Game 2: Indians 7, White Sox 2

by Ryan on Apr 3, 2008 12:30 AM EDT in Game Recaps

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Fausto Carmona	.239	Jhonny Peralta	-.073
Grady Sizemore	.233	Casey Blake	-.044
Franklin Gutierrez	.075	Travis Hafner	-.028

Beyond the cringeworthy last two innings, a nice all-around effort. Fausto Carmona, beyond a bit of wildness, was indistinguishable from last season. The White Sox pounded his pitches into the ground all night, which can't have been pleasant consider how cold this night was. Fausto had a few pitches get away from him, but he never let those four walks hurt him. You often wonder if a pitcher like Carmona benefits from letting a four-seamer get away from him once in a while, especially if it appears he's not trying to do it. Fear of the unknown, especially if that unknown is a mid-90s fastball, is a powerful resource to tap.

I don't really get sending Carmona out for the seventh. Even the horses aren't conditioned to go more than 100 pitches to start the season, and it should be a priority for the Indians to limit Fausto's unnecessary innings. The whole bullpen was rested, and some guys had a coating of rust on their arms, so why not let him go with an easy six-inning outing?

The offense was very workmanlike, squeezing Javier Vazquez's outing into five innings. After Asdrubal Cabrera singled in Grady Sizemore for the team's third run, a single and two walks made Ozzie Guillen go to the bullpen early. And going to the bullpen to insert your fifth or sixth best reliever is almost always a good thing for the opposing team. Even if the game's close, it means that three or four relievers have to be just about perfect to keep the game within reach. Or that close game can quickly turn into extended garbage time, which in this case it did.

My first impression of Masa Kobayashi was that of a pitcher who absolutely needs to have control of his pitches, for his stuff doesn't look that impressive. White Sox hitters didn't have too much trouble making contact, and it doesn't appear that his windup is that unorthodox. But a first impression is still only one impression, and the cold weather may have affected him.

Likewise, Jorge Julio labored to finish his inning of work, allowing the only home run of the game and allowing two other baserunners. Stuff has never been an issue for Jorge (the major reason why each new club sees the potential of a quality setup man in him), but as we've seen with guys like Jason Davis and Fernando Cabrera, stuff can't cover for bad location or inconsistency. The Indians aren't risking that much, especially with how they're using him, though.

But overall, there's a lot that's gone right these first couple games, with Carmona's outing topping the list.

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I was also curious as to why Carmona was sent back out for the7th. I think holding back an inning or two and 20-30 pitches will really add up over the year. With Sabathia walking at year's end, protecting Carmona should be priority number one. And by protecting, I mean to suggest similar usage to C.C.'s innings his first six years (yes, I know Fausto throws fewer pitches per inning).

by xrickx on Apr 3, 2008 2:10 AM EDT 0 recs

Took the words right out of my mouth in regards to protecting Carmona.

I cannot stand watching Jorge Julio pitch. I'm in agreement that he's a very calculated and safe risk for the Tribe at this point, but I can't help but get this dreadful feeling when he takes the mound. He's in a good situation, though; maybe in this role he can realize a little bit of his potential.

Who's the more foolish: the fool, or the fool who follows him?

by Brian Galliford on Apr 3, 2008 7:13 AM EDT up 0 recs

Add me to the chorus of the unwashed clamoring for Wedge to take it easy with Fausto. Especially in his first start. Especially when the game was being played at the edge of the Arctic Circle. Especially when we had a 5-run lead with two to play. Especially when it's the offensively offensive White Sox.

by NickFantana on Apr 3, 2008 8:43 AM EDT up 0 recs

Willis

On the post-game show on 1100, they interviewed Willis. He said they had Fausto on a 105 pitch limit and he had only 87 pitches after the 6th, so they sent him back out. Willis said he had 103 pitches with 2 outs and he and Wedge went back and forth about whether to pull him and ultimately decided to let him pitch to one final batter. So if he hadn't gotten that out, he would've been pulled. Seems reasonable to me.

by ryanrouth on Apr 3, 2008 10:20 AM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, that makes a bit more sense. That's definitely encouraging.

by Brian Galliford on Apr 3, 2008 10:40 AM EDT up 0 recs

105 is a mid-season count. I would have been happy with 87.

On the other hand, I wonder if we are being unduly influenced by the national media's "Fausto-will-crack-under-last-season's-workload" mantra. These are the same writers who didn't notice him until late in the season and think he came out of nowhere.

They will win because they are worthy of victory. - Bill James

by SuddenSam on Apr 3, 2008 11:39 AM EDT up 0 recs

Umm.

SICK.

If this is the real Fausto and Asdrubal...uhh, yeah.

Also, Boo Radley still sucks at basic stuff like math and relating to other humans.

by afh4 on Apr 3, 2008 2:30 AM EDT 0 recs

I was in and out of snoozing through those last two innings (man, they dragged). But I was very disappointed by Masa.

In a way, he reminded me of Fultz. Very flat pitches, with little action at the end. Like you mentioned, I expected a funky windup to hide this fact, but his windup was pretty conventional too.

You know a guy is a hittable, when a major league player (Uribe) takes a hack at a pitch that is above his eyes.

It's only April .. let's hope for the best.

by Toxicadam on Apr 3, 2008 7:37 AM EDT 0 recs

In all fairness, though, Uribe's terrible enough to attempt to swing at pitches at his eyes on a regular basis.

Burn on, big river, burn on...

by Turkmenbashi on Apr 3, 2008 8:01 AM EDT up 0 recs

According to Weather Underground the temperature between 9 and 10 dropped from a balmy 21 degrees to a frigid 16 degrees.

At those temps - there's not much you can expect a pitcher to do.

"It's hard to win when you don't score." Cliff Lee, 9/28/05.

by Harry Doyle on Apr 3, 2008 9:24 PM EDT up 0 recs

My first impression of Masa Kobayashi was that of a pitcher who absolutely needs to have control of his pitches, for his stuff doesn't look that impressive.

This is why Rafael Betancourt has always scared me a little bit.

Steel Nick

by nickjs21 on Apr 3, 2008 8:32 AM EDT 0 recs

Nick, how does Masa differ from 90% of the other pitchers in the league? Just about every one of 'em needs to have control of his pitches to be successful.

"the most vehement Yankee-hating guy I know" - Jay

by mauichuck on Apr 3, 2008 8:52 AM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, there aren't many fire-and-forget guys a la Fausto. He's a middle reliever who had a bad night, which just happened to be his first night. Fist of Iron had an off night yesterday, and nobody's panicking about him.

by fleerdon on Apr 3, 2008 9:15 AM EDT up 0 recs

Allright, this is getting ridiculous, even the originator is confused. Perez=Steel, Betancourt=Iron. Come on!

by NickFantana on Apr 3, 2008 11:18 AM EDT up 0 recs

Not confused. I meant that Betancourt had an off night. For Betancourt.

by fleerdon on Apr 3, 2008 4:27 PM EDT up 0 recs

OK, and by yesterday you meant Monday. I understand your point now. I apologize, originator.

by NickFantana on Apr 3, 2008 4:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

I think the point is some pitchers can still gets outs when their control isn't very good because their stuff is that excellent. A good example of this was Jenesen Lewis's 1st inning of work on Monday. The guy didn't hit his spot once ( he was missing BADLY) and he still got two strikeouts. That's what good stuff gets you.

by Joe. on Apr 3, 2008 10:07 AM EDT up 0 recs

I'm more than willing to give Masa a pass on his 1st MLB appearance, but I think we're all in agreement that he looked pretty awful.

by gte619n on Apr 3, 2008 9:12 AM EDT 0 recs

Also, I have made a visual representation of the current state of the Circle of Trust (cot). This graphic is as of April 3rd, 2008.

by gte619n on Apr 3, 2008 9:12 AM EDT 0 recs

As you can see, the Circle is a hot molten core of (Fist of) Iron.

by gte619n on Apr 3, 2008 9:13 AM EDT up 0 recs

Superb.

by fleerdon on Apr 3, 2008 9:16 AM EDT up 0 recs

Ridiculously superb.

by oxforddave on Apr 3, 2008 10:32 AM EDT up 0 recs

Indeed

Burn on, big river, burn on...

by Turkmenbashi on Apr 3, 2008 10:32 AM EDT up 0 recs

Agreed

by SanD on Apr 3, 2008 10:37 AM EDT up 0 recs

I expect this to be regularly updated throughout the season

by APV on Apr 3, 2008 10:08 AM EDT up 0 recs

preferably with a wide grin under the molten core.

by ken from alexandria on Apr 3, 2008 10:10 AM EDT up 0 recs

Jay, can we keep this on the front page all season?

"It's hard to win when you don't score." Cliff Lee, 9/28/05.

by Harry Doyle on Apr 3, 2008 9:27 PM EDT up 0 recs

Well, it's kind of huge. If it could be condensed to a sidebar widget, we could consider it.

by Jay on Apr 4, 2008 9:03 AM EDT up 0 recs

That's what she said?

by NickFantana on Apr 4, 2008 10:00 AM EDT up 0 recs

I disagree with Jobo's placement. I would submit there should be Save Jobo, which belongs right next to Iron and then non-save Jobo, which now orbits beyond Jorge Julio, some even say out of the galaxy.

by NickFantana on Apr 3, 2008 11:19 AM EDT up 0 recs

seconded

Sizemore-Shapiro 2008. The Official Red Bull of Let's Go Tribe Game Threads.

by Gradyforpresident on Apr 3, 2008 5:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

I like George Coolio's placement, and this is so cool.

Sizemore-Shapiro 2008. The Official Red Bull of Let's Go Tribe Game Threads.

by Gradyforpresident on Apr 3, 2008 1:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

My thoughts about the pitching:

I give the bouts of poor control from the whole staff a pass on this one. Byrd spoke about pitching in cold weather, and all of those guys, save Masa, are from warm climates, and I'm not confident that they had feeling in their fingertips, which, last time I heard, you need to throw breaking pitches where you want to put them. So I give them a pass with the caveat that what happens at 34 deg should not happen at 60.

Masa looked shaky, confidence-wise, and I hope Wedgie takes his time with him, bringing him in controlled situations to build his confidence, and putting him in a position to succeed early so that he'll be able to succeed late.

Julio has shown flashes of being very good, and has shown flashes of being very bad. But if we have a guy eating the last slot in the pen, and he is better than an average reliever, I think its a great use of that slot. He is probably the worst arm we have in the pen, and if he's still average or better than average I think that speaks volumes about our pitching depth.

Formerly known as "tribefan stuck in boston"

by BostonWahoo on Apr 3, 2008 9:33 AM EDT 0 recs

What's intriguing about Julio is that he may be the best "arm" in the pen, though he may be our shakiest relief pitcher. I'm concerned about Lewis, who doesn't look like the same guy from last year.

by ken from alexandria on Apr 3, 2008 10:09 AM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, I was using "arm" casually, just to refer to the pitcher. Lewis is still young, and should have to earn his way back into the CoT again, but I think he can succeed.

Formerly known as "tribefan stuck in boston"

by BostonWahoo on Apr 3, 2008 10:14 AM EDT up 0 recs

Gutierrez's walk with the bases loaded was a highlight.

He looks disciplined this year. Focused. Has me a lot less worried about Hafner.

by jhon on Apr 3, 2008 10:33 AM EDT 0 recs

Also! Hafner's liner to left was nice. Would've been a double or more if Swish hadn't cut it off, as emil pointed out in the game thread.

His seemingly routine grounder found a crack in the shift, straight up the middle.

I hope to see more of this.

by jhon on Apr 3, 2008 11:15 AM EDT up 0 recs

I'm confused -- where's the section about pubescent girls?

by JulioBernazard on Apr 3, 2008 10:35 AM EDT 0 recs

Wait for Jensen Lewis to pitch again and then go stand by the gate. That's the section.

Formerly known as "tribefan stuck in boston"

by BostonWahoo on Apr 3, 2008 10:47 AM EDT up 0 recs

ha ha ha

by APV on Apr 3, 2008 12:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

First of all, she was pubescent. That's kinda the point of the whole story. You're going to have to stay after class and work on the wrap up of Game 3 - with an adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities.

"It's hard to win when you don't score." Cliff Lee, 9/28/05.

by Harry Doyle on Apr 3, 2008 9:30 PM EDT up 0 recs