Thanks for the good news - I think your info. definitely qualifies.

Just a clarification on Sowers' 4 BBs:

If you check out the game log, he walked the first two batters of the game.  He didn't walk another one until the 6th inning, then walked one more in the 7th inning.  By then, he probably was tiring a bit.

Also, keep in mind that Charlotte was 43-18 before last night's loss; that's probably the best record in the IL and one of the best in Minor League Baseball (it was even slightly better than the hot Kinston Indians' record, which was 42-19 before last night's loss.)

Therefore, for Sowers to rebound after walking the first two batters of the game, only giving up one run in that inning, and giving up two runs total, along with just two walks late in his outing, I think was pretty good.  

Looking at just the stat line, we'd think, "Oh, Sowers must not have done well - he walked 4."  But if you look at the game log and realize it just took him a little while to get his command in order (which can happen to any pitcher, no matter how good he is,) and he kept the best team in the IL from doing much damage, I think it's a great start for him because it shows that he can still "dominate" a great team without having his best stuff or command.  He doesn't get rattled when he doesn't have everything working.

Just a clarification so that people don't start thinking that Sowers is losing it just because he walked four.  He essentially walked 2 in 6 IP after the first inning, and that was in his final 2 IP when he probably started to tire a bit.  If I recall correctly, I think it was in the low 90s (91 or so) when the game started, so it probably was in the mid-80s by the 6th and 7th innings.  That may also explain why Sowers walked a couple in his final few innings as well.

Overall, a pretty good job by Sowers in my opinion.

It's nice to see also that Marte is raising the BA and hopefully getting comfortable at Buffalo.  May he stay hot the rest of the season.  :-)

Just my 5 cents.

Take care and keep the "faith" in 2007!

Yes, Crowe has been doing very well; I think I read and I suspect that he will be at AA by the second half, at the latest.  He's batting over .300, 28/32 steals or something on that order, very good OBP, etc.

He hasn't played 2B yet, but there had been talk about having him play 2B in the fall instructional league.  However, I don't think that is set in stone, depending on what Inglett and Torres do, as well as what they might do with Kouzmanoff (could he fit at 2B?)  

Either way, I would think Crowe will get a nice number of AA at-bats this year, barring injury (hopefully he will remain healthy.)

Just my 2 cents. :-)

Take care and keep the "faith" in 2007!

He made an error that was purely because he was trying to make a fancy play.  And there were a couple other balls he could have got if he showed a little more hustle.

I was especially impressed with Danny Graves though.  He is the nicest guy there.  Some dude dropped his kid (2 years old) over the fence on the 3rd base side to get a ball and the grounds guy took it from him.  But then Danny Graves calls the kid down to the dugout after the fact and gives him  a ball.  Nice Nice guy.

Thanks for the report on Marte.  That's not good; that reminds me of Boone a bit in terms of trying to make the spectacular play when it's not necessary.  We want a better player than Boone with our next 3B, not a younger version of Boone.

Marte's lack of hustle is not good either; I still think Kouzmanoff could become the better 3B prospect and he should get a legitimate chance to prove that he can be.

Regarding Graves, Graves has always seemed like a nice guy; I don't think anyone here would dispute that.  His biggest problem is that he can't get outs consistently with his stuff.  If he could, he'd be up in Cleveland right now.  

Speaking of which, you don't think they'll recall Graves to take Davis' spot, do you?  Some have speculated that Guthrie would be recalled, and I'd rather see him, Slocum, Brown, Choi, Mastny, or Howard than I would Graves because I don't think Graves will ever consistently get enough outs at the ML level with the stuff he has now, sorry to say.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

Take care and keep the "faith" for 2007!

Yes, Guthrie struggled in his last start - really the first time he has all year.  From the game log I read, it seemed like he was throwing too many pitches right over the heart of the plate, whereas in his other starts, they were more quality strikes.  

Hopefully, he can get back to his dominating ways in his next start or in his next appearance if he is called up to Cleveland.

Andrew Brown has struggled with his command this year, much more so than last year - for instance, in his last outing, according to the game log, he threw 22 pitches:  13 strikes, 9 balls.  That type of ratio does not bode well for him at the ML level, as he may get into trouble he can't get himself out of.  

That constant command problem is probably the reason why the Indians haven't called him up yet.  

Really though, can he be worse than Mota, who's having those same type of problems?  It's arguable that Brown has more upside, plus he did show great command last year.  Maybe he's trying too hard to impress Indians' management to get himself noticed for a call-up and it's messing up his command.  

Hopefully, he can find that good command again from last year, as we could certainly use another power arm in the bullpen that has good command, especially since I have serious doubts whether Jason Davis will ever be consistent.  

It wouldn't surprise me if he is trade bait within the next year, since the Indians are having problems figuring out what to do with him, and his being included in a deal might enable the Indians to get more than just an average prospect.

Regarding Graves, I knew you weren't supporting a call-up of Graves; I just wonder though if the Indians would call him up again because they seem to be infatuated with him because he is a good character guy and he has been better at Buffalo.  

Personally, I think there are other options who have higher ceilings than Graves; it's not likely Graves will be here long-term anyway when this team will hopefully challenge for a playoff spot, due to the number of young relievers coming up and not many spots to accommodate them.  I would think that Graves would return in September when the rosters expand, unless another team wants to give him a ML job, though that isn't likely at the moment.

Just my 5 cents. :-)

Take care and keep the "faith" for 2007!  

Hello Thommy,

I heard about Team USA's dismal performance this morning.  Granted, the Czech Republic is a quality team, but it didn't seem Team USA's coach was that thrilled with their effort either.
Hopefully, they do better against Italy, who beat Ghana 2-0 today, so I doubt they're any easier than the Czech Republic.  We're really going to have pick up our play if we want to get out of the first round.

Back to baseball. :-)

Regarding Slocum, when he returned from his injury (don't remember what injury he had,) I rememeber he was immediately slotted into Carmona's rotation spot - maybe that was just to have a permanent player pick up Carmona's spot.  Plus, Slocum was a starter up until about 1-1.5 years ago, so maybe they just felt that Slocum could handle the starting spot the best out of anyone else on the Buffalo roster, even though it still seems he has a better chance of performing at the ML level as a reliever rather than as a starter.

Maybe Slocum will be back in the bullpen when the Indians feel Adam Miller and/or Sean Smith are ready to advance to AAA (seems like both are knocking on the door right now.)  Even Bear Bay is making his own case to move up to AAA as well.

Perhaps Slocum is shifted to the bullpen, Bell is let go, and Dittler is either shifted to the bullpen, to Akron, or is possible trade bait (he's still less than 25 years old, even though he hasn't had a great season since 2003, so I would think he could net a decent prospect or ML player in return.)

Yes, I think both Mastny and Mujica should be up here soon; they can't be any worse than guys like Davis and Mota, who can't seem to throw quality strikes consistently or get a number of outs without runs scoring.  I think Mastny and Mujica definitely should be up soon.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

Take care and keep the "faith" for 2007!