The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have baseball’s best record. They also have an AL leading 24 wins in one run games. Yet, this weekend, the Cleveland Indians took two of three one run games against the Halos, showing once again that baseball is indeed a funny game. Heck, yesterday, the Tribe won 4-3, despite having a lineup that featured Franklin Gutierrez, Andy Gonzalez, Sal Fasano, and Asdrubal Cabrera batting in spots 6-9. Now, that’s amazing!
Cliff Lee set the tone on Friday night with a complete game 3-2 win for his 17th victory of the season. Unless Lee falls completely on his face the rest of the season, he should be the Tribe’s second straight Cy Young Award winner. Sure, LA’s Francisco Rodriguez will break the single season save record this year, but the history of the award shows that relievers get the honor in the absence of any dominant years by starting pitchers. Right now, Lee’s season is dominant. He leads the league in wins and ERA (2.43) and is second in the league in innings pitched. He’s also in the top 10 in strikeouts. He has been the best starter in the American League since his first start in Oakland back in April.
Saturday’s game was a mess as a combination of four errors, a wild pitch and a seventh innings where the Indians loaded the bases with no one out and couldn’t push across the tying run contributed to a 4-3 loss, but the Tribe rebounded yesterday because Gutierrez, of all people, had three hits and two RBI’s in the victory. Jeremy Sowers was rewarded with a victory, which was nice because he has pitched better over the last month with really nothing to show for it.
In Saturday’s game, Kelly Shoppach, who fanned for what seemed like the 50th time this week, made the first out in that fateful seventh inning. Many people have suggested moving Victor Martinez to first base next season, and installing Shoppach as the starting catcher in 2009. It says here that Shoppach is a great trading chip in the off-season for teams looking for a backstop. Granted, he has only been the everyday receiver for a couple of months, but watching him play everyday shows his wide range of performance. Quite simply, he is not consistent. He is either hot or he strikes out a tremendous amount. If Mark Shapiro can get a 3B or a bullpen piece for Shoppach in the off-season, he should make the trade.
Which brings us to Andy Marte. We advocated seeing what Marte could do well before he was finally given regular playing time around the beginning of July. We have officially seen enough. He does a nice job defensively, but he cannot hit enough to be given regular playing time. His batting average still lingers under the .200 mark, and he just recently knocked in his tenth run. Shapiro can now unload Marte with a clear conscience. He was given regular playing time and didn’t take advantage. Unless they move Jhonny Peralta to the hot corner, the 2009 Tribe will be looking for a third baseman.
Speaking of Peralta, why would you move him to 3B? Right now, he’s the best shortstop in the American League. He will never be confused with Omar Vizquel defensively, but he does an acceptable job with the glove. He is just 26 years old, and he’s on pace to hit 25 HR and knock in 80 runs, as well as hit 45-50 doubles on the season. Leave Peralta at SS, and look for a stopgap third baseman for next year. By the way, not Casey Blake.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 