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Inbox: Do Tribe catchers factor into rotation issues?
- Updated: August 8, 2016
@MLBastian what are the pitching staff’s stats w and w/o Gomes? Is it a coincidence the recent struggle have been w/o him? Mike, Mt Vernon
— Mike Andrews (@mtandrews24) August 8, 2016
@MLBastian what are the pitching staff’s stats w and w/o Gomes? Is it a coincidence the recent struggle have been w/o him? Mike, Mt Vernon
A lot of Tribe fans have written in with similar questions, wondering if catchers Roberto Perez and Chris Gimenez are at fault at all for Cleveland’s recent rotation issues. To me, this looks more like a good old fashioned bad week for the pitching staff. It happens. Unless it persists, it seems mostly like coincidence that the struggles have come without Gomes doing the catching.
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Consider this: Gomes was injured on July 17. From July 18 through the end of the month, Cleveland’s rotation had a 3.41 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP and a .227 opponents’ average while working with Perez and Gimenez. No one was blaming the catchers for bad pitch-calling during that stretch. Taking it one step further, Corey Kluber, who had used Gomes as his personal catcher for 40 consecutive starts prior to the catcher’s injury, has gone 2-0 with a 1.55 ERA in his past four starts with Perez.
Granted, things have been uglier of late for the starting staff. In the first seven games of August, the rotation has a bloated 9.74 ERA, a 2.07 WHIP and a .358 opponents’ average in 32 1/3 innings. One thing to keep in mind is that includes a two-inning outing from Danny Salazar, who ended up on disabled list with a right elbow issue. Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin and Mike Clevinger (Salazar’s temporary replacement) have had rough outings in that stretch, too.
Overall, Gomes posted a 3.62 catcher’s ERA this season, compared to a 3.88 mark for Gimenez and a 4.89 average for Perez. The pitchers have enjoyed working with Perez and Gimenez, and I expect that to remain the case. I wouldn’t go sounding the alarms over a one-week sample of innings. The Tribe’s rotation is talented, but not immune to a bad week.
@MLBastian Do you know if the Indians have expressed interest in signing Napoli beyond this year?
— TK (@andrade21) August 4, 2016
@MLBastian Do you know if the Indians have expressed interest in signing Napoli beyond this year?
With a handful of exceptions over the years, the Indians’ usual policy is to handle extension talks before or after the season. …
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