Last week, we took a look at the upper levels of the Cleveland Indians farm system.  Today, we examine the fortunes of the two Class A affiliates, Kinston (Carolina League) and Lake County (South Atlantic League).

 

Kinston  Among the position players, Max Ramirez, acquired last year in the Bob Wickman deal is having the best offensive year, hitting .295, with 7 HR and 29 RBI.  The rap on Ramirez is that he is a catcher who struggles defensively, which will necessitate a position change.  3B Wes Hodges, a high draft pick in last year’s amateur draft is hitting .278 with 5 HR and 24 RBI.  Hodges did not play last season due to a foot injury.  Former #1 pick, OF John Drennan has come on after a slow start and has his average up to .249 with 6 HR and 30 RBI. 

 

The pitching staff has been the story at Kinston.  Last year’s top draft choice, LHP David Huff has a 4-2 record with a 2.10 ERA.  He has fanned 43 hitters in 55-1/3 innings.  He was recently listed in Baseball America’s hot prospect report which comes out weekly.  RHP Jeff Stevens, picked up in the Brandon Phillips transaction last year was recently moved to Akron after going 3-2 with a 2.31 ERA and 37 K’s in 35 innings.  Stevens has an outstanding curveball.  Sung-Wei Tseng, a righty the Tribe signed in a high profile international signing is also pitching well.  The 22 year old has a 3.47 ERA despite an 0-5 record. 

 

Lake County  The Captains have been an offensive juggernaut in 2007.  Led by the recently promoted 3B Jared Goedert, Lake County has scored runs in bunches this season.  Goedert, 22, hit .364 with 16 HR and 51 RBI in 46 games for the Captains, before moving up to Kinston.  C Matt McBride, who has a good defensive reputation, is hitting .288 with 3 HR and 27 ribbies.   1B Matt Whitney, a former high draft pick who severely injured his knee three years ago before spring training is finally healthy and batting .309 with 11 HR and 44 RBI.  Now 23 years old, he still has time to make an impact.

 

On the mound, Josh Tomlin has been one of the bright spots.  The 22 year old righty started the season in the bullpen, but has moved into the rotation and is now 5-0 with a 2.51 ERA and 45 whiffs in 43 innings.  2006 2nd round pick, Steven Wright has struck out 54 in 43 innings and has a 3-5 record with a 4.40 ERA.  Wright missed last season after being drafted with an illness.  Another 22 year old, Luis Perdomo has fanned 31 in 25 innings in a relief role.

 

With three of the Tribe’s four minor league teams within close proximity to Cleveland, Tribe fans can keep a close eye on the young players being primed to wear the big league uniform some day.  Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that Fausto Carmona was pitching in Lake County. 

 

KM

 

The reason for the title of this blog is this is the perception in the national media, that the Pistons are losing these games rather than the Cavaliers winning them.  After each game, the TNT and ESPN crews tell us how exactly Detroit snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.  Chauncey Billups didn’t make shots, Chris Webber looks old, etc.  It doesn’t occur to any of these guys that perhaps the Cavaliers have done something to make these things happen.

 

Part of this thinking is the mentality of the NBA.  The championship mystique.  The Pistons have won a title, albeit three years ago, and they went to The Finals and lost just a year later.  Until you win something, in their eyes, you haven’t done anything.  That’s where the Cavaliers sit.  If and when they beat the Pistons, they will get all the credit in the world.  It’s like boxing.  The champion has the belt and the challengers have to take it.  These guys forget Detroit didn’t win the East last year, the Heat did.

 

Billups has not only played poorly, by his standards, in this year’s series, but he also did not play well in last season’s seven game set against Cleveland.  That’s not a coincidence.  That’s good defensive strategy by Mike Brown and execution by Eric Snow and Larry Hughes.  What is it definitely not is a fluke.  The wine and gold have become a good defensive team.

 

The Cavs are trying to quicken the pace of the game and have succeeded a little bit in Games 3 and 4.  That’s when they play their best and have opened up some leads as the game opens up.  LeBron James has played very well in the two games at the Q, but he has had a productive second man in each of the games in Cleveland.  Sunday night, Sasha Pavlovic and Zydrunas Ilgauskas made a difference.  Last night, it was Drew Gooden and Daniel Gibson who were the co-stars of the game.  Gibson played his best game as a pro in the Eastern Conference Finals, and Gooden hit several big shots down the stretch and played good defense on Rasheed Wallace. 

 

The reality is both teams are thinking they could have swept this series.  Actually, the Cavs have outscored the Pistons in this series by a grand total of four points.  The old joke about watching the last two minutes of an NBA game is true here.  Every game has been decided in this manner.  Don’t expect anything different the rest of the series.  The wine and gold need to make the big shot in the closing minutes at The Palace to steal one in Motown.  They have to get one there to advance to The Finals.  That they could have won either of the first two games should buoy their confidence.

 

The Pistons will make adjustments to combat the quickness of Gibson.  This means a new player has to step up, whether it’s Pavlovic or Gooden or Z.  James cannot do it on his own.  Cleveland’s best bet to win in Detroit comes tomorrow night.  It’s highly unlikely they could get a Game 7 win on the road. 

 

JK

 

 

 

 

If you are one who believes that Cleveland, the Rock and Roll Capitol of the World and Detroit, headquarters of Motown, are more natural rivals than say Cincinnati and Cleveland, it was a good Memorial Day weekend for you.  Not only did the Indians move into first place by sweeping the Tigers at Comerica Park, the Cavs won Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals by knocking off the Pistons at the Q, Sunday night.  It might alleviate some of the angst fans of North Coast sports normally go through.

 

The Tribe used power and good starting pitching to take three in the Motor City.  All three starting pitchers (Paul Byrd, C.C. Sabathia, and Fausto Carmona) worked into the seventh, allowing Eric Wedge to minimize the use of his bullpen.  The skipper showed he has confidence in only Rafael Betancourt and Tom Mastny is tight situations, and he treated all three games like they were playoff contests.  He used Betancourt for 1-2/3 frames in the series opener.

 

With Travis Hafner struggling during the month of May, Victor Martinez has quietly putting together a tremendous season.  Martinez had big HR’s in each of the first two games in Detroit, and is hitting around .320 with 8 dingers and 40 RBI.  The catcher is also much improved in terms of throwing out would be base stealers.  He’s getting more time off from his catching duties, playing 1B when Kelly Shoppach goes behind the dish.  Martinez sometimes gets overlooked because of Grady Sizemore and Hafner, but he’s definitely having an All Star campaign. 

 

The two teams go after each other against in a four game set at Jacobs Field this weekend.  This time, the Indians will not be able to pitch their three best starters, as Cliff Lee and Jeremy Sowers will go on Saturday and Sunday.  The Indians have done very well against their division foes in 2007, with a record thus far of 13-4 against Detroit, Minnesota, Chicago, and Kansas City.

 

Meanwhile in Cleveland, LeBron James’ poster dunk over Rasheed Wallace highlighted the Cavaliers’ game three victory to put them back in the series.  LBJ was aggressive, satisfying his critics, but also dished out nine assists in the win.  The wine and gold still need to win the fourth game tonight to even the series and give themselves a realistic chance to get to The Finals.  They will have to accomplish that without guard Larry Hughes, out with a torn muscle in his foot.

 

It is likely that Daniel Gibson will make his first start in the post season tonight, and Eric Snow will also get off the bench as well, after getting a DNP in Game 3.  I would like to make another personnel suggestion to Mike Brown.  That would be to anchor Donyell Marshall firmly to the bench and give Ira Newble some playing time.  In a series where the defense is king, Newble would provide better "D" than Marshall, and outside of his heroics in the clinching game in New Jersey, the former UConn star’s offense has been missing in action as well.  There really isn’t anything to lose in giving Newble some minutes.

 

Much has been made of the subpar performance turned in by Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton the other night.  However, the Cavs didn’t get good games from Anderson Varajao and Hughes missed much of the game as well.  It seems a lot of "experts" like to point out what Pistons are not playing well, but fail to observe the Cavs who are not playing up to par. 

 

Regardless, this is a must win game for the Cavaliers.  If they lose, the series and the season will most likely end Thursday night at The Palace.  If they win, the team should have confidence since they could have won either of the first two games.  LeBron was not correct about Sunday’s game being the biggest of his career.  Tonight’s contest will supercede that one.

 

MW

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last night’s Game 2 loss to the Detroit Pistons by the exact same 79-76 score illustrated the position I took following the first game of the series.  LeBron James did go to the basket to attempt the game winning shot, got fouled by Rip Hamilton at least twice, neither of which was called, and missed the shot.  It was silly to assume the King would have scored to win the game the first time.  There is no guarantee a foul would be called if there had been contact on the play.

 

I don’t understand why James doesn’t get more respect.  He’s clearly one of the three best players in the game, yet he gets hit and hit hard going to the hoop without drawing fouls.  I really can’t think of a superstar who gets less respect.  That’s not sour grapes either.  LeBron doesn’t get the calls I watched the Birds and Jordans get when the Cavs were not a good team.

 

Once again the national media attacked the Cavaliers.  Charles Barkley talked out of both sides of his mouth saying Mike Brown didn’t have confidence in the other players by holding the ball for the last shot, when following game one he said #23 had to take the final shot.  Didn’t LeBron’s pass and Brown’s play show he had faith in someone else to take the game winning shot?  It cannot be both ways.

 

These pundits also said the officials were letting the players play on the final shot yesterday.  However, if that identical play occurred in the second or third quarter, there is no question James would have shot two free throws.  There is also no doubt the referees swallowed their whistles on the final play.  To say it is playoff basketball is also a joke.  Last year in the Finals, Dwayne Wade lived on the foul line.  Also, there is no question LeBron’s shot attempt was altered by the contact.  It was a foul, and it should have been called.

 

Enough of this macho stuff in the NBA.  Let’s get back to playing basketball.  The same game they played in the 70’s and 80’s using athleticism and grace. 

 

If I were the coach of the wine and gold, I would come out and say publicly today that my team has no chance to win if the games are called in that matter.  The Pistons are up 2-0 in this series because the officials have called the game loosely.  If the game is called tightly, the Cavs are sitting with a 2-0 lead coming home to the Q.  It’s as simple as that.  I would take my fine and put pressure on the league and it’s referees to start calling fouls.  It worked for Pat Riley with the Lakers in the 80’s and it can work today.

 

However, I have to discuss Brown’s coaching.  As much as he has made the Cavaliers a very good defensive team, he may be the worst offensive coach in the NBA.  His concept of getting the ball to LeBron and having the other players get out of the way is not working.  Larry Hughes is ineffective because he gets the ball on the three point line with less than five seconds remaining on the shot clock.  His offense doesn’t make anyone better, including James.  Barkley is correct in saying LeBron should be finishing, not starting the play.  And if you have good offensive sets, you don’t need Steve Nash running the point.  Look at the Pistons, Chauncey Billups is hardly the classic playmaker, but Detroit moves the ball and runs a good system and they succeed.  This has to be addressed in the off season.

 

The first two games have been close enough to make anyone think the wine and gold can win the two games in Cleveland to even up the series.  If they do that, they will have two more chances to win games in Motown.  They say a series doesn’t begin until the road team wins.  The Cavaliers have to hope that axiom is true.

 

JK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cleveland Indians have rebounded from last season’s debacle and sit in first place in the AL Central with a 27-16 record just after the first quarter of the season has passed.  GM Mark Shapiro has added some veterans in free agency, but many of the big contributors to the ballclub are products of the farm system.  Players such as C.C. Sabathia, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, Ryan Garko, and Tom Mastny have spent their entire professional life in the Tribe organization.  Others such as Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, and Josh Barfield were all acquired for talent developed by the Cleveland farm system.  There is more good news coming from the minor league system in 2007.  Here’s a look at the top two levels, Class AAA Buffalo and Class AA Akron.

 

Buffalo  Offensively, many of the Bison prospects have already had some exposure in Cleveland with the big club.  Ben Francisco and Franklin Gutierrez have paced the Buffalo attack.  Francisco, who was here for a few days in April, is batting .348 with a .902 OPS.  Gutierrez is no longer technically a rookie since he spent about half of last season with the Tribe is hitting .340 with an .879 OPS.  A down note is the performance of Shin-Soo Choo who has struggled with a .208 batting mark.  The best power bat has been the 26 year old Ryan Mulhern, who has slugged 8 HR and leads the Bison with 31 RBI.  Since he is not regarded as a major prospect, the right handed hitter has done much of his damage from lower in the order.

 

The Tribe’s #1 prospect, Adam Miller leads the pitching staff, but there have been some other noteworthy performances as well.  Miller is 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA and has struck out 39 hitters in 45 innings.  If not for a finger injury, he might be replacing the struggling Jeremy Sowers in the big league rotation soon.  Sean Smith, the Tribe’s representative in last year’s Futures Game, has also done a good job going 4-1 with a 1.77 ERA, which leads the International League.  Also a right hander like Miller, Smith has appeared in relief and as a starter.  Lefties Rafael Perez and Jason Stanford have done well too, and Perez gave the Tribe three innings of relief in a mop up role in Baltimore.  Stanford looks like he has recovered from shoulder problems,  is now 30 years old but could get a spot start in Cleveland later in the season. 

 

Lefty reliever Juan Lara has been disappointing with a 6.16 ERA after showing well in a September call up last season.  But former major leaguer Mike Koplove has been very effective with a 2-0 record an an ERA of 1.00 in 17 appearances.  Koplove would have to be added to the 40 man roster to be called up to the bigs.

 

Akron  The biggest story for the Aeros so far has been the non-performance of a prospect.  Trevor Crowe, the Indians’ first round pick in 2005, and ranked in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects is off to a dismal start.  The former Arizona standout is batting just .172 thus far and has been dropped out of the lead off spot.  Brian Barton, an outfielder also ranked in that list is hitting .284 with 4 HR and 23 RBI.  A big surprise has been the hitting of SS Asdrubal Cabrera.  Cabrera, who came over from Seattle for Edwardo Perez last season and spent most of last season in AAA, is hitting .324 with 6 HR.  Although he is known for his defense, his offense has improved greatly.  And he is just 22 years old.  Last year’s Carolina League MVP, Jordan Brown (OF/1B) is batting .303 with a .391 on base percentage.

 

On the mound, lefty Chuck Lofgren is drawing raves.  He recently took no hitters into the sixth inning in consecutive starts and overall is 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA and 46 punch outs in 44 innings.  Another southpaw, Scott Lewis is 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA with 33 K’s in 38 frames.  Jensen Lewis has also been impressive in relief with a 2.39 ERA and 34 whiffs in 29 innings.  Righty J.D. Martin is coming back from elbow surgery and has been up and down with his performance.  Overall, he has a 2-3 mark with a 4.54 ERA.  He should continue to get stronger as the season progresses. 

 

Next week, we’ll take a look at the lower levels of the minors, Kinston and Lake County.  The Captains boast one of the best offenses in minor league baseball.  Remember that not only will some of these players be impact guys for the Tribe, they may also be involved in deals at the trade deadline to help the Indians add a piece for the stretch drive.  Shapiro has always put an emphasis on player development, and it is continuing to pay off for the organization.

 

MW

 

After the Cavaliers three point loss in Game 1 to the Pistons last night, TNT analysts Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley criticized LeBron James for passing up a possible lay up or dunk to hit Donyell Marshall for a wide open three in the closing seconds.  However, it was the correct play.  James played fundamental basketball, that is, hitting the open man.  Besides, if Marshall drains the shot and the wine and gold win Game 1, the King is hailed as the prototypical unselfish superstar.

 

It was unbelievable that James did not attempt one single free throw in the game.  Can anyone recall that happening to Michael Jordan?  I realize the referees allowed both teams to play, but not one charity toss for one of the game’s superstars?  That’s a little unusual.  That could be a reason he didn’t take the ball to the hole in the closing seconds.

 

In yestreday’s entry, I said that Sasha Pavlovic, Larry Hughes, and Drew Gooden had to step up and make open shots, because they would get plenty of them.  The two guards went 7 for 27 from the floor, and Gooden barely played in the second half.  Marshall went one for four, the one being a breakaway dunk off a Detroit turnover.  That means he didn’t make one shot from outside.  If there is no penalty for double and triple teaming LeBron, then the Pistons will keep doing it. 

 

Zydrunas Ilgauskas did play well and made the Pistons pay for trying to guard him with Chris Webber.  However, he did miss a key open shot down the stretch.  On the other hand, it wouldn’t have been a close game without Z’s sharp shooting from outside.  He was a lone bright spot from an offensive standpoint. 

 

It’s very simple.  The Cavs needs to keep the same defensive intensity they had last night, and start making shots from outside.  If Hughes and Pavlovic can’t do it, then perhaps Daniel Gibson and dare I say, Damon Jones, should get a chance.  If that happens, the Cavaliers can come home with a tied series.

 

JK

 

 

It looked inevitable as soon as the playoff pairings were announced for the NBA following the regular season.  The Conference Finals in the East would be a rematch of last year’s hard fought seven game series between the Cavs and Pistons.  The two teams will get together starting tonight with a berth in the NBA Finals at stake.  Can the wine and gold pull off an upset to win the East for the first time in team history?  Here are some things that would help.

 

The Pistons have made one major change in their starting lineup, replacing Ben Wallace, who left as a free agent, with Chris Webber.  Webber is a better offensive option, but weaker on defense.  The Cavs must exploit this by going to Zydrunas Ilgauskas.  If the former Michigan player can’t handle Z, Antonio McDyess will be forced to play more minutes, and Jason Maxiell will have to contribute as well.  Neither player is as good as Webber when the Pistons have the ball.  CWebb is an accomplished passer.  However, if he’s in the game, Mike Brown has to make Detroit pay defensively.

 

Last year, Eric Snow did a good job defending Chauncey Billups and I expect we will see more of the same this year.  To start though, I would play Sasha Pavlovic on Billups and let Larry Hughes take Rip Hamilton.  Billups uses his size to gain an advantage against smaller guards and Sasha is a better physical match up.  Snow will play quite a bit, though.  Unfortunately for the Cavs, Ilgauskas doesn’t have a good match with any of the Detroit bigs, who all play away from the basket.  This makes the big Lithuanian’s lack of quickness stand out.  Look for a Drew Gooden/Anderson Varajao combination defensively late in games.

 

When the Cavs have the ball, they must make Rasheed Wallace work.  Make him guard the post as much as he can by getting the ball to Gooden and even LeBron James down near the basket.  This tactic may also get the former Tar Heel in some foul trouble, and maybe even some technical foul problems.  Notice that was the first time I mentionned the Cavs’ #23.  The Pistons will go into their new version of the so-called "Jordan Rules" to defend LeBron, which will include double and triple teaming him.  This is where the Pavlovics, Goodens, and Ilgauskas’ must step up and make open shots.  They will certainly get their share of open looks.

 

The wine and also have to match the physicality of the Pistons.  Wallace, in particular, appears to be in the collective heads of the Cavs.  They have to look him in the eye immediately and show they will not be intimidated.  A hard foul or a dunk in his face would send a message that Rasheed has to respect Cleveland.  It’s amazing he still doesn’t have it after last year’s seven game set.  I believe Mike Brown should start lobbying about Hamilton’s endless benefit of the doubt from officials on contact plays.  Most times, the former UConn star initiates the contact and then goes to the line.

 

Can the Cavs win?  Of course.  I compare it to the Cavs-Bulls match ups in the early 90’s.  The Pistons have the better team, but the Cavs have the best player on the floor.  This gives the Cavs a fighting chance.  Despite the extra men guarding him, James must continue to battle for his points, and there is no doubt he will.  However, he will need help from Hughes, Pavlovic, and Gooden for the Cavs to take the next step.  If they can step up their games, Cleveland could make it’s first appearance in the Finals.

 

JK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some thoughts prior to another big sports weekend in Cleveland:

 

Cavaliers.  The wine and gold laid a gigantic egg Wednesday night in Game 5 against the Nets, and need to play much better tonight to avoid a deciding seventh game back at the Q on Sunday nignt.  Mike Brown’s offense is taking heat again, as he lost his standing as a good coach in one contest.  For me, the biggest criticism with the offensive strategy is the same as it has always been, that is the inability to get the ball to Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

 

The big man had 14 points in the first half of Game 5, and despite the shooting woes of the rest of the team in the second half, no one seemed to get the ball to Z in the last 24 minutes.  He wound up with a two point second half.  If Ilgauskas is scoring, his teammates simply half to get him the ball, but too often, they don’t look his way.  That’s Larry Hughes’ weakness as a point guard.  A quality lead guard finds the hot man and keeps feeding him until the defense makes an adjustment.  The Cavs didn’t do that and paid the price. 

 

Tonight is also a night for LeBron James to take control early.  Usually, the King starts slowly, trying to get his teammates involved in the first quarter.  He should abandon that strategy tonight.  LBJ should come out of the locker room looking to score and taking the ball aggressively to the basket.  The wine and gold should also forget about Mikki Moore’s antics.  Moore is starting to get in the Cavs’ heads much like Rasheed Wallace of the Pistons.  The difference is Moore isn’t even a good player.  Just play the game, play solid defense, and be more efficient on offense.  Do that, and you can get ready for the Pistons.  If they don’t, it’s Game 7 with the Nets having momentum.

 

Indians.  Has the Tribe found the second half of a one-two pitching punch in Fausto Carmona?  It looks that way right now as the 23 year old righty dominated the Twins in a four hit shutout yesterday afternoon.  Carmona has now won five straight starts, including two duels over Minnesota’s reigning Cy Young Award winner, Johan Santana.  Together with C.C. Sabathia, the Tribe has two lights out starters at the top of the rotation for the first time since maybe the 60’s (Sam McDowell and Luis Tiant).  The team has some depth in the rotation, but I don’t think we will see any kind of trade unless it solves a major problem for the Tribe.

 

The Indians are now 9-2 in the AL Central, and lead the division by one game over the Tigers.  They are ten games over .500 at 24-14.  This despite slow starts offensively from Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore, and virtually no production from left field.  Here’s a solution to the Andy Marte dilemma:  Move Casey Blake to left field for the time being, and put Marte back at third.  Blake is starting to hit, and let’s see if the young third baseman can hit better than David Dellucci and Jason Michaels. 

 

With the Reds and Royals coming up on the schedule, the Indians could get on another streak.  Keep an eye on Jeremy Sowers’ start on Saturday to see if he has solved his problems. 

 

MW

 

 

 

It’s funny how one play changes your perception.  If not for Eric Snow and Larry Hughes knocking the ball away from Vince Carter in the closing seconds of Monday night’s game four at New Jersey, LeBron James is taking heat.  The King would be cited for missing free throws and taking bad shots in the fourth quarter.  He could have made two from the charity stripe to put the wine and gold up three with 10 seconds left, but missing one, allowing the Nets to tie with a two pointer.  But, Snow and Hughes did make the play and the Cavs have a commanding 3-1 lead heading into tonight’s Game 5.

 

Cleveland needs to put it away tonight.

 

First, it’s a home game and you don’t want to go back to New Jersey for a Game 6, and have the Nets win at home and force a winner take all Game 7.  Anything can happen in a one game scenario.  Another reason to get this series over is what is happening in the Detroit-Chicago series, where the Bulls have forced a sixth game.  While no one expects Chicago to come back and win the series, if the Cavs win tonight they will enter the Conference finals with more rest than the winner of that series.  Off time becomes more precious as the playoffs go on.

 

Mike Brown’s defensive scheme has done a great job limiting the effectiveness of the Nets three pronged attack of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson.  At least one of the three has had a poor game in each game of this series.  Carter, who hasn’t been an elite player for years despite the hype, hasn’t played well at all.  He isn’t making outside shots and on the rare occasions he has gone to the rim, he hasn’t been converting.  Jefferson probably has played the best of the troika throughout the series.

 

The coach’s insistance on stopping this three headed monster has allowed Mikki Moore to be a factor in the series.  This is simply a coach picking his poison.  All of the people saying the Cavs have to stop Moore have to realize he is getting these looks by design.  Brown doesn’t want to live with being beat by Kidd, Carter, or Jefferson, and if Moore has to be the Nets best player to win this series, he’ll live with it.  That’s basic defensive basketball. 

 

Even though the Nets need to win three in a row to advance, this is a big game for the Cavaliers.  They need to finish and finish now.  LeBron hasn’t had that great shooting game in this series.  Tonight would be a good night to have one.

 

JK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because of yesterday’s loss to the Oakland A’s, I’m sure there are many baseball fans in Cleveland a little down on their beloved Tribe.  The Indians were one pitch away from a split of the ten game trip, and another series win.  But, Eric Chavez singled and Milton Bradley homered to tie the game and then Russell Branyan, I mean Jack Cust belted a three run dinger to win the game.  However, it is not the end of the world.

 

First, the Indians are still 21-14 which computes to a .600 winning percentage.  If you win at that rate for the entire year, you will win 96 games.  Eric Wedge’s crew still has the third best record in the American League, just a game and a half behind the red hot Tigers in the Central Division.  They have that mark despite Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner not swinging the bat particularly well.  Outside of a week and a half in late April, Pronk has struggled, and Sizemore is drawing walks, but his average is hovering around the .250 mark.  After the first week of the season, the centerfielder is also not driving the ball.  Remember, he had over 80 extra base hits last season.

 

I was thinking after Nick Swisher popped up for the second out, that Joe Borowski is not as much like Bob Wickman as we thought.  Borowski gets a lot of 1-2-3 ninth innings.  Wicky was always giving up a hit, and then walking a guy before getting the last out.  Of course, two batters later, I was shaking my head.  Borowski now has an ERA of 9.00 for the season.  However, if not for yesterday’s game and the debacle at Yankee Stadium, the closer has pitched 13-2/3 frames and allowed just five runs, a 3.29 ERA.  I know you can’t eliminate those performances, but it shows how volatile a relievers’ ERA can be.

 

Now for the real story from yesterday’s game.  The next time the A’s and Tribe hook up, Bradley should wear a suit of armor up to the plate because he will get drilled by one of the Tribe hurlers.  The former Indian glared into the dugout after his game tying homer, showing up Wedge.  That’s a no-no.  He also hot dogged it around the bases.  I’m sure Bradley was very proud of himself after the dinger for sticking it to the team that dealt him, but you can’t stare into the dugout at the opposing team’s skipper without repercussions.  I’m sure Bradley will be all upset about getting nailed, but he shouldn’t be.  That’s baseball etiquette.

 

Apparently, the Tribe will try to get Jeremy Sowers straightened out by skipping his next turn in the rotation.  Sowers will not start until Saturday against the Reds at Jacobs Field.  Paul Byrd, C.C. Sabathia, and Fausto Carmona will hook up against Minnesota.  It was good to see Jason Davis dealt to Seattle since Mark Shapiro has made some nice deals with the Mariners.  They picked up Shin-Soo Choo for Ben Broussard, and dealt Eduardo Perez to pick up a decent prospect in Asdrubal Cabrera.  Another deal like those two wouldn’t be bad.

 

Hopefully the Tribe will start swinging the bats better this week as they start a home stand before heading to Detroit next week.  It would be nice to get a couple of laughers to protect the bullpen a little bit.  Those guys could use a little time off.

 

KM