Some Random Tribe Thoughts

 

Since the Tribe finally returned to action last night in their "home" opener against the Angels, I felt is was time to weigh in on some of the issues that came up over the weekend, as well as address some other issues with the ballclub.

 

First, the lost weekend against Seattle is no one’s fault except the schedule maker for Major League Baseball.  I realize we are a northern city, but it was 80 degrees last Tuesday and the Indians could very well have been playing here that day.  I also understand that the organization doesn’t want to play the nine or ten games on the road.  However, there was no need to schedule a ten game home stand in Cleveland (or any other northern city) without an off day to use for possible make up games.  It was also irresponsible to put two series against teams who do not return to Jacobs Field for the rest of the season.  MLB made the error, the Indians’ organization just tried to make the best of a bad situation.  Not enough people told that side of the story during Friday’s debacle.

 

The Indians finally got back on the field at Miller Park yesterday, and once again Roberto Hernandez and Rafael Betancourt pitched.  This means they have appeared in every game so far this season.  I understand that Eric Wedge wanted to get them some work since the team hasn’t played since last Thursday, but it will bear watching how much the manager will lean on the two veterans this season. 

 

At Class AAA Buffalo, Hector Luna continued his spring training performance by making three errors in yesterday’s game.  Luna might be a better hitter than Mike Rouse, but you simply cannot put someone out there who is going to kick the ball all around the infield.  Keep watching the box scores from Bison games to see if Luna either changes positions or is just benched.  It doesn’t do much for the development of young pitchers such as Adam Miller and Brian Slocum to have their defense botch plays behind them.

 

Baseball Prospectus rated the minor leagues, and it ranked Buffalo as having the best bullpen (Juan Lara, Ed Mujica, Tony Sipp, and Rafael Perez) and best outfield (Shin-Soo Choo, Brad Snyder, Ben Francisco, and Franklin Gutierrez) in the International League.  They ranked Akron’s starting rotation as the best in the Class AA Eastern League with Chuck Lofgren, J.D. Martin, Scott Lewis, and Aaron Laffey.  The Aeros’ outfield of Trevor Crowe, Brian Barton, and Ryan Goleski also ranked #1 in the league.  The organizational depth for the Tribe will pay dividends down the road, maybe even this year in a trade.

 

Enjoy the games from Milwaukee this year, and here’s hoping the weather permits a real home opener Friday night against the White Sox.

 

KM