Tribe v. Rangers 5/6/12 Take the series!

[bac5665]

1. I. Kinsler, 2B J. Damon, LF
2. E. Andrus, SS J. Kipnis, 2B
3. J. Hamilton, CF A. Cabrera, SS
4. M. Young, 1B T. Hafner, DH
5. D. Murphy, LF C. Santana, C
6. N. Cruz, RF S. Choo, RF
7. M. Moreland, DH M. Brantley, CF
8. Y. Torrealba, C C. Kotchman, 1B
9. A. Gonzalez, 3B J. Hannahan, 3B

Y. Darvish U. Jimenez

Let's go Tribe!

[statmasta]

Santana is such a good, smart defensive player now.

[peeker643]

Santana is such a good, smart defensive player now.

Dude- It won't take much more than a response for me to blow you up. I already think you're an asshole. Go ahead and give me one more reason to add to that list so I can come here each day and smile knowing you're gone forever.

You add zero, you're a douchebag and not a single person here has ever said to me, "Hey, ease up on that guy, he's a terrific poster."

So please, at least go out with something clever and something that will live on in the Library or something. Because there's no doubt in my mind you're going. You've been a cancer since the day you got here and that disease has about run its course.

Or, and this is way beyond any actual I hope I have, you can try and actually add to the conversation instead of being a gaping canker sore.

[skatingtripods]

I generally don't have favorite players. That's something that kids and women do.

But, I love Jason Kipnis. I just can't help myself. Kid is everything you want in a ballplayer.

[bac5665]

Gonna have to score more runs than 2 to beat the Rangers. Let's see if Santana can redeem himself some.

[British_Pharaoh]

Jimenez is getting swings and misses. Have pigs grown wings? Oh no wait he's walked 4 in 3 innings

[statmasta]

Santana is such a good, smart defensive player now.

Dude- It won't take much more than a response for me to blow you up. I already think you're an asshole. Go ahead and give me one more reason to add to that list so I can come here each day and smile knowing you're gone forever.

You add zero, you're a douchebag and not a single person here has ever said to me, "Hey, ease up on that guy, he's a terrific poster."

So please, at least go out with something clever and something that will live on in the Library or something. Because there's no doubt in my mind you're going. You've been a cancer since the day you got here and that disease has about run its course.

Or, and this is way beyond any actual I hope I have, you can try and actually add to the conversation instead of being a gaping canker sore.

What in the motherfuck?

I'm not allowed to compliment players that are playing well? Am I also not allowed to say Kipnis is hitting well? Am I not allowed to say Vinnie Pestano is pitching well?

Santana's playing well defensively, and he had just made a great play before I posted that, so I wanted to mention it. I thought it was noteworthy how well he's been playing.

WTF is wrong with that?

[statmasta]

Speaking of Kipnis hitting well....

no doubt

[statmasta]

Jimenez is getting swings and misses. Have pigs grown wings? Oh no wait he's walked 4 in 3 innings

Still doesn't have the fastball or the control, but at least he's had the breaking stuff to make up for it. Guys can't hit his curve and slider today.

[British_Pharaoh]

Kipnis might just be my favourite player right now

[British_Pharaoh]

Jimenez is getting swings and misses. Have pigs grown wings? Oh no wait he's walked 4 in 3 innings

Still doesn't have the fastball or the control, but at least he's had the breaking stuff to make up for it. Guys can't hit his curve and slider today.

Yeah the curve has been working and I think his splitter has looked muuuuuuch better. Hitters were able to just spit on it up until recently because it was breaking so early.

[statmasta]

9 consecutive batters retired by Ubaldo

[skatingtripods]

A 7-pitch inning for Ubaldo. Nice work, Texas.

[Jumbo]

Jimenez is getting swings and misses. Have pigs grown wings? Oh no wait he's walked 4 in 3 innings

I can live with the walks if he's getting swings and misses. I think I saw something in a game story for his last start that he didn't get his first swinging strike until the 92nd pitch or something.

This is much better.

[Am I Here Again?]

Who IS this guy pitching for us? Hammy and Rosie keep calling him "Ubaldo" but this game is sounding nothing like the other Jimenez games I've listened to this season.

Could it be he's finally found what he had before his pitching went downhill? Could he be now showing what made it worth trading two high-rated prospects for him? Who knows...stay tuned this season.

[peeker643]

Santana is such a good, smart defensive player now.

Dude- It won't take much more than a response for me to blow you up. I already think you're an asshole. Go ahead and give me one more reason to add to that list so I can come here each day and smile knowing you're gone forever.

You add zero, you're a douchebag and not a single person here has ever said to me, "Hey, ease up on that guy, he's a terrific poster."

So please, at least go out with something clever and something that will live on in the Library or something. Because there's no doubt in my mind you're going. You've been a cancer since the day you got here and that disease has about run its course.

Or, and this is way beyond any actual I hope I have, you can try and actually add to the conversation instead of being a gaping canker sore.

What in the motherfuck?

I'm not allowed to compliment players that are playing well? Am I also not allowed to say Kipnis is hitting well? Am I not allowed to say Vinnie Pestano is pitching well?

Santana's playing well defensively, and he had just made a great play before I posted that, so I wanted to mention it. I thought it was noteworthy how well he's been playing.

WTF is wrong with that?

Like I said... I'm about done with it. Don't whine, don't play stupid with your typical "everyone's picking on me" shit.

You're either as big an asshole that's ever haunted this place or about the dumbest who's ever logged in.

Look back at your past few posts and see why you get the shit you get. Your hit and run a day or two ago was followed up with the post above.

I don't care if you're a dick or you're dumb. I'm about done even guessing. And no one here will care.

[peeker643]

Kipnis might just be my favourite player right now

I had about 1,000 words dedicated to the kid in my article BEFORE this weekend.

Now I'm wondering if that's enough.

[statmasta]

Who IS this guy pitching for us? Hammy and Rosie keep calling him "Ubaldo" but this game is sounding nothing like the other Jimenez games I've listened to this season.

Could it be he's finally found what he had before his pitching went downhill? Could he be now showing what made it worth trading two high-rated prospects for him? Who knows...stay tuned this season.

No. I think he's just found a way to compensate for not having what made him so good before (which was 100 gas).

[skatingtripods]

Yu Darvish is nasty. Great curve ball. Late movement on the two-seamer. Good life on the four-seamer Has shown the ability to throw any pitch in any count.

Great stuff, but, as with all Japanese pitchers, we'll see how long his arm stays together.

[skatingtripods]

Who IS this guy pitching for us? Hammy and Rosie keep calling him "Ubaldo" but this game is sounding nothing like the other Jimenez games I've listened to this season.

Could it be he's finally found what he had before his pitching went downhill? Could he be now showing what made it worth trading two high-rated prospects for him? Who knows...stay tuned this season.

No. I think he's just found a way to compensate for not having what made him so good before (which was 100 gas).

I think he's made two good starts out of six. Also, he's given up 2 hits today and his WHIP has only fallen from 1.74 to 1.62.

Let's see him string four or five good starts together and then maybe we can say that he's found a way to compensate.

[Jumbo]

Santana is such a good, smart defensive player now.

Dude- It won't take much more than a response for me to blow you up. I already think you're an asshole. Go ahead and give me one more reason to add to that list so I can come here each day and smile knowing you're gone forever.

You add zero, you're a douchebag and not a single person here has ever said to me, "Hey, ease up on that guy, he's a terrific poster."

So please, at least go out with something clever and something that will live on in the Library or something. Because there's no doubt in my mind you're going. You've been a cancer since the day you got here and that disease has about run its course.

Or, and this is way beyond any actual I hope I have, you can try and actually add to the conversation instead of being a gaping canker sore.

What in the motherfuck?

I'm not allowed to compliment players that are playing well? Am I also not allowed to say Kipnis is hitting well? Am I not allowed to say Vinnie Pestano is pitching well?

Santana's playing well defensively, and he had just made a great play before I posted that, so I wanted to mention it. I thought it was noteworthy how well he's been playing.

WTF is wrong with that?

Like I said... I'm about done with it. Don't whine, don't play stupid with your typical "everyone's picking on me" shit.

You're either as big an asshole that's ever haunted this place or about the dumbest who's ever logged in.

Look back at your past few posts and see why you get the shit you get. Your hit and run a day or two ago was followed up with the post above.

I don't care if you're a dick or you're dumb. I'm about done even guessing. And no one here will care.

All aside, that was a pretty nice defensive play and throw by Santana earlier in the game.

[peeker643]

Yu Darvish is nasty. Great curve ball. Late movement on the two-seamer. Good life on the four-seamer Has shown the ability to throw any pitch in any count.

Great stuff, but, as with all Japanese pitchers, we'll see how long his arm stays together.

Heard Ranger coaches and MLB scouts saying he was the most Americanized of any Japanese pitcher to date in regard to his between start approach and his physical and mental preparation.

That might help him more than anything else.

[statmasta]

Santana is such a good, smart defensive player now.

Dude- It won't take much more than a response for me to blow you up. I already think you're an asshole. Go ahead and give me one more reason to add to that list so I can come here each day and smile knowing you're gone forever.

You add zero, you're a douchebag and not a single person here has ever said to me, "Hey, ease up on that guy, he's a terrific poster."

So please, at least go out with something clever and something that will live on in the Library or something. Because there's no doubt in my mind you're going. You've been a cancer since the day you got here and that disease has about run its course.

Or, and this is way beyond any actual I hope I have, you can try and actually add to the conversation instead of being a gaping canker sore.

What in the motherfuck?

I'm not allowed to compliment players that are playing well? Am I also not allowed to say Kipnis is hitting well? Am I not allowed to say Vinnie Pestano is pitching well?

Santana's playing well defensively, and he had just made a great play before I posted that, so I wanted to mention it. I thought it was noteworthy how well he's been playing.

WTF is wrong with that?

Like I said... I'm about done with it. Don't whine, don't play stupid with your typical "everyone's picking on me" shit.

You're either as big an asshole that's ever haunted this place or about the dumbest who's ever logged in.

Look back at your past few posts and see why you get the shit you get. Your hit and run a day or two ago was followed up with the post above.

I don't care if you're a dick or you're dumb. I'm about done even guessing. And no one here will care.

Yes, we had a disagreement last year about Santana. And now I'm just revisiting that because I think he's improving like I thought he would improve. That's all I ever argued for last year, just keep him behind the plate to give him a chance to improve. Because Santana behind the plate is more valuable than Santana at first. And now we're seeing a more valuable Santana (look at how little time Marson's getting).

I don't see the problem. So we disagreed about a player. There's nothing wrong with that. That's why I'm here, to talk Indians baseball. I'm not here to talk Indians baseball and then get yelled at for being disagreed with.

Chill out, man. I come in peace.

[skatingtripods]

Heard Ranger coaches and MLB scouts saying he was the most Americanized of any Japanese pitcher to date in regard to his between start approach and his physical and mental preparation.

That might help him more than anything else.

Especially the mental prep part. These Asian imports are playing under some immense pressure from across the Pacific. If he can handle that better than those before him, then he's definitely set up for success.

[statmasta]

All aside, that was a pretty nice defensive play and throw by Santana earlier in the game.

Exactly, it was. It was a fantastic play.

[statmasta]

Who IS this guy pitching for us? Hammy and Rosie keep calling him "Ubaldo" but this game is sounding nothing like the other Jimenez games I've listened to this season.

Could it be he's finally found what he had before his pitching went downhill? Could he be now showing what made it worth trading two high-rated prospects for him? Who knows...stay tuned this season.

No. I think he's just found a way to compensate for not having what made him so good before (which was 100 gas).

I think he's made two good starts out of six. Also, he's given up 2 hits today and his WHIP has only fallen from 1.74 to 1.62.

Let's see him string four or five good starts together and then maybe we can say that he's found a way to compensate.

Ok, trying to find a way to compensate is more accurate.

He may be starting to find it today.

[skatingtripods]

All aside, that was a pretty nice defensive play and throw by Santana earlier in the game.

Exactly, it was. It was a fantastic play.

Let's be careful here. It's fantastic in relative terms. It's a play that a lot of catchers make every day. We're all just more excited by it because it was done by Santana.

He's morphing into an average, if not slightly above average, big league catcher, which is more than most of us expected.

Now, if you want to see a fantastic play, the play he made in Chicago with the short hop pick and seed to 2B, that was fantastic. Today's was what he should be doing.

[Jumbo]

That strikeout pitch to Cruz was nasty.

[statmasta]

All aside, that was a pretty nice defensive play and throw by Santana earlier in the game.

Exactly, it was. It was a fantastic play.

Let's be careful here. It's fantastic in relative terms. It's a play that a lot of catchers make every day. We're all just more excited by it because it was done by Santana.

He's morphing into an average, if not slightly above average, big league catcher, which is more than most of us expected.

Now, if you want to see a fantastic play, the play he made in Chicago with the short hop pick and seed to 2B, that was fantastic. Today's was what he should be doing.

Don't really feel like nit-picking about semantics. It was a good play. I just wanted to say I liked the play. That's all.

[statmasta]

But I still hate the way Santana catches pitches. He stabs at the ball, and his glove ends up way more outside or way more inside than it should be, making a close pitch appear like it wasn't close at all.

I don't know if that makes a difference in getting calls, but it wouldn't hurt to fix that.

[statmasta]

By my count Ubaldo has 12 swinging strikes today.
Darvish has 18.

[skatingtripods]

Would be nice to get through today without having to use Smith, Pestano, or Perez. Might take some insurance to do that.

[statmasta]

Would be nice to get through today without having to use Smith, Pestano, or Perez. Might take some insurance to do that.

Tony Sipp isn't letting that happen.

[skatingtripods]

Sipp sucks.

[statmasta]

At least he didn't completely implode. Nice pitch.

[statmasta]

Vinnie keeps his streak alive. At least 1 K in every game he's pitched in this season. That's unreal for a short reliever.

Wow.

[skatingtripods]

Pestano got away with one of those cutters, but the backdoor slider on the first pitch put that pitch in Cruz's mind the whole at bat.

Let's hang a big crooked number so we can try and use Asencio in the 9th.

[skatingtripods]

2 of 3 from Texas. 3 good starts. Not a whole lot of offense again. Pestano and Perez were excellent.

Good way to start the month with 4 of 6. Keep winning series.

[Erie Warrior]

How about that.

Clearly Ubaldo lurks here and read our pitching mechanics breakdown.

I'm still waiting for the bottom to fall out of Perez.

[skatingtripods]

I'm still waiting for the bottom to fall out of Perez.

His velo and swagger are back. Slider has been sharp. Curious to see how he'll rebound from his next blown save, but hopefully we don't have to find out for a while.

[Symbolic47]

Awesome win guys. I haven't been around much lately, but in case anyone didn't know....We are in first place and playing pretty damn good ball.

[Erie Warrior]

His velo and swagger are back. Slider has been sharp. Curious to see how he'll rebound from his next blown save, but hopefully we don't have to find out for a while.

Yea, not hoping, just waiting. I don't think his stuff is that good, he lives on swag. A tubby, unkept Borowski.

[peeker643]

His velo and swagger are back. Slider has been sharp. Curious to see how he'll rebound from his next blown save, but hopefully we don't have to find out for a while.

Yea, not hoping, just waiting. I don't think his stuff is that good, he lives on swag. A tubby, unkept Borowski.

I don't like Perez but I won't compare him to Borowski. Perez has a plus (slightly) fastball and a legit +slider.

If he gets to and stays stays at 94-95 with #1 he can be a real tough night. That's a lot different than Borowski serving up slop and hoping lasers were hit at people.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Tribe leads the league in tubby guys.

[scrambler]

I gotta tip my cap to Ubaldo today, he did the job. Very nice to see, but I'll have to see a lot more before I think it wasn't just another outlier. Kipnis is the truth.

[leadpipe]

His velo and swagger are back. Slider has been sharp. Curious to see how he'll rebound from his next blown save, but hopefully we don't have to find out for a while.

Yea, not hoping, just waiting. I don't think his stuff is that good, he lives on swag. A tubby, unkept Borowski.

I don't like Perez but I won't compare him to Borowski. Perez has a plus (slightly) fastball and a legit +slider.

If he gets to and stays stays at 94-95 with #1 he can be a real tough night. That's a lot different than Borowski serving up slop and hoping lasers were hit at people.

People seem to forget how truly awful Joe Borowski was. Closers periodically lose their jobs. Not all that unusual. Having a guy with the worst stuff in the league at the time keep the job for over a year and a half - well, that ain't happening all too often.

[Erie Warrior]

If he gets to and stays stays at 94-95 with #1 he can be a real tough night.

If. And it's flat.

Man, the guy leads the league in saves and I'm bustin' balls. Cleveland fans are jaded a-holes.

[peeker643]

If he gets to and stays stays at 94-95 with #1 he can be a real tough night.

If. And it's flat.

Man, the guy leads the league in saves and I'm bustin' balls. Cleveland fans are jaded a-holes.

You're a Cleveland fan.

You get it

[Am I Here Again?]

Who IS this guy pitching for us? Hammy and Rosie keep calling him "Ubaldo" but this game is sounding nothing like the other Jimenez games I've listened to this season.

Could it be he's finally found what he had before his pitching went downhill? Could he be now showing what made it worth trading two high-rated prospects for him? Who knows...stay tuned this season.

No. I think he's just found a way to compensate for not having what made him so good before (which was 100 gas).

Personally I don't care if he "found" it or he learned to "compensate" as long as whatever he has done works on a consistent basis. Time will tell (hence my "stay tuned" comment because I'm not ready to call Ubaldo fixed yet).