How Many Wins, Strikeouts Will Indians Pitchers Get This Year?
This weekend marked the 81st game of the Cleveland Indians’ 2011 season, meaning that, if you’re not worried about things like changes in skill, luck, or playing time, you can just double each player’s counting stats to project what his numbers will be at the end of the season.
Yesterday, I offered these doubling projections for each Tribe position player. Today, we take a look at the pitchers.
Here’s how many wins, losses, saves, and the like that each hurler is on pace to accumulate over a full season:
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Cleveland Indians Win, 6-3; Quality Start Not a Good Sign for Mitch Talbot
The Cleveland Indians’ 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday night was a great sign on a number of levels. It was the Tribe’s first win since Friday night. The Indians rebounded quite well after being shellacked 11-1 last night, and they did so against Brandon Morrow, who entered the game with a Cy Young-worthy 2.26 FIP.
On the surface, the game was a particularly good omen for starting pitcher Mitch Talbot. The 27-year-old right-hander gave up eight runs in three innings in his last outing, his first after returning from a stint on the DL. Talbot’s quality start last night—he held Toronto to just one run in 6.2 innings—was probably a big confidence boost.
But while Talbot got the win and didn’t suffer a meltdown like in his last time out, his start was far from a good sign for his future prospects; the problems that have plagued him throughout his young career were on full display even as he earned the victory. (more…)
Cleveland Indians Win Eighth Straight Game, Extend Lead in AL Central
The Cleveland Indians won their eighth straight game Monday night, beating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 4-0. This marks the longest winning streak the Indians have had since they won 10 straight games in August 2008.
The Indians got off to a quick lead in Angel Stadium when Asdrubal Cabrera hit a one-out solo home run in the first inning. Matt LaPorta followed with a three-run shot in the second to put the Tribe ahead, 4-0. The two teams remained scoreless for the final seven-and-a-half innings.
Mitch Talbot shut out the Angels through eight innings, scattering five hits and two walks with two strikeouts to get his first win of the season. It was the deepest he’s pitched in a game since May 15, 2010.
With the win, the Indians extended their lead in the AL Central to 1.5 games over the second-place Kansas City Royals, who had the night off. The Chicago White Sox fell to 2.0 games behind after losing to the Oakland Athletics, 2-0.
The Tribe’s 1.5-game division lead is the largest the team has had since May 17, 2008.
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Cleveland Indians’ Rotation: The Real Problem With Mitch Talbot
The big story out of Indians camp on Sunday was Cleveland starter Mitch Talbot’s seemingly redemptive performance in his fifth appearance of the spring.
After allowing 11 runs in 6.2 innings in his first three outings, he’s allowed just two earned runs in 10.1 frames in his last two starts. On Sunday, he threw 5.1 innings of three-hit ball, holding the Arizona Diamondbacks to two runs (one earned) and notching his first victory of the preseason.
Talbot entered the spring a virtual lock to make the rotation (if there had been any doubt, his first starts would have done him in), and none of his potential challengers have looked particularly sharp. Just looking at the box scores of his last couple outings, it seems like he’ll be fine slotted into the Tribe’s rotation as the No. 3 starter. But is it really that simple?
Indians, White Sox Battle to 16-16 Stalemate in Slugfest
If I had been able to watch yesterday’s Spring Training contest between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, I would probably say it was the strangest game I’d ever seen. Having tuned in for Tom Hamilton’s radio broadcast, though, I can declare it was the weirdest game I’d ever heard.
The Tribe and Pale Hose (playing as a split squad) combined for 32 runs on 39 hits while allowing 10 walks and committing five errors. The game consisted of 106 plate appearances—more than double the minimum required for a nine-inning game (52).
A strong wind was blowing towards left field in the dry desert air. That was good news for the hitters who got to play home run derby, but, as Cleveland starter Mitch Talbot discovered, it was a bad day to be a breaking-ball pitcher.
The Indians jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first thanks to consecutive singles by Ezequiel Carrera, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Travis Hafner to start the game and Nick Weglarz’ two-run homer. The White Sox responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, but the Tribe made it 6-2 with Luis Valbuena’s two-run shot and Matt LaPorta’s RBI single in the second.
Things got out of hand in the bottom of the second, when Chicago got 12 at-bats against Talbot and Jess Todd and scored seven runs, all of which were charged to Talbot. It was a bad day for the 27-year-old righty, who gave up nine earned runs with six hits, two walks, and a pair of homers in 1.2 innings.
After three innings—which took nearly three hours—the Indians had put two more runs up the scoreboard, but by the end of the fourth the White Sox were up, 13-8.
Heading into the eighth inning, the score was 14-10. After a Delvi Cid RBI single and a Luis Valbuena three-run bomb in the top half of the frame, the game was briefly tied, 14-14, but the White Sox promptly answered with two more runs.
The Tribe came back in the top of the ninth, with Cord Phelps’ single and Juan Apodaca’s double knotting the score at 16-16, and when the White Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the inning, the game was declared a tie—much to the chagrin of Hamilton.
Valbuena was the clear MVP for Cleveland, going 2-for-5 with two homers, a walk, three runs scored, and five RBI. Weglarz and Carerra also had big games; the former hit 2-for-4 with a double, a homer, and three RBI, while the latter went 3-for-5 with a pair of walks.
There wasn’t much to like pitching-wise for the Indians, but Doug Mathis and Vinnie Pestano deserve some credit for being the only pitchers to keep the White Sox from scoring over a combined three innings of work.
