There is not much to say about the punchless Indians. Collectively they have been unable to hit for most of the season, sans a few 8 to 12 run one game outbursts. The starting pitching has been outstanding over the past three weeks, yet the team has a 14-17 record. I don't know if fans should feel relieved that the Tribe is only 2 1/2 games behind front running Minnesota or not. It seems to have only masked the glaring weaknesses the club has shown, as in no consistent hitting. Most of the players have the batting approach to work the counts deep. Unfortunately too many times we have seen this team fall behind 0-2 and either take called strike threes or swing at balls in the dirt. This collective approach looks to be failing, as the batters are mostly guessing wrong instead of letting their instincts take over. The Indians have a track record of succeeding on this level, so trends would say they are due.
Generally I believe Steve Phillips is a moron, but today on Baseball Tonight I believe he accurately broke down Travis Hafner's hitting woes. ESPN split screened his 2006 batting stance and his 2008 stance. Back when he was mashing, his hands were higher, he was less crouched, and he kept his body back while he swung. Now he is severely crouched and his body is rotating severely through the zone before his hands. What does this all mean? Well when a crappy former GM who was ran out of New York can figure out why the Indians DH can't hit his way out of wet paper bag, why are we paying our hitting coach? Should Travis take a few games off, stand in front of a mirror, flip on a dvd of 2006 and see how he can get his stance back? I am not a hitting coach but this analysis by Phillips seems pretty dead on. Hopefully Hafner was tuning in instead of watching the WWE.
Back to the series, the Kansas City Royals, with their 12th ranked pitching staff in the American League just basically blanked the Tribe, if not for a Sizemore homerun and a wild pitch. Future Hall of Famer Jean Luke Hochevar baffled the Indians hitters, while Gritty Gilbert Meche left broken bats all over the field. At some point the position players will figure it out, but my prognostication of a super May did not begin so well. Thankfully Friday's game was rained out to spare us all the embarrassment of a possible three game sweep of the hapless Royals. With the Yankees on the horizon, (Pettitte, Wang, and Mussina) this floundering club will be put to the test.
Here were some of the Highlights:
Aaron Laffey: 7 IP, 4 hits, 5 K's, 0 earned runs. Has pitched back to back great games with an 0-2 record to show for it. Got better run support in Buffalo. He was the only highlight.
Areas of Concern:
The whole lineup, the bullpen, the defense, pretty much everything besides the starting pitching. They just look bad right now.
The Indians make there final trip ever to the dump they call Yankee Stadium Tuesday. Fausto Carmona takes on "The Schnoz" Andy Pettitte. At least the Cavs are in the second round.
Also, Ben Francisco was pulled from the Bisons lineup earlier today and told a Buffalo reporter that he would be returning to the Tribe for the upcoming three game series in New York. As of this post, no news has yet to come out who will be sent down, disabled listed, or otherwise. I imagine they will send down Tom Mastny as he has options. Other options is to designate Andy Marte for assignment, either he would be claimed by another team or he will clear waivers and go back to Buffalo. Or maybe they just sell Jason Michaels to Japan for some Wii's. Whatever the case, let's hope Francisco gets to play, as any spark in this lineup would be greatly appreciated.
No comments:
Post a Comment