2021 Series #29 | Indians @ Astros | July 19-21

[Mott the Hoople]

So Morgan tonight pitched on the road, against one of the best teams in the AL. A team that has seen him before, and I thought did very well. In a perfect world he would have been the winning pitcher.
He improves every outing. That's why I think he's got a great chance to be in the rotation next season.
Other than Bieber, Plesac, Civale, who is clearly better than Morgan?

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

The kids are all right. Morgan keeps getting a little better each start. Altuve's home run wasn't a strike. Just an amazing swing by a great player. Morgan made one bad pitch in five innings and that was the home run to Tucker, who is also a great hitter. Very impressive outing. I really thought that Astros lineup would light him up since they saw him before, but that was not the case. He did a great job of changing speeds, locations, and executing his pitches.

The Indians bullpen finally showed a small crack when Shaw allowed his inherited runner to score and then gave up another run. But Maton, Clase, and Karinchak picked him up.

Clement with two more hits. This kid can handle the bat. Four hits in two games and another hit stolen by Altuve. He's making an impression. After watching Berto and Chang strike out on sliders he was ready for a slider and jumped on the first pitch, driving it off the wall.

Awesome at-bat by Cesar in the 3rd when he singled in the first run on a 10-pitch at-bat. Then the game winning home run in the 7th inning on the 8th pitch of the at-bat. He just keeps fouling them off until he gets something he can work with.

The Indians 8 and 9 hitters continue to contribute. Tonight Chang and Clement combined for three hits and three RBI's in a 5-4 win.

Tribe batters struck out 14 times but they still managed to push across five runs.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

So Morgan tonight pitched on the road, against one of the best teams in the AL. A team that has seen him before, and I thought did very well. In a perfect world he would have been the winning pitcher.
He improves every outing. That's why I think he's got a great chance to be in the rotation next season.
Other than Bieber, Plesac, Civale, who is clearly better than Morgan?

Morgan is definitely pushing himself into the conversation. When Civale comes back I think Mejia will be sent down and Morgan will stay.

The Indians are in a good spot with Morgan, Mejia, McKenzie, Quantrill, and Hentges all competing for the last two spots in the rotation to start the 2022 season. Logan T. Allen may emerge as another possibility.

Four games against Tampa Bay. Don't know if Jose will play or if he can hit. This will be a tough series.

 

[Gson]

Those are all guys who project as utility players. Again, if Owen Miller didn’t look so overwhelmed in his time up here, we might be having a different conversation. But, I don’t see how you can pencil Miller as your everyday second baseman to start next season if you plan to contend.

First exposure to the big leagues can be overwhelming for even future hall of famers.. Not that Owen Miller is that..but.. we'll see later this year when / if he gets another chance in the show..

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

First exposure to the big leagues can be overwhelming for even future hall of famers.. Not that Owen Miller is that..but.. we'll see later this year when / if he gets another chance in the show..

I feel like you're making an excuse for Miller that doesn't hold water. In his first five games he got four hits; not good but not bad for his first week in the bigs. At this point, after 21 plate appearances any feelings of being overwelmed should have dissipated. But the remainder of his stay in Cleveland he went 1-for-26 with 16 K's. He struck out four of his last five at-bats. He did better his first week than his last four. It wasn't like he settled down after a couple of weeks and stopped chasing bad pitches. He went from bad to worse.

I suppose you could argue he got off to a bad start and that caused him to start pressing. Could be - he had a 40% chase rate. I'm not saying he has no chance. But the difference between him and Clement in their first exposure to the bigs is night and day.

FWIW, Fangraphs on May 18 (their last update) had Clement ranked 37th on the Indians prospect list. Miller was not among the 46 they listed.

 

[DCTribefan]

You heard it here first:
Morgan will be in the starting rotation next season from opening day.

If we are out of the running, we should be able to get some lotto ticket for him...

If?

 

[DCTribefan]

Hell yeah, finally a win against those bastards! I’ll take 3-3 against Oakland and Houston on the road.

If only they would have plunked Altuve with a FB, then I would be even much happier.

 

[Gson]

I feel like you're making an excuse for Miller that doesn't hold water. In his first five games he got four hits; not good but not bad for his first week in the bigs. At this point, after 21 plate appearances any feelings of being overwelmed should have dissipated. But the remainder of his stay in Cleveland he went 1-for-26 with 16 K's. He struck out four of his last five at-bats. He did better his first week than his last four. It wasn't like he settled down after a couple of weeks and stopped chasing bad pitches. He went from bad to worse.

I suppose you could argue he got off to a bad start and that caused him to start pressing. Could be - he had a 40% chase rate. I'm not saying he has no chance. But the difference between him and Clement in their first exposure to the bigs is night and day.

FWIW, Fangraphs on May 18 (their last update) had Clement ranked 37th on the Indians prospect list. Miller was not among the 46 they listed.

No excuse(s) being made.. none what so ever...

 

[Alabuckeye]

If only they would have plunked Altuve with a FB, then I would be even much happier.

My thoughts as well. I used to like Altuve. At this point, after all the cheating, I'm for plunking him every time he gets up to bat. Not in the head, but side/shoulder/back? Sure.