Tag: eric haase

September Call Ups (To Date) Shouldn’t Help Much (Outside of Cookie)

Major league rules permit teams to expand their rosters on September 1st, enabling them to carry 40 players if they so choose.

The Cleveland Indians followed those rules on Sunday, activating Carlos Carrasco, a move much anticipated because of Carrasco’s battle with leukemia.  It was great to see Cookie on the mound against Tampa and Chicago this week.

The rest of the moves were, quite simply, meh.

You figured Eric Haase would get called up because adding an extra catcher enables Terry Francona to pinch hit or pinch run for whoever starts that night, and he doesn’t have to be on pins and needles because he doesn’t have an alternative.

It is doubtful Haase will get any action with a game in doubt as long as the Tribe remains in the playoff race.

The other call ups were veterans, players who will probably make little impact on a team that right now seems to be gasping for air.

Dan Otero was activated from the 60 day injured list, but he’s a back of the bullpen option at this point, with an ERA of 5.47 and having allowed 37 hits (5 of them home runs) and striking out just 11 in 24-2/3 innings.

James Hoyt may be able to help, although he has a career 4.28 ERA in the major leagues.

The club also called up Ryan Flaherty, who is a lifetime .217 hitter over seven major league seasons.  His claim to fame is he’s had success against Cleveland, because if you remove his performance vs. the Tribe over the years, his career average is .210.

If Francona has to give him any playing time, that’s a big problem.

Jake Bauers was brought back too, and probably would have been even if Tyler Naquin didn’t injure his knee last weekend.

While it would be nice if Carrasco could get his legs and become a guy Francona can turn to late in ballgames, it is doubtful any of the other players called up can or will make an impact on the roster.

We have heard about the power arms the Tribe has in Columbus, guys like strikeout machine James Karinchak (42 punchouts, 13 walks in 17-1/3 innings at AAA), Cameron Hill (36 K’s in 24-1/3 frames) and lefty Kyle Nelson (16 strikeouts in 12 innings), but none of these guys can help a recently beleaguered bullpen?

Karinchak not being here is very curious.  He was whiffed 66 batters in 27-1/3 innings at AA and AAA this season.  That’s an eye popping number.

Yes, he has walked 15 batters, but nine of those came in four appearances, all occurring before August 15th.  He’s walked just one in his last six outings.

Why not see if his stuff plays at the big league level?  We mean no one else is putting up those kind of numbers in the minor leagues.

In our mind, wouldn’t he be more help during the stretch run than a guy like Otero?

And the Tribe could use another southpaw in relief.

We understand none of the players were going to jump in and be better than the regular players, but on the other hand, they aren’t giving any chances to young players either.

Right now, Carrasco is the lone hope for an impact to the big league club.  Francona admitted he might have jumped the gun putting Cookie in a pressure situation so soon.  We would have eased him in a little more, with the goal of having him be the set up man around the middle of the month.

Yesterday, Francona said more players may get the call from Columbus before the Clippers’ playoff series is over.

Perhaps a reliever or two, and a bat with some potential?  We can hope.

MW

 

Looking At The Tribe’s Catching

The Cleveland Indians’ best prospect, and quite frankly, one of baseball’s best prospects is catcher Francisco Mejia.

Because of his presence at Class AAA Columbus, it seems like every time either Yan Gomes or Roberto Perez have a few hitless games in a row, fans are yelling for Mejia to be called up and inserted into the lineup.

Those people do not understand what the Tribe organization values in a catcher, nor do they realize Gomes and Perez aren’t the offensive zeroes they are viewed as.

If you understand baseball at all, you would know the Indians value defense first behind the plate, and that includes pitch framing and handling one of the premier pitching staffs in the sport.

We feel Perez is the better player and should get a higher percentage of the playing time, but the way Terry Francona handles the duo keeps them fresh at a very physically taxing position.

Last season, Gomes had the higher OPS at 708 (Perez was 664), but the pair combined for 22 HR and 94 RBI, not bad for two guys who combined to hit under .230 combined.

We like Perez better because he has a better eye at the plate.  Even though he strikes out a lot (71 Ks in 217 at bats), he also works counts better and walked 26 times, five less than Gomes, even though the latter had 135 more plate appearances.

Perez also guided Indians’ pitchers to a better ERA at 3.22, compared to Gomes’ 3.36, both excellent figures.

Both catchers are excellent against the running game, throwing out over 40% of the runners trying to steal against Cleveland pitchers.

Both are also very good in blocking pitches, as the duo had just 9 passed balls last season, and the team ranked second to Boston in the fewest number of wild pitches.

Watching Tribe games makes you appreciate Gomes and Perez when you see Cleveland baserunners advance on pitches in the dirt.

By the way, this season, Tribe catchers have combined for 3 HR and 6 RBI, and both hit game winning home runs this week.

Getting back to Mejia, quite frankly we do not want him to continue catching anyway.  He’s not a big guy at 5’10” and 180 pounds, and most scouts feel his bat is elite.  Why subject him to the wear and tear that the position takes on these guys.

Outside of his season at Lake County as a 19 year old, where he hit .243 with 9 homers, the lowest batting average the switch-hitter has had was .282 when he was 18 at Mahoning Valley.

He doesn’t strike out a lot, and the front office sees his value as a hitter, because they are investigating a position change for the youngster, who won’t turn 23 until after the season ends.

Even if they weren’t thinking about moving Mejia from behind the plate, the way the organization thinks about the spot would keep him in the minors.  He’s not ready to handle a big league pitching staff, especially one as accomplished as the Tribe’s, just yet.

And don’t forget Eric Haase, just 25 years old, who emerged last year in Akron to hit 27 dingers.  He’s also at Columbus this season.

The Indians don’t have a guy who is going to start behind the plate for the American League in the All Star Game, but they are very happy with the quality they have at the position.

As for Mejia, he could wind up joining with Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez to form a switch hitting middle of the order which would be the envy of baseball.

MW