Cleveland Sports Forum

When Carlos Carrasco signed an extension this week that delays potential free agency by as much as three years, some were surprised that we was willing to severely diminish the chances that he ever gets the kind of contract most players probably dream of. A report today from Ken Rosenthal reveals that Carrasco underwent a procedure in an attempt to correct a heart condition last fall and has been taking medication, and that fears about his own health motivated Carrasco to gain as much financial security now as he could.

Carrasco, 28, began feeling heart palpitations shortly after the season ended, and on October 7 he underwent a 7-hour procedure at the Cleveland Clinic. The procedure was considered a success, but left Carrasco somewhat shaken. By spring training he was off the medication he'd been given, but at some point the palpitations returned. Going back on the medication stabilized his condition, but Carrasco's own concern remained. His wife recently gave birth to Carrasco's fourth child, and given his own health concerns (limited not only to the heart condition, but also the knowledge that he's already undergone Tommy John surgery, and knows how realistic it is for a pitcher to lose an entire season or more of potential earnings) and his somewhat up and down career, he wanted to guarantee himself and his family money that would ensure they are comfortable for life.

The extension guarantees Carrasco $22 million over the next four years, but puts a limit of somewhere between $40-45 million on his earnings over the next six seasons (unless the Indians decline their option on him and another team signs him for more money, which is highly unlikely), by the end of which his prime will be well behind him. If he'd been healthy during the next three seasons, and been an above average starting pitcher, he might have made nearly double that total over the next six years, with higher arbitration payments and then hitting free agency at a young enough age to secure a big contract.

The other side of this risk/reward scenario is the team. Clearly management/ownership are comfortable enough with the medical reports to extend the $22 million in guaranteed money, when they could have just paid him the $2.3375 million he'd already signed for this year, and then just waited to see what happened.

There's always risk for a pitcher, but not always this much. In that light, this extension comes as no surprise.

Carlos Carrasco talks about his heart surgery At the end of last season, Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco had surgery at Cleveland Clinic to correct his rapid heart beat. After pitching 6 1/3 scoreless innings Wednesday night against Houston, Carrasco said that played a part in him signing his four-year $22 million extension with the Indians.

Paul Hoynes, Northeast Ohio Media Group By Paul Hoynes, Northeast Ohio Media Group




HOUSTON, Tex. - Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco first noticed his heart racing "like I was excited' in 2011.

He said it kept happening in 2012 and 2013.

"It never happened in a game," said Carrasco. "Sometimes it would happen when I was at home or on my way to the park."

He felt it again after the 2014 season following a stretch of 10 straight starts that secured him a spot in this year's rotation. The Indians team doctors felt it was time to address the problem surgically.

"My heart would beat like 120 times per minute," said Carrasco. "The guys in Cleveland told me to get the surgery done and that's what I did. Now I'm fine."

He had the surgery Oct. 8.

The Indians never announced Carrasco's surgery because it wasn't baseball related. After agreeing to a four-year $22 million extension Tuesday, Carrasco and one of his agents talked to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.com. Rosenthal wrote that Carrasco's agents and the players association advised Carrasco not to sign the deal because he was giving away three years of arbitration and at least one year of free agency.

If the Indians exercised the club options for 2019 and 2020, it would be three years of free agency and Carrasco would be 34 at the end of the deal.

Carrasco didn't care. He had a wife, four children and was coming off heart surgery. The doctors called it non-evasive, but when it's your heart, there's nothing non-evasive about it.

He took the deal.

"Yes, that's what I did," said Carrasco. "My family comes first. Now everything is good."

He certainly pitched well Wednesday night in the second game of the season.

Carrasco struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings in a 2-0 victory over Houston. Manager Terry Francona removed Carrasco after only 88 pitches because he didn't get a lot of work in spring training.

He missed time when his heart palpitations returned and he had to go back on his medication. Then late in spring training he missed several days to return to Florida where his wife gave birth to their fourth child.

"I was just trying to do my job," said Carrasco. "That's what I did in spring training to get to this point. Tonight everything was working - fastball, change up, slider and curveball. Yan Gomes (catcher) did a great job before the game as we went through everybody (on Houston.)"

Pretty poor article by Hoynseeee and pretty weak by the Tribe's brain trust for not announcing the procedure. Of course Carrasco would have had to give consent secondary to HIPA rules but certainly SVT could explain his lability during prior seasons. What was poorly written by Hoynsee is of course this was not surgery but a Radio Frequency Catheter Ablation which is a procedure. No cutting No thoracotomy Just a catheter into the heart likely from the right femoral vein.

Well, whatever you call it, it has to be scary for someone who has to undergo it!

Milton Bradley's domestic violence history: Could baseball have done something to protect his wife? SI special report.

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/04/08/milton ... ue-bradley

Something good to say about yesterday's and the weekend's miserable results:



CLEVELAND -- The long road back to the Majors for Shaun Marcum wasn't complete until a car ride on two final long roads -- about 120 miles of I-70 E, and another 130 miles on I-71 N.
Five hours after leaving Indianapolis -- where the Triple-A Columbus Clippers had been playing -- Marcum arrived in Cleveland. It was 3:30 a.m. ET on Sunday morning.



Less than 12 hours later, Marcum came on in relief in the fifth inning of an 8-5 loss to Detroit. It was the first time Marcum had appeared in a big league game since July 6, 2013, after dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome in his throwing shoulder.

"It was nice to get back out there and not have it be a rehab game in Spring Training or anything like that," Marcum said. "The main thing was to go out there and try to get some innings and try to let that bullpen rest."

Marcum tossed five innings against a potent Tigers lineup that knocked around Indians' pitching all weekend. Marcum allowed one run -- a solo homer to J.D. Martinez in the ninth -- and three hits. He struck out four and walked three.

"I thought Marcum did a terrific job," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "He's used to going against some of those types of lineups. I thought he showed the veteran way he handles himself -- you can't run on him, he fields his position, he changed speeds."

Marcum admitted he was a bit anxious. His first three pitches went for balls. The second was a cutter in the dirt. Conveniently, that pitch in the dirt encouraged Nick Castellanos -- standing on second at the time -- to break for third. Catcher Roberto Perez threw him out, and, after nearly two years, Marcum had finally recorded a Major League out.

Well, sort of.

"That was huge," Marcum said. "I was rushing a little bit with mechanics, a little excitement, bouncing fastballs. So to have that play happen kind of settled me down."

After that, Marcum pretty much cruised through the final five innings. It was his scheduled day to start for Columbus, so the Indians had no problem letting him throw 69 pitches. He threw 80 in his final Spring Training tuneup.

"He's worked so hard," Francona said. "To see him out there, heck yeah, I wish we had an eight-run lead and we could have enjoyed it more. He really did a good job -- not just today, but the last year to get back to this point."

Not particularly perceptive article by Pluto

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Here's the good news: In the next three games, the Indians will have their Big Three on the mound: Carlos Carrasco ... Trevor Bauer ... Corey Kluber.

Because if the Indians are going to avoid an awful April, they will need dominating pitching.

I know ... what about a right-handed hitter with power?

Agreed. The Indians needed a right-handed hitter with power.

But suppose you were told the Tribe would score the following runs in their three games with Detroit: 4-6-5.

That's right, three home games with the Tigers and the Tribe would score between 4-and-6 runs in all three games.
How many would you think they'd win? Two? At least one, right?
You know what happened, the Tigers won all three games. The Indians were outscored, 25-15.

The problem over the weekend was ... pitching. T.J. House and Zach McAllister started two of the games. They were shelled for 19 hits and 11 runs in a combined 5 1/3 innings. Both starters set up the Tribe to lose.
Then there was Kluber, who held the Tigers to two runs in 6 1/3 innings ... but the bullpen collapsed.
Detroit has a tremendous lineup. They came to town after spanking the Twins in three games by a combined score of 22-1!

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER

The starting rotation that was supposed to be so strong and so deep that it inspired Sports Illustrated to pick the Tribe to win the World Series...

OK, let's stop right there ... and dig up the Sports Illustrated Jinx.

After six games, we learn that Yan Gomes will be out for at least six weeks with a strained knee. It happened Saturday when a runner slid into his foot at home plate. Gomes could be out even longer. A catcher spends a few hours every game squatting. That's not much fun with healthy knees.

Gomes also has that right-handed bat with some power that the team needs.

But no Gomes ... for quite a while.

I'm worried about Michael Brantley, who has played only two games this season because of some type of back problem. He's averaged 152 games played over the last three seasons. He missed only six games in 2015.

He's already been out for four games. He was resting the back during part of spring training. I don't know exactly what is wrong with Brantley, but I do know something really is wrong. This guy hates to miss games. The Indians say that he's doing a little better and it's still "day-to-day." Maybe he should have rested the first week ... but Brantley hates sitting out games.

The Tribe can fill in with David Murphy, Jerry Sands or someone else in the outfield. But they won't come close to replacing Brantley, who batted .327 last season with 20 homers and 97 RBI.

And yes, Roberto Perez is a very good defensive catcher. He does have some power. But he's not Gomes.

So after six games, the Indians are without two key members of their lineup.

SOMETHING ELSE HURTS

The Tribe has wasted two very good starts by Kluber. The Cy Young Award winner has allowed two runs in each of his two starts. He has struck out 17, walked three.

The Tribe lost both games -- 2-0 to Houston and 9-6 to Detroit.

Kluber delivered a winning performance in both of those. Once, they didn't hit. In the other game, the bullpen was to blame. Especially with Gomes and Brantley injured, they have to cash in when Kluber and other starters deliver strong performances.

SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT

I'm not going to panic about House, who was crushed by the Tigers -- six runs in 1 1/3 innings. Maybe it was the first start of the year. Maybe it was not having pitched in more than a week and his sinker ... well ... floated. Maybe it was the Tigers, who are chewing up most pitchers right now -- at least pitchers not named Corey Kluber.

House was 5-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 102 innings last season. He was 4-1 with a 2.53 ERA after the All-Star break. The lefty showed real promise. He did not face Detroit last season.

But I'm concerned about McAllister. He struggled as a starter last season: 3-7 record, 5.67 ERA. In 66 career starts, McAllister has an 18-26 record with a 4.52 ERA. The Indians really like him in the bullpen (2.77 ERA last year), but injuries (Gavin Floyd and Josh Tomlin) and the decline of Danny Salazar led to McAllister being in the rotation.

Will it work with McAllister? Not if he keeps throwing 75 percent fastballs, as he did in the home opener against the Tigers. He threw it on 72 percent of his pitches last season. That ratio is way too high for most pitchers.

A difference between McAllister and Carrasco is that Carrasco had at least three very good pitches. The bullpen was a place for him to develop confidence and a new approach (always throwing from the stretch) that would help him as a starter. Until McAllister develops a second pitch that is effective, he will have problems in the rotation.

SOMETHING TO DO?

Shaun Marcum held the Tigers to one run in five innings. Once upon a time, Marcum was a solid big league starter: 33-19 with a 3.64 ERA between 2010-12. Then came lots of arm problems and surgery.

Against the Tigers, most of his fastballs were in the 85-88 mph range. He lived on the corners and at the knees, changing speeds. Can that work in the rotation? Hard to know. But it may be worth finding out.

At Class AAA Columbus, Salazar made his first start: 6 innings, 4 hits, 0 runs, 7 strikeouts. Bruce Chen also started: 6 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 3 strikeouts.

I'd rather give Marcum another shot than Chen or Salazar right now. Chen is a finesse lefty with same approach as Marcum. Salazar needs to pitch at least a few games in the minors to find his confidence.

SOMETHING TO HOPE FOR

Because of the soft April schedule, the Indians can often stay with four starters. McAllister can help in the bullpen, and that will make the bullpen stronger. The Indians were concerned about the bullpen because relievers can be so unreliable from one year to the next.

Bryan Shaw set a franchise record with 80 appearances last season, and has pitched in 214 games over the last three years. Will that wear down his arm? Shaw thinks not, and he could be right. But he has not thrown well in spring training or early in the season.

It's three games, so let's keep that in perspective. I can go through the list of relievers, but it's just too early to draw any type of conclusions other than this -- the bullpen has to shape up, and fast.

Manager Terry Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway have found ways to rebuild the bullpen during the season. When they took over inn 2013, Chris Perez was the closer, Vinnie Pestano was the set up man. Rich Hill (63 games) was the top lefty reliever, Matt Albers threw in 56 games. All are gone.

My sense is they can figure out the bullpen.

But with Brantley and Gomes battling injuries, it's the starting rotation that has to carry a huge burden to keep the Tribe in contention in the next few months.

from our old home at the ABJ. Marla Ridenour is the new Sheldon Ocker.

CLEVELAND: Indians manager Terry Francona knew his team’s weakness before the season began, but that didn’t make its early manifestation any easier to take. The Indians’ lineup is loaded with left-handed hitters. In the first seven games, the Indians went winless against four left-handed starters and Francona might have been beginning to wonder if that mastery would ever end.

“I certainly hope it’s a trend that gets better or you’re going to start seeing every lefty that every team has,” Francona said before Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field.

Facing White Sox left-hander John Danks, the Indians snapped that ugly string, along with a four-game losing streak that was their first 0-4 start at home since 1987. Ryan Raburn and Lonnie Chisenhall came through with back-to-back doubles in a two-run fourth inning as the Indians defeated Danks and the White Sox 4-2 before a crowd of 11,042.

“We did some things 1 through 9 today to put some pressure on ‘em,” Francona said of ending the left-handed dominance.

The Indians (3-5) went 1-4 on the five-game homestand. After an off day Thursday, they head to Minnesota for a three-game weekend series, followed by three in Chicago against the White Sox.

Francona was sweating it out in the ninth when Cody Allen walked leadoff man Emilio Bonifacio and hit Micah Johnson with a pitch. But Adam Eaton struck out and the Indians’ Jose Ramirez came up with a dazzling fielding play on a Melky Cabrera grounder to deep short as the Tribe nearly turned a double play. Allen struck out slugger Jose Abreu to end the game and earn his second save.

“That was a heckuva play,” Francona said of Ramirez. “That ball gets by him, that inning is going to get a little uglier than we want it to. Seeing those guys who were coming up was not a real good feeling.”

Before Wednesday, left-handers who had shut the Indians down were Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros, the Detroit Tigers’ Kyle Lobstein and Jose Quintana of the White Sox. They also lost when the Tigers’ David Price started, although lefty reliever Ian Krol got the decision.

Their victory wasn’t a thing of beauty. Two of the Indians’ eight hits were what Francona called “balls that go 45 feet” for hits by Jerry Sands. They scored a run in the third on a single by Chisenhall, two sacrifice bunts and an RBI groundout by Michael Bourn.

Chisenhall’s two-run double to the right-field corner followed Raburn’s double off the left-field wall and gave the Indians a 3-0 lead in the fourth. The Indians tacked on a run in the fifth on a Jason Kipnis walk, his stolen base and a run-scoring single to center by Carlos Santana, which finished Danks (0-2, 6.10).

Trevor Bauer (2-0, 1.50 ERA) allowed two runs on four hits, walking four and striking out eight. In the fourth, Abreu got the first hit off Bauer this season, a leadoff single to right. Bauer has walked nine in 12 innings this season.

Bauer held the White Sox scoreless until the sixth, when with one out he walked Adam LaRoche and Conor Gillaspie followed with a double to the right-field corner. Alexei Ramirez brought LaRoche home with a groundout and J.B. Shuck hit an RBI single to center.

“I lost focus mentally in the sixth, which I rarely do,” Bauer said. “That’s what I’m most disappointed in. I was upset about walking LaRoche and didn’t back up home on that [Shuck] single to center, which is inexcusable. Overall it was a little bit of a struggle, but I got through it pretty well.”

Now while I am glad we finally won at home, and stopped the losing streak, it was John Danks who we beat....not Randy Johnson. Danks hasn't pitched a winning season in 5 years...so forgive me if I don't do a cartwheel.

Not to mention that Allen damn near blew it again. He didn't, but I will need to get a new bottle of Tums.

If I understood something I read Allen has lost mastery of his main offspeed pitch.

CLEVELAND -- Trevor Bauer knows that he might have been misunderstood at times in the past. By teammates. By coaches. By umpires. The young Indians pitcher realizes now that his body language on the hill may have played a role in the mixed signals.
Over the offseason and through Spring Training, Bauer worked extensively on fine-tuning his pitches, and he also focused on the mental side of his game. Part of that has included reminding himself to hone in on the elements that are under his control, and not reacting negatively when things do not go as planned on the field.

"I'm trying to send the appropriate message with my body language," Bauer said. "Not only to my teammates and to the opposing team, but also for me. I'm trying to stay locked into that approach mentally that whatever has happened is out of my control. Whatever is going to happen is out of my control. I can just make this next pitch and try to focus in on that. And I think I've done a decent job of it."

Cleveland ace Corey Kluber might be the blueprint for that approach.

In the clubhouse, Kluber is stoic and soft-spoken. On the field, if a call does not go his way or a hitter takes advantage of a pitch, the right-hander typically remains unfazed. Watching Kluber throughout a game, it is hard to tell by his body language when he has been successful or encountered a rough patch.

Kluber has seen improvement from Bauer in that regard, too.

"That's just part of maturing, and obviously, he's still really young," Kluber said. "As far as the body language, he's done a really good job of getting better with that. I think he knew that was something he had to work on. I think when you're comfortable, it makes it a lot easier to just go out there and focus on pitching, instead of worrying about all that other stuff."

Indians manager Terry Francona has also noticed a difference in Bauer's manner on the mound.

"If he gets mad, he waits until he gets to the dugout," Francona said. "He doesn't do it out on the field. He competes while he's out there, and then he might be frustrated after the inning. But during the inning, he doesn't give in, and he competes. I think he's done a real good job on that."

Bauer added that he knows being even-keeled on the mound can also help him avoid a situation where an umpire thinks he's angry over a call.

"It's very rare that I'm upset with an umpire," Bauer said. "It might appear that I am sometimes -- because I'm upset with myself -- in how I snap at a ball, or I'll kind of shake my head or whatever. That's more internal frustration with the fact that I didn't execute that pitch. But I'm aware that that can be construed differently by the umpires, so that's another positive to sending a correct message with my body language."

In the clubhouse, Bauer has also become more approachable and social, both with his teammates and reporters.

"He's more comfortable around guys now," Kluber said. "I think he realizes that guys in here don't really care if you're different. That may not have necessarily been the case for him in the past."

Through two starts this season -- his first Major League campaign in an Opening Day rotation -- the 24-year-old Bauer has two wins, a 1.50 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 12 innings of work. The right-hander opened his season with nine consecutive no-hit innings, which is a feat that had not been accomplished by a Cleveland starter since 1940 (Bob Feller).

It has been a positive start for Bauer, who has also walked a league-high nine batters.

"I definitely have a ways to go," he said. "It's a work in progress, and I'm consciously trying to improve."

So I guess Bryan Price got a little upset talking to the media.

https://twitter.com/BenBadler/status/59 ... 52/photo/1

CHICAGO -- Manager Terry Francona had a Gold Glove center fielder on the bench in the ninth inning Monday night, but he decided to stay with utility man Mike Aviles, who just started playing center field in the big league last year.

That decision and the suddenly sporadic pitching of closer Cody Allen played a big role in the Indians' 4-3 loss to the White Sox on a cold night at U.S. Cellular Field.

Michael Bourn, a Gold Glove winner in 2009 and 2010, was rested Monday after playing in the Indians previous 11 games. No doubt, he'd earned a night off.

But in the ninth inning, the struggling Indians, losers of eight of their first 12 games, needed all the help they could get.

They held a 3-0 lead. Trevor Bauer had just thrown seven scoreless innings. Nick Hagadone and Bryan Shaw stitched together a scoreless eighth. Now it was time for Allen to deal with the middle of a Chicago lineup that rivals the Indians for its inability to score runs. It was also time for Francona to make a decision, bring Bourn off the bench to close the game in center or stay with Aviles.

"I thought about it," said Francona. "It's hard to take Aviles out of a game just the way our bench is situated. I think Mikey does a good job in center."

Allen started the ninth by throwing a called third strike past cleanup hitter Adam LaRoche. He had Avisail Garcia, the No.5 hitter, down in the count 0-2, but Garcia came back to double past first. Allen made it worse by walking Conor Gillaspie and throwing a wild pitch that moved the runners to second and third.

See where this is going? Alexei Ramirez, who beat the Indians last year with a walk-off homer against John Axford, stung them again with a line drive to dead center that sailed over Aviles' head and hit the center field wall for a double. Garcia and Gillaspie scored and the 3-0 lead was down to 3-2 and Bourn was still on the bench.

Aviles said he had no chance to make the catch. "You saw it," he said. "It was over my head. I ran to it. I tried to get it, but I didn't make it."

Hitting is contagious. They were racing to the bat rack at the end. Said Francona, "It would have been a nice catch. We're not in a no-doubles defense there. We're playing normal depth. It would have been a nice play."
Said Allen, "I thought the ball was gone. Yeah, I thought it was gone."

Then, as Allen would say after it was over, the game became a "race to bat rack' for the White Sox. Tyler Flowers singled to left to put Ramirez at third. Micah Johnson sent another single to left to tie the score. Adam Eaton continued the trend with a single to left to load the bases.

Finally, Melky Cabrera ended it with a single to left center past the drawn-in outfield. Seven straight batters reached base against Allen. He allowed four runs on six hits in one-third of an inning.

Allen had never allowed four runs in a game before this season. He's done it twice in his first five appearances this year.
"I left some balls up. I got a little predictable," said Allen. "Hitting is contagious. They were racing to the bat rack at the end."

Allen said he felt he was going to get out of the inning right until Cabrera's hit four the outfield grass in left center field. Francona shared his belief. "If I had that much concern, I would have taken him out," said Francona. "I thought he was going to get out of it pretty much the whole inning. That's how much faith I have in him."

Allen is 0-2 with three saves and a 18.00 ERA. In four innings, he's allowed nine hits and eight earned runs. Last year he didn't allow his eighth earned run until his 26th appearance on May 28th.

Could this be the aftermath of Allen making 153 appearances in the last two years? There have been hints of the same problem with Bryan Shaw, who made 150 appearances the last two years.

"It's not been great," said Allen, when asked to describe his start to the season. "You sum it all up, it's been two out of five games. It hasn't been spread out where each one has been kind of bad. It's been two that have been very bad.

"I thought about it, but it's hard to take Aviles out of a game just the way our bench is situated," Francona said, "and I think Mikey did a good job in center."

He couldn't have improved the defense by bringing Bourn in to play center and moving "Mikey" over to third base?

Maybe the almost useless stat of saves, they should base it on points. Base it on the relative strength of the batters. I thought ARam was going slam it out like last year. Have to stop watching. Almost certain to lose. 4-9? yuck.