Guthrie Out, Mujica to Buffalo

Closer: Wickman
8th: Betancourt
7th: Davis
MR: Mota, Cabrera
LR: Carmona
Garbage: Saurbeck

Hopefully Raffy hits the ground throwing.

tyler - thanks for the info.  I knew they promoted Mujica to Buffalo yesterday, where he went 2.0 IP, giving up 2 hits, but no runs.

I hope the Indians aren't going to hold on to Sauerbeck all year if he continues to struggle just because he is a lefty.  Why hold on to a lefty who can't get lefties out?  An overpowering righty or at least a solid righty has a better chance of getting a left-handed batter out than a struggling lefty in my opinion.  If the righties in our bullpen were going well, I'm not sure they would have that much difficulty handling lefties since they all have good stuff.

If righties had such a problem getting lefties out, then why do some right-handed starters handle lefties so well.  It can be done; just because you have a left-handed reliever doesn't automatically mean he is the best choice to face tough lefties, just like a lefty can handle a right-handed batter if he has good enough stuff and command.  

I think sometimes, managers and GMs focus too much on the statistics of righties getting righties out and lefties getting lefties out - that doesn't apply to all right-handed pitchers or left-handed pitchers, just like Travis Hafner and other good left-handed hitters do pretty well against left-handed pitching.  I think managers and GMs need to keep that in mind.

Just my 2 cents on that. :-)

That's why Sauerbeck can't get anyone out - his command isn't good enough - it's either off the plate where no one will chase or it's right down the middle where it gets crushed for a homerun.

Personally, I thought Guthrie was one of our better performing relievers - the only ones who did better in my opinion were Wickman and Cabrera, since he returned.  I think both Guthrie and Davis are about neck-and-neck, though I think I would give Guthrie a slight edge over Davis, as I think Davis has given up more runs and has had a few more tougher outings than Guthrie.

I still think both of them are better than Sauerbeck.  If Sauerbeck doesn't figure it out by the end of this month, I would release him, just like they did with Graves.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

Take care and keep the "faith"!

Hello LeftyCatcher,

You make good points, though I believe small sample size may have something to do with that.

First, I did not know Wedge let Sauerbeck pitch to that many righties.  Second, I did not know Sauerbeck retired them that well.

However, I think there are two main problems:

1. Wedge doesn't seem comfortable allowing Sauerbeck to face righties, even though Sauerbeck believes he can get them out.  Wedge allows Sauerbeck to face a lefty, usually walking or giving up a hit to him, and then Wedge goes back out to get him when a righty comes to the plate.

2. Sauerbeck's command has been so erratic, he's walked or given up hard hits to both lefties and righties, so I'm not that confident that Sauerbeck will continue his "mastery" of right-handed batters.  I would think left-handed batters would have more trouble since Sauerbeck has more of a sidewind delivery, but lefties have had little trouble with Sauerbeck to this point.

I just remembered Jason Stanford is another possible lefty out of the bullpen (presuming he doesn't remain a starter); he might even be a better option than Sauerbeck, though with the problems the rotation has had lately, I might be tempted to try Stanford in the back-end of the rotation before shifting him to the bullpen.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

Take care and keep the "faith"!

Good job in noticing that - I would have never guessed that.  I thought Sauerbeck's numbers against lefties and righties would be equally poor, with the exception of Sauerbeck getting more appearances against lefties, since Wedge doesn't seem that confident in using him against righties.

Very good job of noticing that - it is ironic that Sauerbeck has handled righties, but not handled lefties so far this season when he did the opposite last year.

Take care and have a great day!