Beantown Beatdown, Tribe Swept

The Red Sox were not expected to be competitors in 2013, with most 'expert's predicting them to finish in the bottom half of the AL East, a division the Boston club are used to winning (or at the very least competing with the Yankees for). The players and coaches obviously didn't pay any attention to that as they have gotten off to a very good start to the early season thanks to some very strong outings from their starting pitchers and good offensive production from off-season signings like Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino, two acquisitions largely ridiculed by fans and media at their time of signing. With that said it was never going to be easy for the Indians, up against the hot (and emotional) Red Sox for a three game series this week and it resulted in a sweep for the Tribe. Here's what I thought about this week's games:

Is The Ubaldo Era Over In Cleveland?

This question has already been asked many times (exceptionally well at WFNY by TD might I add) and until a final decision is made, or Jimenez makes a Jesus-like recovery, it will continue to be asked. After an off-season of promises that mechanics had been fixed and a relatively harmless spring, we were all set for Ubaldo to bounce back in 2013. Surely it couldn't get any worse than 2012? His first start in Toronto was good, only giving up 1 earned run in 6 solid innings on his way to a no-decision which the Tribe eventually won in 11 innings. But then came the home opener in front of a near sold-out Progressive Field, where Ubaldo got rocked by the Yankees, giving up 7 earned runs in only 4 1/3 innings of work. Not only did he look lost on the mound but his velocity was drastically down, creating Ubaldogate in the process (check out Adam Burke's brilliant article for the details). Jimenez was then scratched from his next start against the White Sox and had plenty of time to prepare and rest ahead of Boston's first trip to Cleveland on Tuesday night. I don't think Ubaldo would have been ready even if he'd had a whole year to prepare for the Red Sox. After the Dominican right hander cruised through the first inning 1-2-3, he melted down in the second. Ubaldo couldn't escape and left the game having pitched only 1 2/3 innings, walking 5 guys and conceding 7 earned runs. Two of those runs Ubaldo single handedly walked in himself when Boston had loaded the bases. All in all it was an unmitigated disaster and undoubtedly one of the worst performances of Jimenez's career.

So where do we go from here? Can the Ubaldo era be saved? Right now it doesn't look good (understatement of the year) and if he keeps up this level of play he's likely to be cut from the team. Tuesday night saw him lose complete control, unable to locate any of his pitches after the first inning. I realise Ubaldo is only three starts into this fledgling season but the situation is getting out of hand now. I feel really bad for the guy, because you can see on his face how painful it is for him to struggle like this. He doesn't want to be out there at all and the pressure has become too much to bare. The true test of where we go from here will be on Sunday afternoon in Houston, when we play the third and final game against the Astros. If Ubaldo can't get through Houston's miserable lineup, easily one of the worst in MLB this year, then maybe all hope is  surely lost for the 29 year old. We either cut ties with him altogether or see if we can send him down to Single A or out to Arizona to completely re-structure him as a pitcher, similar to what we did with Fausto Carmona/ Roberto Hernandez a few years ago. It's got to the stage now where he is a liability in the rotation and can only harm the team if he can't turn around his form. Can the likes of Kluber, Bauer, or Dice-K be any worse for us? Probably not. How long Francona and the front office give Ubaldo remains to be seen; The club might even have made a decision to omit him from the team by the time his scheduled start on Sunday comes around. It'll certainly be interesting to see what happens in the next chapter of the Ubaldo Saga but all signs suggest it wont be a happy ending. Watch this space.

Infield Struggles

So far this year the Indians are not getting much production from their infield players, with the exception of Nick Swisher who has started his career in Cleveland pretty well (a .407 OBP, second on the team). The most troubling member of the Tribe infield has to be our All Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, one of my favourite players. He's mired in a deep slump at the moment and has started 2013 with a .127 batting average and a mere .200 OBP. It's early so there's obviously no need to panic yet but it's still a concern when one of your best guys only has 7 hits in two weeks, especially when he's been in every game. Cabrera is not alone though. Lonnie Chisenhall is taking some time to find his feet this year, stuck with a .200 BA and 13 strikeouts. This is Chisenhall's first full season starting at third base and it looks like he's pressing at the plate a bit, trying to do too much. He was scratched from the lineup last night in favour of Mike Aviles, who has performed relatively well in the nine games he's played in. Jason Kipnis, our second basemen, has also struggled this year, at the plate and with his health. The 26 year old hasn't played in nearly a week because of  some soreness in his left elbow but he wasn't exactly playing well before his omission from the lineup. In eight games Kipnis has a .125 BA with 11 strikeouts and only 4 hits. Not great statistics to look at I know, but at least it's a small sample in a long season.

The problem is we really need these guys to pick up their game. Kipnis, when he's healthy and back in the team, and Cabrera are two of our key guys, batting two and three in the lineup. In those positions you damn well ought to be hitting, or at least getting some walks. The lineup has had trouble getting runs over the past week because our infield isn't hitting at all, offering zero support to the rest of the offense. The Tribe travel to Houston today and now is the prime opportunity for these infield players to pick up some form and start hitting. The Astros are hardly loaded with top talent in their rotation and bullpen, so it'd be nice to see Cabrera get hot and start contributing like we know he can. I'm not expecting too much from Kipnis this weekend, returning from an injury and all, but anything he can add is obviously welcome. And if Chisenhall can also get into his groove then we're golden. There's no cause for panic or drastic changes yet but if this infield trio don't pick things up by the middle of May then something is seriously wrong out there. I don't think that'll be the case though, these guys just need a hit or two to go the right way and I think eventually their stats will recover. But they need to turn it around pretty quickly because the Tribe are already starting to lose ground in 2013 and we will need Cabrera, Kipnis and Chisenhall to play like the important players they're supposed to be.

The Tribe go on the road now for a ten game trip that begins in Houston today and won't end until we host the Phillies on the 30th April. It'll be a pretty important early season test of our abilities and we need to put a bit of a run together to keep in touch with the front-runners in the division. Tonight we have Brett Myers, he of the 8.82 ERA and 0-2 record, pitching against the Astros' Lucas Harrell, himself carrying an 0-2 record and a 5.63 ERA. Hopefully I'll be back Sunday night/ Monday with a re-cap on our travels in Houston. Until next time...

Thanks for reading.