Can Tribe Bullpen Hold Up?

Up until the beginning of last week, everyone thought (us included) thought one of the Cleveland Indians’ strengths was its bullpen.

Then came the last game of the homestand against Seattle, when Vinnie Pestano, Chris Perez, and Joe Smith all allowed solo home runs to tie a game in which the Tribe eventually won.

Later in the week, Pestano had a bad outing to cost the Indians a win against Boston. His velocity was down, and he turned a 4-3 lead into a 7-4 deficit, although Mike Carp’s double is only that in Fenway Park, and the last two runs scored on a wind-blown pop fly that fell in.

Still, because Pestano has been so reliable for so long, and he is just coming off a stint on the disabled list for a sore elbow, there is reason for concern.

Then yesterday, Perez turned a three run lead into a crushing loss to the Red Sox, and left the game with an apparent shoulder injury in the process.

There are warning signs for both hurlers. Pestano’s strikeout to walk ratio this season is just 12 to 7 in 12 innings pitched. For his career, the right-hander has struck out three times as many hitters as he has walked (180 to 60) and averages almost 11 punchouts per nine innings.

As for Perez, he normally fans 2.22 hitters for everyone he walks and averages a strikeout per inning. His whiffs are on pace (18 in 16-2/3 frames), but he’s walked 10 in his work thus far.

Loss of command and decreased velocity are warning signs of an injury.

So where does Terry Francona go from here?

He does have some options to close, and remember what former Tribe GM John Hart used to say, closers fall out of trees. The skipper can turn to young Cody Allen, who MLB Network’s Peter Gammons called the best young reliever in the AL. Allen already has one save on the year, and has allowed only 16 hits in 23-1/3 innings, striking out 30 and walking seven in the process.

He also has Smith, also with a save on the season. Smitty is a veteran, and has allowed 11 hits in 17 innings, walking five while striking out 18. Because he is a sidearmer, the tendency is to think of him as a specialist vs. right handers, but his velocity allows him to get left-handed hitters out too. He’s allowed lefty hitters a .251 batting average for his career, compared to .218 to right-handed batters.

Bryan Shaw is another intriguing alternative. Shaw, sort of a throw in coming along with Matt Albers in getting Trevor Bauer for Shin-Soo Choo, looks to have closer stuff. He’s allowed 20 hits in 24-1/3 innings, striking out 24 and walking eight. At the very least, he will probably start getting work in the seventh and eighth innings as opposed to the sixth now.

One other pitcher has been mentioned as well, veteran Brett Myers, now rehabbing an elbow problem. The veteran saved 19 games last year in Houston before getting traded to the White Sox, and with Cory Kluber pitching well, there doesn’t seem to be a spot in the starting rotation for him. It is difficult to think Francona will go to him in this role until he has proven to be healthy and effective at the big league level.

Of course, the best think for the bullpen will be more innings from the starting pitchers. The rotation has been a little better than expected, but there have been far too many starts of just five innings. In the last turn through the rotation, both Zack McAllister and Scott Kazmir had “five and fly” outings, and Ubaldo Jimenez made it through only four frames vs. Detroit.

That cannot continue to happen, or the weaknesses cropping up in the bullpen could cause it to implode.

It’s been a tough week for the Tribe relief corps, but only that. One week. The Indians still have some reliable power arms ready to use at the end of games.

Experts Agree: No Clear Cut Choice for Cavs

After the Cleveland Cavaliers secured the first pick in the NBA draft, sports talk shows in the city rounded up the noted draft experts around the country to inform fans on who GM Chris Grant should choose when the selection process starts.

Unfortunately, there were several names that kept coming up. Either the person told us Nerlens Noel, from Kentucky, was going to be a solid NBA big man once he gets bigger and stronger, or they said Kansas’ Ben McLemore has the smooth shooting stroke to succeed in the league.

Others said Georgetown’s Otto Porter would be a good small forward, or UNLV’s Alex Bennett, who could become a similar player to former Rebels’ standout Larry Johnson.

There are two problems with this talk.

First, there is no clear-cut guy at #1. The lack of a consensus player coming out is a problem. Even if there were two players such as when Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams came out, it would be better for the Cavaliers.

Second, there are a lot of maybes, woulds, and similar in the comments listed above. That means scouts are drafting on potential, not on actual performance.

According to NBADraft.net, here are some of the comparables for the first five players they project in next month’s draft:

McLemore–Ray Allen
Noel–Larry Sanders/Dikembe Mutombo
Porter–Tayshuan Prince
Victor Oladipo–Tony Allen/Terry Teague
Bennett–Rodney Rogers/Jason Maxiell

There are two all-star type players mentioned here, Allen, who is one of the great shooters of all time, and is still a productive player in his late 30’s, and Mutombo, a tremendous defensive player for many years, and an eight time all-star, but a guy who never had much of an offensive game.

Prince is a nice player, a starter on the Piston team that won a title, but he was not the primary scorer there, and Allen might be the best wing defender in the NBA. However, both have been role players for much of their careers. Good ones, but still role players.

Sanders is an up and coming player, who averaged 9.8 points and 9.5 rebounds for Milwaukee this season.

Now, we understand that the web site doesn’t want to compare players to all time great, because if the player doesn’t become that it looks bad.

So , let’s look at the site’s comparables for the 2012 draft:

Anthony Davis–Kevin Garnett/Marcus Camby
Bradley Beal–Eric Gordon/Marcus Thornton
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist–Gerald Wallace/Andre Iguodala
Harrison Barnes–Glen Rice
Thomas Robinson–Derrick Williams/Patrick Patterson

Of that group, Garnett is an all-time great player, and Iguodala and Wallace have made all-star teams in their careers. Rice averaged 18.3 points a game for his career and made three all-star teams.

Gordon has been held back by injuries, but most people think he will be very good if he stays healthy.

It just reiterates what we’ve been saying about this draft all along, it’s very speculative. Whoever the Cavs draft, there is potential for a good player, probably not a great one, and there is also the possibility the player will be a huge bust.

For a franchise that has publicly stated they want to make the playoffs next season, it appears to make that leap, they will have to find an impact player somewhere else. It doesn’t look like that guy will be available in the draft.

On Perez and the Cavs Getting the First Pick

Just a couple of observations on the Cleveland sports scene—

Chris Perez and Twitter

The Indians’ closer had a tough series against Seattle, allowing two home runs on Saturday to turn a 4-2 lead into a tie game, which the Tribe won in the bottom of the ninth, and he allowed another bomb on Monday, which gave the Mariners a lead in a contest Cleveland also won.

Apparently, that gave the fans that follow Perez on Twitter to start blasting him. A little Internet muscle for those fans who wouldn’t say those things to his face.

This isn’t about Perez’ performance, which has generally been very good since assuming the closer role in 2010. Although, we will say that a closer who gives up home runs doesn’t last long and CP has given up four (five if we count the blown call vs. Oakland) in 16 innings, not a very good ratio.

To be fair, those are the only runs he has allowed this season.

We don’t follow any professional athletes for this reason. First, they are people just like us, and whatever comments they want to make on the social networking site aren’t more interesting because they are professional athletes.

And second, there is no temptation to make stupid comments to those players after watching a game and being upset with the outcome.

Again, these people wouldn’t say the things they tweet if they met Perez, and just because he’s an outspoken guy doesn’t mean he should be ripped to shreds or booed when he doesn’t succeed.

Actually, he speaks the truth much of the time. Fans should support this team better. They have blind loyalty to a mediocre football organization, but hold the Indians’ lack of success against them.

Whatever his performance on the field is, and regardless what he says about baseball in Cleveland, the things tweeted to Chris Perez were out of line.

Cavs Get the First Pick in the Draft

Wish we could be more excited about this news, but since there isn’t a franchise type player available this year, it’s the same feeling about having the third or fourth overall selection.

Obviously, it is better to have the first pick, because it has the most value. Perhaps another team thinks a player like Ben McLemore or Nerlens Noel is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and would be willing to deal to move up.

However, that’s probably not going to happen, but GM Chris Grant should keep his ears open to listen if anyone comes forward to trade.

The Cavs have publicly stated their intention to not be in the lottery next season, and to make that come true; they need more help than just that available in the draft.

Grant has a lot of draft picks at his disposal to help sweeten the pot. Besides their own picks, they also have first round picks from Miami and Sacramento (maybe) over the next few years.

Plus, they also have salary cap space, which with the new collective bargaining agreement is something precious to teams above the cap, who don’t want to pay a prohibitive salary cap penalty.

Having the first overall pick in a draft is valuable only if there is someone available that other teams covet.

Right now, the Cavs are like a guy trying to create a market for a $1000 bill in a room full of millionaires.

Grant is Firmly on Hot Seat

With the results for the NBA Draft Lottery being learned tomorrow, it reminds us how critical this off-season is for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had the third worst record in the league this season.

While many basketball fans in the area are anxious to hear if the wine and gold indeed move up in the selection process, the reality is what do they win if they do get the first overall pick?

Most experts believe this is a very weak draft, meaning no one selected next month can be expected to make an immediate impact on their new team.

Which is the worst case scenario for the Cavs.

GM Chris Grant needs to bring in someone who can help this team contend for a playoff spot in the 2013-14 season. He brought in Mike Brown to coach the squad, but no matter who great a job Brown does next season, the fact remains that he has to improve the Cavaliers’ record by 14 games, the amount Cleveland was behind the 8th playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Yes, several of the Cavs’ young players will improve, mostly meaning the four picks in the last two drafts: Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters, and Tyler Zeller. And the new emphasis on defense will help as well, but the fact remains that Grant needs to add a quality veteran to the mix for the wine and gold to take a quantum leap, record-wise, in ’13-’14.

The best post player available in Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel, who is 6’11” weighs 225 pounds, and is coming off a knee injury. At his weight, he is unlikely to be ready to play meaningful, productive minutes against experienced NBA big men. Keep in mind, Noel is 25 pounds lighter than Zeller, who was pushed around a lot last season.

The best wing player is Kansas’ Ben McLemore, who played well in one NCAA tournament game, and disappeared in the rest. While he may wind up to be a good NBA player, it wouldn’t be a good bet to say that will happen next season.

Why not take a project like these guys if given the opportunity?

First, once again, the Cavaliers need to start winning right away because it is important for the young players not to start developing a losing mentality. That’s why many teams that inhabit the lottery every year remain there. The continued losing permeates the organization.

The second reason is that by the time the project starts becoming a legitimate player, his rookie contract has expired. Therefore, the team has to make the decision to tie a non-proven player up to a long-term contract.

The key word for most of the players who will be picked during the draft is “potential”, and Grant can’t afford to wait for these guys to develop. He needs someone who can step in to the small forward spot, thus rendering Alonzo Gee to the bench.

They need someone who can play in the post and can score as well.

They have assets to trade. Grant has four picks in the draft at his disposal and also the wild card could be Anderson Varejao, a very good big man who has had a problem playing at the same time as Thompson.

No matter what happens tomorrow night in the lottery selection or after the actual draft itself, the Cleveland Cavaliers have to be a much improved team. The pressure is on Chris Grant to make that happen.

Is ’13 Tribe’s Success Sustainable?

The cynical Indians fans among us will say it’s the same ol’, same ol’ for this year’s Tribe.

They have hit the season’s quarter pole at 24-17, on a pace to win over 90 games under new manager Terry Francona. However, last year they were 23-18 at this point, but finished the season 68-94 and in fourth place.

In 2011, they were 26-15 after 41 games, and actually got to 30-15 before falling apart and finishing 80-82. They went a combined 21-32 in June and July, reminiscent of the June swoons of the late 60’s and 70’s.

So why is this year any different? Let’s take a look at the make up of those two teams.

Here are the regular players on that 2011 edition of the Indians. The regular 2B was Orlando Cabrera, who contributed a few big hits early, but by June he couldn’t hit to save his life and was traded to the Giants before the end of July.

The 3B was Jack Hannahan, a whipping boy for this blog. He’s an excellent defender, but simply cannot hit.

Then manager Manny Acta was also the recipient of what may be the last gasp of Grady Sizemore’s career. That April, Sizemore hit .378 with 4 HR and 9 RBIs. The rest of the year, he hit .193, and hasn’t been in a big league since.

As for the pitching, Justin Masterson went 5-0 in April and had his best season overall, but because of a lack of run support, he was 5-6 by the end of June. They also had Carlos Carrasco emerging, as he was 8-6 with a 4.21 ERA at the end of June. Josh Tomlin also proved to be a solid starter.

In 2012, some of the regular players were 1B Casey Kotchman, Hannahan, and left field was a mishmosh of Johnny Damon, Shelley Duncan, and Ezequiel Carrera, none of whom are currently in the major leagues. It is no wonder that the Indians finished 13th in the AL in runs scored.

Masterson was having a mediocre campaign, and the good start early was fueled by veteran Derek Lowe, who was 6-3 through the end of May. And the bullpen was outstanding before running out of gas from overwork.

The Cleveland pitching staff ranked last in the American League in ERA.

This year, Francona has a lineup that can score runs, ranking 4th in the league in runs scored. Whereas the past few years, the Indians had to put out a squad that had three or four players who really weren’t a threat with a bat in their hands, in 2013, the skipper has used lineup where Michael Brantley has batted eighth.

Last year, the left fielder spent most of his time hitting in the #5 hole.

Instead of Kotchman, Orlando Cabrera, and Hannahan, this year’s team has Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, and Mark Reynolds.

The starting pitching is still a question mark, but Masterson looks to be the same guy he was in ’11, having a solid year, and Zack McAllister provides solid outings pretty much every time he goes out there.

The wild cards have been Ubaldo Jimenez, who has put together four straight solid outing (although it would be better if he could work longer) and Scott Kazmir, who looks closer to the former all-star he was than the guy who pitched in the independent league last season.

As for the bullpen, Francona seems to have made it a crusade to keep his relievers rested, so they will be strong all year. And because the offense has provided some blowouts, he can afford to be judicious in using Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, and Chris Perez.

This isn’t to say the Indians will cruise into the post-season for the first time since 2007, but don’t confuse this team with those of the past two years. There’s much more talent in 2013.

If Tribe Makes Move, It Should Be Dealing from Strength

With the Cleveland Indians playing well and actually getting into a tie for first place after Sunday’s win over the Tigers, Tribe fans are thinking about what GM Chris Antonetti can do to put his team over the top.

Most everyone feels Terry Francona needs one more quality starting pitcher if his team is going stay in the race into and throughout September.

That leads to speculation as to what the Indians would have to give up to land someone who would upgrade the starting rotation.

Keep in mind that weakening your squad in one area to help in another doesn’t usually work out unless you have someone as good to take the place of the player you are dealing.

That would mean not trading one of the players who consistently comes up in this discussion, SS Asdrubal Cabrera.

Mike Aviles is a nice player, and has done a solid job with the Tribe, but he’s not an everyday player, let alone an everyday SS. Check his numbers, he is much more productive getting 350 to 400 at bats in a season, not 600 in a year.

That’s the argument for some so-called “experts”, you can trade Cabrera because Aviles can step in and play short.

If Antonetti was to deal Cabrera, a two-time all-star, he would have to get a top of the rotation type starter, and who is going to deal one of those? We don’t see teams willing to make that kind of trade.

If you are going to get a middle of the road starter, aren’t you better off just going with Trevor Bauer or Carlos Carrasco, either of whom might be better than someone a bad team is trying to unload?

The other player usually mentioned in trade talk is SS Francisco Lindor, Cleveland’s best prospect now playing at Class A Carolina and hitting .330 at age 19.

Certainly, Lindor would be desirable to any organization. Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan said that Lindor might just be the minor league’s top prospect period by the end of the season.

Many teams, particularly those out of the race and looking to shed salary, would be happy to trade you a good to very good starter for Lindor. However, Lindor may be the Cleveland version of Derek Jeter, a franchise SS who can play 10-15 years with the Indians.

That’s not to denigrate Cabrera, who is a very good player, arguably the best shortstop in the American League.

But Lindor is showing signs that he is special, and the Indians cannot take the chance of trading him and having him develop into a perennial all-star type player.

As said before, you have to make these types of deals from a position of strength. And where does the Indians’ organization have a lot of talent? The bullpen.

That’s why a possible trade for closer Chris Perez could make sense. The Indians have a few options they could look at to close games, such as Vinnie Pestano, Cody Allen, and perhaps Bryan Shaw.

The farm system is also filled with bullpen candidates like Trey Haley, Preston Guilmet, Scott Barnes, Bryce Stowell, and Austin Adams.

Understand that the concern there would be switching to an unproven closer in the middle of a successful season, but with the depth in this area, it’s a well calculated gamble.

If the Indians stay in contention going into July, there is little doubt they will do something. But weakening one part of the team to help somewhere else makes no sense. That’s something to watch as the season unfolds.

Aggressiveness Continues for Tribe Front Office

For the past several years, the management of the Cleveland Indians has seemed to be in a state of inertia.

Of course, this winter the front office went out and did something, getting Terry Francona to manage and inking several free agents, most notably Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and Mark Reynolds.

They’ve received a lot of credit for making those moves.

However, the maneuvers continue for the management into the regular season, something that hasn’t been the case the past few years.

Who is responsible for both styles of roster management? Was GM Chris Antonetti shown religion by Francona, who seems to insist on having a representative roster for every game, or did former skipper Manny Acta make the same requests, but was not heard by the GM?

Since day one of this season, the Indians have been very active in sending players up and down from Columbus in order to give the manager lineup flexibility.

A couple of moves in the last two weeks illustrate what we are talking about.

While Bourn was out with his finger injury, the Indians were short an outfielder, but were able to get by using Swisher and Ryan Raburn in right, moving Drew Stubbs to centerfield. However, Francona felt these guys needed some rest, so when Ezequiel Carrera was designated for assignment by Philadelphia, the Tribe picked him up.

Carrera was used as a pinch-runner in his first game and started the next night, getting two hits. The next day, the Tribe DFA’d him again, and he went through waivers and is now at Columbus, still in the organization.

This is something the front office wouldn’t have done in the past. But you know who does do stuff like that? The Boston Red Sox used to bring guys in and out all the time, and perhaps it’s not a coincidence that the Indians are doing it now, if you know what we mean.

Today, the Tribe sent struggling third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall back to AAA, but the move was probably made as insurance for Chris Perez’ tender shoulder. The Indians wanted an extra arm out of the bullpen with a doubleheader against the Yankees, and the only position player who could or deserved be moved was Chisenhall.

The guess here is Chiz will be back in ten days to two weeks, which will allow him to get his swing and confidence back. In the meantime, Raburn, Mike Aviles, and a little Reynolds will hold down the hot corner.

With the bullpen not over-exposed in the twin bill and an extra player needed in Philadelphia, where the pitcher will have to hit, look for a relief pitcher (probably Nick Hagadone, who has struggled to throw strikes in his last two outings) to be sent back to Columbus in favor of another position player, possibly Cord Phelps.

Again, it is just the Tribe getting the most of their organization, and putting the major league team in the best position to win on a night in, night out basis.

It’s what all the big teams do. And this season, it looks like the Cleveland Indians are joining the big boys, not only in the standings, but in attitude.

Stats Support Tribe Start

Many times in baseball, statistics do not support a team’s success or lack of it.

For example, last season, the Baltimore Orioles scored just seven more runs than they allowed, but went 93-69 in the standings. The sabermetric people would say the O’s overachieved. They did it by having an astounding 29-9 record in one run games.

This year’s Cleveland Indians are no surprise according to the numbers. Their 19-15 record is legitimate.

The Tribe’s position players are also younger than the league average at 28.4 years of age. The American League average is 29.1. And if you take grizzled veteran Jason Giambi out of the equation, Cleveland would have the fourth youngest position players in the AL, behind just Houston, Kansas City, and Baltimore.

That certainly bodes well for the future.

Even better is that the Tribe’s pitchers are the youngest in the league at 27.6 years old, compared to the AL average of 29 years of age.

The Indians average 5.06 runs per game, the second best average in the Junior Circuit, behind only division rival Detroit. They allow 4.24 runs per contest, a figure that ranks ninth, so there is still room for improvement.

We said prior to the season starting that the Wahoos needed to be in the top half of the league in both categories to be serious contenders. They are close right now, ranking 8th in ERA.

As for the other key offensive numbers, the Indians rank 4th in on base percentage, and lead the American League in slugging percentage and OPS. They are 3rd in batting average, but are fourth from the bottom in drawing walks. That is a number they will need to improve upon, as pitchers down the road may prey on their aggressiveness.

While many fans (including us) were worried about strikeouts, the Indians aren’t even in the top half of the league in striking out, ranking ninth. No Indians ranks in the ten of the league in whiffing.

The Tribe power hasn’t just been home runs (they lead the AL), but they also rank fifth in doubles and third in triples. They’ve been hitting for extra bases a lot.

As for the pitching, it has joined the hitting in feast or famine mode, being tied for the league lead in shutouts with five (with Texas, Tampa Bay, and Seattle). It says a lot about the stuff of the Indians’ pitchers that they lead the AL in allowing the least hits per nine innings. They also rank fifth in the league in strikeouts.

However, there are a couple of areas of concern. Cleveland pitchers are walking more than the average team, ranking sixth in the league in walks allowed. They also are third from the bottom in innings pitched by starters so far this year, ahead of just Houston and Minnesota. Although Terry Francona has kept 13 pitchers on the roster for much of the season, there is a fear of burning out the relief corps, which is a huge strength for this team.

This team doesn’t have any weird anomalies or getting a great deal of luck involved in a pretty good start. Francona’s bunch are playing good solid baseball. They are 8-5 in games decided by one run, another good stat. Good teams win blowout games.

Right now, the Cleveland Indians are no fluke.

Even With 4 MVPs, James Doesn’t Compare With Jordan

We understand that currently, the state of sports is based on the present and the recent past.

Many football fans think the NFL started when the Super Bowl did in the mid 1960’s. A lot of basketball fans think the NBA started when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird came into the league.

Baseball may be the one sport that still embraces its past, but most records today are compared with those of post World War II.

At least that goes back 60 years.

That’s why it is amazing to me that many hoops fans want to anoint LeBron James as the greatest to ever play the game.

For the early time since we remember, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest player ever. Just look at the raw numbers, the man averaged 50 points per game for a full season. Today, a 50 point game is looked at as extraordinary.

Yes, Bill Russell had more rings, but he also had a better supporting cast, players like Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, and John Havlicek.

Wilt the Stilt wound up with two rings, both with teams ranked amongst the NBA’s best ever, the 1966-67 76ers and the 1971-72 Lakers.

Then Michael Jordan came along.

Perhaps possessing the greatest will to win ever, Jordan won six NBA titles and the next best player on any of those teams was Scottie Pippen, who in our opinion is considered a great player because he played with Jordan.

There were solid players on those teams, but no other superstar talents.

Meanwhile, Jordan never played with anyone as good as Dwyane Wade, a legitimate superstar player who led the Heat to a title with Shaquille O’Neal. Wade was the best player on that team.

Yes, Jordan won only four MVPs, but the perception at the time was the writers were tired of voting for His Airness every year.

There was no doubt who the best player in the NBA was, and at that time there were players like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, and Hakeem Olajuwon in the league. All of those guys were superstar players.

James is recognized as the best player in the league now, universally. Does today’s talent compare to the guys who competed against Jordan?

Most basketball experts would agree that Kevin Durant is the next best talent, but who’s third? Or the next five best players?

James can’t control who is playing today, but the league doesn’t have the same amount of great players in the game, as there were when Jordan was in his heyday.

While the Heat are the favorites to win this year’s NBA title and make it two straight crowns, they haven’t won it yet. And even if they do, that would give LBJ two rings to MJ’s six.

You don’t need “The Diff” on the scoreboard at Quicken Loans Arena to know that James needs four more titles to tie Jordan as leaders in the “modern era” of the game.

Heck, Kobe Bryant has five rings, although he wasn’t the best player on all five of those Laker squads.

Note: You can’t hold guys who weren’t key players on their teams who have won a similar amount of rings, like Robert Horry or Steve Kerr.

When James gets to four, then start the conversation. Until then, shut up. Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever.

That’s not a slight to James, but let’s slow down the temptation to put him on the top of the heap.

Good Start, But Tribe Needs Consistency

After Saturday’s 7-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins, the Cleveland Indians completed their 27^th game, hitting the 1/6^th pole on the season.

What have we learned about this baseball team?

We have learned that the offense is about what most people figured it would be, which is a lot of feast and famine. The Indians rank fifth in the American League in runs scored, but through 27 games, they scored three runs or less in more than half of the contests (14).

On the other hand, they scored eight or more runs eight times. That leaves only five games where they scored between four and seven tallies.

That’s very inconsistent, although to be fair, they have been missing Michael Bourn for the last two weeks.

We have also learned that it appears Carlos Santana is becoming the all around hitter we thought he would be when he was called up in 2010. The switch-hitting catcher is batting .379 with six homers thus far, with an OPS of 1.160.

While it would be crazy to suggest he will end the year with those numbers, it looks like Santana is on his way to an outstanding season.

Free agent signee Mark Reynolds has also had a tremendous start, and is on his way to topping 30 HRs barring injury. He will have a period where he struggles, based on his past, but he seems to be getting better as a hitter, giving in a little bit with two strikes.

He doesn’t even lead the Tribe in striking out so far.

Asdrubal Cabrera (.222, 2 HR, 13 RBI), Jason Kipnis (.218, 2 HR, 10 RBI), and Lonnie Chisenhall (.231, 3 HR, 11 RBI) are all off to relatively slow starts, and should produce better as the season goes on, and some of the hot hitters tail off a bit.

We have learned that the Indians have quality depth in INF Mike Aviles and OF Ryan Raburn, both of whom have been very productive when called upon. Yan Gomes and Jason Giambi have contributed as well.

The bullpen has been very good as Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen have allowed Terry Francona to have five solid hard throwing right-handers at his disposal. And Rich Hill has done a good job as the ‘pen’s LOOGY (left-handed one out guy).

The starting rotation, which figured to be the club’s biggest weakness, has been strong lately, but had a shaky start.

Ubaldo Jimenez continues to be the biggest question mark, pitching well in his first start and last start, however, the three in between were brutal. At this point, Francona can’t know what he is going to get on a start-by-start basis.

The other wild card is southpaw Scott Kazmir, who has got better in each of his three starts, and looks to be a very pleasant surprise.

Zack McAllister has continued to show that he is solid, capable of keeping his team in the game in every start.

Justin Masterson was tremendous in his first five starts, but the last two have been so-so. He needs to go out there and give Francona seven quality frames on most nights.

The key going forward for the Tribe is the number of quality innings their starters can give them. They need to get to the sixth or seventh most of the time. Doing that will keep the bullpen fresh throughout the season.

The first checkpoint for the season shows the Tribe has held ground. They’ve been up and down, but they haven’t played themselves out of the race.

If they can be more consistent, both on offense and in starting pitching, it may be an enjoyable summer of baseball at Progressive Field.