Lake County Sentinel
Pair of warm weather arms impress in another cold weather Captains win
BY JUSTIN LADA
INDIANS BEAT WRITER
The Weather affecting baseball has been the theme in the first week in northeast Ohio, as it normally is. That’s especially true for players in the Midwest League, which usually gives younger players from warmer weather areas their first taste at baseball below 50 degrees. Two pitchers for the Captains who certainly had been used to warmer settings, Casey Shane (Texas) and Kieran Lovegrove (California by way of South Africa) bookended the Captain's’ second win in as many days of the season, 3-2.
Shane shines:
The Indians 2013 sixth round pick first start of the season was a success.
5IP, 3H, 3BB, 7K, 78P-50K and earned the win.
His final line was impressive enough, but even more impressive considering he only had one 1-2-3 inning, which was the first inning.
He worked around a single, wild pitch and a walk in the second and ended the inning with a strikeout.
He struck out two in the third after starting the inning with a walk. He allowed a pair of singles in the fourth and had two more strikeouts. In his fifth and final inning, he danced around a leadoff error and a walk and had another strikeout.
Captains manager Tony Mansolino on Shane’s performance:
“What stood out for me with Casey was for such a young guy, the way he changed his rhythms and tempos. How he controlled the run game and how that affected hitters. You don’t see many young guys able to slice that to a secondary pitch, offspeed pitch. Gave their hitters fits. He had good stuff. But with good stuff, he pitched too. For such a young guy, it was very impressive. I stopped calling pick(offs). His time’s were so good and so mixed. I left it up to him and (catcher Martin Cervenka) to control the running game. They did a heck of a job and locked them down on the bases for the most part.”
Table setters
Centerfielder Nathan Lukes, shortstop Willi Castro and second basemen Tyler Krieger each had two hits and combined to score three runs. It was a big effort from the Captain’s 1-2-3 hitters.
Mansolino on his group in 2016 and the approach at the plate in the win
“This is a scrappier group than I had as a hitting coach here in 2013.”
With Love, from the bullpen
Lovegrove came on for his first career save opportunity and it started out promising. He hit 94, 95 97 and then an 86 mph changeup for a strikeout to start.
He allowed a double, two singles and a run before finishing off the win with a strikeout looking, giving the 2012 3rd round pick first career save.
Lovegrove had this to say about his move to the bullpen
“I was trying to get warm in the bottom of the eighth. The inning kept going. I tried to stay ready. You can start to feel it in your legs. They start to feel jello-y. It was kind of like “Can I control these nerves or will they get the best of me.?” I just went out there and use whatever nerves I had to the best I could. It’s not the way I would have drew up my first save. Things happen. It’s a win.”
On preparing to be a reliever full time this season
“I think I’m going to the back end by design. I’m all for it. I want to earn it. I’ve gotta do that with more appearances. But I want to earn that spot in the back of the ‘pen. It’s easier for me being a guy with attention issues, to go out there and know I need three outs and go full tilt puts me at ease. It’s allowed me to be at easy mentally more and more aggressive with how I pitch. My goal is not to walk people. It was a problem that plagued me as a starter. I refuse to let that be an issue in the bullpen. I’m taking that to heart.”
Parting thoughts
Some other notable things from the Captains 3-2 win:
Krieger played second base and Castro, shortstop. Krieger had a nice pair of hits, one a flick to left field while hitting left handed and pulled the other, showing a very nice approach. He did however, drop an easy popup late in the game.
Anthony Miller, who had the game winning hit in the Captains’ extra inning win on opening night, was 0-2 with two walks on the night. His most impressive at bat however, was a strikeout. It was his last at-bat in the game, the bottom of the eighth with a 3-1 Captains lead a runner on second. He struck out swinging on a breaking ball in the dirt. It was the end of an 11 pitch about for the tall left handed hitter.
Mansolino on Miller’s 11 pitch at bat: He looked good last night. He smoked a ball to centerfield and had two walks. That pitcher they brought in (Jean Cosme) had good stuff. Our bats were rolling and he shut us down. When a guy battles like that to 3-2 and strikes out on a ball in the dirt, so be. I love the competitiveness. a
Lovegrove is excited about the new role he’s taking on this year and hitting it full steam ahead, which is explained by his warm-up music, August Burns Red’s White Washed
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jlada@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Justin on Twitter @JL_Baseball Check out our IndiansNation fan page
POSTED 04/09/2016 00:51
