There are 44 games remaining in the regular season for the Cleveland Indians, and they are still just 3 games out of first place, and just one game out in the loss column.
There are several reasons they are in this position, most notably an MVP type season from Asdrubal Cabrera, who is hitting .289 with 20 HR and 72 RBI’s and is playing a gold glove shortstop.
Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin are other huge reasons for the Tribe’s success as they keep the team in a position to win virtually every time they take the mound as a starter.
Don’t forget the bullpen. Guys like Vinnie Pestano, Rafael Perez, and Joe Smith have been outstanding most of the season, teaming with Chris Perez and Tony Sipp to insure a victory most nights that the Indians go into the 7th inning with a lead.
And you can’t ignore the division the Indians are in as well. Toronto is two games over .500, the same as Cleveland, and they are buried in the AL East.
However, if the Tribe is to stay in the race and perhaps overtake Detroit and hold off Chicago in the AL Central, they will need contributions from some other players on the club.
First, Manny Acta needs his DH, Travis Hafner to pick it up at the plate. No one can expect Pronk to hit .340 for the season, as he was when he hit his game-winning grand slam against Toronto on July 7th.
However, Hafner is hitting just .240 with 3 homers and a 695 OPS since the all-star break. If the Tribe is going to start scoring runs, particular against teams like Oakland and Chicago that have good pitching, they need a productive Pronk.
Shin-Soo Choo is just coming off a broken thumb, but it would be nice if he started hitting like the guy who hit .300 with 20 HR in both 2009 and 2010. Right now, the left-handed hitter is batting .240 with 5 dingers.
Also, both of the players picked up in deadline trades need to perform better than they have to this point.
Kosuke Fukudome came to the Indians with an ability to get on base (.374 with the Cubs this year), but so far it hasn’t translated to the American League.
In 16 games with the Tribe, he has a .268 on base percentage and an OPS of 581. Granted, it’s a small sample, but the Cleveland attack needs the former Cub to start producing offensively.
Ubaldo Jimenez provided an outstanding start in his debut at Progressive Field, throwing eight strong innings against the Tigers after a 14 inning game the night before had extended the bullpen.
In his other two outings against Texas and Chicago, he has struggled with his command, and pitched just 5 and 4-2/3 innings respectively.
The Indians need him to team with Masterson to provide a 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation going forward. He’s kept the team in the game in both of those outings, but more is expected from a hurler who finished third in the NL Cy Young Award voting last year, winning 19 games.
Not to mention costing Cleveland their top two pitching prospects.
It’s ridiculous to hope that a youngster like Jason Kipnis or Lonnie Chisenhall can step up and be a big factor in winning a division title.
The guys mentioned here are proven big leaguers, and currently aren’t producing like they have in the past.
If they can get it going, it may just be enough to put the Cleveland Indians back in the post-season for the first time since 2007.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 