2009 Indians: A Tale of Two Teams

Spring Training of 2009 carried a lot of high hopes for Cleveland Indians fans.  Today, fans of the Tribe would have to look long and hard to find some bright spots from their beloved Indians.  No matter how good the hitting is, the Cleveland bullpen has the uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Consider these statistics:  The Indians are 4th in Major League Baseball in runs scored (1 behind the Red Sox, and 2 behind the Yankees), 5th in hits, and 5th in on-base percentage.  In case you're wondering how they hit in crunch time - from the 7th inning on, the Tribe is 4th in runs scored, 3rd in hits (with 227, approximately 1 hit per inning), and 3rd in on-base percentage. 

All this leads the Tribe to a last-place 30-42 record.  Hard to believe, isn't it?

Until you take a closer look at the pitching.  Cleveland's starting pitching is last in Major League Baseball in Earned Runs allowed with 242.  The bullpen is 29th.  The starters are last in MLB with a 5.27 ERA, the bullpen is 28th at 5.07.

Injuries have devastated the entire team, especially the pitching staff.  Jake Westbrook hasn't even pitched yet due to Tommy John surgery last season.  His throwing program has been halted until sometime in July, putting a lid on high expectations.  Anthony Reyes is done for the year as he is having his own Tommy John surgery.

The more Indians fans think about the 23 pitchers manager Eric Wedge has used, the more depressing they may get (outside of Cliff Lee and his 2.94 ERA).

Let's try to cheer up by looking at some bright spots in the hitting department.  After having major trouble in 2008, Asdrubal Cabrera has really looked great at the plate.  His .316 batting average dwarfs his career .280 clip.  As if he couldn't get any better, Victor Martinez is hitting 25 points over his career .301 mark and has an OPS of .934.

In his first game back from an elbow tissue injury, Grady Sizemore led off last night against Pittsburgh with a single and tripled in two runs in the third inning.  He also was back to his gold glove self while running down a gapper at the wall.

The Tribe's defense has been slightly above average, ranking 11th in MLB with a .986 fielding percentage.  Their 39 errors place them 12th.  These numbers may look better if one considers the fact that Mark DeRosa, Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, Ben Francisco, Jhonny Peralta, Asdrubal Cabrera and Jamey Carroll have all played more than one position in the field.

Not very much consistency there, although Eric Wedge and Mark Shipiro would term it "versatility."

A lot has been rumored about Eric Wedge's job situation, as his career 526-518 (.503) record has been called into question.  Some fans want him replaced with former Tribe manager Mike Hargrove, conveniently forgetting that his 1188-1173 (.504) record isn't much better.

While Wedge may be replaced in the future, a new manager isn't going to heal Travis Hafner's sore shoulder or Aaron Laffey's strained oblique.

If several players start to click after coming back from injury, the Indians play in a weak enough division to possibly mount a charge in the second half of the season.  They always seem to play better when expectations are low, as last year's 44-28 record after July 10 would indicate.

However, if the Tribe continues to blow 7-run leads like they did in Chicago, and continue the losing ways 2009 has brought, they may become sellers at the trade deadline.  Mark DeRosa's name has been rumored to enamor several teams, including the St. Louis Cardinals.

If that happens, watch out for AAA Columbus prospects Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley (both acquired in the CC Sabathia trade with Milwaukee last year), to be called up and get some big-league action.  LaPorta has already had a cup of coffee with the Tribe, and his .317 average in Columbus may indicate he's ready for breakfast in Cleveland.

Does anyone still think that good hitting beats good pitching?