Indians Tidbits (2008 season)

[osugrad21]

Canton

Indians win has that feel of 2007 again
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
BY JOSH WEIR
[email protected]

CLEVELAND Travis Hafner still is lost in the rehab maze. CC Sabathia is a Brewer. Casey Blake is a Dodger. Joe Borowski is very available.

All that being said, Tuesday night had a familiar feel for the Indians.

Almost like 2007.

Victor Martinez homered, Fausto Carmona pitched well, and the bullpen locked down a 9-3 win against the White Sox at Progressive Field.

For the first time since June 29, the Indians are less than 10 games from first place in the Central Division.

"Like we talked about a month and a half ago, we want to win as many games as we can," Indians Manager Eric Wedge said, his team 9 1/2 games out. "We want to finish as high up in the standings as possible. That's always going to be our goal, no matter where we are or where we're coming from."

SOX ARE FLAT

Meanwhile, someone might want to tell the White Sox they're in a pennant race. Chicago, which lost Joe Crede to back tightness in the sixth inning and was without Carlos Quentin and Ken Griffey Jr., looked flat for the second consecutive night.

The Sox have lost five of their last six, and are tied with the Twins atop the division.
Cont...

 

[LitlBuck]

Aaron Laffey, the prospective sixth starter, has been shut down because of an inflamed left elbow. Laffey had an MRI in Cleveland on Monday, but will not need surgery. Laffey tried to pitch with the sore elbow for the last two or three starts at Class AAA Buffalo with poor results.

Jake Westbrook, who already had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in June, will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right hip Thursday in Nashville, Tenn.

I think the Indians with all of their other needs better start looking for a fairly decent starter during the off-season. The starting pitching injuries is going from bad to worse and with Carmona having control problems something better be done. Dolan better open up his checkbook when free agents become available.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

can't you pr icks lose when you're supposed to?

 

[Piney]

I think the Indians with all of their other needs better start looking for a fairly decent starter during the off-season. The starting pitching injuries is going from bad to worse and with Carmona having control problems something better be done. Dolan better open up his checkbook when free agents become available.

What ya hope is the $10 million they were paying CC would be re-invested into a free agent pitcher to round off the rotation.

Still you have:
Carmona (hopefully in spring training they square up his mechanics)
Lee
$10 mil a year free agent pitcher
Reyes
Laffey/Miller/and who knows who else.

That isn't a bad rotation. Worse case by July you get Westbrook back to either be the 4th/5th starter or you ease him back by using him in the bullpen.

But knowing Shapiro he will feel the starting rotation they have is good enough and probable will sign another Delluci type player to play 3rd base.

 

[LitlBuck]

can't you pr icks lose when you're supposed to?

You shouldn't call us names because I think we have a 4 game series against you guys at the end of the season in Chicago and we also play the Twins.

Laffey/Miller/and who knows who else.
That isn't a bad rotation. Worse case by July you get Westbrook back to either be the 4th/5th starter or you ease him back by using him in the bullpen.
But knowing Shapiro he will feel the starting rotation they have is good enough and probable will sign another Delluci type player to play 3rd base.

I am not a big fan on hoping that guys that have arm problems this year are very to be OK next season and with Westbrook now having arthroscopic surgery on his hip then even adds to his problems.
You are probably right on target. They will probably either signed another Delluci type player to play 3rd base or keep Marte. They might even send DD to the developmentally and turn try to turn them into a left-handed 3rd baseman.:!

 

[Piney]

can't you pr icks lose when you're supposed to?

You are just lucky we got swept by Seattle, if we win 2 out of 3 like we "should" have done we would be knocking on your door as we watch the White Sox choke and the Indians come back from the dead to win the division

I am not a big fan on hoping that guys that have arm problems this year are very to be OK next season and with Westbrook now having arthroscopic surgery on his hip then even adds to his problems.
You are probably right on target. They will probably either signed another Delluci type player to play 3rd base or keep Marte. They might even send DD to the developmentally and turn try to turn them into a left-handed 3rd baseman.:!

What is wrong with hoping that Westbrook could possible be a replacement rotation starter or bullpen help late in the year next year? Not like I am hoping he can be our #2 or #3 starter by June or something.

 

[LitlBuck]

You are just lucky we got swept by Seattle, if we win 2 out of 3 like we "should" have done we would be knocking on your door as we watch the White Sox choke and the Indians come back from the dead to win the division

What is wrong with hoping that Westbrook could possible be a replacement rotation starter or bullpen help late in the year next year? Not like I am hoping he can be our #2 or #3 starter by June or something.

There is nothing wrong with "hoping" that Westbrook can come back and help us midseason next year but will that be too late I don't know. I am just concerned about his health. First his arm and now hip surgery. I hope he comes through it OK because we certainly do need pitching.

I was thinking the same thing about the Seattle series if we would have gone 2-1 we would be only 8 1/2 games behind the Twins and White Sox with plenty of games remaining with them.

 

[OHSportsFan]

?!$%#% GARKO!?!

down 4-2 in the eight, runners on the corners...just one out...and you ground into a frickin' double play?! you slow ass p.o.s.! hit the ball in the air! wait for a fucking good pitch!

bum.


[/rant]

 

[buckeyemania11]

this team has a serious issue with grounding into double plays in key situations

 

[LitlBuck]

?!$%#% GARKO!?!

down 4-2 in the eight, runners on the corners...just one out...and you ground into a frickin' double play?! you slow ass p.o.s.! hit the ball in the air! wait for a [censored]ing good pitch!

bum.

[/rant]

It's OK:ohwell: it was all over after Seattle swept us but I am not a fan of Garko.

 

[NFBuck]

I think the Indians with all of their other needs better start looking for a fairly decent starter during the off-season. The starting pitching injuries is going from bad to worse and with Carmona having control problems something better be done. Dolan better open up his checkbook when free agents become available.

You're setting yourself up for a disappointment. If a move is made, it will be to bring in another pitcher like Byrd or Elarton a few years back to round out the bottom of the rotation. I'm confident once Carmona has the offseason to heal completely and work on his mechanics, he'll be okay. Lee will probably come back to earth somewhat, but if he can find a happy medium betwen the Sandy Koufax shit he's doing this year and the '04-'06 Cliff, he'll be a very solid #2. Reyes has been a great find, hopefully he can remain solid. I'd look for a FA to be #4 and a derby between Sowers/Laffey and maybe Miller to round it out. That's a pretty solid rotation. Money needs to be spent on the BP and hopefully a 3B. I'm an advocate of bringing Blake back to hold it down til Hodges is ready.

can't you pr icks lose when you're supposed to?

What fun would that be?

this team has a serious issue with grounding into double plays in key situations

Has all year.

 

[LitlBuck]

Oh, I didn't mean a #1 or #2 starter I meant a guy who would be in the middle of the rotation. Even Birdie cost some money. I would not be unhappy to see Blake come back but I also would like to see Victor/Shopach share catching responsibilities with Victor seeing more time at first base. I guess we have time for things to shake out next Spring:)

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Slumping White Sox go deep twice as Indians waste chance at home sweep

by Joe Maxse Wednesday September 03, 2008, 5:51 PM


Chuck Crow/The Plain DealerShin-Soo Choo tries to coax a squirrel into the Indians bullpen during the ninth inning of Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field. The squirrel first appeared in right field and avoided capture while wandering down the foul line toward first base, across the infield and eventually to the left-field foul line, where it was eventually chased into the tunnel under the home-run porch by grounds crew members.

See you at the end of the month.
That's the sentiment the Indians had to settle for after they could not finish off a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday afternoon. The Central Division contenders, who had not lost three straight here in five years, managed to salvage the finale, 4-2, at Progressive Field.
The Tribe will have to wait until the final three games of the season in Chicago, Sept. 26-28, to dish out a little more payback for the disappointing three-loss end to the 2005 campaign that cost Cleveland the postseason. The spoiler role is all that's left.

Continued.......

 

[NFBuck]

Oh, I didn't mean a #1 or #2 starter I meant a guy who would be in the middle of the rotation. Even Birdie cost some money. I would not be unhappy to see Blake come back but I also would like to see Victor/Shopach share catching responsibilities with Victor seeing more time at first base. I guess we have time for things to shake out next Spring:)

Okay, I misunderstood. I would figure Shapiro will bring in a #4 type starter. While Byrd and Elerton weren't world beaters, they were solid for what they were. Hopefully Shapiro found a real diamond in the rough in Reyes. It would be great if Laffey could get that early season form back next year. I'm concerned about the "Sower's factor" with him, but he has much better stuff.

I think we will be seeing a lot of Victor at 1B, we've already seen it since his return. I don't expect Shoppach to continue raking like he has this past few weeks, but he's proven he's a more than capable ML catcher.

Blake would be a great guy to bring back. Marte has played better (average over .200!!!), but I still don't see him as an everyday answer. Plus Blake is one of the most versatile players in the game, swings a solid bat and is a great clubhouse guy. He's said he loves Cleveland, so we'll see. I hope he's brought back.

 

[tsteele316]

shapiro's MO will be to bring in a reclamation project pitcher looking to rebound in order to round out the rotation.

i'd say a kevin millwood type deal is more likely than a byrd or elarton.

huff, laffey, miller, and sowers are all realistic options to round out the last two rotation spots to go along with carmona, reyes, and lee.

IF cleveland thinks that hafner can come back to even '07 form, then this team is one closer and a 3rd baseman away from being contenders next year.

Ryan Garko is the fatter version of ben broussard. he's useless for long stretches, but then manages to put up just good enough numbers for a mini stretch to make you think it's worth keeping him around. but, it's not.