Tribe Talk: Indians Engage In A Brief Flirtation With Improvement

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Beyond White, it's kind of tough to say. You just have no idea who will turn into what with the draft. But I do like the volume of collegiate players, because those appear to be "safer" selections and more likely to develop into solid pros.

3. Cliff Lee continued to be the lone bright spot amid the Indians otherwise-disastrous pitching, taking a no hitter into the eighth inning last Sunday. What stands out to you as the reason for Lee's great performance?

It is worth mentioning that Lee only surrendered the three hits he gave up after he started shaking off catcher Kelly Shoppach in the eighth and ninth innings. In light of that, how much credit would you give to Shoppach for Lee's performance?

Samantha Bunten: The true beauty in a performance such as this is that there is no one thing that stands out as the sole reason it was so successful. There was no "trick" Lee relied on—he just, quite frankly, pitched one hell of a game. Specifically, if I had to choose something that stood out, it would be that Lee seemed to have almost flawless command of his fastball.

A good deal of the credit for every great pitching performance belongs to the catcher. Shoppach calls a good game in general, and he called an especially good one last Sunday. Neither Shop nor Lee could have produced these results without each other.

I was surprised to see Lee shake off Shoppach at the end, as he typically only shakes off the catcher when he's doing poorly, not when he's doing well. In this situation, he started making mistakes because he shook off the catcher for no particular reason rather than shaking off the catcher because he had already been making mistakes.

Still, it is probably best not to look too deep for a flaw here, and call this what it was - a great day on the mound for Cliff Lee and a great victory for the Tribe. 

Dale Thomas:  After a rough start with his first couple of batters, Cliff was totally hitting his spots using a game plan calling mostly for high fastballs.

Certainly much credit is owed to Shoppach for calling a brilliant game. Calling the right pitches, to a pitcher who was in a good high-cheese zone, provided the confidence for Lee to go the distance.

Scott Miles: Cliff Lee has, the past two seasons, reminded me of one pitcher: Greg Maddux. Or maybe Tom Glavine, if you want a southpaw comparison.

Just look at how effortless the performance was—what did he throw, like 65 pitches? Or how great his command was, and how weakly the Cardinals were hitting the ball. It was a masterpiece reminiscent of what Maddux used to author.

I didn't notice Lee shaking off Shoppach late in the game. But a catcher should always get a large amount of credit for a pitcher's performance.

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