mercado came up in mid May and became, we guess, the first everyday centerfielder since Bourn, playing in 115 games and hit .269 with 15 homers and a 761 OPS.

Our lone concern about Mercado was his strikeout to walk ratio (84/28 in ’19), and he’s never been a big base on balls guy in the minors. However, that is something that can be gained through experience.

Perhaps if the other Tribe outfielders had been hitting, Mercado’s slow start to the season would have been overlooked and he would have time to get going, but they didn’t, so the second year player’s 5 for 41 start became a problem.

Drawing just two walks while fanning 13 times hasn’t helped either.

So, “summer camp” sensation Zimmer got more opportunities, and at first took advantage, but after starting 3 for 9, including a homer, he’s gone 3 for 19, and the strikeout bugaboo has returned, as he has fanned in seven of his last 16 plate appearances.

As a result, we are writing something we didn’t expect to…right now, the best option for the Indians is Delino DeShields.

Yes, the outfielder who the Tribe acquired in the Corey Kluber deal from Texas, and the guy who has a career 670 OPS, even though he played half of his games in the hitters paradise the Rangers used to play in.

So far, he’s taken some walks (4) and even squeezed home the lead run in the 10th inning of Sunday night’s win over Chicago. And he’s solid defensively in centerfield, as are Mercado and Zimmer, which is needed if Domingo Santana is playing the outfield.

This isn’t to write off Mercado, but again, with the team struggling as a whole (last in the AL in OPS and last in the majors in slugging percentage), management has to look for alternatives.

Zimmer earned an opportunity for more time, but right now, he is falling back a bit into what he showed as a hitter after his first couple of months at the big league level.

We scoffed about getting DeShields when the trade was made, but right now, he might be the best option the Indians have. Funny how some things play out.

Tribe Needs Consistency From Top Of The Order.

There is one word missing when describing the offense of the Cleveland Indians so far this season.

No, the word isn’t runs, although we could have used that. The real word we are talking about is consistency.

Just looking at the last three days, you can see what we are talking about. Thursday night, they lambasted the Reds, 13-0. That was followed by Cleveland being shutout by the White Sox, 2-0, and yesterday, they put seven up on the board in win over the Pale Hose.

Because baseball is a sport played pretty much on a daily basis, it is a sport where consistency is a must.

The Indians just haven’t gotten that, particularly from the top five men in the order, the players who figured to carry the burden of the offense this season, save for new 2B, Cesar Hernandez.

While Jose Ramirez has been the Tribe’s best hitter, Hernandez has been the most consistent.

The former Phillie has had a hit in all but three games in this young season, and in the games he hasn’t had a hit, he reached base via the walk. Quite frankly, he has done everything Terry Francona hoped for when he decided to lead him off.

In nine of the 15 games he’s played, he’s reached twice. So, he has certainly set the table for Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, and Franmil Reyes.

Ramirez leads the club in hits, home runs, RBIs, and OPS, but 10 of his 17 hits have come in three games, his homers have come in two games, and eight of his 11 ribbies have occurred in the same two games.

He recently went through an 0 for 15 on the last trip to Minnesota and Cincinnati.

Lindor had a two hit game in the 7-1 victory over Chicago, but it was only his third two hit game of the season. He’s walked just three times this season (once intentionally), and has only been on base more than once in a contest five times.

After striking out nine times in the first seven games, he has fanned just four times in the last nine. Hopefully, that a good sign for things to come.

Carlos Santana had two hits in each game of the doubleheader sweep at home against Chicago on July 28th, but has had just four hits since, and none have been home runs.

The good sign for him? Is there is such a thing as a walk tear, Santana is on one. He’s taken a free ride nine times in the last three games, and 13 times in the last seven games. He isn’t getting good pitches to hit, so he’s being very patient, which is way better than chasing and making outs.

Not a surprise, he leads the AL in walks this season with 20.

Reyes has perhaps struggled the most. Until his game winning HR Tuesday night in Cincinnati, he had just one extra base hit, and that was a groundball that eluded two Minnesota defenders and he hustled into second on what should have been a 6-3 or 4-3 putout.

He’s put together three straight two hit games, the first Indian that can say that this season. It would be nice if he could take a few more walks, but the Tribe needs Reyes to provide some pop, and two dingers this week were a sight for sore eyes.

When Cleveland gets something from the 6-9 spots in the order, they can score, but you can probably say that for most teams.

Tribe catchers are 3 for 51 on the season with no extra base hits and just one RBI.

Yesterday, Domingo Santana and Jordan Luplow joined Bradley Zimmer as the only outfielders to hit a home run.

While it would be nice for those spots in the order to get going, more consistent production is needed from the top five in the batting order. Hernandez has gotten the job done, now the next four hitters have to do the same.

No Extra Games For Cavs (And Others) Isn’t Fair.

One of the common complaints about the NBA is the lack of competitive balance. Part of that comes from the nature of the sport itself.

There are just five players on the floor at any time, and if you have a great player, that’s a tremendous advantage for sure. And those great players seem to gravitate toward large media markets and warm weather cities.

It has been said many times before, but it still bears repeating. Since Magic Johnson and Larry Bird entered the league in the 1979-80 season, every championship team, save for the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons, have had an all-time great on the roster.

That torch has been passed from Bird, Magic, and Julius Erving to Isiah Thomas to Michael Jordan to Hakeem Olajuwon, back to Jordan, and then to Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, and then to Stephan Curry and Kawhi Leonard.

If you have one of those players, you have a chance to win. If you don’t? You better get one.

Adam Silver and his office, in conjunction with the player’s association, came up with a great idea to resume the season, and finish it in Orlando, Florida.

When the season was stopped in March, many figured (including us), that when the game returned, it would certainly just start with the playoffs, which is what the NHL did.

However, the roundball league likes to do things that seem contrived, and they couldn’t help themselves this time. The resumed the regular season, playing eight games, but not everyone was invited. Eight teams were left at home.

Now, one might say since the eight teams who were not invited to the bubble also had the eight worst records in the league, they deserve to be left out. After all, they are bad teams.

It seems kind of arbitrary though. For example, the Cavaliers stayed home because they won just 19 games, but the Washington Wizards, who won 24 games, gets to play eight extra games.

Worse yet, the Charlotte Hornets, another young team trying to improve, have to sit home even though they won one less game than Washington.

Most of the teams who don’t get the extra games are younger teams who could most definitely use court time.

There was talk of a second bubble for these eight teams to play each other, thus getting the same advantage of some additional contests, and Cavs’ GM Koby Altman was a leading voice to create one, but there is growing belief it will not happen.

We are sure the Cavaliers would have loved to see more of rookies Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr. in new coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s system. Heck, they could have watched fellow rookie Dylan Windler actually take the floor in competitive games, something they didn’t get a chance to do all year because of his leg injury.

But they will not be getting this opportunity and quite frankly, in a sport where fairness can be questioned at times, it’s not fair to the teams who aren’t there.

When will we see the Cavaliers next? Quite possibly, it could be in November when training camps will start for the 2020-21 season.

It’s a lost opportunity for the league and the eight teams who aren’t in Orlando.

Well, At Least The Pitching Has Been Great

The Cleveland Indians have played 11 baseball games. The league earned run average coming into play on Monday was 4.57, meaning the average American League team gives up about four and a half runs per game.

If the Tribe offense had done what the average AL team could do every game, Cleveland’s record would be 11-0. That’s right, the Indians’ pitching staff has not allowed more than four runs in any game this season.

Quite frankly, that’s remarkable.

Friday night, Mike Clevinger didn’t have it. He allowed four runs to the Twins in the first two innings. After the game, fans were saying it was bound to happen, the great pitching couldn’t continue.

Minnesota won the game 4-1, so again an average offensive night would have resulted in a win.

This is not another piece designed to bury the currently anemic Tribe hitting attack, but rather to praise the remarkable job the pitching staff has done.

Cleveland pitchers lead the league in ERA at 2.35, strikeouts (113), and least walks allowed (15). Yes, it does mean that Tribe pitchers are collectively walking less than two batters per game.

Imagine how good the staff would be if they could face the Tribe hitters?

We know that comes off as snarky, but the Minnesota staff leads the AL in hits per nine innings, in part because they held Indians’ hitters to just two hits in back to back contests over the weekend.

The Tribe’s hurlers have a strikeout to walk ratio of 7.53. The next best rate in the AL? That would be Baltimore and New York at 3.29, so the Indians’ ratio is almost double the second best rate.

About the only negative thing you can save about the pitching is it has allowed the long ball at a league average rate, giving up 11 gopher balls. Minnesota scored all its runs by homers on Saturday vs. Carlos Carrasco, and last night, the Reds scored all three of their tallies on dingers.

The starters are getting the bulk of the credit, and rightly so. Shane Bieber has been unreal in his two starts, and Clevinger’s second outing was the only one where the first pitcher on the hill for the Tribe didn’t see the sixth inning.

However the bullpen, figured to be a weakness, has pitched admirably too. Only two of the eight members of the ‘pen have allowed opponents to score earned runs (Brad Hand, Dominic Leone), while the other six guys have pitched 23-2/3 frames without allowing an earned run.

Two rookies, James Karinchak and Cam Hill, have already earned saves, each the first of their respective careers. And to date, the former has lived up to expectations by allowing just an unearned run (due to the new extra inning rule) and striking out eight in five innings.

That means in 10-1/3 big league innings, he has struck out 16 batters.

The whole staff specializes in the strikeout. Adam Cimber has just one in 3-2/3 innings, Adam Plutko fanned just four in six innings in his lone start, and Nick Wittgren has whiffed three in four frames.

Otherwise, every other man who has pitched for Cleveland this season has at least as many strikeouts as innings pitched.

What’s scary is how long can this continue? When the offense starts to perk up, will the pitching staff show signs of being mortal? You would think both parts of the team will regress to the mean eventually.

That doesn’t take away from the remarkable job by this staff. Appreciate what you are seeing. It’s unbelievable.