The Indians’ 14 game home winning streak came to an end as Tampa Bay’s David Price’s dominant performance quieted the Tribe bats in an 8-2 loss.  Add in a less than good start by a perhaps rusty Carlos Carrasco, and this game was pretty much over when the Rays scored three in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead.

Oh well, no one really thought Cleveland was going to go 79-2 at home this season.

So, the Tribe can still win the series with a victory tomorrow afternoon, although it won’t be easy as the Indians face yet another good pitcher in James Shields, who has rebounded from a tough year last season.

Certainly, Cleveland’s pitching staff has received kudos from the media for the team’s good start, and rightly so.  The Indians rank 4th in the American League in ERA, which no one would have predicted prior to the start of the season.

The offense gets its fair share of credit too.  The Tribe ranks fifth in the league in runs scored, and they have played fewer games than all but one of the teams who have out scored them. 

Part of the reason the offense has blossomed is the base running, which has improved tremendously from last season. 

First of all, Manny Acta’s crew have really only one player who could be classified as slow in their everyday lineup, and that is Travis Hafner.  And Pronk isn’t horribly lead footed, on the level of Paul Konerko and former Indian Victor Martinez.  The rest of the everyday players have good to above average speed.

Along with the aggressiveness preached by the skipper and his coaching staff all season, the improved speed on the bases has resulted in Indians baserunners taking the extra base all season long.  Even guys like Carlos Santana and Matt LaPorta have been seen going first to third on base hits to rightfield and centerfield. 

Taking the extra base has put pressure on the defense, and it also has ended the three or four hits to score a run offense the Tribe has featured the past couple of seasons. Players like Martinez (who is a great hitter, don’t get us wrong), Jhonny Peralta, and Ryan Garko made the Cleveland attack a station to station one.

Now, the Indians can score with a runner on first with a gap shot.  They can score a run with two singles and a fly ball or two singles and even a double play ground ball, although that’s not the optimum way to tally a run.  Acta calls it action baseball, and he has the entire team buying in.  It’s been effective so far, and it’s also an exciting way to play. 

Tuesday’s win on Michael Brantley’s bases loaded walk was just the latest example of the aggressive base running paying off.  After a leadoff walk by Shin-Soo Choo, he went to third on Carlos Santana’s single to right.  Instead of a first and second situation which would have screamed for a sacrifice bunt, Cleveland already had the winning run on third and didn’t have to waste an out.

Since outs are the only measurable way to time a baseball game, not having to give one up is huge.  It forced Rays manager Joe Maddon to walk Hafner intentionally and use a bizarre five man infield alignment to try to stop the Indians from winning.

It is striking to watch the 2011 edition of the Cleveland Indians and watch the aggressive base running from virtually every player on the roster.  It’s also another thing that doesn’t go into a slump.

It’s just one more thing that is unmeasurably improved on a team that has basically improved from top to bottom this season.

KM

No one knows what the rest of this baseball season will bring, but the first five weeks have been a great deal of fun if you follow the Cleveland Indians. 

The Tribe still sits atop the AL Central Division with a 22-11 record, 4-1/2 games ahead of another surprising team, the Kansas City Royals.  At this point, none of the other teams in the division are over the .500 mark.

Last week’s west coast trip, in which the Tribe faced two of the top pitching staffs in the league in Oakland and Los Angeles, gave more indications that this team is, indeed, for real.

And it’s not as though the Indians are beating up on the dregs of the AL either.  They are only 4-4 against the three teams who currently have the worst records in the league:  Baltimore (3-0), Minnesota (0-2), and the White Sox (1-2).

They’ve also played more games on the road, where they have a .500 record, than at home.  That’s another good sign.

Starting tomorrow is a challenge for Manny Acta’s squad, as they played 17 straight days, and there are more good teams on the slate. 

Tampa Bay has rebounded from a horrible start (0-6) to be tied with the Yankees for first in the AL East, and they have the best road record (11-4) in the league. 

Seattle looked like perhaps the worst team in baseball when the Indians swept them in April, but they are now 16-19, and playing much better for ex-Tribe skipper Eric Wedge.

Those two series are at Progressive Field, and Cleveland then hits the road for a couple of two game sets against division foes Kansas City and Chicago, before the defending NL Central champs, the Cincinnati Reds invade the north coast.

That’s followed by a three game series at home against the team picked by most to go the World Series, the Red Sox.

The young Indians will be tested during this stretch without a day off. 

If you examine the standings right now, there really aren’t any soft touches in the AL, now that Seattle is playing well.  The Orioles have struggled after a good start, but we know that the Twins and ChiSox are pretty good, and Toronto (15-19) can flat-out hit.

The concern is how much pressure this schedule puts on the pitching staff, especially the bullpen, which has been taxed because of both close games and extra inning contests over the last week or so.

Two relievers, Chris Perez and Tony Sipp, have appeared in 16 of the team’s 33 games, and two others, Rafael Perez and Vinnie Pestano, have been in 15 games. 

That’s four relief pitchers who are on pace for around 80 appearances by the end of the year. 

Acta has done a great job in limiting those guys to short stints, they all average less than one frame per outing, but that’s an awful lot of pitching.

And keep in mind, the starting pitchers have been great in eating innings as well.  It’s not as though the starters have been doing a lot of “five and fly” starts.

A few “blow out” wins would be nice, so Acta can give the relievers who have had a lighter work load, Chad Durbin and Justin Germano some work, and give the other guys some time off.

It also would not be surprising if a roster move could be imminent to get some bullpen help.  The Indians could juggle the rotation to skip Jeanmar Gomez’ turn until Saturday, at which time Carlos Carrasco can be ready.

They could send out Gomez before tomorrow and bring up someone (Frank Herrmann?) for the next four games.

Isn’t being positive about this team fun?  That’s the way it should be for Tribe fans.

MW

If you ask most fans of the Cleveland Browns who the quarterback of the future is, they will tell you the Browns already have their man in second year QB Colt McCoy. 

However, the national media continues to question that choice.

Just this week, ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay did a mock draft for the 2012 selections and had the Browns picking first and selecting Stanford signal caller Andrew Luck, son of former NFL QB and St. Ignatius star Oliver Luck.

This presumes two things.  First, Cleveland is going to have a horrible season, like 2-14, because that is how you obtain the first overall pick.  If that happens, GM Tom Heckert would probably be looking for a new starting quarterback, because if the team has that record, you can be certain that McCoy stunk out the joint. 

It also presumes that McCoy cannot be an effective starting QB in the NFL and the reason the Browns would have that record is that their offense played horribly.

Another ESPN analyst, John Clayton speculated that the Browns might still be interested in trading for Eagles’ reserve quarterback Kevin Kolb as soon as the league’s labor problems are worked out.  That despite the fact that their statistics are pretty similar.

McCoy completed 60.8% of his 222 passes in his rookie season, with 6 touchdowns and nine interceptions.  Six of those picks occurred in his last two starts against a couple of pretty fair defenses:  Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Kolb has hit on 60.8% of his 319 throws in his four-year career, the bulk coming in the last two seasons, with 11 TD’s and 14 picks.  Kolb threw five of those interceptions in his last two starts last year, against Tennessee and Dallas. 

Kolb does have an edge in yards per attempt for his career at 6.53 compared to McCoy’s 5.82, although you have to remember that the latter played in the Eric Mangini stone age offense, particularly at the end of the season.

The wrap on McCoy is his arm strength, but the opinion here is that is overrated by people who evaluate passers.  More important is the ability to read defenses and the ability to lead teammates.  There is no question the former Longhorn is a leader.  Even the veterans on the Browns acknowledge that the kid is a guy everybody wants to play for.

Remember the drive against the Jets to tie the game in regulation?  McCoy showed he had a strong enough arm to complete a pass to Evan Moore, who was closely guarded by perhaps the best cornerback in football in Darrelle Revis.  The youngster fired it in  a place where only Moore could catch it.

As for reading defenses, Colt showed signs that he will be fine in that area as well, although he has plenty of room for growth.  Remember, that even Peyton Manning struggled in his rookie season, not to compare McCoy with a future hall of famer, but with more exposure to NFL defensive schemes, he will learn.

Browns’ team president Mike Holmgren has been around the NFL for a long time and has been around passers like Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Brett Favre.  If he doesn’t think McCoy is the real deal, then he’s doing a great job fooling everyone. 

He didn’t even draft another quarterback in the late rounds this season, something he usually does.

With the west coast offense installed this season, we will see a better, more efficient passing attack.  This should play into the strengths of the second year player’s game. 

The Cleveland Browns are still not where they want to be, but unless they have a rash of injuries to key players, they won’t be 2-14 this season, and they aren’t looking for a quarterback either.

JD

With everyone pointing out how LeBron James made the correct decision now that the Miami Heat is up 2-0 in their best of seven series against the Celtics, it’s time to take a look back.

First, James is getting all kinds of credit for tempering his game and allowing Dwyane Wade to be the focal point at times.  But was he willing to do that in Cleveland?

How many times did James take the ball from his teammates and spend countless seconds dribbling at the top of the key looking for his shot? 

In retrospect, James didn’t trust the other guys wearing the wine and gold.  Granted, there was no one the equal of Wade on the Cavalier roster, but there were players like Mo Williams, Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison who have and can make plays.

However, the front office made some mistakes as well.  They tried to make deals to bring more talent in, no question about that, but they made errors in talent judgment as well.

The first mistake made was by coach Mike Brown and his handling of first round draft pick Shannon Brown. 

No one knows what goes on in the locker room, and perhaps Brown’s attitude was questionable in the eyes of the coaching staff, but this guy has some ability, but he was never given a real chance to play in Cleveland.

He has proven to be good enough to be a contributor on two NBA title teams with the Lakers, averaging 8.7 points this season. 

Brown could have been a guy who could get out on the fast break with James and been part of a lethal fast break. 

Even in his rookie year, we thought Brown should have been brought along slowly so he could have been a factor in the playoffs. 

Instead, he played just 202 minutes for the season.

Another opportunity to bring in a player to complement James was wasted in 2009 when then GM Danny Ferry picked Christian Eyenga on the first round. 

Eyenga looks like he has some ability and may be a contributor down the line, but he couldn’t play immediately and that’s what the Cavs needed.

To take Eyenga, Ferry passed on several players who are contributors on good teams.  However, at the time, the two guys people were clamoring for were former Pitt Panthers:  Sam Young and DeJuan Blair.

Young started 46 games for a Memphis team that has reached the second round of this year’s playoffs, averaging 7.3 points per game, shooting 47% from the floor.  Certainly, he could have helped out last year when he had similar numbers.

Blair played in 81 games, starting 65 for the #1 seed in the Western Conference, San Antonio.  He averaged 8 points and 7 rebounds, shooting 50% from the floor.  He certainly could have been in the mix last season as an inside player because he got minutes with the Spurs last season.

James probably made up his mind to leave the Cavaliers before the season ended last year because, in his mind, he didn’t have enough help. 

Would having guys like Brown, Young or Blair on the roster have swayed him?  Probably not.

But that doesn’t mean that Mike Brown and Danny Ferry should be off the hook either.  All of those guys are contributors for good teams in the NBA. 

They could have helped here as well.

JK

What a month for the Cleveland Indians.  Nobody, not even the most optimistic Tribe fan could have foreseen an 18-8 start to the 2011 season.

The good start extended to 19-8 after Sunday’s 5-4 win over Detroit, which was the fifth series sweep of the season by Cleveland.

There are several reasons for the good start, but one that is getting a tad overblown is the veteran leadership factor.

When Orlando Cabrera was signed, there were mixed emotions here.  He has been on a lot of playoff teams over the last several years, so he can translate what teams need to do to win.  However, his offense the past couple of years was a concern.

There is no question that Cabrera’s attitude has rubbed off on the rest of the roster, but if everyone was hitting .200 with no power, and the pitchers were getting shelled on a night in, night out basis, the Tribe wouldn’t be sitting at the top of the division.

The reason this ballclub is winning is simple, they are scoring a lot of runs and not giving up many.  They lead the American League in runs scored and the pitching staff is 3rd in the league in ERA. 

That’s a winning combination no matter what kind of veteran leadership you have. 

Most times, good chemistry in the clubhouse comes as a result of winning. 

Offensively, besides leading the AL in runs, they also are #1 in on base percentage, and rank 3rd in slugging percentage. 

And it is not the result of one or two players getting scolding hot and carrying the club.  The Indians have no one in the top ten in the league in RBI’s. 

However, they do have five hitters in the top 30.  That shows balance and it bodes well for the rest of the season.  Shin-Soo Choo hasn’t  had a good start to the season, yet he still is one of the players with 15 runs batted in.

One player who has been maligned by some fans, but has had a good start is 1B Matt LaPorta, who is hitting .263 with 4 homers and 15 ribbies.  He currently has an OPS of 857, which ranks 4th on the Tribe, behind only Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, and Shelley Duncan, who has only 30 at bats.

The pitching staff has heeded the advise of coach Tim Belcher and is throwing strikes, allowing the 6th lowest total in the AL.  Last year, Tribe hurlers had the 2nd most walks in the junior circuit.

The number of strikeouts is up as well.  Last season, Indian pitchers struck out the least number of batters in the American League.  This year, they still aren’t flame throwers, but they have upped that ranking to ninth. 

And there is no question the defense has improved.  Third base was a black hole in 2010, and Orlando Cabrera’s glove has upgraded the defense up the middle.

Don’t overlook having a healthy Asdrubal Cabrera either.  And having Sizemore back and moving Michael Brantley to LF means Cleveland has three speedy outfielders to chase balls in the gap.

Improvement in every aspect of the game is the reason for the fast start by the Cleveland Indians.  Yes, having guys who know how to play the game helps, but if you can score runs like the Tribe has thus far, and get solid starting pitching, you are going to win games.

Let’s not discount that.

KM

All the national draft experts, and some of the local ones too, were fixated by the Cleveland Browns needing a wide receiver.  That position is the current sexy one, outside of quarterback of course, in the NFL. 

They all had either A.J. Green or Julio Jones coming to Cleveland to team with Colt McCoy to become the next lethal passing combination in the league. 

The Browns’ front office didn’t think that way.  They remembered that defense wins in the NFL, especially in the AFC North, were every team, including the Browns and Bengals, have a bruising running game. 

The front office looked at the numbers and here’s what they saw.  They saw a unit that gave up 129.4 yards on the ground last season, ranking 27th in the league.  In 2009, orange and brown defenders allowed 144.6 yards rushing, 28th best out of 32 teams.  Three years ago, the total was 151.9 yards given up, again ranking among the worst in the NFL (28th).

So they decided to do something about it. 

Here are the top five teams against the rush in 2010:  Pittsburgh, Chicago, the Jets, Chargers, and Ravens. 

For the record, that is three teams that played in conference championships and another team that reached the second round of the playoffs. 

See any connection?

The point is this, you simply cannot play good defense in the National Football League without being able to stop the run.  Want more proof?

Here are the leaders from 2009:  Green Bay (11-5), Minnesota (12-4 conference finalist), Pittsburgh (9-7), Dallas (11-5), and Baltimore (9-7).  Beside the Vikings, both Dallas and Baltimore reached the second round of the playoffs, and the Packers lost in the first round.

in 2008, it was the Vikings (10-6), Steelers (12-4 Super Bowl champs), Ravens (11-5 AFC runner-up), Eagles (9-6-1 NFC runner-up), and Bears (9-7) at the top of the list.    

Notice two teams that keep showing up on this list?  Yes, the Browns two division rivals, Pittsburgh and Baltimore can stop the run. 

And they like to run the ball, usually up the middle with guys like Rashard Mendenhall and Ray Rice. 

GM Tom Heckert and new defensive coordinator Dick Jauron looked at these numbers and said this has to end if the Browns are ever going to stop their losing ways.  Several different methods have been tried, but still, since this franchise returned to the NFL in 1999, they haven’t been able to stop teams from running the football effectively.

That’s why Heckert went defense first (and second) and took DT Phil Taylor from Baylor.  Taylor was ranked in several places as the best run stopper in the draft, and together with Ahtyba Rubin should give Jauron a basis to stop teams have shoving the ball down the Browns’ collective throats.

Could Cleveland have used a wide receiver?  Sure, it’s not like they have Jerry Rice and Paul Warfield manning the position now.  But the glaring need for this football team was on the defensive side of the ball.  They addressed the secondary last year, but they needed to take steps to stop the run.  That’s what they addressed.

Good defense will keep you in football games.  That’s what former coordinator Rob Ryan did last season with all his exotic looks and bag of tricks.  Mostly though, that was because the personnel wasn’t there.  If Jauron’s unit can stop the run, it forces teams to throw into the best part of the Browns’ defense, the secondary led by second year pros Joe Haden and T. J. Ward. 

Wide receivers are pretty things to have, and Heckert did take WR Greg Little, big physical receiver (6’3″, 220) with the second pick in round two, after taking a pass rusher (another big need) in Jabaal Sheard at #37. 

Heckert is building this team the right way.  Defense still wins in the NFL, but it’s been several years since the Cleveland Browns had a decent one, so perhaps some people have forgotten that fact.

JD

The Cleveland Indians had a tremendous young talent that burst on the scene as a regular in 2005.  He hit .289 with 22 home runs and 81 RBI’s as a 22-year-old that season.

The following year, he made his first all-star appearance at age 23.  He totalled 92 extra base hits that season, hitting .290 with 28 dingers and 76 RBI’s.  Among those extra base hits were a whopping 53 doubles.  His OPS was 907.

If the Tribe had been in contention that season, instead of starting slowly and finishing 81-81, this 23-year-old OF quite possibly could have been the league MVP.

In the division winning season of 2007, he batted .277 with 24 homers and 77 RBI’s at age 24.  He finished 12th in the MVP voting. 

He batted .268 with 33 home runs and 90 ribbies in 2008.

However, the past two seasons have been filled with injuries, limiting this talented player to just 139 games those two seasons.  And when he was in the lineup, he just wasn’t the same player.

Coming into this season, it seemed like Indian fans forgot how good he was before the injuries. 

Then, Grady Sizemore rejoined the lineup on April 17th, homered in his second at bat, and reminded everyone what a great player he was from 2005-08.

Granted, we are talking about just 37 at bats this year, but already Sizemore has shown he appears to be the same player he was before his injuries.

He has ten extra base hits in those plate appearances, seven doubles and three home runs.  That exceeds his total from last season, in which he had eight in 128 at bats.

In today’s society which focuses on what is happening now, it seems like everyone forgot that his guy is one of the best players in the American League. 

Perhaps it is the woe is me attitude we have in Cleveland, and fans just figured Sizemore would never again get back to the level he showed as late as 2008, or maybe people tried to forget the centerfielder because he figured to be the next star player to be traded before he became a free agent.

Whatever the reason, we are seeing what a healthy Grady Sizemore can do.

And if the front office’s plan was to get him healthy so they could deal him at the trading deadline, the good start by Manny Acta’s crew has thrown a serious wrench into that idea.

There is no way they can make a trade of that magnitude as long as they are playing well.  That is, if they ever want a fan to pay to get inside Progressive Field for a baseball game ever again.

That doesn’t mean Sizemore isn’t the next free agent to be GM Chris Antonetti has to deal with.  He has a club option for 2012, which based on what we are seeing right now will surely be exercised.  But he will be a free agent after next season, which means the trade rumors will be swirling.

We wrote that the best move would have been to talk to Sizemore in spring training about a one or two-year extension to basically make up for the lost years to injury.  It would have been a gamble on the front office’s part, but they may have gotten a reduced price for the centerfielder’s service in 2013 and 2014.

However, if his production continue to resemble the guy who was one of the American League’s best players a few years ago, he will get a huge deal somewhere, probably not in Cleveland.

All that aside, enjoy the return of Grady Sizemore.  He could be the biggest reason the Cleveland Indians are the biggest surprise of the 2011 baseball season.

MW

The Cleveland Indians have hit the first snag in an otherwise good start, losing four of six on a road trip to Kansas City and Minnesota. 

That after they won the first game of the trip.

Except for a 10-3 blowout on Saturday, all of the games were tight and could have gone either way.  In fact, if Chris Perez hadn’t blown a save against the Royals, the Tribe would have split on the road. 

A couple of things that give us cause for concern are the fact that these were division games, and the Indians now have a record of 3-6 within the Central Division. 

If you want to win the division, you have to play well against opponents you will meet 72 times throughout the year.  There are many, many games to go, but they have to play better in the division starting this week, when they take on KC and Detroit.

The other thing that was a problem on the trip was the disappearance of the early game offense.  The Indians have not scored in the first three innings in five straight games, which puts a burden on a very young starting pitching staff.

Certainly, Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana’s early season struggles have something to do with this, but when you add in Asdrubal Cabrera’s recent slump, you are getting nothing out of your 2-3-4 hitters.

And all three of those guys will hit.  They just aren’t right now.

One area that has improved so far is the offense has cut down on the number of strikeouts.  After ranking in the top three or four teams in the AL the past few years, the Indians currently rank 7th, and are also 6th in walks received. 

They currently are 4th in the league in runs scored.

Michael Brantley and Santana have walked more than they’ve fanned, and Matt La Porta is close to even, with 9 walks to go with 11 whiffs.

Another potential problem are the injuries that are starting to occur among the starting pitchers.  Sunday, Carlos Carrasco left the game with tightness in his elbow, joining Mitch Talbot on the shelf with problems in that joint.

This will test the organizational depth.  Southpaw David Huff will probably replace Carrasco in the rotation as the Tribe needs a fifth starter this Saturday against the Tigers.

The next man on the depth chart is probably 2008 first round pick, Alex White, who has a 2.00 ERA in three starts with Columbus, with 20 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.  However, there is no doubt the front office would like to see him get some more AAA innings under his belt.

Also, White is not on the 40 man roster, which means Cleveland would have to release someone to make room for the right-hander.

The Indians need to continue to play solid defense because their pitchers rank second to last in the AL, ahead of only Minnesota,  in strikeouts. 

Unfortunately, the walks are starting to pile up from the staff, as Tribe pitchers rank 6th in the junior circuit in allowing walks.  If you don’t have power arms, you have to be able to throw strikes. 

As a side note, the walk total is partially the result of the umpiring crew in Kansas City’s horrible strike zones, particularly those of Joe West and Angel Hernandez.  And in the interest of fairness, they were bad for Royal pitchers as well.

But why fix the umpiring when you can look at expanding the number of teams in the playoffs?

KM

You know that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig really loves the game of baseball, but sometimes he needs more common sense in terms of making changes.

Interleague play gave the game a boost when it was introduced in 1997.  Now outside of the regional rivalries like the Yankees-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, Dodgers-Angels, Indians-Reds, etc., it has lost interest for die-hard fans. 

Most people think awarding home field advantage in the World Series for the winner of the All Star game is a knee jerk reaction to the managers running out of pitchers in the 2002 game.  Going back to the alternating format for each league would be a much better system.

Now, the commish is considering adding teams to baseball’s post-season.  NOOOOOOOOO!

Several people have come out in favor of the plan to add two teams to the playoffs in the future, and most of those people have a stake in expansion. 

First, the managers.  Both Terry Francona and Manny Acta have said they support Selig’s plan.  Of course they do.  It’s a job saver.  Most franchises aren’t going to jettison a skipper who just made a post-season appearance in the last couple of years.

It’s the same reason that college basketball coaches always come out in favor of expansion of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  The more teams that get in, the more coaches that can say they guided a team to the tournament. 

These guys don’t have a big stake in preserving the integrity of the post-season, they have a huge stake in staying employed.

The other people who have supported adding two teams are sports media people.  These guys have cash to gain from Selig’s plan, at least for their networks.  More games equal more advertising revenue to be charged.  That’s the standpoint they are coming from. 

Baseball plays 162 games to determine which teams make the playoffs, not 16 like the NFL, which allows six teams from each conference to make the playoffs.  At the end of that many games, do we really need to have 35.7% of American League teams getting a chance to make the World Series?  Of course not.

Look at the NBA playoffs, which is as bloated a system as you can find.  How many eight seeds have defeated a top seed in the first round in the last twenty years?  Two, Denver beat Seattle and Golden State beat Dallas.  Neither of those teams was very good.  The Nuggets were 42-40 when they beat the Sonics three out of five in the first round, and the Warriors had the same record in 2004. 

Do .500 teams belong in the playoffs without winning a division?  It’s opening the door for mediocrity.

Even with eight teams qualifying for the title in baseball, the game in the playoffs is much different from the regular season.  You don’t need five starters, you don’t need a bench, and you only need two or three solid relief guys to win because of all the off days.  The Yankees won those titles from 1996-2000 because they were perfectly set up for the post-season.

Remember 1987 when the Minnesota Twins, arguably the worst team to win the Series, did it basically on the arms of two pitchers, Frank Viola and Bert Blyleven.  On the eight games won by the Twins that playoff year, seven were started by those two hurlers. 

Who’s to say that can’t happen again when the second wild card in either league cashes in on a championship. 

Of course, if it was the Tribe, we would all be thrilled.  However, in spite of that, baseball should keep the system the way it is.  The number of teams in the playoffs isn’t the reason baseball is losing fans.  If that were true then all the teams making the playoffs would sell out, right Bud?

MW

The Cleveland Indians are off to a rousing start, winning 13 of their first 18 games, and currently have the best record in the American League.  Who would have imagined that?

Certainly not us.  We projected a fourth place finish for the Tribe.

However, if you look at the way the rest of the division has started off, it is very feasible that the Indians can be a contender in 2011.

The thing you have to look at is how many wins will it take to win the division.  Based on the way the teams that were favored (White Sox, Twins, and Tigers) have started, you have to figure that no one will win more than 90 games in the AL Central.

That means if the Tribe play over .500 ball this year, they are going to be in the mix after the all star break.  You couldn’t have asked for more than that going into the season.

It’s also quite a difference from the last few seasons, when the season was basically over at the end of May.

While it is still early in the season, remember that if Cleveland wins just two of their next ten games, they will have a 15-12 record for the first 27 games, which is one-sixth of the season.  That would be a pace to win 90 games.

Obviously, a number of things have to go right for that to happen over a full season just like many things have gone their way to get off to this kind of start.

On the other hand, the Indians have received virtually no production from two guys they were counting on heavily coming out of training camp:  Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana.

Choo is hitting just .215 with 2 HR and 8 RBI, and has struck out an alarming 19 times in 17 games.  Santana has a .203 batting average with 2 dingers and 9 RBI’s.  You have to figure both players numbers will improve as the season goes on, especially Choo, who has a longer track record.

Contention is predicated on the team staying relatively healthy (the loss of Mitch Talbot for awhile isn’t a huge blow by itself).

The starting pitching also has to hold up.  Realize that Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin will not continue with their current ERA’s (1.33 and 2.75, respectively), but as long as the starters can continue to keep the team in games, the team will be okay.

That’s because the bullpen looks to be a strength, led by closer Chris Perez.  Tony Sipp has settled in as the eighth inning guy, and rookie Vinnie Pestano looks like a good right-handed option late in games. 

Having Rafael Perez as the second southpaw in your bullpen shows the strength of the relief corps.

When Orlando Cabrera was signed over the winter, there was a mixed reaction here.  We loved his experience, especially playing on winning teams the last few years, but his decline at the plate was concerning.

However, he seems to have taken on a leadership role with the ballclub, which he figured to do.  And right now, he has done okay at the plate.  The latter probably won’t continue in the long run, but his winning attitude has definitely rubbed off on his teammates.

The point is it isn’t too early to re-evaluate this team based on the starts of the other teams in the AL Central. 

It also isn’t too early to enjoy this if you are a baseball fan in northeastern Ohio.  You’d be ticked off if the Indians were 5-13 to start the season, so enjoy the early success.

KM