Well, this is not what you want.
Will the real Indians please stand up? Could you let us know now the team we're going to watch through the rest of the regular season, because that's going to inform a lot about how the fans feel about watching these games. Is it the team that went 18-4 for a stretch, or the one that's started a road trip 0-6, with a real chance of going 0-9?
Yes, the real team probably lies somewhere between those two extremes, but as I wrote last week, right now the Indians are just too streaky.
Does a sweep at the hands of Detroit completed on June 9 end the entire season? No, of course not. But losing seven games in a row—along with 14 of the last 18—certainly doesn't inspire much confidence.
This is not the way things were supposed to be, especially not after the Dolans shelled out over $100 million in free agency to completely revamp the roster. Consider the fact that Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Michael Brantley are the only remaining position players from the 2012 roster. Not to mention the hiring of Terry Francona to manage the ball club.
And yet, the feeling right now is eerily similar to that of the past two seasons.
The solution is easy—start winning again. Unfortunately the remedy may not be so simple.
Really, everything is the problem right now—pitching, offense, defense. Pitching has been a problem, as the team's ERA ranks 13th in the league at 4.46 (Baltimore and Houston are worse). The starters were great during that 18-4 run, but overall are 11th in the league with a 4.56 ERA. The bullpen has been horrendous, ranking 14th in the AL with its 4.28 ERA. Because so many games have been feast or famine for the Tribe, they also by far rank dead last in the league with nine, and in MLB only Miami has fewer with seven.
Nick Swisher may have broken out of his 0-26 skid today, but he, Mark Reynolds, and Carlos Santana have got to find a way to become more consistent at the plate in order to drive the offense. Right now, Swisher isn't doing much to earn that $14 million salary.
Add the buffoonery of Chris Perez and a potential season-changing suspension for him, and it's easy to see why fans are starting to get turned off by this team.
Coming into the season, I didn't really think the Indians would be able to compete for the division title. But with all the changes, I also didn't see them taking another nose dive.
We keep hearing players like Jason Kipnis and Ubaldo Jimenez talk about how "different" everything is this year.
Well I'm sick of hearing it. If things are different, prove it on the field. Enough with the losing, let's have fun again.
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