My Full 180 on Chris Perez

I've said some terrible things about Chris Perez. The worst of which, probably came after his opening day meltdown this year. That was as angry as I’ve been watching a sporting event. And I’m a Notre Dame fan, so that’s saying something (Okay I may have been angrier that one time). None the less, I have no shame in completely reversing my position on Pure Rage Perez because of a few things that took place in the last week and his comments toward tribe fans last night and this morning. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s been pitching lights out.

I had the pleasure of being at Fenway last weekend to watch two of the Indians-Red Sox games. On Friday I arrived at park early to watch the Tribe in batting practice. The majority of the Indians pitching staff were in the outfield shagging fly balls as the position players hit. Chris Perez spent the entire time in center field chasing balls with the vigor that would suggest he might be an emergency outfielder. It only took 45 minutes of watching him to see how much he loves being in a ballpark. When batting practice was over and the team was heading toward the dugout, Perez threw a ball to a fan on top of the green monster from right-center field. The throw was right on the money but the fan mishandled it and the ball fell to the warning track below. Perez jogged all the way from right- center to pick the ball up and toss it back to the fan on top of the wall. Scenes like this that show how much a player loves playing the game and are lost when you’re used to watching a team strictly on television.

Chris Perez is a passionate guy, whether he’s on the mound screaming at himself, Alex Rios, or nobody in particular. That passion came through last night with his direct comments that called out Cleveland fans for their negativity. It was the first chance he had to speak to the media after being booed by fans on Thursday night against the Mariners. You may notice he didn’t even give up a run that outing, but he started hearing boos after putting two runners on base.  He explained how it’s even more frustrating to hear boos when they’re coming from about 5000 fans. Perez spoke to the media again this morning and he clarified his comments even more. Some highlights of the two media sessions include pointing out how embarrassing it is for the first place Indians to be last in Major League Baseball in attendance, how the lack of fan support affects the team’s ability to land free agents, and how it feels at times the team is playing for themselves.

Perez said he received some pretty entertaining feedback on his twitter account last night and I have a feeling if he takes the mound today he’ll get more of the same from the home crowd. And that’s absolutely sad. As critical as his comments may seem, they’re accurate in every way. He’s a dedicated player that is only asking for support for a team that’s actually pretty good. He could have bragged about how good he’s been all season but he didn’t. Perez event went as far as buying 3 pairs of season tickets that he’ll be giving away every home game the rest of the season. I admire his passion for the game and honesty and I really hope fans rally around this team instead of continuing to throw negativity at it. I know I will.

Thoughts on Indians vs. Mariners 4/17/12

In an attempt to write more often, I plan on writing about the Cleveland Indians a few times a week in addition to entries about other subjects. I’m starting with some observations from last night’s game.

Justin Masterson cruised through the first two innings but seemed to get thrown off rhythm when he knocked Brendan Ryan to the dirt with a fastball in the third inning. He never recovered from that pitch and started either missing wildly or leaving the ball over the plate. The Seattle hitters deserve credit for sensing blood in the water and getting aggressive early in the count. Outings like this where he seems to lose his bearing were common in Masterson’s first couple of years, but he seemed to grow out of it in 2011.

The good thing about Masterson’s short performance was we didn’t have to wait long for the season debut of Nick Hagadone. Hagadone, who made 9 appearances last season, was added to the roster this week as the Indians placed Asdrubal Cabrera on the Bereavement list. Hagadone was impressive and it’s easy to see why he has dominated hitters in triple-A Columbus to this point. The lefty’s fastball ranged from 91-95 and he located it well. With his compact delivery from the stretch, the ball seems to have even more life than his velocity suggests. There were a few embarrassingly tardy swings from Seattle hitters. The most impressive part of his outing was during the 5th inning when an error by Jack Hannahan put runners on first and second with no outs. Hagadone locked in struck out the next two batters he faced and finished off the inning with a line out to center. He never seemed rattled even though the team had just battled back in the previous half inning and he was pressured to keep the score close. Other than displaying the good fastball, Hagadone showed that he needs to gain more confidence in his off speed pitches if he wants a full time spot on the roster. He had one perfectly placed slider to strike out John Jaso in the fifth but everything else wasn’t close. I look forward to seeing more of him throughout the rest of the road trip.

The error in the fifth inning from Jack Hannahan continues his shaky start on defense. This was number 4 of the season in 23 chances compared to the 5 errors he had in 296 chances all of last season. These errors have come on plays that would normally be routine for him. We may just be looking at a few bad plays in a small sample size but it is a possibility Hannahan may not be the veteran defensive wizard Tribe fans think he is. Defensive metrics aren’t perfect, but he does have the second best UZR/150 games at third base over the past 4 seasons. However, he’s never been an everyday player. The number one person on that list, Evan Longoria, has played over 2000 innings more than Hannahan at third base during that stretch. In addition to not having extensive experience at third, Hannahan is 32-years-old and it’s not unreasonable to expect his range to shrink as he gets older. However, it could just be a few rough games. Defensive stars like Evan Longoria and Troy Tulowitzki are also off to early rough starts in the field and it’s too soon to make any firm judgments. Offensively though, I do have confidence saying Hannahans .394 on-base-percentage won’t hold up over the course of the season. I expect him to slide back toward his .314 career OBP but it’s great to have him contributing with the bat while the glove is slacking.

It will be interesting to see what Acta and Antonetti do over the course of the season at third base. Lonnie Chisenhall is off to a hot start in Columbus and they may be tempted to bring him up if Hannahan regresses. However, they can’t get into a situation like last year where Chisenhall isn’t getting consistent at bats. I think it’s best they let him play every day in Columbus until he can improve his LHP vs RHP splits.