will play his former Hawks team three times this | Forum
love520
Jan 9 '18
CLEVELAND -- Andrew Miller will make his debut in a Cleveland uniform on Monday night, when the Indians host the Minnesota Twins in the first game of a four-game series. Adam Dunn Jersey .Miller was acquired Sunday in a five player trade with the New York Yankees. The Indians sent four minor league prospects to New York, including outfielder Clint Frazier, the Indians first round pick in the 2013 draft.The first order of business when Miller arrives will be for manager Terry Francona to decide how he is going to use him. Indians closer Cody Allen has 20 saves this year and 78 saves over the last three years.But Miller is an all-star reliever. He had 36 saves with the Yankees last year, though thats the only year in his 11 year career that he has been used as a closer. Miller has mostly been a setup man, which is what he was with the Yankees this year, pitching mostly in the eighth inning.Francona said he will sit down with Allen and Miller on Monday and decide how the back of the bullpen will be configured.Andrew Miller is one of the elite relievers in baseball, and it gives us guys who pitch at the end of the game who are interchangeable, Francona said. Over the last two months this should give us a much better chance to win games.Miller fills a major hole in the Indians bullpen. Not only is he good, but hes left-handed. The Indians have gone most of this season without a left-hander in their bullpen. Now they have arguably the best left-handed reliever in the game.Im not sure there is a better fit for our bullpen than Andrew, said Indians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti.Whether Miller makes his debut on the mound for the Indians Monday depends in large part on how well Danny Salazar pitches. Salazar (11-3, 2.97) will start for the Indians against the Twins. Salazar ranks fourth in the American League in ERA. In eight career appearances vs. Minnesota Salazar is 3-2 with a 3.63 ERA.Tyler Duffey (5-8, 6.12) is scheduled to start for the Twins, but that is subject to change. The Twins have announced that they will recall right-hander Jose Berrios from Triple-A Rochester on Monday. Berrios, who was 1-1 with a 10.20 ERA in four starts with the Twins earlier this season, could get the start in place of Duffey.He (Berrios) is not coming to watch and be a spectator, Twins manager Paul Molitor told MLB.com.In 16 starts at Rochester Berrios was 10-5 with a 2.44 ERA.Theres some feeling that its time to get him up here. . . that this would be a good thing for him to get back up here and see how he reacts, Molitor said.The Indians come into the Minnesota series having just swept a three-game series with Oakland. Cleveland went 12-12 in the month of July after their blistering 22-6 June, which included a 14-game winning streak.The Twins went 15-11 in July, their first winning month of the season. They are 5-4 vs. Cleveland this year. Todd Frazier Jersey . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Jose Abreu Jersey . Despite the cost, effort and an improved steroid test, its possible that very few -- if any -- positives will be detected, Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press in an interview. "We just dont know what the results from Torino will be," Budgett said. http:///...tos-white-soxjersey/ . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. BOSTON -- From afar, Al Horford has always had respect for the history of the Boston Celtics.He made his first visit to the Garden as a rookie in 2007 and found himself drawn to the championship banners that hung above the court.That was the same season that Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce to form the Big 3 and went on to win Bostons 17th NBA championship.As the Celtics biggest free agent signing since then, Horford -- with his four-year, $113 million contract -- is now the centerpiece of the franchise as it chases banner No. 18.He enters the 2016-17 campaign no longer the wide-eyed rookie that arrived in Atlanta nine years ago. Hes now a veteran four-time All-Star that team president Danny Ainge believes can provide leadership to a young core led by Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder. The immediate goal is to help Boston advance past the first round of the playoffs for first time since 2012.I know that Im gonna help our team be better, Horford said. Im gonna try to come in and try to gel as fast as I can and just make sure that were playing at a high level, and that were working every day. And well see what happens.Theres no denying that Horford joins a team that has been on the upswing under coach Brad Stevens. Boston won just 25 games his first season in 2013-14 but have improved to 40 and 48 wins the past two, which have included back-to-back playoff berths.But each of those postseason appearances ended in first-round exits, including a 4-2 loss to Horfords Hawks last season.That loss was marred by a hamstring injury to Bradley in Game 1, as well as nagging injuries which dogged Crowder and center Kelly Olynyk.With all of that behind them, Thomas is anxious to see what this group can accomplish when healthy and with some extra star power.Aside from providing some help defending the rim and rebounding, Horfords shooting ability also should open up the floor more for a scoring point guard like Thomas, and improved shooter like Bradley.The expectation is that Crowder will also be freer to operate with Horford drawing attention in the paint.There is also No. 3 overall draft pick Jaylen Brown, whose athleticissm should fit right in with a group that loves to run the floor. Frank Thomas Jersey. We have a pretty good team, a team that could make some noise -- some legitimate noise, Thomas said. If we put it together and play the right way, we can make a lot happen this season. You dont ever want to put a ceiling on it, but we have a really good team I know that.MAKING ADJUSTMENTSProbably the Celtics biggest loss this offseason was the departure of swingman Evan Turner to Portland in free agency. Aside from being a productive sixth man, he also at times triggered their half-court sets when he was in the game. Thats a big loss, Stevens said. A big loss because of the way he handled the ball, the big shots that he made late in the game, his positional versatility defensively, his everyday workman-like attitude in the gym.MINUTES FOR ROZIERThe Celtics were dealt a small blow to their second unit when Marcus Smart suffered a left ankle sprain in their preseason finale. The silver lining is that while hes out, it will almost certainly mean increased playing time for second-year point guard Terry Rozier. Rozier had his best moments as a rookie on the defensive end, but showed a lot of improvement in his shooting during the preseason. He works hard at the game and its no surprise that hes having success, Stevens said. Were going to rely on him.INJURY WATCHOlynyk sat out the entire preseason recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder in May. After not being cleared for contact in time to appear in any preseason games, its possible he could miss a good chunk of games early in the season. It will mean one less body to relieve Horford, but will give the Celtics opportunities to play smaller at times.MARK YOUR CALENDARThe Celtics have a fairly balanced schedule over the first full month of the season, but will play 10 of their first 18 games on the road. Horford will play his former Hawks team three times this season, beginning Jan. 13 in Atlanta.---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower ;Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys' ' '
Share:
