Tribe Talk: Indians Engage In A Brief Flirtation With Improvement

Welcome to Tribe Talk, where Bleacher Report's Tribe fans weigh in on the ups and downs of the Indians each week throughout the season.

This week we discuss the Tribe’s brief flirtation with improvement, analyze the team’s actions in the amateur draft, and ponder who really has the advantage in interleague play.

I would like to thank this week's participants Scott Miles and Dale Thomas for their contributions.

This discussion is open to all, so please feel free to comment below and pitch in your thoughts on the questions we're addressing this week.

Go Tribe!

1.  For a few blissful days, the Tribe finally seemed to be getting things on track, winning six of 10. Though things have since gone downhill yet again, what, if anything, has changed that brought about this positive streak, arguably the Tribe's longest stretch of consistently positive performance all season?

Samantha Bunten: There doesn't seem to be any one dramatic change, which is a very, very good thing because that means that the team is simply improving their play across the board.

If anything, what has been noticeable is a marked improvement in the performance of the bullpen, particularly thanks to Matt Herges and Kerry Wood.

As for the offense, they have done a much, much better job of answering immediately when the opponent scores. This has allowed them to stay in almost every game of late.

Still, I just can't get that excited about a 6-4 stretch when the team is still well below .500 and solidly in last place in the division. The Indians should not be having this much trouble moving up in the standings, as performance across the division has been notably unspectacular.

I'm glad things are going in a more positive direction, but I don’t think the Indians have any business being satisfied with their performance just yet.

Dale Thomas: Although the current lineup is in desperate need of a healthy Grady Sizemore, Mark DeRosa has stepped up big. The 1-2 punch of Martinez and Choo has paid big dividends.

We've seen some decent pitching and decent relief as well over the course of the past couple of weeks.

That said, both pitching and hitting remain inconsistent overall.

Scott Miles: Despite Monday's meltdown, I can point my finger to one area in particular—the bullpen.

Matt Herges (2-0, 1.93 ERA entering Tuesday) has been a Godsend. He's having a Bob Howry-esque (circa 2007) season for us. Luis Vizcaino (1-2, 4.50) and Greg Aquino (1-1, 4.20) haven't exactly set the world on fire, but they're not terrible either.

Joe Smith is back off the DL and pitched well in three outings. And don't look now, but Kerry Wood hasn't given up a run since getting blasted for four on May 19 against the Royals.

The offense is going about as well as could be expected considering the injuries. The starting pitching is only going to give you so much, as it now looks like Cliff Lee and a cast of thousands out there.

The bullpen has slowly started to improve, which is why it's no surprise the team has started to win some games.

2. Last week, the Indians drafted RHP Alex White (UNC) with their first pick in the amateur draft. What do you think of White as their first round choice? What do you think of their selections in subsequent rounds and overall?

Samantha Bunten: Generally speaking, I like the Alex White pick. The fact that the Indians needed to draft pitching was obvious, and it was a smart move to take a seasoned college player since the Tribe needs pitching NOW. I think they were correct to focus on someone who could help the team sooner rather than later.

That being said, I do not agree with the Indians' immediate declaration that they plan to convert White into a reliever. If White ultimately proves better suited to that role, so be it, but I would be very hesitant to take a guy who has the tools to be a potential starter and shove him into a bullpen role before he has even signed a contract.

Overall, I think the Indians did a nice job. They stuck with college players for the most part (as they usually do) and made good selections in the second and third rounds.

Second-round pick Jason Kipnis has good makeup, a good glove, and pretty good bat speed, though he can be a little pull-happy.

Right-hander Joe Gardner, the Indians' third round pick, is a little more of a wild card, but still a solid selection for a third rounder. His delivery and motion are raw and awkward, but he has good enough stuff that it may very well be worth the extra work required to refine him.

Dale Thomas: Alex White brings a critical attribute to the Tribe in that he says his favorite movie is Bull Durham. This alone might justify the pick.

If he gets command of his fastball, I think he can help the team. Overall, I like the strategy of bringing in a lot of pitching in this year's draft.

Scott Miles: I like the pick a lot, which pains me a bit to say because I'm a Dukie at heart and despise all things Carolina. But in Alex White, the Indians selected a pitcher who was regarded to be one of the three or four best in the draft, so you gotta love that.

By all accounts he has a real good arm and good "stuff," and I was impressed watching his outing against Arizona State on Sunday.

What I don't like is the organization coming out and saying that he's being converted to a reliever. Why? I'd rather see him try to develop as a starter and if it doesn't work out, shift him to the bullpen in a few years. I don't understand why the team won't even try him as a starter.

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.

The catcher is the true leader of any ball club. And I'll tell you something—I was a pitcher in high school and a bit in college, and it seemed like every time I shook off my catcher, I was guaranteed to give up a hit. So I learned quickly to trust my catcher and throw whatever he wanted me to throw.

4. Love it or hate it, this season's stretch of interleague play is upon us, creating a situation where hitters frequently face pitchers they have never seen before. 

In baseball the advantage lies with the pitcher, but do the match ups created by interleague play give the pitcher an even greater advantage, or is this actually more helpful to the hitter? What do you think the best strategy is for Tribe hitters when it comes to handling the NL pitchers they will be facing over the course of the next few weeks?

Samantha Bunten: The greatest advantage would seem to go to the pitchers who have played in both leagues or the hitters who have played in both leagues.

The few who have seen what will be an unknown to most others will have the greatest advantage, whether they're the hurler or the batter.

As for the Tribe, there isn't much they can do other than prepare for the unknown as best they can via the obvious methods (film, scouting reports), and make good use of home field advantage when they have it, as home field counts more in interleague than it does during games against other AL teams.

Dale Thomas: Based upon the Tribe's interleague performance thus far, I have to say the advantage is clearly skewed towards the opposition's pitching...and hitting. Conversely, I could say it was a huge disadvantage to Tribe pitching...and hitting.

As for Tribe’s strategy for handling NL pitching, just put the bat on the ball early, as always. After you've seen his stuff, swing freely.

Scott Miles: To me, it seems pretty basic: The pitchers will have the advantage in the NL ballparks, and the hitters will in the AL parks. Especially NL pitchers.

I don't have the numbers to back this up, but I would imagine that the comfort level for an NL pitcher would be enormous at home, where he faces an AL lineup way out of its comfort zone without the DH. Then, conversely, I would imagine he would be at a similar disadvantage in the AL parks where the team can play its normal way.

As for the Tribe hitters, they just need to stick to their plan. I'm typing this while watching the team work Yovani Gallardo to over 60 pitches through two innings. Stay patient, work the count, get into the bullpen—that's their plan and it generally works, so stay with it.

5. The most recent MRI of Grady Sizemore's elbow revealed a marked decrease in inflammation, prompting assessments that he could return in as little as 7-10 days and thus avoid surgery. While ideally everyone wants to see Sizemore back on the field as soon as possible, was avoiding surgery really the best choice for him?

Sizemore himself has said this past week that still, "there is a chance it could get worse". Do you think it is best to bring him back as soon as possible at all costs, or are you of the opinion that it would be better to opt for surgery to insure that the problem is completely eliminated?

Samantha Bunten: Obviously, everyone involved would prefer to avoid surgery for Sizemore at all costs. However, sometimes it is better to pay a little more up front in order to pay a lot less at the end.

Sizemore says he's feeling better, but that may just because he hasn't been putting any strain on the elbow at all since he first went on the DL. There is a good chance the problem will go right back to what it was as soon as he starts playing every day again.

It isn't too hard to envision Sizemore ending up right back on the DL in a few weeks and ultimately ending up on a surgeon's table anyway.

If he just had surgery now, it would be that much less time wasted and that much less time the Tribe would have to do without him.

I will be ecstatic if Sizemore comes back in a week or two and looks like his old self, but I wouldn't lay any money on it. I won't fault the Indians for putting off the surgery option for now, but that wouldn't be my choice.

Dale Thomas: Not being a medical professional, I might attribute the decrease in inflammation to resting the elbow.

This doesn't represent a cure to me. Put that arm back in motion full time and I suspect the problem will be back with a vengeance. If surgery truly repairs the problem, I say fix it and be done. I worry that without the surgery, the inflammation may become chronic.

Scott Miles: Kind of tough to say. I would think that you want to avoid surgery at all costs, and if it's healing on it's own, then great. But the Indians just need to make sure they err on the side of caution here.

When Grady says he's 100 percent ready, great. But I'd prefer not to see a timetable set one way or another and have him think that he NEEDS to be back in 7-10 days because that's when everyone says he should be back.

Just take your time, Grady, and get yourself better.