• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

2021 Season | Series #41 | Indians @ Royals | Aug. 31 - Sep. 2

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
What's left to go for him in the corner turn? He's cut down on the walks. He's always had the swing and miss. I'm seeing some more curveball.

Maybe elite is premature, but he looks like a #3 lately and less a guy who waffles between the 5th starter and Triple A. I really think Plesac will be our #5 next year. The development shown by Quail and TMac these last 2 months is significant. Quail damn near could be our #2 and a really good one. He's just lights out.

If TMac continues what he has shown lately, he is around a number 3 without a doubt...

Now that being said, in 22, you will likely see a rotation of Bieber, Civale, Plesac, Quantrill then TMac with Morgan as the 6th Man. Then you have guys like Morris mixed in... I think our rotation should be just fine...
 
IMO the only major question with TMac is durability.

But if you consider that almost nobody throws 200 IP anymore, and 180 is even on the high end, that isn't as big of a concern as it used to be.

The Guardians can alleviate the durability question somewhat by limiting his pitch counts...which is more important than IP. Until his no hitter attempt, they had done that fairly well. I dont think its coincidence that he had shoulder fatigue right after his two highest pitch counts of the season back to back.

Tito needs to resist the temptation to try to get an extra inning out of him when he is sailing along. Hold him to 85-90, and turn it over to the pen. Of course, this depends upon having reliable middle relievers to get to the back end.

25 starts averaging 6 IP is 150 total. 150 IP of quality pitching is a huge plus.

To get to 150 IP a pitcher would have to have about 130 IP right now. TMac has 130 career IP.

Match what TMac has done in his 130 to those AL pitchers who are at 130 right now. Don't even count on any improvement.

TMac would be ranked around 18th in fWAR, ERA, and FIP....and 4th in K/9.

If all we got out of him was 150 IP of what he has done so far, we would have a top 20 SP...out of a BOR in this rotation.
 
Tribe sweeps series with a cumulative score of 16-7. I'm kind of feeling sorry for the Royals. They have no offense and their top producers are in their 30's and appear to be on the downside. Merrifield and Dozier are 32 and 30. Santana is 35.

Andrew Benintendi was 1-for-13. The Indians hammered him with fastballs and he could not square up any of them. He went from an .830 OPS with Boston in 2018 to .689 this year. Salvadore Perez was 1-for-12 with 5 K's. Santana was 2-for-12. Merrifield was 2-for-12; both singles. Dozier was 3-for-11; all singles.

Indians pitchers dominated the Royals hitters.

McKenzie has pitched three consecutive games with 6 innings or more, allowing 2 hits or less and one walk or less. He's only the third pitcher since 1901 to accomplish that. Amazing.

McKenzie walked 45 batters in his first 63 1/3 innings through July 31. Over his last five starts, he’s walked two of the 120 batters he’s faced.

It's not like he's pitching around the tough hitters, either.

Yu Chang is on some kind of a roll with a seven-game hitting streak in which he's 11-for-24 with 3 doubles, 4 home runs, and 8 RBIs. He also had a great defensive play in the 9th last night to rob Taylor of a hit when Clase was struggling.

On the flip side, Josie and Franmil went 0-for-23. Franmil is lost at the dish. He's 19-for-100 since Aug. 1. He was 0-for-12 this series with 8 K's. He kept swinging and missing at belt high fastballs in the middle of the plate; some were only 90-91. Same with Josie. I can't remember ever seeing him go three games in a row without hitting at least one ball hard.

When the pitching is great all it takes is one swing to win the game and last night it was Owen Miller's turn. This was another classic Indians win; great pitching, solid defense, and just enough hitting.
 
Last edited:
IMO the only major question with TMac is durability.

But if you consider that almost nobody throws 200 IP anymore, and 180 is even on the high end, that isn't as big of a concern as it used to be.

The Guardians can alleviate the durability question somewhat by limiting his pitch counts...which is more important than IP. Until his no hitter attempt, they had done that fairly well. I dont think its coincidence that he had shoulder fatigue right after his two highest pitch counts of the season back to back.

Tito needs to resist the temptation to try to get an extra inning out of him when he is sailing along. Hold him to 85-90, and turn it over to the pen. Of course, this depends upon having reliable middle relievers to get to the back end.

25 starts averaging 6 IP is 150 total. 150 IP of quality pitching is a huge plus.

To get to 150 IP a pitcher would have to have about 130 IP right now. TMac has 130 career IP.

Match what TMac has done in his 130 to those AL pitchers who are at 130 right now. Don't even count on any improvement.

TMac would be ranked around 18th in fWAR, ERA, and FIP....and 4th in K/9.

If all we got out of him was 150 IP of what he has done so far, we would have a top 20 SP...out of a BOR in this rotation.
Top 20 pitchers still pitch 200 innings or very close to it. Its probably more relevant to look at games started in 2019 there were over 30 pitchers who started at least 32 games, that will put a top pitcher right around 200 innings.
 
The Royals gave Santana two years at $17.5 million - all guaranteed. I wonder if they're regretting that now. Probably not as much as the Mets are regretting the $341 million they owe Lindor.
 
The Royals gave Santana two years at $17.5 million - all guaranteed. I wonder if they're regretting that now. Probably not as much as the Mets are regretting the $341 million they owe Lindor.
For me, it's Lindor all the way. At least Santana was only a two year deal, the Mets are glued to Lindor for a looooong time and a lot more money.
 
The Royals gave Santana two years at $17.5 million - all guaranteed. I wonder if they're regretting that now. Probably not as much as the Mets are regretting the $341 million they owe Lindor.
Santana came out hot to start the year, making it look like a good deal.. Since then he has been playing like he did for us in 2020.
 
If TMac continues what he has shown lately, he is around a number 3 without a doubt...

Now that being said, in 22, you will likely see a rotation of Bieber, Civale, Plesac, Quantrill then TMac with Morgan as the 6th Man. Then you have guys like Morris mixed in... I think our rotation should be just fine...
Yup. I should have said I think Plesac will be our #5 “by the end of next year.” Quail and TMac will clearly start behind him. This rate though they won’t finish there.
 
Yup. I should have said I think Plesac will be our #5 “by the end of next year.” Quail and TMac will clearly start behind him. This rate though they won’t finish there.

I don't see it changing in 22 since Plesac should be at full go innings wise, while TMac still may have some limits... In 23, Plesac could be traded to make room for Morris if Bimbo's info about Plesac not being all that popular with Clev's FO...
 
You have to go back like 6 or 7 years to find the last season 20+ guys eclipsed the 200 IP mark in a season. Most since that time is 15. This year we might see less than 5 pitchers reach 200+ IP.

That landmark number no longer matters in baseball. 160-180 is the happy spot and where ~85% of the starting pitchers in baseball end up and Triston is on pace to throw ~150 IP this season (assuming he has ~6 starts remaining and he makes them all averaging 5 IP a start). And he's doing that with a handful of 3 IP or less appearances because he couldn't throw strikes earlier in the season.

I don't understand the concerns about his health. He had a back problem that kept him out a good bit in the minors, but changed his mechanics to make sure that problem doesn't happen again. Since then he has missed 1 scheduled start, which was the one he just missed.
 
You have to go back like 6 or 7 years to find the last season 20+ guys eclipsed the 200 IP mark in a season. Most since that time is 15. This year we might see less than 5 pitchers reach 200+ IP.

That landmark number no longer matters in baseball. 160-180 is the happy spot and where ~85% of the starting pitchers in baseball end up and Triston is on pace to throw ~150 IP this season (assuming he has ~6 starts remaining and he makes them all averaging 5 IP a start). And he's doing that with a handful of 3 IP or less appearances because he couldn't throw strikes earlier in the season.

I don't understand the concerns about his health. He had a back problem that kept him out a good bit in the minors, but changed his mechanics to make sure that problem doesn't happen again. Since then he has missed 1 scheduled start, which was the one he just missed.
You have to go back like 6 or 7 years to find the last season 20+ guys eclipsed the 200 IP mark in a season. Most since that time is 15. This year we might see less than 5 pitchers reach 200+ IP.

That landmark number no longer matters in baseball. 160-180 is the happy spot and where ~85% of the starting pitchers in baseball end up and Triston is on pace to throw ~150 IP this season (assuming he has ~6 starts remaining and he makes them all averaging 5 IP a start). And he's doing that with a handful of 3 IP or less appearances because he couldn't throw strikes earlier in the season.

I don't understand the concerns about his health. He had a back problem that kept him out a good bit in the minors, but changed his mechanics to make sure that problem doesn't happen again. Since then he has missed 1 scheduled start, which was the one he just missed.
I think people look at his slight build & wonder if he will ever be a guy that can go 30 starts in a season. I like the comparison I heard a few weeks ago from an opposing teams broadcast crew they compared his build to that of Chris Sale who of coarse has had a great career
 
Scared of Sale comp; he has missed extensive time due to injury.
 
You have to go back like 6 or 7 years to find the last season 20+ guys eclipsed the 200 IP mark in a season. Most since that time is 15. This year we might see less than 5 pitchers reach 200+ IP.

That landmark number no longer matters in baseball. 160-180 is the happy spot and where ~85% of the starting pitchers in baseball end up and Triston is on pace to throw ~150 IP this season (assuming he has ~6 starts remaining and he makes them all averaging 5 IP a start). And he's doing that with a handful of 3 IP or less appearances because he couldn't throw strikes earlier in the season.

I don't understand the concerns about his health. He had a back problem that kept him out a good bit in the minors, but changed his mechanics to make sure that problem doesn't happen again. Since then he has missed 1 scheduled start, which was the one he just missed.
He missed 2 months in 2018 for a forearm injury, then all of 2019 for his back injury, then 2020 was a limited season (obviously not his fault), so it's not like he has a long track record of being healthy. And in general there is a reason why the TNSTAAPP acronym exists.
 

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-13: "Backup Bash Brothers"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:11: "Clipping Bucks."
Top