AAA Recap: Indianapolis vs Louisville

Yesterday I attended my second Indians game of the season. As opposed to the whole Sixty Feet, Six Inches crew, this one was just a trip with myself, Peter and his roommate, Josh.

We got there when the gates opened, an hour and a half before game time, just in time to see the Louisville Bats take BP. I'm not sure why, but the Indians never seem to take BP for the crowd.

We didn't get any balls hit into the outfield our way, but we did learn that whoever wears No. 21 for the Lousville Bats does not appreciate people asking him for BP balls.

The highlight of the pregame was the Indians coming out of the dugout to sign autographs. This is only a highlight because I happen to own the Andrew McCutchen 2005 Topps Draft Class card, so I brought it with me to get it signed.

The players were all friendly and seemed to appreciate the fans coming out to the park, and I feel the need to make special mention of three individuals in that regard: Brian Bixler, who was the first out of the dugout and signed every autograph asked of him and Jeff Salazar, who was one of the last out but also one of the most engaged with the fans.

The third was Neil Walker, who seemed like a genuinely nice person. A fan from Pittsburgh came out to the Indianapolis park with Steve Pearce and Neil Walker spring training jerseys that she bought at PirateFest, and when she presented Walker with the jersey to sign, his eyes seemed to light up as he asked "where did you get this jersey?" It was at that moment that I realized the burning desire that Walker has to be a Major League player.

But enough about us. We're boring. On to the game:

Summary:

This was a frustrating game, because it's one the Indians should have won. We got great production from our starting pitcher, and our offense cashed in on almost every opportunity, but bad defense caused us the game. If you need a sign of just how bad things are, take a look at Daniel McCutchen's line from the game:

6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 1 ER.

You read that right. Four runs, one earned from the starting pitcher. The defense cost this team three runs, which would have been enough to win us the game with a 3-1 Indians final instead of the 4-3 Bats final.

Oh well, so it goes. On to the highlights and lowlights.

Highlights:

• Every game I attend, Andrew McCutchen delivers at least one breathtaking play in the field and a multi-hit game, and this one was no exception.

The defensive play came on a hit that was smoked to DEEP center field and looked like a home run, but instead died at the wall. It was about to bounce off when McCutchen got his glove between the two and retired the batter with a long line-out that should have been a triple.

McCutchen went .500 at the plate with two hits, both doubles. One was literally as close as a person can get to a home run, as it bounced off the top of the scoreboard in deep left and back into the field of play.

Last year McCutchen's HR numbers didn't pan out, but so many of his doubles and triples go DEEP into a pitcher-friendly park and would leave the park in other stadiums. Each year he seems to develop more pop, and I think he could be a perennial 30 HR/35 SB player in the Majors when he establishes himself there.

• The other McCutchen, Daniel, pitched a gem of a game.

Daniel McCutchen is in the odd position of being touted by the front office as the immediate next-in-line for a starting pitching job, but never getting the call when that situation actually arises. He's a fly-ball pitcher, which I think scares the front office a little, but only two pitches were hit with any authority this game. The rest of the time he was either striking batters out or making them hit lazy pop-ups.

In addition, McCutchen's speed was incredible, as was his ability to change speeds. According to the stadium radar gun, he was hitting 92 consistently on his fastball, occasionally cranking it up to 95 and once or twice even 97. His off speed pitch? 80. Now that's how to confuse a batter.

Also, his GB/FB ratio was only one away from being exactly even, as he pitched for 7 flyouts and 5 groundouts.

• Brian Bixler's defense looked much better this game.

The last time I attended an Indians game, I derided Bixler's defense. This game, he seemed much better at short. This may be because most of the balls put in play were flies, but he looked a lot sharper on ground balls.

Who knows how much of that has to do with Neil Walker and Shelby Ford covering some of his zone, but I'll take any improvement. He did turn a nifty 6-4-3 double play this game, and a shortstop that bats .333 with discipline (.415 OBP and a 9/5 K/BB split so far) and speed isn't exactly a liability in every respect of the game.

• Neil Walker continues to impress defensively.

This wasn't Walker's best day. He had a throwing error that cost the team an unearned run and an 0-for-4 day at the plate, but he redeemed himself with fantastic range that saved a couple of sharply hit grounders from heading to the outfield and a great arm that turned what should have been an infield single into an out.

• ¡Romulo! Sanchez

His name alone is worth a mention in the highlights. The fact that he threw three straight groundouts is worth another mention.

The only other reliever used was Denny Bautista, one of GM Neal Huntington's trademark "throws really hard with no control" pitchers. This day, he struck out one batter in two innings of work, walked none, and surrended one hit with no runs.

Lowlights:

• Daniel McCutchen gives up a home run.

Good thing: With a runner on first, Daniel McCutchen kept the ball low and induced a grounder to get a double play for the first two outs of the inning.

Bad thing: He gave up a solo shot to the next batter...Matt Maloney, the pitcher.

I think McCutchen could be a successful Major League pitcher. If he stops giving up home runs left and right, he could even be a top of the rotation guy. However, if he can't stop doing things like giving up home runs to the opposing pitcher, it will take him a while to even find his way into the rotation, and he'll end up as a No. 4 at best.

• Aside from McCutchen, the Indians may have the worst defensive outfield I've ever seen.

At least two of the hits McCutchen surrendered were on routine fly balls that would have been easy outs for even an average outfielder. One dropped right in front of Garrett Jones, one was dropped by Salazar for a fielding error, and another one dropped in front of Salazar on a diving play that he shouldn't have had to dive for.

• You know what? The defense was just bad in general.

As I alluded to earlier, this is a game the Indians would have won if not for their defense. Along with the bad outfield defense, there was a throwing error by Robinson Diaz and another by Neil Walker. I'm not a fan of using errors to judge defense, but these were all terrible plays that led to unearned runs.

Hilarity:

• I'm pretty sure the Indians gift shop hates us.

After seeing that the gift shop offered the option for customized jerseys, I knew what I had to do. I had to own a No. 52 jersey, and instead of Sanchez, it had to read ¡Romulo! Unfortunately, the gift shop does not carry exclamation points, and seemed annoyed by the mere question of it. It only further annoyed them when I asked if they could fashion one by chopping an I and using a period. Oh well.

• Neil Walker's walk-up music was "Intergalactic" by the Beastie Boys.

I don't feel like I need to say anything else here. That may be the best walk-up music since Adam LaRoche came up to "You're The Best Around" from Karate Kid.

Other than that, nothing notable for hilarity, unless you count sitting in front of obnoxious drunks who don't know what level the Indians play on, why Steve Pearce would want to stick his glove out towards the pitcher with a runner on first, and who say things like "I can't enjoy baseball unless I'm drunk" and "Any foul ball opportunities here yet?" "...No, we're sitting behind the net." as hilarity.

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