Indians Tidbits (2008 season)

[Mac]

-Jeremy Sowers has a very good performance.
-Victor and Hafner seem to be doing well since rehab.
-Cabrera is hitting well since his return from Triple A. (.303 in 44 games since All-star Break)
-Choo is around .300 and playing well.
-Marte is hitting .294 in the last 10 games.
-Betancourt is also doing well since the break
-Grady is struggling at the plate :(
-We're a game ahead of the Tigers.

God help me, but that "Cleveland" sports fan optimism is starting to build towards next year...just a little bit. :)

Grady's been around the .265-.275 BA since the All-Star break. I wouldn't really say he's struggling. Seems like once he has a bad game, the next day he gets 3-4 hits.

I'd like to see this team finish at .500. If they can do that, it'd be the best season with what we were faced with. Only 3 games below, it's well in reach

Good to see Pronk get a few hits tonight. Hopefully he can continue this the rest of the season and into next year

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Sowers returns to winning ways Hafner also looks solid in his first game back since shoulder injury
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Wednesday, Sep 10, 2008
BALTIMORE: This is what the Indians' deep thinkers have been waiting for.
And that goes double for Jeremy Sowers.
No, not the first hit by Travis Hafner since May 25. Rather, a bravura performance by Sowers, who led the way in the Tribe's 6-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday night at Camden Yards.
''That's the way I love to see Jeremy pitch,'' Indians manager Eric Wedge said. ''He was commanding his fastball left and right, and he did a pretty good job throwing strike one. When he does that, his change-up and his other secondary pitches play up.''
Sowers (3-8, 5.60 ERA) has had a fitful season, looking like the rookie who confounded opposing lineups in 2006 for a few innings then falling off the ledge and quickly retreating to the dugout for an early shower.
''I don't think it matters how I've been pitching,'' he said. ''When you pitch well, you're proud of it. Tonight, I was commanding three pitches, and I haven't done that for a while.''


There doesn't seem to be any reason why he can't regain the edge he displayed two years ago, but he has to do it. Maybe his start against the Orioles was the beginning of that process. Easily navigating eight innings in only 96 pitches, he allowed one run on four hits and one walk, striking out seven.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Indians planningnext year's roster<... Published on Wednesday, Sep 10, 2008

Indians planning
next year's roster
BALTIMORE: There is likely to be a major turnover in the Indians' roster next season, and several players have been auditioning since the All-Star break.
Two of those are Juan Rincon and Brendan Donnelly, who were once top-level relievers, trying to recapture their old form.
Asked about their viability for next year, manager Eric Wedge said: ''At times they've shown that. I want to see how the regular season plays out. I'm willing to totally forget last night for both of them.''
On Monday, Donnelly gave up five runs in one-third of an inning, and Rincon allowed two runs and yielded a grand slam, retiring two batters.
There also are apt to be spots to fill in the rotation next spring and plenty of candidates to fill them: Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, Jeremy Sowers, Aaron Laffey, Anthony Reyes, Zach Jackson, possibly David Huff and around midseason, Jake Westbrook, when he recovers from Tommy John elbow surgery.
General Manager Mark Shapiro also has said he might seek a starter in the free-agent market or via a trade.
''Only a couple of guys are absolute locks,'' Wedge said. ''So I think we have to look at all of that.''
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Command performance: Sowers finds his rhythm (and fastball) to shut down Orioles

by Paul Hoynes Tuesday September 09, 2008, 11:17 PM


Rob Carr/Associated PressAndy Marte (left) and Grady Sizemore celebrated the Indians' 15th victory in their last 21 games with Tuesday's 6-1 triumph over the Orioles in Baltimore.
BALTIMORE -- Jeremy Sowers went against form on a humid Tuesday night at Camden Yards and came away a winner. This year, Sowers has been hit hard in the first inning and even harder from the fourth inning on. His record, 3-8 this season and 4-14 in 31 starts through 2007, is testament to that.
Rob Carr/Associated Press Jeremy Sowers said good command of his fastball was what enabled him to work eight full innings on Tuesday, allowing just four hits to the Orioles.
Tuesday night, in the Indians' 6-1 victory over Baltimore, he reversed that with eight good innings. The victory gave the Indians 15 wins in their last 21 games. Sowers had help as the offense scored once in six different innings. Travis Hafner, in his first game since May 25, hit first-pitch singles in his first two at-bats. More importantly, he showed what his presence meant to the lineup in the eighth when he drew an intentional walk from right-hander Rocky Cherry even though he hadn't homered since May 16. Kelly Shoppach foiled the strategy with an RBI double for the Tribe's final run.
"Travis looked great," said manager Eric Wedge. "It was a good start for him."
Cont....

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Indians Insider: Shapiro keeping infield options open in planning for 2009

by Paul Hoynes Tuesday September 09, 2008, 8:48 PM


Rob Carr/Associated PressShin-Soo Choo apparently takes this fourth-inning run scored by Asdrubal Cabrera rather seriously Tuesday night in Baltimore. Cabrera scored from first on David Dellucci's RBI triple to center field.
BALTIMORE -- It's generally assumed that the Indians will be looking for a third baseman this winter to replace Andy Marte, who has done little to keep the job since Casey Blake was traded to the Dodgers on July 26. GM Mark Shapiro begs to differ.
He lists the Indians' two biggest needs as a closer and an infielder. No surprise there, but there is a surprise about where that new infielder could play next year.
"The only thing written in stone is that Grady Sizemore will be in center field and Travis Hafner will be at DH," said Shapiro.
Shapiro will be looking for a run-producing infielder at first, second or third base. Depending on who they acquire and where he plays, it could involve a shift in positions that takes Jhonny Peralta out of the shortstop spot. If that's the case, it would allow Asdrubal Cabrera to slide from second to short.

Instead of concentrating on one position, Shapiro believes looking for an infielder at first, second or third allows him to find the best value through trade or free agency. Should the Indians narrow their focus to one position and find themselves in a bidding contest with a big market team, experience has shown them they won't sign the player.

Cont...

 

[LitlBuck]

I will like for Shapiro to "cast in stone" that just Sizemore is a lack to come back along with Chin and Francisco unless he gets his socks blown off by an offer for one of those guys. I do not think Hafner should be "cast in stone" because of his run production over the past 1 1/2 years. If someone would make me a good offer for Hafner, I would definitely think about it but I seriously doubt if that is going to happen with his shoulder acting up this season.

I am somewhat surprised that he is talking about the possibility of moving Cabrera to shortstop. That must mean he is thinking about trading JP and without JP in that infield there will be no run production at all unless he finds a very good hitting 3rd or 1st baseman who would put up better numbers than JP has this year. JP has not been tried at third base since his days in the minor's and I don't think he can handle that position at the major-league level.

From the above article:

Double dip: Fausto Carmona is scheduled to start the first game and Bryan Bullington the second on Saturday against Kansas City in a day-night doubleheader at Progressive Field.

I have never heard of Bullington. I'm not even sure if he pitched for Buffalo or Akron this past season. I was hoping that they would bring up JD Martin for a look see but I guess it will be interesting to see another prospect.

 

[tsteele316]

bullington pitched for buffalo this season and was pedestrian.

cleveland isn't going to bring up anyone that wasn't on the 40 man roster and lose a year of service time for them, unless they don't have any long term plans in the future for the player.

bullington is 28 and had a 4.50 era as a starter in AAA. Given Sowers, Laffey, Huff, Miller, and possibly Westbrook to round out the last 2 starting spots, it's a safe bet cleveland isn't factoring him into their long term plans.

 

[NFBuck]

Shoppach is a beast...2 more homeruns tonight.

Buckeye Scott Lewis is pitching a beauty too.

 

[buckeyemania11]

Scott Lewis representing Ohio State well 8 IP 3 H 0 R 3 K along with the W

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Great Scott! Lewis' big-league debut is a beaut as he works eight scoreless in Tribe's win

by Paul Hoynes Wednesday September 10, 2008, 11:23 PM


Rob Carr/Associated PressIndians rookie left-hander Scott Lewis (center) enjoys the comments of teammates Cliff Lee (left) and Travis Hafner as the Indians close out a 7-1 victory over the Orioles Wednesday night in Baltimore. Lewis, in his big-league debut, worked eight scoreless innings and allowed just three hits.
BALTIMORE -- The only thing that could have made left-hander Scott Lewis' big-league debut better was if manager Eric Wedge let him pitch a complete game. Then again, catcher Kelly Shoppach's nerves may not have made it that long. "I was a nervous wreck," said Shoppach. "He'd pitched so well. I just didn't want anything bad to happen to him late in the game. I think Wedgie made the right call."
Lewis pitched eight scoreless innings and Shoppach hit two homers in the Indians' 7-1 victory over Baltimore at Camden Yards. Lewis, taking injured Anthony Reyes' spot in the rotation, struck out three and allowed three hits. He faced the minimum over his last five innings.
It's the fifth-most innings pitched, according to baseballreference.com, by an Indian in his big-league debut since 1956. Ron Taylor went 11 innings in 1962 followed by nine-inning complete games by Jim Kern (1974), Luis Tiant (1964) and Mudcat Grant (1958).
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

Indians' Lewis shows he's worth the wait
Injury-prone pitcher wins MLB debut
Thursday, September 11, 2008
By DAVID GINSBURG
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BALTIMORE Through all the countless hours he spent rehabilitating an assortment of injuries, Scott Lewis never abandoned hope of pitching in the major leagues.

The sacrifices he made over the past five years paid off Wednesday night, when Lewis allowed three hits over eight shutout innings in his major league debut to help Cleveland beat Baltimore, 7-1.

Lewis (1-0) struck out three, walked none and retired the final eight he faced in a 96-pitch effort. He came three outs short of becoming the first Cleveland pitcher since Luis Tiant in 1964 to throw a shutout in his major league debut.

Being pulled with a 7-0 lead didn't bother him one bit.

"I can't be disappointed about anything today," he said. "I only pitched eight innings once before and that was a complete-game loss."

Cleveland Manager Eric Wedge said, "We thought about taking him out after seven, but he coasted through the seventh effortlessly. We wanted to keep him under 100 pitches."

Lewis underwent elbow ligament replacement surgery while at Ohio State in 2003 before being drafted in the third round by Cleveland in 2004. He was limited to six starts in 2005 because of biceps tendinitis, then spent most of the 2006 season on a limited pitch count before finally pitching a full season last year with Double-A Akron.

This spring training, however, Lewis strained a back muscle and was forced to stay in extended spring training until early June. He combined to go 8-4 with a 2.53 ERA for Akron and Triple-A Buffalo before finally making his way to the Indians.

The wait was well worth it.

Cont...

 

[LitlBuck]

Given Sowers, Laffey, Huff, Miller, and possibly Westbrook to round out the last 2 starting spots

and after last night I think you will have to put Lewis:) into that equation along with another starter that I am sure they will pick up in free agency. Well, at least I hope they pick up a quality 4th or 5th starter in free agency just in case.

 

[tsteele316]

and after last night I think you will have to put Lewis:) into that equation along with another starter that I am sure they will pick up in free agency. Well, at least I hope they pick up a quality 4th or 5th starter in free agency just in case.

they should pick up an additional starter. chances are, if they do, it will be a one year reclamation project deal like the millwood deal.

 

[reeelaxn]

Scott Lewis representing Ohio State well 8 IP 3 H 0 R 3 K along with the W

you know it!.. What a GEM!.. Yet, I can't believe the TRiBe starts to light it up pitching then they can't hit or they put it all together and its tooooo late. Uhh.. oh well, "there's always next year" - quote of every Cleveland Fan.

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Mis-hits, pitching downfall for Tribe Zach Jackson's start fails to deliver. Consistency still problem for pitcher
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Friday, Sep 12, 2008
BALTIMORE: Youth is not always served.
For Scott Lewis, Wednesday night was a life highlight, as he made his major-league debut by pitching eight scoreless innings to spark an Indians victory.
But nobody was tossing around glowing adjectives Thursday night, when Zach Jackson, at 25 only one year older than Lewis, made a start that was no big deal.
Jackson has started in the big leagues before, but not often. He is one of several pitchers trying to catch the attention of manager Eric Wedge and General Manager Mark Shapiro, who will choose which pitchers have a chance to make a statement next spring in training camp.
In six innings against the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson gave up five runs (four earned), eight hits and two walks, the Tribe losing a 6-3 decision. It was far from an awful performance, but it wasn't quite acceptable either.
''Jackson was in and out with it,'' Wedge said. ''I didn't think we played particularly well as a club. That's offensively, defensively and the pitching, too. Jackson probably deserved better, because he gave us a chance to win.''
Cont...