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One week from today is Opening Day for the Indians!
Yesterday's Game
The Indians lost 4-1 to the White Sox, putting just six men on base all game despite Chicago using mostly pitchers not expected to be major contributors.
Recaps:
Let's Go Tribe
MLB.com (Chris Gabel)
Cleveland.com (Paul Hoynes)
Other Tribe Items
Terry Pluto says the Indians are excited about Jason Kipnis. Kipnis says he's ten pounds lighter than he was a year ago, because he felt less flexible with the extra weight. He also says (as he has before) that he pressed to return from his oblique injury to quickly because he felt he had to live up to his new contract extension.
In case you missed it: T.J. House and Zach McAllister have been named to the starting rotation (though McAllister could still see some early-season bullpen work, if Francona decides to skip his turns when the team has some early days off).
Speaking of the Tribe rotation, MLB.com's Phil Rogers wrote about the group, and spoke with Terry Francona about his expectations for them.
Hey, Hoynsie! Could Danny Salazar develop late, like Carlos Carrasco? Hoynes discusses that question, responds to the archetypal Cle.com question, Since the Royals made the World Series, why don't the Indians fire their front office?, tackles what might become of Jose Ramirez and/or Erik Gonzalez, and more.
Around MLB
Not every team has reigning Cy Young winner Corey Kluber lined up for Opening Day, and so some managers have had to spend all spring considering who might start for them on Opening Day. Yesterday a number of skippers made that decision.
- Miami: Henderson Alvarez (whom I love)
- Boston: Clay Buchholz
- Philadelphia: Cole Hamels (I guess management though he might have been traded by now, and didn't want to go through the embarrassment of having to choose a new guy for the honor)
Boston closer Koji Uehara has a sore hamstring that was expected to be better by now, but isn't. He's almost certain to be place on the 15-day DL and miss at least the first week of the regular season.
Joe Posnanski wrote about Bobby Bragen, and like most of what Posnanski writes about former baseball players that most modern fans are unfamiliar with, it's well worth reading.
Speaking of well worth reading, I have a book recommendation: A Drive into the Gap, by Kevin Guilfoile is only 70 pages long, and and beautiful edition of it can be ordered for only $6.95. It has to do with baseball and with memory, two topics of great interest to me. You can watch a short clip about the book, read the first chapter, and order your copy, all at this link. You can read the entire book in one evening, and you'll be glad for the experience.