Post by Commissioner Erick on Jun 17, 2018 23:28:02 GMT -5
Cleveland Indians (7-4) vs Chicago White Sox (5-6)
CLE: Carlos Carrasco (0-1, 6.30)
CHW: Carlos Rodon (2-0, 1.38)
David Springgay felt like the Cleveland Indians were robbed last postseason where mismanagement and bureaucratic errors defeated them in the playoffs, not the Chicago White Sox. Mike Ball was too busy celebrating a championship to have much sympathy.
Springgay and the Indians will look for revenge when taking on the White Sox in this clash of AL Central titans. The game will feature the two AL Champions in PBA history, last year's World Series winner, and several superstars.
Chicago made several changes over the offseason and still hasn't taken off. Robinson Cano is getting on base at a .400 clip, but has just one home run. Andrew McCutchen is only hitting .244 with sub-par defense. Jacob Nottingham is hitting just .136, and Garin Cecchini is hitting just .171 with a single RBI. Taken together, and combined with a bad start from Tim Anderson, and Chicago's offense hasn't fired yet. This despite its stars producing extraordinarily well. As a result, the team is third in average, yet just fifth in runs per game, despite four players hitting .313 or better.
After a stellar rookie campaign, Yoan Moncada looks ready to leap into superstar territory. He's hitting .370 with three homers, four doubles, a pair of steals, and as many walks as strikeouts in the early going. He's been excellent at recognizing pitches, and his mechanics at the plate are drawing raves from scouts. Rafael Devers carried the team during the postseason last year, and though he's not a media darling, it's more important that pitchers aren't a fan either. He reoriented his game so his power stroke shown last postseason, though it hasn't popped as prominently either last regular season or this one. However, he's showing more pitch-recognition, tighter mechanics, and a sweet swing that has him batting .333 with a .44o on-base percentage.
After missing most of the playoff run with a hamstring injury, Andrew Benintendi is back without missing a beat. He popped as a superstar last year and is emerging as an MVP-candidate this year. Featuring preternatural bat-to-ball skills, Benintendi is lightning quick making adjustments mid-pitch, and has unbelievable bat speed. He's already hitting .313 with four home runs and a pair of steals, but most amazingly, has just one strikeout in 53 plate appearances, with five walks.
It's a spectacular trio, each 24-years old or younger, that is dominating the game right now. If any hitter aside from Brandon Guyer steps up to join them, the White Sox offense could be the best in baseball.
Their pitching was the best last year, led by All-Universe Carlos Martinez. This year, Carlos Rodon looks poised to take a leap. He had a strong regular season last year despite being more touch-and-go in the playoffs. He's throttled lineups thus far in 2019 though, winning both his starts and working to a 1.38 ERA. He's fanned 17 in 13 innings, and while his walks are a touch elevated, he got the win over Cleveland last Tuesday allowing just two solo home runs and three walks while fanning nine over 6 innings.
The home runs are forgivable considering Cleveland leads the league in home runs, hitting six opening night and not looking back. Lewis Brinson and Bradley Zimmer tie for the league lead with six thus far, and five players have four or more. Cleveland was second in 2018, and hasn't missed a beat this year.
The Indians are fortunate their contact has been loud, as they haven't been getting on base at all. Their on-base percentage is 12th in the league, and four regulars are hitting at or below .200. Addison Russell has cooled off since a huge opening day and is sporting a .289 on base mark with no RBIs since the opening series. Evan Skoug is hitting just .105 and is dealing with a bad back. Yandy Diaz was a playoff hero, but he's batting just .143. Giancarlo Stanton has four home runs but they may not be worth it if he's hitting .150.
As a result of these low-average hitters, Cleveland is just 10th in runs scored despite being first in home runs.
Fortunately, their pitching has been stellar. Three pitchers have an ERA starting with a "two," while Jose Quinatana has a 3.75 mark thus far. As a result, their ERA is the best in the league. The only pitcher lagging is tonight's starter Carlos Carrasco who struggled last week in an outing against Chicago. The White Sox tagged Carrasco for five runs on nine hits in just 3 innings last week. He worked well against the White Sox last regular season, but struggled in the postseason. It's possible Chicago has figured him out, so this start will go a long way to showing the White Sox that Cleveland has two dominant arms at the top of its rotation.
Questions for the GMs:
For David Springgay, this isn't the first time you're facing the White Sox this year, but it always is big when facing a division rival. How do you feel facing the White Sox after the circumstances that led to your series loss last postseason?
Evan Skoug has struggled thus far and is dealing with some back tightness. Will Brian McCann start? How do you feel about the position so far?
The returns for Francisco Lindor are all having promising campaigns. However, your team is struggling to get on base and Lindor is in Chicago. How would you feel if you couldn't achieve your short term goals because you couldn't replace him?
For Mike Ball, Garin Cecchini is hitting just .171. Do you miss Eric Hosmer yet?
You remade your coaching staff after last year's title, doing things like getting Mike Sarbaugh to be your bench coach after a terrible stint managing in Tijuana. Rumor has it your three most influential pitchers, including tonight's starter Carlos Rodon, aren't happy with him. Why did you do what you did with your staff?
You made a very interesting trade taking on Robinson Cano for three years at no cost aside from a roster spot. What are you looking for from Cano both this year and over the life of the contract
CLE: Carlos Carrasco (0-1, 6.30)
CHW: Carlos Rodon (2-0, 1.38)
David Springgay felt like the Cleveland Indians were robbed last postseason where mismanagement and bureaucratic errors defeated them in the playoffs, not the Chicago White Sox. Mike Ball was too busy celebrating a championship to have much sympathy.
Springgay and the Indians will look for revenge when taking on the White Sox in this clash of AL Central titans. The game will feature the two AL Champions in PBA history, last year's World Series winner, and several superstars.
Chicago made several changes over the offseason and still hasn't taken off. Robinson Cano is getting on base at a .400 clip, but has just one home run. Andrew McCutchen is only hitting .244 with sub-par defense. Jacob Nottingham is hitting just .136, and Garin Cecchini is hitting just .171 with a single RBI. Taken together, and combined with a bad start from Tim Anderson, and Chicago's offense hasn't fired yet. This despite its stars producing extraordinarily well. As a result, the team is third in average, yet just fifth in runs per game, despite four players hitting .313 or better.
After a stellar rookie campaign, Yoan Moncada looks ready to leap into superstar territory. He's hitting .370 with three homers, four doubles, a pair of steals, and as many walks as strikeouts in the early going. He's been excellent at recognizing pitches, and his mechanics at the plate are drawing raves from scouts. Rafael Devers carried the team during the postseason last year, and though he's not a media darling, it's more important that pitchers aren't a fan either. He reoriented his game so his power stroke shown last postseason, though it hasn't popped as prominently either last regular season or this one. However, he's showing more pitch-recognition, tighter mechanics, and a sweet swing that has him batting .333 with a .44o on-base percentage.
After missing most of the playoff run with a hamstring injury, Andrew Benintendi is back without missing a beat. He popped as a superstar last year and is emerging as an MVP-candidate this year. Featuring preternatural bat-to-ball skills, Benintendi is lightning quick making adjustments mid-pitch, and has unbelievable bat speed. He's already hitting .313 with four home runs and a pair of steals, but most amazingly, has just one strikeout in 53 plate appearances, with five walks.
It's a spectacular trio, each 24-years old or younger, that is dominating the game right now. If any hitter aside from Brandon Guyer steps up to join them, the White Sox offense could be the best in baseball.
Their pitching was the best last year, led by All-Universe Carlos Martinez. This year, Carlos Rodon looks poised to take a leap. He had a strong regular season last year despite being more touch-and-go in the playoffs. He's throttled lineups thus far in 2019 though, winning both his starts and working to a 1.38 ERA. He's fanned 17 in 13 innings, and while his walks are a touch elevated, he got the win over Cleveland last Tuesday allowing just two solo home runs and three walks while fanning nine over 6 innings.
The home runs are forgivable considering Cleveland leads the league in home runs, hitting six opening night and not looking back. Lewis Brinson and Bradley Zimmer tie for the league lead with six thus far, and five players have four or more. Cleveland was second in 2018, and hasn't missed a beat this year.
The Indians are fortunate their contact has been loud, as they haven't been getting on base at all. Their on-base percentage is 12th in the league, and four regulars are hitting at or below .200. Addison Russell has cooled off since a huge opening day and is sporting a .289 on base mark with no RBIs since the opening series. Evan Skoug is hitting just .105 and is dealing with a bad back. Yandy Diaz was a playoff hero, but he's batting just .143. Giancarlo Stanton has four home runs but they may not be worth it if he's hitting .150.
As a result of these low-average hitters, Cleveland is just 10th in runs scored despite being first in home runs.
Fortunately, their pitching has been stellar. Three pitchers have an ERA starting with a "two," while Jose Quinatana has a 3.75 mark thus far. As a result, their ERA is the best in the league. The only pitcher lagging is tonight's starter Carlos Carrasco who struggled last week in an outing against Chicago. The White Sox tagged Carrasco for five runs on nine hits in just 3 innings last week. He worked well against the White Sox last regular season, but struggled in the postseason. It's possible Chicago has figured him out, so this start will go a long way to showing the White Sox that Cleveland has two dominant arms at the top of its rotation.
Questions for the GMs:
For David Springgay, this isn't the first time you're facing the White Sox this year, but it always is big when facing a division rival. How do you feel facing the White Sox after the circumstances that led to your series loss last postseason?
Evan Skoug has struggled thus far and is dealing with some back tightness. Will Brian McCann start? How do you feel about the position so far?
The returns for Francisco Lindor are all having promising campaigns. However, your team is struggling to get on base and Lindor is in Chicago. How would you feel if you couldn't achieve your short term goals because you couldn't replace him?
For Mike Ball, Garin Cecchini is hitting just .171. Do you miss Eric Hosmer yet?
You remade your coaching staff after last year's title, doing things like getting Mike Sarbaugh to be your bench coach after a terrible stint managing in Tijuana. Rumor has it your three most influential pitchers, including tonight's starter Carlos Rodon, aren't happy with him. Why did you do what you did with your staff?
You made a very interesting trade taking on Robinson Cano for three years at no cost aside from a roster spot. What are you looking for from Cano both this year and over the life of the contract
