Rosenthal: Blockbuster trades are less likely; schedule complaints; scramble for jobs

By Ken Rosenthal 1h ago 25
The Athletic’s Jayson Stark wrote jokingly on Thursday that he is taking July 25 for the first Francisco Lindor trade rumor, and said an executive responded by cracking it might be even earlier. Trades are certain to occur before the one-time Aug. 31 deadline for 2020, but a Lindor-type blockbuster? I’m not so sure.

Yes, a team that trades for Lindor also would acquire him for his final year of control in 2021. Two executives, however, posed this question: How much would a contender give up for Lindor knowing COVID-19 might force the cancellation of the postseason?

Amid such unprecedented circumstances, a team would not simply be mindful of its chances of making the playoffs. It also would need to consider that the playoffs might not even take place. Trading top prospects for Lindor would be less appealing if a club feared he would be part of only one postseason run instead of two.

The shorter season also makes it more likely the races still will be close on Aug. 31, and increases the chance of surprising or even fluky outcomes. Back in spring training, Lindor’s Indians were not considered favorites to reach the postseason. But now, who’s to say they can’t pull it off? If they started hot, they might be less inclined to move Lindor, preferring to take one final shot with him, then revisit trade discussions in the offseason.

One last dynamic to consider: Powerhouses such as the Yankees or Dodgers might be more inclined to make a push if they anticipate unexpected playoff qualifiers will water down the postseason field, raising the possibility of at least a weaker first-round opponent.

It’s all so different, all so difficult to predict. What we’re looking at is the near-equivalent of every team in a 162-game season starting with the same record on Aug. 1, only with the threat of COVID-19 causing an interruption or complete shutdown of play. Not exactly the ideal environment for a blockbuster trade.

Before baseball’s shutdown on March 12, the Phillies appeared to stand a reasonable chance of signing catcher J.T. Realmuto to a contract extension before what would have been Opening Day. But now Realmuto is three months from free agency, and the Phillies must deal with the economic impact of the pandemic. An agreement in the near-future would appear unlikely.

Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, 27, looms as the top free agent this offseason. Realmuto, 29, might be the second-best player on the open market. Neither figures to get as much money as he might have before the pandemic struck, but teams will be in position to exploit a depressed market for complementary players, perhaps making them more inclined to spend big on elite talent.

That theory might be too optimistic, considering players at every ability level are likely to take a hit. But a team such as the Giants could sign Betts, and then pick and choose from the discount bin – a free-agent market possibly flooded with non-tenders, and a trade market in which some teams might be willing to pay down high-priced players’ salaries to escape as much of the commitments as they can.

One thing seems certain: Arbitration salaries are going to fall, not just this offseason, but possibly for several years. The 60-game schedule will hurt arb-eligible players in two ways – preventing them from finishing with the career numbers they might have attained after 162 games and providing too small a sample for them to point to their season as a legitimate platform year.

So, how exactly will arb-eligible players be affected?
Consider a couple of examples.

Athletics first baseman Matt Olson, who is eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, was on pace to enter the process with 110 to 120 career homers over three-plus seasons. It will be difficult for him to reach that level now, and even if he produces a monster season, good luck finding a comparable. The A’s could simply say, “Sorry. Can’t extrapolate over 162. There is no guarantee you would have sustained your performance.”

Now consider National League MVP Cody Bellinger, who set a record for a first-time eligible player when he agreed with the Dodgers on an $11.5 million salary for this season. It will be difficult for Bellinger to build enough of a case to secure a salary similar to what Betts ($20 million) or Lindor ($17.5 million) received as second-time eligibles, unless, perhaps, he wins the MVP again.

The Dodgers also figure to save on right-hander Walker Buehler, who with a big performance over 162 games might have approached or exceeded lefty Dallas Keuchel’s $7.25 million record for a first-time eligible starting pitcher. Virtually every club is in a similar position, looking at savings not just in 2021, but beyond.

The March agreement between the players and owners includes a stipulation that 2021 salaries in arbitration cannot be used as precedent or evidence in any subsequent hearing. But the problem for players is that they will be negotiating from lower numbers initially, and each of the subsequent numbers figures to be lower as well.

An agreement on a longer season would have helped, enabling players to offer a more accurate portrayal of their true performances. The union also could have fought harder for a negotiated settlement that would have included financial protections for players this offseason. No such settlement was reached, and the league exercised its right to impose a schedule without additional benefits to either side.

Early complaints about the schedule – and it’s not even out yet!
Major League Baseball’s imbalanced schedule creates inequities every season, but teams generally accept any perceived disadvantages, knowing a 162-game season leaves them sufficient time to compensate.

In a 60-game schedule, however, each game will be worth 2.7 times more than it is normally, and the inequities created by teams playing six games against their assigned inter-league rivals might carry considerably more meaning.

Consider the NL Central, in which the Cardinals will play six games against the rebuilding Royals, while the Cubs will play six against the emerging White Sox, the Brewers six against the defending AL Central champion Twins and the Reds six against an Indians team coming off 93 victories.

In theory, the Rays and Nationals will enjoy the same advantages as the Cardinals in their respective divisions, the AL East and NL East. The Rays’ assigned rival is the Marlins. The Nationals draw the Orioles. Meanwhile, two other likely contenders in those divisions, the Yankees and Mets, will be stuck playing each other six times.

MLB plans to schedule 10 games for each club against its four division rivals, a simple and logical enough plan. But why didn’t the league take the same approach for games against opponents in the corresponding division, with each team playing those five clubs four times each?

The reason is math.

For a 60-game schedule to work, 20 series must be played. MLB is expected to go with 12 series within each division and eight interleague. With those eight series spread among five interleague opponents, the schedule by definition will not be equitable. The more balanced interleague format also would create too many four-game series. In a 30-team sport featuring two leagues and six divisions, both with an odd number of teams, it is simply not possible for all teams to play series of the same length at the same time.

So, the interleague aspect figures to look like this: Two three-game series against your assigned rival. Two three-game series against two other teams in the corresponding division. Two home-and-home two-game series against the remaining two teams.

The reason to play for free
Players with guaranteed contracts were eligible to receive $286,500 as their share of the $170 million advance the owners paid the players as part of the March agreement. But as the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier pointed out, Red Sox right-hander Collin McHugh is among the players whose share will exceed his prorated pay. McHugh, who originally signed for $600,000, will have an adjusted salary of $222,222 for the shortened season.

By that measure, he owes the Red Sox money, but according to a memo the union sent to player agents, any player whose advance exceeded his pro-rated salary will not be required to pay back the difference to the club. The union instead will reimburse the player’s team from the MLB/MLBPA Joint International Tax Fund.

For McHugh, who is joining a new team, the odd scenario raises another question: What is the incentive for him to risk his health in a pandemic and pay rent in Boston for three months when he will not receive any additional guaranteed money?

No player is obligated to play during the pandemic, but economic incentives exist for McHugh and others in his situation. McHugh’s contract includes performance and roster bonuses he can earn on a prorated basis, and because he is a free agent again at the end of the 2020 season, he will be pitching for a job.

Less experienced players who would “play for free” also are unlikely to opt out. Those who are approaching arbitration or in the middle of the process will build their cases for 2021 by appearing in as many games and performing as well as possible. Unless they are classified as high risk, sitting out would have the opposite effect.

Scramble for jobs set to begin
Modestly talented free-agent relievers sometimes hold off signing until after spring training begins, waiting to see if injuries or poor performances create an opportunity for them to sign a major-league contract instead of a minor-league deal.

Cynical as this sounds, executives expect certain free agents to apply similar logic during Spring Training 2.0, knowing positive tests for COVID-19 might open up roster spots. Then again, veteran free agents such as Jared Hughes and Edwin Jackson also might be motivated to sign quickly after the transaction freeze is lifted at noon ET Friday.

Teams must determine their 60-player pools by 4 p.m. Sunday, and any club that subsequently signs a free agent would be required to remove a player from its 60-man list – and that player could not return this season, according to an email MLB sent to clubs.

“For this reason, clubs should consider the risks of including in their Club Player Pools a non-roster player who has an opt-out/release clause in his contract,” the email said. “A non-roster player who exercises an opt-out/release clause must be released and removed from the Club Player Pool, and cannot be added back.

“As a result, Clubs may wish to consider releasing such non-roster players prior to submitting the Club Player Pool, or otherwise wait to add such players to the Club Player Pool until after the effective date of an opt-out/release clause (when the Club will know the player’s decision).”

In other words, expect some releases before Sunday.

Final thoughts: Carlos Carrasco, Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer walk onto a mound
By Zack Meisel 1h ago 2
CLEVELAND — After one, swift weekend series, the Indians have already completed 5 percent of their regular-season schedule. Blink and you might miss the rest.

Here are a handful of thoughts from the weekend.

1. Who would have imagined that Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco would all pitch on the same day? Somewhere, Mickey Callaway was smiling like a proud father.

Kluber, Bauer and Carrasco stood atop Cleveland’s rotation at the beginning of the 2019 season. Now, only Carrasco remains with the franchise.

By the time Carrasco made his unforgettable return to the mound last September, Bauer had been shipped out to Cincinnati. In December, Kluber packed his bags and relocated to Texas.

They all toed the rubber Sunday afternoon.

Kluber, plagued by shoulder tightness, exited after one inning. He’ll be examined further before the Rangers can determine the length of his absence. So, to recap the offseason trade between the Indians and Rangers:

Corey Kluber: status in limbo because of a shoulder injury

Delino DeShields: still sidelined after recovering from COVID-19

Emmanuel Clase: suspended for the season for testing positive for a banned substance

Bauer tallied 13 strikeouts in his season debut, as he limited the Tigers to two hits over 6 1/3 innings. When Reds manager David Bell emerged from the dugout to summon a reliever in the seventh, Bauer turned around, crow-hopped and pretended to launch the ball over the outfield fence, a la his infamous heave to cap his final start with the Indians, when his display startled Mike Freeman like a dog on July 4 and turned Terry Francona’s face vine-ripe tomato red.


2. And then there’s Carrasco, who made a ravishing return to the Indians rotation with 10 strikeouts in six innings. It was his first start since May 30, 2019, a date he hasn’t forgotten, and a few days before he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia.

He maintained his velocity (93-94 mph) until the end of his outing, and he mixed in a steady diet of effective sliders and changeups.

Carrasco couldn’t wipe the smile from his face the moment he arrived at the ballpark Sunday morning. He jogged out to the mound as Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69” blared from the Progressive Field speakers, a moment 423 days in the making.

“I’ve waited for this moment,” Carrasco said. “Keeping my emotions down and just thinking about the way I (was) going to pitch was the key.”

Though he’s classified as high-risk, Carrasco never wavered in his intent to pitch this season. When he made his first start during Cactus League action, Carrasco became emotional as he peered down at the webbing of his red glove. There resides a depiction of him celebrating a critical out during an appearance last September.

Returning to the mound was an incredible feat, but Carrasco always aimed to work his way back into the rotation.

“I (have) been a big fan of Cookie since I was in the minors,” Franmil Reyes said. “To have the opportunity to be there and clap hands for him, it makes me really excited to be part of that return for Cookie.”


3. The rotation was bound to be the Indians’ strength, and the preliminary results have supported that projection. Granted, it’s early, but Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger and Carrasco have combined to throw 19 innings, allowing 13 hits, four runs and two walks and striking out 30 (1.89 ERA).

The task for Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac should prove more difficult, as the sophomores will deal with a potent White Sox lineup. The Indians were especially pleased with how both young hurlers seized their rotation spots during summer camp. Civale arrived in Cleveland stretched out more than any other pitcher on the roster.

That the Indians can trade away Kluber and Bauer and still field an elite rotation speaks volumes of the organization’s ability to develop starting pitching.

Oh, and by the way, the Indians’ bullpen logged nine innings without allowing a run over the weekend. The group limited the Royals to two hits.

4. Oliver Pérez approached the mound as the upbeat notes from “Macarena” echoed throughout the empty stadium on Sunday afternoon. Though there were no fans extending their arms, then placing them on their backsides and shimmying, it remained a meaningful moment for the lefty reliever.

Pérez has now added an 18th major-league season to his résumé, which establishes a new record for a Mexican-born player. He had previously been tied with Fernando Valenzuela, Juan Castro and Aurelio Rodríguez.

It’s an accomplishment Pérez has long targeted. Even as his hair has shifted to a silver hue, he has proven reliable in the late innings. The last two years, he compiled a 2.84 ERA with Cleveland with nearly five strikeouts per walk. Francona called upon him often enough to exercise a vesting option in his contract, which guaranteed him a spot with the club in 2020.

On Sunday, he retired all three Royals batters he faced, including two via strikeout.

5. Two Tribe rookies debuted over the weekend: right fielder Daniel Johnson and reliever Cam Hill. One of this season’s bizarre wrinkles is that they weren’t able to step onto the field for the first time in front of a throng of friends and family members.

In a sense, though, the lack of distractions might have helped the youngsters.

“I think it kind of benefits me that way,” Johnson said, “because I don’t have to look up and see thousands of fans (after) coming from an intrasquad game. It’s nice not to have too many people. I mean, they’re reaching out, but it’s not super hectic. Fans can’t come, so I get to focus and lock in a little bit.”

It does remove one of the more memorable experiences from a player’s career, though. When Hill informed his parents he had made the Indians’ opening day roster, the first thing his mom asked was whether he could double-check to see if fans were allowed to attend the games.

“I told my mom it’s just unfortunate circumstances,” Hill said. “But I’m not greedy. I’m thankful, blessed to be a part of this. This is history, too. This has never happened. This is a pandemic. … Would it be awesome if I had my family, friends and people who support me and Indians fans in the stands? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, I’m not greedy and I understand this game can be taken from you at any point in time. You’re not promised anything in this game.”

Indians Select Beau Taylor, Designate James Hoyt
By Connor Byrne | July 28, 2020 at 8:17pm CDT

The Indians have selected catcher Beau Taylor, designated right-hander James Hoyt for assignment and optioned outfielder Daniel Johnson, Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com reports.

Taylor, formerly an Athletics prospect whom the Indians signed to a minor league contract last offseason, is up as insurance as the the Indians await word on Roberto Perez. The Indians’ starting backstop and one of their most valuable contributors a year ago, Perez is dealing with right shoulder soreness at the moment. They should know more on his condition Wednesday, but for now, they’re down to Taylor and former Red Sox starter Sandy Leon as their top two catchers.

Since he debuted in the majors with the Astros in 2016, the 33-year-old Hoyt has amassed 80 innings – including 8 1/3 during his first season in Cleveland in 2019 – and put up a 4.16 ERA/3.92 FIP with 11.7 K/9 and 2.92 BB/9. Notably, Hoyt carries a rather impressive track record in Triple-A, where he has logged a 3.09 ERA with 12.1 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 over 218 2/3 frames. And considering Hoyt has another minor league option remaining, it wouldn’t be particularly surprising to see another team take a chance on him.

Meisel's take:

‘He’s going to be a Cy Young pitcher one day’: Has Shane Bieber’s day arrived?
By Zack Meisel 2m ago
He bloomed from college walk-on to fourth-round draft pick in a span of two years. Twenty-three months later, he broke into the big leagues. He morphed from No. 5 starter to All-Star Game MVP in a matter of 14 weeks.

A year later, 25-year-old Shane Bieber has not only ascended to the role of Indians staff ace, but early signs indicate he now ranks as one of the top pitchers in the sport.

So, at this Usain Bolt-endorsed pace, it’s safe to figure that by summer 2021, Bieber will have been elected president, solved world hunger and racked up another 600 strikeouts.

“He’s, I believe, going to be a Cy Young pitcher one day,” said James Karinchak, who placed the finishing touches on another Cleveland pitching masterpiece Thursday night, a 2-0 win over the Twins in Minneapolis.

Perhaps that day will arrive soon. No one knows whether this season will reach its conclusion or whether a blizzard of asterisks will obscure the record books. But those who have watched Bieber operate in his first two starts, when so many other starters are still ramping up and searching for a rhythm, will remember a front-line pitcher performing at the peak of his powers.

“He’s so nasty, commands everything,” Karinchak said, “just makes every hitter uncomfortable.”

Bieber has struck out 27 of the 50 batters brave enough to step foot in the batter’s box during his two starts this season. The 27 strikeouts are tied with Karl Spooner (1954) for the most in major-league history through a pitcher’s first two starts in a season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Bieber eclipsed Nolan Ryan’s American League record for strikeouts (25) in a pitcher’s first two starts of the year, set in 1978.

“That’s amazing company to be in — even in the same sentence with,” Bieber said.

(He was referring to Ryan. No word on his thoughts about Spooner, who only made those two starts in 1954, the first two of his career, and then pitched for the final time in the majors in 1955 as injuries derailed his career.)

“I’ve never been that much of a punchout pitcher,” Bieber said, “especially coming up through the minors. The book on me was pitch to contact, this and that. I made some adjustments over the past couple years and started to see more swing-and-miss.”

As a group, Cleveland’s starters have posted a 1.53 ERA through seven games, with an otherworldly 67-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. (Go back and read the end of that sentence again to ensure it sinks in properly.) They have established a new franchise record by starting a season with seven consecutive starts of at least six innings and no more than two runs allowed. They’re the first team to accomplish that since the 1993 Atlanta Braves.

In 2017, his first full professional season, Bieber registered 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings as he split time between Single-A Lake County, High-A Lynchburg and Double-A Akron. In 2018, that number slightly increased to 8.7 K/9 in the minors, and 9.3 in his 20 major-league outings.

Last season, when Bieber finished fourth in the AL Cy Young balloting, he piled up 259 strikeouts (10.9 K/9), the 12th-most in a season in franchise history. Only Bob Feller, Sam McDowell, Corey Kluber, Luis Tiant and Herb Score have produced seasons with a higher strikeout total.

Through his first two starts of 2020, Bieber has struck out 17.4 batters per nine innings. He became the fourth pitcher in big-league history to tally 10 or more strikeouts without allowing a run in his first two starts of a season, joining Spooner, Ryan and Jacob deGrom (2019).

Which pitch was most effective for Bieber on Thursday, when he blanked the high-powered Twins for eight innings? Let’s ask his catcher.

“Every one,” Sandy León said.

He can strap on a blindfold and stick a mid-90s fastball in the exact spot his catcher requests.

He implemented a cutter during his quarantine to help keep right-handers from sitting on his fastball. It carries a bit more velocity than his slider, but it still breaks horizontally.

He has spent the last two winters refining his change-up, a pitch that tails away from lefties.

And then there’s the curveball, the pitch that might jolt Josh Donaldson awake in the middle of the night, rocking back and forth in a cold sweat.

Bieber tossed it in the strike zone when he wanted. Other times, he buried it in the dirt. Either way, hitters helplessly lunged at it, and they came up empty.

“He’s got some deception with the breaking ball,” Donaldson said. “If I could rate it, it’s probably one of the top breaking balls in the league.”

In his only Houdini act on Thursday, with two runners aboard and one out in the sixth, Bieber offered Donaldson a 3-2 curveball. Donaldson fouled it off. That’s a risky endeavor: If Donaldson doesn’t swing, he draws a walk and the bases are loaded for the middle of the Twins’ potent lineup.

But Bieber then threw another curveball, which plunged into the dirt in front of home plate. Donaldson couldn’t resist, and Bieber notched a critical strikeout. It was the third time in three at-bats in which Donaldson succumbed to a strike-three curveball.

“That was one of those pitches where I wasn’t trying to bury it as much as I did,” Bieber said, “but fortunately we had him set up and maybe had him guessing a little bit. I got him to fish a little bit. That was huge. … I definitely feel confident with all my pitches right now, and being able to throw them where I want to throw them and getting the right action on them.”

Bieber can command each of his pitches, and he clearly isn’t afraid to throw any of them in any particular count. Francisco Lindor squared off against Bieber during spring training 2.0, and he hinted that there’s a secret formula for solving the rapidly rising pitcher.

“I won’t help other teams,” Lindor said, smiling. “Yeah, there’s a way. Good luck. It wasn’t fun hitting him in summer camp.”

Instead, Lindor stood at shortstop Thursday — without much to do, admittedly, as Bieber piled up strikeout after strikeout. He envisioned standing in against Bieber and pondered how he would approach each at-bat.

“I’m like, ‘OK, if he throws this pitch right here, I’ll take it,’” Lindor said, “and then he throws a completely different pitch, and it’s like, ‘Boom!’ It’s fun to watch.”

(Photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images)

going to be a Cy Young pitcher one day,

Don't forget he was 3rd in Cy voting last season, in his first full year.
Don't forget, too, that I don't believe he was ranked by anyone among top 100 prospects during his brief minor league career.

4rd round draft pick behind not just Civale, [round 3] who's a good solid pitcher too, and behind Nolan Jones 2nd round pick who remains very promising; as well as 1st round pick Will Benson who hits lots of homers, strikes out a lot and struggles to hit 200; and Logan Ice a good fielding catcher who can't hit

Let's not blow too much smoke just yet.

Lots of good pitchers get injured and never return to pre-injury form.

That said....we sure have a good one.

Yes to all points! He has a great hard-working Kluber-like approach to his job. Doesn't guarantee anything but he's easy to like. Bauer has at least much talent and works like a maniac, but also goes out of his way to be something of a jerk and hard to like. You really want Bieber to succeed.

Couldn't help but think of Kluber seeing Bieber work. Very similar way of doing business on the mound.

As for Bauer, I do thank him for "coaching" Clevinger and teaming with Clev to help out Bieber!

I know the younger guys said Bauer was an instructor, and I believe it. He just happens to be a jerk, as well as a smart guy and a very good pitcher who knows how to stay healthy. Don't know what happened to his skills last second half.

civ - not only do they claim that but all the tv dugout shots verified it too. Clev and Bauer were inseparable.

Then when Bieber got called up it became a threesome - Bieber with them all the time and you could see them talking pitching.

Pitching stats are crazy: in these 7 games I believe the team totals are 88 strikeouts and 8 walks. Which is absurd. And the following about the starters:

Through seven games, Indians starters are in historic territory. But first, some basics. Here are the rotation’s numbers thus far, and where they rank in MLB.

Innings: 47 (1st)
ERA: 1.53 (2nd^)
Strikeouts: 67 (1st)
Walks: 3 (1st)
FIP: 1.86 (2nd)
^Texas’ rotation has a 0.39 ERA -- but in less than half as many innings (23)

Yes, that’s a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 67-to-3. No Indians starter has issued more than one walk in a game, making Cleveland the first team since at least 1901 to begin a season with seven straight starts of at least six innings and a maximum of one free pass.

Meanwhile, the group boasts four double-digit strikeout performances In each of Cleveland’s seven games, its starter has gone at least six innings while allowing no more than two runs. The only other team with such a streak -- going back to at least 1901 -- was the 1993 Braves. That team’s rotation featured three pitchers who have since gone on to the Hall of Fame: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

But Atlanta was nowhere near as dominant, at least by some measures. The rotation’s strikeout-to-walk ratio in those seven games was only 37-to-21 -- albeit in a much lower-strikeout era.

With three more games against the Twins’ “Bomba Squad” scheduled through the weekend, the Indians’ rotation will have its hands full trying to keep this level of excellence going. But what it’s accomplished so far is already impressive, and it’s taken good work from the entire group

• Bieber, the 2019 All-Star Game MVP, has quickly developed into the team’s ace and looks as though he could become a force for quite some time. His 14 strikeouts on Opening Day against the Royals tied him for second all-time in a season opener, and are the most by a pitcher in a game this season. His followup on Thursday made him the first pitcher in MLB history to rack up at least 13 K’s in two consecutive games to begin a season. Bieber also tied the longstanding record of 27 total K’s over a pitcher’s first two games, held by Karl Spooner of the 1954 Dodgers.

• It’s not just Bieber, of course. Carlos Carrasco, the one remaining veteran in the rotation, struck out 10 Royals over six innings on Sunday, in his first start since returning from a bout with leukemia.

• With Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber both traded since last summer, Cleveland needed a new wave. The club has gotten exactly that with Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac and Adam Plutko. Civale and Plesac were rookies in 2019, Plutko in ‘18. The trio entered this season with a combined 63 MLB starts. However, in the team’s first turn through the rotation, the trio combined to allow four runs in 20 innings, striking out 24 and walking one. Civale (nine) and Plesac (11) both set career highs in K’s against the White Sox.

• Amazingly, seven games into the season, Clevinger only has Cleveland’s sixth-highest single-game strikeout total. The righty collected a relatively modest six K’s last Saturday against the Royals, while holding K.C. to two runs over seven innings.

Coming off a season in which he struck out nine or more in 10 of his 21 starts, Clevinger could have a lot more missed bats in store when he faces Minnesota. If he does, the Indians’ rotation could continue making history.

The Daily Covid19 Report

MINNEAPOLIS -- Not long after Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and president of baseball operations Derek Falvey woke up on Friday morning, they learned that players on the Cardinals roster had tested positive for COVID-19 in a round of testing conducted Wednesday morning -- hours before St. Louis took the field for the finale of a two-game series at Target Field.

That set in motion a flurry of conversations, discussions and testing throughout Friday involving leadership figures from the Twins and Indians, who won the first game of the four-game weekend series on Thursday night. The Twins and Indians consulted with Major League Baseball and the Players Association to get assurance on the protocols. Rapid testing of Twins personnel did not reveal positive cases, and open communication between the two teams put the Indians’ concerns at ease.

“Once I started to gain a little bit more insight into where we were and our current testing solutions and what we were on-site, I started feeling a little more comfortable knowing that we were more likely to play,” Falvey said. “But yeah, there was a time this morning where I wasn't sure about that.

“As the day wore on, and as we all followed protocols and did all of our contact tracing and connected with some of the people that were in the environment ... we felt better about it as the day wore on."

When the Twins learned of the two positive cases on the Cardinals’ roster, they began the process of putting every member of their Tier 1 and Tier 2 personnel -- players, on-field personnel, medical personnel and other “essential” staff members in close contact -- through the testing protocol. They used point-of-care nasal swab tests designed to rapidly return results within 20-30 minutes in an effort to clear all of their personnel throughout the day.

“What we did was just work through the protocols,” Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said, “make sure that everything that needed to be done was done and, in the end, we all felt comfortable that the right thing to do was to play tonight. And we consulted with Major League Baseball, the Players Association, obviously infectious disease specialists, and that's why we're playing.”

At the time Baldelli and Falvey spoke with media in the late afternoon, some testing was still in progress, but all tests to that point had come back negative for COVID-19, including the employees in the visiting clubhouse that had been in close contact with both Cardinals and Indians players, according to Falvey. Those clubhouse employees will not be around Target Field in the short term as the club proceeds with the contact tracing protocol.

In a similar case of possible contact between clubs, the Phillies have not yet played since their series with the Marlins, who have reported positive tests among 18 players and two coaches. Falvey saw a few distinctions between those cases and that of the Twins and Cardinals -- namely, that the Twins have not seen any subsequent positive tests, and that cross-over between the teams was limited by the nature of the shorter two-game series.

Leading into Friday’s game, Falvey shared with the Indians all of the detailed cleaning logs and schedules involving the treatment of the visiting clubhouse -- down to the individual cleaning products and wiping techniques applied to each surface. Falvey and the Twins ensured that the clubhouse and all associated equipment had been deep cleaned, according to protocol, following the Cardinals’ departure and prior to the Indians’ arrival.

“I'd like to thank, profoundly thank, the Minnesota Twins for how they've handled everything,” Antonetti said. “You know, after the Cardinals left here, the clubhouse was fully cleaned. … And then again this morning, there was a deep clean done before we arrived at the ballpark today. Additionally, the Twins have been extraordinary in helping us work through those logistics.”

The Cleveland Indians’ offense is a pit of misery at the moment
By Zack Meisel 43m ago 7
CINCINNATI — When Francisco Lindor skied a lazy fly ball to left field Sunday afternoon, he tossed aside his bat as if it were a crumpled wad of paper. When Mike Freeman sent a harmless fly to left, he slammed his bat on the ground and shouted an expletive.

The frustration is mounting for Cleveland’s slumping hitters. Inspecting the batter’s box outline didn’t help. A late switch to a Twins bullpen day didn’t aid the Indians’ cause. Lindor suggested that a pitcher could lob the rosin bag toward the plate and, well:

“I’d probably pop it up,” he said.

The Indians departed Minneapolis on Sunday saddled with a three-game losing streak. They spent the last four days in the same visiting clubhouse where they hosted a (rotisserie) chicken sacrifice in 2016, with “The Lion King” soundtrack blaring and players donning togas, all in an effort to free Yan Gomes from a wicked funk at the plate.

Perhaps they need some team-wide ritual to alter the lineup’s aura. KFC offers family bucket meals.

The Indians have piled up a whopping total of four runs in their last five games. In seven of their 10 games, they have scored two runs or fewer.

Sunday: Two total hits, both in a span of three batters in the fourth inning … retired in order in six of the nine innings

Saturday: Two total hits, both of which were fielded by the second baseman … retired in order in five of the nine innings

Friday: Five total hits, none in the same inning

They haven’t had consecutive hits in 33 innings, dating back to Thursday night, when José Ramírez singled and Lindor homered. As a team, they have posted a — you must be at least 18 years of age to view this obscene content — .193/.285/.278 slash line. That’s essentially a lineup full of Michael Martínezes (career .194/.243/.261 clip).

They have hit six home runs as a team, as many as the Phillies, who haven’t played a game in a week. It’s one more than the Marlins and Brewers have hit, and those teams have been stranded in their hotel rooms. Of the teams that have actually been on the field, only the Diamondbacks have clubbed fewer homers.

The Indians outfield, a nightly grab-bag trio, has produced a .122/.238/.167 slash line and has created runs at just 81 percent of the league-average level.

Oscar Mercado has reached base twice in 25 trips to the plate. Jordan Luplow is hitless in 12 at-bats. The catching triumvirate of Roberto Pérez, Sandy León and Beau Taylor has collected three hits in 31 at-bats. Franmil Reyes, who possessed the Midas touch in the spring, has tallied six forgettable hits, none of them the sort of exosphere-reaching long balls he’s accustomed to swatting.

One way to illustrate Reyes’ struggles: He has one barrel in 22 batted balls this season. In simple terms, a barrel is a well-struck ball that, based on exit velocity and launch angle, should lead to a hit, often the extra-base variety. Reyes’ barrel percentage last season, 14.8 percent, ranked in the top 6 percent of the league. So far this season, his percentage sits at 4.5 percent. The Indians, as a team, rank 28th in the majors in barrel percentage.

Lindor, Ramírez and César Hernández have accounted for 53 percent of the team’s hits (31 of 59). And Lindor is only batting .225 — which ranks fourth on the team.

Granted, we’re talking tiny sample sizes, but that comes with the territory during a 60-game season.

“It’s a sprint, not a marathon like it’s supposed to be,” said Sandy Alomar Jr., who filled in for manager Terry Francona on Sunday. Francona flew back to Cleveland for a Monday morning exam and treatment for ongoing gastrointestinal issues that have troubled him since spring training in Arizona. Alomar is expected to manage the club in Cincinnati the next two days.
Lindor: “I’m 100 percent sure (the batter’s box) was off.” (Hannah Foslien / Getty Images)
The dormant offense has wasted some sterling pitching. The Indians lead the league with a 2.35 ERA as a team. They have issued the fewest walks and racked up the most strikeouts. The rotation has received the bulk of the credit, but the bullpen, outside of Brad Hand, has allowed only one earned run in 22 2/3 innings.

“The main thing is hopefully our pitching staff can continue pitching their game,” Alomar said, “because you can get in a situation that the pitching staff starts putting pressure on themselves because we aren’t scoring runs. But the guys are continuing to do their job. Our offense is in a funk right now. We have to have more quality at-bats.”

So, what’s the issue? What can hitting coaches Ty Van Burkleo and Victor Rodriguez point to in an effort to reverse the hitters’ fortunes? What are opposing pitchers doing to emerge triumphant in every encounter?

“Just throwing the baseball,” Lindor said. “They throw the baseball and we’re out.”

Well, that’s one simple way to view it.

The offensive slumber started on Wednesday, when Lucas Giolito followed the same script he authored last season to stymie the Cleveland lineup. In 85 pitches, he tossed 41 fastballs and 40 change-ups, a fairly basic, two-pitch approach that the Indians never solved. The change-up caused 10 whiffs on 19 swings, plus five foul balls and four weakly hit balls in play.

It’s not as though the Indians faced a parade of hard throwers in Minnesota. On Friday, Randy Dobnak’s hard stuff topped out at 92 mph. He offered Tribe hitters a steady diet of sinkers, curveballs and change-ups. Tyler Clippard threw 20 pitches, none of which reached 90 mph. Tyler Duffey threw 10 sliders in 14 pitches. Sergio Romo tossed 12 sliders in 19 pitches, and he topped out at 85.2 mph.

Of his 83 pitches on Saturday, Kenta Maeda threw 33 sliders, 24 change-ups and only 17 fastballs. Clippard served as the Twins’ opener on Sunday, and he didn’t throw a pitch harder than 88.0 mph. Devin Smeltzer relied on a fastball/change-up combination and topped out at 88.8 mph. Matt Wisler threw 17 sliders in 22 pitches. Romo shut the door with a 15-pitch ninth that included 10 sliders and five change-ups, none of which eclipsed 80 mph.

The Indians rank last in the American League in slugging percentage and OPS and next to last in batting average. They are averaging 2.6 runs per game, which ranks last in the majors.

“If we don’t make adjustments as big-league hitters, we’re not going to go anywhere,” Lindor said. “I’m one of those guys and it’s taken me longer to make adjustments and I’m very accountable for it. … It just so happens we got caught in that stretch where seven hitters or eight hitters are struggling and you have one hitter that’s not, where usually you have three or four hitters who are really good and the other ones are struggling. Right now, we’re at that stage where seven of us are not doing what we’re supposed to do.”

They will see off speed stuff, especially change ups, until they adjust.

Every Cleveland Indians starter’s most improved pitch
By Zack Meisel 28m ago
CINCINNATI — Starting pitchers no longer hibernate during the winter months.

They lock themselves in a laboratory, where they study spreadsheets and review video clips as they craft the perfect pitch to implement into their repertoire. When pitchers report to spring training, coaches aren’t aiming to pinpoint who developed a beer belly. They’re looking to identify who wields a fancy new slider that whips from one edge of the strike zone to the other like a frisbee.

Trevor Bauer dedicated an entire offseason to developing a new slider, and a subsequent winter refining his changeup. Shane Bieber followed Bauer’s lead and spent the offseason before last cultivating an effective changeup.

The way the Indians’ rotation has delivered quality starts in 2020, it would be easy to point to a litany of pitches that appear to be enhanced. So, we asked each Cleveland starter to identify which pitch in their arsenal is most improved this season.

Shane Bieber
Cutter, curveball

Bieber and Roberto Pérez praised his new cutter, a pitch he added over the winter and polished while the league was on hiatus, when he said he finally “nailed down some consistency with it.” It equips him with a weapon with horizontal break, but at a higher velocity than his slider.

“It’s a little bit harder and it’s late,” Pérez said. “It’s going to be huge against lefties. Lefties have to be aware of that, especially going fastball up and in and throwing a cutter off that.”

Bieber’s take: “My thought process was to get guys off my fastball. (In my first start), I couldn’t feel my slider, and I was able to turn (the cutter) into a slider. I use that cutter/slider-type pitch to keep guys off the depth-y curveball and the fastball.”

We’d be remiss not to mention his curveball, which has proved lethal through his first two starts. It’s responsible for 15 of his 27 strikeouts. Of those 15 third strikes, nine of the baseballs plunged into the dirt and Bieber’s catcher smothered another two as they spiraled toward the earth.

“In terms of what he does with it with two strikes, it’s much the same,” pitching coach Carl Willis said. “But his ability to throw it for a strike with such conviction and not letting it get that hump in it and get tracked by the hitter, I do see that as improved.”

“He has five above-average pitches,” Pérez said. “As a hitter, you can’t just sit there and look for just one pitch. He has five weapons to go to now. It’s his second year. He’s getting to know the league a little more and our division. He’s paying attention to what guys are trying to do against him. Maturity, man. This is how I describe Shane Bieber. His work ethic, the way he works, how he carries himself in the clubhouse.

“That’s why he’s our ace.”

Mike Clevinger
Changeup

Clevinger has long fixated on boosting his velocity until his fastballs whiz past hitters at a rate too rapid for radar guns to register. Over the winter, though, he prioritized his curveball and changeup.

He said since he arrived in Cleveland for summer camp, his changeup “has really picked up.” He altered his grip and relied on an Edgertronic high-speed camera to help him determine the proper mechanics for throwing it.

“(That) made me get more behind it instead of trying to sideswipe it,” Clevinger said. “I think my changeup is going to be a new weapon for me.”

The changeup forces left-handed hitters to consider another off-speed pitch. Clevinger usually throws his slider to righties and his curveball to lefties. Through two starts, he has thrown 30 changeups, all but two to lefties. No batter has recorded a hit against the pitch. Last season, it was the pitch hitters fared best against.

Carlos Carrasco
Changeup

Even after Carrasco completed his triumphant journey back to the mound last September, he still yearned to reclaim his spot in the Indians’ rotation. Nearly 14 months after his leukemia diagnosis, Carrasco spilled out of the home dugout at Progressive Field as Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69” blared from the ballpark speakers a few minutes before first pitch. For the rotation’s elder statesman, it’s more about his return to his familiar role than any slight improvement in his arsenal.

That said, Carrasco lauded the early results from his changeup. Last season, hitters teed off on the pitch, to the tune of a .313 average and .612 slugging percentage. Carrasco said his curveball and changeup guided him through that first start of the year — and first since May 30, 2019 — in which he piled up 10 strikeouts in six innings.

Zach Plesac
Curveball

Plesac devoted his offseason (and quarantine) to refining his mechanics. Clevinger helped him create more mobility with his hips. He perfected the timing of his motion and his follow-through, too.

“With that comes consistency with my pitches,” he said. “I think it just tightened everything up.”

Plesac already possessed an effective slider, and he threw it nearly as often as his fastball in his first start of the year, to ravishing results. His curveball, however, has made the greatest leap.

“The consistency with the break is more advanced than it was a year ago,” he said. “It’s just finding that feel with it. There are times when it feels comfortable, but I’m not throwing it in the right spots and it gets hit. Sometimes I learn where the right spot is by throwing a bad one in the wrong spot. It’s really learning to read the hitters and read how it’s playing that day and just focus on what I’m trying to do with it after the previous pitch, just working the sequences to get guys off-balance and keep the ball out of the heart of the plate.”

On Monday, Plesac relied on a heavy dose of fastballs and changeups low in the zone, which he said eventually opened the door for him to throw more curveballs later in the game.

Aaron Civale
Slider

You wouldn’t know it based on Civale’s pitch usage, but Willis contends Civale’s slider has made significant strides. He has only thrown it about 13 percent of the time in his two starts. Willis said Civale didn’t have a feel for it in Minnesota on Sunday, so he relied more on his cutter. Civale altered his grip of the slider after spring training was halted.

Of course, with only 12 major-league starts to his name, the soft-spoken hurler has plenty of improvements in mind.

“Comfort with all of my pitches has definitely gone up and continues to go up the more I throw them,” Civale said. “(It’s) just an experience thing.”

Adam Plutko
Curveball

Over the winter, Plutko committed to crafting the proper curveball to fit his revamped approach: fastballs high in the zone and off-speed pitches at the bottom of the zone. It sounds simple, but Plutko essentially smacked a hornet’s nest like a piñata whenever he tossed anything near the middle of the plate, even when resting on one of the corners. He served up 16 of his 22 home runs on midlevel pitches and, unsurprisingly, hitters’ exit velocities soared in that same region.

Plutko has exhibited elite spin rate on his curveball, but he relied on it only 10.6 percent of the time last year because the spin wasn’t causing the pitch to plummet toward the ground. It was just spinning sideways, refusing to offer him the sharp break that would complement a high fastball.

He said the plan “is rock solid” and that he feels “really confident in what I’m doing.”

“The proof’s in the pudding,” he said. “The fact that the curveball is working the way I want it to, the fact that the high heater last year got proven to be effective for me, I’m going in there with more confidence than I’ve ever had.”

(Photo of Shane Bieber: Hannah Foslien / Getty Images)

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