Cleveland Sports Forum

And the answer is.....Gianpaul Gonzalez???

Wilson Ramos (knee) is done for the year and Triple-A catchers Ryan Lavarnway and Gavin Collins are both in COVID-19 protocol

Triston McKenzie (shoulder) is scheduled to return to the Indians' starting rotation on Thursday at Kansas City.
McKenzie was placed on the injured list August 25, retroactive to August 22, due to what proved to be a relatively minor shoulder issue. The 24-year-old right-hander had pitched to a sparkling 1.93 ERA and 28/2 K/BB ratio over his last 28 innings (four starts) for Cleveland and seems safe for immediate activation in fantasy leagues given the matchup and the seemingly clean bill of health.

Nice story about Gianpaul Gonzalez I'll post. One of those career low level minor league catchers who is on duty for assignment and reassignment. I was hoping they'd let him catch the ninth so he could get 1 inning in his career before he's DFA'd when Perez comes back. [3 hits for Roberto yesterday in Akron]

KANSAS CITY -- As players age throughout their Minor League careers, the dream of reaching the Majors becomes more difficult to attain. Indians catcher Gianpaul González was selected in the 20th round of the 2014 MLB Draft and has spent the majority of this season with High-A Lake County. As much as he tried to keep his dream alive, he admitted he wasn’t sure if it could happen.

Then, his phone rang.

Carter Hawkins, one of Cleveland's assistant general managers, was on the other line. He explained that backup catcher Wilson Ramos tore his ACL and sprained his MCL on Sunday afternoon and the team was in need of a backup catcher. And suddenly, González heard the words every professional player waits to hear, “Congratulations, you’re going to the Major League team.”

“It was unbelievable,” González said, with a grin that spanned from ear to ear. “It was exciting in the moment. I’m still excited. I don’t believe it yet. But I’m here to contribute to the team and help them.”

How did the Indians reach this decision? The team lost Ramos for the rest of the season, while Triple-A catchers Ryan Lavarnway and Gavin Collins are both going through COVID-19 protocols. Bo Naylor, ranked as the club's No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline, has drawn plenty of attention in Double-A, but would it be worth it to start his service time clock for a stint that would last just a few days before he’d be optioned back to the Minors? Probably not.

The Indians debated having Roberto Pérez, who’s missed the last few weeks with right shoulder inflammation, skip his rehab assignment, which began on Tuesday in Akron, and immediately join the big league team, but the club decided that wasn’t fair to him.

So, why not turn to a guy who’s not an enormous risk and has done his best to prove that he can hold his own defensively?

“The situation itself is a little bit unique,” Indians assistant general manager Matt Forman said. “Kind of the climate has created some roster challenges. It's been a little bit of a scramble over the last 24 hours to figure things out. But we're excited about this opportunity for Gianpaul, who has put himself in a position to make the most of this.”

González knows the situation. He understands this isn’t a permanent role, and he’s aware there’s a chance he’ll never get into a game, as Lavarnway or Collins will likely join the team as soon as they get their clearances. That doesn’t stop his child-like excitement to be in the big leagues, even if only for a brief moment.

The 25-year-old backstop received the news on Monday afternoon, and before doing anything else, he dialed his dad.

“That’s the person [who’s helped me the most in being] successful in baseball]," González said. "He was so happy. We started crying. Just happiness.”

His father, Pablo, was in Puerto Rico when the news came his way. He immediately booked a flight to Kansas City to try to get to Kauffman Stadium in time for Tuesday's series opener, while González’s younger brother, who attends college in St. Louis, did the same.

“Just happy that they’re coming here,” González said. “Thanks to God, I’m here to play in the big leagues.”

González has experience working with some of Cleveland's pitching staff, including Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac, as they came up together through the Minor League system. He’s also had the opportunity to catch a handful of pitchers in Spring Training. But his opportunities in the Minors have been limited. He’s played at nearly every level, but has spent the majority of his time in Lake County. In 14 games with the Captains and just one game with Triple-A Columbus, he is hitting a combined .250 with a .645 OPS. But he’s not letting that stop him from proving what he can do if given the chance.

“I was ready to be there,” González said. “Just 15 games. They wanted it like that. Game by game, I’m hustling, preparing myself to be here, and I’m just gonna enjoy it. Enjoy it and forget about that. Be ready for the moment I get in.”

To those of you who are also Browns fans best wishes on a successful season.

I've not paid too much attention since Leroy Kelly with an occasional peek at Brian Sipe and Bernie Kosar led teams.
I was reminded recently that the Browns made the playoffs and allegedly even beat the Steelers in the first round in Pittsburgh. How about that!

Just stating the obvious, last year Bieber, Civale, Plesac were 16-9 for a .640 winning percentage. This year their replacements Mckenzie, Quatrill, Morgan, Allen, and Mejia were 13-28 for a .317 winning percentage. Had our starters filled those games with the same winning percentage their combined record would be 25-16, That would give our record as 81-57, and a first place lead over Chicago!

I know it means little, but it is pretty amazing to think that could have been the case.

If course the Big 3 from last year did pitch part of the season this and totaled 27-11.

And then again Plesac only made 8 starts last year partly as punishment for misbehavior.

The rest of the team last year was 19-16. The rest of the team this year is 42-58. What are the comparative bullpen records? Worse this year I'd guess.

Uncle Dennis wrote:Just stating the obvious, last year Bieber, Civale, Plesac were 16-9 for a .640 winning percentage. This year their replacements Mckenzie, Quatrill, Morgan, Allen, and Mejia were 13-28 for a .317 winning percentage. Had our starters filled those games with the same winning percentage their combined record would be 25-16, That would give our record as 81-57, and a first place lead over Chicago!

I know it means little, but it is pretty amazing to think that could have been the case.

I think it means a lot UD. Look it's pretty obvious in retrospect that the White Sox are a powerhouse, they have tons of money coming off the books after this season.

This season needed to be spent sorting through younger options all around. Shoot, at 25 you could even add Amed to that. Giminez, Zimmer etc and now we know what we have in Quantrill and Triston.

This was always about a re-set year - next year it's on again. Even Tito needed a re-set!!

And it's been fun finally seeing what guys could do on extended trials.

Shane Bieber (shoulder) is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday with Triple-A Columbus.

The 26-year-old has been progressing slowly towards this rehab assignment and may be able to squeeze in a few outings as the season draws to a close. Bieber has been sidelined since June 14 with a right shoulder strain and posted a 3.28 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 90 2/3 innings before the injury.

Shane should be ready to take us on our late season charge to the playoffs.
Civale certainly was awesome today

Well guys since there's 3 games left and they are 78-81 it's safe to talk about the season and expectations.

I remember well that most of us predicted 80, 81, 82 wins for the season - we were pretty realistic.

Safe to say none of us knew Bieber would be out most of the season along with Civale. And Plesac would miss a lot of time as well.

Yet at 78 wins with 3 to play at the very least we were pretty darn accurate.

At the same time they finally got somewhat extended looks at a bunch of position players and gave Quantrill and Triston lots of rope so that they could really succeed and fail enough to show lots of promise. In contending seasons this was not possible. The starting rotation injuries proved to be a gift in a way - since we obviously weren't going to contend anyways.

As far as position players go - of course Amed is in the SLAM DUNK keeper category. No doubter. And he is only 26.

The top of the order of Straw, Amed and Josey were really good. As Manning said last night the whole rest of the lineup, Franimal included, need upgrading. Franmil needs more discipline but of course he's a keeper.

Personally I like the way Harold Ramirez consistently puts bat to ball - we need that. Extra outfielder in a perfect world. But sadly none of the others seemed slam dunks.

And of course really Clase was a newcomer too - he's a slam dunk but the bullpen surely needs revamping. Not worried since they seem to always do a pretty good job there.

Early summary of the past season by TFIR.

I can see Perez being picked up by the Yankees. He becomes Klubers personal catcher.

And so ends the 105 or so year era of the Cleveland Indians with 2 World Series titles; the first half of that period they were one of 8 AL teams one of 16 overall so the 2 titles was only maybe one short of what would have been statistically average. Then the next 50 years they were one 20 to 30 teams so would have been expected to pick up a couple more.

Lets hope the Guardians don't go 30 years until they get a championship; can't be sure but it seems likely not much of the forum will be around in30 years.

Been a fan of the Indians for almost 70 years...... Don't think I can call them the Guardians ...maybe the 'dians.

Most likely I'll still call them the Tribe.