Friday, May 9, 2014

Nicknames

Nicknames


           

           You may hear me refer to some of the players by nicknames. Sometimes you can figure out who I am talking about, sometimes there isn't enough context. I am going to post a list of the player nicknames. Some have stories behind them, some don't.


Cody Allen- Chicken, Chicken Al

Fun Fact- Justin Masterson actually brought a real chicken to the ballpark and it wandered onto the turf near the warning track.

John Axford- Axman

Justin Masterson- Nasty Masty, Masty

Zack McAllister- Z-Mac

Marc Rzepczynski- Scrabble

By far, one of my favorite nicknames. A lot of people had no idea had to pronounce his name when he first came here. 

Yan Gomes- Yanny, Yanimal

Asdrubal Cabrera- Cabbie

Lonnie Chisenhall- Big Lon, The Chiz Kid, Lonnie Baseball

Jason Kipnis- Kip, Kippy, Dirtbag, Kipnasty, J Kid

Dirtbag was an affectionate nickname given to Kipnis by Manny Acta because he loves to slide in the dirt

Carlos Santana- C-san

Justin Sellers- Cellblock

He has many tattoos on his arms, thus "Cellblock" was dubbed.

Nick Swisher- Swish

Michael Bourn- Bourney

Michael Brantley- Dr. Smooth

Nyjer Morgan- Tony Plush

His alter ego's name is Tony Plush

Jason Giambi- Giambino, G, Big Papa G







Thursday, May 8, 2014

Grading This Year's Performance

Cleveland Indians Grades



I'll be grading the guys on fielding, hitting, and overall play.

Nick Swisher- I will give Nick a C in fielding. He hasn't made many memorable mistakes but he does have four errors on the year, which is concerning. His hitting is somewhat of a concern too. He is batting .202 so far with 26 hits and 33 strikeouts. I'll give him a C in that category as well. His overall play would be a C.

Jason Kipnis- Although Kipnis has been out around 8 games for his strained oblique muscle, his grade is a B- in fielding. He has three errors on the season, which is substantially better than the twelve he logged last season. On the hitting front, he earns a B+ with three home runs and 22 hits. His overall play is a B.

Asdrubal Cabrera- His improvement has been slow. His fielding is a huge concern with five errors so far. I'll give his performance a D. Recently, his batting has lit up. He is currently batting .215 with 26 hits. I'll give him a B. Overall, I have not really been that impressed, so I am going to give him a C-.

Mike Aviles- He doesn't start everyday but he still is a pain in the away team's side. He has logged one error so far in 20 starts. He earns a B in fielding. His batting is a different story. He is currently batting a .302 which is awesome. He has hit in 19/22 games. He gets an A-. Overall, I'm going to give him a B+.

Carlos Santana- C-San is not looking hot so far. He has two errors on the year so I'll give his fielding a C. His batting is nothing special. In fact, he is batting .139 but he has four home runs. I'll give him a D+. Overall, he deserves a C.

Yan Gomes- This is a disappointing start to the season. Perhaps we should have waited to sign a contract with him. His fielding errors are inexcusable. He has nine errors, and he has allowed 18 stolen bases with only 25% caught stealing. Unfortunately, Gomes gets an F in the fielding category. His hitting has been good. He is batting .255 this year with 25 hits and four home runs. He earns a B in that category. Overall, Gomes gets a D. 

Lonnie Chisenhall- Lonnie's bat has been on fire but his glove hasn't. Lonnie has started ten games and he already has three errors. He gets a D. He is batting .355 with 22 hits in 22 games. He earns an A. Overall, he deserves a B.

Michael Brantley- He has been amazing. Brantley has one error this year and earns himself an A-. His batting has been even better. He is hitting a solid .276, leading the team with 34 hits and five home runs. He gets an A+. Overall, he gets an A!

Michael Bourn- Bourney has been plagued with injuries as of late. He has one error this year in 15 games. I give him a B. His batting average is .266 with 17  hits. That  deserves a B as well. So his overall grade is a B.

David Murphy- I take back everything mean I said about him. His fielding has been phenomenal! He has no errors and a perfect fielding percentage. He gets an A+! His batting average is .250 with two home runs and 24 hits. I'll give him a B+! Overall, he gets an A!


Monday, May 5, 2014

Injury Report/Performance Report

                                Injury Report



      The Tribe has been plagued by injuries recently. Jason Kipnis made contact with a ball and doubled over in pain. Kipnis, all-star second baseman in 2013, will be out for three to five weeks with an oblique strain. Kipnis is a huge part of the ball club and will be greatly missed in the time he is on the DL. 
       What concerns me more is Michael Bourn. Bourn left the game against the White Sox on May 3rd with tightness in his left hamstring. Bourn underwent surgery on his hamstring during the off-season and spent some time on the disabled list at the beginning of the season following a strain. This is the second time this season that he left the game because of his hamstring. Bourn is known for his base stealing ability, stealing 23 bases last year. However, his stolen bases are substantially lower than the 61 bases he stole in 2011. 
         Next up on the injury list is Jason Giambi. No surprise here! Giambi turned 43 in January. He started the season on the DL with a fractured rib after being hit by a pitch. On May 3, Giambi was replaced by Ryan Raburn in the lineup after complaining of calf cramps. 

Jason Kipnis is expected back in early June.
Michael Bourn is considered day to day. Although he expects to be back between today and May 8th. 
Jason Giambi is considered day to day but could be back at anytime. He is available to pinch hit if needed. 



                           Performance Report


Overall, we have not played our best. Our errors have been outrageous.
Leading the team in errors is catcher Yan Gomes.

Gomes has a total of seven errors and he has allowed 16 stolen bases. Gomes had a total of three errors and 29 stolen bases at the end of last years season.

Tied for second is Asdrubal Cabrera and Nick Swisher with four errors. Last year, Asdrubal Cabrera recorded nine errors on the year. Swisher recorded nine as well.

Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis are tied for third with three errors. Last year, Chisenhall logged nine errors. Kipnis logged a whopping 12 errors last year. Kipnis is doing much better on the field this year.

Believe it or not, Carlos Santana, who transitioned from catcher to third just last year, has only one error. 

The errorless streak continues for the following players logging more than 20 innings: Danny Salazar, Ryan Raburn, David Murphy, Nyjer Morgan, Justin Masterson, Corey Kluber, and Carlos Carrasco.