Joe gave up on Santana early and hasn't noticed he's been solid for a month. Swisher pretty much is limited to game winning homers. He was unhappy to be benched in NL cities. Tough luck.

Francona certainly does not think much of Carrasco Yesterday seemed the perfect night to bring in the Long Man in the 4th inning and let him work at least as long as Masterson lasted. Then finish up with another short reliever or two. Instead and as usual he uses 6 relievers to cover the final 6 innings. Carrasco can pitch sometime before extra innings, can't he?

We won today in a nail biter!

Civ,

Joe gave up on Santana early and hasn't noticed he's been solid for a month. Swisher pretty much is limited to game winning homers. He was unhappy to be benched in NL cities. Tough luck.

I've noticed he's been doing better. I would say he's catching the baseball world on fire. His hitting has gone from Very Poor to Average. Not good enough yet.

Below are a couple of posts that I made earlier this month. I thought I saw the problems Santana had and I think Francona realizes it also.

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Re: GameTime!™

Post Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:01 pm

joez

WoW! What a year Chisenhall is having!!

Could any one in Cleveland feel the draft from that last out Santana just made in the inning? I felt it here. I thought it was the air conditioner.

Santana has to go back to the basics of hitting. He's trying to kill every ball he swings at instead of just trying to make contact and putting the ball in play. I also think that the toe tapping non-sense has to stop! I also think the high leg kick has to stop. I'd like to see less animation. and more Cabrera/Brantley/Chisenhall type hitting. The less animation the better in my opinion. Killing every ball Santana swings at has to stop or bench his ass. There was no need to swing as hard as he did on that last out.

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Six days later.........

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Re: GameTime!™

Post Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:36 pm

joez

Exerpts from a Plain Dealer article

Quieting of Santana:

Carlos Santana has a lot of moving parts to his swing, but Francona said they've been "less harsh and a little quieter' since he came off the disabled list which coincides with him hitting better. In his last 13 games, he's hitting .310 (13-for-42) with eight runs, three homers, 12 RBI and 12 walks.

When Manny Acta managed the Indians, he asked Santana to scrap his leg kick to try and quiet his swing. It didn't work and Santana eventually went back to hitting his way.

Francona said he'd be reluctant to ask Santana to make a big change in his swing.

"Guys hit like they hit," said Francona. "Carlos has had some pretty good years hitting like he hits."

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So! I have been paying attention, I just don't feel he's doing well enough yet. My biggest problem with Santana is the fact that he swings for the fences on nearly every pitch instead of trying just to make some solid contact. When he swings as hard as he does, he flies open, gets off balance, and takes his eye off the ball. Santana is a pretty big boy. He shouldn't have to swing as hard as he does to get the ball out of the yard.

Below are a couple of posts that I made earlier this month. I thought I saw the problems Santana had and I think Francona realizes it also.

Had to post because this is so silly. Santana has swung the same way since day one.

I was listening to the game today on the MLB app for my phone with one earphone in at Lowes. Pretty sure people on the other side of the store heard my cheer when we got that last out.

I'll take Francona's word on it. If Francona said they've been "less harsh and a little quieter' , I believe him.

WOW! Ventura is consistently lighting up gun in the high 90's in his 8th inning of work. He just hit 100. Who is this guy?

Well this is shaping up to be a better game.

So is this one.

I think that's what known as GameTime Minimalism.

Hey man, we're doing this for free you know.

Todays game not good
Last two days were much better
Swisher went a yard

At least we've pulled close enough for a bloop and a blast.