The Memorial Day Checkpoint

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

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

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

We signed who? Why? Well...Welcome to the CLE

Now that the Super Bowl is over (with yours truly correctly predicted the winner and the amount of points the Packers would score), I guess this blog is going to start becoming more baseball-centric especially since we don't have a basketball team sorry, our basketball team is all kinds of awful.

Cabrera with the Reds last season. He batted .263
with 4HR, 42RBI, and 33 Doubles in 2010.

In any case, the Tribe has reportedly "come to terms with" infielder Orlando Cabrera on a major league contract. Cabrera, a shortstop by trade, is 36 and will bring a much needed veteran presence to the Indians infield. You may remember Orlando's older brother, Jolbert Cabrera, playing for the Tribe from '98-'02. (You probably don't, but I know I remember him because Jolbert accidentally shot himself in the rear end after his time with the Indians, causing my mom and I to nickname him "'Ol Shot-In-The-Butt!") I'm guessing that Orlando has to pass some type of physical or something, because GM Chris Antonetti refused to comment on the signing, according to indians.com and cleveland.com. (Why yes, I did double check my sources). However, I'm a little curious as to why we signed him because the defensive holes we have are at second and third base...not short.

Cabrera does have two Gold Gloves to his name, which he earned in '01 with the Montreal Expos (who are now the Washington Nationals), and then with the Anaheim Angels (or Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim...whatever, that's a stupid name) in 2007. I like those defensive accolades, don't get me wrong, but they would look even better if there were over at third base.

According to both of the aforementioned sources, Asdrubal Cabrera will still be the shortstop this coming season, which means Orlando Cabrera will probably be the second baseman. But I'd honestly be more interested in seeing if he could play third base, because I think second base is easier to play defensively. With the rag tag band of bums players we've got in Jayson Nix, Jason Donald, Luis Valbuena (who I don't think should even be in the conversation), and Cord Phelps (who?), as long as Orlando Cabrera can put on a glove and stand out there, I'm sure he'll be the best defensive option at either position. (I feel like this might get complicated with two Cabrera's next to each other on the infield during the season. I don't envy Tom Hamilton.)

Do I like this signing? Well, I don't dislike it. I would much rather have had Antonetti sign a good defensive third baseman as the stopgap for Lonnie Chisenhall, but I'll take the one for the right side of the infield for Jason Kipnis. And if you don't know those names, you should Indians fans. Chisenhall has the potentiel to be the next David Wright - he's that big of a deal - and Kipnis is also probably going to be a darn good second baseman.

That's all I've got for now. The Browns are actually starting to make some headlines with their roster moves, terminating contracts and such, so I'll probably be back in the next couple of days for an update on their action. See you then!

~MAS

Ass-Drubal Out

Asdrubal Cabrera is going to be out for probably six to eight weeks after fracturing his forearm on this play during last night's Indians/Rays game. (Refresh the page to get away from that advertisement and just see the play.) What you see is Peralta at the short stop position, Cabrera at second, and the ball rolling up the middle. Cabrera dives for the ball, and then Peralta appears to run into him and breaks his arm.

I first saw this last night on WKYC Channel 3's Sports Report during the 11 o'clock news and my first thoughts were, why the hell was that fatass Jhonny Peralta playing short stop? Did Manny Acta all of a sudden forget how to manage his baseball team? It figures that the one time Acta would put him at short, Peraltass would do something like this...

However, upon further investigation, I found out that Hank Blalock was at the dish with a runner on first so Acta decided to employ a infield shift. That takes him off the hook for why we're without our leadoff hitter for the next six to eight weeks. And then I read several reports which said that even thought it appears Peralta ran into Cabrera's arm, he actually did not. To paraphrase one article that I read about it today (and I apologize for not remembering the article and writer), there is a hell of a lot we can blame Peralta for in terms of his performance on the field, but this is just not one of them. So, to set the record straight, Peralta and Cabrera were trying to avoid each other and Cabrera was the one who got the raw end of the deal.

Where does that leave the Tribe? Well, they've called up Jason Donald, a middle infield prospect acquired in the Cliff Lee trade last season. He was having a pretty solid season at the plate in Columbus, hitting .277 with 2 HR, 17 RBI and 10 doubles. He also stole 10 bases with only being caught twice. I think it was getting to be time that the Indians called him up anyway, I just wish it could have been to replace Luis Valbuena, who is strugg-a-ling at the plate.

Cabrera will most likely have surgery on his forearm, but the Indians should release more on that situation after Cabrera has been examined by a specialist in Baltimore tomorrow. In either case, I wish Cabrera a speedy recovery. His offense, defense, and stability at the top of the lineup will certainly be missed until he gets back.

~MAS