Monthly Archives: July 2019

Indians win without rain delay

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The Cleveland Indians did not have to battle a rain delay Wednesday as they defeated the Detroit Tigers for the third straight game by a score of 7-2.

Not having to endure a third straight rain delay was a nice change of pace as the Cleveland Indians secured a series win Wednesday with a 7-2 win over the Detroit Tiger. The Tribe can now go for the sweep Thursday. Cleveland collected 12 hits and did not trail in the game at any point.

Oscar Mercado continued to drive in runs against Detroit. Mercado got the scoring started in the third by driving in two runs with a single. The scoring took a bit of a break for a little while but a surprising bunt single in the seventh from Mike Freeman allowed Jose Ramirez to score. Freeman dove headfirst into first base as he did everything he could to reach base.

The Tribe tacked on three runs in the eighth inning to put the game away. Francisco Lindor clobbered his 15th home run of the season. Jason Kipnis would drive in Carlos Santana for his only hit on the day. A pinch hit double for Greg Allen saw him drive in Ramirez and Kipnis to bring the Indians run total to seven.

Mike Clevinger got the start and he did not disappoint. Clevinger went six innings and earned the win Wednesday. During those six innings Clevinger struck out 12 batters while only allowing one run on six hits and one walk. Clevinger was able to throw 68 of his 100 pitches for strikes.

Adam Cimber and Oliver Perez were each credited with a hold. The duo combined for 1.1 innings of work and two strikeouts.

Nick Wittgren earned the 1.2 inning save. While he did allow one run (a home run), it was still a good night of work in a spot where it was optimal to give Brad Hand a rest.

Cleveland will look to sweep the series with the Tigers Thursday at 7:10 P.M.

Danny Salazar allows one run with Akron

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Danny Salazar is still working his way back from injury. Salazar allowed one run in three innings with the Akron RubberDucks.

It is still a work in progress for Danny Salazar. Salazar has not pitched with the Indians since 2017. A series of setbacks and inability to return from injury has seen Salazar sidelined for over a year. However things appear to be trending in the right direction.

On Tuesday Danny Salazar pitched three innings with the Akron RubberDucks. During his three innings of work Salazar allowed one run on three hits while striking out four. Unfortunately there were two parts of his overall stat line that were not so great. Salazar walked two batters and the run he allowed came on a home run. 38 of Salazar’s 58 pitchers went for strikes.

In Salazar’s first start with Akron he lasted 2.2 innings and also gave up one run. Salazar allowed two hits, walked one and struck out two in the contest.

It appears that Danny Salazar is slowly working his way back up to pitching more and more innings. A return to Cleveland does not appear imminent at this time. Salazar is scheduled to make more starts in the minors until Cleveland feels he is ready to return to the big league club.

If Salazar is able to return(or on track to return) that certainly makes things interesting for the Indians. Trevor Bauer may be traded before the trade deadline. If Salazar is pitching well and is not having any issues with his shoulder that may make things a bit easier when it comes to making that decision.

In the end the Indians need to make sure they do not rush Danny Salazar back. Salazar’s shoulder needs to be healthy and not have any issues when pitching. If not it will only be a longer road for him to return, if he returns.

Browns inverted jersey is boring

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The NFL apparently decided to make inverted jereys for NFL teams and the includes a gray jersey for the Cleveland Browns.

For some bizarre reason the NFL decided to create inverted jerseys for their teams. Some of the jerseys do not look terrible, but that description does not apply to the jersey for the Cleveland Browns. Most of the jerseys are a secondary color, but that is not the case for Cleveland.

Gray was apparently the color to go with and it simply does not look good. This jersey looks like one of the mockups created by fans as a new uniform for the future. Funny how a lot of times many use gray as an alternate uniform color. It seems like the easy go-to for an alternate uniform for people who have no input on the actual uniform design instead of using orange, which would make more sense. Brown and white have always been the traditional home and away uniforms with orange showing up every once in a while as an alternate.

It is understandable why gray was chosen as the color for the jersey. The Cleveland Browns have do have jersey colors or orange, brown and white. This makes this particular jersey idea a bit hard to pull off without just copying an already existing jersey. However with several other teams having a similar issue with a gray jersey maybe this idea should not have been league wide.

An inverted gray alternate is a bit boring considering the jersey colors of other teams. Red for the Titans, yellow for the Steelers and orange for the Dolphins. Even the Packers yellow jersey is not terrible. Many teams ended up with gray alternates with this idea. Perhaps only making alternates for teams who would not end up with gray.

Bobby Bradley optioned to Columbus

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The Cleveland Indians decided to option Bobby Bradley to Triple-A Columbus and called up Zach Plesac in a corresponding move.

Someone was going to get sent down to Columbus after it became known that Zach Plesac would start Tuesday for the Cleveland Indians. Not many thought it would be Bobby Bradley. “The Assassin” has not had the best time in the bigs so far and it is understandable why he was the odd man out.

Through 15 games Bobby Bradley has a slash line of .178/.245/.356 with an OPS of .600. This led to eight hits, five of which were doubles and of course the absolute rocket of a home run that he hit against Minnesota.

https://twitter.com/ThisIsIndians/status/1150221555739348994

Overall his numbers are not so good. After two consecutive 1-3 games to start his career, Bobby went 1 for his next 21 at-bats. This included nine strikeouts. The strikeouts are not surprising, that is who Bobby Bradley is. Bradley will strike out a lot, there is no getting around it.

Although it is worth nothing that Bradley has improved with more time. Over his past seven games Bradley slashed .278/.350/.611 with a .961 OPS. In 18 at-bats Bradley collected five hits which include three doubles and one home run. Bradley did strike out eight times, which again is something he is prone to do.

Bobby Bradley’s 44.4 percent strikeout rate is concerning. Striking out that much is not necessarily going to lead to success. The strikeout frequency needs to come down in order to become a productive MLB hitter.

Even though he has shown signs of improvement at the plate Cleveland still opted to send him down to Columbus. Terry Francona mentioned that he needs to work on his defense. Although plate discipline may be another area that Bradley will need to focus on before he returns to Cleveland.

Indians win despite another rain delay

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The Cleveland Indians found themselves waiting out a second straight rain delay but were still able to defeat the Detroit Tigers 8-0.

Offense was not a problem for the Cleveland Indians Tuesday. The Tribe raced out to an early 7-0 lead by the bottom of the third inning. Jake Bauers drove in the first run with an RBI single. Francisco Lindor doubled to bring home Bauers and Tyler Naquin. Oscar Mercado continued his home run streak by hitting another big fly, his third in the last two games. Facing the Tigers has been quite helpful for Mercado as he has gone 4-9 in the series with three home runs and four RBI’s.

Jose Ramirez continued his hot streak with an RBI double. Ramirez has now hit in eight straight games and nine of the past 10. During the past 10 games Ramirez is slashing .310/.318/.619/.937 with four doubles, three home runs and 10 runs driven in. It certainly seems like Ramirez has returned to form. Something that the Indians desperately needed.

Ramirez would score on a fielding error which saw Jason Kipnis reach base.

Another rain delay came at the absolute worst time

This meant that Zach Plesac’s day was done. The two hour rain delay prematurely ended his start as he only went three innings Plesac did not allow a hit in his brief start, although he did walk one batter and strike out one.

The game became a bullpen affair due to the rain delay. Tyler Clippard allowed the only Tigers hit of the game during his two innings of work. Clippard also managed to strike out two batters. Nick Goody earned the win, pitching two innings and striking out three.

Tyler Naquin hit a home run in the bottom of the sixth for the Indians final run of game to make it 8-0.

Brad Hand got the night off as Tyler Olson pitched the final two innings and struck out two. Hand was not really a candidate to see some work due to the score and his use in the past few days. Hand could be used if a save situation occurs over the next games.

There were only two hitters in the Indians lineup who did not record a hit. Carlos Santana and Roberto Perez. Both went 0-4 on the day but did not strike out.

Cleveland has secured a split in the series after winning the first two games and can win it with a win on Wednesday. Game 3 is at 7:10 P.M.

Zach Plesac to start versus Detroit

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After a brief stint down in Triple-A Columbus with the Clippers, Zach Plesac will return to Cleveland to start for the Indians against the Detroit Tigers.

Zach Plesac was sent to Triple-A last week to make room for Greg Allen. This was not necessarily due to his performance, but so he can continue to throw on his schedule. Plesac did start for the Columbus Clippers on July 11th. Now Plesac is back with the Tribe to take on the Tigers.

This will be the second start against Detroit for Zach Plesac. Back on June 23rd Plesac took mound at home against the Tigers and pitched quite well. Plesac allowed one run on five hits in seven inning with two strikeouts. The only run Plesac allowed was an unlikely solo home run off the bat of the JaCoby Jones.

Unfortunately his next two starts did not go as well. In 6.1 innings Plesac allowed 10 runs on 10 hits while walking six. The first was the surprising 13-0 in Baltimore to the Orioles. The second was a victory in Kansas City which Plesac ended up with a no-decision.

It will be important for Zach Plesac to keep his pitch count down against Detroit. In the two outings which Plesac struggled he reached a high pitch count early. In 3.2 innings against the Orioles Plesac threw 90 pitchers and 2.2 innings against the Royals he needed 58 pitches. During the previous six starts which saw Plesac pitch well he averaged 96.5 pitches per outing and lasted more than six innings on average. Cleveland will need to get a performance that resembles his first six starts rather than the last two. Detroit is not the best team by any means but they can take advantage of a starter who struggles. A perfect example being Adam Plutko on Monday It would be best if Plesac can avoid a performance similar to Plutko’s.

Indians wait out rain delay, defeat Tigers

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The Cleveland Indians were able to continue rally after waiting out a rain delay and were able to defeat the Detroit Tigers by a score of 8-6

After finding themselves ahead 2–0 in the second inning things nearly spiraled out of control for the Cleveland Indians. The Detroit Tigers scored four unanswered runs to take the lead as they teed off on Adam Plutko. Plutko would be chased in the sixth after a Jeimer Candelario home run. Cleveland would tie the game in the sixth thanks to Tyler Naquin driving in two runs with a double. Then the rain delay came.

After nearly an hour the Indians returned the field and apparently were ready to swing the bat. Oscar Mercado hit is second home run of the game (his first coming in the fifth inning) and Jose Ramirez drove in two more runs with a double of his own. Leading 8-5 in the ninth Brad Hand came on for the save. While he did close the game he did allow a home run, a solo shot off the bat of Jordy Mercer.

The group of Tyler Olson, A.J. Cole, Nick Goody and Nick Wittgren combined to pitch 2.2 innings and only allowed one hit while striking three. Olson did allow two baserunners due a to walk and a hit. Cole walked one batter and the duo of Goody and Wittgren walked one batter each.

The Indians bats were hot all around except for Bobby Bradley. Bradley was the only Cleveland hitter to hitless (0-4) on the night. Mercado led the Indians offense with three hits, two of which were the aforementioned home runs. Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Mike Freeman and Tyler Naquin each collected two hits. Carlos Santana, Jordan Luplow and Roberto Perez each finished with one hit apiece.

Game 2 is Tuesday at 7:10 P.M.

Cavaliers attempted to acquire Iguodala

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In an effort to work out a trade to send J.R. Smith elsewhere, the Cleveland Cavaliers attemped to acquire Andre Iguodala from the Golden State Warriors.

Well this would have made an awkward situation somehow more awkward. J.R. Smith has been absent from the Cleveland Cavaliers for over half a year. Before deciding to waive Smith Cleveland attempted to send him to Golden State in exchange for Andre Iguodala.

Yes, the same Andre Iguodala who provided the turnaround for the Warriors in the 2015 NBA Finals. The same Andre Iguodala who was on the receiving end of the most famous block in NBA Finals history.

Andre Iguodala is a good player, but this would have been a tough sell to Cavs fans. The spark Iguodala provided to the Warriors back in 2015 certainly helped them defeat the injury riddled Cavaliers in The Finals. Cleveland fans have been sharing that same video of LeBron James blocking Iguodala for over three years now. Suddenly accepting Iguodala as a player on the Cavaliers would be as awkward as awkward can get.

Obviously the trade did not happen. Iguodala was sent to Memphis along with a protected first round draft pick and Smith was waived by Cleveland. Golden State received a trade exception in the deal, something that would not have happened if a Smith for Iguodala swap would have occurred. It is easy to understand why Golden State would rather go with this option. They are in a bit of a transition and will be without Klay Thompson for some time next season due to an injury. Adding J.R. Smith would not necessarily help the Warriors out at this moment in time and in the end Smith was waived and Iguodala was sent to Memphis. Memphis is apparently looking to move Iguodala as potential contenders are looking to acquire the former Finals MVP. The description of potential contender is not something that currently describes the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Players the Indians should target

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The trade deadline is fast approaching and every team in the hunt is looking to upgrade. Here are some targets for the Cleveland Indians.

Just what the Cleveland Indians will do before the trade deadline is up in the air. The team needs to continue winning in order to buy, but if they find themselves in a slump they could sell. If they do intend on buying here are a few players Cleveland could target.

Nicholas Castellanos

Nicholas Castellanos has not had the season he expected. His production is down in nearly every department and is a liability defensively. After the Castellanos and the Tigers failed to reach an agreement on an extension he essentially hit the trade block right then and there. Even with the down season and troubles in the field Cleveland should still target Castellanos. The Indians would add him to their current rotation of outfielders and give him some time as a designated hitter. Of course the price may be a bit steep considering Detroit is a division rival. Although Cleveland and Detroit did agree on a deal to send Leonys Martin to the Tribe last season.

Jorge Soler

Jorge Soler has taken some time to develop as a hitter but appears to have found his power stroke this season. Soler’s 25 home runs though 94 games is a career high and is nearly 40 percent of his career total. The only issue is that like many players Soler struggles in the batting average department and will strike out a lot. Considering the Indians are not exactly hitting home runs at a rapid pace it is worth exploring. The Indians still rank in the bottom third in baseball in regards to home runs. Adding someone like Soler could provide a bit more of a punch to an Indians lineup which can sometimes be a bit punchless. Like Castellanos, Soler is on a division rival. This could mean that Cleveland may have to pay a bit more than teams outside of the division to acquire Soler.

Mychal Givens

According to reports the Baltimore Orioles are listening to offers for reliever Mychal Givens. While the Indians have not been mentioned as a team that has reached out, they should. The Cleveland bullpen has performed well this season but struggled out of the gate after the All-Star Break. What must be considered when discussing the Tribe bullpen is that is a collection of arms rather than a few guys who can be depended on for any given situation. This is why adding more relievers may be the best move to make.

While Givens does not have the best ERA or WHIP this season (4.50 and 1.222 respectively), it is the strikeouts that matters. Givens averages 12.8 strikeouts per nine innings. This would be the second-best mark among Indians relievers who have appeared in at least 20 games.

One last thing to consider with Givens. Only 13.3 percent of the runners inherited have scored this season. Only two relievers with more than 30 appearances have allowed less on the Indians this season (Brad Hand and Nick Wittgren have allowed zero). With other names such as Adam Cimber, Tyler Olson and Oliver Perez ranging from 16 percent to 40 percent this could really help things. Especially considering that Givens not only stands runners he inherits, he strikes batters out.

Cavaliers to waive J.R. Smith

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The Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to waive veteran shooting guard and fan favorite J.R. Smith after failing to find a trade partner.

This development is hardly surprising. Ever since J.R. Smith and the Cleveland Cavaliers agreed to part ways in November this day seemed inevitable. Cleveland will waive Smith after not being able to work out a deal to send him elsewhere.

As Joe Vardon states, barring a last minute trade the expectation is that he will be waived. This will give Smith the opportunity to sign with any team.

Chris Fedor notes that this move will finally have the Cavaliers below the luxury tax threshold. Cleveland has been above the threshold for quite some time and it will provide a bit of relief for the Cavaliers front office.

Initially some thought that Cleveland and Smith would have parted ways by now. Perhaps the fact that Smith took part in the celebrity softball game during the MLB All-Star Break had something to do with it. Anything to avoid making a situation even more awkward than it already is.

With the team waiving Smith there is only three players remaining from that 2016 NBA Championship team. Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova. Although Delly did leave to go to Milwaukee only to be reacquired last season. Trade rumors have surrounded Kevin Love ever since he signed his contract last season. Actually they have existed pretty much since he arrived in Cleveland. Whether Cleveland actually moves him or not remains to be seen but the rumors are only just getting started.

There will always be fond memories of J.R. Smith in a Cavaliers uniform, even with his blunder in the 2018 NBA Finals. Cleveland will remember the good times with Smith and his part in breaking the championship drought that consumed the city for half a century.