A thoroughly frustrating and depressing week that saw the Indians only go 2-4. In those 4 losses, absolutely nothing went right. The starting pitching was terrible and our offensive continued to struggle to score runs.
Tops on the list of concerns right now is the starting pitching, particularly C.C. and Paul Byrd. Neither man has had good control of their pitches and the end result was short starts for both of them. Then Fausto added to the worries with a shaky performance himself (he gave up a career high 8 walks!). These guys have been around long enough to know what it takes to pitch well, so hopefully they can work through these mechanincs issues and get back on track. Thankfully, we've had a saving grace in Cliff Lee, who had another stellar outing yesterday. It's weird that the biggest question mark coming into the season has been our most consistent performer thus far.
On the offensive side of things, I'm worried, but not as concerned as I am with the pitching. I think a lot of the problems we're dealing with stem from the fact that Wedge keeps tinkering with the lineup. I don't know if we've had the same lineup in back to back games yet this season. If we're to expect consistent hitting, we need a consistent lineup. The Tribe finally showed some sparks of offense yesterday by scoring 7 runs, but it's not enough to convince me that our problems are over with. We really need to start scoring more in the first few innings, something we did so well last year. It's amazing what getting out to an early lead will do to both your offense and defense.
The one bright spot this week was the signing of Fausto Carmona to a new 4 year deal at a super cheap price. Locking him up long-term and not having to pay that much could make this the steal of the century if he consistently pitches like he did last year.
Despite our performance and subpar record, we're only 2.5 games out of first place, so it's not like anybody is going to be running away with this division. I don't want to push the panic button yet, but this will be a critical week for us as we have a short two-game series with Boston and then a couple of series with division rivals, Detroit and Minnesota. Getting wins off of each of those teams will be critical in helping us get back on track and reaffirming our status as the team to beat in the Central Division. Until then, Let's Go Tribe!!
1 comment:
The Bravos aren't doing so great, even though they're only a couple of games out from first. It looks deceiving. You and I are both a little depressed with our teams right now.
Post a Comment