Indians Take Two from Twins Thanks to David Huff’s Amazing Comeback
When the Indians announced that David Huff was taking the mound in the first game of Monday’s doubleheader with the Minnesota Twins, I was quite skeptical.
He was a decent choice as a spot starter, but his inability to fool major-league hitters in the past combined with his declining strikeout rates in the minors suggested he would struggle with extended exposure in the bigs, and I cautioned that he was not a permanent solution for the Tribe’s rotation problems.
That was before he laid waste to the Twins’ lineup in the first of two Tribe victories in Minnesota on Monday.
Now, you can’t make any sweeping conclusions based on one game, especially since Minnesota is one of the worst offensive teams in the baseball. But if the David Huff that showed up Monday afternoon is the real new David Huff—well, he can stick around for a while. (more…)
Indians Promote David Huff: Is He the Answer for Cleveland’s Rotation?
It shouldn’t be news to anyone that the Cleveland Indians are in the market for a starting pitcher.
As far back as November, it was clear that Chris Antonetti wanted some veteran help in the rotation to help eat innings and mentor the Tribe’s young pitching staff. Now that they’re in contention, it’s no secret that the Indians are looking for an arm to replace Mitch Talbot (and maybe another for Fausto Carmona, too) in the rotation.
On Sunday, the team announced that David Huff would make his 2011 debut Monday in the first game of a doubleheader with the Minnesota Twins. Sure, the Indians were in need of a spot starter, but it’s not as though the promotion is unwarranted: in 17 starts for Triple-A Columbus, he’s 8-3 with a 3.86 ERA and a 2.3 K/BB ratio.
I haven’t heard many people say they expect Huff, 26, to stick around for long, and with Carmona coming back Monday night and Jeanmar Gomez already up in place of Talbot, there’s no clear spot for him in the rotation. But in the back of many fans’ minds, the thought must be beginning to form: is Huff the arm the Indians need?
Quite simply: no, he is not. Before you let the idea germinate, know that the Achilles heel in Huff’s game is actually even weaker than it was in his last failed stint with the Tribe. (more…)
Cleveland Indians Spring Training: Is David Huff For Real?
The first rule of baseball statistics is to not overreact to small sample sizes. It’s not explicitly expressed, but one can infer that the results of a couple games should be taken with an enormous block of salt when the games don’t actually count.
In other words, I am fully aware of how meaningless the five innings David Huff has thrown this Spring Training are. But that hasn’t stopped me from being really excited about what we’ve seen.
The 26-year-old righty hasn’t had much success since making his major league debut in 2009. In 38 career starts, he’s gone 13-19 with a 5.84 ERA; last season, he went 2-11 with a 6.21 ERA en route to posting a below-replacement-level -0.4 WAR.
Huff’s problem is one that he shares with most of the other warm bodies to have earned places in the Indians’ rotation over the last couple years: the complete inability to strike batters out. In 15 starts last year, he racked up just 37 K’s in 79.2 innings for a K/9 rate of 4.2. In 208 career innings pitched, he’s whiffed just 4.4 K/9.
The weird thing is, Huff was a completely different pitcher in the minor leagues. He dominated opposing hitters to the tune of 8.1 K/9 in his professional career before getting called up to the majors. In 2008, his last full season in the minors, he struck out 8.8 K/9 and posted a K:BB ratio of just under 5.0 in 146.1 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A.
That’s why I’m so excited about what Huff has done this spring. In five innings of work so far, he has five strikeouts and hasn’t allowed any runs or walks, giving him a 0.00 ERA, a 9.0 K/9 rate, and a K:BB ratio of infinity. Yes, that’s only two appearances, and sure, he’s facing minor-league hitters in games that don’t count. But it’s something.
But even this small sample is progress. He’s struck out more than five batters just twice in his career, and he’s walked at least one batter in 37 of 38 outings since making his MLB debut.
Does this mean he’s rediscovered the stuff that made him so successful in the minors? There’s no way to know yet, but there’s at least a chance. Huff’s is a story to watch as the preseason unfolds.
2011 Fantasy Preview: Which Cleveland Indians Pitchers Are Worth Drafting?
Yesterday, we took a look at the Cleveland Indians position players who could have fantasy relevance in 2011. Today, we turn our attention to the pitchers you should keep in mind when you head into the draft.
Do the Cleveland Indians Really Need an Innings Eater?
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Much ink has already been spilled over the Indians’ desire to import a starting pitcher this offseason. But while Cleveland reportedly wants to bring in a veteran starter, no one expects to see a new ace warming up in the Tribe’s bullpen in 2011. We don’t want a great hurler—we want an “innings eater.”
In case you’re not hip to the latest baseball lingo, an innings eater is a roughly average pitcher whose value comes solely from consistency and durability. We’re talking 150-200 innings with an ERA around 4.25, plus or minus half a run. An innings eater isn’t supposed to carry his team on his back. His job is to go out every fifth day and not screw up too badly.
But let’s forget the apparent inevitability of such a move and focus on the normative—should a team like the Indians really be going after a pitcher like that?
For the sake of argument, let’s say that there are three types of teams, herefter referred to as A, B, and C. Team A enters the season looking like a surefire contender and considers it a disappointment if they miss the playoffs; Team B isn’t expecting to see the postseason, but they have a realistic chance of making it to October if everything goes right; and Team C has raised the white flag on the season before it even starts. Think of Team A as like the Red Sox and Yankees every year, Team B as 2010′s White Sox and Mariners, and Team C as the Royals or Pirates. How would an innings eater fit into each team’s plans?
If Team A has any holes in its rotation, an innings eater would be a great addition. Why? Because if they’re already expecting to make the playoffs, they presumably have the talent to contend before filling the gap in their staff. On a good-hitting club, his job is to keep his team in the game; on a pitching-heavy team, the point is to ensure that the back of the rotation isn’t a complete disaster. The Cardinals’ signing of Jake Westbrook is a good example of the latter.
With Team B, things get a little fuzzier. For a team with an outside chance of making the playoffs, potential is more important than stability. A consistently average pitcher will probably be better than someone who has, say, a 30% chance of being an All-Star and 70% chance of busting, but if a team is in need of someone to put them over the top, playing it safe is counterintuitive. The only reason to go after an innings eater is if there are no other options whose realistic upsides are better than what you’d expect from the innings eater.
With Team C, we get to the worst case of all. If the team has nothing to play for, the only productive use of the season is to further the development of the team’s young players. Every pitch an innings eater throws is an opportunity lost for a prospect to refine his stuff in the bigs. Unless all of a team’s best pitching prospects still have major refinements to make in the minors, signing an innings eater makes no sense at all.
So what of the Indians? The 2011 Tribe probably falls somewhere between Teams B and C, so the argument that an innings eater would bring stability doesn’t hold much water.
And we don’t have a dearth of pitching. Unless they’re traded, Fausto Carmona and Mitch Talbot are virtual locks for rotation spots, and Justin Masterson will probably keep his as well. One has to assume Carlos Carrasco will get the chance to start after impressing in seven starts at the end of 2010, and Josh Tomlin should be the favorite for the fifth spot after leading Triple-A Columbus Clippers starters in ERA last year (2.68).
That means Corey Kluber, Zach McAllister, Jeanmar Gomez, and Justin Germano will be battling it out for backup duty—and that’s assuming no lower-minors prospects take the next step and there’s no resurgence from Aaron Laffey and David Huff. How will that situation be bettered by adding Vicente Padilla or Freddy Garcia?
The bottom line is, the Indians needn’t worry about eating innings. Maybe we should just wolf down some Cracker Jacks instead.
