Tribe Mid-Season Report

A Pool Table in the Indians "Fan Cave" 

So, if you haven't been following me on Twitter (@SilverBullets21) you might have been wondering where I've been since I've been completely neglecting this here blog. But with the Indians on vacation for the next couple of days, I figured this would be as good a time as any to jump in and give my thoughts.

To say that the Indians have been a surprise might be the understatement of the year. I mean, sure I said that they'd go 82-82 and finish 3rd in the season Start Me Up post, but I thought I was being wildly optimistic. Turns out we can achieve that and more, and I think the credit for that largely belongs to the three people representing the Indians at the All-Star game in Arizona.

I think it's fairly obvious that Manny Acta, Asdrubal Cabrera and Chris Perez have been the cornerstones of this team. That's not to say that other people haven't been significant contributors, but when it comes to coaching, offense, defense and pitching, those three have been some of the best in the league. Even though Acta was asked by Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington to be on the staff in Spring Training, I'd say he's more than earned the selection by having the Tribe a half game out of first place at the All-Star break. For Cabrera, there hasn't been a better offensive or defensive shortstop in the AL this season. Period. And Chris Perez has been automatic this season, converting 21/22 saves.

Now, given that all of those players will be talked about till the cows come home on some other sites, I'd like to take a look at some of the other players who have been huge contributors and a couple who might need to find pink slips in their lockers soon...

Let's start with the pitching -- starting pitching. Josh Tomlin and Justin Masterson have become the best 1-2 punch the Indians have had since '07 with CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. Tomlin is tied for fourth in the league in wins with 10, and his ERA ranks 27th among AL starters. Granted, those numbers don't sound the best, but throw in the fact that he's pitched 30 starts in his career and all 30 have gone 5 or more innings, and I think you can see why I love this guy. He's not a flame thrower, but he can throw all four of his pitches for strikes. Quality strikes, not just the "get me overs" that Carlos Carrasco can sometimes throw.

Next, Masterson has been a huge victim of a lack of run support, which is why he only has a record of 7-6. You can really see how he's been victimized when you look at his ERA at only 2.64, above juggernauts like CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, and Jon Lester. If the Indians can ever get their mess together on the offensive side for him, he could get maybe 15 wins before the season is over. That is, if his arm holds up and he pitches to his potential every time. Something not exactly likely to happen.

On the flip side, we have a tale of two Carrascos, Fausto's pitching-from-the-stretch troubles, and a really bad Mitch Talbot. I remember reading at some point in spring training Manny Acta had said, "He has the  stuff to be one of the best in the American League. Period." Carrasco definitely had a string of starts in June where he showed that to be true, but once the calendar turned to July, he went just got shelled. Hopefully the All-Star break will be good for him.

Fausto Carmona in Center Field today at Progressive Field

I actually saw Fausto Carmona today at Progressive Field when I went there with the day camp where I'm a counselor, and he looked like he had just come out of a bullpen session. And as I voiced my concern for this guy in my last post, he honestly hasn't done anything to instill any more confidence in either me or (I'm sure) the Indians organization. The problem is that he's not getting any better, and there are at least three pitchers in AAA that could potentially replace him. The next problem is that he has no options left, so even if we wanted to send him down we couldn't. Ugh.

The same thing goes for Mitch Talbot, except he's been worse. Sure, Fausto has a 5.78 ERA, but Mitchey sees that, and raises him to 6.33. 6.33 runs per 9 innings. That's just awful, and if you're a first place team, you just can't have that. That's why it looks like Gomez is being called up to replace him, according to this story in the Plain Dealer. I think it's definitely a good idea. We don't have nearly the amount of time, money and support invested in Talbot as we do with Fausto. Think about it, we traded Kelly Shoppach for Talbot, so it's no big loss if we have to designate him for assignment and get nothing in return. At least in my opinion.

That's a lot to take in so I'll just leave it at that for now. At some point in the near future (I'm shooting for tomorrow!) I'll take a look at the offense. Until then, enjoy the All-Star game, Tribe fans!

~MAS