2021 Series #22 | Indians @ Pirates | June18-20

[Wham with the Right Hand]

The Pirates got off to an encouraging start at 12-12, but then the roof caved in and they’ve gone 11-32 since. They have lost 10 straight and their offense has scored only 22 runs in those 10 losses. They are averaging 3.5 runs per game in June and their June ERA is 5.09. They’ve had a lot of injuries to their staff.

That being said, the Pirates have some guys who can rake. Adam Frazier, 2B, is hitting .324/.844 and looks like a possible All-Star selection. Frazier is hitting .332 against RHPs and .339 at home.

Bryan Reynolds, LF, is hitting .293/.897. Colin Moran, 3B, is hitting .291/.803. Moran is listed as day to day with a back problem.

They also have young phenom Ke’Bryan Hayes, who has only 53 AB’s after missing two months and recently returning. He’s hitting .345/.973 at home and in 138 career at-bats his line is .341/1.040. Hayes is 24 and was 8-for-12 against the Indians last year.

So the Tribe pitchers will have three or four pretty formidable bats to deal with this weekend. I have no idea why the Pirates have only scored 6 runs in their last 4 games. This lineup looks similar to the Orioles where you had to be very careful with Mullins, Mancini, Mountcastle, and Santander but the rest of the batting order doesn’t pack much punch.

The biggest problem is the starting pitching which ranks 14th in the N.L. with a season ERA of 5.52 in a league where pitchers bat. The bullpen is middle of the pack. Their offense also ranks 14th with a wRC+ of 82.

Friday night it’s Mejia v. RHP Chad Kuhl, 28, with a career record of 20-27, 4.52. This year in seven starts Kuhl is 0-4, 6.52. Kuhl has issued 21 walks in 29 innings. The fact that he’s barely averaging four innings per start with a 6.52 ERA tells the story.

J.C. Mejia is coming off a decent outing where he allowed 2 runs in 4 innings against the O’s. Hopefully he can stretch it to five innings this time.

Saturday it’s Quantrill v. RHP Will Crowe, 26, with a career mark of 0-6, 7.71. Yep, the first two Pirate starters in this series have not won a game this year. Crowe is 0-4, 6.75 and his home ERA is 7.15. Crowe is holding batters to a .229 average with nobody on but once he goes to the stretch they’re hitting .356 against him. Clearly the key is to get on base against this guy.

Quantrill is coming off a good start against Baltimore where he went four innings allowing one run. However, he’s been more effective as a reliever.

Sunday it’s Hentges v. RHP JT Brubaker, who is pretty good. He’s 4-5, 3.88 and has allowed three runs or fewer in 10 of his 12 starts. At home he’s 3-2, 2.67 against a 4.74 ERA on the road. This will be a tough nut to crack, but his ERA over the last 30 days is 5.74 so maybe we can get to him. He’s averaging about 5.5 innings per start.

So it’s a team that is on fire and won 10 of 14 games against a team that is hopelessly out of contention and lost 10 straight. Their starting pitching is in shambles and they’re not hitting lately. But the Indians will be starting three pitchers who were not in the rotation to start the season. Hentges has a 7.57 ERA, Mejia has pitched 12 innings in his major league career, and Quantrill has been in the bullpen most of the season and has not fared well as a starter.

We could see a huge number of bullpen innings from both teams this weekend. With Hayes back in the Pirates lineup I can see them doing some damage while the Indians, whose bats are waking up, will face two starters with no wins and elevated ERA’s plus a 5-6 inning guy whose ERA is 4.84 over his last seven starts. I won't be surprised to see lots of runners on the bases for both teams, but as long as the Tribe starters can get through 4-5 innings without much damage the bullpen should be the difference.

The key for this weekend is not so much the results of the games but whether these three young starters can make a statement that they are ready to be in a big league rotation and can carry the water until Bieber and Plesac return and McKenzie hopefully figures it out. At minimum we need some guys who can give us five decent innings on a consistent basis. All eyes will be on Mejia, Quantrill, and Hentges this weekend to see if they are making progress.

Final thought: Indians were honorable people who lived mostly peaceful lives and respected nature, taking only what they needed to survive. Pirates were hardened criminals sailing around committing murder, rape, grand larceny and other felonies at every opportunity. So why is it the team from Cleveland is changing their name and the team from Pittsburgh is not?

 

[CATS44]

It will be interesting to see how Tito and Willis use Mejia and Quantrill if they are pitching well.

Will they stretch them out to 75-80 pitches, which puts them on four days rest, or will they hold them back, so that they can stay on three day rest?

Although others hold very reasonable doubts about Mejia, Quantrill, and Hentges futures as quality SPs, I am optimistic that all three will end up becoming quality rotation pieces. The question in my mind is not if, but when.

For the present team, the answer has to be now for at least two of them, if we are gonna hang in there this year. They dont have to be FORs, but they do have to become reasonably effective five-and-fliers. Its a tough assignment, because only Quantrill has the developmental experience so far.

I really wish our catchers for these kids were Berto and Hentges, but, alas, we have two emergency guys to work with.


Offensively, what to look for is whether Bradley and Zimmer can continue the unsustainable, and what they will look like when they settle into more reasonable fortune. Neither can sustain .400 BABIPs.

The Rosarios are en fugue. While it is doubtful they can sustain their present level of production, they do have the peripherals that suggest they both will remain productive over the long haul.

The other batter I will watch is Naylor, who is having a month to forget, in spite of hitting the ball well.

Over the last month he has put the ball in play...only a 14% K rate...but a .230 BABIP, with peripherals that don't match such a low level of production.

In any case, we are playing a stretch of teams that we can compete with, while trying to find and prepare the pieces needed to compete later with the upper level teams.

 

[CDAV45]

I agree with CATS that all 3 of Quantrill, Mejia, and Hentges can find some level of MLB success. I think Hentges' development is lagging, but I'll be damned if he don't have the highest ceiling of the 3. Keep our fingers crossed I guess.

BB will not continue to hit .375, but his power won't disappear either. He's the type of hitter that can carry a .240 average and be a very productive bat. If he ever hits .260 over a full season then he'll be an all-star and mash 50 HR.

The Rosarios are hitting the shit out of the ball. Can't wait until the Franimal returns to put him in between JRam and Eddie or Eddie and BB. Opposing pitchers better not hang anything.

I'm not a Naylor fan or hater. Being a Cleveland fan I want him to find sustained success, but I just don't know.

It won't happen, but I'd still love to see Gomes back in a Cleveland uniform. I'd also still like to see them get another SP, but again that is wishful thinking on my part. I'm not going to complain if neither or nothing happens because this team is fun to watch most of the time, and I like to see young players given a real opportunity.

 

[CATS44]

What do we do with Gomes when Hedges and Berto return?

 

[thestatman]

Need to target a quality starting pitcher. Go after Gibson or Mylie. I have a lot of faith in both Mejia and Quantril, but not Sam for this season. The bullpen right now is deep and incredible. But multiple bullpen games will take it's toll very quickly.

 

[Selby]

I'll be going to the game on Sunday at least. Going to keep an eye on ticket prices for tomorrow and see if I can convince my girlfriend that a baseball game two days in a row is fun. Roll Tribe!

 

[CDAV45]

What do we do with Gomes when Hedges and Berto return?

Which one would you prefer to keep around? I'm impartial to both as they are extremely similar, but if I had to choose I'd keep Berto. Having Gomes and Berto again would be a good thing. IMO of course.

I'd prefer an OPS+ of 105 compared to OPS+ of 77, which is Hedges and Perez's combined. Gomes has been very good defensively as well and has always called a good game. Would targeting Gomes and one of Washington's SP like Ross be possible?

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Which one would you prefer to keep around? I'm impartial to both as they are extremely similar, but if I had to choose I'd keep Berto. Having Gomes and Berto again would be a good thing. IMO of course.

I'd prefer an OPS+ of 105 compared to OPS+ of 77, which is Hedges and Perez's combined. Gomes has been very good defensively as well and has always called a good game. Would targeting Gomes and one of Washington's SP like Ross be possible?

Sounds realistic. The Nets are 30-35 and seven games out. They still have a pulse but it looks like they will be sellers. Ross is a free agent after the season and is only making $1.5 M this year so he fits the Indians' budget.

Gomes is also a free agent after his season but is making $6 million this year so the question is whether the Indians would want to pay $3 million for half a season if they have Berto, Hedges, Rivera, and Lavernway available at no additional cost. Not to mention giving up a prospect.

I would be interested in Ross for a blocked prospect. It would make sense for both teams.

 

[xmasbuck]

The Pirates got off to an encouraging start at 12-12, but then the roof caved in and they’ve gone 11-32 since. They have lost 10 straight and their offense has scored only 22 runs in those 10 losses. They are averaging 3.5 runs per game in June and their June ERA is 5.09. They’ve had a lot of injuries to their staff.

That being said, the Pirates have some guys who can rake. Adam Frazier, 2B, is hitting .324/.844 and looks like a possible All-Star selection. Frazier is hitting .332 against RHPs and .339 at home.

Bryan Reynolds, LF, is hitting .293/.897. Colin Moran, 3B, is hitting .291/.803. Moran is listed as day to day with a back problem.

They also have young phenom Ke’Bryan Hayes, who has only 53 AB’s after missing two months and recently returning. He’s hitting .345/.973 at home and in 138 career at-bats his line is .341/1.040. Hayes is 24 and was 8-for-12 against the Indians last year.

So the Tribe pitchers will have three or four pretty formidable bats to deal with this weekend. I have no idea why the Pirates have only scored 6 runs in their last 4 games. This lineup looks similar to the Orioles where you had to be very careful with Mullins, Mancini, Mountcastle, and Santander but the rest of the batting order doesn’t pack much punch.

The biggest problem is the starting pitching which ranks 14th in the N.L. with a season ERA of 5.52 in a league where pitchers bat. The bullpen is middle of the pack. Their offense also ranks 14th with a wRC+ of 82.

Friday night it’s Mejia v. RHP Chad Kuhl, 28, with a career record of 20-27, 4.52. This year in seven starts Kuhl is 0-4, 6.52. Kuhl has issued 21 walks in 29 innings. The fact that he’s barely averaging four innings per start with a 6.52 ERA tells the story.

J.C. Mejia is coming off a decent outing where he allowed 2 runs in 4 innings against the O’s. Hopefully he can stretch it to five innings this time.

Saturday it’s Quantrill v. RHP Will Crowe, 26, with a career mark of 0-6, 7.71. Yep, the first two Pirate starters in this series have not won a game this year. Crowe is 0-4, 6.75 and his home ERA is 7.15. Crowe is holding batters to a .229 average with nobody on but once he goes to the stretch they’re hitting .356 against him. Clearly the key is to get on base against this guy.

Quantrill is coming off a good start against Baltimore where he went four innings allowing one run. However, he’s been more effective as a reliever.

Sunday it’s Hentges v. RHP JT Brubaker, who is pretty good. He’s 4-5, 3.88 and has allowed three runs or fewer in 10 of his 12 starts. At home he’s 3-2, 2.67 against a 4.74 ERA on the road. This will be a tough nut to crack, but his ERA over the last 30 days is 5.74 so maybe we can get to him. He’s averaging about 5.5 innings per start.

So it’s a team that is on fire and won 10 of 14 games against a team that is hopelessly out of contention and lost 10 straight. Their starting pitching is in shambles and they’re not hitting lately. But the Indians will be starting three pitchers who were not in the rotation to start the season. Hentges has a 7.57 ERA, Mejia has pitched 12 innings in his major league career, and Quantrill has been in the bullpen most of the season and has not fared well as a starter.

We could see a huge number of bullpen innings from both teams this weekend. With Hayes back in the Pirates lineup I can see them doing some damage while the Indians, whose bats are waking up, will face two starters with no wins and elevated ERA’s plus a 5-6 inning guy whose ERA is 4.84 over his last seven starts. I won't be surprised to see lots of runners on the bases for both teams, but as long as the Tribe starters can get through 4-5 innings without much damage the bullpen should be the difference.

The key for this weekend is not so much the results of the games but whether these three young starters can make a statement that they are ready to be in a big league rotation and can carry the water until Bieber and Plesac return and McKenzie hopefully figures it out. At minimum we need some guys who can give us five decent innings on a consistent basis. All eyes will be on Mejia, Quantrill, and Hentges this weekend to see if they are making progress.

Final thought: Indians were honorable people who lived mostly peaceful lives and respected nature, taking only what they needed to survive. Pirates were hardened criminals sailing around committing murder, rape, grand larceny and other felonies at every opportunity. So why is it the team from Cleveland is changing their name and the team from Pittsburgh is not?

after feeling that the orioles hit like the '27 yankees I had to look them up - turns out they hit pretty much like us

the pirates otoh are last in the bigs in hitting -- AARGGHH!

 

[CDAV45]

Sounds realistic. The Nets are 30-35 and seven games out. They still have a pulse but it looks like they will be sellers. Ross is a free agent after the season and is only making $1.5 M this year so he fits the Indians' budget.

Gomes is also a free agent after his season but is making $6 million this year so the question is whether the Indians would want to pay $3 million for half a season if they have Berto, Hedges, Rivera, and Lavernway available at no additional cost. Not to mention giving up a prospect.

I would be interested in Ross for a blocked prospect. It would make sense for both teams.

The hope would be to extend Yan for a year or 2 while we wait for Naylor to ready himself. If I had to pay one of Yan or Roberto $7M I'd much prefer it be Yan.

The only reserve I have toward Ross is the fact that he didn't pitch at all last year. Since 2015, he hasn't pitched over 105 innings in any given year. I don't know what to make of that, but the red flags are up.

 

[sportscoach]

What do we do with Gomes when Hedges and Berto return?

Gomes in the past played 1B/3B and LF. He was actually pretty legit at 3B if you look at his numbers. He would have likely ended up there if he didn't get traded to the Indians...

 

[CATS44]

If I'm the GM, I'm not getting rid of either Berto or Hedges. They are incredible.. Gomes hits better, but is 33 and gone after this year.

Ross is a AAAA swingman, who didn't pitch last year, and threw a combined 130 IP in 2018-19.

If we are gonna trade for somebody, do it for a clear upgrade, not for warm bodies that are no better than what we have

 

[CDAV45]

If I'm the GM, I'm not getting rid of either Berto or Hedges. They are incredible.. Gomes hits better, but is 33 and gone after this year.

Ross is a AAAA swingman, who didn't pitch last year, and threw a combined 130 IP in 2018-19.

If we are gonna trade for somebody, do it for a clear upgrade, not for warm bodies that are no better than what we have

With all do respect CATS, Gomes is much better than either Hedges or Perez. He's right there with them defensively, but hits better than both Hedges and Perez combined. I agree with the idea of only trading for a clear upgrade, and getting Gomes is clearly that.

I agree with what you say about Ross, and while I think he could help in the short term, I sure as hell wouldn't give up much of anything to get him. Right now I'm more concerned with the BP workload. Any chances of this team competing this year will erode if the BP is overworked. Having said that, I'm sure there are much better targets than Ross. He just came to mind because he's pitching fairly well and might be an easy, cheap target.

 

[CATS44]

This team is built around pitching...more so than just about any team in baseball. And it has been very successful in finding that pitching.

A big part of the success at the MLB level has been Berto...a bigger part than can be quantified. Hedges has joined in, solidifying the rep he brought with him.

Gomes is good behind the plate, but not that good. He isn't in the same league.

For how this team is built and what it needs, Gomes is not a significant upgrade...certainly not enough to jettison one of the others and spend a prospect to do it, esp when Gomes is a rental.

 

[LL3]

This team is built around pitching...more so than just about any team in baseball. And it has been very successful in finding that pitching.

A big part of the success at the MLB level has been Berto...a bigger part than can be quantified. Hedges has joined in, solidifying the rep he brought with him.

Gomes is good behind the plate, but not that good. He isn't in the same league.

For how this team is built and what it needs, Gomes is not a significant upgrade...certainly not enough to jettison one of the others and spend a prospect to do it, esp when Gomes is a rental.

Agree. If Berto or Hedges were lost for the season, that might be a different consideration, but that is not the case.