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…)
What Should Indians Expect in Rematch with Minnesota Twins?
Well, that was disappointing. In what was supposed to be an easy weekend series for the Tribe, the Cleveland Indians ended up splitting the four-game set against one of the worst teams in baseball.
The Indians are still in first place in the AL Central (even though they’re essentially tied with the Tigers) and the White Sox are still within striking distance. But a new foe has appeared on the horizon: the Minnesota Twins.
All but left for dead after a putrid first few months, the Twins (44-49) have won 27 of their last 39 games and 11 of their last 15. They’re still five games under .500 (a testament to how truly awful they were at the beginning of the year), but they’re now within five games of the AL Central lead.
Today, the Indians kick off a four-game series at Target Field with a doubleheader against this newfound threat to their playoff hopes. To get a better idea of what to expect from our hosts, I had the honor of doing another series preview with TwinkieTown.com‘s Jesse Lund.
Jesse offered his thoughts on Minnesota’s turnaround, the Twins’ revised approach to the trade deadline, and what he expects from the organization’s top prospects down the road. Here’s what he had to say:
Read my answers to Jesse’s questions about Carlos Santana’s greatness, Grady Sizemore’s plate discipline, the Tribe’s lights-out bullpen and more at TwinkieTown.com.
WAHOO BLUES: What’s gotten into the Twins? They were at 19-37 the last time we talked, and they’ve gone 24-12 since. What happened there?
JESSE LUND: Regression to the mean. Usually that’s a bad thing, but in Minnesota’s case they’d been snake bitten. Injuries and terrible performances down to nearly every person on the team took their toll in the win-loss columns. Part of it has been guys getting healthy, but part of it has been guys finding their groove and playing better. Pitching is the biggest reason the Twins have been playing so well (they allowed 139 runs in both April and May, but just 91 runs in June and are on pace for about 100 in July), but the defense and offense have picked up the pace as well. Primarily though, it’s all about the pitching, and starters to be specific. Our bullpen is still suspect, so being able to keep most of those arms off the field has been huge.
WAHOO BLUES: When last we spoke, the Twins were 14.5 games back in the AL Central and you were skeptical about their ability to make a comeback. Now, they’re only five games in back of my Tribe. Do you think they have a shot at the playoffs? Might they now be buyers at the Trade Deadline? (more…)
Cleveland Indians’ Playoff Odds Rise to Nearly 1 in 4
Say what you want about the Cleveland Indians’ June swoon or the holes in the lineup or the fact that nothing ever goes right for Cleveland sports teams, but we’re well into the second half of the season and the Indians are in first place in the AL Central.
Not just tied for first place, or effectively tied for first place with an infinitesimally small advantage in winning percentage. If the season ended today there would be no ambiguity and no need for a tiebreaker. The Tribe would win the division.
As a result, while the Indians’ playoff odds still might not be as high as we’d like them to be, they’re at least heading in the right direction. (more…)
What Should Cleveland Indians Expect in Rematch with Minnesota Twins?
It was a rough weekend for the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe suffered a four-game sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers, including two consecutive shutouts. Their lead in the AL Central has slipped to 2.5 games, and this Indians team looks a lot less magical than it did last week.
But the Indians have a chance to redeem themselves this week. The Minnesota Twins, owners of the worst record in baseball (21-37) are coming to town tonight for a three-game set at Progressive Field. If ever there was a chance for the Tribe to regain some momentum, this is it.
To get a better idea of what to expect when the Twins take the field tonight, I talked to TwinkieTown.com‘s Jesse Lund about Francisco Liriano’s bad start, Joe Mauer’s future, and Minnesota’s “minor league lineup.” Here’s what he had to say:
WAHOO BLUES: Minnesota GM Bill Smith thinks the Twins still have a shot at contention. Do you agree? If so, what would have to happen for them to make a comeback?
JESSE LUND: Technically I suppose the Twins still have a shot at contending this season, if you break it down. If they play well against the Indians this week, if they can manage to pick up another five or six games on first place by the end of June–phrases like these make it sound feasible enough. But if you’d watched the Twins at all prior to this four-game sweep in Kansas City you’d know there’s just no chance. Honestly: the Twins are so banged up and ineffective this season, they’re starting a lineup full of minor leaguers, MLB backups and journeymen. On Saturday and Sunday, the Twins started just three position players who were in the opening day lineup: Alexi Casilla, Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young.
Twins fans shouldn’t expect the Twins to contend this year with that lineup. They can hope for it, as we all do, but it’s not realistic. The Minnesota front office doesn’t expect it either, but they have to say the right things. And I think that’s what Bill Smith was doing there. It wasn’t much more than lip service.
As for what would have to happen for the Twins to make a comeback, well…everything would need to go right. The Twins would have to continue playing good baseball, which has been the exception to the rule this weekend. Players would have to get healthy and stay healthy, also an exception to the rule. And the other four teams in the division would have to play ball, and start losing. We’ll see where we are at the end of June, but I’m not buying it.
WB: There’s been a lot of talk about moving catcher Joe Mauer to a new position, if not now than sometime in the future. When would you move him out from behind the plate, and where would you put him? (more…)
What Would It Take For Cleveland Indians to Blow Their Division Lead?
It was a rough road trip for the Cleveland Indians.
After losing two of three in Tampa Bay last weekend, the Tribe got throttled 11-1 in the series opener against the Blue Jays and came frighteningly close to blowing a 12-0 lead in Toronto last night. Even with the reigning AL champion Texas Rangers coming to town for a four-game series starting tonight, I’m guessing the Indians are glad to be home.
But rough as the road trip may have been, Cleveland emerged once again in possession of the best record in baseball (33-20). And though the Tribe’s lead over the second-place Detroit Tigers in the AL Central has dwindled from its peak (Detroit was seven games back on May 23), the five-game difference is still double the advantage of the next-best division leader.
With one third of the season now in the books, it seemed as good a time as any to once again test just how big of an impact the Indians’ division lead will make on the pennant race.
I calculated how many games the Tribe would win under five different circumstances, from extremely skeptical to overly optimistic. I then determined how well the Tigers (29-26, five games back), Chicago White Sox (27-31, 8.5 GB), Kansas City Royals (25-30, 9 GB) and Minnesota Twins (17-37, 16.5 GB) would have to play in order to wrest first place from the Indians.
If the Indians play .451 ball (FanGraphs’ preseason Fan Projections), they will win 82 games. In order to get to 83 wins:
- Detroit Tigers—would need a .505 winning percentage
- Chicago White Sox—.538
- Kansas City Royals—.542
- Minnesota Twins—.611 (more…)
