I didn't realize today was Friday the 13th until I started writing this post. That's officially more interesting than anything that happens on a Tribe off-day, but I guess there's still a little news to cover. The Twins come to town today for a three-game set. We better improve upon our last series against Minnesota, or things are gonna get scary. See what I did there? It was pretty bad. Anyway, here's what's up
Indians news & notes
By the numbers: a look back at Cleveland's season so far | Indians.com - Thursday was an off day, so a good time to reflect on where things stand. What has worked and what hasn't so far in 2016? The Carlos Santana in the leadoff spot experiment paid dividends. The rotation is still pretty solid, despite the injury to Carlos Carrasco and Cody Anderson's horribleness. And how bout that Francisco Lindor guy? He's pretty OK.
Indians reliever Joba Chamberlain can't throw 102 anymore, but at least he knows what he's doing on the mound | Cleveland.com - Justin Chamberlain ain't what he used to be, but he's also surprisingly not been a disaster this year. His path is an interesting one, from Tommy John surgery to dominance to midges to minors to resurgence. Actually wait a minute, can we just talk about how bad this headline is?
One family's route from Cuba to America | Cleveland.com - Hoynsie recounts a fascinating story about the lengths his grandmother went to immigrate to the U.S. from Cuba, and the events that led to him becoming a transformative talent on the Tribe's 2016 roster. Also, jesus, check out *that* headline too.
News from around MLB
- It seems like MLB is already backing off its new slide rule
- FiveThirtyEight examines the best pitchers of all time, according to their measure of pitchers' peaks
- The Royals have been a special breed of suck lately, and it's due in large part to their rotation
- And now that rotation is due to get even worse with the loss of Chris Young and Kris Medlen
- The world's pettiest umpire lives in Texas
- Recent polling indicates that 48% of Americans love bat flips, 65% of Americans hate the DH, and 100% of those people are idiots
- John Lackey probably isn't a fan of bat flips though, given that he recently threatened someone for admiring a homer
- Bill Baer examines how the Stephen Strasburg contract came about