Cleveland Sports Forum

Hillbilly wrote:I'm sorry guys, but I don't agree with you guys. The goal is to win the World Series, not win 93 games. It's been 68 years. None in my lifetime. i personally am not interested in consolation prizes or excuses.

Totally noted, and understood!

I won't throw that back if it happens, by any means.

Not sure what you mean?

All I'm saying is I want the team to be going into the playoffs with a winning frame of mind. Not say, well if we lose its been a great season considering our injuries or whatever.

Francona tabs Bauer for Game 1 of ALDS

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | October 1st, 2016

KANSAS CITY -- Trevor Bauer was not happy. The Indians right-hander had just surrendered a pair of runs to the Royals in the sixth inning on Saturday night, and he took out his frustrations in the visitors' dugout at Kauffman Stadium. An ice bucket bore the brunt of his dissatisfaction.

That's when manager Terry Francona informed him that he'd be starting against the Red Sox in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Thursday.
Full Game Coverage

"So much for that feel-good moment," Francona said with a laugh after the Indians' 6-3 victory over Kansas City. "I think he relishes what's ahead of him. He's going to go up against a good lineup, but I think he'll be OK."


Francona's timing for delivering the news may not have been perfect, but he believes the rotation alignment is right. With ace Corey Kluber still working his way back from a mild quadriceps strain, Francona did not want to take any unnecessary risks at the outset of what Cleveland hopes is a deep run through October.

Kluber will follow Bauer as the planned starter against Boston for Game 2 on Friday, and right-hander Josh Tomlin will start Game 3.

The decision to go with Bauer in the first game means that, if the ALDS were to extend to a Game 4, he would come back on three days' rest. Kluber would be the Game 5 starter, if the series reached that win-or-go-home scenario, on regular rest.

The only aspect that remains unsettled is which team will open at home. With their win on Saturday, and Boston's loss to Toronto, the Indians (93-67) pulled ahead a half-game. The Red Sox boast the tiebreaker with the Tribe, so Cleveland would need to end at least one game ahead of Boston to have the ALDS begin at Progressive Field.

At the moment, considering Kluber's situation, the Indians feel that Bauer is better equipped to handle pitching on short rest, if needed.

"Klubes really wanted to pitch Thursday," Francona said. "We've been talking about it for three or four days. I just kind of overruled him. I think, in fact, I know it's the right thing for everybody. I didn't think it was fair to Kluber to have him sit for 10 days and then pitch two games in four days. He certainly wanted to. And it's not just me. Kind of [after] talking to everybody, I kind of took it out of his hands.

"So now he can prepare for Game 2, and he doesn't have the anxiety of worrying about rushing."

Kluber, who is 18-9 with a 3.14 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 215 innings, declined comment, leaving Kauffman Stadium after Saturday's game.

Bauer has had a unique season.

When the Indians unveiled their Opening Day roster, Bauer found himself in the bullpen. Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Cody Anderson and Tomlin were the Tribe's choices for the starting staff. But as the season wore on, Bauer kept climbing the ranks. Anderson lost his grip on a starting role, went back to the Minors and is now in Cleveland's bullpen. Carrasco and Salazar are both out with injuries. Tomlin's August woes momentarily cost him a spot. Kluber left his outing on Monday with the quadriceps issue.

Through it all, Bauer remained durable and kept logging innings.

During his six-inning performance against Kansas City, Bauer allowed three runs on six hits and ended with nine strikeouts against two walks. He threw 96 pitches but could have kept going. In 35 appearances, including 28 starts this year, he has gone 12-8 with a 4.26 ERA, 168 strikeouts and 70 walks in a career-high 190 innings for Cleveland.

Now he will start the Indians' first playoff game since 2013.

"We've got to get it as a team," Bauer said. "That's the ultimate goal, to go out there and win. That's what I'll go out there and do my best to do. I have a lot of confidence in my teammates. Hopefully, they have confidence in me. It should be fun.

"When they tell me when to pitch, I go out there and I pitch. So Game 1 or Game 2 or Game 3, whatever. They're all important now."

Baron wrote:I'm fairly certain we are not going to finish with the best record.....and no that's not being Negative, that's looking at it from a realistic perspective.

Couple that with the fact that it doesn't look like Tito has any urgency to have the best record and home field, he wants to make sure what is left of his roster is ready and raring to go.

That being said, lets think about it this way.

Game 1 who is going to be our starter. Kluber right?
Game 2....Probably Bauer.
Game 3....Tomlin
after that it's a crap shoot.

If we get home field, Kluber would be starting the first game at home.....the first road game would be Tomlin. Do we really want Tomlin starting the first road game in either texas or boston?

I think Kluber starting Game 1 in hostile territory and Tomlin starting game 3 in a safe space is a better option.

And think about this. Assume we don't have home field advantage,
Kluber wins game one Thursday Away
Bauer loses game 2 Away

Suddenly it's 2 out of 3 with 2 home games.
Tomlin Game 3 home
Kluber on short rest Game 4....Slam the door shut and celebrate on the home field and wait to see who we face in the ALCS.

OR

That leaves Bauer game 5 on the road if necessary.

It's a lot of assumptions....but I think THAT gives us a better shot in games 3 and 4 at home than if we had them away.

I think no matter what the first two games are gonna be a split. Call it gut feeling. If we're gonna split 2 games.

Then maybe we have Salazar back for the ALCS.

I dunno I kind of like the game 3 and 4 at home scenario....

Guess what, BARON?
So I hope you are wrong in the rest of your assumptions!

Hillbilly wrote:Not sure what you mean?

All I'm saying is I want the team to be going into the playoffs with a winning frame of mind. Not say, well if we lose its been a great season considering our injuries or whatever.

I guarantee neither joez or I could possibly disagree with that.

I'll speak for him, he can correct me, but all we are saying is that this team has been nothing short of amazing. IF they come up short, they owe us nothing. Just incredible.

But sure, they are professionals and I trust they will go all out to win it all. It's what they do!!

J.R. wrote:

Baron wrote:I'm fairly certain we are not going to finish with the best record.....and no that's not being Negative, that's looking at it from a realistic perspective.

Couple that with the fact that it doesn't look like Tito has any urgency to have the best record and home field, he wants to make sure what is left of his roster is ready and raring to go.

That being said, lets think about it this way.

Game 1 who is going to be our starter. Kluber right?
Game 2....Probably Bauer.
Game 3....Tomlin
after that it's a crap shoot.

If we get home field, Kluber would be starting the first game at home.....the first road game would be Tomlin. Do we really want Tomlin starting the first road game in either texas or boston?

I think Kluber starting Game 1 in hostile territory and Tomlin starting game 3 in a safe space is a better option.

And think about this. Assume we don't have home field advantage,
Kluber wins game one Thursday Away
Bauer loses game 2 Away

Suddenly it's 2 out of 3 with 2 home games.
Tomlin Game 3 home
Kluber on short rest Game 4....Slam the door shut and celebrate on the home field and wait to see who we face in the ALCS.

OR

That leaves Bauer game 5 on the road if necessary.

It's a lot of assumptions....but I think THAT gives us a better shot in games 3 and 4 at home than if we had them away.

I think no matter what the first two games are gonna be a split. Call it gut feeling. If we're gonna split 2 games.

Then maybe we have Salazar back for the ALCS.

I dunno I kind of like the game 3 and 4 at home scenario....

Guess what, BARON?
So I hope you are wrong in the rest of your assumptions!

Me too!!!!!

Still don't have the best record, But we do have a better record than Boston, and I'm sure Tito has it figured out to get Kluber twice if we need it.

I'm pretty sure there was some hoodwinkery going on with Gomes status.

Great season by the whole team. Extremely impressive performance. Missing our best position player 95% of the year. Missing our co-No. 1 starter about 1/2 of the year. Missing our No. 3 starter about 1/4 of the year. Missing two more of our mix-and-match OF pieces due to suspensions, for 1/2 of the year in one case and about 90% in the other.
The 1 year free agents were terrific pickups. Who would have guessed one part time 35ish OF would be the runaway league leader in steals. An over-the-hill 1B would crank out 35 homers and bat in over 100 runs. Another one was a bust, but so it goes. A big time trade of top minor league talent to secure the best player available player at trade deadline. Another attempted pickup of the best available hitter failed not due to team's willingness to trade more high profile prospects.
Tito clearly was the manager of the year. Front office might deserve a similar honor. Lindor and Ramirez are a marvelous pair of exciting young players. If the pileup of pitching injuries mean we don't win the World Series, that's a shame but no mark of failure by one of the finest full season Indians performances of my lengthy lifetime.

Well said.......

rusty2 wrote:Well said.......

Double that.

From April 1 (Fools day) discussion:



Russo of High Heat on MLB-TV picks Indians to win the Central, the playoffs and the Series. Another jinx for the Tribe? by Loufla



That guy has a long history of being a bozo. I am getting the white flag ready to wave strong and true.
by kenm

Fri Apr 01, 2016 2:12 pm



Forum: Tribe Forum

Well said.

If we had Carrasco I think we'd go all the way, even without Salazar and Brantley. It will be very tough now.

Cleveland Indians reveal ALDS roster: Yan Gomes in, Tribe will carry three catchers

Zack Meisel, cleveland.com By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Three months ago, Yan Gomes' season was in jeopardy. Three weeks ago, it appeared to be over.

Now, he's a member of the Indians' postseason roster.

The club revealed on Wednesday afternoon that it would carry three catchers -- Gomes, Roberto Perez and Chris Gimenez -- on its 25-man squad for the American League Division Series, which begins Thursday night at Progressive Field.

Gomes has logged only two big league at-bats since mid-July, when he suffered a separated shoulder on a tumble near first base at Target Field in Minnesota. On the final at-bat of his rehab assignment in mid-September, he was struck on the right wrist by a pitch. His season, marred by injuries, poor fortune and misery and the plate, was thought to be over.

He would not be deterred, however.

A few weeks later, Gomes returned to the Indians' lineup, and in his first appearance on Sunday, he belted the first pitch he saw over the fence at Kauffman Stadium for a two-run homer. The Indians know he isn't 100 percent and isn't without rust, but he'll factor into the postseason equation anyway.

The Indians will field a roster of 14 position players and 11 pitchers. Trevor Bauer, Corey Kluber and Josh Tomlin are penciled in as the starting pitchers, which leaves eight relievers: Andrew Miller, Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, Dan Otero, Zach McAllister, Jeff Manship, Mike Clevinger and Cody Anderson.

Danny Salazar, still recovering from a right forearm strain, will instead pitch at the team's complex in Goodyear, Arizona. The club also opted to omit southpaws Kyle Crockett and Ryan Merritt and right-handers Shawn Armstrong, Perci Garner and Austin Adams from the ALDS roster.



The position player crop includes the three catchers, plus Carlos Santana, Mike Napoli, Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis, Jose Ramirez, Michael Martinez, Rajai Davis, Brandon Guyer, Tyler Naquin, Coco Crisp and Lonnie Chisenhall.

The pitching matchups for the ALDS are as follows:

Game 1: Bauer vs. Rick Porcello

Game 2: Kluber vs. David Price

Game 3: Tomlin vs. Clay Buchholz

Game 4: TBD (likely Bauer) vs. Eduardo Rodriguez

Game 5: Kluber vs. TBD

Am I wrong for wanting SF to win, and make it to the WS.....so we can twice in one year beat a Bay Area team for a World Championship.