The summer of baseball in Cleveland appears to be over before Memorial Day. The Indians lost three out of four to Tampa Bay this weekend, dropping their record to 14-25 as the team nears the quarter pole, and they are now 7-1/2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central Division. Right now, this team is a complete and total mess.
The bullpen has received the lion’s share of the criticism, and justifiably so, but the starting pitchers not named Cliff Lee have not held up their end of the bargain. Outside of the Cy Young Award winner, the starters cannot get past the sixth inning, which puts an unbelievable strain on the relief corps. Thursday night was a prime example. Fausto Carmona had a 9-0 lead, and suddenly the control problems that have plagued him since last year crept up, and he couldn’t finish the sixth.
That being said, the bullpen has been horrible, the biggest problems being the inability to throw strikes, and not being able to keep the ball in the park. Jensen Lewis has a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio, but he’s allowed six dingers. Rafael Betancourt has fanned 21 while walking just 10, but he’s given up three homers. Matt Herges has thrown strikes, but allowed two long balls in 10 innings of work. The rest of the relief corps has come in and fallen behind hitters on a consistent basis.
Offensively, the Tribe is starting to score a few more runs, but they are still up and down like an elevator. Grady Sizemore continues to hit like one of his ladies. The front office can spew out excuses about Sizemore all they want, but there is no good reason why he shouldn’t be able to hit at least .285. With his speed, he should slap the ball to the left side with two strikes and use his legs to get on base. Showing bunt more often would draw in the 3B and make this easier to do.
There are only two players who walk more than they strikeout, and one of those guys (Ryan Garko) seems to be anchored to the bench. The only other regular player who has fanned less than twice as much as they have walked is Shin-Soo Choo. Thank goodness for the remarkable Victor Martinez (.401/. 478/. 632) with 24 walks and only 14 whiffs.
Defensively, they finally seem to have made the move putting Jhonny Peralta at 3B, and moving Asdrubal Cabrera to shortstop where he belongs. I still don’t understand not playing Mark DeRosa at second, though. Eric Wedge has said he wants to get more athletic at 1B? Look at the history of the game; there have been many first baseman that were basically sticks in the ground with a glove. If Garko is in the lineup, he should play first, and DeRosa, who has a history of playing multiple positions, should be moved around. That being said, why not play DeRosa at second, where he played much of the year for the Cubs in 2008.
The only people who had a worse weekend than the Tribe in Tampa were the umpiring crew who blew call after call. Tim McClelland’s crew is the clubhouse leader for the worst group in the majors. They missed a call Friday night on DeRosa, and the out call on Garko’s drive Sunday may just be the worst call of the year. How the third base umpire saw Carl Crawford catch that ball is a mystery.
The Indians still have six games to go on this road trip, and there is nothing to indicate a turn-around is near. A season that started with high hopes and predictions (not here) of a post-season appearance could be over by Memorial Day. Thank goodness for the Cavaliers.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 
Eric Wedge must really be trying to test Mark Shapiro’s patience…. Why is he experimenting with Ryan Garko in the outfield when the season is on the brink of disaster…? Does he not realize that Matt Laporta is sitting on the bench missing out on valuable MLB experience–Ryan Garko in the outfield can not be that important. Does he not realize how difficult it is to make up 10 games; he needs to have the best players on the field every single day until they get back to .500:)