Cleveland Sports Forum

Marcum is definitely an option.

Two run homer by Brantley narrows the lead by 1.

Brantley's been amazing with men on base.

Chisenhall is 3-3 today and hitting (.500). 2 of those hits off of Verlander. Is Lonnie the odd man out when Giambi returns. It may be time to consider Lonnie as the starting third baseman until Santana shows up.

OOOOps Wrong Folder.

Brantley's been amazing with men on base.

That's why I want batting leadoff and cleanup.

Can the Cleveland Indians keep waiting for Danny Salazar to find his 2013 groove?
Terry Pluto


DETROIT, Michigan -- Something is wrong with Danny Salazar. That became clear watching Salazar on Thursday in the Tribe's 7-5 loss at Detroit.

For three innings, he was terrific. The fourth wasn't bad, allowing one run. The fifth was a disaster. Walks. A home run. A double. A mess. Salazar said that inning caused him think about his arm "being behind" his body and other nuances of how a pitch is delivered to home plate.

He called it, "losing the strike zone." It also was losing his natural motion, losing some confidence.

His control seemed like a bird on a wire that suddenly heard a firecracker. Just like that, it seemed to fly away. Pitches were high. You could sense his frustration rising as his confidence seemed to be sinking. The three-run homer that he allowed came after two walks and falling behind 3-1 to Ian Kinsler.

Salazar served up a fat fastball, not wanting to walk Kinsler and load the bases. Kinsler gobbled it up for a homer.

In three starts, Salazar has a 7.71 ERA with 19 hits and eight walks in 14 innings.

Yes, it's early. But the fact is Salazar has seriously regressed from a year ago.

"I need to go back and look at some video (of last season)," he said.

There's Bauer

It may not be time to pull Salazar from the rotation, but it could be coming soon -- unless he shows major improvement.

Trevor Bauer threw six scoreless innings Wednesday for Class AAA Columbus. The right-hander has allowed one run in 12 innings, striking out 18 and walking only three.

He was promoted for a start earlier in the season. Facing San Diego, he gave up two runs (one earned) in six innings, striking out eight in what was a 2-1 loss.

After that game, manager Terry Francona gushed about Bauer.

The 23-year-old Bauer has been in the majors for a few games in 2012 and 2013. His fastball was big-league ready, but his control was not. But with his remodeled windup, improved control and fastball making radar guns flash 96 mph -- now may be the time for another look.

Josh Tomlin also is at Columbus, where he is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA. The Indians consider Tomlin a MLB-ready starter.

That's why there is no need for patience for Salazar. If there are issues with his motion, he can work them out in the minors. That's what Bauer did a year ago.


Looking back

The 2013 model of Danny Salazar never allowed more than four runs in his 10 Tribe starts. Only once did he walk more than two. He had a knack of pitching out of jams, and seldom struggled to throw strikes.

He was 2-3 with a 3.12 ERA. The Indians were extremely careful with him because of elbow surgery in 2011, limiting his innings and pitch count. Salazar had some "general soreness" early in this year's spring training. He was supposed to be healthy by the end of camp. He had a 5.23 ERA in Arizona.

He has not been the same dominating pitcher during the spring in Arizona or with Cleveland as he was a year ago. But he insisted after Thursday's game that he was healthy.

"I tried to be too perfect," said Salazar, a sign that he doesn't quite trust his stuff as much as a year ago.

Francona often mentions Salazar's lack of experience. Counting his appearance in the 2013 playoffs, he has made only 14 big-league starts. He has thrown only 127 innings above the Class A level. This season, his fastball is not quite as quick (down two miles to 94) and his control is worse. He walked 2.6 per nine innings last season, it's 5.3 this season.

He also has been slammed for four homers in 14 innings.

"We all see what (Salazar) can do, and we believe he'll do it," said Francona. "But with youth, (it doesn't happen) as fast as you'd want."

Now, the Tribe must decide if they wait with Salazar in the rotation, or they look down below for help.

From Pluto:

About David Murphy ...

I spent some time talking to David Murphy before Thursday's game in Detroit.

He's an impressive guy, and this comment really struck me: "As a man, after you have a bad season, you want to prove to everyone that you can still play at a high level."

Murphy is 32, coming off a season where he batted .220 with Texas. He spent six years with Rangers, batting .275 (.778 OPS). In 2012, he batted .304 (.859 OPS).

While Murphy didn't say so, it had to bother him that the Rangers had little interest in keeping him after his career-worst 2013 season.

"Let's just say that sometimes, you need a fresh start," he said. "I love it here. When you are a kid, you just want to get to the big leagues. When you get there and play for a few years -- you realize how important it is to be with the right team. This is a great situation for me."

Murphy was batting .283 (.868 OPS) with two homers and 12 RBI heading into the weekend.

He's relieved to get off to a good start with a new team.

In spring training, Murphy batted only .204. He also told me that he "never hits in April."

His career average is .233 in the season's first month.

In fact, Murphy's career shows he is much better after the All-Star break (.292) than in the first half of the season (.261).

What does stay the same is his defense, which is very good in right field. He has had a few diving catches already, and has thrown out a runner at second base.

The Indians surprised many people by giving Murphy a two-year, $12 million deal.

"I want to show that they (the Indians) made the right decision," he said.


About Lonnie Chisenhall ...

A year ago, Lonnie Chisenhall was handed the third base job and seemed to fold under the pressure of being expected to start.

By May 12, he was batting .213 and sent back to Class AAA. He hit .390 in 27 games for Clippers, but never really found his swing in Cleveland (.225 for the season).

This year, he barely made the team and his job is as a part-time player.

He went into the weekend hitting 13-of-27. That outrageous pace won't continue, but the fact is Chisenhall suddenly seems relaxed. Maybe at the age of 25 and in his fourth season attempting to stick with the Tribe … he has figured it out.

As Manager Terry Francona said Thursday, "There is some thunder in his bat."

The Tribe kept Chisenhall on the roster because they saw little reason to send him back to Columbus -- again.

In the last two years, he has hit a combined .352 in 223 at bats for the Clippers. He has passed the Class AAA test.

Now, it seems the Tribe's top pick in the 2008 draft is ready to help the big league team.



About the Tribe ...

1. Carlos Santana has the same big, pull-happy swing that hurt him in 2012. That season, he was batting only .221 with five homers and 30 RBI at the All-Star break. He finally cut down on his high leg kick and just tried to hit the ball hard -- not out of the park. He batted .281 with 13 homers in the second half of the season.

2. Santana went into the weekend batting .164 with a homer and 3 RBI. He isn't always a slow starter. In 2013, he batted .389 with five homers in April. With Santana, it's about disciplining his swing so that it's not so long.

3. Santana's claim that switching positions may be part of his struggle at the plate makes little sense because he has caught only three games this season. It just comes down to his swing. He was 0-of-30 before he homered Friday night. It also was Santana's desire to play third because he doesn't like to DH.

4. Zach McAllister used his changeup and curveball just enough to keep the Tigers off-balance in the Tribe's 3-2 victory at Detroit. McAllister allowed one run in six innings. McAllister is developing confidence and at the age of 26, he may be emerging as a solid starter. Remember that Corey Kluber didn't emerge as a starter for the Tribe until last season, when he was 27.

5. Former Indian Drew Pomeranz is finally having some success. Now with Oakland, the lefty is in the bullpen and has a 2.16 ERA in 8 1/3 innings. He had a horrible time as a starter (4-14, 5.20 ERA) with the Rockies. He was part of the Ubaldo Jimenez trade. That's why I'm for Carlos Carrasco in the bullpen. Take a guy with a good arm and put him somewhere that he can help the team and have some success.

6. It's been a strange season for Yan Gomes, who has five errors. The entire Baltimore team entered the weekend with only three errors. And Gomes (a good defensive catcher) had only three errors last season. He appears to be rushing some of his throws.

7. The Tribe leads the American League with 16 errors. Santana has only one at third base. Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis and Nick Swisher have two each. The Tribe ranks 13th out of 15 AL teams in defensive efficiency, which also takes into consideration range and other factors. None of this is good for a team that needs to play what Manager Terry Francona calls "clean games."

8. Anthony Gallas is off to a good start at Class A Carolina, hitting .308 (.929 OPS) with three homers and six RBI for Class A Carolina. The product of Strongsville and Kent State is 26. He played only 14 games last season and then had hip surgery, so this is an important year for his career.

Tito says: Not To Worry

CLEVELAND: A couple of the Indians’ top-of-the-order hitters aren’t producing up to their normal standards, but manager Terry Francona and first baseman Nick Swisher are confident the hits will be coming sooner rather than later.

Francona admitted on Sunday that the idea of moving guys around in the lineup is “tempting,” with No. 2 hitter Swisher and No. 4 hitter Carlos Santana struggling, but he hasn’t reached that point yet.

“Yeah, I think it’s tempting. I don’t not change it because I’m not paying attention,” Francona said. “I just think when you believe in guys, that you gotta be patient.

“The top of the order that’s struggling right now, they’re going to hit. I know they’re going to hit, they know they’re going to hit. Just need to be patient and hope that when they get hot they’re not just singles.”

Swisher was hitting just .174 entering Sunday’s game with Toronto. Santana was at .153.

Swisher not worried

The lack of production from the heart of the order is one of the reasons the Indians lost six of their past eight games through Saturday.

“Collectively, we don’t have some guys hot. Some of our bigger bats,” Francona said Saturday. “That’ll help [when they turn things around]. Until that happens, you gotta just fight and claw and try to do the best you can.”

Despite his slow start, Swisher said: “It’s my 11th season. It’s a long season. It’s crazy how many people blow gaskets right out of the gate. I feel good with where I am.”

Swisher is as confident in Santana as he is in himself.

“He’s hit every year. Nobody here is worried about him,” Swisher said. “We have the utmost faith in that guy.”

Numbers tell story

Some numbers support that a rebound is coming soon, although it’s obvious that with such low batting averages, at least some improvement is a given.

Swisher and Santana both have BABIP’s (bating average on balls in play) well below their career norms. Swisher currently has a BABIP of .204, 86 points below his career average of .290. Santana is at .178, 99 points shy of his career norm of .277.

Each has a slightly lower line-drive percentage than normal, but not nearly enough to make up for the difference in their BABIP averages. It means that even though each has struggled to start the season, both have been at least a little unlucky when putting the ball in play, and those numbers should regress to the norm, as Francona and Swisher believe. The question is to what extent.

Arm assessment: There was no talk Sunday of Carlos Carrasco tiring on the mound, as he claimed he had a week earlier in Chicago, much to the surprise of Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway. Carrasco's results this time around were similar, albeit a bit better. Francona said the right-hander continued to struggle with his mechanics out of the stretch. He tossed three flawless frames to begin his outing, so he didn't toil with pitching in such a circumstance until the fourth inning. Then, things started to unravel.

Francona seemed somewhat encouraged by Carrasco's showing, and certainly more so than he was after his previous start.

"We'll just keep working and put our heads together and talk to him," Francona said, "and just see if we can get it better."

Role play: So, if Carrasco can breeze through the first few innings each time out, but scuffles in the later stages of his appearance, shouldn't he just be a reliever? Perhaps. His numbers since June 29, 2011 (0-11, 8.28 ERA) certainly suggest as much.

It appears as though the Indians don't want to commit to that kind of switch just yet. Carrasco is out of options, so any kinks must be worked out at the big league level. Francona speaks often of Carrasco's size, strength and potential to eat up innings. For now, however, the team continues to wait for results.

Josh Outman moved to within one victory of the Major League lead. He earned his third win of the season on Sunday after he tossed eight pitches in one-third of an inning in relief of Carrasco. Fellow reliever Cody Allen has two wins to his name this season.

When statheads talk about devaluing the meaning of a win, this is why. The Indians have had a knack for late-inning comebacks for the last few years. As such, Allen, Joe Smith and Bryan Shaw combined for 19 victories last season.


[3 wins for Outman, 2 for Allen, and 3 for the starting rotation]

Indians activate Jason Giambi from the DL

Indians activated DH Jason Giambi from the 15-day disabled list.
Giambi is fully recovered from a broken rib suffered on March 7 when he was hit with an Edwin Jackson fastball. He has been rehabbing over the last two weeks, going hitless in 10 plate appearances with Triple-A Akron. The Indians optioned RHP Blake Wood to Triple-A Columbus to make room for Giambi on the roster.

Apr 21 - 3:00 PM

Wood disappointed me but he could well be back.

‘Daddy Strength’ Gives Indians OF Michael Brantley More Power

CLEVELAND (92.3 The Fan) - Michael Brantley attributes his recent surge of home run power to one thing: “daddy strength.”

“I had a beautiful baby girl. I guess it’s just pushing strollers and carrying her around the house,” Brantley said with a giant smile.

Whatever the reason, the Cleveland Indians will take it from their everyday left fielder. Brantley has carried the offense throughout portions of the team’s first 19 games, hitting .282 with four home runs.

His 18 RBI tie him for second most in the American League, but it has been his homers that have been the true difference in some early season wins.

On Monday, he connected on a two-run dinger in a 4-3 Tribe win over the Kansas City Royals. He also homered in Sunday’s 6-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

“It’s products of getting good swings on good pitches,” Brantley said. “I’ve been fortunate enough that a couple balls went out.”

The left-handed hitter has never been viewed as a power guy. Instead, his smooth swing and clutch hitting have made him one of the toughest outs in the American League.

However, he hit double-digit bombs (10) for the first time in his career in 2013, and appears to be adding an element of at least some power to his game.

“I just feel like I’m growing as a hitter,” Brantley said. “I’m getting smarter. I’m putting better swings on the ball more consistently. When that happens, good things are going to happen. I don’t think it’s a fluke but I don’t think it’s something that I’m going to continue to do. Whether the ball goes out or not, I don’t know. I just want to put the barrel on the ball as much as possible.”

Still, it took Brantley 68 games to hit his fourth home run last season. He accomplished that feat just 19 games into the 2014 season.

His manager has a theory on why his left fielder has been driving the ball even better this year.

“I think he has a little stronger base this year. His legs look stronger,” Terry Francona said. “He’s so comfortable in his setup that it wouldn’t surprise me if he develops more slugging, maybe not homers, maybe doubles…

“He has one of the most comfortable looking setups that I’ve ever seen. He bounces that bat on his shoulder and he gets himself into such a good hitting position so often. He’s made a lot of hard outs too in this period… He gives himself a chance every at bat.”

Not only does he give himself a chance, he gives his club a chance to win when given the opportunity.

With the game on the line, Brantley appears to lock in even more. The outfielder is hitting .333 with runners in scoring position this season and an impressive .389 with runners on base, good enough for 11th in the American League.

“When you get in that zone, you get comfortable. The game kind of slows down,” Brantley said. “I don’t know if you see it better. But you slow down the game mentally and physically. When you do that, good things happen for the team and obviously you put runs on the board.”

OK, Michael Brantley is the ultimate example of NOT judging any deal too early.

Everyone micro-analyzed that CC deal. All aspects and players (LaPorta) involved.

But when all the dust settles, CC has been gone a long time now. He is now drastically overpaid for way too many years and on the downside of his career.

Meanwhile Michael Brantley is a great piece for this team. Brantley, who no one paid much attention to. You go Michael!!