Thursday, May 8, 2008

Indians Yank Away Season Series: Michaels traded to Pirates

Winning each series has been a part of the Indians mantra for the past few years. The Indians did just that, taking two out of three from the Bronx Bombers. Neither team was at full strength health-wise, but both displayed some glaring weaknesses. The Yankees' starting pitching did the its job keeping their club in each ballgame, but they do not possess one clear cut number 1 starter. Also, not having A-Rod or Posada makes their lineup less menacing. The Tribe continued to struggle with the bats, Cliff Lee pitched another gem, and the starting nine changes by the day.
Amazingly, the team is only 1 1/2 games out of first place, as no team seems to be able to get on a roll. Victor Martinez has been out the past two games with a stiff neck, which will not help the run production. Travis Hafner has continued his downward spiral and looks completely clueless at the plate. No one is more upset with his lack of production than Hafner, so hopefully some of these mental health days will benefit his psyche.
Here were some of the Highlights:

Cliff Lee: 7 IP, 6 hits, 7 K's, 0 earned runs. Simply put, has been the MVP of this team so far this year and the best pitcher in the American League. Won all 6 of his starts.

Rafael Betancourt: 2 saves. I guess we have a closer again. Has not blown a save yet when the Indians have been leading in the 9th. We will see if he can continue rolling.

Rafeal Perez: 3 shutout innings, 4 K's. Raffy left is settling in as the new go to guy in the 8th. His consistency is paramount to the club, as the bullpen is constantly pitching in close games.

David Dellucci: 2-9, 4RBI, 1 game winning 3-run homer. Dellucci provided the biggest hit of the year so far as he jacked a dinger with 2 outs in the 8th off of chubby Joba Chamberlain. DD keeps raking, but is not a 3 hole hitter.

Ben Francisco: 4-11, double. The savior arrives! The team is 6-1 with him on the roster. Should help out the offense a little, definitely an upgrade.

Areas of Concern:

Paul Byrd: 6 1/3 innings, 8 hits, 0 K's, 5 earned runs. Paul's neck may hurt more than Victor's tonight as he watched the Yankees deposit ball after ball into the rightfield stands.

Travis Hafner: His at bat Wednesday with the bases loaded pretty muched summed up most of his season so far. Really need the big guy.
Ryan Garko: 1-8. Another batter who needs to dial it up a notch. Run production has been non existent for about three weeks now.

2nd Base: Although Jamey Carroll is a gamer, the team needs Asdrubal to become consistent or he will be back in Buffalo. Cabrera has not had a hit for a week.

Joba Chamberlain: His mound antics are ridiculous. He pumped his fist twice after striking out Dellucci Thursday, like he won the World Series. It is called class fat boy, learn some from your closer.

Two former Cy Young award winners square off in the upcoming four game series with the Toronto Blue Jays. CC Sabathia looks for his second win against Roy Halladay Friday.

Also, Jason Michaels and cash were traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named. Good luck to the mullet, as he is probably a better National League player anyways.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Dellucci Delivers


While most of Cleveland was watching LeBron James brick another shot, the Cleveland Indians delivered a compelling victory. With a lineup including Jamey Carroll, Andy Marte, Kelly Shoppach and recently recalled Ben Francisco, most would assume this game was a throw away. The Tribe only mustered up 6 hits and scored all of their runs compliments of the long ball. Fausto Carmona continued to struggle with his control walking five, but was able to go five innings while only giving up 3 runs. David Dellucci hit a clutch 3 run pinch hit homerun in the 8th, giving the Indians a charge they desperately needed. The real key to the victory was the bullpen, as Rafael Perez, Jensen Lewis, and Rafael Betancourt all pitched outstanding in their roles. If the relief corp can settle into their roles respectively, this team will win. Victor Martinez did not play due to a stiff neck and is listed day to day. The Indians will need his bat back in the lineup soon if they want to rattle off any type of winning streak. Hopefully Dellucci's homer will wake up this lineup from their extended slumber

Monday, May 5, 2008

Michaels gone, Francisco Up


As speculated yesterday, Jason Michaels will be designated for assignment tomorrow and Ben Francisco will be recalled. General Manager Mark Shapiro hopes this move will help spark the offense, but by no means he believes this will cure their hitting problems. Tribe Times has been rough on J-Mike this year, so I guess we will need to find a new whipping boy. It seems that management is realizing that a youth movement is necessary. Francisco provides more pop in his bat and is able to hit against righties and lefties. Although this move should have probably been made at the beginning of spring training, Ben should be here now for good.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Royal Beatdown, Francisco to the Rescue


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.