Lightning In A Bottle Lonnie

Lonnie Chisenhall has had a remarkable start to 2017. After coming off the disabled list to begin his campaign on April 13, Lonnie has been hitting the absolute crap out of the ball. Want to see what I mean?

That's him crushing his 6th home run on Saturday night in Houston. Crushing to dead center! Chisenhall has 6 homers already this year. He had 8 in total in 2016, and 7 in total in 2015. His career-high is 13 back in 2014, when he had 533 plate appearances. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Lonnie smashes that number, setting a new career-high in the process. He is currently sporting a .283 ISO (Isolated Power) which is almost double what he has produced in previous years. It's only late May so obviously too early to use that number as a predictive measure of his power output for the rest of 2017. But we'll keep a close eye on him to see if he can maintain this extra-base hit rate into the summer and beyond. I'm quietly confident he can keep this up.

At the time of writing he's slashing .261/.333/.543 (AVG/OBP/SLG) over 33 games, for a .877 OPS and a 130 WRC+. And he's done most of this playing in center field, filling in admirably in the absence of Tyler Naquin, Austin Jackson and Abraham Almonte. Since Bradley Zimmer's promotion I thought Chisenhall would go back to his usual spot in right field, but he featured in center again last night against the Reds. Lonnie's versatility is an added bonus that I think many fans don't fully appreciate. Let's be clear though: he's not winning a gold glove any time soon, but the fact he can at least hold his own in that great expanse between the corners is a blessing for the Indians, especially now the injuries have started to pile up.

Lonnie's Achilles' heel has always been his inability to hit left-handed pitchers (career .240 BA), which lead to his platoon player status in recent years, albeit a very effective one, particularly with Brandon Guyer in 2016. However this season has seen him hit lefties very well, when given the opportunity. In 12 games he's batting .308, and even though this is a super small sample size, it's encouraging, especially given Guyer's absence from the lineup recently. Put it this way: he hasn't been a black hole at the plate against lefties, so there is some comfort to be taken from his performance against them thus far.

I think the odds of Chisenhall fulfilling the expectations that came with his first round pick selection back in 2008 are now very slim. The good news is that he doesn't necessarily have to reach those heights in order to contribute to this Indians team. What he's doing right now is working and as long as he's having a positive impact in the lineup, then as far as I'm concerned he's meeting all of my expectations. This recent power surge is just an added bonus, and a very welcome one. Keep it up Lonnie.

Welcome To The Show Bradley Zimmer

Cleveland's number one prospect and great center-field-hope Bradley Zimmer got the call to join the big club on Tuesday, making his debut at home against the Rays. This move is much sooner than I had expected but has been brought on out of necessity. Since Abraham Almonte hit the disabled list (and Brandon Guyer and Austin Jackson are still unavailable too), Zimmer will replace Abe and slot straight into center field, likely pushing Lonnie Chisenhall back to his customary corner outfield spot. Zimmer has taken the number 4 jersey, formerly worn last year by fellow outfielder Coco Crisp.

Zimmer was the Indians’ first-round pick in 2014 and has developed nicely in the past few years. This season he's gotten off to a particularly fast start at Triple-A Columbus and was hitting .294/.371/.532 with 5 home runs and 9 stolen bases at the time of his promotion. He altered the mechanics in his swing in the Arizona Fall League and so far it's been working wonders for the 24 year-old.

Perhaps the largest issue that has plagued Zimmer's rise through the minor has been strikeouts. His K% (strikeouts per plate appearance) has progressively increased each season and at each level of the minor leagues. It has consistently hovered in the mid twenties but got as high as 37.3% in Columbus last year, albeit in a small sample of just 37 games. It's something that will be worth keeping an eye on during his major league development. For instance, in his debut last night he struck out in all 3 at-bats... Not exactly the best first impression when you take into account his previous history.

However we should shed some light on what he does well, and what he offers this Indians team. Zimmer had a very impressive spring training in Arizona and we finally got to see some of that stellar defense in center field that we had heard so much about. When compared with the Tribe's other center field prospect Tyler Naquin, it's pretty clear Zimmer is the superior defender, in fact he's considered the top defensive outfielder on the roster. His 6-foot-5 frame glides to the ball with zero effort. Francona said, "as he gets to know the league, you're going to see an above-average defender."

It is wise to temper our expectations somewhat with Zimmer; it's unlikely he will provide the same sort of spark that Francisco Lindor did when he first joined the Indians. However, given the Tribe's outfield struggles so far in 2017, Zimmer can really help this club right now, with some solid defense and a good eye at the plate. Even if he's just average with the bat, his defense should help the team enormously.

Welcome to Cleveland Bradley.

Jays Drop Tribe, Take Series

The Indians narrowly lost this recent three game set in Toronto, dropping two games to the Jays. The games the Tribe lost were both close though and Cleveland now sit with a 18-15 record, still atop the AL Central and half a game above Minnesota.

The Trouble With Trevor

I think the vast majority of Indians fans made their peace a long time ago with the fact that Trevor Bauer is unlikely to become the star pitcher we thought he might be when the Tribe acquired him from Arizona many moons ago. Now, in his fifth season in Cleveland, Bauer is scrapping just to hold onto his place in the rotation, let alone reach the heights we once imagined for him.

Most major league ballclubs are content with their fifth starter to deliver over 150 innings and average an ERA between four and five runs over the course of a season; this is an acceptable output for the man you send out there every fifth day. If this guy can last between 5-6 innings a game and give up just a handful of runs, keeping his team within striking distance, then he's doing good work. For the most part, Bauer does this, and in reality he's actually the Indians' fourth starter (as most would consider Tomlin the fifth guy, despite pitching out of order.) As a full-time starter the past three years, he's never pitched less than 150 innings in a season, and even managed a career high 190 in 2016. His season ERA during that span also never surpassed 4.55. So why is it that Bauer in particular seems to receive so much more criticism from his fans than your average fifth starter?

For one thing, it could be the expectations. If your fifth guy is a bit of an unknown, a lucky-just-to-be-on-the-roster type, then whatever he can give you is wonderful. But for former star prospects like Bauer, things become a little more tricky. We expect excellence and when these guys don't reach that, the rot begins to set in, until finally we accept them for what they are, a back of the rotation starter at best. Maybe this is the stage we are at with Bauer. Perhaps we need to finally accept this is as good as he can be, and stop holding onto the slim chance he'll suddenly develop into an All Star.

And of course the other reason Bauer probably receives more grief than your average fifth starter: the controversy. Trevor doesn't shy away from being the center of attention. Whether it be rapping about ex-catchers or tweeting his support for Donald Trump, the 26 year-old Californian can't avoid the spotlight. Don't even get me started on the whole drone thing...

After Monday night's loss, Bauer sits with a 2-4 record and a 7.36 ERA, with 37 strikeouts and 15 walks in 33 innings of work. It's not been an ideal start for the right-hander but looking at the numbers, it's about right for what we should now expect from him. That bloated ERA will decrease as the season wears on and likely settle somewhere between 4 and 5. We must give credit where it is due as well; despite giving up 4 runs before the third inning was over on Monday night, he kept battling out there, and managed to last 6 full innings. This helped save the bullpen for the rest of the series, as only Zach McAllister (2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) was used in relief of Bauer.

Time will tell how long Francona and the front office are willing to put up with Bauer's level or performance. Behind the scenes they could be perfectly content with what he's done so far. Bauer himself seems to think so: "The results are what they are, but if you just look at the quality of the pitches and where I'm locating... I'm executing really well." But if Mike Clevinger sticks around once Corey Kluber returns from the DL, he will certainly have his eye on Bauer's rotation place. This could push Trevor into a long relief role out of the bullpen, but Tito already has McAllister for that job, and he's been doing it very well thus far. Does that then make Bauer an expendable asset and a potential trade chip? Whatever happens, his progress this year will be worth watching, even if it's not always as pretty and efficient as we might have once liked.

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Here are some other notes from the series:

• In Kluber's absence, Carlos Carrasco has taken over as the definitive ace of this pitching staff. Dare I say it, Cookie might still be the ace even once Kluber returns. His game two performance on Tuesday was sublime: 7 shutout innings of absolute dominance, allowing just 3 hits (all of them singles), and striking out 7 Jays. He's had a great start to 2017 and now lowered his season ERA to 1.86.
• Remember just the other day when I said Yan Gomes could be back? Well he's still swinging that lumber better than ever. In Tuesday's game Gomes went 2-for-3 with a mammoth 3-run homer in the top of the eighth inning that buried the Blue Jays, putting the game beyond their reach. Wednesday's game saw Gomes pick up another hit before he had to withdraw from the game in the third inning due to illness. Hopefully it's nothing serious.
• Cody Allen has been playing with fire all season long and finally got burned, taking the loss in Wednesday's rubber game. With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, Toronto drew 2 walks and 2 hits from Allen to force home the winning run. It was inevitable he was going to get caught out at some stage.

The Indians have today off before opening a three-game set with the Twins on Friday. Josh Tomlin is set to take the bump and he's coming off a strong outing against Kansas City. He'll face Ervin Santana, and the right-hander is off to an impressive start in 2017, although he did have his worst start of the year last time out (4 homers surrendered against the Red Sox.) 

Thanks for reading.

Indians Score 5 Total Runs, Win Series

And just like that, the Indians are back atop the AL Central. The road to postseason baseball is littered with the corpses of division rivals and it was nice to see the Tribe chip away at their Central foes in Kansas City over the weekend. Despite scoring just 5 runs over three games, it proved to be just enough to eke out a series victory over the Royals, on the road no less. Cleveland improves their record to 17-13.

I'm pretty short for time today so here's a quick rundown on some of the events that transpired during this series:

• Francisco Lindor continues to show he has the ability to be a real power threat in the lineup as he hit his 8th home run of the season during Saturday's 3-1 win. He still leads the team in this category, and also sports a team-leading .922 OPS as well. He does it all! Frankie's ninth inning blast put the cherry on top of a great late-inning comeback win, as the Tribe scored 3 runs in the final two innings to knock out the Royals. 
• Has the Catcher Formerly Known As Yan Gomes returned to us? It seems there is hope for him yet. In his last 13 games stretching back to 17th April, Gomes has started to turn things around at the plate. He slashed .353/.463/.471 during that span with 4 doubles, 5 walks and just 3 strikeouts in 42 plate appearances. Caution alert: this is the mother of all small sample sizes but where Gomes is concerned, I take every small piece of encouragement I can find. Let's watch this space carefully and see if he can keep it up until the end of the month.
• Josh Tomlin pitched his best game of the season during Saturday's win, lasting 7 innings and giving up just 3 hits for 1 earned run, with 3 strikeouts and zero walks allowed for good measure. It was an encouraging outing from Tomlin and he dominated the Royals lineup. Now he needs to ride this momentum into his next start.
• Carlos Santana hit not one, but two game winning hits this weekend. On Saturday he smashed the go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth inning to win the game and tie the series at one apiece. Then in the blazing Kansas City sunshine on Sunday afternoon, he lined a single inches past Royals' starter Danny Duffy to score Gomes in the top of the fifth. It was the only run of the game and proved just enough for the Tribe to hold onto for the victory. Clutch Carlos at his best.
• As predicted, Mike Clevinger took Corey Kluber's turn in the rotation and did a fantastic job on Sunday. Clevinger pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just a single hit. He did struggle with his command at times, issuing 4 walks, which didn't help with his pitch count. He struck out 5 batters and his off-speed stuff was working really well, particularly his changeup. Overall I thought he looked composed out there and certainly not out of his depth. I hope he can stick around for more than just the spot-start and gets a fair shot at a permanent gig in the rotation.
• Sunday's uniforms were absolute fire. Both teams wore retro uniforms to salute the Negro Leagues and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, with KC donning replicas of the 1942 Monarchs and the Indians opting for the 1946 Cleveland Buckeyes. I would absolutely love to see the Tribe wear those Buckeyes uniforms again this year. Just look at them:

That's all I got folks. The Tribe are now in Toronto for a three game series before finally returning back to Cleveland on Friday. Trevor Bauer pitches tonight and will be looking to improve after his last outing, that terrible shellacking he received from Detroit. He'll face the Jays' Marcus Stroman, he of the single-digit-pitcher variety that I hate so much (just pick a number with two digits dammit!)

Thanks for reading.

Tigers Tame Tribe & DL Disturbance

Apologies for my lack of words regarding the recent Mariners series win. I was away for the weekend on my stag-do (American readers, see bachelor party). Therefore I wasn't in the best condition to be writing about baseball, even if it was largely good, victorious Cleveland baseball.

The Indians traveled to Detroit this week to kick off a 10-game road trip and didn't get off to the best of starts, losing what should have been a four-game series by two games to one, thanks to a rainout on Thursday that reduced the series to three games. The sole victory came courtesy of Carlos Carrasco, who pitched 6 strong innings in a narrow 3-2 win on Wednesday night, and he was backed by a key Jose Ramirez triple that scored 2 of those runs. Let's look at some of the news items that cropped up over the course of the series.

Disabled List Dilemmas

On Tuesday the Indians placed outfielder Austin Jackson on the 10-day disabled list with a hyperextended big toe, and relief pitcher Shawn Armstrong was called up from Triple-A Columbus in his stead. The injury occurred in the ninth inning of Monday's 7-1 loss, as Jackson planted his left foot awkwardly on the first base bag after legging out an infield hit. He was clearly in some pain but thankfully it appears this injury is unrelated to Jackson's left knee surgery he had in June 2016, that ended his season.

I was slightly surprised Jackson's trip to the DL wasn't met with a like-for-like swap, with Tyler Naquin being the most obvious choice to take the open roster spot. That could still happen but we all know how Tito loves a stocked bullpen, so Armstrong got the call this time. The Tribe are currently carrying Michael Brantley, Lonnie Chisenhall, Abraham Almonte and Brandon Guyer as their core outfielders, and Jose Ramirez can fill in if necessary, as could a couple of others if forced. It seems like the skipper is happy with his lot though and he might not want to interrupt Naquin's development in Columbus for what could be just a 10-day stint until Jackson's return.

So far this season Jackson has been platooned in center field, primarily facing left-handed pitchers, and is slashing .273/.368/.485 (BA/OBP/SLG) with 1 home run, 2 RBI, and 5 walks in 38 plate appearances.

Corey Kluber took the mound on Tuesday but exited after three innings due to some discomfort and tightness in his lower back, which has been causing him grief on and off all season. Outside of this rocky start in Detroit, Kluber had pitched at least 6 innings in every appearance this season but there have still been signs that he hasn't been operating at one hundred per cent. The amount of walks he's given up have been relatively high (13 in 37.1 innings) and his ability to induce weak contact from opposition hitters has been poor, with some stats suggesting he's been the worst in the league at doing so. He's also given up 7 home runs this year - that's already half of his season total (14 HR) from 2014, the year he won the AL Cy Young. It's clear he's not been his old self and the pain in his back is almost certainly why.

The Tribe's ace pitcher has now been officially placed on the 10-day disabled list, with reliever Joe Colon taking his spot to further reinforce the bullpen. To be honest, Kluber could benefit from a bit of time off. He had an incredibly intense 2016 season, throwing a total of 249.1 innings between the regular and post seasons. It's far better to rest him now and not risk further injury later down the road when the games become more slightly more important in a potential division race. Plus, he's likely to only miss one scheduled start, so could return in mid May to slot back into the rotation.

Mike Clevinger is the prime candidate to fill in on Sunday against the Royals, when Kluber was set to pitch next. However because of the rainout in Detroit tonight, he could now feature on Monday instead, against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Clevinger has been in fine form this season with a 1.50 ERA over his six starts down at Triple-A Columbus, with 32 strikeouts and 10 walks in 30 innings. He also pitched on Tuesday so is lined up perfectly to feature on schedule. With the Indians carrying so many bullpen arms at the moment, it's likely one of Armstrong or Colon will be swapped out for Clevinger, probably just prior to when he's required. I for one am looking forward to watching the big right-hander pitch for the Tribe once more, and hope he can impress, should he get the call-up.

The Indians Have An Elite Bullpen

The Tribe bullpen were called to arms this week against the Tigers and on the whole did a stellar job.

In Monday's opening game, starter Trevor Bauer was pounded early, giving up 5 runs in the first two innings alone. Somehow he managed to last four innings in total, giving up 7 hits, 7 runs, 5 walks, and struck out 3, and it was just an awful outing overall. "It was bad," Bauer said. "I didn't command the ball well, obviously." Yeah, no shit Trevor! Thankfully Zach McAllister and Dan Otero combined to pitch the rest of the game, and mopped up 4 collective innings of scoreless ball. It was an encouraging outing from the relief duo and prevented the 7-1 loss from looking even more lopsided.

Tuesday's second contest saw Shawn Armstrong, Nick Goody and Boone Logan combine for 5 shutout innings with no hits allowed after Kluber was forced from the game with his back injury. Despite the Indians losing the game 5-2, the trio of relievers kept the team in the game all the way. Special mention must go to Armstrong in particular, throwing 2.2 innings with 3 strikeouts, and making the most of his opportunity in the bigs.

In the third game Wednesday night we saw the Indians' top guys, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen, who did not disappoint. Miller pitched the seventh and eighth innings, allowing just a single hit and striking out 4, allowing no runs as usual. Allen entered in the ninth and despite not letting the Tigers tag him for a hit, he did allow 2 walks to keep things interesting. Allen enjoyed teasing the Detroit faithful before he struck out outfielder Jim Adduci to seal the Tribe victory, and Allen's 7th save of 2017.

You could make a convincing argument that the Indians' bullpen is the strongest part of this team. The entire group have a 1.91 ERA with 96 strikeouts over 80 innings of relief. Miller has seen the most action thus far, 13.1 innings, and has yet to surrender a run and carries a 0.00 ERA. He is followed by Allen and Bryan Shaw, who each have 11 innings pitched. At the time of writing, the bullpen have gone 12 games (34.1 innings) without allowing an earned run. During that stretch they have struck out a whopping 48 hitters.

Overall I can't praise this Indians bullpen enough. They are doing everything a manager and a fanbase can ask of them.

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Because the final game against the Tigers has now been postponed the Indians will travel to Kansas City for a three game series at Kauffman Stadium. Danny Salazar will face off against Jason Hammel tomorrow night, and he has struggled for the Royals in 2017.

Thanks for reading.