Things to know
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I meant to post this one earlier. Nothing too mind blowing, but a look at Acta and Belcher's pitching philosophy that's been paying off for some of the guys so far.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The late-February reporting date had the proverbial groups checking into the Indians' Spring Training complex in Goodyear, Ariz.: Pitchers and catchers and sabermetricians.
New manager Manny Acta, having spent much of the winter frowning his way through the 2009 record books, and pitching coach Tim Belcher came to camp with a message: Turn the tables in your favor by not being afraid to throw strikes, and early.
How well that message was delivered -- and received -- is reflected in the Indians' spring pitching, which has been borderline miraculous. It has been well-documented that Spring Training pitching performances are largely irrelevant, but they are still relative among all the teams, and the Indians are sticking out in the high-octane Cactus League.
The Tribe pulled into Scottsdale Stadium for Friday's visit to the Giants with a staff ERA (3.56) more than a run lower than the Cactus League runner-up (Texas, 4.57). Through Thursday, the 14 other Cactus League staffs had an average ERA of 5.15.
Justin Masterson dulled that glare a little, allowing six runs in his 3 1/3-inning stint to set up a 7-6 loss to San Francisco, but he recalled Acta's early sermon and its impact.
"I've been told about the importance of throwing strike one ever since college," said the product of San Diego State -- Stephen Strasburg U. "It all makes sense, and it's reinforced by the experiences you have."
Foremost, the numbers Acta studied had revealed an unsavory combination: Cleveland pitchers had the second-fewest strikeouts and the second-most walks among the 14 American League staffs. For Acta, it was a short leap from those ranks to the Indians being hit at a .280 pace and falling 11 runs short of allowing the most in the Majors -- and, by extension, to their 97 losses.
"Even during the winter, we kept in touch with them and told them how important it is to pitch from ahead. But we didn't just want to give them ABC-type of advice," Acta said. "Like, it's not enough to tell them to get ahead, you have to show them why it's important.
"So I wanted to make the point by showing them some numbers they probably weren't even familiar with."
So, cue the lecture. ...
"We had a meeting early on," Acta said, "showing them the difference between making pitches at 1-and-0 or 3-and-1 and 0-and-1, reminding them that even the best hitters make an out seven out of 10 times.
"The problem here was ... you can't have sinkerball pitchers walking people. It's a confidence thing -- but numbers don't lie."
The favorite set of numbers in Acta's dossier, and the one that elicited the most wide-eyed reaction, showed that of the first-pitch strikes put into play, only seven percent resulted in hits.
That's seven percent, as in a batting average of .070.
Powerful incentive for pitchers to not start off batters by pitching away from them, afraid of making too good a pitch too early in the count.
"And [it's] a good way to conserve pitches," Acta said. "You stay longer in the game. You help out the bullpen arms. But it's not enough to keep telling them that. You have to show them the numbers."
After having heard the advice throughout his pitching career, Masterson finally had the printout proofs in his hands during Acta's sermon.
"Numbers can get skewed," Masterson said, "but in one sense, it was cool, seeing the results laid out.
"I mean, you know that with the count 1-and-0, the hitter has extra confidence. Hitting is hard, and if they get in a situation where they feel better, they get more comfortable. But if you're ahead of them, they're more likely to swing at a pitch in the dirt."
That's straight out of Pitching 101, of course. But to get his hurlers into that strike-throwing mindset, Acta suggests some advanced approaches.
"I try to get them to sit behind the screen during batting practices," the manager said. "They'll see the batting-practice pitcher throwing 50 [mph], and every ball still doesn't get hit out. It's not that easy."
Through 13 exhibitions, the eight pitchers competing for the five spots in the Indians' rotation have logged 41 strikeouts versus 15 walks -- a ratio considerably different from last season's 986-to-598.
Even after being hit hard -- a stumble he attributed to sliders that broke too late and necessary work on his changeup -- Masterson remained the best practitioner of the Indians' new, aggressive mindset. One walk and four strikeouts Friday gave the 25-year-old right-hander three walks and 16 strikeouts in his 10 1/3 innings.
Acta expects him to keep showing the way once the whistle blows and games count. Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona have more extensive resumes that they are trying to revive, but Masterson is fresher ace timbre.
"I expect a lot from him," Acta said. "He can be that workhorse-type of guy."
And Masterson wants it, both the role and the responsibility.
"Being the workhorse is the coolest thing," he said. "You can be the one who starts to set the tone, and that can lead only to good things."
Couple of quick notes...
Talbot seems all but locked up as the #4 starter. Carrasco entered the conversation for #5 with Laffey and Huff. Acta says it's a "tie for first".
Fausto's allowed 5 hits and 2 walks in 13 innings.
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And an update -
Talbot officially in the rotation, Laffey to the bullpen (I like it), Huff and Carrasco competing for last rotation spot.
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Huff is definitely a the favorite for the #5, but it's encouraging to see Carasco enter the conversation. He's pitched alright this spring and with the stuff he's got if he ever puts it all together I can see him being a pretty solid starter.
Also our bullpen depth is going to be a strength this year. When/if Wood gets healthy and pushes Perez out of the closer role, we have Wood, Perez, Perez, Lewis, Sipp, Todd, Smith, Laffey etc.. If we did one thing last year with our trades hopefully it was bolstering our bullpen for years to come.
I don't know if you've posted this but Carmona's permanent catcher this year is going to be Mark Redmond. As it seems in every spring, Carmona is pitching pretty well so far. They are saying that his sinker/slider combo is working so well that he probably won't use his changeup extensively until the third time through the order. Hopefully he can bounce back this year.
I like the looks of our defense too. Especially when we play Laporta at first and Brantley in the outfield. Up the middle we are very strong. Cabrera and Valbuena are a very good infield double-play tandem and obviously Sizemore is spectacular. Our outfield with Brantley and Choo is going to be very good also. This might be our best defensive year since the Vizquel, Alomar, Alomar, Lofton years.
It's only spring but it's a lot more encouraging than last year's spring was even though last years expectations were higher.
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Yep. I can't say I have the best memory, but I really can't remember Wedge (or Willis even) taking a pro-active role in trying to fix Fausto. Seemed like just an awful lot of "We hope he can get back to '07 Fausto" and "He just needs to stay calm." Who knows how it will work out when the games start counting, but I love that both Acta and Belcher are both trying to actually turn him into a consistent pitcher, while admitting that the truly dominant '07 version is probably long gone.
With his game, he doesn't have to get cute, he just has to throw strikes. With this new coaching staff....for whatever reason, it seems like that message is finally getting through.
And looking at the boxscore, it looks like he mowed down Arizona's B squad in true Fausto fashion today, if he is done. 7 innings, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 hits, 3 K's. One double play. 12 groundouts to 6 fly outs. I have faith.
I don't have as much faith as you in Valbuena though. Or the rest of the defense, really. It may very well become the best defense since the 90s, but it's pretty close to sacrilege to compare the two right now.
I was on the Valbuena bandwagon for a while last year, but I'm ready to go with Jason Donald. Just seems like a much more complete player as a long-term option.
I think the bullpen's pretty iffy, too. It should be much better than last year's strategy of throwing everything against the wall to see what stuck (especially, you know, when nothing stuck). Just having some real power arms that can miss bats is a step in the right direction, and I love Laffey in the pen. But still too many question marks right now. Definitely the potential for something great though.
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I didn't mean to compare this defense the the 90's defense, but our defense has been fairly poor post Vizquel. I don't know if Valbuena is a good enough hitter to be the long term everyday 2nd baseman but I think he is a very good defender.
Let's just say Cabrera-Valbuena is a lot better than Peralta-Belliard.
I'm hoping with our bullpen that we have so many arms that there will be at least 4 or 5 good ones by the end of the year. I agree with you that none of the bullpen guys are certain but I think we have enough of them that we will have a good bull-pen. In the future, though, our bull-pen has the potential to be dominant.
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That sounds better. Saying this is the best defense since the 90s is just too much like saying Kelly Holcomb (or DA, or whoever) is the best Browns quarterback since Bernie Kosar. After Cabrera and Sizemore, I don't see any real studs. And seeing Gutierrez help transform Seattle's D into one of the best in baseball doesn't ease my worries too much.
But like you said, at least there are no Ronnie Belliards or Trot Nixons on this team. And it's obviously a plus to have our two best defensive players playing the toughest defensive positions with Cabrera and Grady.
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So much for Russell Branyan's spring. He'll start the year on the 15-day DL.
What that means for the composition of the Opening Day roster won't be known until Thursday, when manager Manny Acta is expected to announce his decision on all the Tribe's remaining spring battles.
Branyan is supposed to be the Tribe's first baseman this season, but he won't be starting the season opener on April 5 in Chicago because of a herniated disc in his lower back. That leaves Matt LaPorta at first base, and left field -- the spot LaPorta is slated to occupy, once Branyan's aboard -- wide open for Austin Kearns, Michael Brantley or Trevor Crowe.
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And another helpful bit from Castro...
If I had to guess, I'd say your Opening Day roster looks (something) like this:
http://castrovince.mlblogs.com/archives/20...de_your_mi.htmlStarters (5): Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona, Justin Masterson, Huff, Mitch Talbot
Relievers (7): Chris Perez, Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp, Aaron Laffey, Joe Smith, Lewis, Wright.
Catchers (2): Lou Marson, Mike Redmond.
Infielders (6): Matt LaPorta, Luis Valbuena, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta, Marte, Grudzielanek.
Outfielders (4): Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Brantley, Kearns.
Designated Hitter (1): Travis Hafner.
Disabled List (4): Russell Branyan, Jeremy Sowers, Kerry Wood, Anthony Reyes (60-day).
If I'm right, the Indians will have to make roster room for three guys -- Wright, Grudzielanek and Kearns. Obviously, they can remove Rule 5 pickup Hector Ambriz. As for the other two spots, well, that's why Mark Shapiro makes the big bucks.
How accurate are my predictions? We'll find out Thursday. That's when Acta is expected to announce the roster.
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Yeah, that would be my guess - assuming Brantley stays up.
And pretty cool, Peter Gammons picks us as one of 6 "teams to watch" this season.
5. Indians
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the economy and demographics are bad, season tickets are down to 8,000 ... Kerry Wood is already hurt ...
But this has been a very encouraging spring with Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona all looking as if they're all the way back physically.
Westbrook and Carmona are really important. Westbrook averaged 15 wins from 2004 to 2006 before he got hurt, and he looks close to his old self. Carmona has allowed one run all spring and looked very much like the guy who was fourth in the Cy Young balloting in 2007, when the Indians were one win from the World Series.
If they can get 400 innings from Westbrook and Carmona, the pressure is lessened for Justin Masterson (who still may end up a closer), David Huff and Mitch Talbot, with Aaron Laffey in the shadows and Carlos Carrasco coming off the kind of spring that gives them second-half hope. Those innings lighten the load on the bullpen, as they find out if Chris Perez can close.
If the pitching holds up, the Tribe will be back in the hunt with the Twins, White Sox and Tigers. Because they are going to score runs.
Asdrubal Cabrera will take his .308 average into the leadoff position. He rated near the top among offensive shortstops at the age of 23 last season.
Sizemore played through a hernia and bone chips the size of his fingernail and is completely healthy, which means he'll be one of the best players in the game. Manny Acta is batting him second, as it was pointed out to him that using his best player in the leadoff position means that if he starts 150 games, that means at least 150 times -- "A quarter of his at-bats," says Acta -- he comes up with no one on base. Acta remains the only manager who ever laid a VORP on me, and is a very bright, open man.
Then comes Shin-Soo Choo, one of the All-Star-level players few know.
Then Travis Hafner. Now, they expected Sizemore would be back. But Hafner at 32? Before his shoulder went, Hafner was the David Ortiz of his time. From 2004 to 2006, he hit 114 homers and in '06 had a 1.098 OPS; the last three years, he hit 45 homers and saw his OPS fall to .628 and .825.
But this spring, he has hit monstrous home runs, and even more important has regained his eye.
"When I was hurt and afraid I couldn't catch up to some pitches, I lost what I had developed in terms of never being afraid to hit with two strikes," says Hafner. "That allowed me to sit and wait for what I hit. But I couldn't turn on balls, and I became afraid to get to two strikes, so I was waving at the first pitch I saw. I feel just the way I did before I got hurt. With me, the best way to judge how I feel is watch how I take pitches."
They have Matt LaPorta at first, Michael Brantley in left, and some very good hitting prospects coming. It's not Sizemore's fault Cleveland hasn't had a champion in generations. But that and the crashing of the Greater Cleveland economy makes their comeback more difficult, necessitating the smallest payroll in the division.
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Big day for roster decisions.
Michael Brantley is the starting left fielder.
Jeremy Sowers cleared waivers and was sent to Columbus.
Jensen Lewis and Jamey Wright fill out the bullpen (with C Perez, R Perez, Smith, Sipp, Laffey)
Grudzielanek and Marte both make the team as backup infielders (middle and corner, respectively)
Austin Kearns will be the fourth outfielder.
Hector Ambriz is still a member of the team, he'll start the season on the DL.
Trevor Crowe and Wyatt Torregas were sent back to Columbus.
All this from Castro
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/arti...sp&c_id=cle
That only leaves the 5th rotation spot, which Huff seems to be clinching right now. He's through 5 innings against the White Sox big league lineup, giving up 4 hits, 2 walks and 1 run.
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