CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 the Fan) – Friday night’s no hitter at Progressive Field was the fourth in MLB this season.
It was the second time in 23 days the Indians were no hit and the earliest in a calendar year there have been four no-hitters since 1917 that saw five tossed by May 6.
So why the run on no nos so early in the season?
“Shoot, I don’t know if I have a great idea,” Indians manager Terry Francona said prior to Saturday night’s game with Cincinnati. “I think offense is down. I think to get a no hitter for the most part, usually you see some really good defensive plays early in the game to allow a guy to get to a certain point of the game.”
From Francona’s vantage point, Reds starter Wade Miley had Cleveland’s hitters off balance and didn’t need much help defensively.
“By my tally, I think we only hit one ball really hard,” Francona said.
The Indians, who have been no-hit twice since Progressive Field opened in 1994, owns the longest current drought between no-hitters as the club's last one was Len Barker’s perfect game in 1981. Ervin Santana pitched the other no-hitter at Progressive Field in 2011 for the Angels.
Miley joined Joe Musgrove, Carlos Rodon and John Means on the list of 2021 no-hitters Friday night, and it’s early May.
“I think offense is down and the approach to hitting has changed so much that you don’t see guys shortening up with two strikes maybe hitting the ball the other way,” Francona said. “So, there’s more strikeouts and there’s shifting and guys aren’t taking advantage of it, so you’re going to see less offense.”
As Francona noted, baseball has adopted an all or nothing approach in the batter’s box and the intellectual side of the game takes a back seat to power. Hitters are swinging for the fences or trying to drive the ball through defensive shifts instead of choking up, taking a pitch the other way, or even moving up in the box.
“I tell you what, it is really noticeable when you see it happen,” Francona said. “The kid in Minnesota, [Luis] Arraez, comes to mind. That’s why I think he’s got a chance to win a batting title at some point. It’s different.”
Forgetaboutit – The Indians, who barely avoided a perfect game on the south side of Chicago on April 14, went on to lose six of their next eight before bouncing back to win nine of their next 11 prior to Friday night.
Short memories in baseball are critical for survival and the hope is there won’t be a hangover.
“That’s the idea,” Francona said. “I want guys to show up today just like they did yesterday. It doesn’t help [to dwell on it]. We know what happened. I’ll be interested to see how we bounce back. I expect that we will, but it doesn’t help to pout about it. Shoot, it’s in the rearview mirror. Learn and move on.”
The same goes for reliever Emmanuel Clase, who got touched up in the ninth inning for three runs thanks in part to a throwing error and a balk.
After the Reds put two on with a pair of singles, Clase fielded a tapper and threw wide of second base, allowing a runner to score from second.
With runners at the corners, Clase began his windup before stopping and turning to throw to second.
“He’s still a really good pitcher,” Francona said when asked what he hoped Clase learned from the tough inning. “He’s still young – 23 – and he hadn’t pitched in a year. He got a little flustered. Just learn from it.
“He had been pretty much flawless up to that point and that’s hard to do. He had a hiccup, and those things are going to happen.”
Changeup – Indians hitters have seen the most changeups in baseball so far this season and Francona doesn’t see that trend changing anytime soon.
“I think early on we’d shown that we were struggling with changeups and every team has either advanced scouts or analytics or statistics to back things up,” Francona said. “So, until we prove that differently, we’re probably going to continue to see that.”
Heading home – Catcher Roberto Perez is on his way back to Cleveland after undergoing surgery on his broken right ring finger Friday in Dayton.
“He’s driving back [Saturday] and he’ll make an appearance [Sunday] so we’ll get to see him,” Francona said.
Perez had three pins inserted to stabilize the fracture, which occurred in Chicago April 14 after he got crossed up by reliever James Karinchak. He caught the pitch barehanded with his throwing hand and is expected to miss 8-10 weeks after playing nearly three weeks with the injury.
Up Next – The Indians and reds conclude their weekend series Sunday afternoon: LHP Sam Hentges vs. RHP Tyler Mahle
