Daily Archives: February 26, 2020

Cavaliers improve to 3-1 under Bickerstaff

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With the Cavaliers defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 108-94 Wedneday, Cleveland is now 3-1 under new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

Yes, you read that right. J.B. Bickerstaff has won three of his first four games as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs handled the visiting 76ers quite easily Wednesday night and won by a score of 108-94. This was the Cavaliers second consecutive win and third in four games. This game was a bit easier when compared to Monday’s epic comeback win over the Miami Heat. At one point Cleveland led by 20 while Philadelphia did not lead at any point during the game.

Collin Sexton led all scorers with 28 points on 9-16 from the field. Sexton was efficient from deep and the free throw line (2-3 3PT, 8-9 FT) which helped him lead the game in scoring.

Tristan Thompson got the start with Andre Drummond being out with a calf strain. Thompson delivered with 14 points and 13 rebounds in his spot start. Thompson’s job did get a little bit easier considering that Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid only played 8 minutes due to a shoulder injury.

Larry Nance Jr. also stepped up big time with 13 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. Nance was all over the place and made an impact on both ends of the court.

The surprise performance of the night? Matthew Dellavedova. Delly made all 5 of his field goal attempts (2-2 3pt) and finished 12 points in 25 minutes off the bench. Dellavedova’s playing time may see an increase moving forward due to Dante Exum’s recent injury.

Cleveland will head out on the road to face Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans Friday before returning home for five straight home games beginning Saturday February 29th.

Indians manage only 4 hits in loss to Padres

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It was not a great outing for the offense of the Cleveland Indians in their 8-0 loss to the San Diego Padres in Peoria, Arizona.

Four hits, four measly hits. That is all the Cleveland Indians were able to muster in their 8-0 loss to the San Diego Padres Wednesday.

Hitters of note

Two of the Indians three hits came off the bat of Oscar Mercado. Mercado went 2-3 on the day and had an impressive day at the plate.

Franmil Reyes was the only other Cleveland starter with a hit. Reyes slugged a double off of San Diego’s Chris Paddack. Unfortunately his teammates were not able to drive him in.

The only other Tribe hitter to collect a hit was Bobby Bradley. Bradley came in as a replacement for Jake Bauers and singled in his lone plate appearance. (More on Bauers later).

Nolan Jones got the start at third base, but did not register a hit. Although he is continuing to show some discipline at the plate, reaching on a walk.

Jake Bauers is having a rough time in Arizona. Bauers went 0-3 with a strikeout and his slash line is an unimpressive .167/.167/.167. If Bauers wants to make the team out of Spring Training he better turn things around and fast.

Speaking of turning things around in order to make the team, Greg Allen went 0-3. Allen is fighting for a roster spot and every game counts.

Pitchers of note

Adam Plutko got the start for the Indians Wednesday. Plutko went 2 innings and allowed only one hit.

Oliver Perez followed in the 3rd inning and struck out two batters while walking one.

James Karinchak was impressive and had some interesting celebrations following his three strikeouts.

Dominic Leone was unspectacular in his one inning of work, allowing four runs on five hits, one of which was a home run.

Robert Broom also had a rough outing, only lasting two-thirds of an inning. It was in that two-thirds of an inning that Broom allowed two runs on three hits and one walk. Broom did manage to strike out one batter.

The Indians take on the Dodgers on Thursday at 3:05 P.M.

Browns take Wirfs in Chris Trapasso’s mock draft

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Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports has the Cleveland Browns taking Iowa offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs 10th overall in his mock draft.

The reason why this particular mock draft is interesting is not because of the Cleveland Browns selecting Tristan Wirfs. It is the fact that the Cleveland Browns are the first team to take an offensive tackle and they stay put at 10th overall.

Here is Chris Trapasso’s reasoning for the selection of Wirfs.

This is a dream come true for Cleveland, with its pick of the litter at the tackle position. Wirfs is NFL strong with versatility and high-end athleticism at the premier position that’s of great need for this franchise.

The usual appears to be happening here. Skill position players and quarterbacks they rise up draft boards due to everyone becoming enamored with them. This is just a little bit different than an earlier mock draft on appearing on the same website. The previous mock had Cleveland going with Mekhi Becton, who may not be a great fit.

The actual NFL Draft may not work out in this manner. There is also the possibility that it could. The trends happening here are exactly what usually happens when it comes to draft day. Offensive lineman are not a flashy pick and teams try and make a splash on draft day.

Monsters edged out by Marlies 4-3

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The Cleveland Monsters came back from a two goal defecit to force overtime, but were unable to come away with a win, falling 4-3 to the Toronto Marlies.

The fact the Cleveland Monsters staged a 2nd period comeback as quite impressive. Unfortunately they were unable to finish the deal as a goal scored 23 seconds into overtime gave Toronto a 4-3 win.

Cleveland found themselves down two goals 7:24 into the game. Not necessarily a great spot to be in considering how the Columbus Blue Jackets have picked apart their club for any remaining talent. Trey Fix-Wolansky got the Monsters on the scoreboard with just over two minutes remaining in the 1st period. Dillon Simpson and Ryan MacInnis assisted on the goal, their 14th and 22nd assists respectively.

Toronto extended their lead to two 3:30 into the 2nd period. Cleveland continued to fight back, eventually cutting the deficit to one on a goal from Ryan MacInnis. Trey Fix-Wolansky (7) and Adam Clendening (31) assisted on the goal.

With just 36 seconds remaining in 2nd period Adam Clendening tied the game at 3. Assisting on the goal were Branden Troock (2) and Ryan MacInnis (23).

Neither team scored in the 3rd period which led to overtime. All it took was 23 seconds for Toronto’s Tanner MacMaster to end the game.

Veini Vehvilainen started in goal for Cleveland and saved 27 of 31 shots. Vehvilainen has allowed 19 goals in his past five starts, not necessarily a great for.

The Monsters only had 17 shots on goal compared to Toronto’s 31. While this is not a great number they managed to score when they needed to for the most part.

The Monsters specialty teams seemed be up to the challenge despite being short on talent. Cleveland converted two of their three chances on the power play and stopped six of Toronto’s seven power play attempts.

Cleveland will return home for two games with the Belleville Senators

Browns taking Mekhi Becton in mock draft

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Mekhi Becton to the Cleveland Browns? That is what CBS Sports R.J. White thinks. In his latest mock draft he has Cleveland selecting the enormous offensive tackle prospect 10th overall. 

R.J. White has some pretty solid reasoning. 

The Browns have to get better at tackle if the offensive is going to take the next step. Becton is a mountain of a man but doesn’t move like one, and he’s a guy you can stick at left tackle and feel good about.

On the surface the reasoning seems pretty solid.  Cleveland needs a tackle and Becton is a tackle. The only problem is that Becton might not be “analytically friendly”. His massive size is appealing, but is not necessarily compatible with Kevin Stefanski’s offense. 

White only has one tackle going ahead of Becton to the Browns. Jedrick Wills Jr. is selected by the Los Angeles Chargers at six. 

Three more offensive tackles are taken after Becton to the Browns at 10. Carolina takes Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs at 12. Jacksonville selects a popular Browns selection in Andrew Thomas 14th overall. Finally Josh Jones goes to the Dolphins at 21st overall.

Cleveland is doing their due diligence when it comes to tackles at the combine and any one of them could be their selection at 10.

Cavaliers to play host to 76ers

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The Cleveland Cavaliers will look to win their second consecutive game and third under J.B. Bickerstaff as they host the Philadelphia 76ers.

Fresh off an epic comeback win against the Miami Heat on Monday, the Cleveland Cavaliers look to make it two in a row when they host the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday.

Philadelphia comes in with a record of 36-22 and are 5-5 in their last 10 games. The 76ers are a significantly better team at home than on the road this season (27-2 at home, 9-20 on the road). While Cleveland is not a great team overall, this should give them a slightly better chance at coming away with a win.

Philadelphia will be without the services of Ben Simmons which could have an impact on the final score. Simmons is one of, if not the best player on the 76ers. The absence of Simmons could have an impact on the game. Although it is worth mentioning that Miami still looked pretty solid without Jimmy Butler.

The Cavaliers will still have to deal with Joel Embiid, which is not an easy task. Embiid is averaging 23.8 points and 12 rebounds per game this season. Andre Drummond and Tristan Thompson will certainly have their hands full.

Update

Andre Drummond is out with a calf strain for Wednesday’s game.

Joe Schobert returning is not guaranteed

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Joe Schobert returning to the Cleveland Browns was never a given. When the new regime took over it appeared to have a chance of happening. Now, not so much. This is what general manager Andrew Berry had to say about Joe Schobert and his status with Cleveland. 

“He’s obviously earned the right to test the market if he deems that appropriate,”

This really does not seem to be all that urgent in Berry’s eyes. Berry would also add the following:

“It obviously has to work for both sides. It has to work for us from a cost perspective with our long-term roster strategy, and obviously it has to be a fit for Joe and his family as well.”

Does this sound familiar? Does this sound like everything everyone tried to say wouldn’t happen happening? Yes. Yes it does. Add this to the uncertain future of Olivier Vernon and the cost-cutting strategy many expected but others said not to worry about is coming to fruition.

This is just setting the stage to have an excuse ready when/if he leaves. 

At the end of the day the Browns will have to spend money to keep quality players. Letting the best player on the defense not named Myles Garrett leave would be a colossal mistake. This really seems like the team would rather spread the money around to a variety of low-mid tier free agents rather than spend it on one to two players. The type of players who can impact games and lead to wins are not going to be cheap and until the people running the show in Berea realize this they will have a hard time climbing out of the basement of the AFC North.

Brady Aiken returns to Indians in Goodyear

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After stepping away from baseball Brady Aiken has returned to the Cleveland Indians. Aiken is at the Indians Spring Training complex in Arizona. Before even getting started on any sort of pitching program, Aiken and the team are evaluating his health.  

This is the best course of action. Brady Aiken has not exactly had a lot of success. Aiken has been a part of the Indians organization since 2016 and has not advanced past A ball. In three seasons Aiken has appeared in 43 games. Aiken’s performance has not been great. 

5.18 ERA 1.760 WHIP 7.4 K/9

This was in 179 innings pitched over the past four seasons. His last full season in 2017 was quite alarming. 

27 games 132 IP 4.77 ERA 1.780 WHIP 89 SO 101 BB

Yikes. 101 walks to only 89 strikeouts. Not necessarily a good combo. In order for Aiken to take that next step forward he will need to limit the walks. Well, when he actually starts pitching again. As mentioned above, they have not put together a pitching plan for the 23-year old lefty.

The interesting thing about the return of Brady Aiken is that he’s a lefty. The Indians signed Ty Boyles and Wes Helsabeck, both left handed. It seems like Cleveland has identified a lack of left handed pitching in their organization and are attempting to try and resolve this particular issue. 

David Njoku to be big part of Browns plans

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Kevin Stefanski has big plans for David Njoku. Well, that’s at least what he’s saying. While at the NFL Combine, the Browns head coach has stated the team is planning on Njoku being an integral part of the offense in 2020. 

In the Stefanski offense, tight ends need to do one of two things. Block and catch passes. Problem is David Njoku has not been able to show he is proficient at either. Njoku has had an issue with drops and blocking is definitely not his strong suit. The shortcomings in these departments are exactly why so many expect Cleveland to acquire a tight end in free agency, the draft, or both. 

Some of this could just be pure coach speak, which is what I’m betting on. A new coach isn’t going to alienate a player before they even get to work. That is step one towards dividing a locker room. Kevin Stefanski appears to be smart enough to avoid making this rookie mistake. 

If Cleveland truly wants to get the most out of their new coach, his scheme, and Baker Mayfield, they need to acquire at least one tight end. David Njoku’s physical profile and rawness can only carry someone so far for so long. Eventually consistent production is required.