Tribe’s Substractions OK, But No Additions Have Us Saying “Huh?”

The Cleveland Indians made two deals before the trading deadline, and we have no problem with either of them.

We do have a problem with the trade or trades that they didn’t make.

Dealing Justin Masterson, who was suffering through a terrible season and can’t put together two solid seasons in row is fine here. He’s a free agent at the end of the season, and the Tribe wasn’t going to make the qualifying offer, so to get a solid prospect in James Ramsey, a top ten guy in a solid farm system like the Cardinals, is a good move.

Moving SS Asdrubal Cabrera, a player who has declined at the plate and in the field, and is also a free agent at the end of the year also makes sense.

The player coming back from Washington, INF Zach Walters, is a switch-hitting power hitter who strikes out a lot. He’s listed as a shortstop, but with Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Erik Gonzalez in the system, his future is likely at third.

Power hitters are worth a gamble, and again, the Tribe wasn’t going to keep Cabrera anyway, why not take a look at someone with a little pop in his bat.

The problem is GM Chris Antonetti didn’t address the problem areas on his squad, even though the Indians sit just five games out of a playoff spot.

They didn’t address their pitching problems.

Now, we understand the Indians didn’t have the prospects to go out and get a Jon Lester or David Price, and though it would be nice to do that, they really didn’t need to.

They needed to get someone better than Zack McAllister, Josh Tomlin, or T. J. House, and they failed in doing that.

The Twins traded Sam Fuld, SAM FULD!, to get Tommy Milone out of Oakland. Milone is a better pitcher than any of the three players we mentioned. But he won’t be coming to Cleveland.

Currently, the Indians are in a race for the second wild card spot, or at least on paper they are, even though the front office obviously doesn’t think so.

Three of the other four teams in the race, the Mariners, Yankees, Royals, made moves to strengthen their teams. The Indians chose to sit this one out.

Antonetti needed to go out and get someone to bolster his pitching staff, and he failed. Again.

That’s the profile of this organization. They rarely go out and make a bold move, either in the off-season or at the trading deadline. We guess based on that we shouldn’t be all that disappointed.

However, the Indians seem mystified that the fans in Cleveland aren’t drawn to them. It’s because of the lack of faith in the organization, and they can’t figure that out.

Earlier in the week, we tweeted that an organization that is 3-1/2 games out (which the Tribe was at the time) and didn’t make a move deserves the ire of their fan base.

And if they did want to create some buzz, they would bring up Lindor and let him play shortstop the rest of the season. Of course, they won’t do that either.

When you have a chance to make the playoffs, even a one game wild card contest, you have to take the chance because you don’t know when you will get another shot.

Instead, the Tribe will go with their usual strategy of wishing and hoping for guys like House and/or McAllister to come through.

Maybe they should also hope fans will show up at Progressive Field.

Indians Have Rotation Woes

There is an old saying in baseball that when you think you have enough starting pitching, you go out and get more.

The Cleveland Indians didn’t heed that advice this off-season.

After last season, when the Tribe’s starting pitching was more than solid, Cleveland lost two starters to free agency: Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir. They really didn’t replace either last winter.

When the 2013 season started, GM Chris Antonetti had several alternatives for manager Terry Francona after signing Brett Myers as a free agent and getting Trevor Bauer in the Shin-Soo Choo deal.

The rotation to start the year was Justin Masterson, Jimenez, Myers, Zack McAllister and Kazmir. When the latter had a set back to start the season, they had Corey Kluber and Bauer in reserve at Columbus.

By the end of April, both had made starts in the majors as Myers injured his arm.

Later that season, Danny Salazar emerged as a factor based on his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and started the wild card game for the Indians.

This season, that depth hasn’t been there.

Salazar and Carlos Carrasco replaced the two free agents in the rotation, and the organization had Bauer and Josh Tomlin, also coming back from elbow surgery, in reserve.

Unfortunately, the two replacements (Salazar and Carrasco), both with little experience, haven’t done the job, and with Masterson and McAllister struggling, the rotation is in a state of chaos.

Thankfully, Tomlin has provided his usual performances, he’ll give you five or six good innings, and Bauer has done well in each of his two big league starts.

Salazar is back at AAA and was roughed up in his first start there, and Carrasco seems anchored to the bullpen as a long reliever/mop up man, so there aren’t any more alternatives for Francona unless some sort of trade is made.

Friday night, lefty T. J. House made his first major league start in an 8-4 loss to the Orioles. House did the best he could, but nobody in the organization had him making a start in the big leagues this season, we would bet.

It looks like the southpaw is in the rotation for the unforeseen future, as Cleveland has him listed as the starter Wednesday in Chicago. We would give that start to Carrasco, as crazy as we thought that seemed a couple of weeks ago.

Until Salazar can throw strikes consistently and keep the ball down in the zone (he’s allowed eight in 40 innings pitched this year), Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway don’t have a lot of alternatives. No one is going to trade you a proven starting pitcher.

If the Indians did have to get another starter from Columbus, it would likely be RHP Travis Banwart, a minor league free agent who was in the Oakland system in 2013. He’s 3-1 with a 3.55 ERA in AAA, allowing 40 walks in 50+ innings, striking out 38 hitters and walking 18.

The other starters at Columbus are RHP Tyler Cloyd, who has allowed 65 hits in 47-1/3 frames (yikes!), and major league washout Kyle Davies.

So, the only real alternative for the Tribe is to get Masterson and McAllister straightened out and get them pitching like they did in 2013. And Masterson’s drop in velocity is no doubt alarming for the front office.

If they improve, the Indians will have some starting depth back. Until then, Francona and Callaway are scrambling to find starters who can give them solid outings.

Not exactly a recipe for success if you want to make the post-season.

Tribe Starters Need Length, Decisions to be Made

First of all, let’s all calm down Tribe fans. The season is only one week old and the Cleveland Indians emerged at the break even mark at 3-3 even though the performance of the starting pitchers wasn’t good.

It is too early to panic because outside of Justin Masterson, each of the starters made just one appearance. Let’s give each of the starters three or four starts before jumping to any conclusions.

However from a team standpoint, Terry Francona can’t be happy about having to use his bullpen this much this early. Already, the Indians’ starters have gone less than five innings in exactly half of the games, and the club has had five straight starts where the starter hasn’t gone six complete frames.

So, it will be interesting to see the games tonight and tomorrow when Corey Kluber (3-2/3 IP) and Zack McAllister (4 IP in his first start) take the hill against the San Diego Padres. If both can pitch up to the level they achieved last season, then any concern will be eased for both fans and the skipper and Mickey Callaway.

Fortunately, the bullpen has done the job so far, allowing just seven earned runs in the six contests, and five of the eight members of the relief corps haven’t allowed an earned run as of yet.

But it’s the amount of innings they have pitched so far (24-2/3, an average of 4 per game), that has to concern Francona and Callaway

We could be sitting here a week from today after five consecutive solid outings by the starters and be concerned about the relief pitchers getting enough work. That’s why you can’t make bold statements regarding a baseball team after one week.

The Tribe front office will have some decisions to make in the next week or so regarding the make up of the roster when Michael Bourn and Jason Giambi are ready to be activated from the disabled list.

OF Nyjer Morgan has gotten on base (.500 OBP) so far, and it is easy to say he stays over Elliot Johnson (0 for 5 thus far) when Bourn is ready, but it is more complicated than that because Morgan swings from the left side, and the Tribe is overloaded with left-handed hitters.

If Morgan was right-handed it would be a no-brainer, and it is difficult to see Francona and GM Chris Antonetti going with six left-handed batters (with three more switch-hitters) among their 12 position players.

The fact that Johnson can hit from the right side may be (along with his versatility) his biggest edge. With the opponents throwing southpaws in five of the next six games, Johnson will get a chance to prove he should stay.

When Giambi comes back, it could be at Lonnie Chisenhall’s expense, or the Tribe could decide to go with one less relief pitchers. This would assume the starting pitching gets straightened out.

If that’s the case, the two candidates to sent back to Columbus would be Vinnie Pestano and Blake Wood. Wood had a leg up until yesterday when he took to loss by walking two, hitting a batter, and then allowing a three-run double to give Minnesota the lead.

Pestano has allowed runs in both of his outings in the young season.

The battle(?) between these two is something else to keep an eye on this week.

Even though spring training is over, the front office and the skipper still have roster decisions to be made. That’s something to watch this week.

Tribe Should Get Deal Done with Masty

No one knows how to throw a wet blanket on growing enthusiasm like the Cleveland Indians.

After a September that woke up the interest in the team enough that the wild card game was attended by a sellout, boisterous throng, the front office’s biggest splash this off-season was signing OF David Murphy, who hit .220 for Texas last season.

And now, with the Tribe compiling the sport’s best record in exhibition play and fans looking forward to Opening Day next week, comes the word that talks on a long-term contract with starting pitcher Justin Masterson have broken off.

There are pros and cons on Masterson, the biggest con being that he has spent four years in Cleveland as a starter, and has had two solid seasons (12-10, 3.21 ERA in ’11, and 14-10, 3.45 ERA in ’13) out of those four. The other seasons were 6-13, 4.70 ERA in ’10 and 11-15, 4.93 ERA in 2012.

He’s been inconsistent, although when he has had pitching coaches who stress pounding the strike zone (Tim Belcher in 2011 and Mickey Calloway in 2013), he has been successful.

The other thing you can’t take away from the big right-hander, who just turned 29 years of age, is that he’s an innings eater, throwing an average of 199 innings per season in those four years.

Masterson was willing to sign a shorter term deal with the Indians, which would be club-friendly, but at a fair market value. That way the Tribe would be protected from a long-term commitment.

Our premise is there is nothing bad about a one-year deal because the club is out of it after one season. For example, did the Brett Myers signing really have an adverse effect on the Cleveland Indians? Of course not.

So, a three-year deal even at the reported $17 million per year, isn’t the crippling deal that the Travis Hafner contract became. Hafner’s five-year contract was a bust because of injuries over that span.

A three-year deal is reasonable and manageable, especially for someone with the durability of Masterson.

The fact of the matter is this is the baseball climate the Indians are playing in, and the amount of money the guy who has started each of the last three Opening Days for Cleveland is the market value, whether the front office likes it or not.

Homer Bailey received a six-year contract with Cincinnati over the winter at a similar dollar per year figure, and Masterson’s numbers are comparable if not better.

And most baseball people consider the best starting pitchers on the market after the 2014 season are James Shields, Max Scherzer, Jorge De La Rosa, Jon Lester, and…Masterson.

So, he’s going to get a big deal from someone after this season.

The Indians are still living in the moral high ground concerning free agency, apparently one of the last teams to do that.

They will tell you that Masterson hasn’t proven he can put two solid seasons back to back, and that’s why they can’t make that kind of financial commitment. However, the days of teams paying for past performance are in the past.

Today, teams have to pay based on what’s going to happen over the next three years.

The point is this is the market value for solid starting pitchers. The really good ones (Kershaw, Verlander, etc.) get $22 million per season.

If the Dolan ownership can’t pay the market value for players, then their really isn’t a bright future for Indians’ fans as long as the current ownership is in place.

To have that pointed out once again right before the start of the season is another kick in the teeth for Indians’ fans. And another reminder that an ownership that is unable to pay market value for players should think about selling the team.

Thoughts of Dealing Masterson are Silly

The Cleveland Indians avoided arbitration with Justin Masterson yesterday by signing him to a one-year deal at a little less than $10 million per year.

They can still talk about a multi-year deal since Masterson can be a free agent at the end of this season, but with the recent deal between Ubaldo Jimenez (four years, $50 million) and the likelihood that the Reds and Homer Bailey will agree to a six-year, $100 million deal, the odds of the Tribe’s #1 starter staying here past 2014 seem remote.

Of course, the reflex for all Indians’ fans was to trade the big right-hander since he likely will walk away at the end of the season.

As usual, there are several flaws in that argument.

First, everyone assumes that Masterson will have the same kind of season he had last season when he won 14 games with an ERA of 3.45. However, you don’t have to go that far back to find a season where Masty went 11-15 with a 4.93 ERA.

That was 2012.

Another season like that, and Masterson’s price will come way down.

The second reason is that the Indians were a playoff team last season, and would like to make it again this season.

No matter what you get for Masterson, they likely won’t impact this year’s team as much as a proven starting pitcher who will throw 200 innings for Terry Francona’s team.

If the Tribe had won 76 games last season, you might consider trading a player you may not be able to sign after the season, and looking toward 2015, but the reality is Cleveland won 92 games in ’13, and would like to make the playoffs again this season.

Now, if the Indians struggle at the start of the season and approach the July 31^st trade deadline being out of the race for the post-season, then it makes sense to see what you could get in return for the big righty.

But, you can’t move him right now unless you could make a deal that helps the ballclub this season.

Now we’re going out on a limb here, but another situation that bears looking at is the qualifying offer the Tribe made to Jimenez after last season.

GM Chris Antonetti could do the same with Masterson, thus keeping him in a Cleveland uniform for one more season at $14.1 million for 2015.

And we don’t know if Masterson has to have a six-year deal like Bailey appears to be getting in Cincinnati. Perhaps, he would be willing to listen to a four-year hitch, because he likes it here and of course, the Francona factor.

In recent seasons, the Indians have not wanted to go more than three years with a pitcher, but a guy who has been a horse and an innings eater might be an exception.

Of course, the pressure is on Masterson to have another solid season to make the Indians and/or other teams want to offer him a four-year deal following the 2014 campaign.

The point is you can’t deal your #1 starting pitcher coming off a playoff season and heading into a season where you want to get back to the post-season

It wouldn’t make sense to the players who inhabit the clubhouse, or to an already questioning fan base.

Is ’13 Tribe’s Success Sustainable?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tribe Strengths, Weaknesses Show in First Week

Week one of the new baseball season has come and gone, and it is always funny to hear fans go crazy about one week of a 26 week season.

If the same results happened in late June, no one would think anything of it. This would apply to being shutout on back-to-back nights, which happened to the Cleveland Indians this week.

Because of the extremely small sample size, results in the first week are greatly magnified. No one really thinks (at least we hope not) that Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera will hit .100 for the season, yet there they are, struggling at the onset of the new campaign.

On the other hand, let us get supporters ready for the reality that Justin Masterson will not win every one of his starts in 2013.

Still, one thing that could be a trend for the Tribe is the streaky nature of their offense, mostly because of the contact issues of many of the hitters in their everyday lineup. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the hitting had a few instances where they have problems scoring, just like they did in the first two games of the Tampa Bay series.

And the reason for that is they have a lot of all or nothing hitters. The trade-off to this is they will have streaks where they probably bludgeon their opponents as well, just like they did on Sunday afternoon in a 13-0 win.

It’s still better than last year, when the Indians had one of the worst offenses in baseball and had several hitters in their lineup where the opposing pitcher could relax during a game.

The other weakness that raised its ugly head was the starting pitching, which provided three or four (depending on how you feel about Zack McAllister’s outing on Friday night) good starts and three bad ones, most notably Brett Myers start in game three and Ubaldo Jimenez’ start in yesterday’s home opener.

That the worrisome thing about this year’s Indians, can the starters give them a chance to win on a night in, night out basis. That didn’t happen in Myers start, and it didn’t happen against New York.

Many fans and media members are concerned about Myers, who didn’t have a good spring and then pitched home run derby, Canadian style. But Myers has been better than Jimenez in the time period that has occurred since the latter was traded here in 2011.

Jimenez looked very good in his first start, but that’s exactly the thing that ticks people off most. In his second start, he was back to the Ubaldo we saw last season: unable to throw strikes consistently, his velocity down, and a lack of concentration that resulted in a stolen base by Chris Stewart, the Yankee catcher who had such a big jump he went in standing.

McAllister gave manager Terry Francona a good start, but he again gave up runs after his defense let him down, allowing two insurance runs in what was a 2-0 game after an error by 3B Mike Aviles. Francona said the big right-hander tries too hard to pick up his defense when miscues happen and that could be the cause of his problems allowing unearned runs.

Trevor Bauer had trouble locating his fastball in his start, walking seven in five innings, but he showed his stuff was good, allowing just three runs. If he can throw strikes with the heater, he could help before the year is out.

No overreactions here, just observations. However, nothing that happened in the first week should change any preconceived notions about the Cleveland Indians.

Sorry, Starting Pitching Ifs Spell 4th Place for Tribe

There is no question the Cleveland Indians are an improved baseball team in 2013.

There is no question the front office and ownership breathed new life into what has been a stagnant franchise over the last three or four years.

There is also no question that the American League is filled with good to very good teams, and that it looks like only the Twins and Astros have no realistic chance to contend for a playoff spot in 2013.

That’s why it is difficult to make the next statement. The Cleveland Indians will finish fourth once again this season.

It won’t be the same kind of fourth place team as last season, one in which the Tribe lost over 90 games.

The Indians will stay in contention most of the season and should finish over the .500 mark. They may finish 4^th and still be within 10 games of first place at the end of the season.

But as the team stands right now, they don’t seem to be better than the Tigers, Royals, and White Sox.

Why?

Starting pitching.

The Indians simply don’t have enough to win based on the guys who are opening the season.

Justin Masterson has a good arm, but tends to lose his release point and when that happens, we struggles to get it back. He is prone to big innings because of that trait. If he can throw strikes he can be a quality pitcher.

Still, he’s had three years as a starter in the majors and in only one of them has his ERA been under 4.00.

Ubaldo Jimenez has looked much better this spring than he did last year, and he is throwing strikes. However, his ERA since coming to the Tribe is over 5.00 and he’s made over 40 starts with Cleveland.

Brett Myers is a workman like guy who provides solid innings and lots of them. He’s not an ace of the staff guy though.

Zack McAllister showed promise after being called up in the middle of last season, but he doesn’t have a full year of major league experience, so it is tough to depend on him.

Scott Kazmir was pitching in an independent league last season, and although he has a great comeback story, you wouldn’t want to bet your house on him giving Francona 25 quality starts this season.

Last year, the Indians staff ERA was 4.78 while the league average was 4.08. That means new pitching coach Mickey Calloway needs to shave more than a half run per game to be just average.

The pitchers would have to do even better to rank in the top half of the league in this category.

The two hopes are Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer, who will be in Columbus’ rotation to start the year. Perhaps they can provide a boost should the rotation struggle.

Offensively, the Tribe lineup is much deeper replacing the Jack Hannahans and Casey Kotchmans of the world with players like Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, and Lonnie Chisenhall.

They also have alternatives if something doesn’t work out. For example, if Drew Stubbs hits like he did last year (.213 with 610 OPS), Francona can move Swisher back to RF, put Mark Reynolds at 1B, and use Mike Aviles and Jason Giambi at DH.

Last year’s squad had little power and little speed, meaning they needed three hits in an inning to score. In the off-season, GM Chris Antonetti added two players who hit more than 20 HRs last year (Swisher and Reynolds), and two more who stole 30 bases or more (Bourn and Stubbs).

Add in the continued development of Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley, and Chisenhall, and throw in the steady Asdrubal Cabrera, and this team should be able to put runs on the board.

However, it all comes down to stopping the other team from scoring and there are too many question marks in the rotation.

If Jimenez and Masterson can get their ERAs under 4.00, this team has a chance to make the post-season and possibly win the division.

This is a talented team and it will play exciting baseball. But right now, fourth place is where they will end up.

Tribe Hanging In After Another Benchmark

After last night’s game with the Detroit Tigers, the Cleveland Indians hit another benchmark on the 2012 season. They have played one-third of their scheduled games and sit with a 29-25 record.

That puts them on a pace for a record of 87-75 for the entire season, which could very well be good enough to win the AL Central Division.

It’s also time to look at the team and the current state of the ballclub.

While everyone came into the season claiming the pitching was solid, so far the results are just the opposite, ranking 12th in the AL in ERA.

The starting pitching in particular has been problematic, with only Derek Lowe (7-3, 3.06 ERA) providing consistent quality performances.

Justin Masterson (2-5, 5.09 ERA) has been up and down, and last night notwithstanding, Ubaldo Jimenez (6-4, 5.31 ERA) has been mostly disappointing.

Josh Tomlin (2-3, 5.32 ERA) has not pitched like he did early last night when he put up a string of quality starts. Really, prior to his last two starts, Jeanmar Gomez (3-4, 4.42 ERA) might have been the second best starter for the Tribe this season.

It was said during spring training and it is still true, Jimenez is the key to the success of the Indians, and right now he is joined by Masterson. If they cannot give Manny Acta good performances on the nights they start, it will be difficult for the Tribe to stay in the race.

The bullpen has been solid, but Acta seems comfortable using only lefty Nick Hagadone, and right-handers Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, and Chris Perez is games the Tribe is leading. That could create a tired bullpen going down the stretch.

Someone else needs to step up and give the team quality innings late in games. Acta seems to want veteran Jeremy Accardo to be that guy.

If the starting pitching can be more consistent and can get deeper into games, the bullpen will be more rested, and probably more effective.

That’s starts with Jimenez and Masterson.

Offensively, the Indians are right in the middle of the pack in runs scored, ranking 8th in the AL. This has been done despite holes in several positions, many of them spots traditionally known for offense.

Left field has been a mess with neither Shelley Duncan nor Johnny Damon doing much with the stick. Outside of a two-week span in May when he was respectable with the bat, Casey Kotchman has been a disaster at first base.

Yes, yes he has a good glove, but good teams need hitting at that position.

While Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kipnis have been consistent and productive at the plate, CF Michael Brantley has been a surprise, hitting .283 and has knocked in 25 runs for the year as well, even though he hasn’t homered.

He does have 19 extra base hits (16 doubles, 3 triples) though, and is even starting to steal bases effectively (9 of 13). If he starts drawing more walks, he can be a very good offensive player.

Shin-Soo Choo (.379 OBP) has been very good since moving into the leadoff spot, providing a solid top of the order with Cabrera and Kipnis.

Unfortunately, outside of Brantley, the rest of the batting order has struggled. Carlos Santana has just 5 HR and a slugging percentage of under .400. He needs to provide some pop.

Travis Hafner is hurt again, out until the All-Star break. Jack Hannahan hit well early, which likely wasn’t going to last, but he’s been hurt for basically the last month.

The hope is that 3B Lonnie Chisenhall can provide some power, and he’s hit 2 HR’s since being brought up a little over a week ago.

Matt LaPorta was brought back up to help at first and in left, and probably could be an upgrade over the players in those spots now, but he’s not going to be a middle of the order presence.

If the Tribe is going to contend, they need Santana and Chisenhall to provide some power or GM Chris Antonetti will need to make a deal.

Once again, a third of the season has been played and the Indians are still in contention. If the starting pitching can step up, the Tribe can stay in the race into September.

Tribe Pitchers are Walking Too

One of the early season surprises for the Cleveland Indians is their propensity for taking walks.

In fact, Tribe hitters have taken 21 more walks than any other team in the American League, a key reason they are 3rd in the league in on base percentage, despite ranking 9th in batting average.

The base on balls has definitely been a key component of their offense so far in 2012.

Unfortunately, it has worked both way for the Indians, as their pitching staff has allowed the second most free passes in the AL.

What makes it worse is that Cleveland pitchers also rank 12th in the junior circuit in striking out hitters, which gives them the worst strikeout to walk ratio in the league.

And the main culprits in dishing out bases on balls are the starting pitchers. The relievers are generally doing a good job.

The most obvious bad thing about the walks is that it puts a runner on base. Of course, there are times that it is a strategic move, but mostly it allows a hitter to reach base without having to swing the bat.

The hidden problem with the walks is that it requires hurlers to throw more pitches, which runs up pitch counts, and doesn’t allow them to get deeper into games.

This puts more of a burden on the bullpen, which has thrown the 4th most innings in the league. The Tribe relief corps has been very good, perhaps even the strength of the team, but history tells us than putting a burden on relievers early in the year sometimes comes back to bite a team in the behind.

Check out the strikeout to walk ratio of the Cleveland starters:

Justin Masterson 29K’s/25 BBs
Ubaldo Jimenez    20K’s/25 BBs
Derek Lowe             10K’s/12 BBs
Josh Tomlin            27K’s/ 7 BBs
Jeanmar Gomez     15K’s/ 4 BBs

As you can see, it is the veteran pitchers who right now are having problems finding the strike zone.

The only bullpen pitcher having issues with walking hitters is the much maligned Dan Wheeler, who has walked five against just two strikeouts.

Granted, the Indians don’t have a lot of strikeout pitchers in the starting rotation. Masterson and Lowe are sinkerballers, and Tomlin usually gets the job done by getting ahead in the count and expanding the strike zone.

He doesn’t have typical swing and miss stuff despite ranking second among the starters in strikeouts.

Jimenez is most definitely a power pitcher, and Gomez’ new found slider is developing into a swing and miss offering.

Acta and pitching coach Scott Radinsky both stress the importance in getting ahead in the count. Other baseball experts will tell you the best pitch in the game is strike one. Right now, some of the Tribe starters are having a problem throwing that pitch.

There is no doubt that Acta is concerned about the wear and tear on his bullpen. He kept Chris Perez and Vinnie Pestano out of Monday’s doubleheader, and he said Pestano wasn’t available last night.

Those two and sidearmer Joe Smith have been in too large of a percentage of the Indians’ games.

A lot of that is because the Tribe plays a lot of close games, and those three are the skipper’s most reliable guys, although rookie Nick Hagadone is starting to earn Acta’s trust.

However, any success the Indians will have this season is predicated on the starters giving the team innings, and they can stay in games longer if they throw strikes.

As much as taking walks helps the Cleveland Indians, giving up too many has to be a concern.