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Comments by MyTribe (4971 total)    RSS

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To clarify Lowe's year last year, I believe it is more accurate to state that Lowe had a 4.50 ERA through the end of August, then had a 9.0 ERA last September. Lowe claims to have found a flaw with his delivery before the start of the season, and that seemed to be true when he started out 6-1.

Since Lowe did make to the end of August before he collapsed last season, the Indians probably thought he would recover at least once more based on last season.

Santana's at bats, where they were located, seemed like a waste no? Solo home run, and a walk that led to a double play. The best OBP guy on the club buried in the fifth and sixth spot of the line-up, for shame.

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Posted on Indians fans: New commenting system coming this week on August 01, 2012, 7:44PM

Assuming Carrera and Rottino are with the same minor league team, it seems like Carrera lit it up AFTER Rottino showed up, no? Carrera had a very average, mediocre year going up until 4 to 6 weeks ago, which about how long Rottino has been with minor league club, no?

So, if that is a correct observation, it would be interesting to know if Rottino somehow inspired Carrera, or not.

Except that Acta DOES have something to work with. Very few teams in either league can field five or six guys with OBP's over .350, Acta can, but has been stubborn with his line-up card choices. If I were management I would fuming over the lost opportunities to get out to early, 2 and 3 run leads by burying my best OBP guy in sixth spot in the line-up.

We Willy, Don't EVEN put Santana and LaPorta in same sentence, paragraph or website. sheesh.

You don't seem to get how good of a hitter Santana is, even when struggling, because he keeps his OBP 60 TO 70 POINTS higher than LaPorta, not to mention hitting twice as many home runs as LaPorta in well less than twice the at bats.

kman, the Indians have FIVE HITTERS who regularly have an OBP of .350 or higher, They are Choo, Santana, Kipnis, Cabrera and Brantley. Travis Hafner also has his OBP at .350 or higher, however his poor hitting with runners on and not being very quick on the basepaths makes it difficult to slot him anywhere.

Tired of me saying it, but not tired of the Indians not doing it? That's odd. Something that CAN be done, you don't care about, but things that CAN'T be done, some love to go on and on about.

Chaco Taco, I can't answer that question, but I do think the team is better than it has been playing. A lot exciting things can still happen this year, new pitchers to check out, and as Terry has advocated, possibly some younger players will get a chance.

Fedroff might be a legitimate .300 hitter in the majors.

The Hafner comment is in the wrong spot. I was referring to Hafner making some important contributions in low scoring games. However, the bottom line is Hafner has a .425 OBP with no one on base, but is very poor when runners are on base, and because he can't really run well, his high OBP with no one on base has less value.

What really screwed up the line-up is without a true home run hitter, line-up combinations do matter. If your number four guy is going to hit 35 home runs and hit 40 doubles, then guess what, the order of the first three guys matters LESS.

But the moment the team puts finesse guys in the four and five spot, it becomes extremely critical that the first two guys in the line-up are about getting on base and third guy be a solid RISP guy. They have all of the ingredients, but did not believe the batting order really mattered.

Here's the rule, absence of a TRUE power hitter requires the batting order be slotted with high OBP and faster runners at the top of the order, followed by the more finesse hitters (Cabrera and Brantley) who will usually make contact with runners on base, and don't play for one run in the first inning if your one and two guys get on base.

We Willy L, I agree that there is a lot of pressure on the starting pitching to not allow any runs to score. That is why I have been obsessed with the line-up order. The Indians really did create a solid core on the front part of the line-up. Lack of home runs however makes it essential that they be placed in the correct order.

Instead of demanding that Santana hit .280 with power, why not just go with his strength of working the count (he leads the team in pitches per at bat) and getting his walks to go along with his hits. I bet Santana would get his OBP up to .380 in the two spot.

Kipnis hits over .300 when runners are on base, over .375 when runners are in scoring position. Cabrera could be a solid clean up hitter. Having Brantley in the five hole protects the hitters in front because he is hard to strike out.

Those five hitters can wear down the opposition and even give hitters 6-8 a better chance to hit a mistake.
Then Damon in the nine spot offers the top of the line-up a chance to drive in a runner with some speed.

It may be too late to try this now, but they should have revamped the line-up right after the all star break,
Choo, Santana, Kipnis, Cabrera, Brantley, Hannahan, Hafner, Kotchman, Damon.

Can anyone really justify wasting Santana's 39 extra walks as compared to Kotchman but only scoring 2 more runs?

A perfect example is Travis Hafner. A solo home run for the only run of the game in one victory, a triple to beat Detroit. And I think he had another crucial home run as well since the All Star Break. These things get noticed if day in and day out the games are lower scoring. But when the opposing team scores 8 runs a game, the entire offense looks bad.

Until the Indians have a more normal outcome from the starting pitching, aka 2 to 3 runs per a six inning start, it is more difficult to gauge the offense and the individual players that comprise it.

A player like Kotchman is most beneficial when the team ERA is lower. As the team ERA rises, Kotchman's value plummets.

Damon should have hit ninth to set up the top of the line-up. I'm amazed at all the logical rules that Acta is not following with his line-up. A walk before the second hit of an inning is the most beneficial place to have one because stacking walks before the hits generates more runs. (except when the bases loaded)

Damon does not clog the top of the line-up. You all are not suspicious enough of a line-up that is one of the best in the league at on base percentage not being able to score runs. OBP is God.

lol, the emergence of Kipnis, Brantley, and Choo as compared to last year, and the team is worse?

Bad pitching right now is clouding your judgement.

Not sure about releasing Hannahan. Would love to see Cabrera at first and end this perpetual first base search madness. Cabrera would be a terrific first baseman and I think his offense would be solid as well. Just find a punch and judy shortstop who can field and who has some speed. Cabrera equals Kotchman defensively, the slick fielding shortstop is probably better than Cabrera, and the punch and judy hitter probably overall is equal to or better than what Kotchman has produced.

Keep Hannahan at third. Play with left field all you want.

People think the entire team is bad because of some bad starting pitching, that is just boneheaded.

Angry Birds needs to come up with an Angry Fans APP, maybe that would distract then enough to not post so much hate and vitrol. When I post about putting forth the most effective line-up, I'm trying to contribute how to take what is here, and make it the best it can be (in my opinion).

So many posts however are just gloom and doom.

A five minute rule for editing is cool, but either there is an editing option, or there is not. I'd like to buy a weeks worth of Santana in the two hole, how much?

Posted on Indians fans: New commenting system coming this week on July 31, 2012, 10:56PM