Weekend Notes

We have a double header today after yesterday’s game against the Blue Jays was rained out. Carmona against Burrnett in the first game and Lee against Marcum in the second.

Saturday’s game saw the Indians’ bats come alive for a 12-0 victory. Aaron Laffey pitched very well (7 IP, 0 runs) and Dustin McGowen did not (I seem to have McGowen in all my fantasy leagues so that was a little bittersweet). Grady provided all the offense we needed with five RBI while going deep twice (and added a double as well). Of course in the game Travis Hafner went 0 for 3. In the four games the Indians have scored ten plus runs, Travis Hafner is 2 for 16. He is now hitting .215/.312/.347 on the season.

Friday’s game saw C.C. Sabathia’s second good pitching game of the season, winning 6-1. Sabathia went seven, striking out nine and beating Roy Halladay.

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In a great mailbag by Paul Hoynes, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, on Saturday had quite a few good nuggets of information. A couple I found especially interesting below.

Hey Hoynsie: If Rafael Betancourt gets a bunch of saves, will he still be the closer when Joe Borowski comes back? – Angelo Costanzo, Cleveland

Hey, Angelo: Wedge says no.

Borowski has begun throwing again, so Tribe fans will need to begin preparations for ninth inning adventures. It is remarkable to me that the Indians would give Borowski another chance in the closer role; but after last season’s struggles and letting him pitch through injuries this season it doesn’t surprise me. I am the first to tell you that closers are vastly overrated, however, Borowski has proven not to be a good pitcher and should not be given important innings over superior pitchers (Betancourt, Perez, Lewis, Kobayashi). If Cleveland ends up barely missing the playoffs or losing playoff games/series because of blown saves the decision to keep going back to Borowski has to cost Wedge and Shapiro their jobs.

Hey Hoynsie: Two outs in the eighth against Seattle on May 1 at Progressive Field. Rafael Perez come in to face Ichiro Suzuki, but a runner is thrown out at second base to end the inning. In the ninth, Wedge brings in Rafael Betancourt to face Ichiro instead of leaving Perez in. Ichiro gets on base and scores the tying run. Why didn’t Wedge leave Perez in? – Tim Meister, Bryan

Hey, Tim: Wedge thought about letting Perez face Ichiro, but decided to let Betancourt start a clean inning. He didn’t want him inheriting a situation where Ichiro may have already been on base.

On the other hand, he could have let Perez face Ichiro, get Ichiro out and bring in Betancourt to get a two-out save.

This is the type of situation that drives me nuts. Teams are so set in their ways and have no ability to do something unconventional when it comes to the closer position. Well it is the ninth inning and we have a lead of three runs or less, guess our closer has to come in. If you think Perez is the best pitcher to face Ichiro in the eighth inning what make him not the best pitcher to face him in the ninth?

The Indians signed Borowski to be their closer, so despite the fact that he is not a good pitcher, if he is available and we have a save situation in the ninth we have to put him in. Does that make any sense? The lineup that gives us the best chance of winning should be how decisions are made. If that means throwing Perez out there in the ninth or benching a struggling Travis Hafner then so be it.

I could go out there and do everything by the book.

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Jason Tyner was called up from Buffalo over the weekend. Eric Wedge said of the move:

He’s a left-handed bat who has some speed that gives us more flexibility on the bases late in games.

If Tyner is used as a late inning replacement fielder/base-runner then he can be a valuable player for the team. If Tyner plays regularly while taking at-bats away from Franklin Gutierrez, Ben Francisco or David Dellucci then it is a disaster. He is not a good player (only hitting .234 in AAA) and should not play on a regular basis.

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This piece online from the Cleveland Plain Dealer does more to explain the flukiness of RBI than it does to paint Casey Blake as a good player. It says of Blake being a player the Indians want up in big spots:

Now Blake is serving up tangible evidence – but is it enough?

36 at-bats (Blake is 16-36 with RISP) is enough to counter all the evidence we have that says Blake is not a good hitter? Blake has had a good run of games the past couple weeks (15 RBI in last 15 games) but when his actual ability catches up with him he will once again be the same hitter he always has been. He wasn’t as bad as his .190 batting average with RISP last year and he isn’t as good as his .444 average this year.

Bobby Abreu, Miguel Cabrera, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, Torii Hunter, Hideki Matsui, Manny Ramirez.

All are quality player in the American League. All are paid huge money.

And entering Sunday, all were looking up at Casey Blake in the RBI department.

And despite leading all in RBI, Casey Blake is not a better player than any of those listed. He is a nice player to have around (should be a utility player) but if the Indians have a chance to upgrade at third, Blake’s play the last 15 games should not block such a move.