Cleveland Indians' Anemic Offense Holding Them Back

Their reigning Cy Young Award winner seems to have gotten back on track, although C. C. should hit the treadmill a little bit more for longevity's sake.

Their up-and-coming sinker ball superstar has had little drop off from his breakout year in 2007. Fausto es fantastico!

Their wily veteran junk-baller seems to have found his deceptive, control-based arsenal that he used to perfection last year, all without any HGH from his dentist. Kudos, Byrd-man.

The fifth starter, who was left for dead, is pitching like, well, Cy Young. Who knew, Clifton Phifer Lee, who knew?

Even with Jake the snake on the DL, they have up-and-coming Professor Sowers and The Joker contributing solid efforts their first times out.

The bullpen seems to have come together after the loss of Iron Joe Borowski.

The Fightin' Raffy Brothers continue to anchor the back end. Masa K seems to have adjusted as the weather has gotten warmer and gives the Tribe a third option in the late innings without worry of him showing up in any seedy Japanese films.

Yet, the Indians offense continues to squander great pitching night in and night out with no signs of permanently coming out of its season long funk.

Yes, the O has teased us for a game or two at a time, but the ineptitude at bat has left more that a few wins on the field in 2008.

Coming into Tuesday night's game, Victor Martinez is hitting .365. No other Indians regular is hitting above .270. The Looch is next at .268.

Grady Sizemore is only hitting .266 and has an OBP of .375. No good for the leadoff man. No. 2 hitters Jamey Carroll and The As-Man are both hitting .219.

So is the No. 3 man, DH Travis Hafner. Hafner looks totally lost at the plate and his strikeouts are so, so bad it makes you wonder if this "Pronk" persona even really existed.

A batting average of .219 out of your No. 2 and 3 holes is not going to get in done in the NL, let alone the AL.

Ryan Garko is in an 0-for-23 skid and looks almost as bad as Hafner. Neither guy is even hitting the ball well and just getting unlucky. They both look completely lost at the plate.

No one in the bottom of the order is hitting above .250.

The Indians are getting little power from anyone in the lineup. They consistently put together multiple innings with scoring threats but are lucky it they get more than two runs an inning, as the batting with RISP has been atrocious.

Pitching wins championships, but you need to score to have a chance to win.

The Indians have been frustrating because they tease you night in and night out with the prospect of breaking through but just can’t string it together for more than a few games in a row.

Until they figure out how to do so, they will hover around .500 and out of serious contention. I have faith in you boys, but its not early anymore.

It's Tribe Time now. Believeland.