Post by Commissioner Erick on Feb 6, 2018 12:39:38 GMT -5
Cleveland Indians (33-23) @ New York Yankees (32-24)
CLE:Carlos Carrasco (6-1, 2.18)
NYY: Luis Severino (5-4, 3.70)
Though the Cleveland Indians lead the AL Central, many prognosticators believe they're underperforming this season. Their next opponent is a formidable Yankees team that leads the American League East.
Good thing Cleveland will be sending out a starter who one-hit them earlier this season.
Carlos Carrasco and the Cleveland Indians travel to face Luis Severino and the New York Yankees in tonight's Game of the Week.
Carrasco has sparkled this year. If he qualified, his 2.18 ERA would be third in the AL. His walk rate and WHIP would be first. He was dominant last season until bone spurs shut him down, and only an assortment of minor injuries (and one bad outing against Minnesota) have hindered him this year. A mild ankle sprain took him out of his opening start. An abdominal strain forced him out after an inning against the Nationals. A sore shoulder forced him out after 4.1 innings of his next start, before arm soreness forced him out of the start after that.
None of these maladies has been serious, and he's made all of his starts. He just hasn't had many chances to be truly unleashed. His body held up April 17th though, and the baseball world got a chance to see Carrasco at his best—a complete game shutout, nine strikeouts, nine ground outs, nine fly outs, and since the only hit was to open the game, 27 Yankees in a row were shut down. It was as mathematically elegant as it was dominant.
Carrasco pitched that one-hitter at home though, where his ERA is a fraction of a whole, and he has more strikeouts than innings pitched. Largely because of a good performance by the Twins, Carrasco's road ERA of 3.98 is over three runs higher than his home ERA. The Yankees are hoping that version of Carrasco shows up at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees are starting to play good baseball in June, where they're 8-3. They've scored at least eight runs in four of their last nine games as their offense has started to surge. After a dismal April, Gary Sanchez has five home runs this month, Dee Gordon is hitting close to .350 with seven steals, and Greg Bird is hitting .333 with a pair of bombs. They're still not hitting for average, Matt Holliday isn't hitting for power, and Chris Carter has been benched, but the Yankees star power is starting to put runs on the board. Their inability to consistently get base hits, and their penchant for swinging and missing makes their lineup a tough bet though against an arm like Carrasco.
That means they'll need an arm like Luis Severino to keep them in the game. In his last four home outings, Severino hasn't allowed more than one earned run. He's coming off a gem, where he went the distance against the Phillies, walking none, striking out 13 and allowing just a home run to J.P. Crawford as his only blemish.
He's pitched well against Cleveland in two career starts, going 15 innings, allowing just four runs, walking three and striking out fifteen. Severino has really blossomed under pitching coach Ron Romanick and bench coach Ron Washington and points to them for their wisdom in developing him into an upper-echelon arm.
The Indians will have key players out trying to face off against Severino. Of their middle of the lineup, JD Martinez has a fractured jaw, Jason Kipnis has a broken thumb, and Edwin Encarnacion is batting .217. The team also struggled to get on base. Hence you have situations like Giancarlo Stanton having 15 home runs but only 23 runs driven in. Francisco Lindor's average has dropped from .317 to .253. Mike Moustakas has a .608 OPS, and Geovany Soto has a .432 OPS. It isn't the monstrous offense many expected, which is why they'll rely heavily on Carrasco to get them through a tough opponent like Severino.
Questions for the GMs:
For David Springgay, your offense has been good, but not dominant as many have suspected. Against a pitcher like Severino, what will you do to try to score runs?
Kipnis and Martinez will be out for the game. How will you adjust your lineup?
You didn't have a first round pick this year, I believe due to the Martinez signing, but you got a Supplemental pick for losing Edwin Encarnacion. Including those factors, how do you think your team made out in the draft?
For Greg Masceri, your team doesn't get on base much but really clubs the long ball. Against a pitcher like Carrasco, do you think that strategy will work?
You had to shed salary last year and traded away Tyler Clippard for Jordan Walden. Walden couldn't get above Triple-A, while Clippard struggled in Colorado. You reversed that trade this offseason, and while Walden has pitched well in Colorado, Clippard has been excellent for you. With your bullpen nicked up and Clippard likely to pitch, what did you see in him that made you reacquire him?
Due to absentee management before you took over, you ended up with a number of early draft picks this year. What was your strategy and what do you think of the guys you selected?
CLE:Carlos Carrasco (6-1, 2.18)
NYY: Luis Severino (5-4, 3.70)
Though the Cleveland Indians lead the AL Central, many prognosticators believe they're underperforming this season. Their next opponent is a formidable Yankees team that leads the American League East.
Good thing Cleveland will be sending out a starter who one-hit them earlier this season.
Carlos Carrasco and the Cleveland Indians travel to face Luis Severino and the New York Yankees in tonight's Game of the Week.
Carrasco has sparkled this year. If he qualified, his 2.18 ERA would be third in the AL. His walk rate and WHIP would be first. He was dominant last season until bone spurs shut him down, and only an assortment of minor injuries (and one bad outing against Minnesota) have hindered him this year. A mild ankle sprain took him out of his opening start. An abdominal strain forced him out after an inning against the Nationals. A sore shoulder forced him out after 4.1 innings of his next start, before arm soreness forced him out of the start after that.
None of these maladies has been serious, and he's made all of his starts. He just hasn't had many chances to be truly unleashed. His body held up April 17th though, and the baseball world got a chance to see Carrasco at his best—a complete game shutout, nine strikeouts, nine ground outs, nine fly outs, and since the only hit was to open the game, 27 Yankees in a row were shut down. It was as mathematically elegant as it was dominant.
Carrasco pitched that one-hitter at home though, where his ERA is a fraction of a whole, and he has more strikeouts than innings pitched. Largely because of a good performance by the Twins, Carrasco's road ERA of 3.98 is over three runs higher than his home ERA. The Yankees are hoping that version of Carrasco shows up at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees are starting to play good baseball in June, where they're 8-3. They've scored at least eight runs in four of their last nine games as their offense has started to surge. After a dismal April, Gary Sanchez has five home runs this month, Dee Gordon is hitting close to .350 with seven steals, and Greg Bird is hitting .333 with a pair of bombs. They're still not hitting for average, Matt Holliday isn't hitting for power, and Chris Carter has been benched, but the Yankees star power is starting to put runs on the board. Their inability to consistently get base hits, and their penchant for swinging and missing makes their lineup a tough bet though against an arm like Carrasco.
That means they'll need an arm like Luis Severino to keep them in the game. In his last four home outings, Severino hasn't allowed more than one earned run. He's coming off a gem, where he went the distance against the Phillies, walking none, striking out 13 and allowing just a home run to J.P. Crawford as his only blemish.
He's pitched well against Cleveland in two career starts, going 15 innings, allowing just four runs, walking three and striking out fifteen. Severino has really blossomed under pitching coach Ron Romanick and bench coach Ron Washington and points to them for their wisdom in developing him into an upper-echelon arm.
The Indians will have key players out trying to face off against Severino. Of their middle of the lineup, JD Martinez has a fractured jaw, Jason Kipnis has a broken thumb, and Edwin Encarnacion is batting .217. The team also struggled to get on base. Hence you have situations like Giancarlo Stanton having 15 home runs but only 23 runs driven in. Francisco Lindor's average has dropped from .317 to .253. Mike Moustakas has a .608 OPS, and Geovany Soto has a .432 OPS. It isn't the monstrous offense many expected, which is why they'll rely heavily on Carrasco to get them through a tough opponent like Severino.
Questions for the GMs:
For David Springgay, your offense has been good, but not dominant as many have suspected. Against a pitcher like Severino, what will you do to try to score runs?
Kipnis and Martinez will be out for the game. How will you adjust your lineup?
You didn't have a first round pick this year, I believe due to the Martinez signing, but you got a Supplemental pick for losing Edwin Encarnacion. Including those factors, how do you think your team made out in the draft?
For Greg Masceri, your team doesn't get on base much but really clubs the long ball. Against a pitcher like Carrasco, do you think that strategy will work?
You had to shed salary last year and traded away Tyler Clippard for Jordan Walden. Walden couldn't get above Triple-A, while Clippard struggled in Colorado. You reversed that trade this offseason, and while Walden has pitched well in Colorado, Clippard has been excellent for you. With your bullpen nicked up and Clippard likely to pitch, what did you see in him that made you reacquire him?
Due to absentee management before you took over, you ended up with a number of early draft picks this year. What was your strategy and what do you think of the guys you selected?
