Hello everyone,

ESPN is reporting that Josh Beckett injured his oblique in a bullpen session and will not start Game 1 of the ALDS against the Angels.  Tentatively, he's now scheduled to start Game 3 of the ALDS when the series moves to Boston.

Since Dice-K started in Sunday's first game and would only have 2 days' rest, I presume Jon Lester will start Game 1 (maybe it will be Wakefield, but it's likelier to be Lester). 

This could be a big blow to the Red Sox, since oblique injuries often linger, especially when the weather starts changing like it often does this time of the year in the NE.

Hello everyone,

I was reading in the Plain Dealer on Sunday (the article was called "Still Looking For Work" by Paul Hoynes on Page C6) about how Borowski was auditioning for several teams (10 was implied) and threw for Boston and Detroit in Tempe, Arizona on Saturday.   You can also see the online version of that article here.

Borowski claims that his arm feels "attached to his body again" and that his stuff seems to be crisper after Brett Fischer's Sports Therapy massaged and loosened up a knot under his right lat muscle. 

My question is:  Should the Indians' medical staff have figured this out and tried to loosen or dissolve that knot under his right lat muscle? 

It sounds like Borowski told everything that was going on with him to Fischer's, something perhaps he didn't do with the Indians' medical staff, but even so, shouldn't the Indians' medical staff have examined that area and perhaps figured out that that knot may have had something to do with the sudden decline in his stuff from 2007 to 2008?  After all, lat muscles are pretty important to all pitchers, so I'd think that they would have examined his lat muscles - how then did they not discover the knot and at least try to dissolve it or loosen it up?

I'm not trying to blame the Indians' medical staff, but for the many accolades they have received about their medical care and keeping the Indians healthy throughout most of the past seasons, I would have thought they would have discovered this and tried to dissolve or loosen it and see if that might have helped Borowski pitch better before releasing him. 

Even if the season had still been lost with Borowski bouncing back, at the very least, we might have been able to pick up another promising prospect if Borowski had pitched more like he did in 2007.  It's likely someone would have been interested in him, being that most contenders' bullpens have issues (including the Red Sox's, Yankees', Rays', Brewers', Cubs', Cardinals', White Sox's, Twins', etc. - everyone virtually except for maybe the Angels' bullpen), so the possibility of gaining another worthwhile prospect was probably at least decent, provided Borowski's stuff rebounded and he had decent control like he did in 2007, which may have been possible if the Indians' medical staff had discovered and loosened that knot and the Indians allowed Borowski to pitch after that before releasing him.

Just a question to consider and my 2 cents.

Hello everyone,

On the latest Farm Report, Ross Atkins talked about two players in particular:

3B Wes Hodges - had 7 RBIs, a go-ahead Grand Slam that turned out to be the game winner against Binghamton (NYM,) and a clutch 2-run single up the middle after a quality, tough at-bat.  He's also playing good defense at 3B.  The main points with him are to continue to get him to focus on the process and not think he's ready for the Majors right now.

LHP David Huff - he's progressing at the rate the Indians thought he would.  His command of his three pitches has improved; is doing well after a good stint at Kinston and in the Arizona Fall League.  The Indians will reevaluate him after 5-6 more AA starts to see where he is at, so it sounds like a possible promotion to AAA Buffalo is not out of the question if he can demonstrate he's ready over the next 1-2 months.

Hello everyone,

Indians (MLB) - lost to the Oakland Athletics 6-1. 

Cabrera and Garko each have 2 hits, but the offense as a whole is not generating much.  Outside of a Hafner RBI 2B to score Cabrera in the 1st, they did not produce much.  Peralta was 0-4, while the bottom part of the order (Gutierrez, Blake, and Shoppach) went a combined 0-11 with 3 Ks.  Jason Michaels, batting in the 3rd spot today, drew the only walk, versus 10 Ks as a team for the Indians' offense.

Meanwhile, pitching-wise, Sabathia with another poor outing, and another poor outing in Oakland, as he's now a career 1-4 with a 7.12 ERA (lone win coming in July 2003):  5.1 IP/6 H/4 R/4 ER/4 BB/2 K/1 HR (solo to Ellis,) 1 HB (Sweeney); 61 S/46 B; 6 G/8 F (7.59 - in my opinion, the big question is, will the pressure of not resigning with the Indians and being up for FA affect him the whole year as he tries to "work" for a large contract?)

RHP Rafael Betancourt didn't pitch well today either, giving up 4 H and 2 runs (both earned) in 0.1 IP.  Conversely, Lewis went 0.2 scoreless and hitless IP and Kobayashi had a scoreless inning, though he gave up 2 hits.

Conversely, LHP Dana Eveland was stellar for the A's in his Oakland debut:  7.0 IP/6 H/1R/1 ER/1 BB/7 K; 62 S/39 B; 5 G/9 F (1.29 - put up a line one would expect from Sabathia.)

Indians vs. A's at 4:05 P.M. EDT - LHP Cliff Lee vs. RHP Joe Blanton.

AAA Buffalo - their game with Norfolk (BAL) postponed due to rain - no makeup date announced.

AA Akron - lost the suspended game from Thursday against Harrisburg (WAS) 8-5 in 10 innings - 1B Luis Jimenez hit a game-winning 3-run HR off RHP Timothy Burton.

The regularly scheduled game - lost to Harrisburg (WAS) 8-5 (again!) - 50 degrees, partly cloudy - 5 MPH wind out to LF:

SS Josh Rodriguez - 1-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 E (1-throw) (.125)
DH Michael Aubrey - 2-4, 1 R, 1 BB (.333)
3B Wes Hodges - 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI (.333 - 2-run shot the opposite way to right-center field.)
RF Ryan Goleski - 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K (.333 - back-to-back with Hodges.)
C Chris Gimenez - 1-2, 1 2B, 1 K (.286 - his 2B followed the back-to-back shots of Hodges and Goleski in the 3rd.)
2B Brandon Chaves - 1-2, 2 BB, 1 CS (1-2B) (.200)

LHP David Huff - 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR (2-run); 4 G/7 F (6.75 - a bit of a rough outing for his first AA start.)
RHP J.D. Martin - L (0-1) - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR (2-run,) 1 PO (2B); 2 G (9.00 - one mistake, but otherwise, not bad for his first healthy outing in a while, especially the K/IP rate.)
RHP Sung-Wei Tseng - 2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR (2-run); 3 G/2 F (9.00 - also struggled with the long ball in his AA debut.)

Harrisburg:

RHP Shairon Martis - 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR (2-run to Hodges & solo to Goleski,) 1 WP; 5 G/5 F (9.00)
RHP Jim Ed Warden - S (1) - 1.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 K; 1 G/1 F (6.75 - 1s are wild for the former Indians' reliever, who nailed down the save today after blowing the one on Thursday.)

High-A Kinston - both the suspended game from Friday, April 4 and the regularly scheduled game on Saturday against Winston-Salem (CHW) have been rained out.  No makeup dates announced.

Low-A Lake County - lost to Lakewood (PHI) 7-6; 58 degrees, partly cloudy - wind in from RF at 12 MPH.

LF Lucas Montero - 1-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 CS (1-2B) (.462)
3B Jeff Hehr - 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.417)
DH Chris Nash - 1-4, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 BB, 2 K (.308)
RF Matt Brown - 2-4, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB (.364 - also threw out a runner at 3B.)
1B Dustin Realini - 1-4, 1 BB, 1 K (.250)
CF Adam White - 1-4, 1 R, 2 K (.333)

RHP Christopher Archer - 5.0 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 4 K; 7 G/4 F (0.00 - very impressive 2008 debut for the 19-YO, 5th-Rd. 2006 pick out of Clayton HS, NC.  Had great stuff when he was drafted, but has had issues with command; today was a solid outing toward harnessing that stuff.)
RHP Garrison Campfield - (BS-1), 1.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 1 HB; 1 F (36.00 - UGH!)
RHP Jonathan Holt - (BS-1, L 0-1), 0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 HR (3-run); 2 F (40.50 - another UGH outing!)
RHP Kyle Landis - 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 K; 2 F; 0/2 IR scored (0.00 - only solid outing out of the bullpen today.)

Take care and have a great day!

Hello everyone,

The first farm report from Ross Atkins revealed the following:

- Looking for ML protection at AAA Buffalo; really came in handy last year.  Have much protection at Buffalo this year, especially in the rotation and with position players.  Laffey and Sowers, along with Adam Miller.  You also have Francisco and Barfield.

- AA Akron and High-A Kinston have several power-hitters and many good offensive players; the position-player front for both teams is strong.  You have athleticism and a quality prospect at almost every position.  Hodges, Rodriguez, Mills (who will start at Kinston,) Goedert, Todd Martin, Crowe (who will start at Akron.)

- Good, young pitching prospects; 5 exciting ones at Low-A Lake County, including 6'5", 19-YO LHP Kelvin De La Cruz and RHP Santo Frias.

- Looking forward to getting "under the lights" after spending a week in Spring Training games for the Minor Leagues and 6 weeks in Spring Training total. 

- Buffalo, Akron, and Lake County begin Thursday, while Kinston begins Friday.

Hello everyone,

While reading the other thread on "experts'" opinions on who will win the divisions and make the postseason, I came across this ESPN Magazine article from Buster Olney on C.C. Sabathia, including his early childhood, his competitive streak, and where his emotions have gotten the better of him (not during his early years with the Indians, but rather, his childhood playing days.) 

You can read the article here. 

It's also a main reason why Buster Olney picks the Indians to win the American League (or the World Series?  Not sure - I got the latter impression first, then got the former impression later,) and based on Olney's picking record from last season (the best of the ESPN experts according to crazymoloh's post in the other thread - 4 correct choices for division winners and 5 correct choices for playoff teams,) it could be a very good sign (hopefully!  :-)

Just my 2 cents. 

Hello everyone,

I just heard on ESPNews that Detroit RHP Fernando Rodney will start the season on the DL with tendinitis in his throwing shoulder (I think it was tendinitis, but it certainly had to do with his shoulder.)

Therefore, this means that both Rodney and Zumaya will be out again for the Tigers for likely a significant period (especially in Zumaya's case.)  

P.S. MinorLeagueBall.com has just switched to the new SBNation format.  Plus, I get to keep my "indiansfan" screen name - it seems the reason it was being held before was because they were waiting for me to claim the name at MinorLeagueBall/SBNation (or so it seems.)  

In any case, I'll still be known as "indiansfan."  I still appreciate the suggestions for a new screen name though - thanks!  :-)

Hello everyone, I hope you all are getting used to the new format.  It's going to take me some time to get used to as well, so please forgive if there are any errors - thanks!  :-)  The new site looks very good though, and I like some of the new features added.

According to Tony Lastoria of TheClevelandFan.com, it seems Salcedo has in fact been signed by the Indians for $2.9 million, but the deal will not be made official until he passes his physical, his birthdate and age have been confirmed, etc.

This LGT thread alerted me to this, while Tony's article explains in more detail (look toward the bottom of the page.)

While he does not name the source, Tony is not one to make unsubstantiated claims or rumors, so if he's reporting it on his blog, chances are, it is accurate.  We'll likely find out more details in the coming weeks.

Also of interest on that ClevelandFan page is the fact that supposedly, 3B Dominican prospect Kelvin Diaz's visa problems have been cleared up, so he should make his debut in the States this season with either the GCL Indians, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, or the Lake County Captains.

Five more interesting items on that page:

- C Matt McBride is out until July as he recovers from shoulder surgery he had on the right (? - not sure) shoulder that was bothering him since he was drafted by the Indians in 2006 out of Lehigh University.  This may explain to some extent why he was doing a poor job containing the running game last season. 

- OF Trevor Crowe blasted a booming opposite-field home run the opposite way in AAA Buffalo's 11-1 victory over the Richmond Braves Monday afternoon, finishing with a line of 1-2, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB.

- 1B Michael Aubrey had three hits in that same game, and would have had a grand slam if not for the fact a 20-25 MPH wind coming in from RF knocked down his laser shot. 

- 1B Ryan Mulhern is hitting .700 (7-10) with 5 2B and 4 RBI this spring.

- OF Nick Weglarz arrived in camp late Sunday night after playing with Team Canada in Olympic qualifiers in Australia and Taiwan.  Supposedly, as one of the youngest players in the entire tournament, he hit nearly .500 and led all players in HRs and SLG percentage.  Supposedly, at age 20-YO, he is now 245 lbs. and is "all muscle." 

Just my 2 cents.

I wish everyone who celebrates it a happy and safe Easter!  :-)

Hello everyone,

I just spent a little time looking at some headlines and thought I'd mention a few: