The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Emergence of Quantrill as solid starter highlights Indians’ season
It might be difficult to rank the biggest disappointments of the Indians’ 2021 season. For some hardcore traditionalists, it could be that in three weeks their favorite baseball team will transform into the unoffending yet uninspiring name of Guardians.
For others the biggest disappointment could be the shoulder injury that has kept reigning Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber on the shelf for three months. Others might vote for Aaron Civale’s sprained finger as the biggest disappointment. Civale was leading all of baseball with 10 victories when he went on the injured list June 21.
The myriad of medical issues that forced Terry Francona to step aside as manager in late July and the Indians’ inability to score runs consistently (although that was expected) deserve honorable mention at the very least.
It is much easier to name the most pleasant surprise of the season. It has to be the emergence of Cal Quantrill as a reliable pitcher in the starting rotation.
The Indians lost the first three straight games to the woeful Twins in a four-game series at Progressive Field. Quantrill’s turn came up Sept. 9. He allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings. The Indians broke out with home runs by Franmil Reyes, Oscar Mercardo and Jose Ramirez to win the game, 4-1.
Quantrill has made 11 starts dating to July 17 when he faced the A’s. He allowed two or fewer earned runs in nine of the 11 starts and pitched a minimum of six innings in eight of them.
Unfortunately for the 26-year-old Canadian-born right-hander, the Indians were just 4-7 in those 11 games. Quantrill went 4-1 in the stretch.
“I worked extremely hard to become a starter again and earn the trust of my manager (DeMarlo Hale) to leave me out there for 109 pitches,” Quantrill said after beating the Twins with a career-high in pitches made. “I take pride in the fact he felt confident enough to leave me there past 100 pitches.
“I think our game has really taken a turn to limited pitch counts. It’s too bad, because I think sometimes what you have to offer at the end of the game might be the best you’ve had the entire game. So you really want to reward your manager when he gives you the opportunity.”
The Indians acquired Quantrill from the Padres at the Aug. 31 trade deadline last summer along with outfielder Josh Naylor, shortstop Gabriel Arias, pitcher Joey Cantillo, catcher Austin Hedges and shortstop Owen Miller. The Tribe sent starting pitcher Mike Clevinger and outfielder Greg Allen to San Diego in the deal.
Quantrill does not overpower batters. He struck out 10 opponents only once in the 11-game stretch mentioned earlier and nine times struck out six or fewer. Sometimes a crafty pitcher is more fun to watch than one that blows batters away.
The good news about Bieber and Civalle is neither pitcher required surgery. Looking ahead to 2022, the starting rotation for the Guardians sets up nicely with Bieber, Civale, Quantrill, Zach Plesac and Triston McKenzie.
No Simmons please
A sportswriter’s salary is way less than what Dan Gilbert is paying Koby Altman to be general manager of the Cavaliers, but I hope Altman doesn’t try to make a splash trade to acquire Ben Simmons from the 76ers.
Simmons is so unhappy in Philadelphia he is vowing to sit out when training camp begins next month. He is talented, no doubt about that, but does anyone really believe he will feel all warm and fuzzy playing for the Cavaliers? That is not a knock on Cavs’ coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who knows how to connect with his players in a variety of ways.
Sam Quinn of CBS Sports suggests the Cavs could trade Kevin Love, Collin Sexton and Isaac Okoro to the 76ers for Simmons. They might have to include a first-round draft pick, too, but the louder Simmons grumbles, the more difficult it will be for Sixers general manager Daryl Morey to trade him. Simmons could learn from Browns tight end David Njoku, who now says he wants to be with the Browns long-term after last year asking to be traded.
Trading Love would be a plus for the Cavaliers. They would be dumping the remaining two years of his burdensome contract and getting rid of a player who no longer wants to be in Cleveland. But Love, like Njoku and unlike Simmons, says he is happy as a Cavalier.
The Cavs have no intention of signing Sexton to a long-term deal, so getting a talented player in a package that includes trading Sexton rather than letting him walk would be another plus
Acquiring Simmons would be a plus talentwise, but he will drag the team down if he is divisive in the locker room and challenges Bickerstaff’s coaching authority.
Browns tickets skyrocketing
Just four years ago, when the Browns were making history by going 0-16, tickets at Stubhub. com and other secondary markets for home games at FirstEnergy Stadium sold for as little as $6.
A lot has changed since then.
According to research by Jesse Lawrence of ticketiq.com, prices for Browns tickets on the secondary market have increased by a whopping 166% since 2019, with an average price of $515. Note this isn’t the Haslams gouging fans; it’s what places like Seatgeek, stubhub and their ilk can get for Browns tickets when they buy them at face value or fans sell to the various companies to make a profit.
The secondary market is legalized scalping. Not surprisingly, the most expensive tickets being resold are for Las Vegas Raiders home games at an average cost of $1,652, according to Ticketiq.com. 2020 was the first year the Raiders played in Las Vegas, but fans were not permitted inside Allegiant Stadium because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. There are no restrictions this year.
The research concluded Browns’ secondary ticket prices have increased 270% since 2015. Only the Raiders and Buccaneers have had a higher inflation rate over the same six-year period.
Tickets for the Browns’ home game against the Steelers on Halloween are the most expensive with the cheapest seats costing $210. The cheapest tickets — for now — are $70 for the home game against the Bengals on Jan. 9, but demand could cause those to increase if the game is pivotal to the Browns’ playoff chances.
The story from ticketiq.com does not name the secondary ticket sites it investigated.
I didn’t know that
… until I read my Snapple bottle cap:
Children have more taste buds than adults. … The nail on the middle finger grows fastest. … Heat, not sunlight, ripens tomatoes. … The praying mantis can turn its head 180 degrees. … Australia has 10,685 beaches. You could visit a different beach every year for more than 29 years. … Rats laugh when tickled.