Morning Rundown: Jekyll Jimenez Comes Out to Play; Bobby's Ballad

Well that certainly did last... It wasn't but a few days ago that Ubaldo Jimenez took the blame for Scott Radinsky getting fired. Last night he did his best job to try and get Rubin Niebla canned before he could even be in Cleveland for a week.

August 14th, 2012

Cleveland Indians - 6

Los Angeles Angels - 9

W: Zack Greinke (10-4) L: Ubaldo Jimenez (9-12) S: Ernesto Frieri (14)

[BOXSCORE]

I'm of course joking, but here is the Jekyll Jimenez. Last week we talked about Ubaldo Jimenez's most frustrating trait. Not that he comes out and has bad games like the one he pitched last night, but the fact that he has good games like the one he had last week against Boston. We know it's in there, yet, we continue to get gems like his four inning, eight run masterpiece that he threw against the Angels.

"I don't even know [what happened]," said Jimenez, who has had an up-and-down first full year with the Indians. "Sometimes I have a good games, sometimes I have a bad game -- definitely have been inconsistent. It's been a really tough year, but I have to keep going, keep working."

That run scored by the trio was from Carlos Santana, which came after he was hit by a Zack Greinke pitch. It followed Howie Kendrick getting pegged by Ubaldo Jimenez in the first inning in the midst of his early breakdown. It came after an Alberto Callaspo fly out for the first out and with a runner on third. 

I highly doubt that Jimenez was aiming to nail Kendrick, especially in that situation.

"The whole ballpark knew Kendrick wasn't hit on purpose, but the whole ballpark knew that he hit Santana on purpose," Acta said. "Now we're gonna put a warning so we can't retaliate? That's just not fair. ... There's just so much inconsistency in that ruling."

Greinke of course denied it, saying he was throwing in like he always does to establish his other pitches, but that he pulled it a bit and that he doesn't understand why people always think he is hitting guys on purpose.

So the debate is now, did Greinke do it on purpose? You would think Greinke wouldn't knowing the situation. So maybe he is telling the truth. It wasn't until the fourth inning anyway. Why did he pitch two more clean innings (and already having pitched to Santana who led off the second) before he decided to retaliate?

I tend to believe Greinke and the Angels here. But I do understand Acta's side. Why are the umpire's warning the benches after that? It is inconsistent. If you don't believe either was intentional, there should be no warning. But they must have believed one of, if not both of those pitches were intentional, or else they wouldn't be shelling out warnings to both benches.

That makes no sense.

But I don't think Greinke was trying to do anything other than what he said. It does happen. Although you do have to be careful with a guy like Greinke. He really has good command of his stuff and he is that sort of a person to not do something initially and be more calculated about it later by putting it in the back of his mind that he could probably get away with it at a later point.

That and it was the second inning. If he were to hit someone early, then he could really get caught as it being intentional and end up potentially getting tossed. Remember this is the same guy who spiked a baseball and got tossed and ended up starting the next game because it was so early that he was ejected.

So he knows a thing or two about dealing with umpires.

Either way, it is a nice little side story for us to actually talk about in yet another loss. What else are you going to do?

Random Details...

Props to Hannahan and Zeke Carrera for having good games as well, Jack getting on twice with a hit and a walk, Zeke with a RBI single for himself.

Jason Kipnis returned to the starting lineup, but he was utilized in the DH spot, not starting at second. He led off and went 1-for-5 with a RBI single. It certainly was nice to see something from the top of that lineup other than Choo's double.

You have to appreciate the effort Chris Seddon has given the Indians so far. It hasn't been spectacular, but he pitched 2.1 more innings of relief and he gave up a run, but after Ubaldo gave up eight, you can hardly blame the pen for giving up one. That's just a horrendous looking ratio.

Frank Hermmann pitched the rest of the game and didn't give up a baserunner. He's really been on-point in his first few outings as an Indian this year. I remember seeing him in Columbus and he was routinely hitting 96 on the gun. The addition of that spiked curve must be really coming along and helping him.

Really on Asdrubal Cabrera in not coming through with one of his better situations. He had two runners in scoring position with two outs that he failed to bring in. He's usually one of the people you can count on to get the job done there and he didn't. Santana also left someone out there with two outs. That's three more runs right there and if you get better pitching, the Indians can win this game.

[THE BALLAD OF BOBBY HERNANDEZ]

Well, tonight is the night. In what has now become a lost season with nothing but anger, frustration, and tension rising and building, there's probably one thing we can now look forward to before the season ends. This is the high point of the rest of the season. 

It's the return of the former Fausto Carmona. It's the debut of Roberto Hernandez. It's the first start of the season and first since the end of last year for a pitcher that actually might go out there and give the Indians something.

"I expect him to go out there and not try to do too much," Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. "I'm sure he's going to have some kind of butterflies, even if he's been out there a ton of times, but he's never been out there at this time of the year for his first outing."

Well knowing Fausto, he may go out there and try to do too much. He may not though. He may go out and dazzle. He may go out and just give the Indians six solid innings. He may get shelled. He may throw a complete game. He's barely pitched all year. Sure he's thrown on the side and he's had his rehab games, but really, he's just starting to hit his point of the season being 'ramped' up for him. If anything, he's ready to go.

And there's going to be a lot of eyes on him as he gets started in what is now being called the "Post-Fausto Era" of his career. 

With nothing left to play for, we now turn our attention to this. To a man trying to rebuild his life, restart his career, perhaps redeem what faith was lost in him when he was exposed as a fraud. Perhaps start a new chapter and re-birth his career that was, really not his own.

We have a man who played for years under a false identity and at times, never looked like himself. Probably because he wasn't himself. The pressure of knowing you are doing this because you lied and so far, no one has found out. But soon someone will and that day is getting closer and closer.

Is there any wonder that some regarded Fausto Carmona as a headcase? Probably because he was. Probably because he had all these thoughts rolling around in his head. Then trying to pitch to major league hitters? Trying to read the signs and deliver a baseball traveling 94 mph to hit a specific spot?

I wouldn't want that burden, I wouldn't want that pressure. It's unneeded. It's something that you shouldn't be worrying about on the mound. The pressure should be from winning or losing, not from if you are going to be found out for being not who you say you are.

And now that pressure is gone. He's Roberto Hernandez now. I'll still call him Fausto, others will still call him Fausto. But he's no longer here illegally. He's now who he says he is. He's ready to pitch with no strings attached. It doesn't matter if he's now considered older. He hasn't aged but only a year since we last saw him on the mound. Sure he's not 28 like we thought, but he didn't go from 31 to 34. He went from 30 to 31.

He didn't lose his sinker or command of his pitches. He only lost the thing that was holding him back the most. Something that wasn't even his to begin with. Now he has nothing but himself and the ball and his task is to throw that ball like he was taught to do. His age doesn't matter, neither does his name. None of it matters. He can just throw like he was taught to do. Like we've seen him do in the past.

No strings attached.

This could lead to another shot with the Indians, or his ticket out of town. If anything, that's the pressure he's facing. But that's the pressure that you want on the diamond. That's the pressure we've seen him take on head first and end up on top.

We've seen him battle bugs and Yankees. We've seen him in the highest pressure situations relating to the game of baseball and the execution. He has it, it's there. Maybe he was within himself and not Carmona in those instances. Maybe now that he can be himself and not Carmona, the long periods of inconsistency, the head-scratching blow-ups. Maybe they'll stop.

Tonight we find out. Tonight he takes the mound as a Cleveland Indian for the 151st time as a starter. But the first time as Roberto Hernandez.

It's not just a season debut, it's a major league debut and I can't wait to see what the new guy has in store for us.

[RANDOM RUNDOWN]

The Indians have indeed placed Josh Tomlin on the disabled list in order to get Fausto on the roster, who they've activated from the restricted list. Chris Seddon is now a full-time reliever for the time being as he essentially takes over Tomlin's role and Fausto fills his rotation spot.

Seddon can fill multiple roles as a left-handed option and a starter, he can be on for one lefty batter or come in for long relief in situations like the one last night. Acta really likes that flexibility. As for the bullpen, it will continue to have the extra arm. As much as Acta and the club would like to get a LaPorta or Canzler up, they need the extra pitcher right now.

No real word on what is up with Tomlin other than he underwent an MRI on his elbow and is currently being evaluated. Acta said that they've known about this issue with his elbow since June 30th. So they let him pitch an entire month and a half with it? Really? That seems, dumb...

Chris Perez notched career save number 100 the other night and he talked about the season he's having. It's been four years in the bigs and he's really still considered a young player. Even more of a reason that he could net you a good return but also a good reason to hold onto someone who can close games for you for years to come.

"He has really grown into the [closer's] role. This year it's a totally different guy," Acta said. "He spent the first year setting up until we moved him there last year. ... He started with some forearm issues and the velocity wasn't there, he was getting used to it. This year he's been the whole package."

And the whole package is good. Like really good. Yeah he's blown three games, but what closer doesn't blow a few here and there? He's really been lights out more times than not and when he strikes out the side, that is just a beautiful thing to watch.

With injuries and what-not, in this season that is pretty much done contention wise, Terry Pluto says the Indians need to look at their young players. He makes a good point. Why waste time with Derek Lowe in the bullpen (who looked good there for the Yankees) when you can put in someone like Cody Allen to get the experience.

There aren't really any "prospects" per say that could use experience, but there are still young guys who have to prove that it's either time for them to sink or swim as a major league. LaPorta, Canzler, Gomez, etc. Time to see what some of them have to offer in this stretch run of games and if they are worth giving a shot next spring.

The Akron Aeros are going to the playoffs and with all the call-ups to the Indians, that means the Clippers are taking some of their players. Well now the Aeros are getting some re-enforcement, and a real good one to boot. Jesus Aguilar is headed to Double-A to put on his power display. He'll probably end up spending most of next season there if things go well, but getting a head start with some playoff experience will be great for him.

For the Carolina squad this year he's hit 12 home runs and knocked in 58 runs with a .277 average and a .365 OBP. Last year when he arrived in Kinston after playing most of the season at Lake County he started hitting some bombs and was a real key in the K-Tribe's final playoff run. Let's see if he has the same impact for the Aeros.

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