Covering the Bases: Game 9

Notes and quotes from Sunday’s 3–1 win over the Royals…

FIRST: Down the stretch last season and into the playoffs, Roberto Perez supplanted Yan Gomes as the Indians’ starting catcher. It was fair to assume that would remain the case early on this season.

For Sunday’s tilt against the Royals, though, Gomes was back in the front seat, marking his sixth start behind the plate in the first nine games for Cleveland. By the game’s ending, Gomes had logged 56.1 innings this year, compared to 25 for Perez.

Before the game, Terry Francona was asked why Gomes was garnering the bulk of the innings, and the manager maneuvered around the topic with more of a general response related to getting players regular action in early April.

“You want to play guys enough where hopefully they start to get some rhythm,” Francona said. “Not just hitting, but catching, everything. If you play one guy three or four in a row the other guy is going to sit too much. Especially early.

“So, we’re trying to play both of them enough where we can keep them both feeling good about themselves. It’s not the easiest thing to do. I’m just being as honest as I can about it.”

OK, so maybe this is just how the chips have fallen as Francona has mapped out his lineups in the early going. Maybe, as the season progresses, there will be nine-game windows in which Perez gets six of the starts. This was believed to be a timeshare situation, but it hasn’t looked like one out of the gates.

All of that said, there’s arguments to be made in favor of both catchers, and they each bring plus defense when they’re behind the dish. It’s not like Perez is that far ahead of Gomes statistically or vice versa. Last year, Gomes rated better in WAR via Fangraphs and Baseball Reference, while Perez had the edge via Baseball Prospectus.

During Sunday’s win, Gomes showed off three elements of his game that make him a consistent part of Francona’s lineup.

GAME-CALLING

Indians starter Mike Clevinger has jokingly called Gomes his dad in terms of catching. Clev just does what Gomes tells him to do. Through two starts this season, the tandem has combined for only one run allowed in 12.2 innings. That included 7.1 strong frames on Sunday.

“A lot of the stuff he does doesn’t show up on the statistics and doesn’t show up on a stat sheet,” Clevinger said. “A lot of fans can’t see it. I mean, he’s doing the stuff behind the scenes that’s unbelievable. The stuff he’s helped me with behind the plate.”

CONTROLLING THE RUNNING GAME

This came up twice in Sunday’s win. In the fourth inning, Clevinnger struck out Ryan Goins and Jorge Soler tried to steal second on the pitch. Gomes fired a strike to shortstop Francisco Lindor, who applied the tag for an inning-ending double play. Then, in the sixth, Mike Moustakas wandered just a bit too far off first. Gomes fired behind the runner, and first baseman Yonder Alonso slapped a quick tag. Those were key outs on a cold day, when both teams were struggling to score runs.

“It’s more than just a game like this,” Francona said. “It’s so comforting. I know when we prepare for a series, you look at guys that are runners and things like that, just to know both he and Roberto, if you give them a legitimate chance, they’re going to throw you out.”

POWER POTENTIAL

Over the 2015–18 seasons, Gomes has posted a .376 SLG overall. He’s had his share of troubles, yes. His wheelhouse, however, is low in the zone, especially against fastballs. Over that same span, Gomes had a .528 SLG on four-seamers in the lower third of the strike zone, per Statcast. That will now go up in light of the two-run walk-off shot that the catcher belted to left off Brandon Maurer in the ninth inning.

“Right there, you’re really just trying to keep the line moving, man,” Gomes said. “As the at-bat went on, I felt like I was getting more and more on him. Once you’re 3–2, you’re just trying to shorten up, trying to get a good pitch. The more I kept fouling off, I was like, ‘Man, I’m gaining on him. I’m gaining on him.’ I got something maybe a little lower and put a good swing on it.”

SECOND: There are reasons behind the Indians letting Bradley Zimmer get regular innings even when he’s slumping offensively. Hitting is just one of the tools in his shed.

Last year, Zimmer posted 1.6 fWAR, even with an 81 wRC+. He had four Defensive Runs Saved and turned in a 6.7 BsR. His defense and speed alone are worth the price of admission. If and when he becomes a more consistent offensive threat, the center fielder has the potential to be a dangerous all-around talent.

The defense and speed elements factored into Sunday’s win, too.

In the third inning, Zimmer ended a Royals rally with a pinpoint throw to home plate. Moustakas singled up the middle and Jon Jay thought he’d try to score from second. Zimmer gloved the ball and fired a strike to Gomes on the fly — a 233-foot frozen rope.

Take a look:

Statcast did not get the official arm strength on the play, but Clevinger saw a number that he brushed aside.

“It said 88.8 [mph],” Clevinger said. “That was at least 108.8. I could hear it coming in. You knew from the flight path, before it got to second base, he was going to be on money. I was pumped.”

Gomes marveled at Zimmer’s throw, too.

“Man. He gave me so much time,” Gomes said. “I was like, ‘Oh man, don’t mess up. Just tag him.’ Usually, he keeps the ball low and it’s usually like a one-hopper to me. That ball had no intentions of going downwards, man. I’m pretty sure if I let it go, it might’ve gone and hit the backstop in the air.

“It was that good of a throw. The kid’s got tools, man. He’s pretty unbelievable out there.”

It marked the 10th outfield assist of Zimmer’s young career. Heading into Sunday, Billy Hamilton led MLB center fielders with 14 assists (1,221.1 innings) over the 2017–18 seasons. Jarrod Dyson ranked second with 10 in 771.2 innings. Zimmer has now reached double digits in 766 innings.

THIRD: Zimmer used his legs to help get something going for Cleveland in the eighth inning.

First, Zimmer drew a walk against Royals left-hander Tim Hill. Francona could have pinch-hit for the center fielder to avoid the left-on-left situation, but the manager was swayed by Zimmer’s ability to manufacture and take away runs. The move paid off.

Zimmer then stole second base with Lindor up at the plate.

“That’s why we let him hit,” Francona said. “They’re going to bring in a righty if we pinch-hit, so leave him in, because he’s our best outfielder and he’s one of our best basestealers. Fortunately, he got on base and he’s not afraid to go in that situation.”

Lindor moved Zimmer to third with a sacrifice bunt and then Jason Kipnis reached first on a chopper to reliever Justin Grimm. The play was botched from the start — Grimm bobbled it and then made a poor throw — but Zimmer didn’t have a window to sprint home.

That came next.

HOME: Grimm fired a fastball high and tight to Jose Ramirez, who did what he could to back away from the pitch.

“I was just taking care of myself and making sure the ball did’t hit me,” Ramirez said via translator Anna Bolton.

And then?

“It hit the bat.”

The defensive half swing led to a dribbler in front of the plate. Zimmer bolted him — hitting a Sprint Speed of 29.3 ft/sec (his top speed of the season) on the play — and Ramirez hustled up the first-base line upon realizing that he tapped the ball in play.

Grimm had no play at the plate, but got Ramirez at first. The damage, however, had been done. A run was in, ending Cleveland’s long national nightmare. The team’s longest scoreless streak during The Francona Era ended at 23 innings. It was the longest drought since Aug. 26–29, 2012 (let’s not talk about that month).

Ramirez’s hit was something straight out of Major League:

Francona put it best: “We needed the win and we got a win. We obviously have some work to do offensively and we will. But, it’s nice to win a game like that.”

Stay tuned for more…

— JB