A First Analysis of the Tribe

The Indians’ front office will disagree with evaluating the team at this time, but after the first game of today’s doubleheader against the White Sox, the Tribe has played 27 games, or one-sixth of the schedule.

The standings say the Indians are in first place in the AL Central Division with a two game lead over the Tigers.

Although many locally are quick to proclaim Cleveland contenders, it is too early to make that claim. You can’t win the division in April, but you can lose it, and the Indians have played well and are still in it after the first month.

Before you start ordering playoff tickets, remember that the team with the best record in the AL is the Baltimore Orioles, and no one thinks they can win the Eastern Division.

At this point, the Tribe ranks 8th in the league in runs scored, and 9th in the AL in ERA, ranking virtually in the middle of both categories.

Those numbers seem to say that Cleveland is a .500 type team. Their runs scored vs. runs allowed say their record should be 13-13, so they have been a little lucky so far.

This is reflected in their mark in games decided by one run, which is 6-1. Success in these games is not indicative of a good or great team. The ’10 Orioles were 29-22 in these games, yet finished 66-96.

Still, teams with good bullpens and average offenses play a lot of close games, and can win them by holding opponents from adding on. Heck, it’s better to win them than to lose them.

Going back to runs scored vs. runs allowed, it is clear that to be a contender, the Indians will have to improve in both areas.

Offensively, Manny Acta is still looking for at least one more productive hitter. Perhaps it can be Johnny Damon or Michael Brantley, but based on the past, you have to feel 3B Jack Hannahan’s numbers will regress at least a bit.

The biggest concern should be 1B Casey Kotchman, who is hitting .163 with a 506 OPS at this point. If Kotchman went 10 for his next 20, he’d still be hitting .230, which doesn’t cut it if you want to contend.

And let us repeat: No matter who good he is defensively, it doesn’t make up for being non-productive with the bat.

It is doubtful the Indians want to bring up Matt LaPorta from Columbus, so perhaps Shelley Duncan will get some reps at first, or maybe Lonnie Chisenhall gets a call (when he’s healthy again) with Hannahan moving to 1B.

As for the pitching, we detailed last week how important Ubaldo Jimenez is to this ballclub winning. Hopefully, he turned the corner after yesterday’s great performance against the Rangers, but until he shows that kind of pitching regularly, he’s still a question mark.

Josh Tomlin is another starter who need to throw like he did in the first half of last year. He’s had five outings, including one in relief, but only one could be considered good (8 IP, 1 ER vs. Seattle).

He and Jimenez need to get deeper into games, in order to take a burden off the relief corps, which has been overworked thus far.

If the bullpen collapses later in the year because of overuse, it could be devastating. The Indians do have some relief depth in the minors in guys like C.C. Lee and rapidly rising Cody Allen, and southpaw Nick Hagadone is already here, but losing games late can be a tough thing to overcome.

So, what can be decided about the 2012 Indians? They are still in it! They haven’t played their way out of contention, but they do have areas they need to shore up.

After another 27 games, the picture could get a little clearer.

A Different Look at Browns Schedule

After the 2012 NFL schedule was made public a few weeks ago, Browns’ fans and radio talk show hosts immediately turned it into a negative, saying than Cleveland would likely go 4-12 again, or perhaps even 3-13 because they have the 3rd toughest slate in the league.

Certainly, Pat Shurmur’s team isn’t playing college or high school teams, but that statistic is a little misleading.

One reason is that the statistic takes into account the teams’ divisional schedule, and last year, three teams from the AFC North made the playoffs, two of them (Pittsburgh and Baltimore) winning 12 games. No other division in football had two squads that both won that many games.

That doesn’t make the games any easier, but Cleveland plays the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals every year! They know that going into the season. In fact, do you know who has the 4th toughest schedule in the NFL according to 2011 win/loss records? The Ravens. And really, their schedule is tougher because they have the Browns in that stat.

Everyone is all worried because Cleveland inter conference match up in 2012 is the big, bad NFC East, featuring the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. However, how many of you realize only one team, that being the Giants, in that division had a record over .500 last season?

Dallas and Philadelphia, the Browns opponent in the opener last year, both had records of 8-8.

Last year, Cleveland played the NFC West, another division where only one team won more games than they lost, that being San Francisco, who went 13-3.

The fear here is based on reputation. The Giants, Eagles, and Cowboys are historically strong franchises, so fans assume that Shurmur’s team will lose those games. Heck, after 12 games last season, Philly had the same record as the Browns, with both teams being 4-8.

Another reason Cleveland’s schedule looks worse on paper is that they only play one team, Indianapolis, who had a terrible record in 2011. Because of their fourth place finish in the division last year, the Browns play the other 4th place teams in the AFC. However, Buffalo was 6-10 and Kansas City was 7-9.

If you rank all of the records of the teams finishing last in their respective divisions, you will find that those teams had the best records. Remember, the strength of schedule takes into account the entire league, so NFC last place teams finished 5-11 (Washington), 4-12 (Tampa Bay), 3-13 (Minnesota), and 2-14 (St. Louis).

When you take into account that a seven game difference would give the Browns the 14th most difficult slate for 2012, which would be kind of in the middle, tied with Cincinnati (another team whose stat includes the four win Browns), playing the last place teams with the best schedules swings things considerably.

The AFC North also pairs up with the AFC West this season, and virtually every team in that division finished .500, except for the Chiefs (7-9), this is somewhat redundant, but again, there are no terrible teams to lower the winning percentage of opponents.

No matter what the statistics say, any success the Cleveland Browns will have depends on their play within the division. Last year, they went 0-6. If they can manage to win two games in 2012, they will have a better season mark. Until, Shurmur’s team can compete against the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals, and win, their record will not be good.

No matter who else is on the schedule.

Can Tribe Count on Ubaldo?

Going into the 2012 season, most experts agreed that the Cleveland Indians best chance to contend for the post-season was for Ubaldo Jimenez to have a big season.

The big right-hander, acquired from Colorado at the trade deadline last season, could form a formidable one-two punch with Justin Masterson, giving the Tribe two solid starting pitchers.

Right now, having Jimenez put together two consecutive quality starts would be a victory.

Hopefully, the mechanical adjustment discussed in today’s The Plain Dealer will fix the former Rockie. But if this doesn’t work, it is looking more and more like GM Chris Antonetti didn’t get the ace he thought he was getting.

There is no question Jimenez’ velocity has dipped in recent years. That could be a mechanical issue, an injury to his shoulder, or just age.

According to Baseball Prospectus.com, Jimenez’ average fastball was close to 98 MPH in 2007, his rookie year. It has steadily dropped to 96 MPH in 2010, to 94 MPH in ’11, to 93 MPH this season.

Still, there are plenty of pitchers who don’t throw 95 MPH that win consistently in the big leagues.

The bigger problem is throwing strikes with regularity.

Ubaldo has never had pinpoint control. In recent years, he’s walked 3.7 batters per nine innings. Not exactly a Greg Maddux like figure.

However, it’s not really a problem because he’s averaged around 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings. And if you can strikeout twice as many as you walk, it’s one of the signs you are a good pitcher.

He also has allowed fewer hits than innings pitched, another sign of being effective on the mound.

Even last year, in his 11 starts with the Indians, which no one is labeling as a success, Jimenez allowed 68 hits in 65-1/3 innings, and struck out 62 while walking only 27 hitters.

So far, this year he has not put up those kinds of numbers.

The hits per innings pitched isn’t too bad, he’s allowed 30 hits in 28-2/3 innings, although that figure is helped by throwing seven, one hit frames in his first start.

The biggest negative factor is the walks. He’s allowed 20 bases on balls against just 14 strikeouts. It was pointed out that it took him 92 pitches on Tuesday before a Chicago hitter swung and missed. That’s disturbing.

If you walk hitters without the ability to strike anybody out, you have big troubles ahead. That’s where Jimenez is.

The inability to find the strike zone also means the righty can’t get deep into games.

This year, he hasn’t been able to get through six innings in a start since his first start in the second game of the season. Josh Tomlin is a guy who pretty much is a six inning pitcher.

There’s nothing wrong with Tomlin, he’s a good solid starter. But to be sure, the Tribe front office certainly expected more when they traded for Jimenez last July.

So far, he hasn’t delivered it. He’s more of a back of the rotation starter, right now he’s kind of a Roberto Hernandez (Fausto Carmona) clone. Manny Acta can’t be sure what kind of outing he’s going to get when Jimenez toes the rubber.

It’s tough to win and count on a player when his level of performance goes up and down.

It’s still early and there is plenty of time for Jimenez to get straightened out and have a solid season for the Indians. His next start will be Sunday and here’s hoping the adjustment works out.

Because he’s facing one of the AL’s best hitting teams in the Texas Rangers. A tough test for a pitchers who is trying to get himself on the right track.

Is Brantley the Answer at Leadoff?

At the end of the 2008 season, the Cleveland Indians were owed a player from the Milwaukee Brewers as a result of the C.C. Sabathia trade and they selected Michael Brantley as the player to be named later.

The then 21-year-old outfielder was coming off a season in which he hit .319 with a .395 on base percentage, and 28 stolen bases in 108 games at the AA level.

He looked a lot like a guy who could be next in line of leadoff hitting centerfielders, following the lineage of Kenny Lofton and Grady Sizemore.

Brantley’s bigger than Lofton at 6’2″ and 200 pounds, but his offensive game seemed more like his than Sizemore, who hit for more power out of the first spot in the batting order.

He struggled in his first taste of AAA pitching, his average dropping to .267 and his OBP being just .350. Still, he walked more than he struck out in over 450 at bats.

He received a late season call up to Cleveland, and hit .313 with a .358 OBP. At only 22, it seemed like a good start to a major league career.

Starting the year with the big club in 2010, he struggled and was sent back to Columbus where he hit .319 with a .395 OBP in 67 games.

He hasn’t approached those numbers in the big leagues since coming up to stay later in the ’10 season.

Last season, in almost 500 plate appearances, Brantley batted just .266 with a .318 on base average. Not horrible numbers, but just not the profile of a good leadoff man.

Thus far in 2012, the left-handed hitter is batting .250 with a .321 on base percentage. He was hot in the weekend series vs. the Angels, getting two hits or more in two of the three games.

Still, for his career, totalling over 1000 at bats, Brantley has a .316 OBP, a figure more suited to someone hitting in the bottom third of the batting order, not one who should be a table setter.

By contrast, Lofton reached base 36.2% of the time in his first year with the Indians in 1992, increased that figure to .408 the following season. He finished his career with a .372 mark.

Sizemore had a .348 on base percentage in his first full year with the Tribe in 2005, and increased that to .375 in ’06. He currently has a .357 OBP.

The point here is that both Lofton and Sizemore demonstrated a keen ability to get on base early in their careers. They didn’t gain it through experience.

True, Lofton is one of the best leadoff guys in the history of the game, and Sizemore was definitely an impact hitter at the top of the order during his heyday of 2005-08.

But right now, Brantley doesn’t show much ability to be a consistent threat to get on base. Again, he has picked it up in the last few games, but with over 1ooo at bats in the big leagues, getting on base a little under 32% of the time is not acceptable from the top of the order.

This isn’t to say Brantley can’t become a good offensive player in time. He’s still just 25 years old. However, it doesn’t appear he can be a very good leadoff man, despite looking the part.

In the American League, you need to have seven good hitters in the lineup to score enough runs to win. Right now, the Tribe has five (Hafner, Cabrera, Santana, Choo, Kipnis) and Brantley isn’t one.

But he’s the man out of those playing now who may be able to become one. It may just not be in the spot the Indians want him to hit in.

Browns Draft Addressed Needs

With all of the discussion that takes place before the NFL draft, what comes after the selection meeting, which is what the NFL calls it, the so-called grading period, can be even more ridiculous.

Usually these grades are given based on where the person assigning the mark had them rated. Which means if you like player A, and your team takes player A, then that team gets a good grade. Really meaningless if you think about it.

The Browns went into the draft needing to improve their offense, and their first three selections produced three likely starters, which for those with limited math skills, is 27% of the starting lineup.

While we can all debate on the wisdom of taking QB Brandon Weeden with the 22nd overall pick, if GM Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur felt that Colt McCoy was part of the problem with the offense, then Cleveland moved quickly to improve that position.

And the supposed failure to draft a wide receiver in the first three rounds is also predicated on that opinion. Obviously, the front office and coaching staff felt McCoy was the reason the receivers were not as productive as they could be and will be with Weeden under center.

Really, what comes first: The “#1” receiver or the franchise quarterback?

Green Bay has a tremendous passing game, right? Well, their two leading receivers (Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings) were both 2nd round picks out of Kansas State and Western Michigan respectively.

Drew Brees’ favorite targets in New Orleans were TE Jimmy Graham, a 3rd round pick and former basketball player, and WR Marques Colston, picked in round seven.

The other top three passing team in the NFL was New England, and Tom Brady’s favorite guys to throw to are Wes Welker, an undrafted free agent, and TE Rob Gronkowski, another 2nd round pick.

All of these receivers are talented, without a doubt, but they weren’t regarded as future All-Pro’s at the time they were drafted. The guys who throw the ball made them that.

Both Shurmur and Heckert seem to feel the production of players like Greg Little, Josh Cribbs, Ben Watson, and others will increase with a stronger armed passer throwing them the football.

The Browns also addressed the weakness on the offensive line by draft T Mitchell Schwartz from California to replace Tony Pashos as the starter on the right side. If he’s as good as advertised, Weeden and new feature back Trent Richardson will operate behind a young group, with Joe Thomas being the oldest.

Nevada LB James-Michael Johnson is another selection who figures to be on the field quite a bit as a rookie. Johnson played inside in college, but several reports have him possibly beating out veteran Scott Fujita on the outside.

Cleveland needed some depth at linebacker, so Johnson and 6th round pick Emmanuel Acho from Texas should provide that.

The other picks made by Heckert also addressed depth. G Ryan Miller, DE Billy Winn, and CB Trevin Wade should be able to help out positions where you can’t have enough good players.

In addition, Winn and Wade were both graded as 2nd or 3rd round talents by CBS Sports, so they were good value picks in the 6th and 7th rounds.

Most of the critics of the draft cite the picks of DT John Hughes in the third round and not picking a wide receiver until the 4th when speedster Travis Benjamin was picked. If those critics are to be fair, they have to give Heckert kudos for Winn and Wade.

No matter what people want to say, the Browns identified their weaknesses, the same ones the fans could see, and they picked players who can improve the team in those areas.

What else did anyone want them to do?

Browns Offense Gets A Makeover

The Cleveland Browns acted boldly in the first round of the NFL draft trading up at the beginning of the draft, and making a quarterback change later in the first round.

Moving up one spot to pick Alabama RB Trent Richardson was done to make sure the Browns got the best running back in the draft. Richardson is arguably the best runner Cleveland has had since the days of Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner.

There are critics who say GM Tom Heckert didn’t have to move up, but obviously he was weary of Tampa Bay dealing with the Vikings to get the pick with the idea of getting Richardson.

It says something about it being a good pick that other teams were trying to move up to get him.

Besides, even though the NF L is a passing league, you still can’t win unless you can run the ball and you can stop the run. The Browns have ranked in the lower third in the league in rushing for sometime now.

The bigger surprise was the selection of Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden with the 22nd pick.

There were reports that the Browns were enamored of Weeden, but it was thought Heckert would take him with his second round selection.

That choice tells you all you want to know about how the team felt about Colt McCoy. It is obvious coach Pat Shurmur felt McCoy was responsible for the poor performance of the offense last year.

Now, Cleveland has a passer with a big time arm, so there can be no more excuses as to why the attack doesn’t throw the ball downfield more often.

As for the biggest question mark about Weeden, his age, if he’s going to start next season, it’s not really a factor. The Browns can still get 8-10 years out of him if he avoids injury.

And that’s up to Holmgren and Heckert to make sure he has the proper protection.

It would be surprising if McCoy is still on the roster come Monday morning. The bet here is he will be dealt for a late round draft pick before the end of the draft.

Just remember this, however, St. Louis’ offense had similar yards per attempt numbers when Shurmur was the Rams’ coordinator, and he had Sam Bradford as his quarterback in the second year there.

So, fans will see once and for all if it was McCoy or the Pat Shurmur version of the west coast offense that is the problem.

Shurmur will have a lot of explaining to do if after the first half of the season, the passing offense is still filled with a variety of short throws. West coast offense or not, the passing attack has to be opened up if Cleveland is to win.

Back to Richardson, if he’s as good as advertised, we will provide someone opposing defenses will have to game plan for. When was the last time the Browns could say that?

He also takes pressure off of Weeden, who should have a strong running game to keep the heat off of him.

And you can expect Heckert to draft a wide receiver today, perhaps as early as the 37th overall pick. That would give Weeden a pair of solid wide outs, as we suspect Greg Little will be a much better player than he was as a rookie.

Perhaps it’s the Browns version of “the triplets”.

Hopefully, yesterday started the next era of Browns football. There is no doubt it will continue today with rounds two and three.

All Kinds of Reasons Not to Draft People

The year of NFL draft analysis is almost over, so the Mel Kipers and Todd McShays of the world will go back to irrelevance as of Sunday.

Of course, both of those guys and others like them will start their analysis of the 2013 draft almost immediately.

It is funny how the “draftniks” decide who should be picked and where.

Everyone seems to have a reason as to why a particular player should not be picked instead of the current analysis, which would be picking the best player on a given team’s draft board.

And they bring up odd data to support their reasoning. That’s the beauty of all this misinformation.

For example, the Browns should not take Alabama RB Trent Richardson because the 4th overall pick is too high to take a running back.

Look at the NFL’s leading rushers. Maurice Jones-Drew led the league in yards gained on the ground, and he was a 2nd round pick. So, was Ray Rice of the Ravens, who finished second in the NFL in rushing.

Therefore, no team should draft a running back in the first round, right?

Heck, Houston’s Arian Foster (5th in 2011) wasn’t even drafted.

However, there are many productive backs in the league today who were picked in the first round, such as Marshawn Lynch, Steven Jackson, Ryan Mathews, and Willis McGahee.

If the Browns have Richardson as the best player available at #4, they should pick him.

Then, you have Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon, regarded as the best receiver in the draft this year.

The draft pundits will say that Blackmon is not as good as last year’s fourth overall pick, Cincinnati’s A.J. Green, so he shouldn’t be picked there.

Once again, if the GM Tom Heckert thinks he’s the best player when Cleveland in on the clock, they should take him.

The critics will say the Browns can’t take Texas A & M QB Ryan Tannehill because he’s the third best passer available in the draft. Forget that Ben Roethlisberger was rated the third quarterback in the 2006 draft behind Eli Manning and Philip Rivers.

That’s worked out pretty well for Pittsburgh, hasn’t it?

And certainly Heckert shouldn’t take LSU CB Morris Claiborne because they need help so badly on offense. Why shouldn’t the Browns take him and team him with Joe Haden to have possibly the best pair of cornerbacks in the NFL.

The last time Cleveland has a pair of shut down CB’s was in the late 1980’s when they had Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield. It is a coincidence that was the last time the Browns were a power in the league?

The way the so-called experts talk about why players shouldn’t be taken by the Browns, it’s no wonder that the talk of trading down for more picks is out there.

The purpose of the draft is so the teams who didn’t have a good record in the previous year can get better, and the way to do that is to take the most talented players.

It’s really very simple.

With the fourth pick in the draft, Heckert needs to take the best player on his board, and position shouldn’t really matter. The only caveat would be T Matt Kalil, who plays the same position as Joe Thomas, the Browns’ best player.

If Cleveland thinks Trent Richardson is that guy, and a few scouts have said he’s the best running back prospect to enter the league since Adrian Peterson, then the Browns should take him.

Of course, the “draft gurus” will tell you that’s a mistake. Then again, they aren’t picking anyone.

A Notable Week in Cleveland Sports

According to the calendar and weather forecast, this should be another cold week at the end of April.

It’s kind of cruel because of the 1o days of summer that hit northern Ohio in the middle of March. That makes this seasonal weather in April harder to take.

However, it should be an eventful week for Cleveland sports. The Indians are coming home from a tremendous 7-2 trip, which puts them back over .500 after their tough start to the season.

The Browns will be the center of the sports universe because of the NFL Draft which starts on Thursday and runs through Saturday.

And the Cavaliers are finishing up the NBA season with three games, starting tonight in Memphis. At stake for them is where they will wind up in the draft in late June.

Here’s a look at the week that will be:

Indians. The Tribe offense is striking out less and walking more and so far this has led to an attack that is scoring more runs than expected. To be fair, a boatload of those tallies came against the Royals, who are here tomorrow night for a three game series.

One Indian that is red-hot is DH Travis Hafner, currently hitting .359 with an on base percentage of .509. Pronk has even hit two tape measure home runs this young season.

There is no question that when Hafner is healthy, he’s a great offensive player. He has a lifetime OPS of close to 900, an outstanding figure.

However, we have to caution those fans proclaiming that Pronk is back. Remember, when he hit the grand slam to win the game against Toronto on July 7th, he was hitting .347 with an OPS of 994.

He wound up the season at .280 and 811.

If Hafner can stay healthy and productive, he gives Manny Acta an all-star type hitter. The biggest word in that sentence is the first one.

Browns. Enough has been written about what Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert will do with the 13 picks the team has at the end of the week.

There is no question the brown and orange need an influx of talent, particularly playmakers on offense. Look for Heckert to take at least two players who will be able to make a difference when Cleveland has the football, and take them early.

The front office needs to understand this week is the start of the turnaround of the Cleveland Browns. A disgusted fan base may turn into an apathetic one with another 4-12 record in 2012.

Cavaliers. Right now, the Cavs sit with the 5th worst record in the NBA, meaning they would have the fifth best shot at the first overall pick.

However, with three games left, they could wind up with the third worst record or the finish with the 8th worst mark. This wild fluctuation is obviously very important to their future.

We never advocate losing, but with two of the three games being on the road, the lone home game left is with Washington, a winnable contest, it is likely Byron Scott’s team will finish at 22-44.

The wild card is New Orleans, who has won six of their last ten, but whose two remaining games are on the road.

The Cavs-Wizard’s game makes no difference for Cleveland because the wine and gold cannot finish with a worse record than Washington.

Still, we will have a good idea of where GM Chris Grant will be able to pick at the end of this week.

It may not be a huge week on the field or court, but make no mistake. By next Sunday, Cleveland fans will know a little more about the future of their football and basketball squads.

The Good and Bad of Tribe’s First Week

First off, making any inferences about a baseball team after just 12 games isn’t a wise thing to do.

You have to look at the schedule because there is no way you could have played all of the good teams in your league after that amount of time. And as we’ve said before, a better time to check is after the first 27 games of the regular season, when one sixth of the slate has been played.

After a dismal opening homestand in which they went 1-4, the Cleveland Indians have picked up the pace on their first trip of 2012, so far going 6-1 against Kansas City, Seattle, and Oakland.

This is where the schedule comes into play. The teams regarded as the best in the American League coming into the season were the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Tigers, Rangers, and Angels. The Tribe has played zero games against those squads.

Still, the hitting has been better statistically to start the year with Cleveland ranking 3rd in the AL in runs scored. However, a closer look shows that almost half of those tallies (32 out of 68) came in the three game series against the Royals. currently losers of seven straight.

The good news there is that KC doesn’t have the worst pitching in the league statistically. In fact, their staff ERA ranks higher (9th) than the Indians (11th).

At this point though, the Tribe has cut down on strikeouts at this early juncture. They rank 9th in the Junior Circuit, a big drop from the past few years when they ranked in the top three in the AL.

They also lead the league in walks, although outside of last season, they have been in the top half of the AL since 2008 in that category. Shelley Duncan has been a surprise in this statistic, drawing 12 bases on balls in the first dozen games.

The only real bad strikeout to walk ratios on the club right now belong to Jason Kipnis (11 whiffs, 3 BB) and Jason Donald (10 K, 1 BB). That’s outstanding. Drawing walks drives up pitch counts and gets into the opponent’s bullpen, where the less talented pitchers are.

However, the starting pitching so far has been a bit of a disappointment, mostly because they have not been able to soak up their share of innings. Cleveland starters have gone five innings or less in half of their appearances, although one of those was due to Jeanmar Gomez’s ridiculous ejection for protecting Shin-Soo Choo vs. the Royals.

This has put a strain on the bullpen, who for the most part has been up to the task.

Chris Perez rebounded from Opening Day to record five straight saves, and he has fanned five hitters in 6-2/3 innings. Vinnie Pestano has done well, and newcomer Jairo Asencio has contributed.

One area of concern is Tony Sipp, who has allowed seven hits and three walks in 3-2/3 frames. Sipp could go back to Columbus in favor of Nick Hagadone, when Asdrubal Cabrera returns from his grandfather’s funeral.

One thing that is concerning is the lack of swing and miss guys on the Tribe staff. Cleveland ranks 11th in the league in striking out hitters, yet have issued the fifth most walks. That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.

Granted, it’s only three starts, but Manny Acta needs Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin to give him at least six innings per start. Ubaldo Jimenez had one good start (vs. Toronto), but in his last two, he has been inconsistent in the strike throwing department. Derek Lowe’s had two good starts, and battled through a six walk outing to keep his team in the game.

Any success Cleveland will have in 2012 in based on good starting pitching, which so far hasn’t been there.

Still, at 7-5, it’s been a good start to the season, but it’s too early to get carried away, just like it would be too early to panic if they started 4-8.

Manny Acta would agree though, that it’s better to win early in the year, than to lose.

For Cleveland Teams, No More Losing Talk

Next week, the NFL Draft finally arrives. Undoubtedly, this will creative a tremendous void in the programming of Cleveland sports talk shows, who will no longer be able to discuss the merits and problems involved if the Browns pick Trent Richardson, Morris Claiborne, Justin Blackmon, or Ryan Tannehill.

There will be no more talk about trading down for more picks, or trading up to get yet another marquee talent.

To be sure, after the football draft, the discussion will shift to what the Cavaliers will do in late June in the NBA Draft.

With two picks in the first round, basketball fans in northern Ohio will alternately swoon or be irritated with the possibilities of getting Michael Kidd-Gilchrest, Brandon Beal, Andre Drummond, or Jeremy Lamb.

WKNR’s Greg Brinda once said the draft is like the Super Bowl for Cleveland sports fans.

That’s fine for now. The Browns season doesn’t start for another five months, and the Cavs have just six games remaining before their campaign ends.

After the wine and gold make their pick in June, there should be more talk about draft picks. It’s time for both teams to start winning and start making considerable progress right now!

For the Browns, it is ridiculous to contemplate another top ten draft pick in 2013. After all, in the last several years, Cleveland has had the opportunity to pick in the top ten four consecutive times.

Twice, they’ve traded the choice. Last year, of course, dealing with Atlanta, who drafted WR Julio Jones in the 6th spot, and in 2009, when they made a deal with the Jets, who selected Mark Sanchez.

It has been four seasons since the last time the Browns were over the .500, which was when Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage led the team to a 10-6 record.

Mike Holmgren has already gone on record as saying improving to 6-10 in 2012 is not acceptable, so his football organization has to make a large turnaround to get close to being an 8-8 squad, one that is poised to make a playoff run in 2013.

So, no more talk from Browns’ fans about picking USC QB Matt Barkley with the #1 pick in next April’s draft. It’s time to start taking steps, and giant ones at that toward not just respectability, but the NFL post-season.

The same is true for the Cavaliers, although the discussion is not as loud among their fans, it comes more from the media, who hope the wine and gold lose, and take joy in every defeat. Games like last night’s in Detroit, doesn’t do the franchise any benefit, no matter if it improves the draft position.

GM Chris Grant will likely have a top five choice come late June, which will give him three picks in the first five the last two drafts combined. He his a home run with the probable rookie of the year in PG Kyrie Irving, and he picked a solid power forward in Tristan Thompson.

It says here he needs to get a big time scorer in the top of this year’s draft.

The Cavaliers have already surpassed last year’s total of 19 wins in a lockout shortened season, so they have made progress.

However, next year, they better be in the mix for a playoff spot, especially since they play in the Eastern Conference, where a .500 record puts you in contention.

There has to be significant progress made during the next 12-14 months. Since there are only 15 players on an NBA roster, getting a premier player is a huge step for a team, and getting Irving accomplishes that.

The fans of Cleveland sports teams love to discuss the future of the Indians, Browns, and Cavaliers. That’s great. However, a year from now, we better be talking about the present. It’s time to stop pining for what may be and start winning.