Monday, May 25, 2009

Vic-tastic Victory, Where to go from Here?

The last six days have seen the Tribe go 4-2, lose two pitchers, and score 7 runs in the ninth to win. I honestly can say I turned the game off tonight in order to flip between the Western Conference Finals, Deadliest Catch, and Jon & Kate Plus 8 (I know, just awful) because the last I saw of the Indians they were losing 10-3 as Matt LaPorta grounded into a run scoring double play. It must have been exciting (and gratifying for the Indians team leader Victor Martinez to get the 2 out 2 run hit), and I will catch the replay tomorrow, but I am going to stop short as this is what the team needs to turn this thing around. I have done that way too many times. If for some reason they actually get to .500, then we can discuss momentum shifting games. For tonight, just enjoy, if you stuck with it, a great come from behind win.
As for the current pitching staff, this is how it looks...

Rotation

Cliff Lee
Fausto Carmona
Carl Pavano
?
?

With Anthony Reyes pretty much done for the year and Aaron Laffey on the shelf for 4-6 weeks (Rundles and Sowers were called back up), the starting staff is in a current state of flux. Best buds Cliff and Carl have been solid, but Carmona has been really bad. Whether the organization needs to go back to the drawing board with his delivery or something, he is way too wild and is effectively killing the bullpen even more than they are killing themselves. David Huff may or may not get one of the starts this week as the Tribe has two "undecideds" pitching Wednesday and Thursday. With Jeremy Sowers throwing admirably tonight, he has removed himself from consideration. Hopefully Huff will get a last shot at one, with the outside shot of one Hector Rondon making a spot start for his major league debut. Unfortunately, it will probably be Kirk Saarloos or Tomo Ohka, a scary, scary thought. As for the bullpen...


Luis Vizcaino
Greg Acquino
Matt Herges
Jensen Lewis
Rich Rundles
Rafael Betancourt
Kerry Wood

That just felt awful to type. Herges has been actually ok, but who would have thought he even had a shot to pitch for this team, especially in May. This squad has been better of late, but they collectively are still a giant question mark.

As for the position players, Ryan Garko proved tonight that he needs more PT, and I sure would like to see Matt LaPorta more than 3 times a week. Let's see some more "Mo" out of the Tribe (and the Cavs).

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