Cleveland Sports Forum

What Corey Kluber’s fractured arm means for the Cleveland Indians
By Zack Meisel May 1, 2019 18
Corey​ Kluber can’t​ repair his​ jumbled mechanics if his​ right arm is​ resting motionless in​ a sling.

The​ Indians’ pitching​ staff has​​ shouldered the load for the first five weeks of the season, and that’s with Kluber — who suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right forearm Wednesday night — pitching more like Brett Myers or Derek Lowe or Eddie Harris than like a Cy Young Award contender.

Terry Francona’s lineup card is littered with question marks, none more frustratingly inquiry-fueling, at the moment, than José Ramírez. The bullpen has pieced together, on balance, a fine showing, though the collection of soft-tossers could certainly use an infusion of steady heat at some point.

The rotation, though, was supposed to be the rock, the foundation of the franchise. When the Indians failed to find a match for an offseason trade involving Kluber or Trevor Bauer, they shifted their payroll-minded roster fixations elsewhere and opted to pin their hopes to the five horses in the stable.

It has worked to an extent. The Indians stand at 16-13, despite an American League-worst offense (69 wRC+, .215/.300/.343 slash line).

Bauer contends he “suck(s) right now,” but his numbers over the last two years — and not just the quantity of plus pitches he possesses — speak for themselves. Shane Bieber has bloomed into a viable mid-rotation piece who has vaulted his ceiling from modest living room to Sistine Chapel. Carlos Carrasco has rebounded from a rough start to rattle off three consecutive strong outings.

But the Indians left themselves little margin for error. And they continue to pay the price, pestered once again by the unswattable injury bug.

The 60-day injured list might be the safest place at the moment for Mike Clevinger, who is already playing catch, weeks ahead of schedule. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he now returns in June, instead of the doomsday projections that followed his initial diagnosis (well, the one handed down after he claimed he wouldn’t miss a start after straining his upper back). Now that Kluber is sidelined for an unknown length of time, it would surprise no one if Clevinger attempted to further expedite his early return. As it stands, he can’t be activated until June 7.

Kluber will undergo additional testing in Cleveland on Thursday, and the Indians figure to have a clearer sense at that time of how long he’ll be on the shelf.

The Indians needed a fifth starter for next week anyway. They’ll now need a fourth starter for some time, too. It’s a safe bet that Jefry Rodriguez will rejoin the roster. Adam Plutko has yet to fully recover from a forearm injury. Where the team turns for the extra body is anyone’s guess. (Before the name escapes your mouth — Danny Salazar is basically Carmen Sandiego at this point.)

Chih-Wei Hu hasn’t pitched convincingly well at Class AAA. Asher Wojciechowski has. Say those names in succession five times fast. Now say a prayer.

Those are the options in Columbus, unless the Indians choose to stretch out Cody Anderson at the major-league level. Perhaps Bauer will finally get his wish of starting every fourth day (over Francona’s dead body, presumably). For anyone dreaming of a Dallas Keuchel signing — and who knows what sort of financial commitment that would require at this point in the season — remember he would need some time to build up his arm to become a major-league pitcher again.

Thing is, the Indians need Kluber. A midseason two-week breather on the injured list — a wink-wink transaction of sorts — can sometimes do wonders for a hurler. A 102 mph line drive off one of the most important of the body’s 206 bones, for someone in the pitching profession, does nothing but harm. (And of course Kluber exhibited zero emotion or facial expression after being struck by the baseball. Way to stick to the bit.)

Kluber has been fighting his mechanics all season. His statistics detail uncharacteristically poor command, which has translated to a career-worst walk rate, a career-worst hit rate and an ERA figure resembling a limping quarterback’s 40-yard dash time at the NFL combine.

When he wants to paint the corner, he leaves the ball over the middle of the plate. When he desperately needs to pound the strike zone, he misses by a few ZIP codes. The Marlins entered Wednesday’s game with a .225 team batting average. They knocked around Kluber for eight hits before the right-hander exited.

The Indians’ climb toward a fourth consecutive AL Central crown just grew more daunting. The Twins have feasted on the Orioles, but all signs point to them remaining a factor in the division race through the summer. Meanwhile, the sturdiest part of the S.S. Francona just sprung another leak.

However long Kluber needs to heal, the Indians won’t miss the 5.80 ERA or the .300 opponent batting average. But they will miss the potential Kluber offered, provided he could unearth the remedy to his mechanical woes.

(Photo: Jasen Vinlove / USA Today)

and the preseason hope that McKenzie could pitch convincingly well in AA and move up quickly to Cleveland, as Bieber did recently and others have as far back as Charlie Nagy, were also sabotaged buy his annual spring injury.

and one more minor league talent, Aaron Civale, a not-quite-Bieber-clone, who was ready to debut in Columbus in April, is also on the DL, although Hillbilly reports that he's started pitching in rehab games in Arizona.

One or both of these guys could become available later in the season.

You know we don't talk about this much because of our starting pitching.

But what about an opener? Look, Tampa has made a practice of using stud arms as openers. Young guys too.

So for example you bring up a Karinchak. Then you follow him with an Eli Morgan who can eat some innings. Then you use your regular bullpen to finish.

Just hypothetical names but with 2 starters out is it time to get creative?

Could be a good idea. Tito is a creative thinker and wouldn't be surprised if he and Kevin Cash had discussed this strategy before Cash went to Tampa and employed it.

Here's the most unconcerned take on the Kluber injury I've read.

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber suffered a scary injury during Wednesday's game against the Miami Marlins and had to leave immediately.

ESPN's Buster Olney noted Kluber exited after he was hit in the right elbow by a 102 mph line drive off the bat of Brian Anderson. Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com reported Kluber suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right ulna and will be re-evaluated on Thursday.

Kluber put together another excellent season in 2018. He finished 20-7 with a 2.89 ERA and 3.12 FIP in 33 starts, per FanGraphs. His 5.5 WAR was tied for seventh-highest among pitchers. Consistency and durability have been hallmarks for the veteran right-hander since he had his Cy Young breakthrough in 2014. According to FanGraphs, he ranked second in innings pitched (1,091.1) and fifth in FIP (2.84) between 2014 and 2018.
[No reference to his 2019 struggles]

While Kluber's injury is obviously a concern for the Indians, Cleveland has other talented options in its starting rotation. Trevor Bauer finished sixth in the American League Cy Young voting a season ago, and Carlos Carrasco is coming off an excellent year as well. [No reference to Bieber or Clevinger.]

Assuming Kluber will be placed on the injured list, the Indians could turn to Cody Anderson as a spot starter. [No reference to him not having worked more than 3 innings in 3 years] Injuries have hit a number of Cleveland's starting pitchers over the past few years, so shuffling the rotation isn't an unfamiliar spot for manager Terry Francona.

I think we all would be less concerned if the lineup weren't in such a bad place too.

So yes in a vacuum I get his take. But this year, we are offensively challenged (at least for now) so a rotation hole means more this year.

wont' waste the space by posting the AP story on how Cleveland will deal with pitching injuries. Whoever wrote the story doesn't know much; it says the replacement for Kluber will be either Anderson or Plutko. Yes, right, since Plutko is still out of action.

Fantasy baseball has become incredibly high stakes these days. Data rules. So this article from a fantasy source on Jose Ramirez is quite interesting:

The José Ramírez conundrum: What to do with fantasy baseball’s most puzzling player
By Michael Salfino 2h ago 7

José Ramírez is fantasy baseball’s most puzzling player a little more than a month after being the consensus third overall pick in fantasy drafts. Should his owner hold? Or is this just stubbornly refusing to adjust to a batting average slump that extends back into the second half of last year, with a power outage now to go with it?

Ramírez is an inspiring story. He first starred in the Dominican Republic playing vitilla, a game where a broomstick is used to hit the cap of a large water jug. From these humble beginnings, he became an MVP candidate in 2018, smashing 39 homers and swiping 34 bags in his age 25 season.

But now he’s looking up at the Mendoza line at just .183. He has only two homers and is on pace for 49 RBI and 11 homers. Fortunately, he has nine steals (49 pace). Since the All-Star Break in 2018, he’s hit .207. But in that time, he has 62 walks and 56 Ks. Ratios like that usually accompany averages like the .318 Ramírez hit in 2017 or .312 in 2016.

Let’s look deeper with the help of our friends at sports analytics and data provider Inside Edge

The bottom line is his well-hit rate of at-bats (which includes strikeouts) is an above average .183 this year (coincidentally his actual average). Last year, it was .198. That’s a second piece of data, along with the walks and strikeouts, that, combined, show this batting average and power slump are flukes.



Additionally, he’s hitting .161 when ahead in the count versus the league average of .353. But he’s just hitting badly, right? Well, when BEHIND in the count, he’s hitting .234, which may seem bad but the league average is .183. Hitting better when behind in the count than when ahead makes zero sense.

The issue reportedly with Ramirez last year was struggling against breaking balls while ripping fastballs. There doesn’t seem to be that radical a difference in how Ramirez is being pitched, however, according to Fangraphs. But again, Ramirez isn’t providing clean narrative. This year, according to Inside Edge, he’s actually above average in hitting off-speed pitches and floundering against the fastballs he formerly pummeled.

Another measure of hitting well is performance with two strikes. Ramírez’s on-base average is .276, well above the MLB rate of .245. And his chase rate is borderline elite — 13 percent early in the count, far better than the league average of 21 percent.

It’s hard to find a single underlying factor of hitting that explains Ramírez’s slump.

You could say he’s hitting too many fly balls — his GB/FB is 0.73, down from 1.13 in 2016 and .0.98 in 2017. More fly balls means a lower BABIP, obviously, but still nothing that explains his steep decline.

The benefit of added fly balls is supposed to be more homers. Ramírez, of course, is slumping here. Can a guy who hit 39 homers slump this badly the next year? This century, of the hitters age 25 or under who have hit 35-to-40 homers, the biggest next-year decline was to 21 (both Pat Burrell is 2003 and Carlos Quentin in 2009; though Quentin missed a significant stretch of the season). So if Ramírez were to slump below 20 this year, it would be historic regression. Far below that — like the 11 he’s on pace for — is just off-the-charts improbable.

On our Breakfast Table podcast, Yahoo’s Scott Pianowski and I disagreed about Ramírez, with Scott advising moving him even at a discount. I never want to sell low, as I write here frequently. I rejected out of hand Scott’s hypothetical offer of Whit Merrifield for Ramírez. My reasoning was that even this year, Ramírez’s well-hit is better than Merrifield. But I doubt anyone would even offer that trade.

Cleveland’s offense is a problem in projecting Ramírez, too. The Indians are 14th in runs per game. So that’s going to depress the RBI and runs for Ramírez, no doubt, especially if their team-wide hitting woes are real (bet they are).

The bottom line is that Ramírez’s pronounced slump seems largely a product of bad luck.

He’s hitting the ball more poorly than last year but still well above average. His walks and Ks are still good. His failure to hit well when ahead in the count seems almost certain to positively regress to at least the league average. The runs and RBI are not going to approach projected March levels because his team can’t score.

But Ramírez should hit about .272 the rest of the year. Even if his power decline is all-time, you could still expect about 20 more homers. With the steals likely to continue, it seems very unlikely that holding Ramírez will end up being a source of regret.

Buying low now is the money move.

(Top photo: John Sleezer/Getty Images)

that's a long run of bad luck.

Meisel’s Musings: Danny Salazar? Name rings a bell

Zack Meisel May 6, 2019 25

CLEVELAND — When I turned 11, I used birthday money to purchase a Razor scooter with green foam handle grips from Toys R Us.

We hadn’t even reached the midpoint on our drive home when I told my mom that I regretted the decision. I wanted to return it and keep my $100. My mom explained the definition of “buyer’s remorse.”

Danny Salazar earned $5 million from the Indians last season. He didn’t throw a single pitch in a professional game setting. In fact, Salazar last threw a pitch in a major-league contest 575 days ago. There’s no cap on that number’s growth. There’s no telling if or when he’ll next step on a big-league mound.

Salazar felt discomfort while throwing bullpen sessions last week in Arizona, where he’s now as much of a staple as a cactus or a javelina. He visited Dr. Keith Meister, who performed his shoulder surgery last summer, in Dallas. Salazar will be shut down for a few days before re-(re-re-re-re-)initiating his throwing program. He was on the verge of throwing to hitters at the club’s complex in Goodyear before he called this latest timeout.

Think Chris Antonetti and company feel buyer’s remorse about handing Salazar a $4.5 million contract for the 2019 season? The Indians could have purchased tens of thousands of Razor scooters with that sum of cash. Or 900,000 boxes of Thin Mints. Or, perhaps, a free-agent outfielder or reliever. Well, maybe.

Who’s to say that money saved would have equaled money spent, or that the money would have been spent effectively? Also, it’s important to keep in mind the club’s order of offseason operations. The Indians traded Yan Gomes to the Nationals and agreed to terms with Salazar on Nov. 30, a few weeks after bidding adieu to Michael Brantley, but a couple of weeks before they dealt Edwin Encarnacion and long before they knew for sure whether they would ship out Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer.

They banked on Salazar’s potential, that tantalizing but unreliable source of wonder that has mesmerized the organization for more than a decade. It’s a classic risk/reward scenario, but the risk is greater considering the team was seeking to trim payroll. Even if Salazar spent the first few months of the season on the sideline before enjoying a midsummer renaissance, it could be worth the cost. Technically, that still isn’t impossible, but it becomes more unlikely by the day.

I accidentally left that scooter on the tree lawn one night, by the way. A garbage collector scooped it up the next morning. What a waste of money.

A hard thrower to actually plan for
James Karinchak has faced 44 batters this season.

How many have struck out: 30
How many have recorded a hit: 3

Those are eye-popping statistics, and yet the most critical one might be …

How many have walked: 3

Karinchak throws hard and has always boasted a sparkling strikeout rate, but he also walked 36 batters in 48 2/3 innings last season.

James Harris, the Indians’ director of player development, said Karinchak devoted his offseason focus to improving his fastball command, and he also spent extra time in Arizona sharpening his breaking ball. The early returns have been promising. Karinchak earned a promotion to Class AAA Columbus last week, and he’s clearly on the big-league club’s radar.

Terry Francona said Karinchak’s stat line “looks like a video game.” The 23-year-old could add a new wrinkle this summer to a bullpen short on velocity.

“He has two pitches that are just, like, wipeout pitches,” Francona said. “The reason we wanted to get him to Triple-A so quickly is to try to force him more in the zone just to see how it plays, because those numbers were stupid at Double-A.”

Quotes to note

“I’m going up the middle and I moved right before the pitch was thrown, so I knew I had a chance of getting him. I wasn’t planning on two-hopping the baseball to first base. My arm was not good. When I two-hopped it I was like, ‘Ahh,’ I didn’t think I had him. But I saw him look at me and as soon as he looked at me I knew I got him because he could tell. It’s a lot closer than where I was. … I told him he’s getting older. I was like, ‘Bro, you knew I was gonna one-hop the ball. Everybody knows I’m one-hopping the baseball.’ And he was like, ‘Man …’ I can’t tell you what he said. But it’s all fun.” — Francisco Lindor, on erasing former teammate Edwin Encarnacion after a diving stop, bouncing throw and replay review in Saturday’s win against the Mariners

“As soon as it happened. I know Edwin is slow.” — Carlos Carrasco, on when he knew Lindor had thrown out Encarnacion

“That was my fault. (Third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh) said, ‘Don’t go. Don’t go,’ and my legs finally felt like I could run, but my lungs didn’t want to run anymore. So I got tired on the way to home plate. So it was my fault. Sarby, he told me the right play. I just took off. I got a little excited.” — Lindor, on being thrown out at the plate after scampering around the bases on a pair of errant Mariners throws in Saturday’s game

Final Thoughts
1. The Indians’ roster will undergo a face-lift over the next few months, with some nips and tucks scheduled for the coming days, too. They’re carrying nine relievers as protection for Cody Anderson’s short leash, which came in handy when Anderson failed to escape the first inning Sunday afternoon. They’ll need to part ways with someone when they recall Jefry Rodriguez for Tuesday’s start against the White Sox.

On the position player side, Mike Freeman outlasted Max Moroff for utility player immunity. The bench is short, though. And the lineup is filled with left-handed hitters.

(I know a guy with an .853 OPS at Class AAA who might be able to contribute to the solution of both of those issues.)

2. Leonys Martín, dealing with some hamstring tightness, has been exposed against left-handed pitching this season.

Martín vs. LHP: .443 OPS
Martín vs. RHP: .811 OPS

He shouldn’t be batting second against lefties, but it’s difficult to make batting order requests with such an imbalanced, incomplete roster.

3. Let’s play a game. Can you guess to which player each wRC+ belongs? (Remember, 100 is league average.)

136, 94, 92, 82, 82, 80, 79, 70, 58, 48, 24

Three players exiled from the roster — Max Moroff, Greg Allen and Eric Stamets — registered a wRC+ of 6, -18 and -40, respectively.

OK, now for the answers.

136: Carlos Santana
94: Francisco Lindor
92: Jordan Luplow
82: Roberto Pérez, Leonys Martín
80: Kevin Plawecki
79: Jake Bauers
70: Tyler Naquin
58: José Ramírez
48: Carlos Gonzalez
24: Jason Kipnis

Kipnis’ first seven games: 8-for-26, .400 on-base percentage
Kipnis’ last nine games: 2-for-33, .088 on-base percentage

4. Corey Kluber is sporting a white cast on his fractured right arm. He said he’s closing in on mastering the art of getting dressed with one free hand. Kluber will be re-evaluated in a few weeks, and doctors at that time will determine the next step in his recovery.

5. The Indians stand at 14-7 against non-AL Central opponents and 4-7 against division foes. Last season, they went 49-27 against AL Central teams and 42-44 against everyone else.

6. Francona crossed the 1,000-game mark as Cleveland manager over the weekend. Among skippers in franchise history with at least 500 games at the helm, Francona ranks second in winning percentage (.562) behind Al Lopez.

Overall, Francona ranks fifth in team history with 563 wins, two more than Eric Wedge totaled during his Tribe tenure. Francona sits seven victories behind Lopez for fourth place on the list. Lou Boudreau (728), Mike Hargrove (721) and Tris Speaker (617) occupy the top three spots.

After reading Meisel, I know that signing Danny Salazar was incredibly stupid; that James Karinchak is having an amazing year and will be pitching very soon for the Indians; that our hitters are absolutely awful; that Leonys Martin should never start against lefties ; and that Tito has managed for a long time.

Of course I knew that before I read Zach too, but it's all worth repeating.

An inside look at a catcher’s daily preparation, featuring Roberto Pérez

Zack Meisel May 7, 2019 7
On a recent Saturday night, Roberto Pérez returned to his hotel room and turned on his iPad.

He pulled up the video of the final pitch from that day’s game, which Tony Kemp yanked to right field for a walk-off home run in the 10th inning. He wanted to better understand how Kemp got his bat around to the pitch, and if there was anything he could have done to prevent the game-ending swing.

Pérez was crouching behind home plate, of course, so he had a front-row seat. He had called for an inside fastball. Did he set up far enough inside? Did he position his glove in the proper spot? Did Adam Cimber simply misfire?

Pérez usually studies video right before he heads to the ballpark each day. In this instance, though, his daily prep began the night before as he attempted to solve the riddle of how a guy with eight career home runs delivered such a powerful blow.

“I’m just trying to get better,” Pérez said. “I know I catch every day and I’ve been in the league for five years, but I’m still learning. Guys make adjustments. I want to make adjustments, too. I don’t want to fall into the same patterns.”

Here’s a peek at what goes into Pérez’s daily preparation.
Kevin Plawecki is the new guy. He arrived in Goodyear, Ariz., for spring training with no firsthand knowledge of Shane Bieber’s enhanced changeup or just how many time zones Brad Hand’s slider flutters through before it reaches the plate.

Pérez has offered guidance to help Plawecki feel more comfortable. He demonstrated how to set up behind the plate when Corey Kluber or Mike Clevinger stands atop the hill.

“Sit on the plate and let the ball take you,” Pérez advised.

Plawecki is still learning precisely how each pitcher’s offerings move as they spin toward his glove. He only caught one of Kluber’s Cactus League outings, so when he was paired with the two-time Cy Young winner for an April battle against the Braves, Plawecki consulted Pérez.

“Kluber has such late movement on his ball sometimes,” Plawecki said. “It just takes time, over and over again. Once you see it more, you get used to it.”

Pérez remembers the first time he caught Kluber, in August 2014.

“It was tough,” he said. “He’s a Cy Young winner. You don’t want to mess it up. You want to be good. You want to catch everything. You want to make everything a strike for him. You don’t know what the ball is going to do, so you start getting anxious. ‘OK, what does the cutter look like?’ You start grabbing at the ball instead of calming down and trying to catch the ball. That’s what happened to me when I first caught him. ‘I don’t want to let a ball get by me. I want to stop everything. If someone tries to steal one, I want to throw them out.’ It’s different when you have a guy like Kluber. His ball is never straight.”

Plawecki also checked with Kluber about the hurler’s preferred sequencing, what pitches he likes to throw in certain situations, which of the right-hander’s strengths might fare well against Atlanta. The starting battery typically outlines an approach the night before and then finalizes the game plan about an hour before first pitch, prior to their trek to the bullpen for warmup tosses.

Pitching coach Carl Willis provides some input on how to attack opposing hitters. He’ll also monitor the starter’s pregame bullpen session. Pérez and Plawecki chat constantly about what’s working and what’s not.

“If he sees something, if I see something,” Plawecki said, “we’re always talking to each other.”
There’s a lot to remember. Pérez must know every opposing hitter’s tendency, in addition to the strengths and weaknesses of each of the Indians’ pitchers.

The opposing team’s left fielder has a penchant for chasing breaking balls down and away? Good luck laying off Trevor Bauer’s curveball.

A pinch-hitter? Uhh, can he hit a high fastball? That’s Neil Ramírez’s bread and butter. OK, here comes Carl to remind us of the scouting report.

“You have to simplify it,” Pérez said. “If you go over all that stuff, it’s going to confuse you, especially when there’s pressure — men on base, bases loaded. I just try to keep it simple and go with the pitcher’s strengths. When there’s pressure, I don’t go out of my way and try to make the pitchers do what they can’t do. I just stick to their strengths.”

The flow of the game tends to dictate a catcher’s decisions, too. In Seattle a few weeks ago, Bauer couldn’t command his curveball during his warmup session. Once he stepped onto the mound, it proved to be his most effective pitch, so he leaned on it more than Pérez was initially anticipating.

“I’m very good at reading swings and their takes, what pitches they’re taking, what their approach is at the plate against our staff,” Pérez said. “So I pick it up right away and I make adjustments throughout the game. I go out there and go with the flow and go off of my instincts.

“Every pitcher has different stuff, a different game plan. You just have to adjust to it and trust the guy. They know what they’re doing. They know what they want to accomplish.”

Of course, it requires a level of trust between the pitcher and catcher. It’s not often a Tribe pitcher will peer in at Pérez, count the fingers being flashed and shake his head.

“He’s awesome. I’ve been telling people that since I met the guy in Triple-A in 2013,” Bauer said. “We’ve played together a lot. I’ve thrown to him a lot. Ultimate trust in him behind the plate. He’s one of the better throwers in the league, one of the better framers in the league, one of the better blockers in the league. He’s just an all-around stud back there.”

Plawecki recently failed to properly place a bunt. After the game, Terry Francona got the sense that the catcher tried to avoid eye contact because he was so disappointed with himself.

“He could barely look at me,” Francona said. “I was like, ‘Hey, this fucking game’s hard, man.’ ”

Indians catchers entered Monday’s action with a .210/.304/.380 slash line and an 82 wRC+. The league-average slash line for a catcher in 2019 is .238/.312/.400, with a 90 wRC+.

The Indians aren’t counting on their catchers for gaudy offensive numbers. The duo’s top priority remains its work behind the plate.

“I think both of them do a good job of running the game,” Francona said. “I told them before the season started, I said, ‘It’s your position. You can’t be grumpier when you’re not hitting. It just doesn’t work.’ And neither one of them, when I go to the mound, I can’t tell if they’ve got hits or not, which is a compliment. They take a lot of pride in getting their pitcher through the inning and through the game, and we appreciate that.”

Pérez has thrown out five of 12 potential base-stealers this season, good for 42 percent (the league average is 27 percent). In limited opportunity, Plawecki has nabbed two of five (40 percent). Historically, Plawecki has been slightly below league average, and Pérez has been much better than league average. Plawecki, though, ranks second among all American League catchers in Baseball Savant’s new pitch framing metric.

Plawecki has caught all but one of Bieber’s starts this year, an arrangement Francona says could continue, though he won’t dub it a “personal catcher” setup. The manager cited Bieber’s quick motion to the plate offsetting Plawecki’s slower pop time, as well as Pérez’s familiarity with the longer-tenured members of the rotation.

“It’s fun to catch these guys,” Pérez said. “They’re probably the best five in the league.”

And they don’t mind returning the compliment.

“I’ve been spoiled for sure,” Bauer said. “He’s amazing back there. The balls he blocks. Framing, throwing, understanding hitters, adjusting game plans. There’s no one I’d rather throw to.”

Ok, some different stuff there civ

And I bet you didn't know Kluber was mastering the art of getting dressed with one hand.

Maybe Perez's bat sucks, but how can you not like this guy?

Not complaining about Meisel post; just complaining that signing Salazar was really dumb and that the team cannot hit.

I must have learned how to dress with one hand when I broke my arm in college. Learned a few years ago while recovering from a broken pelvis that crutches do not work well on Miami Beach sand.