The Boston Celtics are a veteran team.  Three of the four principle stars on the team (Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce) are on the wrong side of 30 years old.  However, don’t dismiss them as an old team.  Instead, remember that they won a title just two years ago, and have the heart of a champion.

 

What should the Cavaliers do to win this series?  Here’s our take on how to accomplish the feat and advance to the conference finals.

 

On defense, the wine and gold need to keep Rajon Rondo from going to the basket and creating havoc.  That’s easier said than done, especially for Mo Williams, whose defensive skills have slipped from a year ago.  Rondo simply isn’t as effective from the perimeter as his outside shooting is not the strength of his game. 

 

When Mike Brown plays Delonte West and Williams together, it makes more sense to put West on Rondo, where his quickness and length can bother the Celtics’ point guard.  Williams can play Allen, who can go to the basket, but seems more content to spot up on the perimeter.  Also, the height difference isn’t much of a difference between the two.

 

The Cavs should use their depth to pressure the Celtics, and make them work hard on every possession.  Cleveland can run multiple looks on defense using Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon to make a short shot clock for Boston.  Mike Brown doesn’t use a lot of pressure defenses, but he may want to reconsider it in this series.

 

Offensively, the wine and gold should run as much as possible.  The defense is part of this, because if they can force the Celtics into misses, the Cavs can get up the floor in a hurry for fast break opportunities.  This strategy once again put pressure on Boston, which can pay dividends as the series goes on.

 

They also must move the basketball.  The Cavaliers cannot run the offense where LeBron James dribbles endlessly on the perimeter.  If they can move the ball back and forth, using both sides of the court, they can blow up the Celtics defensive game plan.  Boston’s defenders are simply not a quick as they were two years ago. 

 

Lastly, this is the playoffs, so every possession is precious.  Cleveland has to take care of the basketball.  And they can’t afford to fall in love with the three point shot.  They have to challenge the Celtic defense by attacking the basket.  Kendrick Perkins is solid defensively, but Garnett is not what he once was at that end.  Although, he is still pretty good. 

 

Much is being made of the three days off between games two and three, but that is because this is the first second round series to get started.  Either both teams would get extra rest before the series started, or it would happen during the series.  And television dictated they wanted this series to start tonight in prime time. 

 

In the 60’s and 70’s, basketball fans talked about the famed Celtic fast break and their running game.  Ironic, isn’t it, that the Cavs need to run the Celtics to win this series. 

 

JK

 

 

 

The Cleveland Indians are a patient organization and general manager Mark Shapiro will tell you that we all need to wait 40 games before making evaluations about the ballclub. 

 

In some respects, he is correct, a few days ago, Lou Marson looked completely overmatched at the plate.  The last two games, it appears he may be able to contribute at least something offensively.  It’s way too early to give up on players, particularly ones with track records, like Grady Sizemore. 

 

That being said, here are some early impressions on the 2010 Cleveland Indians.

 

·          Thank goodness for Austin Kearns.  Outside of Shin-Soo Choo, he is the only Indian who has provided any kind of pop this season.  He leads the team with nine extra base hits despite being just eighth on the team in at bats.  His record shows that this likely will not last (he’s hitting .383), but he’s been a solid acquisition thus far. 

 

·          Justin Masterson isn’t a starting pitcher.  You have to love the guy’s arm, but he certainly can’t start if he can’t get left handed hitters out.  Lefties are 18 for 37 with seven walks against him so far this year.  He might be better served working as a set up man in the bullpen because he throws hard and can strike out hitters.  And here’s the guy he can replace in the relief corps…

 

·          Joe Smith.  Smith is one of those guys who should be classified as a National League pitcher.  He did have some success against right-handed hitters last season (they hit .198 against him), but as a sidearm pitcher that’s not all that impressive.  This year, righties are 6 for 18 with 2 HR’s against him.  Wednesday night, he came in to face one hitter, Torii Hunter, who promptly doubled and scored the winning run.  Let’s see if there is any interest in Smith from the NL when Kerry Wood is ready to go.

 

·          Mark Grudzielanek is a solid pro and has been a productive major league player over the years, but he seems to struggle to hit the ball out of the infield.  He has seven hits on the year, all singles.  Wouldn’t Jason Donald or Anderson Hernandez give the ball club more right now?

 

·          The Tribe is last in the AL in runs scored, and the biggest reason is the performance of three players:  Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, and Jhonny Peralta, who coincidentally hit second, fourth, and fifth in the batting order.  You have to think all three will start hitting better at some point based on track record.  Sizemore is hitting .192 with no home runs and only six walks to go with 17 strikeouts.

 

Hafner is hitting just .190 and has just four extra base hits, and he is striking out (17) almost twice as much as he walks (9).  Peralta had a good series in Anaheim, but is still hitting just .190 with just five extra base hits.  Peralta is walking more this year, which bodes well for the rest of his season.

 

·          You would think the Indians lead the league in hitting into double plays, but they aren’t even in the top 3.  The Tribe has hit into 23, trailing the AL leading White Sox by six.

 

·          The pitching by and large has been pretty good, but only three Tribe pitchers have good strikeout to walk ratios.  They would be Masterson (24 K/11 BB), Aaron Laffey (4 K/2 BB) and Jensen Lewis (6 K/3 BB).  That isn’t positive for the future.  If this trend continues, the pitching will not be as successful as it has been in April.

 

The Tribe’s record is 9-12 going into a weekend series with the Twins, and really, it’s surprising their record is that good considering the anemic hitting.  If some of the guys who are supposed to hit do not start doing so, it’s hard to see even a small improvement in this team.

 

Then again, winning doesn’t matter to this ownership, only profit margins.

 

KM

 

 

It wasn’t the dominating performance the fans wanted, nor was it like the game they played on Sunday in Game 4, but the Cleveland Cavaliers did enough to win last night, 96-94, beating the Chicago Bulls and winning the series four games to one. 

 

Now, the real playoffs begin.  Saturday night, the Cavs start the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the hated Boston Celtics.  No disrespect to the Bulls, who played hard and will be a force to come with Derrick Rose leading the way.  However, the Celtics are basically the same crew that won the NBA title two years ago.

 

And of course, let the hand wringing begin over the elbow injury, which forced LeBron James to shoot a free throw left-handed with less than ten seconds remaining in the game.  James showed no ill effects in his post game press conference, but then again, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins were not hitting him on the arm at that time.

 

However, the Cavs didn’t play well again last night, allowing the Bulls to stay in the game far longer than they should have.  In fact, they almost gave up a nine-point lead with a little over three minutes to go.  They took a series of forced shots, instead of attacking the rim.  It almost cost them a trip back to Chicago for game six.

 

The officiating also played a part as they took the Chicago big men, Joakim Noah and Brad Miller, out of the game with some questionable foul calls against Shaquille O’Neal.  Those calls also allowed the Cavs to get in the bonus very early in the fourth quarter. 

 

Remember though, that this Bulls’ team took the Celtics to seven games a year ago, while it only took Cleveland five games to dispatch Chicago.

 

It is possible that the Cavs attitude in this series was simply to do enough to win and advance, and now the intensity will be kicked up.  Again, remember that the year the Celtics won it all, they went seven games in the first round against the Hawks, and in the second round against the Cavaliers.

 

The wine and gold simply had to win four games out of seven, and they accomplished it. 

 

Brown does need to sharpen up his playing rotation.  After playing well on Sunday, J.J. Hickson was on the court for just three minutes last night.  Anthony Parker was a factor in Game 4, and he played just 19 minutes last night.

 

Delonte West did play well in Game 5, scoring 16 points, but certainly Parker could have played in place of Mo Williams, who had a dreadful shooting night, hitting just 2 of 13 shots. 

 

Hickson has played well against Boston this season, and though it was understandable that the Cavs wanted to get Shaq involved more, but the second year man should have received more time. 

 

Remember, this is not new for Brown.  When he gets guys back from injuries, like Shaq, it usually takes him awhile to get his rotation down.  The coaching staff needs to decide who should get playing time against Boston during these days off.  Clearly, Hickson should be on the floor more.

 

Once again, the real playoffs begin on Saturday night.  This series will be physical and chippy, because the Celtics like to talk.  Do not underestimate the heart of a champion.  The Celtics are just two years removed from a title.  They will not be an easy out.

 

JK

 

 

It happened with three minutes to go in the second quarter.  Somebody flipped the switch and suddenly the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to return to being the great defensive team their coach demands them to be.  And a few minutes later, this game was over, and the wine and gold took a commanding 3-1 series lead.

 

Early on, it looked like the same Cavs that played in the second and third games of the series.  Yes, they did try to establish the Shaquille O’Neal inside before he picked up two fouls, but they were taking an excess of three point shots.  The Bulls do not have anyone who should frighten potential drivers away, but the Cleveland was jacking away from beyond the arc. 

 

The Cavaliers were in the game, but it didn’t look good for the good guys.

 

Then, the Cavs decided to play defense.  They contested every jump shot.  They had hands in the face of Bulls looking to pass.  They switched men in order to keep Derrick Rose out of the paint.  And they started rebounding with verve, limiting the Bulls to one shot. 

 

With three minutes left, Rose missed a free throw that could have tied the game at 47.  When the half ended, the wine and gold extended their lead to ten points, 62-52, meaning the Cavs outscored the Bulls 15-6 to close the half.

 

Only two of Chicago’s points came in the paint, Rose’s layup with 11 seconds left.

 

The defense continued in the third quarter, as the Bulls mustered just ten points in the first eight minutes.  By then, the Cavaliers had scored 24 points and Cleveland had an 86-62 lead and the game was effectively over.  And since the series shifts to Cleveland for game 5 on Tuesday, the series ended as well. 

 

The rest of the game was anti-climatic, except for a little blip early in the fourth quarter with LeBron James on the bench.  Mike Brown quickly put James back in, and that was that.  As it was, James played just 36 minutes, and totally dominated, scoring 37 points to go along with 12 rebounds and 11 assists.  Antawn Jamison threw in his array of jump shots and strange looking shots to pitch in with 24 points.

 

Mo Williams had a strong game, shooting 6 of 10 from the floor, scoring 19 points, and Anthony Parker was assertive early on and wound up with 12. 

 

Brown decided to give J.J. Hickson minutes instead of Zydrunas Ilgauskas to be more athletic, and though he didn’t have an impact on Joakim Noah, who had 21 points and 20 boards, he did pitch in with 10 points off the bench. 

 

Rose scored 21 points as well, but much like his effort in the first game, he needed 20 shots to get them.  Kirk Hinrich could not repeat his game 3 shooting, hitting just 3 of 13 from the floor.  In all, the Bulls shot just 37% from the field, and hit just 4 of 12 threes.

 

Cleveland took 25 three-point shots, which is more than they should be taking, but they hit 12, a very good percentage. 

 

It appears the loss in Game 3 was the slap in the face that the Cavs needed.  They played with playoff intensity on Sunday.  Now, they come home to hopefully finish out the series in five games.  This has been a tougher series than expected, and it is just the beginning.  Don’t expect a lack of focus from here on out.

 

JK

 

After watching film of last season’s 5-11 season, there is no question what team president Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert thought the biggest weakness was for the 2009 Cleveland Browns.  That would be the defensive backfield, so the duo used three of their eight picks in this year’s draft on the secondary. 

 

They drafted a cornerback in the first round in Florida’s Joe Haden, and safeties T.J. Ward and Larry Asante in rounds two and five respectively.  Add in giant DE Clifton Geathers with their last pick, and the Browns improved their defense, in theory, of course.

 

However, the pick most people want to talk about is QB Colt McCoy with the 85th pick in the draft, the first of two third round selections. 

 

The Browns are pulling a page out of the 1980’s and using the same book as coach Eric Mangini’s former team, the New York Jets, in thinking the being strong in the secondary allows the defense to do all sorts of different things to put pressure on the opposing quarterbacks. 

 

If your cornerbacks are cover man to man, that frees up people to blitz from different angles.  And now, the Browns look to have three solid corners in Haden, the recently acquired Sheldon Brown, and holdover Eric Wright.  That kind of depth even allows for man coverage when opponents go to three wide receiver sets. 

 

And having safeties that can lay the wood to wide outs coming over the middle is also a handicap to passing games.  The Browns had one solid safety in Abe Elam, and Ward’s and Asante’s reputations as big hitters will help in this area and also in defensing the run. 

 

These additions, along with those of LBs Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong, along with two guys acquired during the season last year in Jason Trusnick and Matt Roth, give the Browns a better defense to start with than they had last year.

 

On offense, Heckert took his quarterback of the future in McCoy, but also may have pick a lead running back in Montario Hardesty (which will please sportstimeohio.com’s Roger Brown, who has been singing the praises of Hardesty for months), and a possible #1 wide receiver in Carlton Mitchell, who was hidden in South Florida’s running game.

 

McCoy was probably the best fit for the west coast offense in the draft, and Holmgren and Heckert got him without having to trade up to get him.  He doesn’t have the big arm, but has the accuracy that offense needs.  Besides, if he doesn’t work out, it’s not like the Browns wasted a first round choice on him. 

 

Hardesty is a power runner which could be a perfect compliment to James Harrison, who had a breakout second half last year.  Both he and Ward have had some injury issues which are a concern, however.

 

Getting another offensive lineman is always good as well, as that is an area every team need depth.  Therefore, drafting Arizona State guard Shawn Lauvao on the third round and signing free agent Eric Ghiaciuc provides some added depth. 

 

Will these players turn out to be Pro Bowlers?  Only time will tell.  However, we said going into the draft the Browns needed to get two guys who will start in game one, and those guys should be Haden at CB and Ward at safety.  Hardesty should earn carries immediately as well.  Plus, Cleveland picked up its quarterback of the future in McCoy. 

 

The new regime had a plan and they stuck to it.  That’s reason enough to smile about this year’s draft.

 

JD

 

The NBA playoffs are not designed for teams to sweep.  The past two years were the exception, not the rule for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as they swept Washington and Detroit in the first rounds in 2008 and 2009.  So, it wasn’t a surprise that the Cavs lost a game to Chicago this year. 

 

It’s the way they have lost that is puzzling.

 

Last night, the wine and gold dropped a 108-106 decision to Chicago, but still hold a 2-1 game lead in the best of seven series.  However, for the second game in a row, the Cavs’ defense failed to show up, and it’s time for Mike Brown to make an adjustment.

 

Chicago is using its athleticism to get in the paint easily, and either scoring or passing out to open shooters at the three-point line.   Luol Deng and Joakim Noah played well again, but not as well as in Game 2, but Kirk Hinrich stepped up with a 27-point evening, hitting nine of twelve from the floor, including five of eight from behind the line.

 

The main culprit though, is Derrick Rose, who is an emerging superstar.  Rose scored 31 points and dished out seven assists, and caused havoc by getting into the paint at will.  The coaching staff simply has to find someone who can control him, whether it’s Delonte West, Anthony Parker, or perhaps using Jamario Moon’s length to keep him outside. 

 

Maybe LeBron James can guard him in the fourth quarter, because yesterday, Rose staved off the Cavalier rally with several key buckets at the end of the game.

 

Noah was active again, getting 10 points and 15 rebounds in 32 minutes.  It’s clear right now that he is quicker than both Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and it’s hurting the team.  Brown might give some minutes to J.J. Hickson to try to match the athleticism of Noah.  Hickson is currently the odd man out in Brown’s rotation, but he showed in the regular season that he could help.

 

Of course, it didn’t help that Anderson Varajao got into foul trouble and played just 20 minutes, scoring three points and getting just six boards.

 

Offensively, the Cavs were way too dependent on three point shots, taking 35 for the game.  That’s about 20 too many.  Granted, some of these shots came when the wine and gold were trying to catch up from a 21 point second half deficit, but Cleveland needs to attack the basket more often. 

 

They also need to handle the Bulls’ zone defense better.  There is no rule saying a team has to shoot from outside against zones.  A good design, such as putting James at the free throw line, can dissect a zone.  The Cavs are settling for jump shots.

 

The Bulls have no one on the interior that should put fear in the hearts of Cavalier players driving to the basket. 

 

The other thing that came back to bite the Cavs was the free throw shooting.  They missed 11 freebies, including an almost 50% night from LBJ (7 for 13) and a 2 for 5 performance from Mo Williams.  In a game that ended up being decided by two points, this is a killer.  Hopefully, it’s a one game aberration.

 

It’s not a panic situation, because most people thought the series would not be a sweep.  However, for teams as good as the Cavaliers, the job becomes how well you perform in comparison to your potential.  In that series, the wine and gold is down 2-1.  They need to raise their level of play Sunday afternoon in Chicago, and put themselves in a position to close it out in Game 5.

 

JK

 

Game 1 was kind of an ensemble cast for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Game 2 was a Hollywood blockbuster, featuring a leading man in LeBron James’ sizzling shooting, a co-star in Jamario Moon, and a villain in Joakim Noah. 

 

In the end, the wine and gold overcame a sloppy first half a porous defense throughout the night to take a 2-0 games lead in the best of seven series, topping Chicago 112-102 at The Q.

 

James had the outside shot working, hitting 16 of 23 from the floor in route to 40 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists.  The Bulls made a conscious effort to keep LBJ out of the paint, so he simply scored over them, hitting a variety of jumpers in an unbelievable shooting display.

 

In a game where the rest of the roster seemed out of sync, Moon stepped up.  He played 20 minutes, which he probably didn’t even expect, and hit four three pointers, as well as grabbing some big rebounds in the fourth quarter when the Cavs pulled away.  He even blocked a Noah shot at close range.

 

Despite being booed because of disparaging remarks about Cleveland, Noah played a tremendous game, scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 boards.  He had numerous offensive rebounds and put backs, helping to account for the fact that the Bulls took 22 more shots than the Cavs. 

 

Those extra 22 shots are the reason the Bulls were able to stay in the contest.

 

For Mike Brown, the victory came with a ready made teaching opportunity for his team during practice leading up to Game 3, Thursday night in the Windy City.

 

Chicago made an effort to attack the basket and unfortunately, the wine and gold defense parted like the Red Sea in biblical times to take it easy for them.  The Bulls wanted to play an up tempo style of game, and Cleveland wasn’t ready for it. 

Derrick Rose, Flip Murray, and Luol Deng got to the basket very easy, and when they missed Noah and Taj Gibson were there to clean up their mistakes.  That problem has to be resolved by Thursday night. 

 

Of course, the Cavalier offense aided the Chicago running game by throwing the ball away too frequently.  It was a good thing the Cavs tightened up this aspect of the game in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter, when Cleveland pulled out the victory. 

 

So, the defense has to improve and so does the defensive rebounding.  The Bulls led the NBA in board during the regular season, and Cleveland needs to make a concerted effort to stop them from getting second shots.  If the Cavs can control this, they will have an easier time with Chicago as the series continues.

 

A good sign for the Cavaliers is the play of the Bulls.  It is doubtful all of their key players (Rose, Noah, and Deng) can play this well on the same night again in the series.  They all had outstanding games last night, and Chicago still lost by 10.  They also turned the ball over just four times. 

 

The most concerning thing about game two was the lack of defense showed by Mike Brown’s team.  That is the area the coaching staff emphasizes the most.  The players know they will have to have a better effort in this regard both Thursday night and throughout the playoffs if they want to carry the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

 

Last night’s performance wasn’t good enough to beat teams better than the Chicago Bulls.

 

JK

 

Watching the first half of Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs between the Cavaliers and the Bulls, what was the most striking was how easy it was for the wine and gold to regain their mid-season form after many players had time off the last two weeks of the season.  The Cavs jumped out to a big first quarter lead and basically coasted to a 13 point win, 96-83,  to take a 1-0 series lead.

 

The Cav with the longest time off, Shaquille O’Neal looked tremendous running the floor, clogging the middle, and showing a nice touch with a little right-handed jump hook.  He finished with 12 points, and quite frankly looked as though he hadn’t missed anytime at all.  However, his highlight move came in the second half when he left Joakim Noah grasping at air on a spin move, followed by an O’Neal slam.

 

LeBron James outside shot did look rusty, but he still finished with 24 points.  Mo Williams, a key to the playoff run after last year’s disappointing series against Orlando, played very well, with 19 points and 10 assists.  Antawn Jamison did his usual thing, with 15 points and 10 boards, and Anderson Varajao had 15 rebounds as well.

 

The only negative was a second half malaise which saw the Bulls cut the Cleveland lead to as little as seven in the fourth quarter.  It was during this time that the wine and gold got sloppy with the ball and started firing ill-advised three point shots as Chicago went to a zone look. 

 

Since it worked in game 1, look for the Cavaliers to see it plenty tomorrow night in Game 2.  Mike Brown’s crew has to do a better job handling it as the series goes on.  One thing to know about the playoffs is, if something works, you have to keep using it and make your opponent adjust.

 

Teams also can’t lose intensity with big leads in the playoffs.  You can get away with it in the first round, particularly if you are playing a team that finished .500 in the regular season.  However, as the post-season goes on, and the opponents get tougher, championship teams cannot have lapses like the Cavs had in the second half.

 

Defensively, as we told you on Friday, Brown went with Anthony Parker on Derrick Rose, and Rose took 28 shots to score his 28 points.  Stopping Rose is the key to stopping Chicago, and the defense played by the Cavs forced the Bulls into numerous turnovers early in the contest.  They also opened the game conceding the open jumper to Noah, who will have to make some to keep Shaq honest in guarding him. 

 

Their best bet may be to play Brad Miller more often to make The Diesel come away from the basket, but then they lose Noah’s defense and rebounding.  Miller is a slower, older player, and takes away Chicago’s athleticism.

 

Still, all in all, the Cleveland Cavaliers made it look easy in the first game of this series.  If the wine and gold keep improving as the series goes on, this will be a relatively short series, going no more than five games.  But, adjustments will be made on both sides, and the Cavaliers will have to change and do better against a zone if indeed Vinny Del Negro decides to go that way.

 

That’s the beauty of this Cleveland team, though.  They are deep and versatile enough that they most likely can handle whatever the opponent throws at them. 

 

That said, look for Game 2 to be more of a challenge than yesterday’s contest. 

 

 

 

 

We are Cleveland sports fans.  So naturally, there are always things that concern us about each of our major league sports teams.  Here is what worries us about each team…

 

Cavaliers. 

No, we aren’t worried about the losing momentum going into the playoffs on a four game losing streak.  Heck, it’s not as though the wine and gold made a wholehearted effort to win those games. 

 

However, what is a concern is the drop off of the team’s defense as the season progressed.  Maybe it was the absence of Shaquille O’Neal, whose presence dissuaded people from driving to the basket, but the Cavs aren’t the same defensive team they have been in the past. 

 

The first thing that needs to occur starting tomorrow afternoon against the Bulls is that the point guards need to stop Derrick Rose from going to the basket at will.  Penetration has been the biggest single reason for the decline in stopping opponents, so look for Anthony Parker and Delonte West to draw the responsibility for handling Rose.

 

The hallmark of the team under Mike Brown has been defense.  If the Cavaliers are going to win their first title this spring, the defense has to get back to where it has been.

 

JK

 

Indians.

Besides the bullpen, you have to be a little concerned about the Tribe offense, which has only scored five or more in a game three times in their first eight games. 

 

This is the American League, and if you can’t put five runs up on the board most nights, you are going to have a very difficult time winning. 

 

Our thoughts about Michael Brantley over the winter look to be true.  He can’t drive the ball, as of yet, so he isn’t ready for an every day job at the big league level.  The same thing can be said of Lou Marson. 

 

And the strikeouts are once again a huge problem. 

 

When a journeyman like Colby Lewis starts and strikes out 10 guys in 5-1/3 innings, you have problems with your hitting.  Right now, outside of Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo, no one is hitting with any consistency.  And if this team can’t hit, it’s going to be a long, long year.

 

KM

 

Browns.

The NFL draft is coming up next week, so any concerns about the Browns have to be there, especially based on their lack of success in the past. 

 

There continue to be rumblings that Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert are interested in moving up to get QB Sam Bradford.  Hopefully, this is just a smoke screen.

 

This football needs someone who is going to step in, play, and make an impact right away.  This will not happen if they draft a quarterback.  In fact, the Browns probably need to draft two players next week that can start when the season opens in September.

 

They also need to get some difference makers on the defensive side of the football.  That’s the formula for winning in the AFC North, a division inhabited by the Steelers and Ravens. 

 

The Browns need to get a young quarterback; they just don’t need to take him with their first round draft pick.

 

JD

 

It’s a good thing new Indians’ pitching coach Tim Belcher preached throwing strikes during spring training.  Otherwise, the Tribe hurlers would be walking every other hitter they faced. 

 

Belcher certainly has his work cut out for him.  Through seven games, his staff has walked 13 more hitters than the next closest American League team.  That’s an average of almost two walks per contest more than the teams tied for second most in this category, the White Sox and Mariners.

 

And it’s not just the bullpen either.  The starting pitchers have issued 26 free passes in 39-2/3 innings of work, while the relievers have walked 19 batters in 23 frames. 

 

Checkout some of these strikeout to walk ratios—

 

Fausto Carmona:  14 innings, 5 strikeouts, 10 walks

Jake Westbrook:  9-2/3 innings, 8 strikeouts, 7 walks

Mitch Talbot:  5 innings, 1 strikeout, 5 walks

Chris Perez:  3 innings, 1 strikeout, 5 walks

Aaron Laffey:  3-1/3 innings, no strikeouts, 2 walks

Joe Smith:  3 innings, 3 strikeouts, 3 walks

Tony Sipp:  2-2/3 innings, 3 strikeouts, 3 walks

 

Keep in mind that a good pitcher strikes out two batters for every one he walks. 

 

Carmona has showed signs of turning around his performance of the last two years, but even on Monday when he pitched well he walked four hitters while striking out the same number. 

 

Guys like Talbot and Laffey, who aren’t power pitchers, absolutely cannot walk people.  This has been a problem with Laffey in the past, who in his career has walked about as many as he has fanned.  If Talbot doesn’t throw strikes, he won’t be in the major leagues very long. 

 

The guys like Sipp and Perez are even more troubling.  They both have plus stuff.  On Monday’s radio broadcast, it was mentioned that Belcher said certain pitchers are giving hitter too much credit.  It’s tough to hit a 95-mile an hour fastball.  Both Perez and Sipp are falling behind hitters because they are falling in love with their breaking pitches.  They miss and they are behind in the count.

 

That’s a recipe for failure. 

 

The season is just a week old, and already the bullpen has blown two games.  Bad bullpens usually mean bad teams.  What is disturbing is that this organization doesn’t seem to be able to put together a good relief corps. 

 

We have asked the question before:  Is it because they don’t pick the correct guys coming out of camp? 

 

In this case, there are mixed answers.  Chris Perez was hot and cold during spring training, and Rafael Perez pitched well in the desert, as did Laffey.  Joe Smith had the team made before camp started, but he was mediocre in Arizona, and Sipp had control issues. 

 

The point is this.  Shouldn’t a guy like Josh Judy received more of a look?  Granted, he has a bit of a sore arm now, but he deserved a longer look. 

 

The 2009 Indians had a bad bullpen, and yet the only newcomer is Jamey Wright, who has had a career of being unable to throw strikes consistently.  Unfortunately, besides Judy, there wasn’t anyone else who turned heads in Goodyear.  That makes it more odd that the youngster wasn’t given a better shot at making the big club.

 

Look, it’s early to jump to conclusions.  However, walking guys is not the way to win baseball games.  Manny Acta knows it.  Tim Belcher knows it.  Now they just have to get the guys throwing the ball to realize it.

 

MW