Today's game: 3/18/11

Cleveland 12, Texas 6

That's a sloppy baseball.

Carrasco pitched better than his line. The homer to Elvis wasn't terrible. That was more about Andrus than Carrasco. Murphy followed with a screamer right at Choo. And the Murphy homer might as well have been put on a tee. But I think Carrasco was simply out of gas at that point. Those three hits were the only hard hit balls against Carrasco. The rest were bloops and grounders that found holes.

LaPorta had 2 strike double late and had a triple to deep center. But he still looks like he is trying to hard. He was made to look foolish in his first at bat. He got ahead in the count, and he was clearly looking to kill a fastball. The result is him flailing at a breaking ball way outside the strike zone. LaPorta needs some good results to grow his confidence.

Acta must be thinking along to lines as well. He played LaPorta for the whole game last night. LaPorta and Hannahan were the only starters to do so. Acta is playing LaPorta again today. LaPorta and Kearns are the only starters from last night in today's lineup. More on LaPorta and Hannahan.

The biggest news from the game is that Choo is okay. He got plunked in the head but was unharmed. Ttfc can't afford to lose him.

More Pere Ubu

Analysis: Jason Donald

In 3,443 minor league plate appearances, Jack Hannahan has 64 HRs. That is a HR in almost 2% of his PAs.

In 1,694 minor league plate appearances, Jason Donald has 31HRs. That is a HR in almost 2% of his PAs.

There is no evidence that Hannahan has more power than Donald. Neither has much. My earlier comment was just to say that Jack Hannahan is not the next Casey Blake. Donald's future is not at 3rd base. It is at second. If Donald develops as a hitter, he will challenge Kipnis for the second base position next year. If he doesn't develop as a hitter, then Jason meet your future, Jack Hannahan.

Today's game: 3/17/11

Reds 5, Cleveland 1

Didn't see the game.

By all reports, Fausto looks ready to go Opening Day.

No injuries. Santana played first with incident. Bring on April 1.

For more Guided by voices.

Huh?

Cleveland PD beat writer recently opined that Jack Hannahan might be the next Casey Blake.

I like Hoynes, but he has had some head scratchers lately. Comparing Casey Blake and Jack Hannahan? Huh?

Casey Blake had a total of 63 MLB plate appearances, when Cleveland made him a starter. He had bounced around the minors and from team to team. But no one had given him a chance. In his first year as a starter, he hit .257 with 17 HRs.

Jack Hannahan has a total of 981 MLB plate appearances. Yes, he too has bounced around from team to team. But Oakland gave him a full year as a starter in '08. In his full year as a starter, Hannahan hit .218 with 9 HRs.

There is a stat BABIP (Batting Average with Balls In Play). It is a good indicator, if a player is lucky or unlucky. Some guys can get a bunch of bloop singles, while others seem to smoke liners right at people time and again. This stat often explains when players have fluke good or bad years.

In Casey Blake's first full year, he had a .287 BABIP. That is a little unlucky. The next year Casey had a .310 BABIP (which is pretty average). Casey's batting average went from .257 to .271.

In Jack Hannahan's first full year, he had a .286 BABIP, and again he hit .218 that year. Using Casey's stats, we can see that with a little more lucky Hannahan could have hit. around .232.

At 31, there is no lightning in a bottle for Hannahan. He is a glove first bench player. He could fill in for a couple of weeks. But there is no way, you want to give him 500 at bats.