Cubs-Indians: Game Three Notes

Corey Kluber pitching on three days rest — and starting three games if the Series goes seven — won’t be all that uncommon. Teams have employed their best starter that way in the postseason numerous times. Sometimes the strategy works. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Terry Francona doing so with Kluber makes perfect sense. Not to take anything away from Ryan Merritt, but the rookie repeating his shock-the-baseball-world outing against the Blue Jays would be… well, even more shocking. Lightning rarely strikes twice, and this is the World Series. Plus, Chicago’s lineup isn’t Toronto’s lineup (although both have issues against curveballs). Francona may be managing in Cleveland, but he lives in match-up city.

His explanation of the pitching plans show that logic, not desperation, is the determiner.

“I think people lose sight of the fact that you’ve got to win four,” offered Francona. “You’re not trying to prolong the series. So, you try to take stock of where you are. I try not to fall in, ever, to relenting to, ‘Well, we’re losing, so let’s move everybody up.”

———

The Indians won’t trail in the Series come Kluber’s scheduled Game 4 start, but he’d be in there either way. Prudent innings management is among the reasons the move is doable.

“This has been Kluber’s least amount of pitches this month,” explained Francona. “Because when (our starters) are winning, we go to the bullpen, and if they’re losing, we take them out.”

———

A brief historical sidebar (Phillies fans may want to avert their eyes):

Chasing a pennant at the tail end of the 1964 season, Philadelphia manager Gene Much twice used his two best starters, Jim Bunning and Chris Short, on two day’s rest. The Phillies lost all four games amid a 10-game losing streak that dropped them out of first place and dashed their World Series dreams. Notable in Mauch’s decision is the fact that two of his starters were injured. One was pitching with a sore shoulder and another had been out of action since August.

———

Joe Maddon was asked prior to yesterday’s game who his biggest influences were in regard to managerial style. The first person he mentioned was Mauch. At a big-league helm for 26 season, Mauch has more wins than any manager not in the Hall of Fame. His teams made a pair of postseasons, but never won a World Series.

———

Chatting with MLB historian John Thorn before the game, I learned that the ballpark located at Clark and Addison has hosted a championship team. It was Weeghman Park at the time — it was renamed Wrigley Field in 1926 — and the home team was the Chicago Whales of the Federal League.

The Federal League folded shortly after the Whales won the title in 1915, and the Cubs, who had been playing at the West Side Grounds, moved in a year later.

The Federal League had a regular season only, so the Whales were without a postseason win. Meanwhile, the Cubs have won only two World Series games at Wrigley Field. Both happened against the Detroit Tigers, in 1935 and 1945. Needless to say, Chicago lost both Series.

———

When Michael Martinez scored in the seventh inning of tonights game, he became the first player to cross the plate in a World Series game at Wrigley Field since Peanuts Lowrey on October 10, 1945.

———

In last Sunday’s Notes column, I wrote that unless Cleveland gets creative and bold, either Mike Napoli or Carlos Santana will be out of the lineup for the games at Wrigley. They weren’t scared to be creative and bold. As you saw last night, Santana was stationed in left field, where his big-league experience consisted of four innings, in 2012.

“We didn’t come all this way to try to keep it close,” explained Francona. “We said early on, before the Boston series, that we might have to get a little creative at times… I know that there’s a little bit of a crapshoot to that. I have some anxiety over it. But I’d rather do that than play it safe and look up and we don’t have any runs.”

Francona’s reason for not playing Santana at third, and Jose Ramirez in left — my suggestion on Sunday — was logical, although not predictable. To paraphrase the skipper, Santana has previously proven that he can’t handle the hot corner, so why not try him somewhere else? As Francona put it, “If you’re going to play a position that’s not yours, the further away, the better.”

———

Per Elias, Carlos Santana was the second player to start a World Series game at a position he’d never previously started. In 1931, Jake Flowers started at third base for the St. Louis Cardinals.

———

Since the beginning of September, Josh Tomlin has allowed eight earned runs in 42 innings. After the game, I asked if this is the best he’s ever pitched.

“It’s probably the best I’ve pitched in a long time,” responded Tomlin.

A long time, or ever?

“Probably ever,” admitted Tomlin. “I don’t think anything really compares to it. But I’m not done yet. I have to get back to work tomorrow and try to execute pitches next time out.”

———

Here was Joe Maddon’s take on Tomlin, including his hitters’ inability to attack him optimally:

“His MO is to start early with the breaking ball strike and then not to throw a breaking ball strike after that. We just have to choose to not swing. And we knew that going in. But it’s one thing to talk about it, and it’s another thing to actually do it.”

———

Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway was asked if it was tough to take Tomlin out of the game in the fifth inning, given how well he was pitching. His response will bring a smile to the faces of most FanGraphs readers.

“We thought it was Miller’s spot,” said Callaway. “Tomlin goes through the first two times of the order like he did, and that third time is coming up. Baseball tells us that the third time through the order — especially with one of the better hitting teams in baseball — is really tough. You might as well put the best pitcher you have in there, because you’re going to win or lose the game that third time through the order.”

———

Bryan Shaw continues to be an underrated, and invaluable, member of the Indians bullpen. Tonight, he served as a bridge between Andrew Miller and Cody Allen, and threw a scoreless inning-and-two-thirds. As is his wont, he did so with a steady diet of cutters. Per Brooks Baseball, 27 of his 31 pitches were cutters.

“We get information about the hitters we face, but the way I pitch, I’m going to throw my cutter,” said Shaw, “If a certain guy hits .900 off cutters, I’m still probably going to throw the cutter. That’s what I do. If I throw it where I want it — if I don’t make a mistake and leave it over the plate — it’s going to effective more often than not.”

Shaw’s strength is in to lefties, and away to righties, primarily with his signature pitch. Exactly where he locates is influenced by data.

“Certain lefties are better pitched down, and certain ones are better pitched up,” said Shaw. “We have a great scouting department that helps us out with that. I just have to locate it where they tell us to, and hopefully it works out.”

———

The Indians allowed Jason Heyward to take second base uncontested with a runner on third and two outs in the ninth inning. It wasn’t your typical defensive indifference. Heyward represented the winning run.

After the game, I asked Andrew Miller about Francona’s decision. His answer danced around the danger, and focused on trust.

“We’re bought in,” said Miller. “Absolutely, it’s scary when runners are on base. Cody made a great pitch to Rizzo and he found his way on base. It’s a credit to him. Things happen, and you have to find a way to get the next guy out. There’s a reason behind everything we do. The players are bought into that fact.”