Results tagged ‘ David Huff ’

The second cut is the deepest

The Indians trimmed their spring roster by 15 players this morning, sending out several top prospects, a few contenders for the last spot in the big league bullpen and a contender for the last rotation spot.

RHPs John Meloan, Adam Miller and Juan Salas, LHP Tony Sipp and 2B Luis Valbuena were optioned to Triple-A Columbus. RHP Hector Rondon and C Carlos Santana were optioned to Double-A Columbus.

RHP Jack Cassel, LHP David Huff, C Armando Camacaro, 1B Jordan Brown, 3B Wes Hodges, INF Jesus Merchan, 1B Beau Mills and OF Stephen Head were reassigned to Minor League camp.

So strike Huff from the mix for the fifth starting job, which will likely go to Aaron Laffey, with Jeremy Sowers and Scott Lewis also strong in the running. Huff only had two appearances in Cactus League play and seemed to press.

Strike Meloan, Salas and Cassel from the bullpen competition. Zach Jackson, Kirl Saarloos, Vinnie Chulk and Matt Herges are the leading candidates for that job. 

And say goodbye to Santana and Valbuena, who made a strong first impression after their acquisitions in 2008.

There are now 44 players remaining in camp.

UPDATE: Was given incorrect info earlier. Rondon and Santana to Akron, not Columbus.

Don't let 'em take me to the Cadillac Ranch

...but you can take me to the Camelback Ranch, spring home of the White Sox and Dodgers. It's another beautiful ballpark, with a unique sandstone exterior.

 

But an afternoon at the Camelback is in no way worth the $90 the Dodgers have the audacity to charge to sit in the Home Plate Club ($100 for "premium" spring games, as if such a thing even exists). Manny or no Manny, that's just nuts.

 

EXCRUCIATING MINUTIA OF THE DAY...

 

  • Grady Sizemore started at DH for the second straight day and went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs against the White Sox. He'll play again Wednesday and will return to the field. He said his groin's feeling good -- no issues running the bases in-game or shagging fly balls during the morning workouts.
  • I have to say... There's nothing I enjoy less about this job than occasionally having to ask guys about the state of their groin.
  • Not only did South Korea advance to the second round of the World Baseball Classic, but the Koreans won Pool A. They defeated Japan, 1-0, this morning. It was Shin-Soo Choo's day off. Part of the agreement between the Indians and South Korea is that Choo will get one day off per pool. The Koreans move on to San Diego for Round 2, which begins March 15. They will train in Arizona, so the Indians' trainers will get a look at Choo's sore left triceps. He's expected to be here tomorrow, according to Eric Wedge.
  • Speaking of the Classic, in case you missed it, Mark DeRosa had four RBIs in Team USA's rout of Venezuela yesterday. He played both left field and third base.
  • Anthony Reyes looked really good today -- three scoreless innings, one walk, three strikeouts. He said this is the best he's felt since 2005, so that's encouraging for an Indians team that could really use a boost in the back end of the rotation.
  • David Huff threw two innings in a simulated game on one of the back fields this morning. He'll be in a Cactus game later this week. It will be just his second appearance in a "real" exhibition game. "We extended him last year, innings-wise, so we wanted to make sure we handled him appropriately this spring," Wedge said.
  • Ed Mujica also threw two innings in the sim game. "He looked good," Wedge said. "You know, he was really throwing the ball well early in camp in his bullpens. He's been trying to do a little too much in games. So we wanted to pull him back and let him relax a little bit and just let the ball go a little more free and easy." The ball certainly went off the bat of Wes Hodges, who took Mujica deep.
  • Kerry Wood will appear against the Angels in Tempe tomorrow, and Joe Smith will appear against the Rockies on Wednesday.
  • According to date in John Dewan's new "The Fielding Bible -- Volume II," the Indians ranked eighth in baseball last year in defensive runs saved, with 29. Dewan points out that Ben Francisco saved 12, while Franklin Gutierrez saved 24. With Gutierrez gone and Choo -- rated by Dewan as "average" in defensive runs saved -- starting in right, Dewan is speculating that the Tribe's defensive ranking may drop this year.
  • Minor League right-hander Neil Wagner has begun blogging. Check it out right here.

~AC

Hey mister deejay, won't ya hear my last prayer

I really don't see how it's even remotely possible that anyone could or would need to listen to a radio station other than E Street Radio -- the all-Bruce Springsteen station on Sirius and XM.

 

Actually, I'm on my second rental car of the spring already, because the Sirius subscription in the first one ran out a day into my rental period. That wasn't going to cut it. I need access to the only station where it's standard practice to hear, on average, five versions of "Thunder Road" (the studio version, the live version from the Agora Ballroom in '78, the solo piano version from the live boxed set, the original version named "Wings for Wheels" from early '75 and the studio alternate version in which the woman he's singing to is named Chrissie, not Mary) a day.

 

To me, that's perfect radio. But for the rest of you, perfect radio involves the Indians broadcasts.

 

Unfortunately, not every game down here in the Cactus League will be carried by WTAM, WMMS and the Indians Radio Network. Tom Hamilton, who arrived to camp today, will be in the booth for Wednesday's opener and 20 other spring exhibitions.

 

The rest of the time, you can turn to the soothing sounds of Jim Rosenhaus right over in these parts at Indians.com. Those of you with a subscription to MLB.com's Gameday Audio feature can tune in at the site for every game, including the ones not carried on the radio. For the complete spring broadcast schedule, click here.

  

EXCRUCIATING MINUTIA OF THE DAY...

 

  • It will be David Huff opposing Hector Rondon in the first inning of tomorrow's 1 p.m. intrasquad game. The game will last five innings in all. Rafael Betancourt, Kirk Saarloos, Adam Miller, Greg Aquino, Jensen Lewis, Masa Kobayashi, John Meloan and Ryan Edell will all get an inning of work.
  • Also of note for the intrasquad is that Ryan Garko and Jamey Carroll will both play in the outfield, while Josh Barfield will be at third base. Eric Wedge said he’s seen enough of Garko to determine it’s worth a shot, particularly in such a meaningless game.
  • At the end of this morning’s workout, the position players took part in an interesting situational hitting drill. They were divided into two teams. When a player would step into the cage, the players from the opposing team would call out a situation — for example, bases loaded with the infield in and one out — and the hitter would have to respond with the appropriate at-bat. Get it right, get a point. Get it wrong, lose a point. The team with the fewest points at the end had to pick up all the balls sprayed around the field. Some funny moments came out of this, and you can read about them on Indians.com in a little bit. But the highlight was when Shin-Soo Choo’s situation was basically “don’t hit a homer.” He hit a towering shot off the center-field wall, about a foot and a half short of going out. Big League Choo, ladies and gentlemen.
  • Nick Weglarz is a beast at 6-foot-3, 245 pounds. He was one of the early arrivals to Minor League camp this year, because he's due to leave to represent Canada in the World Baseball Classic this week. He took batting practice with the members of big-league camp this morning. I'll write up Weglarz in the coming days, but the main things you need to know about him is that he's got the body of a Travis Hafner with enough athleticism, the Indians believe, to remain in left field. He's not your typical power hitter. At Class A Kinston last year, he had a .396 on-base percentage, drawing 71 walks and striking out 78 times.
  • Another Andy Marte sighting today. He was working out at the complex and changing in the Minor League locker room. The Indians weren't able to work out a trade involving Marte, and he was officially exposed to waivers this morning. Teams have until Wednesday to claim him. I'll have Marte's take on his situation in a story on Indians.com this afternoon.
  • Jhonny Peralta will see some time at third this spring, but it won’t be a “steady diet,” Wedge said. It will be just enough to ensure Peralta is ready to jump over there from time to time during the season, if the need arises.
  • Former big-league player and hitting coach Mickey Brantley will be here tomorrow to see his son, Michael, in action.

 ~AC

I think I'm out of my mind, thinking about time

This is my first extended exposure to Mountain Time, which is, by far, the most interesting of the U.S. time zones (I mean, assuming time zones can, in fact, be interesting, which is completely debatable).

 clock.jpg

At present, we are two hours behind those of you back home in Cleveland. At some point in March, this will change, and we will be three hours behind. At this rate of progression, by December, the good people of Arizona will be 12 hours behind Cleveland. Craziness.

 

Those of you who saw my oversized picture posting yesterday know I struggle a bit with photos (that little problem has been corrected below, thanks to reader Casey W.). And it just so happens I struggle with numbers, too. As a result, there's a math problem I'm trying to get my head around, and I'm looking for your assistance:

 

My girlfriend's coming to town the weekend of the daylight savings change. When she leaves Cleveland on a Thursday evening and flies to Phoenix, she will gain two hours. The time will change in Cleveland on Saturday night, jumping ahead an hour, but it will remain the same here. She will fly back to Cleveland on Monday and lose three hours.

 

Where does all this change leave her internal clock? An hour ahead? An hour behind? Exactly the same? I wouldn't be so confused if it weren't for that wrinkle in which the time remains the same here but changes there. How does that figure?

 

And this leads to another, much more advanced question. Is it possible, over the course of a lifetime, to gain an entire extra day of internal clock time, simply by jumping around time zones? In other words, could you live for, say, 30,000 calendar days, but your body clock actually ticks for 30,001 days?

 

I think I just blew my own mind -- and hopefully yours.

 

Now, let's try to regroup and talk about the Indians' first full-squad workout day.

 

EXCRUCIATING MINUTIA OF THE DAY...

 

  • A-Rod was, once again, the story of the day in baseball, but not necessarily here. I'm sure more guys would have watched A-Rod's press conference, but the huge televisions that hang in the clubhouse have already malfunctioned. A maintenance guy was working on them. "We forgot to pay our cable bill," one clubbie joked.
  • Cliff Lee, however, still managed to watch the presser in the lunch room, and he had some interesting things to say about the leaking of A-Rod's test results. Obviously, there's a lot of disappointment among the players that those results went public. I'll have a story on this on Indians.com shortly.
  • There is one quote I didn't use in that story, though. Lee said he and his teammates received a drug test when they took their physicals over the last few days, but they can be tested again at any time, without notice. "It's not like we can say, 'OK, that's over, let's go do some steroids now,'" Lee joked.
  • Today was the first full-squad workout... sort of. The last group of pitchers had to throw their final bullpen session, so they went to the back fields while the position players were on Fields 1 and 2, taking BP, working at their positions and running the bases. Tomorrow, the full squads will begin in earnest with some live BP, which is always fun to watch.
  • Wedge said the baserunning drills are a focus in camp this year, much in the same way controlling the running game became a focus a couple years ago. The Indians obviously don't have a great deal of team speed, so they hope to compensate for that by being smarter on the basepaths. Wedge wants them to be aggressive down here and find their comfort zone for straying off the bag without getting picked off.
  • Travis Hafner took batting practice in the cage, with Derek Shelton tossing to him and Wedge looking on. Still no word on when Pronk will join his teammates in live BP outdoors, but he's not considered to be too far behind the rest of the hitters.
  • Wedge said LHP David Huff has a legitimate chance of cracking the rotation, though he's obviously not seen much of him yet.
  • Not only did the TVs go out, but a fire alarm went off just as Wedge was about to meet with reporters. Hey, they're still working out the kinks here, all right?
  • The sun came out today. It was welcome.

 

~AC

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