Written by Steve Buffum

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The Tribe vaulted back into first place in the A.L. Central on the strength of one inning of offense and a very strong bullpen.  In today’s B-List, Buff addresses what we’ve learned from Fausto Carmona’s ability to Not Suck All Game Long, what we’ve learned about the bullpen’s recent performance, and lauds the bottom of the batting order.  He also frets about the arms in the other bullpen, applauds a hit with a runner in scoring position, and razzes Shin-Soo Choo.

 

FINAL	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Indians (36-30)	0	0	0	4	1	0	1	0	0	6	13	0
Tigers (37-31)	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	1

W: Carmona (4-8))         L: Furbush (1-1)             S: C. Perez (17)

Shouldn’t ANY 9-inning game take less than 3:34 to play?

0) Administrative Note

I am sacrificing offensive commentary for posting this in a timely manner.

1) Kudos of a sort

Infuriausto Carmona began the game in splendid form, starting the first two hitters out with first-pitch strikes (which they prudently took, given Infuriausto’s recent outings), then getting a flyout and a swinging K later in the ABs for his troubles.  However, the old Infuriausto came to the fore with two outs, falling behind Brennan Boesch 3-1 before grooving a 400-foot homer pitch, then falling behind each of the next two hitters 2-0 (eventual single off Jack Hannahan, eventual double off the wall).  I went out with my family at this point pretty much convinced Carmona would fail, and sure enough, when I came back, I found that he had managed to give up another pair of runs in that inning on a walk and a two-run single.

A funny thing happened on the way to the schellacking, though: Carmona … pitched better.

Although he did load the bases in the third and allowed a run in the fourth, for the most part, the only hitter that truly smacked Carmona around was old chum Victor Martinez, who certainly saw countless sinkers from Infuriausto in his day and knew what he was looking for.  (Also, Victor Martinez can hit.)  The run in the 4^th was the result of a single, botched force play, sacrifice, and routine grounder.  That’s not much in the way of avoidably bad pitching.

Do we draw grand conclusions from Infuriausto’s newfound ability to regain his composure after a bad inning?  We do not.  It’s imprudent to draw grand conclusions about ANYTHING after a single performance, and the fact is, it’s not like Carmona pitched lights-out superior baseball.  His overall line of 8 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs in 5 innings is not unduly colored by his dreadful first.  Over the last four innings, he still allowed 4 hits and a walk while striking out 2 hitters: acceptable numbers, to be sure, but not outstanding ones.

On the other hand, much of what scouts and fans have been complaining about with Carmona is the fact that when faced with adversity (in the form of location struggles, bad defense, a missed call, or a couple bad pitches), Carmona has thus far this season reverted to his old form of letting it derail him almost entirely.  It’s hard to name a start in which Carmona got into trouble, fought through it, and emerged on the other side stronger than he started.  It’s easier to identify starts in which Carmona got in to trouble, turned into a newt, and covered three-fifths of the infield with his own excrement.

So it has to be at least encouraging, if not exactly paradigm-shifting, that Infuriausto got back on track here, right?  Well, I suppose.  I think that’s finding a bit too much meaning in the random pattern of dropped straws.  But it was nice that he got his 4^th win of the season when he didn’t have his best command, and he did at least get a better GO:FO ratio than, say, Masterson did last time out.  It’s sad that we’re at the point of Small Victories with Carmona, but that is, in fact, where we are.

2) Death by Bullpen

Raffy Perez faced three hitters.  He threw 11 strikes in 15 pitches and retired all three, one on a strikeout.  His ERA is now 1.32.

Vinnie Pestano allowed a walk to the first hitter he faced, Brennan Boesch.  Faced with one of the best hitters in the American League in Miggy Cabrera, Pestano attacked the strike zone and produced a double play.  After retiring Martinez to end the 7^th, he faced formerly-famous Magglio Ordonez and threw him SEVEN straight strikes, the last of which Ordonez swung at and missed.  Pestano also threw 11 strikes in 15 pitches.  His ERA is now 1.52.

Tony Sipp walked a batter because he hates my spleen.  He did retire two hitters, one on a swinging K, and now sports an ERA of 2.22.

Chris Perez struck out the first two hitters he faced to run a string to 5 (he struck out the side Monday night) before getting a routine fly out for the save.  His ERA is now 2.49.

Before anyone gets too cocky, though, consider these numbers:

Charlie Furbush: 2.00
Dan Schlereth: 2.61
Left Turn Alburquerque: 2.53
Dave Purcey: 2.35

So having an ERA under 3.00 is not exclusively the purview of the so-called Bullpen Mafia. Watch out for the Tigers.

3) A little more detail: Chris Perez

Wow.

I mean, wow.

Look, I’ve never been one to declare Chris Perez “Sooper Tremendously Awesome” because … well, goddammit, he just doesn’t throw enough damn strikes.  It drives me insane.  He falls behind hitters and walks too many guys and his stuff is just not THAT great to be able to get away with that nonsense.  Throw strikes!

Well, if you’ve seen the last two outings, you’d be hard-pressed to find something for me to complain about.  The only thing I can think of is that he has a surplus of beard and should be able to donate some to poor Cord Phelps so that he can pass for 18 instead of 15.  But in Perez’ last two saves, he hasn’t looked “merely good enough to close,” he has looked “completely in command.”

Now, this sort of thing ebbs and flows unless you’re Mariano Rivera or something.  Perez has been a fine closer for the Indians, but every closer has some stretches in which he’s doing it largely on false bravado or fighting through some command issues.  This is not one of those stretches.  This is one of those stretches in which Perez is clearly “feeling it,” and I heartily recommend riding this puppy for as long as the team can, ‘cause it sure is a joy to watch.

4) A little more detail: Vinnie Pestano

Look, all jokes about The VFP and Pestano’s new assigned middle name aside, here’s what I see thus far: Vinnie Pestano is just Pitching Better.

Last season, I know 5 innings is not much to go on, and I’ll leave the minor-league observations to those who can make them, but the man walked 5 guys in 5 innings.  Yes, he struck out 8, and 8 Ks in 5 innings is massive, but 5 walks is supermassive.  It may be that Pestano was hyped up on more adrenaline than humans should be allowed to generate, but I did not see Pestano as much more than a Live Arm.

This season, his 10 walks in 23 2/3 innings is still too damned many walks.  It sure beats 5 in 5, but it’s a little more than you’d like.  Still, at least a couple of those walks were pretty questionable, like the one to A-Rod on Monday night.  30 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings is still massive.  This is good stuff.  Combined with TWELVE hits allowed (good for a WHIP of 0.93 even with all the walks), this is great stuff.

And why?  Well, I think it’s because Pestano has harnessed some of his movement to take place in a tighter space.  My impression from watching him is that he now KNOWS he is a major-league pitcher, and he can throw his stuff at “normal speed” (not that his velocity is low, but that he doesn’t have to hump it up there extra), and this allows him to keep the ball where he’s intending it to go.  His delivery looks more naturally-repeatable than it did last fall.

Also, I like it.

5) Quick Hitters

Orly Cabrera is clearly nearing the end of his career, and moves around second base with a physical reluctance my knees can understand, but let’s give credit to the man: he seems to help his teammates, and his big RBI double put the Tribe ahead to stay last night.  Orly went 3-for-4 with a pair of ribbies and scored a run for his trouble.

Tofu Lou banged out a pair of hits and drove in a run.  You get no bonus points for correctly identifying the field to which he hit the ball all three times.  He also had a pointless sacrifice that hurt my feelings, but I do not blame Lou for this.

Shin-Soo Choo scored three runs after popping two singles and walking once.  If Choo were to hit like, say, a GOOD middle infielder instead of an AVERAGE one, it would help tremendously.

6) The Incredible Inverted Batting Order

1-4 in the order: 3-for-18, 1 walk, 4 Ks

5-9 in the order: 10-for-17, 2 walks, 1 K

This is not a call to change the batting order.  You’re not going to make a lot of coin betting on Orly, Hannahan, and Tofu Lou to outhit Carlos, Brantley, and Asdrubal.

7) Ducks off the pond!

The Indians went 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and I died.