Start Me Up - It's Tribe Time!

It's Opening Day in Cleveland! What isn't exciting about that? I've been to a few Opening Day games and they're always great. The one that comes to mind is the '06 opener where Travis Hafner smacked 2 homers and Casey Blake hit a grand slam in what was a really foggy day on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. But all that's in the past, we have a core of pretty young players this season and despite the youth I'm optimistic about them. In fact, I'll go as far as to say if  healthy, the Indians will be competitive this season.

Yes, I said it and I believe it's true so I'll say it again.

If they stay healthy, the Indians will be competitive and fun to watch this season.

Carlos Santana

Okay, now let me elaborate. I don't really think they'll make a huge run for the playoffs or anything like that - although it is baseball, anything is possible - but I do think they have a great opportunity to forge their way back into mediocrity. Think about it, a lineup with a healthy Grady Sizemore, Carlos Santana, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo is already pretty potent. Add in a contributing-to-his-potential Matt LaPorta, The Man Formerly Known As Pronk  (yeah, that's not going to happen), Austin Kerns and Michael Brantley and this lineup doesn't look so bad, does it?

"Ace" Fausto Carmona

What's going to stop the Tribe this season is their starting rotation. Other than Fausto Carmona and Justin Masterson (who still think might be better suited for relief...but what do I know?) the rotation has way too many question marks. Mitch Talbot? He had a nice first half of the season going 8-8 with a 3.99 ERA, but then the wheels really came off in the second as he went 2-5 with an ERA of 5.29. And it certainly doesn't help that he had a disastrous spring this season. Carlos Corrasco? He's going to be a big key to the rotation as well, but aside from his few starts at the end of last season he's extremely unproven. Manny Acta is very much in this guy's corner though, saying earlier this spring that he has the potential to be one of the top pitchers in the American League. I'm not so sure about that...but it could happen. Josh Tomlin rounds out the rotation, winning the fifth starters job after a nice spring, but again he's very green throwing just 12 starts last year.

That being said, I really think the starting group has some good potential. Today's Opening Day starter, Fausto can come back and be the ace-in-training we saw in 2007, that would be a huge boost. I've read a lot about how the Indians basically have a bunch of guys who are all middle of the rotation guys, but I remember what Carmona did '07 and I believe he can get back to that level. Or maybe I'm just a victim of too much positive thinking.

Lonnie Chisenhall

If there are two positions I'm very concerned about for the upcoming season it has to be third and first base. Yes, we've got prospect Lonnie Chisenhall waiting in the wings (and Terry Pluto responded to a question I asked him on his Facebook page that the Indians are really hoping he can Chisenhall can be up in the big leagues in June), but right now we've got Jack Hannahan at third and Matt LaPorta at first. Defensively, these two should both be at least above-average, but offensively...these two could be the dregs of the Indians lineup. Now, this is alright for Hannahan as he's a stopgap and will hopefully have no place on this team beyond June, but LaPorta was one of the keys to the CC Sabathia deal. It's extremely important that he show the power and average he's always displayed in AAA ball this season at the big league level. My fear is that LaPorta is going to be another "Brandon Phillips"—we'll trade the guy and then he'll become the impact player we wanted someplace else. The same thing happened with Jeremy Guthrie, a former Indians draft pick who now starts for the Baltimore Orioles. Sometimes in baseball a change of scenery is all a player needs to start playing better, but in LaPorta's case it better just be the change from the Arizona hot to the Cleveland cold.

Matt LaPorta

So, since this is a Start Me Up, it's got to end with a prediction. And, as the title of this post might imply, I'm going to be pretty optimistic.

The Prediction: 81-81, 3rd place in the AL Central.

I wanted so badly to say 2nd place, but I'd rather be right. So consider this me second guessing myself and I will claim both as my prediction at the end of the season.

Enjoy Opening Day today Tribe fans. I wish I could catch the game on TV, but hearing Tom Hamilton and Mike Heagan call the game from WTAM's online stream will be more than good enough for me.

~MAS