Game of the Week: May 8: CLE @ TOR

[Commissioner Erick]

Cleveland Indians (19-12) @ Toronto Blue Jays (14-17)


CLE: Carlos Carrasco (4-0, 2.50)
TOR: Aaron Sanchez (3-2, 5.50)


The Cleveland Indians acquired Giancarlo Stanton under the assumption that he'd make their offense a juggernaut. After 31 games it's safe to say the Indians offense is a juggernaut.

The Indians take an offense that leads the AL in virtually every offensive category up north to face the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Stanton acquisition has brought extra offense to a team that didn't need any. Stanton homered on opening night, signaling just what was in treat for Indians fans this season. He's up to 12 home runs, which tops the American League.

He's not the only one who is contributing though, as the frontline talent in Cleveland has dominated. Carlos Santana has been the best hitter in the league thus far. He has a .354 average with nine home runs, 31 RBI's, and 2.2 WAR. He was the Batter of the Month for April, and followed that up with an 8-11 series with three walks and six runs scored against the Royals.

Santana hits in front of Edwin Encarnacion, who is second in the AL in home runs, giving Cleveland a terrifying heart of their order. In fact, Encarnacion, Stanton, and Santana would combine to tie for the AL Central lead in home runs by themselves.

Pacing this machine is Francisco Lindor. Lindor is really blossoming and has a .340 average, .382 on-base percentage, six steals and 23 RBI's from the two spot. Lindor has a terrific contact rate, as he's only struck out 14 times thus far. He really relies on his legs to make things happen instead of selling out for power with two strikes. In fact, Lindor is hitting an incredible .296 on two-strike counts alone!

And to top it off, Carlos Carrasco is going tonight. He's an electric arm with a 4-0 record, and a 2.50 ERA, which is good for seventh in the league. His peripheral numbers back up his surface stats as he carries 41 strikeouts to seven walks in the early going.

It will take a standout performance from Aaron Sanchez for the Toronto Blue Jays to slow Cleveland down. Sanchez has struck guys out, limited walks, kept the ball in the park, and has a 5.50 ERA to show for it. His 2.85 FIP is much lower and hints that he's had some bad luck. A .404 BABIP also hints at bad luck. Twice this year he's thrown gems, hurling at least 7 innings, walking only one, fanning double digit guys, and not allowing a run. He has the stuff to get good hitters out when things are right.

However, the offense simply has to hit. The team is third to last in runs, despite acquiring Ryan Braun. Braun is hitting .215 with nine RBIs, while Josh Donaldson has a .243 average and 7 RBIs. That, combined with the fact that their first baseman Justin Smoak has a .519 OPS somehow, and it explains Toronto's offensive woes. They have the talent to turn their offense around for sure. Right now though, Toronto's offense looks like they're in a different league than Cleveland's.


Questions for the GM's:


For David Springgay, you have a ferocious middle of the order, but it may be masking the fact that Lonnie Chisenhall was benched as your third baseman and Bradley Zimmer is struggling. Do you feel like you need more balance?

You mentioned very early in the year that you had full confidence in your bullpen. Right now they have the worst ERA in the AL. Do you still have full confidence in them?

Aaron Sanchez has really fluctuated in performance this year. What do you feel is the key to beating him?

For Joe Mazzola, the fifty thousand dollar question. What's up with all your big name players failing to hit?

Right now, you don't have a single player in your organization rated as higher than Decent as a coach or front office person. What's your philosophy on your front office?

Aaron Sanchez has been wildly inconsistent, with several terrible games, a few mediocre ones, and a pair of twinkling gems. What's the key to him pitching well today?

[TorontoGM_Joe]

The offense needs to pick things up. It's still early and we have confidence they will turn it around, but this is certainly not the start to the season the fans from Toronto have hoped for.

Coming into a new organization, we didn't want to shake too many things up. However, if things don't turn around, there certainly will be changes made to the coaching staff.

The key for Sanchez to pitch well against the high powered Indians offense is to keep the ball on the ground. We hope he can build on his last start against the Yankees and have a nice outing.

[indiansgm]

The heart of our order has definitly carried us so we do have a couple young guys that are trying to find their stride but, I have utmost confidence they will turn it around. We are solid top to bottom but we are paying top dollar to Stanton, Santana and Encarnacion to lead us and they have at some point we will need the others to step up and contribute. We are looking to bring in a couple bodies to help deepen our bench and take pressure off the big 3 and lengthen out our lineup.

Parts of our bullpen have struggled so far this season. We will be looking to mix things up in the bullpen to help backup Andrew Miller and Cody Allen. If our bullpen gets on track with our offence we will be very hard to beat.

The key will be jumping on him early and rattling his cage. If Sanchez can get through our murders row lineup the first time it may be a long night we need to get to him early pile it on and get into the bullpen which will bode well for us

[Commissioner Erick]

Indians 9 - Blue Jays 3

WP: C. Carrasco (5-0)
LP: A. Sanchez (3-3)


Joe Mazzola said the key for Aaron Sanchez to pitch well against the Cleveland Indians was to keep the ball on the ground. David Springgay said that the key to performing well against Sanchez was to not let him get through the heart of the order unscathed early.

Both managers were wrong, but only one will care.

Cleveland’s secondary hitters performed well against Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton’s power put the Blue Jays away late, and the Cleveland Indians won 9-3 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Mazzola implored Sanchez to keep the ball on the ground against Cleveland, and he largely did. Including a bunt, Sanchez allowed seven ground balls, five fly balls, and three line drives. Even counting the line drives as fly balls, Sanchez allowed seven grounders and eight flies, for a not-terrible 47% ground ball rate. However, the line drives killed Sanchez.

Cleveland was 3-7 on ground balls, and 3-6 on non-bunts. They were 3-3 on line drives and only 0-5 on fly balls. In the end, Cleveland’s ability to string together runs off of grounders and line drives is what won the game for them.

Perhaps because Sanchez was able to limit damage on fly balls, it wasn’t the heart of the order the succeeded against him. Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Santana, and Edwin Encarnacion went 0-5 with a walk. It was the other guys who did the damage.

Yan Gomes got the party started in the third by grounding a pitch the other way for a base hit. Abraham Almonte pulled a ground ball for a single before Yandy Diaz walked to load the bases. Jason Kipnis doubled in two runs on a line drive and Francisco Lindor lined in a run with a base hit, before a Giancarlo Stanton double play chased home the inning’s fourth run.

In the fourth inning, Brandon Guyer was hit by a pitch before Abraham Almonte lined a double. Guyer was cut down at the plate, but Diaz followed with a ground single to bring Almonte home. After four innings, despite no damage from fly balls or the heart of the order, Cleveland had built a 5-2 lead and Sanchez’ day was done.

It should be noted that Sanchez didn’t help himself with his inability to strike batters out. Cleveland went 3-6 with a walk with two strikes, with only one strikeout. If Yandy Diaz were struck out instead of walked despite an 0-2 count, the tenor of the third inning changes. If Abraham Almonte is retired despite an 0-2 count in the fourth, or Yandy Diaz is put away with a 2-2 count, perhaps a run doesn’t score. While it’s not a perfect thought process for the fourth inning because an out was made on the bases, Sanchez losing Diaz in the third may have been the turning point in the game.

Cleveland mopped up against Daniel Coulombe to put the game out of reach. Stanton took him deep in the fifth to make it 6-2 Cleveland, while Guyer ticked on a run by leading off the sixth with a long ball. Jason Kipnis doubled and eventually scored in the seventh when Joe Smith replaced Coulmbe and gave up an RBI hit to Giancarlo Stanton. Guyer completed the scoring by doubling home Stanton against Smith to make it 9-2 Cleveland.

Carlos Carrasco wasn’t great, allowing three runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings. However, he was able to get some big strikeouts with runners in scoring position and less than two outs.

With two on and one out in the first, he struck out Joe Bautista. Russell Martin doubled home the runs immediately after, but Martin made the third out on the bases.

In the fifth, Kevin Pillar led off and stole second base when Dalton Pompey fanned on a hit-and-run. However, Ryan Goins and Devon Travis immediately struck out to strand him. In the sixth, Ryan Braun and Josh Donaldson reached base to lead things off, but after Jose Bautista grounded out and Martin walked, Steve Pearce was struck out for the second out. Kevin Pillar grounded out immediately after.

Simply plating contact probably manufactures a pair of runs in those situations, and a hit in each inning may have made the score a threatening 7-5 in the sixth. As it stood, Toronto got nothing and Cleveland remained up 7-2.

Carrasco’s ability to strike his way out of trouble boosted his record to a perfect 5-0 on the year.


Questions for the GM’s:


For David Springgay, this was largely a new way for your team to score. What do you make of your secondary hitters carrying the team?

This was Almonte’s first big league action of the season. Why did you decide to call him up and give him a start?

Despite a bit of a slow start, Giancarlo Stanton still managed to homer and knock in two runs with two hits. Last week was an opportunity for Jose Altuve to show off his greatness, but do you believe Giancarlo Stanton is better?

For Joe Mazzola, you got what you wanted out of Sanchez in some respects, and still lost. What do you chalk that up to?

Granted Carlos Carrasco is a premier arm, but this was another day in which your stars failed to hit. Do you have any alternatives to juice your offense?

In lighter news, how do you feel about your affiliate in the brand new Canadian Rookie League? On the one hand, you have another minor league team north of the border to reflect your status as Canada’s baseball team. On the other hand, what’s with the organization being named after and having a logo dedicated to LeBron James?