Written by Steve Buffum

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The Indians finally lost the opening series to the Yankees three games to one by getting outscored eight hundred fifty to four, although the immediate implications were a little more promising. Justin Masterson was dominant in his start, and Trevor Bauer looked awfully acceptable in his.  The offense, on the other hand, could not be compared to limp noodles in that at least noodles, even limp ones, have some structure.  David Huff made his triumphant return.  Nick Hagadone did not.

FINAL	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Diaspora (23-14)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Indians (21-15)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	1	5	0

W: Masterson (6-2)                    L: Phelps (1-2)

FINAL	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Malevolence (24-14)	1	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	7	11	0
Indians (21-16)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2

W: Nuno (1-0)    L: Bauer (1-2)    S: Warren (1)

We had sole possession of first place!  For over three hours!

0) Administrative Note

I still plan to write up the weekend set with the Tigers, but Real Life prevented this in real time.  Drop me a note at steve.buffum@gmail.com if you’re interested in seeing the column when it’s ready.

1) Simple

Sometimes, there isn’t a whole lot more to “analysis” than “observation.”  Justin Masterson looked about as good as he is capable of looking, and while he did give up four hits, three of them didn’t actually leave the infield.  He did walk three guys, but struck out nine, completed the game, and threw 79 of his 118 pitches for strikes.  He got 14 swinging strikes, and racked up more called strikes and foul balls (each) than the Yankees managed to put in play.  He was in danger of giving up a run exactly once, when he gave up two infield singles and a walk in the second, but struck out the next hitter and yawned 99/100ths of the rest of the game.  Four of his innings were 1-2-3 affairs, and a fifth inning featured the minimum number of batters because he induced a double play.

Watching Masterson, it was evident that he had the three things that are most highly-correlated with Mastersonian Success: his velocity was good, he located well, and the ball had good late movement.  ESPN reported that 95 of his 118 pitches were on the inner or outer third of the plate, something that doesn’t jibe with throwing 79 strikes, but I’m willing to at least believe that he kept the ball out of the middle of the plate.  The few pitches I saw on highlights were quality pitches.  ESPN also reports that he threw 38 sliders, but that might have been a function of the lineup the Yankees trotted out, which included Corban Joseph, Chris Nelson, and George Costanza.  On the other hand, it may have also been a function of how well he was controlling and locating the pitch.  Generally speaking, I’d rather see fewer sliders from Masterson, but I’m not going to argue with 9-K shutouts with one hit that leaves the infield.

At some point, I would like to see a game without a wild pitch.

2) Good while it lasts

At some point, it is probably worth having the discussion as to whether our 7^th starter is better than our 6^th starter and deserves to be our 5^th starter, but for now, as long as Trevor Bauer can live with the Columbus Shuttle and come up every so often, I can live with Corey Kluber in the rotation in Cashbox Myers’ place.  I’d rather Kluber pitch better, but on the other hand, he strikes out 8 guys per 9 innings and has more Ks than BBs, neither of which you can say about Bauer.

What you CAN say about Bauer is that major-league hitters don’t get a lot of hits off him.  In his first two games, his THIRTEEN walks were offset by only THREE hits (in 10 aggregate innings).  Bauer made a much better showing of control yesterday, walking 2 hitters in 6 1/3 innings, although he did allow 6 hits.  Still, through 6 complete innings, Bauer had allowed only 4 hits, and all of them were singles.  His only run allowed to that point was unearned on two singles, a throwing error, and a ground ball.  Two of the four singles were of the infield variety, and both walks came in one inning (meaning that in 5 other innings, he didn’t walk anyone, which sounds like damning with faint praise, but in Bauer’s case, it’s praising with faint praise).

Is Bauer ready to step in and become as reliable a rotation member as, say, Ubaldo Jimenez or Scott Kazmir?  I can’t believe I even wrote that sentence.  Of COURSE he can be as reliable as Ubaldo Jimenez: this means he is over 90% likely to show up to the ballpark in the right-colored uniform.  All other bets are off.  Still, until giving up a pair of doubles and getting the wazoo in the 7^th, Bauer was about as effective as any other starter during this long stretch of high-quality starting pitching.  I’d rather he worked at least three starts in a row in AAA in which he walks no more than 2 hitters (frankly, he might have done this, I didn’t look it up).  But if Kluber doesn’t turn it around a bit, I wouldn’t argue with Bauer taking his slot.

3) As Jason Kipnis goes, so goes the nation

Jason Kipnis, first plate appearance: home run.
Cleveland Indians, first inning: one run

Jason Kipnis, rest of the game: 0-for-3
Cleveland Indians, rest of the game: zero runs

Jason Kipnis, second game: did not play
Cleveland Indians, second game: did not score

This could prove awkward for the rest of the season.

4) Thumper Rule invoked

Nick Hagadone.

5) Welcome back!

David Huff … yes, THAT David Huff … ostensibly our 11^th starter or so … tossed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball with a pair of punchouts.  He allowed a single and didn’t walk anyone.  Three of his outs were ground balls.  He somehow got three swinging strikes in 17 pitches.

While cynical observers might claim that the Yankees were ready to go home with a 7-0 lead and that Adam Warren was busy picking up the Wes Littleton Save, I will say that Huff did a good job and could potentially become as successful as Rich Hill.

6) DEE-fense!

One of Trevor Bauer’s runs was unearned because Carlos Santana made a bad throw.

One of Nick Hagadone’s runs was unearned because Mark Reynolds made a bad throw.

None of Justin Masterson’s runs were earned because he didn’t give up any.

7) AW-fense!

No.

8) The magic of small samples

With a single in the daycap, Yan Gomes is now hitting .273 on the season.

(I do not believe than Yan Gomes is a legit .273 hitter, but I will take it.)

9) Things I did not know

Drew Stubbs hit his 8^th double of the season.  His OBP is still under .300.

Asdrubal Cabrera hit his 11^th double of the season.  His OBP is six points higher than Stubbs’.

Santana and Reynolds each began the day slugging over .620.  They each ended the day slugging under .600.

David Phelps can walk 5 guys and still give up only one run.

Adam Warren pitches for the New York Yankees.

10) Things I did

Jason Giambi: not fast.

Ichiro Suzuki: no longer valuable offensively.

11) Public Service for the Google Search Engine

Jack Zduriencik makes a cameo appearance in Fast and Furious 6 as a movie executive who demands 6 more Fast and Furious movies.  He opines that Vin Diesel is being paid too much and wants to replace him with Travis Hafner.  I don’t believe anyone would recognize Jack Zduriencik in a Fast and Furious move and this statement isn’t remotely true.  Fire Eric Wedge.