Wickman blows save, Tribe hits new low. Andy Call, Canton Rep
After yesterday's gut-wrenching loss, frustration turned into rage:
As if we needed to know that the players are getting frustrated. Now I have absolutely no idea what the impetus was that caused the almost-fight, but after losing a game like that, it probably didn't take much.
Reader's view not always Pluto's. Terry Pluto, ABJ
Lots of good stuff.
On Jhonny's struggles with chasing off-speed pitches:
Dear Geoff: You're on to something. And I agree, as you wrote: ``They've stopped throwing (Peralta) fastballs over the plate and are waiting to see how he responds. There's only one way out -- don't swing at bad pitches, don't try to pull the ball, just hit lots of singles and take tons of walks. When the on-base percentage gets around .400, they'll stop walking him.''
Peralta has been getting nothing but curves and sliders this season, and he hasn't proven to opposing pitchers that he'll lay off them. That's why Travis Hafner is such a good hitter; he'll spit at the junk and wait for something in the strike zone.
Pluto also addresses the continuing insanity of missing Scott Elarton:
Dear Richard: I can barely speak for myself, much less everyone in radio-land. But I have often written that Elarton got a two-year, $8 million deal from the Kansas City Royals. Johnson's contract is $3.5 million for one year. So yes, he's cheaper. And I've written several times that I would not have signed either guy. I would have let Jason Davis, Fausto Carmona, Jeremy Sowers and Jeremy Guthrie battle for the fifth spot. One of them would have been a fill-in if there were injuries in the rotation. As for Elarton, he's 1-7 with a 5.09 ERA and 16 homers allowed in 76 innings for the Royals, so I'm not sure he would save the day. And he's working in the American League's best pitcher's park.
Elarton's FIP is 6.54. Johnson's is 4.42. One is signed for two seasons, the other for one season.