James Karinchak - Relight The Fire

It's been another quiet winter for fans of the Cleveland Indians. With very little roster activity to discuss, the recent focus has been on ownership and their unwillingness to invest in the club. With regards to the players, the majority of discussion this offseason has revolved around who's leaving the city, not who's coming in.

It's fair to say that optimism has been hard to find at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario this fall.

With that said, and baseball season nearing ever closer, it's led me to start looking at the Indians roster and who is on the team to get excited about.

Step forward James Karinchak.

The young pitcher with the arm of pure fire had an impressive 2019 season and really caught the eye in his brief cameo with the Indians last September. Who knew that 100mph bullets out of the bullpen really turns heads?

Drafted by Cleveland in the 9th round of the 2017 draft, Karinchak has risen through the minors at an incredible pace, especially since converting into a reliever in 2018. Last season he split the majority of his time between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus and struck out nearly every person he encountered. Between the two levels, Karinchak combined to record 66 strikeouts over 27.1 innings.

He hasn't looked back. All evidence points to his time in the minor leagues being over: what does he have left to prove there? Karinchak's penchant for strikeouts makes for exhilarating viewing, and the Tribe will be expecting him to feature prominently out of the bullpen in 2020.

Karinchak will enter spring training with serious ambitions of breaking camp with the team. In fact, it should be an expectation. Fans are already looking forward to the prospect of him teaming up with fellow flamethrower Emmanuel Clase, forming a potentially dominant partnership in high leverage situations for years to come.

The 6'3 right-handed hurler is definitely one to watch in the coming months and beyond.

Why can't it be the spring already?

Your New Favourite Aspect of the Offseason

With the MLB offseason finally heating up and players beginning to move, I thought I would share a piece I recently wrote for Bat Flips & Nerds. It's about a particular quirk in the sport I enjoy; the ritual of unveiling your team's latest signing to the baseball world, a bit of fun.

https://batflipsandnerds.com/2019/11/11/your-new-favourite-aspect-of-the-offseason/

The Gold Standard: Lindor & Perez

The 2019 baseball season may be over but some good news reached Indians fans yesterday. It was announced that catcher Roberto Perez and shortstop Francisco Lindor were each awarded a Gold Glove for their fantastic defensive seasons.

Perez was promoted to full time catching duties this year and flourished in his new role, displaying those elite defensive skills on a daily basis. The 30 year-old ranked second in the majors in caught stealing percentage, gunning down 41% of his would-be thieves. Pérez led every player in the majors in defensive runs saved, with an outstanding 29 (per Fangraphs).

The most remarkable statistic: Pérez wasn't charged with a single passed ball all season. Over 993.2 innings, he didn't let one get past him. He's only the fourth catcher since 1930 to catch as many games as he did without being charged with a passed ball. Just think how reassuring that was for the Indians pitching staff, knowing full well that a bounced curveball wouldn't be punished, never travelling beyond Perez's reach.

I said in my season review it would be a travesty if Perez was overlooked for the award, and thankfully this didn't come to pass, and he was rightfully rewarded. Lindor was confident for his pal all along, and was quoted during the final weekend of the season saying if Pérez “doesn’t win the Gold Glove, then there’s something wrong with the system. And I know the system’s not wrong, so Pérez will win it.”

Frankie is obviously psychic, but he's also a supremely gifted shortstop as well, and collected the second Gold Glove award of his career. Lindor ranked second among AL shortstops in fielding percentage (.979) and second in DRS (defensive runs saved) with a score of 9. Lindor last won the award in 2016, when he also took home the Platinum Glove award as well, awarded to the best defensive player in each league, Lindor winning on behalf of the AL.

Both Perez and Lindor are currently eligible for the 2019 Platinum Glove and fans can have their say by voting here. Help our boys and vote now!

Yan vs Bran: 2019 World Series Preview

The Indians won't be playing in the World Series tonight but two of our former sons will feature, for the Nationals and Astros respectively.

Michael Brantley, of Houston, and Yan Gomes, of Washington, face off for the title in what's set to be a fantastic contest between two truly excellent teams.

Brantley, who spent 10 seasons in Cleveland, enjoyed a fruitful 2019 in his new home of Houston. In 148 games he batted .311/.372/.503 with 22 home runs, 40 doubles and 90 RBI, for an 126 OPS+ and his fourth All-Star selection. I was so sad to see him leave the Indians, as he'd long been my favorite player on the team. I will admit, it hurt to see him play at his consistently superb level in a new uniform, particularly given the Tribe's outfield struggles this year - we could have really used him. If you haven't seen his unbelievable double play in the ALCS yet, enjoy.

Gomes didn't enjoy the same measure of offensive success as Brantley this year, but did control and organize one of the best rotations in the game. An All-Star in 2018, the Brazilian backstop played 97 games this season for the Nats, sharing time with veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki. This platoon has been utilized by manager Dave Martinez into the postseason as well, but Gomes is still expected to flash his elite defensive abilities for the majority of the action. Gomes batted .223/.316/.389 with 12 home runs and 43 RBI, for a disappointing 78 OPS+.

Outside of my support for both Brantley and Gomes, the aspect of the series I'm most excited for is the pitching battles. Both teams boast incredibly stacked rotations and fans aren't expecting a great deal of relief work ahead - just like the old days.

The favored Astros have three legitimate aces they can call upon in Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and mid-season acquisition Zack Greinke. At least two of these men will be serious contenders for the AL Cy Young award in the winter.

The Nationals have a trio to reckon with of their own, thanks to Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin. Despite Houston's fearsome lineup of Altuve, Springer, Brantley and Bregman, Nats fans will be optimistic with Strasburg on the mound; in 22 innings of postseason work he's allowed just 4 earned runs thus far.

My personal preference would see the Nationals emerge victorious, despite my love for Brantley. Outside of him, I don't much enjoy the Astro's supporting cast of characters, and Washington's journey has been more fun to follow this season.

A special mention must go to former Indians Asdrubal Cabrera and Joe Smith as well, who will also play some part in the games to come. Infielder Cabrera (Nationals) spent just over 7 years in Cleveland, and Smith (Astros) pitched in relief for most of 5 seasons with the Tribe (with a brief return in 2017).

Even though our current Indians are absent, try and support Brantley and Gomes in the World Series. Once it's all over, we settle in for that excruciating wait until baseball finally returns in March.

Enjoy the show whilst it lasts.