Many people around MLB feel like Memorial Day is a good time to gage where teams stand and see which teams are or are not legitimate. And while we should all take a moment out of our days to be thankful for the men and women who have served—and are serving—this great country, the day off also allows for some time to talk baseball.
Granted a whole lot can change between the unofficial start of summer and its unofficial end of Labor Day, but since we're all fairly invested in the Tribe, I think it's safe to say that this team is pretty legit.
Now I know the White Sox opened up a can of whoop-you-know-what on us over the weekend, but how many games were you really expecting the Indians to win in a series the team played without its 3-5 hitters? How many teams can loose all three of those key bats and still have a decent offensive attack?
Strangely enough, the answer is...the Indians. After losing 9-3 on Friday night, Acta's Fun Bunch came out and scored seven runs on Saturday, six on Sunday, and now eight today. And I'll say this, a team that has Jose Lopez in the cleanup hitters spot should not be scoring seven runs a game. That's incredible.
But right now, we're seeing a few guys step up and put the team right on their back—Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis. Those two players have done so much for the team in the past few days, both offensively and defensively.
If you haven't seen this catch Brantley made on Saturday in Chicago, watch it and be reminded of Kenny Lofton in the 90s.
And how can you say enough about Kipnis? The JK-Kid is still in his first full season in the big leagues and in his first three game stint as a No. 3 hitter he's gone 7/13 with four runs scored and six RBI. Not to mention he hit two home runs off of Jake Peavy in Chicago. Plus, Kipnis has hit an incredible .500 (12-24) in his last six games. Those are some serious numbers folks, and I think it's a fantastic sign of things to come.
With Lonnie Chisenhall back up from AAA to replace the injured Jack Hannahan, I think the future is now for the Indians infield. It's just my unprofessional opinion, but I think Chisenhall's swing looks a lot more compact and smooth than it did towards the end of last season on this home run.
But, of course, the last three games, the starting pitching has really let the team down. I can't even get into the enigma that is Ubaldo Jimenez without wanting to scream, but Derek Lowe definitely had the clunker for which he was probably due. And even though we won the game, the team needs more out of Josh Tomlin than five innings with four earned runs.
The good thing is that Masterson has come on as of late, pitching seven strong innings and only giving up one run in his last start against Detroit on Thursday. Also, as bad as Ubaldo has been, you've got to feel at least moderately good about Lowe, Gomez and Tomlin for the rest of the rotation.
So what's the point of all this? Well, yes the Indians do have offensive problems—even with Asdrubal and Santana back later this week, the Indians still have way too many lefties in the lineup and an albatross in left field. Maybe Matt LaPorta will be able to fill that void, but I doubt it. Either way, I'm sure President Mark Shapiro and GM Chris Antonetti have been working the phones, trying to find some kind of bat to put out there.
But for now, as Chris Perez so tactlessly put it, let's just enjoy this first place baseball team. I fully expect the Motor City Fat Cats to get their act together and start mashing the ball with good pitching, but for now, let's hope we can beat up on the cellar dwellers of the AL Central to create some more separation in the division.
More to come, Tribe fans.
~MAS
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