Spring Training 2020

[sportscoach]

I don't really see much in terms of ST battles. Utility infielder and one or two bullpen spots is all. Maybe one rotation spot if a Logan Allen or Scott Moss light it up and Civale or Plesac struggle. But I doubt that.

OF and bullpen are mostly the spots to keep an eye on since we have competition but not a lot of true locks at either spot.

We should have a better team than what we were in the second half of last year and honestly by the numbers we were one of the better teams in the league overall in the second half.

 

[Connor]

Mandy Bell on instagram and twitter has been posting a lot of pictures and the like from the guys getting down there. She's been doing real well in her Indians coverage since last season. One of my favorite media members to follow regarding the team.

Same same. And, for some reason I find her super hot

Am I the only one?

 

[BimboColesHair]

Couple things of note:

Franmil came in in "scary shape", absolute freak show of a human. Saw some defensive signs from him that just weren’t there last year.

Jake Bauers is impressing a lot of people with some of his off season improvements. Took a lot of his criticism during exit interviews and was productive on dealing with them.

Karinchak "will be the best reliever on this team by the mid-point of the season". His stuff is filthy.

Clase came in day one and was chucking 100 MPH sinkers. They’ve never had an arm like him.

Battle for the 5th starter spot has a chance to be a bloodbath, won’t just be handed to Plutko (if Clev is back for Opening Day). Team is very impressed with how McKenzie and Jefry Rodriguez have shown up to camp after their injuries and are very high on Logan Allen.

And maybe most importantly...nothing concrete yet, but word is Clevinger’s surgery went as good as it could have possibly gone and they aren’t even ruling out him pitching in a late Spring Training game yet.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

Couple things of note:

Franmil came in in "scary shape", absolute freak show of a human. Saw some defensive signs from him that just weren’t there last year.

Jake Bauers is impressing a lot of people with some of his off season improvements. Took a lot of his criticism during exit interviews and was productive on dealing with them.

Karinchak "will be the best reliever on this team by the mid-point of the season". His stuff is filthy.

Clase came in day one and was chucking 100 MPH sinkers. They’ve never had an arm like him.

Battle for the 5th starter spot has a chance to be a bloodbath, won’t just be handed to Plutko (if Clev is back for Opening Day). Team is very impressed with how McKenzie and Jefry Rodriguez have shown up to camp after their injuries and are very high on Logan Allen.

And maybe most importantly...nothing concrete yet, but word is Clevinger’s surgery went as good as it could have possibly gone and they aren’t even ruling out him pitching in a late Spring Training game yet.

That picture posted earlier of Franimal and Santa makes Franmil look like a beast.

I'm so ready for this guy to put up a 40+ HR season for us. He's the type of person our fans are going to love once he gets going.

I really think there's something special in this organization with our relationship with the Latin American players. Frankie/Carlos/Jose has been an important core group. Adding Franmil while doing what we currently are with our facilities in that region of the world just sounds like we're building something no other organization has.

 

[BimboColesHair]

That picture posted earlier of Franimal and Santa makes Franmil look like a beast.

I'm so ready for this guy to put up a 40+ HR season for us. He's the type of person our fans are going to love once he gets going.

I really think there's something special in this organization with our relationship with the Latin American players. Frankie/Carlos/Jose has been an important core group. Adding Franmil while doing what we currently are with our facilities in that region of the world just sounds like we're building something no other organization has.

Him and Domingo Santana are absolute monsters for guys who can play OF.

They made Mercado, Allen, and DeShields look like little kids.

But yes. He has the profile a lot of casual fans would like. Chance to put up gaudy power numbers for years to come.

 

[MadThinker88]

....
And maybe most importantly...nothing concrete yet, but word is Clevinger’s surgery went as good as it could have possibly gone and they aren’t even ruling out him pitching in a late Spring Training game yet.

First & foremost - I am happy surgery went well for Clev. Not all items go well or without a setback so if it all went well, that is a positive from my viewpoint.

As for Clev being back for the start of the season, I would prefer the Tribe uses caution and sound reasoning. Don't rush Clev back just to have him starting the season. I think Clev starting the year on rehab assignment and joining the team (if fully ready) come mid April is not a bad thing..

 

[Otsego Mar]

Him and Domingo Santana are absolute monsters for guys who can play OF.

They made Mercado, Allen, and DeShields look like little kids.

But yes. He has the profile a lot of casual fans would like. Chance to put up gaudy power numbers for years to come.

They are both negative dWar fielders. Green guys (but big guys) - so prove us wrong here. I suspect we'll see a carousel out there per usual, and hopefully 2 or 3 guys can step up and be somewhat consistent all-around.

 

[sportscoach]

Couple things of note:

Franmil came in in "scary shape", absolute freak show of a human. Saw some defensive signs from him that just weren’t there last year.

Jake Bauers is impressing a lot of people with some of his off season improvements. Took a lot of his criticism during exit interviews and was productive on dealing with them.

Karinchak "will be the best reliever on this team by the mid-point of the season". His stuff is filthy.

Clase came in day one and was chucking 100 MPH sinkers. They’ve never had an arm like him.

Battle for the 5th starter spot has a chance to be a bloodbath, won’t just be handed to Plutko (if Clev is back for Opening Day). Team is very impressed with how McKenzie and Jefry Rodriguez have shown up to camp after their injuries and are very high on Logan Allen.

And maybe most importantly...nothing concrete yet, but word is Clevinger’s surgery went as good as it could have possibly gone and they aren’t even ruling out him pitching in a late Spring Training game yet.

Is it possible for Reyes with the weight down he improves his speed of his swing adding more power in a sense?

Bauers was a top 100 prospect, what do you think his ceiling is as a player? The one Giants scout I ran into never liked him from what he said. I still see him better at 1B than in the OF but if he can improve his swing, I know he has good potential overall.

I am honestly expecting Karinchak and Clase to really take pressure off of Hand, Wittgren etc and make that a scary bullpen. We really needed someone to take some pressure off Hand so he didn't have to be the only one who could close games.

McKenzie to me should start the season at AA, but I dont mind by mid season we see some spot starts/his the pros cause of injuries. Jefry and Allen are guys that have way better arms than Plutko. The question is if they beat out Plutko, what do we do with Plutko?

Honestly I want to make sure Clev gets a spring training in the sense of innings and getting stretched out. With our talent at SP, he is allowed to miss some time to get those proper innings.

 

[Derek]

My biggest concern with Franmil is not his defense or his whiffs. I'd be ecstatic if he became a three outcome player because right now he's just two. I would love to see his walk rate spike this year.

 

[sportscoach]

Couple surprises I see from camp...

1) Guys like Nelson, Sandlin, Morgan etc weren't invited to big league camp. There is a group of arms not too far from the cusp of making it to the bigs. I honestly kind of wanted them in camp to really see how well they did against the big leaguers.

2) Our depth at the upper level in the INF is scary thin. Right now our AAA roster is projected 1B Bradley, 2B Mike Freeman, SS Clement, 3B Chang and maybe Krieger as the util? (Experience at 2B, 3B, LF, CF, but hasn't shown to be able to hit at AAA). Papi can play 1B, but hasn't ever hit well. I am just very surprised we didn't bring in another veteran or two to help round out the INF positions at AAA. I mean we lost Velazquez, Mathias, Moroff, Stamets etc over the winter so to me that means they are hoping someone steps up like Mathias did last winter to fill in a void from AA/A+. That could be something to keep an eye on in minor league camp.

 

[sportscoach]

Bu biggest concern with Franmil is not his defense or his whiffs. I'd be ecstatic if he became a three outcome player because right now he's just two. I would love to see his walk rate spike this year.

To me it always felt like walk rates is a mentality and it's hard for people to change their mentalities about stuff like that. It would be amazing if he could get to the 80 mark rate in a sense of walking, but I just dont see that happening. He didn't show a knack for it in the minors so it's hard to expect him to change that part of his game in one off season.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Bu biggest concern with Franmil is not his defense or his whiffs. I'd be ecstatic if he became a three outcome player because right now he's just two. I would love to see his walk rate spike this year.

That would make him a completely different -- and much better -- player. More walks would not only mean a higher OBP, but also means he would start seeing better pitches over time.

 

[Steve_424]

Less than ideal!

 

[NorthCoastBias]

Less than ideal!

Damn. Didn't think they'd get hit this hard by the injury bug again.

 

[BMAN]

God dammit