Tag: baseball

Should Perez Continue to Close?

The Cleveland Indians are very much in a pennant race and yet they have a huge question mark in the back of their bullpen.

Last night, Chris Perez came into a critical game with a 3-2 lead and allowed two solo home runs to turn it into a 4-3 deficit. 

Jason Giambi titanic pinch-hit dinger saved Perez, but it is not a secret that the Tribe’s closer has struggled in the last two months.

After the game, Terry Francona expressed confidence in Perez, but that’s what the skipper does.  He never questions his players in public.  He is the ultimate players’ manager in that regard.

Secretly though, Francona and his coaches have got to be mulling over alternatives the next time there is a save situation for Cleveland, and that could come as early as tonight.

The problem is Perez’ sudden propensity to give up the long ball.  He has now allowed 10 homers in just 53 innings.  That’s a lot for a closer.

By comparison, the American League leader in saves; Baltimore’s Jim Johnson has allowed just five long balls in 67 innings pitched.

Kansas City’s Greg Holland, who has a 1.25 ERA for the year to go with 45 saves, has allowed three home runs in 65 innings of work.

Future Hall of Fame closer, New York’s Mariano Rivera has given up six homers in 62 innings pitched. 

Perez has allowed four more blasts than any of these relievers haven’t outstanding seasons and has pitched less than all of them.

One other startling statistic:  Justin Masterson has allowed just 13 circuit clouts despite throwing 140 more innings (189 thus far on the season).

Closers who give up a lot of home runs are liabilities in one run games because the lead can be lost with one swing of the bat.

As Perez has shown before, you can pitch around a walk or a base hit with the closest of margins.  It may not be ideal for the health of his manager or the Tribe fan base, but it can be done.  Allowing a single by itself doesn’t cost your team the lead.

It is also Perez’ second half performance in total that should give Francona pause to put him in with a one run lead.  He has a 4.39 ERA since the All-Star break and has allowed six bombs in 26 IP.  Opposing hitters are batting .276 against him.

This compares to a 3.04 ERA before the Midsummer Classic and he was holding opponents to a .225 average.

It gets worse.  Since the first of August, Perez has a 5.95 ERA. 

So this isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to him blowing a save in a game the Tribe needed with the playoff hopes on the line.  He’s been bad for two months.  His statistics as a closer are always repeated (he’s only blown five saves), but clearly he hasn’t been effective for almost two months.

We understand there is a tremendous difference in what Francona says and what he does.  If the Tribe is leading 5-2 going into the ninth tonight, he may very well go with Perez. 

However, if the Indians do play in the wild card game and go to the last inning with a one run advantage, will it be Chris Perez’ game?

Only Francona knows that for sure.

KM

Fair or Not, Dolan’s Must Win Fans Back

The attendance on the Cleveland Indians’ last homestand brought up a discussion on why no one is going to the games for a team that is very much in the playoff hunt.

Some people thought it was the way the tickets are priced for different days and different series, and others thought the team wasn’t very exciting. 

However, many of the fans we talk to bring up the ownership.  They simply do not trust the Dolan family’s commitment to building a winning franchise. 

While that may or may not be true, a wise man once said that “Perception is Reality”, and that is the uphill fight the Tribe ownership has to battle.

The Indians’ front office tries to fight that notion, and will site the free agent signings made over the last off-season, and amount of money spent on player development as examples that they are trying to win.

This winter, the ownership and the leadership of the franchise, led by team president Mark Shapiro should keep this in mind…actions speak louder than words.

Therefore, they shouldn’t complain in the media about the poor attendance during the 2013 season.  They have every right to be disappointed.  Fans have clamored for a winning team since 2007, and Terry Francona’s crew has delivered, only to be ignored by the populace.

Still, it will only inflame the ticket buying public already poor opinion of the ownership.  So, the best course of action is not to say anything.

Instead, they should continue the same plan they did last winter, meaning continue to add to the roster and show the fans they are doing everything they possibly can to get into/back to the post-season in 2014.

Remember, the Indians have another off-season where a lot of cash comes off the books in the salary column. 

Mark Reynolds and his $6 million deal will be gone, as well as the failed Brett Myers experiment and his $7 million contract.

It is doubtful that Chris Perez, who is making approximately the same amount as Myers will be offered arbitration either, meaning GM Chris Antonetti will likely part ways with the team’s closer.

And just in case you think it will be about Perez’s off field troubles or his controversial comments, it won’t.  It will be a baseball decision.  If Perez is still on the roster, he could earn up to $10 million next season.

He isn’t worth that based on his performance.

We understand that other players will get raises, in particular Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, whose free agent deals escalate from the first year of their contracts.

They also have to try to keep Justin Masterson, who will be a free agent after next season, and try to keep one of their free agent starting pitchers, Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir. 

They won’t have $20 million to spend.

However, that doesn’t mean they can’t continue to improve this baseball team. 

That is what they have to do in order to win over their critics. 

Yes, getting rid of the way tickets are priced currently will help.  So will other things that can help the gameday experience. 

But the biggest thing will be to gradually decrease the number of people who think everything about the Cleveland Indians is related to money, and make everyone understand that ownership is trying to bring a winner to Progressive Field.

MW

Fair or Not, Dolan’s Must Win Fans Back

The attendance on the Cleveland Indians’ last homestand brought up a discussion on why no one is going to the games for a team that is very much in the playoff hunt.

Some people thought it was the way the tickets are priced for different days and different series, and others thought the team wasn’t very exciting. 

However, many of the fans we talk to bring up the ownership.  They simply do not trust the Dolan family’s commitment to building a winning franchise. 

While that may or may not be true, a wise man once said that “Perception is Reality”, and that is the uphill fight the Tribe ownership has to battle.

The Indians’ front office tries to fight that notion, and will site the free agent signings made over the last off-season, and amount of money spent on player development as examples that they are trying to win.

This winter, the ownership and the leadership of the franchise, led by team president Mark Shapiro should keep this in mind…actions speak louder than words.

Therefore, they shouldn’t complain in the media about the poor attendance during the 2013 season.  They have every right to be disappointed.  Fans have clamored for a winning team since 2007, and Terry Francona’s crew has delivered, only to be ignored by the populace.

Still, it will only inflame the ticket buying public already poor opinion of the ownership.  So, the best course of action is not to say anything.

Instead, they should continue the same plan they did last winter, meaning continue to add to the roster and show the fans they are doing everything they possibly can to get into/back to the post-season in 2014.

Remember, the Indians have another off-season where a lot of cash comes off the books in the salary column. 

Mark Reynolds and his $6 million deal will be gone, as well as the failed Brett Myers experiment and his $7 million contract.

It is doubtful that Chris Perez, who is making approximately the same amount as Myers will be offered arbitration either, meaning GM Chris Antonetti will likely part ways with the team’s closer.

And just in case you think it will be about Perez’s off field troubles or his controversial comments, it won’t.  It will be a baseball decision.  If Perez is still on the roster, he could earn up to $10 million next season.

He isn’t worth that based on his performance.

We understand that other players will get raises, in particular Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, whose free agent deals escalate from the first year of their contracts.

They also have to try to keep Justin Masterson, who will be a free agent after next season, and try to keep one of their free agent starting pitchers, Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir. 

They won’t have $20 million to spend.

However, that doesn’t mean they can’t continue to improve this baseball team. 

That is what they have to do in order to win over their critics. 

Yes, getting rid of the way tickets are priced currently will help.  So will other things that can help the gameday experience. 

But the biggest thing will be to gradually decrease the number of people who think everything about the Cleveland Indians is related to money, and make everyone understand that ownership is trying to bring a winner to Progressive Field.

MW

Random Thoughts on Tribe

As the 2013 season seems to be going down the drain, here are some things we think about the Cleveland Indians.

While we aren’t ready to put a ribbon on this year because the Tribe still sits just 4-1/2 games out of the second wild card spot, despite a forgettable trip (at least so far) to Atlanta and Detroit, some things have happened in the last month that make us want to comment.

Even though he hasn’t won his last two starts because of the lack of hitting, Ubaldo Jimenez is making us change our minds about bringing him back to Cleveland.  The two sides have a mutual option for ’14, and while most of the season it appeared it would be the Indians that wouldn’t want to pick it up, it may now be Jimenez that declines.

The right-hander made some mechanical adjustments recently and seems to have regained some life on his fastball.  In his starts vs. the Twins and Braves, he routinely was hitting 94-96 MPH on the gun, a jump of 2-3 MPH.

Not coincidentally, he struck out 10 hitters in both games.

He’s having his best season since his 19-8 record in 2010 with Colorado, and with the price of pitching these days, if the Indians might be well served to pick up the option and add a year or two.

We wouldn’t go longer than three years because of the inconsistency that Jimenez has shown in his time in Cleveland, and that may not get it done.  Still, if he finishes the year pitching like this, you have to try to bring him back.

Other interested find amongst this offensive slump is that Terry Francona may have found another relief pitcher in Carlos Carrasco.

As a starter, Carrasco seemed to over analyze things which caused him to think too much, and he looked like a victim of the “million dollar arm, ten-cent brain” syndrome.

On August 9th, Francona put him into a game against the Angels to save the bullpen and Carrasco threw five scoreless innings.  He started against Minnesota five days later and was hit hard.

Since then, he’s been used strictly in relief and in three games has thrown 5-1/3 scoreless innings, even earning a win in the 14 inning victory vs. the Angels.  Without the four days off in between starts and perhaps worrying about the results, Carrasco has thrived when he doesn’t know when he’s going to pitch.

He wouldn’t be the first successful relief pitcher to wash out as a starter.

With the hitters not coming through, the everyday players are getting a lot of criticism and the two free agents signed in the off-season, Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn are taking some heat.

Let us say this…giving a player big money doesn’t make them a better player.

We’ve discussed Swisher before.  He is having an off-season, but in a normal year, he’s a .270 hitter who walks a lot, and hits 25 HR and knocks in 80-90 runs.  Paying him a lot of cash isn’t going to make him a 35 HR, 120 RBI player.

The same is true with Bourn.  He came here a great defensive centerfielder, but not a prototypical leadoff hitter in that his lifetime on base percentage was .336.  He is down to .320 in 2013 because his walks are down (70 in ’12 and only 31 so far in ’13), but he’s not a Kenny Lofton type of leadoff man, getting on base close to 40% of the time.

Maybe he should change his approach a little because he strikes out a lot (a career high 155 times last year), and make more contact to take advantage of his speed, but he’s having a pretty typical Michael Bourn season.

You can’t be all over him for that.

All in all, it isn’t over yet for this year’s edition of the Indians, but it is starting to get late quickly.

MW

Should Be Room for Browns, Tribe on Sports Talk

It is becoming a daily debate among Cleveland sports fans:  Indians vs. Browns.  It’s really stupid when you think about it, because it would be great if both teams, along with the Cavaliers were all good at the same time, something that hasn’t happened since 2007.

As a fan of all three teams, the Browns talk can be a little overwhelming.  All the sports talk stations in town have to do to generate calls is mention any topic relating to the football team and the switchboard is lit up with calls to discuss the issue.

Just in the past week, there was discussion about whether or not fans should be allowed to bring bags/purses into FIrst Energy Stadium for Browns’ games, and the driving habits of two young wide receivers on the Browns.

And we aren’t talking about one segment for a show, these discussions lasted at least an hour.

All the while, the Indians were sitting in contention for a playoff spot, entering the weekend just 2-1/2 games out of a wild card spot.

We get it.  Cleveland is a football town.  However, it is hysterical to think of how anything football related is viewed through rose-colored glasses at this time of year.

Because the Browns started preseason with a 2-0 record, fans are talking about playoffs, even though the team hasn’t won more than five games in a season since 2007.

We get the optimism.  Rob Chudzinski’s crew has some good young talent and a veteran coaching staff and looked to be poised for their best season in six years.  Last night’s egg laid against the Indianapolis Colts should temper some of this enthusiasm.

We’ve had the same view for both the wins and the losses.  They don’t count, so there is no need to be overly optimistic or pessimistic about the games.

After last night, we still have the same feeling about the 2013 Cleveland Browns.  They will be improved, and a record somewhere between 7-9 and 9-7 is very obtainable.

On the other hand, the Indians have played almost 5/6th of their schedule and right now, every game they play has meaning.  They have a legitimate shot at the post-season, depending on what web site you look at, they have around 25% chance of making it at this point in the season.

After today, they have perhaps the most critical nine game stretch since the ’07 playoffs with contests against Atlanta, Detroit, and Baltimore, one of their main rivals for the wild card.

If they come through those games still within three or four games of the playoffs, they will have as good a chance as any.

The problem is the over analysis of training camp and exhibition play by both Browns fans and sports talk show hosts as opposed to talking about what the Indians need to do in the regular season to make the post-season.

Browns’ fans get upset at the notion that their team would be upstaged by the Tribe.  This is understandable, but really the Indians are held to a higher standard in this city.

Can you imagine the outrage if the Indians lost more than 100 games five years in a row?  There would be calls for the Dolan’s to sell the team, get a new general manager and make wholesale changes to the roster.

The Browns have done just that, and although there has been some criticism, their fans talk about patience and the process of building a winning football team.

The next week and a half should be about the Tribe.  Their chance to make the playoffs (imagine a Cleveland team playing in them!) probably rests with those nine games.

The Browns won’t start playing games that count until after that stretch is over.

Let’s put the debate on how the Browns’ punter will be and give the Indians their due during this stretch of games.

MW

Tribe Bats Need to Pick It Up

The Cleveland Indians are entering a key part of their schedule starting tonight when the Twins come in for a three game series at Progressive Field.

Those are the only home games the Tribe will play until Labor Day, when the Orioles come in, and in between, the Indians visit Atlanta and Detroit for three game series, the teams with the best record in the National League and second best mark in the AL, respectively.

When the Orioles depart Cleveland on September 4th, we should have a pretty good idea whether or not all 162 games on the schedule will be meaningful for Terry Francona’s squad.

To get through these dozen games, the Tribe will need to start scoring runs.

While the Wahoo’s have a 10-10 record for the month, they have done so scoring just 71 runs in that span, an average of 3.5 per night.

Teams that score that way on an everyday basis just don’t have a lot of success.

The White Sox are last in the American League in scoring, crossing the plate an average of 3.74 times per contest.  They have the second worst record in the junior circuit at 52-74, and over the last 20 games, Cleveland isn’t even scoring at that level.

At some point, the bats have to wake up and starting tonight would be very nice.

Since the Tribe still ranks fourth in the league in runs scored at 4.60 per night, the law of averages says there should be a bushel of runs coming soon.

It would be very odd to score almost five times a game for the first 117 games and then only get 3.5 for the balance of the season.

Odd, but not impossible.

There are some encouraging signs, like Nick Swisher’s sudden power burst, hitting four bombs this month, his second best calendar month of 2013.  He hit five in May.

Still, during August only three players are hitting over .250:  Yan Gomes, Mike Aviles, and Ryan Raburn. 

While Gomes has been getting more playing time as of late because he is hitting, you would have to say that none of this trio are regulars, meaning the guys who are playing on a day in, day out basis simply have to pick it up.

Some of the numbers are straight out ugly—

Lonnie Chisenhall:  6 for 44 (.136), 1 HR, 3 RBI
Asdrubal Cabrera:  12 for 66 (.182), 1 HR, 6 RBI and he had a decent trip
Carlos Santana:  14 for 71 (.197), 3 HR, 6 RBI
Michael Bourn:  18 for 82 (.220), 1 HR, 5 RBI, 5 SB with a whopping 25 strikeouts

And they aren’t taking walks like they did earlier in the season, either.  Outside of Jason Kipnis (10), Swisher (9), and Santana (9), no one else on the roster has walked more than five times this month.

Even the usually reliable Michael Brantley is in a bit of a funk, hitting just .230 in August.  He is easily the most consistent of the Tribe bats and he is struggling.

The Indians’ starting pitching has exceeded expectations for the most part, and although they have had some hiccups, it has been solid.

And even if that continues, the offense has to start producing more runs if the Tribe wants to stay in the race through Game 162. 

It’s time for the bats to pick up their share of the load.

MW

Tribe Bats Need to Pick It Up

The Cleveland Indians are entering a key part of their schedule starting tonight when the Twins come in for a three game series at Progressive Field. 

Those are the only home games the Tribe will play until Labor Day, when the Orioles come in, and in between, the Indians visit Atlanta and Detroit for three game series, the teams with the best record in the National League and second best mark in the AL, respectively.

When the Orioles depart Cleveland on September 4th, we should have a pretty good idea whether or not all 162 games on the schedule will be meaningful for Terry Francona’s squad.

To get through these dozen games, the Tribe will need to start scoring runs.

While the Wahoo’s have a 10-10 record for the month, they have done so scoring just 71 runs in that span, an average of 3.5 per night.

Teams that score that way on an everyday basis just don’t have a lot of success.

The White Sox are last in the American League in scoring, crossing the plate an average of 3.74 times per contest.  They have the second worst record in the junior circuit at 52-74, and over the last 20 games, Cleveland isn’t even scoring at that level.

At some point, the bats have to wake up and starting tonight would be very nice.

Since the Tribe still ranks fourth in the league in runs scored at 4.60 per night, the law of averages says there should be a bushel of runs coming soon.

It would be very odd to score almost five times a game for the first 117 games and then only get 3.5 for the balance of the season.

Odd, but not impossible.

There are some encouraging signs, like Nick Swisher’s sudden power burst, hitting four bombs this month, his second best calendar month of 2013.  He hit five in May.

Still, during August only three players are hitting over .250:  Yan Gomes, Mike Aviles, and Ryan Raburn. 

While Gomes has been getting more playing time as of late because he is hitting, you would have to say that none of this trio are regulars, meaning the guys who are playing on a day in, day out basis simply have to pick it up.

Some of the numbers are straight out ugly—

Lonnie Chisenhall:  6 for 44 (.136), 1 HR, 3 RBI
Asdrubal Cabrera:  12 for 66 (.182), 1 HR, 6 RBI and he had a decent trip
Carlos Santana:  14 for 71 (.197), 3 HR, 6 RBI
Michael Bourn:  18 for 82 (.220), 1 HR, 5 RBI, 5 SB with a whopping 25 strikeouts

And they aren’t taking walks like they did earlier in the season, either.  Outside of Jason Kipnis (10), Swisher (9), and Santana (9), no one else on the roster has walked more than five times this month.

Even the usually reliable Michael Brantley is in a bit of a funk, hitting just .230 in August.  He is easily the most consistent of the Tribe bats and he is struggling.

The Indians’ starting pitching has exceeded expectations for the most part, and although they have had some hiccups, it has been solid.

And even if that continues, the offense has to start producing more runs if the Tribe wants to stay in the race through Game 162. 

It’s time for the bats to pick up their share of the load.

MW

Tribe Needs Some “Average” Hitters.

The new wave baseball people will not want to hear this.

Although we agree with many of the tenets of the statistic oriented baseball experts who opine on the sport on a regular basis, the devaluing of the batting average stats is one we aren’t sure about.

There is no question that OPS is a credible stat, and we use it to judge the offensive ability of a player on a regular basis.

And while on base percentage is very important because it measures a hitters’ ability to NOT make an out, getting hits is important too.

In trying to analyze the offense of the Cleveland Indians, that is the one stat that separates the top three offenses in the American League from Terry Francona’s club.

Take for example, the Red Sox, who lead the American League in runs scored with 616, an average of 4.97 per game.

They have hit one less home run that the Tribe, yet score a third of a run per game more than the Indians.

One of the reasons is their team batting average is 20 points higher than Cleveland’s, which in turn makes their on base percentage .022 higher.

You might blame the Indians propensity to strikeout, but the Red Sox have fanned pretty much the same number of times as the Tribe.

The Indians rank 8th in the AL in batting average, 26 points behind the Tigers, who rank 2nd in the AL in runs scored, and they are 11 points behind Baltimore, who are third.

Now, we understand that batting average can be an empty statistic, as guys can hit .290 and be singles hitters who never walk, and therefore are not good offensive players.  Those guys don’t add much to an attack.

Currently, the Indians have just one player with over 200 at bats and a batting average over .290:  Jason Kipnis.  Yan Gomes is hitting over .300, but doesn’t qualify at this time, although he is getting more playing time.

Kipnis has 47 extra base hits, which leads the Tribe.

By contrast, Boston has four such players:  Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz, and Daniel Nava, with the latter’s 28 extra base hits the least of the quartet.  Detroit also has four players who qualify:  Miguel Cabrera, Omar Infante, Jhonny Peralta, and Torii Hunter, with Victor Martinez probably joining them soon, as hot as he has been.   Infante’s 26 extra base hits are the least among those Tigers.

Baltimore has three batters who qualify:  Chris Davis, Manny Machado, and Adam Jones and every one of that trio has over 50 extra base hits.

The Tribe’s next best hitter for average is Michael Brantley, who certainly has been special in clutch situations this season, but still has only 30 extra base hits, less than Asdrubal Cabrera, who has had a sub-par year at the dish, and only three more than Drew Stubbs.

The lack of hitters with the ability to get hits hampers the offense because they can only score with home runs or by using situational hitting, and that isn’t always a constant.

They don’t have a great ability to string three or four hits together, mixed with a walk here and there to put together a big inning.   That’s because they don’t have high average hitters.

That’s something that needs to be looked at in the off-season, because if they can add a couple of .280-.300 hitters into the lineup, they could be a run scoring machine.

MW

Tribe Offense Succeeds or Fails as Team

The Cleveland Indians hitting has struggled as of late.  That is no secret.

They have scored just 21 runs in their last eight games, seven of which have been losses.  Scoring less than three tallies per night will not translate to a lot of victories in the American League.

However, a look at the AL team batting statistics shows the Tribe ranked fourth in the junior circuit in runs scored, making them one of the more prolific attacks in the league.

Why doesn’t it seem that way?

Certainly, any team that is not hitting looks lethargic and that is playing into the feeling that the Indians need some hitting.  The other reason is that there isn’t really one Tribesman having a huge year at the dish. 

Jason Kipnis is having a solid season, his best in the major leagues, but his numbers project to this for a full season:  .290, 20 HR, and 94 RBIs.  Good numbers, but they aren’t big time statistics.

With Mark Reynolds being released (he is still tied for the team lead in home runs), it appears Kipnis will be the only Indians who will hit 20 dingers, and unless someone gets scalding hot, no Cleveland player will knock in 100 runs this season.

The only other regular with an OPS of over 800 is Carlos Santana and right now his numbers projected to .262, 17 HR, and 68 RBI, numbers comparable to last season, which was considered a down year for the switch-hitter.

There is no question Terry Francona has received a huge lift from his bench, particularly from Ryan Raburn and Yan Gomes, who is starting to get more and more playing time.

Raburn has 13 homers and 38 ribbies in a little over 200 plate appearances, but he is succeeding because he has been used on a limited basis.  His previous employers tried using him everyday and he has a horrible year.

That’s the reason he is in Cleveland rather than Detroit.

Gomes is just 25 years old and is giving the skipper more and more reasons to put him in the lineup more often.

The catcher acquired in the heist that also brought Mike Aviles in exchange for Esmil Rogers, has 8 home runs and 28 RBIs in less than 200 plate appearances, and he’s hitting for average too at .310 for the season.

And he’s hitting over .300 against both right-handed pitchers and southpaws, which gives Francona more reason to start giving him everyday at bats.

Yes, the Tribe bats have got hot at times and that is a reason they rank 4th in the league in scoring. 

They are 6th in the league in home runs, but as noted earlier, they may not have anyone hit more than 20. 

They are 5th in the AL in drawing walks, but no one will walk 100 times for the season.  The leaders in getting free passes are Santana (60), Kipnis (54), and Nick Swisher (54). 

The point is that the Tribe has a very balanced lineup.  That works to their advantage at times, but when many guys aren’t hitting, they don’t have that one great bat that can carry them.

Kipnis did it in June when he was red-hot, but no one else has approached that level since. 

That’s why the attack is sputtering.  If no one gets hot and soon, it will be very difficult for the Indians to reach the post-season this season, and it makes it a necessity to get a big time hitter for next season.

KM

Actions Speak Louder Than Words on Jimenez

We just finished reading Terry Francona’s book (written with Dan Shaughnessy) about his days with the Boston Red Sox.

First of all, we recommend that all Tribe fans read the book, because it gives tremendous insight on how the skipper relates to players, and to what kind of players he likes.

It is no surprise after reading the book how much Francona values Jason Giambi in his clubhouse.

Francona also talks about his managerial philosophy in regards to handling players in the media.  Basically, no matter how upset he is with a player, he handles it privately and publicly backs the player in question.

The reason we are bringing this up is today’s announcement that the Indians will bring up Danny Salazar to start Wednesday night’s contest vs. the Tigers, a big series for Cleveland.  While it’s probably not make or break because it is the beginning of August, it is more important than the series at the beginning of July because it’s later in the season.

Still, the Indians need to show the Tigers they can beat them, and there are only seven games remaining between the two teams.

Although Francona always speaks in positive tones about Ubaldo Jimenez, his actions tell us something else.

The manager couldn’t have been pleased at Friday night’s performance where the right hander threw 107 pitches in four innings, making Francona have to use his bullpen for four innings.

This after arguably Jimenez best start of the season, an eight inning effort against the Rangers where he didn’t allow a run.

It says here that’s the problem for the skipper, Jimenez is inconsistent and can’t be counted on to pitch well.

Yes, the error by Asdrubal Cabrera on a possible double play ball in the first, a mistake the shortstop took full responsibility for, made the pitcher throw a lot more pitches than he would have had to without the bobble.  However, it was still first and second with one out against a Marlins’ team that isn’t known for swinging the bat.

Jimenez allowed three more hits in the inning (to be fair, one was a bloop double by Logan Morrison), and had to throw 23 more pitches.  But he threw 34 more pitches in the second inning and allowed another run before Cabrera’s second error of the game.

You would think that after shutting out Texas for eight innings and facing a poor hitting Miami team, Jimenez would come out and be aggressive, challenging the hitters.  He didn’t, and that has to drive Francona and pitching coach Mickey Calloway crazy.

Francona cited Jimenez poor results against Detroit this season (1-2, 6.93 ERA) as the reason for the move, and said he would make his next appearance against the Angels on Friday, but more likely the real reason is his lack of confidence in having Jimenez pitch well in a key game against the division leaders.

Certainly, the desire to see more of Salazar, who has been dominating in AAA, striking out 78 in 59-1/3 innings of work with the Clippers, and allowing just two earned runs in his last 33-1/3 frames.

If the kid throws another good game against Detroit, it could lead to him staying and being used out of the bullpen for the rest of the season.  Imagine him coming in every third or fourth day for two or three innings.

This is a bold move by Francona and GM Chris Antonetti.  Regardless of how it works out, you have to commend them for making the move.

MW