How long did the COVID-stricken Guardians have to stay in Chicago? Hey, Hoynsie
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Hey, Hoynsie: Do the members of the G’s coaching staff have to remain in Chicago until they test negative? What’s the rule for when they can return? -- Jim B, Independence.
Hey, Jim:Manager Terry Francona and the six members of his coaching staff who tested positive, along with two staff members, stayed overnight in Chicago on Wednesday before taking a bus back to Cleveland on Thursday. They must stay on the COVID-19 injured list at least 10 days or until they test negative twice and show no symptoms for 24 hours.
Hey, Hoynsie; Will Benson was the Guardians’ first-round pick in 2016 and does not turn 24 until next month. He’s playing at Class AAA Columbus this year. Do you see him joining the 40-man roster anytime soon? -- Jack Bacevice.
Hey, Jack:Benson is 6-5 and 230 pounds. He was in big-league camp this spring and played hard in the outfield and showed some power. But he has a problem making contact. In 2021, Cleveland left him unprotected and the 29 other teams passed on him in the Rule 5 Draft. He can be a minor league free agent at the end of this season.
Hey, Hoynsie: When the Guardians announced Terry Francona tested positive for COVID, they said bench coach DeMarlo Hale would mange the team. Then it was determined that Hale had COVID as well. Why would he get that call over Sandy Alomar? -- Glenn Tapp, Bedford Heights.
Hey, Glenn: It turns out Francona, Hale and Alomar tested positive.
Hale is the bench coach and when the manager can’t manage for whatever reason, the bench coach almost always is the next choice. Hale managed the final 63 games of last season when Francona stepped aside at the end of July to have surgery on his left hip and foot. This is Hale’s 20th season as a big-league coach including being a bench coach in Toronto and Boston. Hale also managed nine years in the minors.
Alomar did a great job managing the club in 2020, during the 60-game sprint. Francona was available for only 14 games as the Indians went 27-19 under Alomar to make the postseason. The Indians didn’t have a bench coach at the time because Brad Mills left the team for family reasons. Alomar managed the final six games of the 2012 season after Manny Acta was fired.
Hey, Hoynsie: You have to ask the question -- what’s wrong with Aaron Civale? How long can you keep running a guy out there with an ERA of close to 10.00 before he figures something out? -- Carl, Orlando.
Hey, Carl: Civale is getting hit and he’s getting hit hard. Last season the opposition hit .190 against his cut fastball, the pitch he throws the most. This year they’re hitting .323 against it, according to baseball savant. Last year the opposition hit .278 against his four-seam fastball. This year they’re hitting .400.
The exit velocity for hitters making contact against Civale has jumped from 88.3 mp to 91.9 mph, the highest in his career. The short spring hurt some pitchers more than others. Civale appears to be one of them.
Hey, Hoynsie: Do you think the Guardians would ever consider asking Josh Naylor to convert to catcher? That would open a spot for Owen Miller at first base and give the Guardians a catcher who can hit. -- Bob Fowler, Seven Hills.
Hey, Bob: I don’t see that happening, especially with Naylor coming off his right leg injury from last year. In a couple of years, hopefully, Naylor’s younger brother Bo will be behind the plate for Cleveland.
Hey, Hoynsie: The Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. has been recognized as baseball’s No. 1 prospect. When was the last time Cleveland had a prospect acknowledged as the top player in the minors? -- Larry Morgan, La Mirada, Calif.
Hey, Larry: Cleveland has never had the No.1 pick in the draft. They’ve owned the second pick five times -- Steve Dunning in 1970, Rick Manning in 1972, Greg Swindell in 1986, Mark Lewis in 1988 and Paul Shuey in 1992. Witt was the second player taken in the 2019 draft.
But their top-ranked prospect, according to Baseball America’s rankings, was Sandy Alomar. Among BA’s top 100 prospects in 1990, Alomar was ranked fifth. The Indians acquired Alomar in a trade with San Diego before the 1990 season. He’d been the Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year in 1988 and 1989.
Of course, you could argue that Bob Feller, who made his big-league debut at 17, was Cleveland’s all-time top prospect long before there was a draft. Manny Ramirez and Francisco Lindor should be in the conversation as well, but BA didn’t rank them as high as Alomar in the year they were drafted. The Padres signed Alomar as a free agent before Puerto Rico was included in the draft in 1990.
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