Tribe Watch '13 (Week 4)

Record: 9-13

Standing: Last in the AL Central (4 games out of 1st place)

We're almost a month into the season and it's still tough to get a real beat on how good this team is. This week was particularly tough to gauge their quality given how few games they played. The Tribe only played 2 out of their 3 games against Chicago due to rain and they managed to split that series. Then after a scheduled off day on Thursday, they were rained out in Kansas City on Friday. To make up that game, a double header was played yesterday. Thus far, the Royal have taken 2 out of the 3 games we've played against them, but this is a four game series that ends tonight, so if the Tribe wins that one, they'll have split with KC as well. A win would give us a 5-4 record on this road trip and if they can play .500 on the road, I'll always be fine with that. Right now, the troubling factors are the team's overall record and their sporadic hitting. Those issues are interconnected as better hitting should lead to more wins. I'm far from pushing the panic button on the season just yet, primarily because there have been so few games with our regular lineup. The injury to Michael Bourn has caused changes in the lineup that have forced guys to bat in spots that they don't normally hit. I think if we can get a healthy roster, we'll be in much better shape. Bourn should be back this week, so let's hope that's the start of something positive. Looking ahead to this week, after finishing up with the Royals tonight, we come home for our first interleague series of the season, playing a two game set with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Tribe will have another off day this Thursday and then play the Minnesota Twins over the weekend. Both of those are winnable series if we play well. Let's hope that the end of April marks the end of bad weather and the start of some great baseball. Go Tribe!