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By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 09:24 p.m. EDT, Jun 18, 2009
CLEVELAND: A well-worn admonishment pitchers hear from coaches from Little League all the way through the major leagues is the common refrain: Walks will always come back to haunt you.
If a double play is a pitcher's best friend, than a walk is his own worst enemy.
Walks aren't just bad on pitchers, they affect the whole team. Walks ravage a starter's pitch count and force managers to overwork their bullpens.
Walks put pitchers behind in the count and opposing batters in good hitting counts. Walks often lead to bad defense, as the players behind the struggling pitcher can be lulled into inattention.
There is no team that knows this lesson better this season than the Indians, who enter this weekend's series against the Cubs in Chicago with an American-League worst 5.28 ERA, thanks in large part to a league-high 272 walks.
Entering Wednesday's series finale with the Milwaukee Brewers, 77 (29 percent) of those walks have come around to score. Most stunning for the Indians has been the fact that the bullpen — considered an area of strength entering the season — has racked up 117 (44 percent) of the team's walk total.
''It's a problem we've been trying to correct for a while now,'' Indians pitching coach Carl Willis said. ''We've tried to get them to go back to a first-pitch strike mentality. With some of them, it's like starting over.''
The sudden spike in walks is an alarming trend for a team that has ranked at or near the top in the American League in issuing the lowest walks per nine innings. The Indians and the Minnesota Twins have swapped the title back and forth since 2005.
Last year, Indians pitchers walked just 444 batters all season, the second fewest behind the Twins — and with a bad bullpen to boot. In '07, Tribe pitchers were at their five-year best with only 410 walks, thanks in large part to a bullpen that was one of the best in all of baseball.
Although the bullpen wasn't as strong during the 2006 season, Tribe pitchers walked just 429 batters. With another solid group of relievers in '05, the Indians issued 413 walks — once again the best in the league.
Now some 68 games into this season, Indians hurlers are walking batters at the rate of the 2004 staff that handed out 579 free passes (eighth worst in the league).
''We've been preaching about walks,'' Willis said. ''But they keep doing a poor job of it. But we're not going to stop talking about it until we get it back under control.''
Walk this way
While the Indians' mounting walks total this year has been an issue, it came to the forefront in Monday's 14-12 loss to the Brewers. Tribe pitchers handed out six walks — the dagger being the four walks that three relievers handed out in the Brewers' come-from-behind', six-run eighth inning.
''Just because one [pitcher] struggles doesn't mean the next guy has to,'' an enraged Indians manager Eric Wedge said. ''That's why you bring in the next guy . . . I think it's more mental than anything.''
That's because it doesn't have anything to do with a change in organizational philosophy — there has been none. Nor has there been a change in coaching or front-office personnel as General Manager Mark Shapiro, Wedge and Willis have been together in Cleveland seven years now.
Further, walks don't seem to be a problem at the Indians' top-level minor-league clubs. The Triple-A pitching staff in Columbus ranks fifth best in the 14-team International League with 196 walks through 65 games. At Double-A Akron, Aeros pitchers own the fewest walks in the 12-team Eastern League with 167 through 62 games.
So why this season's sudden rash of walks?
Individual breakdown
The Indians' walk-happy disease is not easily defined by one demographic. Doesn't seem to matter if a pitcher is a starter or reliever, a veteran or rookie, flame thrower or control guy.
In fact, only starters Cliff Lee (20 walks in 97 innings), Carl Pavano (17 in 812/3) and Tomo Ohka (two in 17) and reliever Matt Herges (five in 20), are exempt from the problem.
The Indians' brass is already addressing the team's worst walk machine in starter Fausto Carmona. The 23-year-old was such a lost cause (2-6 with a 7.42 ERA and 41 walks in 602/3 innings), he was dispatched to the Arizona Rookie League to try to get a handle on his wildness two weeks ago.
But other walk offenders include nearly everyone on the pitching staff, including starters Anthony Reyes (23 in 381/3) and Jeremy Sowers (17 in 35).
But the crux of the problem lies with the Tribe relievers, who own some of the worst walk-to-inning ratios.
Consider that Luis Vizcaino has nine walks in 11 innings, and former shut-down men Rafael Betancourt (14 walks in 262/3 innings) and Rafael Perez (17 in 182/3) look nothing like their dominating 2007 form.
Even veteran Kerry Wood has racked up 13 free passes in 231/3 innings. Thirteen walks from the closer?
Walks are what got left-handed rookie Tony Sipp (10 in 82/3 innings) and righty Vinnie Chulk (10 in 12) promptly sent packing back to Columbus.
Then there's right-hander Greg Aquino, who has nearly as many walks (15) as innings pitched (16). In the 11th inning of Wednesday's loss that wrapped up Milwaukee's three-game sweep, Aquino faced seven batters — and walked three of them.
The team's rising walk total is like the elephant in the room nobody wants to talk about.
Catcher Kelly Shoppach quickly shrugged off the topic and insisted it was more of an individual problem than a wide-spread team epidemic. Sowers, whose main struggle has been finding a way to pitch past the fifth inning, acknowledged the problem, but then downplayed its significance.
''Not walking guys is something we have to work on,'' Sowers said. ''But I don't think anything is compounding, though. It's just a bad stretch we're in.''
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians and Aeros blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters.
CLEVELAND: A well-worn admonishment pitchers hear from coaches from Little League all the way through the major leagues is the common refrain: Walks will always come back to haunt you.
If a double play is a pitcher's best friend, than a walk is his own worst enemy.
Walks aren't just bad on pitchers, they affect the whole team. Walks ravage a starter's pitch count and force managers to overwork their bullpens.
Walks put pitchers behind in the count and opposing batters in good hitting counts. Walks often lead to bad defense, as the players behind the struggling pitcher can be lulled into inattention.
There is no team that knows this lesson better this season than the Indians, who enter this weekend's series against the Cubs in Chicago with an American-League worst 5.28 ERA, thanks in large part to a league-high 272 walks.
Entering Wednesday's series finale with the Milwaukee Brewers, 77 (29 percent) of those walks have come around to score. Most stunning for the Indians has been the fact that the bullpen — considered an area of strength entering the season — has racked up 117 (44 percent) of the team's walk total.
''It's a problem we've been trying to correct for a while now,'' Indians pitching coach Carl Willis said. ''We've tried to get them to go back to a first-pitch strike mentality. With some of them, it's like starting over.''
The sudden spike in walks is an alarming trend for a team that has ranked at or near the top in the American League in issuing the lowest walks per nine innings. The Indians and the Minnesota Twins have swapped the title back and forth since 2005.
Last year, Indians pitchers walked just 444 batters all season, the second fewest behind the Twins — and with a bad bullpen to boot. In '07, Tribe pitchers were at their five-year best with only 410 walks, thanks in large part to a bullpen that was one of the best in all of baseball.
Although the bullpen wasn't as strong during the 2006 season, Tribe pitchers walked just 429 batters. With another solid group of relievers in '05, the Indians issued 413 walks — once again the best in the league.
Now some 68 games into this season, Indians hurlers are walking batters at the rate of the 2004 staff that handed out 579 free passes (eighth worst in the league).
''We've been preaching about walks,'' Willis said. ''But they keep doing a poor job of it. But we're not going to stop talking about it until we get it back under control.''
Walk this way
While the Indians' mounting walks total this year has been an issue, it came to the forefront in Monday's 14-12 loss to the Brewers. Tribe pitchers handed out six walks — the dagger being the four walks that three relievers handed out in the Brewers' come-from-behind', six-run eighth inning.
''Just because one [pitcher] struggles doesn't mean the next guy has to,'' an enraged Indians manager Eric Wedge said. ''That's why you bring in the next guy . . . I think it's more mental than anything.''
That's because it doesn't have anything to do with a change in organizational philosophy — there has been none. Nor has there been a change in coaching or front-office personnel as General Manager Mark Shapiro, Wedge and Willis have been together in Cleveland seven years now.
Further, walks don't seem to be a problem at the Indians' top-level minor-league clubs. The Triple-A pitching staff in Columbus ranks fifth best in the 14-team International League with 196 walks through 65 games. At Double-A Akron, Aeros pitchers own the fewest walks in the 12-team Eastern League with 167 through 62 games.
So why this season's sudden rash of walks?
Individual breakdown
The Indians' walk-happy disease is not easily defined by one demographic. Doesn't seem to matter if a pitcher is a starter or reliever, a veteran or rookie, flame thrower or control guy.
In fact, only starters Cliff Lee (20 walks in 97 innings), Carl Pavano (17 in 812/3) and Tomo Ohka (two in 17) and reliever Matt Herges (five in 20), are exempt from the problem.
The Indians' brass is already addressing the team's worst walk machine in starter Fausto Carmona. The 23-year-old was such a lost cause (2-6 with a 7.42 ERA and 41 walks in 602/3 innings), he was dispatched to the Arizona Rookie League to try to get a handle on his wildness two weeks ago.
But other walk offenders include nearly everyone on the pitching staff, including starters Anthony Reyes (23 in 381/3) and Jeremy Sowers (17 in 35).
But the crux of the problem lies with the Tribe relievers, who own some of the worst walk-to-inning ratios.
Consider that Luis Vizcaino has nine walks in 11 innings, and former shut-down men Rafael Betancourt (14 walks in 262/3 innings) and Rafael Perez (17 in 182/3) look nothing like their dominating 2007 form.
Even veteran Kerry Wood has racked up 13 free passes in 231/3 innings. Thirteen walks from the closer?
Walks are what got left-handed rookie Tony Sipp (10 in 82/3 innings) and righty Vinnie Chulk (10 in 12) promptly sent packing back to Columbus.
Then there's right-hander Greg Aquino, who has nearly as many walks (15) as innings pitched (16). In the 11th inning of Wednesday's loss that wrapped up Milwaukee's three-game sweep, Aquino faced seven batters — and walked three of them.
The team's rising walk total is like the elephant in the room nobody wants to talk about.
Catcher Kelly Shoppach quickly shrugged off the topic and insisted it was more of an individual problem than a wide-spread team epidemic. Sowers, whose main struggle has been finding a way to pitch past the fifth inning, acknowledged the problem, but then downplayed its significance.
''Not walking guys is something we have to work on,'' Sowers said. ''But I don't think anything is compounding, though. It's just a bad stretch we're in.''
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians and Aeros blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Kent, Oh
Posted 09:55 PM, 06/18/2009
The Indians have to make a trade soon. They're going to have to trade one of our good position players for some good relief pitching and let the rest of the bullpen WALK! Go tribe!
Posted 10:40 PM, 06/18/2009
sigh... at least tickets are available and cheap now :)
Posted 12:06 AM, 06/19/2009
I keep thinking this division is weak enough for the Indians to make a run, but then it seems like it's one step forward and two back. The same old Tribe.
Posted 06:43 AM, 06/19/2009
Tribe pitchers, with the exception of Lee and Pavano, never challenge the hitter. On all 2 X 2 counts, instead of challenging the hitter, you see a slider way off the plate. Only tribe hitters swing at those pitches, i.e. Shoppach and Peralta. Shoppach and Martinez are constantly using the outside corner of the plate as a target for the pitchers. Opposing hitters are simply leaning out over the plate knocking the ball to right field. In other words, the whole tribe game plan is very obvious to the opposition. You can tack that onto the field manager -- Eric Wedge. Why is he still there?
Paradise, Oh
Posted 10:03 AM, 06/19/2009
Bad things happen to bad teams.
Mansfield, OH
Posted 10:35 AM, 06/19/2009
Why does our "great" general manager get a free pass for consistently compiling terrible bullpens? Honestly, the best thing that could happen to this team is for the Dolans to find a buyer who actually wants to win. Does Dan Gilbert like baseball?
Farragut, TN
Posted 10:43 AM, 06/19/2009
After the Milwaukee series, this season is toast. When a team that can't win three in a row falls ten games under .500 that's a mighty tall mountain to climb. Injuries have hurt, but the Indians were a mess even before the aches and pains arrived.
