Tribe Loses Game, Shortstop

The Indians lost more than a game Tuesday, they lost their second most consistent everyday player when Asdrubal Cabrera attempted to break up a double play and ended up either separating or extremely bruising his left shoulder. I imagine Cliff Lee will throw his arm out and Victor will break his other knee cap sometime soon (and LeBron will anounces he is signing with some European team next season). Who really knows who the Tribe's leadoff hitter will be now. Ben Francisco? Jamey Carroll? Yikes is right. A season that most Cleveland fans thought was one of promise has turned into an utter disaster and they have only played 53 games. If Asdrubal is placed on the DL, I imagine Josh Barfield, Tony Graffanino, Matt LaPorta and possibly even Andy Marte (double Yikes) are all candidates to be recalled. J-Barf and LaPorta are probably the choices since they are on the 40 man roster.

The worst part of the injury is that it means we will be seeing Jhonny Peralta returning to shortstop. Jhonny was playing pretty well at third and moving back to the middle of the diamond will not help out the team fielding or the pitchers as Cabrera was vastly superior. This also means Mark DeRosa will be back at third base more regularly, a position he did not fare very well at before the changes were made (6 errors). This new injury should not prevent the Tribe from possibly trading DeRosa. Get the NL teams to bid against each other and take the best deal so he can play for his new NL club for 4 months instead of just 2 if a deal was made at the deadline. This team is pretty much dead, so get what you can for him and let Carroll, Valbuena, and even Gimenez fill in at the hot corner.

As for the game Tuesday, Joe Mauer keeps on killing AL pitching raising his batting average to .433 by going 3-3 with a homerun and 3 RBI. He is one of the best in the league and I imagine Twins fans will not enjoy seeing him in a Yankee uniform in 2011. Victor Martinez homered and was robbed of another by a great play by Carlos Gomez. David Huff pitched ok, but fell behind to many hitters after the 3rd inning. The Tribe had their chances to come back with runners on, but a lineup that sports Valbuena(who over swings), Crowe (who looks completely over matched), and Shoppach(who strikes out a ton but is sporting a tremendous beard) as your 7-9 tends to not strike much fear in the hearts of the opposition.

The Indians look to grind it out and get after it Wednesday as Cliff Lee takes on some guy named Anthony Swarzak. Still only 8 games back!!! (Triple Yikes!!!)

Clippers Clips: "Hypnotized"

There are two things that Columbus Clippers starting shortstop can claim that no other person on the team can....a batting average below .200 and the fact that he is the only white guy on the team, scratch that, in the world that comes up to the plate with rap music. That's right, Andy Cannizaro, the 5'10 170lb number 9 hitter who looks like a mix breed between the bitter beer guy and an umpa lumpa comes to the plate each time when he is up to none other than NOTORIOUS B.I.G's "Hypnotize" That being said, the Clippers took a little bit of what seems like will be A-Can's only clam to fame will ever be, and used it to whoop up on Norfolk on Monday night beating them 16-3. I was truly HYPNOTIZED after this one folks. After getting crushed the last three nights by the Tides, the Clippers took one out on starting pitcher Radhames Liz. Although the right hander threw some gas topping out in the high 90's. As they say.... "the faster it comes in the faster it goes out!" Just ask Matt Laporta who went 3 for 4 hitting a blast off Liz in the 2nd inning. Also looking good tonight were Andy Marte going 3 for 5 and Jordan Brown going 2 for 3. As a matter of fact the Clips did so well tonight that Cannizaro even went 2 for 5, but don't worry his average is still under .200, finishing the evening at .197. Maybe he will drink a few Keystone Lights tonight and erase that face

Notables in this game were Travis Hafner and pitcher Joe Smith. Hafner who went 1 for 4 had two things going for him. Number one he looked really good in his uniform tonight, and number two he swung the bat with some authority. I was really impressed with his warm up swings in the on deck circle. In one of his warm up swings he took it deep, it look to me like it would have been a Home Run (more importantly he seemed not to strain or pull anything). Anyhow, I am sure he will be back up to Cleveland any day now. Joe Smith also made his first appearance in his rehab assignment. Although he did not look as good as Hafner in his uniform (not as muscley), he looked pretty good having only faced 4 batters and giving up one hit. The MPH sign on the scoreboard said he maxed out at 93mph however from my vantage point it looked closer to 94.

Jack Cassel started for the Clippers throwing 5 shutout innings before giving up 2 runs in the 6th and 1 more in the 7th. As mentioned earlier, Joe Smith threw to four batters in the 8th and then Blaine Neal came in for the save in the ninth, shutting the door the only way he knows how. All in all, the Clips were running on all cylinders tonight. The win brings Columbus back to .500 with a 26-26 record which oddly enough keeps them in first place of the God awful International West Division. Let's tip our cap and chug another Stone for ole' Cannizaro, every AAA club needs a guy like him!

Marte Gone, Tribe trades for Reliever

With all of the trade talk involving another Cleveland team today, it was the Indians who pulled the trigger on a deal. The Indians obtained 30 year old right handed reliever Juan Salas from the Tampa Bay Rays. Salas is pretty much a career minor leaguer, so the Indians must see something in this guy to add him to 40 man roster. The move means the end to third baseman of the future Andy Marte. Marte compiled a career batting average of .211 with 9 HRs and 52 RBI in 513 at bats. Hopefully Andy will be claimed by another franchise because I can't imagine the Tribe even sending him to Triple A at this point with Wes Hodges slotted for Columbus.

Giant Misses

6 runs in 3 games = 1 win. The lineup the Indians have been trotting out has been just plain terrible. I understand not having Martinez and Hafner hurt, but I never realized how much since watching the past 12 or so games. Besides Sizemore (who has had a down year also), the lineup has a severe lack of power. Batting Garko and Peralta in the four hole is unfortunately their only option, which is not a good one. Also, when Sowers and Byrd have been on the mound lately, it has resulted in a loss. They both pitched admirably after giving up runs in the first in their respective last starts, but they are no Fausto Carmona or Jake Westbrook. This team is unfortunately a bad one, with half of the season to go. Crazier things have happened (2007 Rockies), but I just can't see this team putting together any kind of winning streak. The hitting is weak, the bullpen is bad, and two of the starting pitchers are inconsistent. When you mix that all together, you have a team that is just not very good. The Reds come to town this weekend, another under .500 team the Indians will probably lose to.

The remaining 2008 season will be probably rough to watch. Trading CC seems to be the only interesting facet left, and that may or may not happen. The Indians may feel 2 1st round picks is a better option than any of the proposed packages they may receive. If that is the case, at least we will get to watch a great pitcher throw in an Tribe uniform for August and September. This is how I would manage the rest of the summer months. I am tired of seeing David Dellucci strike out so they just need to Trot Nixon him and glue him to the bench. Andy Marte has been ruined by the Indians, so might as well throw him out a 3rd for a few weeks to see if he can get that elusive first RBI. Stick Casey Blake at first base, he is more productive than Ryan (right knee in the dirt) Garko. Platoon Shin Soo Choo between DH and right field, and let Sal Fasano grow out his mustache. Ship Edward Mujica out of here because he is terrible and bring up Jeff Stevens. Finally I would get rid of Paulie Byrd (even though I said earlier we should keep him) and bring up David Huff to see what we got. The Indians literally now have nothing to lose, they have lost enough.

Tribe Wins Series, Dodge Beanballs

The Indians finally won a 3 game series, beating the Minnesota Twins yesterday 12-2. It was their first since mid-May. Two outstanding pitching performances led to victories, along with an offensive explosion Thursday. Manager Eric Wedge showed some vigor as he exchanged multiple profanities with Twins manager Ron Gardenhire after Andy Marte was hit with a pitch, apparently in retaliation of Alexi Casilla being plunked the inning earlier, which was in retaliation of Jamey Carroll being plunked even earler. The next series with Minnesota will be more interesting than usual. With the rash of injuries plaguing the team, maybe they can come together and win a few. The White Sox were swept by the Tigers, so it shows you that this season is long from over. If I were to tell you names like Haad, Tyner, Elarton, Velandia, Mujica, Snyder, Aubrey, and Bauer would all be on this team before July, you would have probably laughed or punched me in the face. Although the batting order looks downright bleak at the moment, stranger things have happened. You figure some of the hitters are due. If the bullpen can straighten themselves out (they are due too), the Tribe could be .500 before the All-Star break! Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Here were some of the Highlights:

CC Sabathia: 9 IP, 5 Hits, 0 earned runs, 5 K's. Who said we should trade CC? Continues to prove why he is on of the top pitchers in baseball. Need his consistency more than ever now with Westbrook and Carmona on the shelf

Grady Sizemore: 5-14, 2 HR's, 4 RBI. He is now the greatest threat in the Indians lineup. Can the team afford to keep in the leadoff spot? Time will tell.

Jamey Carroll: 8-9, 2 RBI. Continues to slap base hits around the yard, raised his batting average like 50 points in 2 days.

Areas of Concern:

Paul Byrd: 3 IP, 6 Hits, 5 earned runs, 0 k's. He got absolutely shelled. I sat behind home plate for his last start and the ball Jason Kubel hit for homerun was the loudest crack I have ever heard. It was like a firework going off. Paulie has been pitching good one game, bad the next for a lot of 2008.

Joe Borowski: 1 IP, 2 earned runs. He should really only pitch in save situations, this tends to happen often when Wedge brings him out when the team is losing.

Victor Martinez: Apparently Victor had a bum elbow to go along with his bum hamstring. Why the Indians insist to keep these things quiet is beyond me. If he is hurt, put him on the DL. He may have overcompensated for his early hamstring injury and put too much pressure on his elbows/arms when swinging. I understand he is a "gamer" but we have a capable backup (Shoppach). 80% of Victor as we apparently were watching for most of 2008 is not as good as 100% healthy Victor. Hopefully he will heal and be back sometime in August.

Interleague play starts up again as the San Diego Padres come to town for a three game series. Jody Gerut makes his triumphant return to the NorthCoast, so buy your tickets today!

J-Barf all smiles while slumping Drubal sent down.

Josh Barfield was probably the happiest man in the Tribe dugout today as he finally is back with the big club after a little over two months in Triple A Buffalo. He didn't really improve on his problem areas (too many K's, not many walks) but Asdrubal Cabrera has been downright inept at the plate. Wedge loved having him on the roster with due to his superior glove, but his at bats were not improving. Hopefully Cabrera will be back soon as currently the only back-up for Peralta at shortstop is Jamey Carroll and that is not a good sign. With Andy Marte entrenched on the bench, we will see if J-Barf can finally develop into the talent the Indians brass projected him to be.

"It is What it Is"

Manager Eric Wedge is the king of cliches. Grinding, battling, taking one day at a time, tomorrow is another day, and we're close, are all phrases used by the skipper. Well Wedge decided against using any of these today as he pretty much layed into Rafael Betancourt after he blew yet another game for the Tribe today. Betancourt was abused by his fastball staying up in the zone and his inability to pitch inside.

This is out of the ordinary for Wedge, as he usually spits out hyperbole. Maybe the manager shouldn't have pulled out Rafael Perez when he put two runners on in an obvious sacrifice situation? The first runner got on due to a Mandy Marte error, and the second runner got a bloop broken bat hit. With no outs and the White Sox trailing by two, you would figure Ozzie Guillen would have Orlando Cabrera bunt (he did). Then with one out and runners on second and third, lefty A J Pierzynski was due up. Why not keep the lefty on lefty matchup prevail and force the Sox to make a move? Well Betancourt proceeded to give up back to back doubles and the game was over right there.

Why bring this up? Wedge is not the reason this team can't hit or pitch out of the bullpen. He is becoming frustrated and feeling a bit helpless. That is not a good sign for Tribe fans when the usually stoic Wedge is fuming publicly. I unfortunately do not have the answer to the Indians problems, but as stated earlier I believe a deal for a polished hitter would at least shake things up.

Here were some of the Highlights:

Aaron Laffey: 6 IP, 7 hits, 1 earned run. Pitched out of trouble a few times, continues to show grittiness and calmness on the mound. Should not even be considered in any trades as he looks to be a staple in the rotation for years to come, especially with the injury to Adam Miller (my friend Ryan says he told us so).

Jhonny Peralta: 4-13, 2 Homeruns. At least he drove in a runner than himself today. Still sucks at shortstop, but hit the ball hard Wednesday. Hopefully his flailing away at third strike curveballs in the dirt are over.

Tuesday's Game: They won a game, which was a nice change of pace.

Areas of Concern:

Grady Sizemore: 2-13. Regressed a bit from a solid weekend. If this team can ever find a leadoff hitter, he needs to be batting 3rd to alleviate the pressures of getting on base.

Rafael Betancourt: Blew the game Wednesday, giving up back to back doubles. His control has been off and on. Need him to staighten himself out before the season is lost.

Ben Francisco: 2-13. Seems to have caught "the sickness" from the rest of the lineup. It is a sad state of affairs when a guy who was not good enough to start the season on the 25 man roster is now our 3 hitter. He may be pressing. Also his rightfield defense has been shaky at best.

An 11 game homestretch begins Friday in Kansas City as Cliff Lee takes on Gil Meche. There are still 109 games left, so I guess anything can happen.

Breslow Designated for Assignment, JoeBo Back

Anthony Castrovince of Indians.com is reporting that Craig Breslow will be DFA'd tomorrow in order to add Joe Borowski back to the big club. Breslow had a 3.24 in 8 1/3 innings of work. Craig, we hardly knew you since Wedge would pitch you every ten games. Andy Marte lives to sit on the bench another day.

What a Stretch!

To say that the Indians have been getting good starting pitching is an understatement, as they took 3 straight from Oakland. For a starting staff to yield 1 earned run over the past 7 games is down right mind-boggling. The bats won't need to come out of their coma if this keeps up. The Tribe, with winning 8 of their last 10, has vaulted into sole possession of first place in the AL Central. The offense has had a lack of forming any type of consistency and Rafael Betancourt has looked shaky at best, but who really cares when your pitchers are throwing shutouts. With the Tigers struggling mightily and the White Sox and Twins hovering around mediocrity, the Indians may be able to put some games between them and the rest of the division. Over the next 19 games, they face the Rangers 7 times, the White Sox 6, and the Royals and Reds 3 times each. Look for this team to continue it's roll as the weather warms up. Sweeping the Athletics was a huge step in this team putting their bad start behind them.

Here were some of the Highlights:

Starting Pitchers (Byrd, Sabathia, and Laffey): 23 1/3 IP, 15 hits, 0 Earned Runs, 3 walks, 24 K's. What can you say? They starting staff has been unbelievable and the best in baseball. If they continue to pitch anywhere close to this good, 2008 will be another season to remember.

Masa Kobayashi: 2 IP, 1 hit, 3 K's, 0 earned runs, 2 saves. Shows emotion and excitement everytime out. I have a feeling he will be our future closer sooner than later.

Ben Francisco: 4-7, 4 runs, 1 RBI. Ben has been playing great defense and mashing the ball consistently as well. Frankie G will be loosing time if B-Franc keeps it up.

Ryan Garko: 3-11, 2 HR, 5 RBI. Drove in 5 of the 10 runs scored in the series. Hope he has ended his batting funk finally.

Areas of Concern:

Rafael Betancourt: Another rough outing for Raffy, loaded the bases in the 9th of Thursday's game. May have pitched himself out of the 9th inning entirely.

Franklin Gutierrez: 0-8 4 K's. Does not like the curve ball much. Needs to get it going or will be a defensive replacement rather than a regular starter.

Casey Blake: 0-4. Casey likes to only hit when runners are in scoring position.

Andy Marte: 1-4. Picked off of first, I know the front office does not want to cut him due to depth reasons, but he really has no future on this team.

The Indians invade Cincinnati this weekend for a 3 game series. Jeremy Sowers takes on Johnny Cueto. Look for Pronk to play probably one game in the field, and for a lot of pinch hitting.

Also, for anyone thinking that the Indians are going to trade Peralta and Laffey to the Colorado Rockies for Garrett Atkins, you are a moron. TTO contributor Frisky told me he heard this rumor on the Munch show on WKNR Wednesday. Besides Greg Brinda, the whole station could care less about Indians baseball until September so that tells you a bit about their quality of sportscasting. I can't imagine the Tribe dealing Laffey with the impending free agency of CC and Byrd. Starting Pitching is too valuable to deal a guy you can control for the next 5 years. If anyone will be traded, I would assume it would be Sowers, but that may be a stretch as well. The Tribe does need a bat, but I believe they would trade lower level starters (Lofgren, Huff) before dealing Triple A depth. It is a long season and you never know when a starter may get hurt. I am now off the soap box.

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

Westbrook Placed on DL, Francisco called up

In a somewhat surprising move, Jake Westbrook has been placed on the 15 day DL with a left intercostal strain. The Indians have not said yet when the injury occurred. Jake has been pitching great this season, so this adds to the quickly mounting issues for the Tribe. Ben Francisco will probably play the next four games as a sort of audition before the Indians need a starting pitcher for Saturday. Paul Byrd will now throw Friday, and I imagine Aaron Laffey will fill in Saturday. The developing situation will concern how well Francisco plays. If he is knocking the cover off of the ball, a move with Andy Marte or possibly Jason Michaels will be on the horizon.

Tribe Bats Go Back to Sleep

Travis Hafner was definitely not toasting his Budweiser to these last two games. Five runs in three games? That is all the Twins and Indians could muster over a three game series. The Twinkies took two of these pitching masterpieces, dropping the Tribe down to a 7-12 record. I understand teams go into hitting funks but this is borderline ridiculous. Pitching was finally not the issue in any game. This team looks flat and unable to string any momentum from game to game. The Cleveland media has said numerous times that GM Mark Shapiro will not make any drastic changes until the 40 game mark. If the offense continues to sputter, a change in the outfield corner slots or at second or third will become necessary. If I had an answer to this teams terrible play, I sure would not be blogging.

Here were some of the few highlights:

Cliff Lee: 8 innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 8 K's, 0 earned runs. Pitched a gem, leading the AL with a 0.40 era, Has started almost half of the Indians wins. They are 4-12 when he does not pitch

Paul Byrd: 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 earned run. Byrd has seemed to put his early season struggles behind him, producing back to back solid starts. The lack of run support hopefully will not get to him.

Victor Martinez: 4-12 1 RBI. Is consistently making contact, pounding out hits, still is slower than usual on the basepaths. Needs more chances with RISP.

Casey Blake: (Friday's Game) 2-4, HR, 3 RBI's. Provided the offense in the only win of the series. Also hit the lone homerun. Looked bad at the plate Saturday and Sunday, but so did the whole team.

Areas of Concern:

Eric Wedge: Why on earth did he pitch to Justin Morneau in the tenth? He is the best player, most legitimate RBI threat and they already dodged fate by getting him out in the 8th. Also leaving Rafael Perez in was a stretch, let's see what these other guys in the pen are made of. Andy Marte probably will be gone by May, but why not let him play in a few games? It is not like he could do any worse than a lineup that scored 1 run in 19 innings.

Grady Sizemore: 2-13, 0 walks. As a leadoff hitter he has to get on base more. Just struggling along like the rest of the team.

David Dellucci's Defense: The guy may be able to climb a wall, but he is not good in left. He has made two diving catches but that is more due to his lack of range. Dellucci's arm is like spaghetti, and he covers zero ground.

Travis Hafner: 1-8, one sore shoulder. Pronk says he is OK but his swings and approach look more like 2007, which will severely damage the lineup.

Jhonny Peralta: 1-7. The hitting rollercoaster that is Jhonny's 2008 rumbles on. Looking forward to some consistancy.

The Indians get a much needed day off tomorrow as they travel to Kansas City to take on the Royals. CC Sabathia takes on Gil Meche. Hopefully the Tribe can win their first series since April 3rd.

Mediocre Monday

Losing the last three series's has been frustrating. The Cleveland Indians have been struggling since game three, not doing anything particularly well. It took Cliff "the stopper" Lee to end a second consecutive 3 game losing streak. Yesterday's game was the first since the second game of the season that the Tribe actually had a lead in the early innings. Stringing a few wins in a row at home would go a long way in providing momentum to a lackluster ballclub. The good news is at least they aren't playing as bad as the Tigers.

Here were some of the highlights:

Cliff Lee: 8 innings, 1 earned run, 2 hits, 8K's. Clifford pounded the strike zone consistently, broke lots of bats, came up huge again when the Tribe needed him. Had No-hitter type stuff.

Ryan Garko: 4-10 2RBI's, 2BB's. Has been on base every game this season, consistently produced solid numbers, has a .325 batting average.

Grady Sizemore: 4-12 4RBI's. 2 hits with runners in scoring position yesterday, made an unbelievable catch on Friday. Is the catalyst in the Indians order.

Jamey Carroll: 1-1 2BB's 1HBP, 3 runs scored. Played a great game, plays solid defense, adds a spark. Huge upgrade over Mike Rouse.

David Dellucci: 3-9, 2 runs, 4 RBI's. Seems to have a solid stroke going. I imagine he will be taking time away from this guy.

Areas of Concern:

CC Sabathia: 3 1/3 innings, 12 hits, 2 BB's 9 earned runs. Pitched really bad, didn't go to his fastball when he needed it, too many 2 strike change-ups. The talk of him worrying about his contract is absurd. Even if CC pitched terribly this year someone will give him a huge contract due to him being young, left-handed, and a Cy Young under his large belt. CC just needs to start blowing people away again or the Tribe will be in trouble.

Fausto Carmona: 3 1/3 innings, 2 hits. 3 earned runs, 8 WALKS. Fausto may have been overthrowing a bit, trying to prove his new contract. It is not like the A's put the ball in play much. Carmona may struggle more against patient hitting teams like the A's and Red Sox.

Casey Blake: 0-8. batting .143 on the season. Is just not looking good at all at the plate or in the field.

Victor Martinez: 1-11. Tough series for Victor, may still be experiencing tightness due to the cold weather.

Andy Marte: 0-2. He just is not very good. Looked clueless striking out with the bases loaded.

The Indians try to get a 2 game winning streak going tonight against the Red Sox. Jon Lester takes on Jake Westbrook.

Tribe Barely Avoids Sweep

Pitching saved the Cleveland Indians from being swept this past weekend, and this is how Casey Blake celebrated today's 2-1 win. The Tribe batted a crisp .204 for the series, played spotty defense, and really only pitched well in one game. Teams go through hitting slumps from time to time as the Indians did in 2007, but it is extremely annoying to watch. The Lineup has a fever, but I don't believe the prescription was batting Dellucci, Michaels, Marte and Shoppach in a row. Manager Eric Wedge does believe in his veterans, so we may be stuck with Michaelucci for the month of April. Taking two out of three from the Angels will salvage a .500 road trip, which wouldn't be terrible, since the Detroit Tigers have been struggling mightily. Victor Martinez is expected to be back behind the dish tomorrow, so hopefully he will give the team a much needed boost. Here were some of the highlights:

Ryan Garko: Went 4-10, slugged a homerun and had the game winning walk today. Looking very solid in the field as well.

Grady Sizemore: 4-11 2 walks, one of the few Indians hitters who look comfortable at bat.

Cliff Lee: 6 2/3 innings, 4 K's, pitched a great game when the Tribe needed it, spotted his fastball and mixed in some off speed stuff as well. Looked confident as bailed his team out.

Craig Breslow: 2 innings, no runs. Solid debut for second lefty out of the pen.

Joe Borowski: Gave up just a walk in his save today, slowed the fans collective pulse down considerably.

Areas of Concern

The Collective Lineup: Struggled together, strung 2 hits together only once the whole series in the 7th inning today, need to find some slump busters in Anaheim.

Michaels/Dellucci: 1-11 look terrible at the plate, can't wait to look back in September and laugh that they were our starting left fielders. My friend Jon refers to Michaels as the Rock of Love.

CC Sabathia: 5 1/3 innings 4 earned runs, only 2 K's. Needs get back to finishing off batters on 2 strike counts. Seems to be overthrowing a bit.

Franklin Gutierrez: 0-9, 3 K's, hit the ball hard a few times, needs to be consistent on the road. Played a tremendous right field on Friday night.

Jhonny Peralta: 3-12, got 2 hits today, showed questionable range and made a few errors. Was cold but not an excuse, needs to keep his head in the game.

Fausto Carmona takes on Joe Saunders tomorrow night in Anaheim.

Julio Promoted, Elarton, Barfield to Buffalo

Paul Hoynes has just reported that Jorge Julio will be the sixth member of the Tribe bullpen for 2008 and Josh Barfield and Scott Elarton will start the year in Triple-A Buffalo. This isn't any big news, but this means the last spot in the pen is down to Tom Mastny and Craig Breslow. As speculated earlier, you would assume Mastny will be sent down as Breslow pitched a shutout inning today to earn a save. Also, with Barfield being sent down, the last utility spot is probably down to Andy Gonzalez and Andy Marte. Buster Onley of espn.com said on the Mike and Mike show this morning that the Cleveland Indians were the deepest team in the majors. These demotions help illustrate the fact the Indians will have many viable options if and when injuries occur to the big league ball club. Shapiro has said that he would like to get the 25 man roster set by Friday, so we shall see.

Marte Meanderings

The picture you see here is of Andy Marte probably booting another ball. That is pretty much been the norm for Marte, since as I am typing this article he has made 2 errors against the Yankees. Once voted the top fielding third basemen in triple A, he is now a mess. I watched him play first on Saturday and he looked uncomfortable and immobile. He is hovering around the mendoza line and besides for one weekend, his power numbers are nothing to shake a glove at. The Indians stuck him in the outfield earlier this grapefruit season to shag balls during practice. That experiment must not have worked out too well since he hasn't played out there yet this spring.

Marte is a complete liability in the field and at bat, so I cannot conceivably see him playing much, if at all during the season. The Indians beat reporters all seem to feel he will break camp with the club. I hope this is not because of Brandon Phillips because at least Phillips showed some signs of promise at bat and played quite well in the field. Wedge has really said nothing positive about him, so Marte making the team seems to be a front office request. He has no trade value, so the Tribe will be starting the season with a 24 man roster if he is retained. The Indians position issues luckily have figured themselves out on the field in the past, so that is what to expect in respect to our 3rd base phenom. As for now, all we can tell him, in the immortal words of Manager Lou Brown is, "Come on Marte, get in front of the damn ball! Don't give me this "olé" bullshit."