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2012 MLB Team Preview: Cleveland Indians

Posted by on 2 April 2012, 3:20 am

Cleveland Indians logo; aka 'the Tribe'

The 2011 Cleveland Indians came out of the gate hot last season, and were first in the AL Central up until July 20th having won 51 games.

Following that day, the Tribe only won 29 more games in 2011, and finished the season a distant second with 15 games separating them and the division leading Detroit Tigers.

Every team suffers injuries but in Cleveland players spent a total of 826 days on the DL in 2011, which certainly was higher than normal.

Now, with a new season just days away can a healthy Tribe finish off what they couldn’t in 2011?

Let’s take a look at the Indians heading into the 2012 season….

THE POSITIVES:

The emergence of shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera going from good to All-Stat, hitting 25 homers and 92 RBIs in 2011. The 26-year old ranked first in RBIs and hits out of all AL Shortstops and second in home-runs and doubles, and it earned him his first Sliver Slugger Award. This guy has a really bright future in Cleveland and his natural baseball ability leads many to believe that Cabrera will only get better.

The Indians have to take advantage of the April schedule. The Tigers play the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Rangers in the first month so the Indians have to pounce from the start, as the Tigers bats, aka Miguel Cabrera; tend to need a month to warm up before blasting everything out of the park. The Tribe needs to capitalize off every single opportunity if they plan on contending with the Tigers come September.  So, another hot start is in order in Cleveland.

THE NEGATIVES: Continue reading ‘2012 MLB Team Preview: Cleveland Indians’ »

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Lady Loves Pinstripes: 2011 MLB July Monthly Power Rankings

Posted by on 1 August 2011, 4:11 am

The trade deadline marked the close to the month of July, as now the real fun begins; that is if your team still has a shot at playing in October.

Where does your team stand at the end of July?

My advice to baseball fans is to catch some Bieber Fever, and Never, Say Never.

With a ton of baseball still left in the 2011 season October is up for grabs, so see where your team stands on my July Monthly Power Rankings; and comments are encouraged.

JULY

MLB TEAM

JUNE

COMMENTS. WHY?

1

 Philadelphia Phillies

2

 Trading for Hunter Pence was a legit and necessary move….and it is already paying off.

2

 Boston Red Sox

3

 Injury prone Erik Bedard better be just a stopgap for injured Clay Buckholz…. still a desperate move by GM Theo Epstein.

3

 New York Yankees

1

 If any team can win with hitting it is the Bronx Bombers…. silence at trade deadline was golden back in 1998.

4

 San Francisco Giants

4

 Carlos Beltran was a great move till the Phillies and Braves made better ones.

5

 Atlanta Braves

5

 Michael Bourne is perfect leadoff hitter with .303 BA, 26 doubles and 39 SB; keep an eye on this team when McCann returns.

6

 St. Louis Cardinals

8

 Made the most of the trade market adding SS Furcal ,OF Paterson, SP Jackson, RP Dotel and P Rzepczynski. Cards fans should be excited.

7

 Texas Rangers

10

 Still don’t trust a team with 2nd most errors in baseball; adding Uehara and Adams at trade

8

 Detroit Tigers

6

 Can the pitching hold-up to win the AL Central? Tigers have a 50-50 chance it could go either way.

9

 Arizona Diamondbacks

11

 Don’t count the D-Backs out just yet; a young, talented and hungry organization could do damage down the stretch.

10

 Milwaukee Brewers

9

 Rickie Weeks injury couldn’t have come at a worse time but Jerry Harriston is experienced and versatile enough to hold down the fort…at least at home.

11

 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

12

 Keeping a position to pounce and take what is rightfully theirs… the AL West.

12

 Cleveland Indians

14

 Be Aggressive… until the Tribe doesn’t make the playoffs; doubtful Jimenez trade will make enough of an impact.

13

 Tampa Bay Rays

7

 Should have been sellers as not catching Yankees and Red Sox this season; James Shields could have brought a truckload of prospects.

14

 Pittsburgh Pirates

15

 Use the 19th inning loss as a motivator to prove that Pittsburgh is resilient.

15

 Chicago White Sox

18

 Ozzie’s boys will win this division…. mark my word. Jackson trade brings a moan of relief.

16

 Cincinnati Reds

13

 Proving that making postseason in 2010 was not a forecast of good things to come. Needed to do something at trade deadline, not copy the Yankees.

17

 Toronto Blue Jays

19

 Can this team please move to the NL? Or just anywhere that is NOT the AL East?

18

 New York Mets

16

 GM is cleaning up shop and Reyes will be a Met after this season. Next project is fixing CitiField…

19

 Washington Nationals

17

 Phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg could be back in rotation in September….but why not just wait till 2012?

20

 Colorado Rockies

21

 Even a bigger disappointment than the Reds…second half surge was obviously luck.

21

 Oakland Athletics

22

 Billy Beane for Brad Pitt? Moneyball the movie will win more awards than A’s ever will….

22

 Minnesota Twins

29

 Finally, my “Joe Mauer Is Overrated” theory it panning out.

23

 Florida Marlins

25

 Should give new ballpark to Rays…because Marlins deserve to play in the Trop Dome.

24

 Los Angeles Dodgers

25

 Matt Kemp is on his way to winning NL MVP; now he should go get Rihanna back and enjoy it.

25

 Kansas City Royals

26

 1B Eric Hosmer is tremendous and Royals fans know that means he won’t be around much longer.

26

 Chicago Cubs

28

 Hey at least things got bad earlier than normal this season….FYI the something still ain’t working.

27

 Seattle Mariners

20

 17-game losing streak; wasting King Felix again; and Michael Pineda better get out of there unless Mariners get new ownership.

28

 San Diego Padres

27

 Health Bell still has his bags packed and hopefully Padres can get him the ball so he can prove it before waiver-wire trade deadline Aug 31.

29

 Baltimore Orioles

24

 Are the Orioles ever going to be good? Traded Lee and Uehara but who cares….

30

 Houston Astros

30

 FIRE SALE….memo to Astros stop answering the phone because you getting punked.
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New York Yankees: Do You Want The Truth About Pitcher Phil Hughes

Posted by on 6 July 2011, 3:23 am

Back in his old stomping ground of Progressive Field, New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia gave another All-Star performance on Tuesday night.

Throwing seven innings of shutout ball, Sabathia fanned 11 Cleveland Indians on his way to leading the Yankees to a 9-2 win and making sure to stop a three-game losing streak.

Since the Tribe beat the Yankees 6-3 on Monday, the series is up for grabs. The Yankees are putting the ball for the rubber game in the hands of pitcher Phil Hughes.

Hughes is another victim of GM Brian Cashman’s ‘pitching rules’ along with his buddy Joba Chamberlain just had Tommy John surgery and won’t be back in pinstripes till next season.

This will be Hughes’ first start since coming off the DL, a place he was sent all the way back on April 15th.

Skipper Joe Girardi blamed Hughes’ complete inability to locate his pitches, along with a drop in velocity on a dead arm, but which also can cause shoulder inflammation.

Hughes told the Wall Street Journal, “I don’t exactly know what went wrong, but I know something went wrong,” whatever the problem, his lack in arm strength was unmistakable and impossible to miss.

Three months later, and Hughes has worked his way back to the majors.

MLB.com reported that in his three-rehab starts, Hughes displayed marked improvement with his pitches reaching up to 92-93 mph. The last one in Trenton, he only gave up one earned run and threw 88 pitches in six-plus innings of work.

Two obvious scenarios can come of this:

1. Hughes can pitch like he did the first-half of 2010, which earned him a spot on the AL All-Star team.

2. Hughes will struggle and rookie Ivan Nova could be promoted after being demoted just two days ago.

It would be hard to justify the Yankees keeping Hughes in the rotation if he implodes on Wednesday in Cleveland.

This sounds strict because it has to be. The time for chances is over because the teams that get into the playoffs will do so by one or two games.

The Yankees are good enough to win it all this season, but that affords little room for mistakes here on out so if Hughes can’t get it done someone else will.

What Worries Me About Hughes?

Hughes’ major-league leading 25 home-runs allowed (this includes six from the postseason) in 2010, is what keeps running through my head.

Everyone keeps talking about Hughes 18 wins last season, but it masks the 4.19 ERA. Also, the fact that Hughes got the most run support out of all MLB starters, with an average of 6.75 runs scored every time he took the hill. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Do You Want The Truth About Pitcher Phil Hughes’ »

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New York Yankees: Injury Update On Mariano Rivera

Posted by on 5 July 2011, 12:49 am

Following the game, I was driving back to the city from the long July 4th weekend listening to 1010 News for traffic updates.

As the news anchor was going over the sports scores, he was summing up the New York Yankees 6-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians. He said AJ Burnett was perfect through six innings until he gave up a three-run homer to ex-Yankee Austin Kearns; how Curtis Granderson hit his 23rd home-run in the eighth…. this was all true.

Then the one-thing Yankee fans don’t want to hear was uttered; that All-Star closer Mariano Rivera was not available even if skipper Joe Girardi needed him. It was due to a sore left triceps and the newscaster went on to say that no tests were scheduled for Rivera at this point.

AP Sports Writer, Tom Withers confirmed the news after Girardi revealed it following the game in Cleveland. This is not comforting for Yankee fans, as masking the severity of injuries is a Bomber specialty.

The Sporting News is insinuating that this is enough of a reason for the Yankees to really explore obtaining the New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez, better known as K-rod.

K-rod has already said that he would happily accept a set-up role if traded to the Yankees.

The question that remains whether the Yankees trade for another possible closer, or just use should-be All-Star David Robertson for the time being, while keeping their fingers crossed down the stretch.

Regardless, the 41-year-old Rivera is the rock of this ball club posting 21 saves and a 1.91 ERA on the season so far.

All fans can do is just pray that the Yankees are not down-playing this one because as of right now, this is not encouraging at all.

All I know is that life without Rivera is no life at all.

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New York Yankees: Pitcher Bartolo Colon To Start On Saturday

Posted by on 29 June 2011, 4:01 am

New York Yankees ace Bartolo Colon has been on the 15-day DL (disabled list) since June 11th.Colon was dealing, allowing just two hits into the 7th inning that Saturday. It was obvious by his hobbling on a routine grounder to first base, against the Cleveland Indians that something was wrong. It was later diagnosed as a strained left hamstring.

Well, according to the New York Daily News Yankee fans might not have to wait much longer before Colon is back on the bump. Right now it is looking like Colon could rejoin the team as soon as this Saturday, making his first start in Citi Field in the second game of this weekend’s Subway Series vs. the Mets.

This past Monday, Colon threw 60 pitches in a simulated game down in Tampa and looked really good. He posted 15 pitches in each of the four innings, fanning three and allowing just two hits.

First, Colon has to get the green light after his Wednesday check-up by team doctors in New York. If all is good, it looks like the Yankees are confident enough after Colon said he could have thrown a lot longer in the simulated game to let him return without making a rehab start in the minors.

MLB.com reported what Yankees skipper Joe Girardi had this to say about Colon’s situation, preceding Tuesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers up in the Bronx:

“I mean, there’s always a little bit of concern, but he hurt [his left leg] covering first base. If he’s healthy, and we feel that he’s ready to go, there’s a chance he’s going to go out there and pitch.”

So far Colon has been phenomenal in the pinstripes. In his 10 Yankee starts, Colon is posting a 5-3 record, with a 3.10 ERA, allowing 27 earned runs, nine homers, with 72 strike outs, and a total of 78 innings pitched. He also threw a complete game, shutout and was well on his way again before he got hurt.

It will be nice to get minor league journeyman Brian Gordon out of the rotation. Gordon could be a temporary long reliever or a permanent one, pending that he does better than his last outing.

I called Gordon’s first Yankee start beginners luck before he threw the first pitch, so no surprise there.

It will be nice to have Colon back, feeling good again and back on the mound in Yankee pinstripes.

The Yankees are now a game and a half ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the AL East, and have been playing their best baseball of the season. Shocking when you realize this team is riddled with injuries, making players returns to health all the more heaven-sent.

Go figure…. who would have guessed that these sentiments would be coming from me about him.

How great that the only person Colon has to thank for this resurge is, his cells. I meant himself…oooppps.

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Home-Stand From Hell: Injury Update On New York Yankees Captain

Posted by on 14 June 2011, 3:39 am

The New York Yankees home-stand nightmare continued on Monday night in the fifth inning.

On a hit fly out, Captain Derek Jeter suffered obvious calf pain in his right leg as he was running out of the batter’s box. Jeter immediately went straight down the stairs into the clubhouse with the Yankees trainer, Gene Monahan and that was enough to send Yankee Universe into panic mode.

Now, Mark Feinstein at the NY Daily News and Reuters Newswire are reporting that the MRI results are confirming that Jeter has a Grade I calf strain.

Earlier in the first inning, Jeter got a hit, moving him just six shy of making history as the first New York Yankee to ever reach 3000 hits and 28th in the history of the game.

Jeter and Yankee fans were hoping to see the Captain accomplish this moment at home. Before the injury Jeter had the remainder of Monday’s 1-0 loss against the Cleveland Indians, as well as a three-game set against the Texas Rangers to try and do this at home, in New York.

My guess is Jeter will not play in the Rangers series at all, but could be back in the Yankees line-up in a week.

How do I know this?

I don’t; and I am absolutely NOT asserting otherwise regarding Jeter’s condition, other than it is a Grade I calf strain and I wanted to learn about it.

Still, it is the Captain so I did some research on the web to find out what and how severe this injury can be regarding limiting of activity etc.

Here are two must-reads, which helped me attempt to remotely understand what is going on with the Captain:

First checkout, Dr. Jonathan Cluett, a top orthopedic surgeon’s article on About.com called Calf Strain – - A Common Sports Injury that gives a complete rundown of typical calf strain. Dr. Cluett defines a Grade I, which is what Jeter was diagnosed with as:

Grade I Calf Strain: Mild discomfort, often-minimal disability. Usually minimal or no limits to activity.

Second, I went to the Hospital For Special Surgery’s website, as the doctors for most pro-teams reside there.

I found that this 2010 article, Muscle Injuries: An Overview by Lawrence V. Gulotta, MD, gave a more detailed explanation of strains and here is his definition of Jeter’s type of diagnosis:

Grade 1: Mild damage to individual muscle fibers (less than 5% of fibers) that causes minimal loss of strength and motion. These injuries generally take about 2-3 weeks to improve.

Who knows if this correlates at all to Jeter’s injury, but it looks as if the Captain will miss some games but he is said to be getting reevaluated Tuesday morning, so more will be shared after that. Continue reading ‘Home-Stand From Hell: Injury Update On New York Yankees Captain’ »

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New York Yankees: Odds Not Good Of Jeter Reaching 3000 Hits In The Bronx

Posted by on 13 June 2011, 1:25 am

How Have Things Been Going At Yankee Stadium?

Since returning home, the New York Yankees have not had much luck.

After being swept by the Boston Red Sox, reliever Joba Chamberlain found out that he needed Tommy John surgery. The next day, starting pitcher Bartolo Colon was added to the Yankees ever-growing disabled list initially for just 15 days, but with a strained left hamstring and being 38-years-old it could take Colon longer, as it is a tricky injury to heal.

In the wake of a second Red Sox embarrassment in a month, the Yankees decided to play baseball again and the perfect time for the stumbling Cleveland Indians to come to the Bronx for a four game set.

The Indians had a hot start about two seasons too early. Now that reality has set in and the Tigers and White Sox have woken up the Indians reign atop the AL Central is about to end.

The Yankees have smacked the Tribe around, winning three in a row, and hoping to complete a four-game sweep on Monday night. The Yankees need to stay in the hunt, as they stay two games behind Boston and don’t want that gap to grow.

There are four games left in this home-stand, one remaining against the Tribe, followed by three games against the Texas Rangers and all eyes will be on the Captain Derek Jeter.

As any sports fan knows, Jeter is seven hits (2993) away from joining the elite 3000-hits club. Jeter’s name will be added to a list that dons just 27 other players in the history of the game, but what makes this more meaningful is he will be the first Yankee to do it.

How badly do Jeter, his teammates and especially the Yankee fans want the Captain to get his 3000th hit at home?

To say severely would be an understatement, because it should really happen in the Bronx where Jeter has played his entire career and in front of the city that worships him.

In addition, Yankee Stadium could use a boost because unlike in the past, “home” has not been much of an advantage in 2011 like it has in the past.

After Thursday afternoon’s match-up against the Rangers the Yankees hit the road for some inter-league play against the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds, so it is now or never for the Captain.

Can Jeter get seven hits in four games to reach 3000 at Yankee Stadium?

Well, forecasting the mental aspect is something Jeter himself probably doesn’t know, but why not try to see if history equates into predicting the future.

Looking back on September 2009, when Jeter passed Lou Gehrig for most Yankee hits, he went cold for three games in a row, at home and all three were team wins before he tied it.

Here is a quick reference chart I made after reading stats on my favorite stats site BaseballReference.com:

DATE HITS TEAM RESULT
September 6, 2009 3 2715 8-14 vs. Blue Jays (L)
September 7, 2009 (1) 0 2718 4-1 vs. Rays (W)
September 7, 2009 (2) 0 2718 11-2 vs. Rays (W)
September 8, 2009 0 2718 3-2 vs. Rays (W)
September 9, 2009 3 2721* 4-2 vs. Rays (W)
September 11, 2009 2 2723** 4-10 vs. Orioles (L

*ties record on 3rd hit ** breaks record by 2 hits

The above shows that the Captain is human and got nervous at four hits away, but once that passed he did it without a hitch. So, if this indicates anything his 3000th hit will happen Saturday, June 18th in Chicago.

Please note that comparing breaking Gehrig’s record is a far-fetched measure to what will happen this week with Jeter. You have to realize that it is not common for a player to have one milestone in his career, so with Jeter having one less than two years ago is remarkable.

Without question this accomplishment should overwhelm the Captain because it is that monumental. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Odds Not Good Of Jeter Reaching 3000 Hits In The Bronx’ »

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