Well, here we go again. It's an odd year in Cleveland and therefore, the Indians are on pace to have a great year. This years team has made some upgrades from the 2007 team who came one game short of making the playoffs.
With the addition of Kerry Wood and Joe Smith the bullpen looks like a force to be reckoned with. The buzz up here is that with Kerry Woods injury history, he'll fall apart by mid season. I for one, don't see that happening.
He has seemed to work through every injury and has come back stronger from each one. Even if he does go down we have a couple of pitchers who easily take over the closing role.
Jensen Lewis came in last year and went 13 for 13 in save opportunities. Also, with Joe Smith, you get a good, young side armed pitcher who is great for match up situations against right handed hitters. Rafael Betancourt looks like he could gain his 2007 form again.
He really is the wild card in the bullpen because if he can repeat his performance in 2007, then the Indians should have a great season. Rafael Perez is also a key to this bullpen. His ability to pitch against lefty's gives the Indians a great match up in their favor.
After a strong performance in 2007 and 2008, he looks ready to be the seventh and eighth-inning guy. With the Masa Kobayashi can hopefully become a success after his first season.
He struggled with the big league hitters and the Indians expect him to have a bounce back season. The final spot in the bullpen is up for grabs. If Adam Miller is healthy I could see him grab that spot just because the Indians need to see what he can do.
If his finger is still blistering, then it looks like any of the non roster invites could take that spot. Also, it could go to one of the starting pitchers who are looking to lock up that fifth spot in the rotation.
In my next piece, I'll go through and analyze the starting rotation so look out for that.
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