Alex White to Make MLB Debut Tonight
If you thought the first-place Cleveland Indians couldn’t get any more exciting, think again.
Carlos Carrasco’s elbow injury is obviously bad news for the Tribe. Even if it isn’t too serious, losing Carrasco and his 3.36 FIP for even a couple starts is a blow to the team, and any time a promising young pitcher has a health problem it’s somewhat nerve-wracking.
But there is a silver lining. Tonight we get to see one of Cleveland’s top pitching prospects in action: Alex White.
White, 22, was the Indians’ first-round pick in the 2009 draft. Baseball America ranked him as the 47th-best prospect in baseball before the season, and the second-best in the organization after Lonnie Chisenhall.
In 174.1 career minor league innings, White has a 2.37 ERA with 117 strikeouts against just 46 walks. In four starts with Triple-A Colmbus this year, he has a 1.90 ERA (2.27 FIP). He’s got more than a strikeout per inning (10.65 K/9) and owns an insane 28:5 K/BB ratio.
Be sure to tune in to this game, Tribe fans. The future starts tonight.
Carlos Santana Hits Walk-Off Grand Slam
Wow. Just wow. There are no words to describe how awesome this was.
Bottom of the ninth. Tie game. Bases loaded. Three-one count. Fastball down the middle. Launched into the right-field stands. It wasn’t even close.
9-5, Indians win. What a game.
Cleveland Indians’ Playoff Odds Hit Season High
This week’s series against the Kansas City Royals was nothing short of fantastic for the Cleveland Indians. The first-place Tribe took all three games against the second-place Royals, outscoring their opponents 24-8 and smacking nine homers.
The Indians entered the week on a three game losing streak and just 1.5 games ahead of the Royals and Detroit Tigers. Now, Cleveland stands at 16-8—the best record in the American League. The Indians are the only .500 team in the AL Central, and they stand 4.5 games ahead of the Royals and Tigers.
And, best of all, the series had a huge tangible impact on the Tribe’s chances of extending their 2011 season into October. (more…)
AL Central Showdown: What Should Cleveland Indians Expect From Detroit Tigers?
Had someone said before the season that the Detroit Tigers would enter tonight’s series against the Cleveland Indians tied for second place in the AL Central, it wouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. The Tigers were far from favorites to win the division, but they were expected to at least be in the mix for a playoff spot.
But it would have been something of a shock had someone predicted that the team who is in first place with the best record in the American League would be Detroit’s opponents, the Indians. And yet, that’s exactly the position in which we find ourselves as the Tribe and Tigers prepare for a three-game weekend series at Progressive Field.
To get another perspective as we wait for the first game to begin, I talked to Matthew LaFave, who writes about the Tigers for BlessYouBoys.com. Here’s what he had to say about the Tribe’s weekend opponents.
WAHOO BLUES: The Tigers were expected to compete this year, but most people had them slated to finish third in the division. Given the White Sox’ and Twins’ early-season struggles, do you think Detroit is now the favorite to win the AL Central? What would have to happen for the Tigers to make a playoff run?
MATTHEW LAFAVE: It’s definitely one of the hardest divisions to predict. If you take a look at the current standings, it’s completely backwards than what everyone predicted. I predicted the Tigers would win the AL Central from before spring training, but I could be biased.
It all starts with starting pitching for the Tigers. Led by ace Justin Verlander, the starters are 11-4 when pitching 6+ innings. There have been some struggles lately, especially with Rick Porcello and Phil Coke, but if we can be more consistent than the division will be ours to take. Our bullpen got a huge improvement with the acquisition of Joaquin Benoit this past off-season. He became our 8th inning setup man and it has translated to perfection, the Tigers are 10-0 when taking a lead into the 8th. (more…)
Is Grady Sizemore Great Again?
With apologies to Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana, no Cleveland Indians player entered the 2011 season with as much buzz as Grady Sizemore. After emerging as one of the best outfielders in the game from 2005-8, injuries limited Sizemore to just 139 games of mediocrity in 2009-10.
When he made his season debut a week and a half ago, all eyes were on the 28-year-old center fielder. And he hasn’t disappointed. In nine games since coming off the DL, Sizemore is hitting .378/.425/.811 with three homers, seven RBI, and 0.8 WAR.
Of course, if you plug Sizemore’s .316 career BABIP in for his current .440 BABIP, using his Power Factor for the slugging percentage his slashline falls to .295/.342/.631—still very good, but it’s a far cry from his godlike actual numbers. But I digress.
Before the season started, I looked at four aspects of Sizemore’s game that had declined the last couple seasons—power, defense, speed, and plate discipline—in an attempt to determine which problems were caused by injuries and which were genuine drop-offs in skill. My conclusions were pessimistic about his ability to rebound.
Obviously, nine games is a tiny sample size, and it’s way too soon to make any definitive statements about Sizemore’s game. But while I understand that anything can happen in nine games, it looks like I’m being proven right. (more…)
