Thursday, April 30, 2009

Heartaches, Headaches, and Head Scratchers

At least the Indians finally hit a triple! The Tribe's record now stands at a disappointing 8-14 after dropping 2 of three to the Boston Red Sox when they had a legitimate shot at winning all three. The team collectively went 2-32 with runners in scoring position, which is down right embarrassing. Every aspect of this team needs to be dissected and critiqued heavily. Here are some rants without any raves.

  • Peralta is lost, needs to be sat down for a few games to figure some things out.
  • Why a team carrying 14 pitchers trots out a reliever who is prone to the gopher ball (Lewis) for his third consecutive inning is a mystery. Why not throw the guy (Rundles) who gets lefties out against the lefty (Van Every)?
  • The Indians blew a golden opportunity for a win when the Red Sox decided to sit Youklis, Drew and Lugo on the bench in favor of Bailey, Van Every, and Green. I don't care that Van Every hit the winning homerun, they are all jobbers.
  • Shapiro better find 7 pitchers to throw out of the bullpen that he believes in because a major league team can not have a bench of 2 or 3 guys when the starting 9 is incredibly slow and not versatile.
  • Lee and Carmona pitched great and have nothing to show for it.
  • Reyes' fastball topping out at 85 MPH was not a good sign.
  • Putting a closer in a tie ball game when he had pitched the night before makes no sense to me. I can understand if Wood hadn't thrown in awhile but it works like 50% of the time. I understood Wood throwing Tuesday as there really wasn't anyone left.
  • Moves I would make tomorrow. Cut Kobayashi, Demote Graffanino, and Rundles, and call up LaPorta, Valbuena, and Barfield. Make Shoppach your backup catcher again, sit Peralta down a few days, and stick LaPorta at DH with an occasional spot start in left. What is worth more, LaPorta losing a year of arbitration or your team losing an entire season? Barfield, Crowe, Shoppach, and Peralta make up your bench for the time being. Send Barfield down when Carroll comes back. I don't even want to get started on Dellucci.
  • If and when Pavano and Reyes keep sucking, ship the worse one out and call up Rondon from Akron. Would bring excitement and a guy who throws heat.
  • I need not watch Friday's game or my blood pressure will become a health problem.
  • I have a horrible feeling that the same old moves will happen tomorrow (Dellucci up).
  • When is the point in the season when the team decides the core of this team just is not working together as a cohesive unit?
  • What will be the club's excuse for their bad start this year? Hafner on the DL? The WBC? The Swine Flu?
  • Should I feel optimistic that they are still only 3.5 games back?
The Tribe is thankfully off Thursday, but moves the train wreck on up to Detroit where Carl Pavano (0-3 9.50 ERA) takes on Armando Gallaraga (3-0 1.85 ERA). Who you got? Are you still in the Tribe?

No comments: