Indians Earn Split in Baltimore

A series split? I'll take that. Before this series in Baltimore, I was a bit worried that the Orioles would destroy us, like they have with so many other teams this year. We've had a rough time of it against those boys from the AL East, the most stacked division in the league (every team is over .500, now the Jays have had a resurgence). So to take away two wins is fantastic in my book. It's too bad the Indians couldn't get the win last night (they lost 7-3) to take the series outright, but you can't have everything your way I suppose.

We did get to see Scott Kazmir pitch a gem, taking a no-hitter into the 7th inning on Wednesday, before the Indians nearly threw it away and lost the game. Thankfully they rallied in the 9th with 2 RBI groundouts to win it 4-3 and save their blushes. Kazmir was electric, allowing just a single hit. It was a superb performance and very comforting to see him string together back-to-back good games.

Anyway, let's look at some of the talking points from the series:

The People Versus Nick Swisher

Okay, I had the idea to do a piece on Swisher earlier this week. Then two of my fellow bloggers beat me to the punch, TD at Waiting For Next Year and Tom at Red Right 88. Both are excellent articles and deserve your attention, but I felt I could still share my thoughts on the Swisher situation.

We all know that Swisher was the marquee signing during the off-season and was immediately made the face of the franchise, the image of the Indians' new beginning behind Terry Francona. All the homecoming stuff was great and you could see Nick's enthusiasm was genuine; he actually wanted to play here and his energy and excitement helped restore some faith in the organisation. The 32 year-old switch hitter had never been "the star" during his career in the major leagues but he came to Cleveland hailed as one.  Unfortunately, Swisher hasn't produced like a star on the field and has yet to find his offensive groove in 2013.

As I type this, Swisher is batting .229 for the season with 7 home runs and 25 RBI. His OBP is .330 and his OPS is .713 (pretty far behind his career average of .822). He's having a really rough month, batting just .125 in June with 5 RBI and no home runs. In fact, the last time he hit a home run was May 26 at Fenway Park. Yes, that's over a month ago. To say Swisher is struggling is an understatement and he obviously hasn't delivered on the expectations we had before the start of the season.

He's been hampered by injuries this year, most recently a problem in his shoulder which must be hindering his play on the field and at the plate. So I can cut him a bit of slack there, it can't be easy playing hurt every day. Still, it's alarming to see how the fans have turned on him. His love of Ohio and being a nice guy around the club is surely holding back some of the fan's venom, but how long will it last? How much more sub-par play will the Tribe faithful put up with before they really turn on him?

Personally, I find it difficult to boo my own players and shower them with intense criticism. It's not a British thing, we boo our guys just like they do in the States and all over the world. Maybe I'm just a glass half full kind of guy? So that being said, I'm not going to start hating on Swisher and I'm not going to jump on the "trade Swish bandwagon", not that that's a realistic option anyway. I drafted him on my fantasy team for pete's sake, I'm not going to give up on that investment just yet. And neither should Tribe fans (in real life, not fantasy. Do what you want in fantasy!). I have to believe that Swisher will turn things around in 2013. The Indians front-office are paying him a lot of money to do just that. If you thought the Indians were getting a powerful 30 HR+ 100 RBI+ first baseman in the winter, you were mistaken, he's not that player anymore and never has been (closest he got to those numbers was 2006). However, I can understand the fan's frustration because I know we all expected more than what we're getting. Nick Swisher of all people knows this and I'm pretty sure he's trying his damn best to correct it.

Player Of The Series

The complete opposite to Nick Swisher offensively at the moment? Why it's back-to-back Player of the Series winner Jason Kipnis of course. Kipnis has continued his blistering hot streak at the plate lately and torched Baltimore for 5 hits, one in each game to continue his 9 game hitting streak, 2 home runs and 4 RBI.

It's amazing how well Kipnis is playing at the moment, showing us his immense talent on a daily basis. He's hitting .398 in June, that's the best average in the league this month amongst players with over 80 at-bats (that's better than Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera). In his current form, Kipnis is outperforming both Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia in nearly every category. He has more RBI this month (Kipnis 19, Pedroia 17, Cano 10), more stolen bases (Kipnis 7, Pedroia 3, Cano 3), more home runs (Kipnis 3, Pedroia 2, Cano 2), more hits (Kipnis 33, Pedroia 26, Cano 18), and a far higher batting average (Kipnis .398, Pedroia .277, Cano .231). Is that not enough for people to realise that Kipnis deserves a spot at the All Star Game next month? I'll admit, overall he's probably not as good as Cano and Pedroia over a full season but right now, Kipnis is the best second baseman in the league. Make it happen people, lets make Kipnis an All Star.

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Too Much For Twins

Apologies for no series re-cap about the Royals last week. I was on holiday and despite watching the majority of the games, I felt my vacation earned me a bit of a break from the blog, so there you have it.

The Indians have remained in good form since returning home from what I like to call 'The Roadtrip From Hell Apart From When We Beat Texas'. They've been so good in fact they've won their last four series including that trip to Texas, dispatching the Nationals, Royals and now the Twins. It began with a 5-1 win on Friday, on the strength of a wonderfully pitched game by Scott Kazmir. The Tribe carried that winning form into Saturday, outlasting Minnesota 8-7, largely thanks to a 6 run first inning that helped propel Corey Kluber to his 6th win of the season. Unfortunately the Tribe couldn't capture the sweep on Sunday, losing 5-3, but at least they got another valuable series win.

Kazmir Answers His Critics (Me)

Since Scott Kazmir's last start against the Nationals, when he suffered heavily through 2 2/3 innings, the veteran left-hander rebounded in style on Friday against the Twins. Kazmir put any worries I had last week to rest, pitching 7 excellent innings against Minnesota, allowing 5 hits and only 1 run (a solo-homer to Brian Dozier). Kazmir didn't allow a single walk and struck out 7 Twins on his way to the win, his 4th of the season.

I couldn't have been more relieved to see Kazmir come back from that disastrous Nationals game. He was practically flawless against the Twins and it was so reassuring to see him under control once again and have his pitches working properly. Kazmir now sits at 4-4 with a 5.37 ERA, still a bit higher than he'd obviously like but at least it's heading in the right direction (down). His next scheduled start is in Baltimore on Wednesday June 26, where he has a favourable matchup against the Orioles' right-hander Jason Hammel. The O's have been a quality ball-club this season and they possess a dangerous lineup, including early AL MVP candidate Chris Davis, so there's plenty of potential stumbling blocks for Kazmir to encounter. But if he pitches anything like he did against the Twins on Friday, I have full confidence that he can get the job done in Baltimore, and we'll need him to be on top of his game in what'll undoubtedly be a difficult series.

Player Of The Series

There's no doubt who gets the award for this series: Step on down Jason Kipnis. Our star second baseman has been tearing it up lately and he maintained his hot streak against the Twins. Kipnis collected 3 RBI on Friday, 2 RBI on Saturday and 1 more on Sunday (maybe more check stats). He's really been making a late push to be an All Star this year and his recent form suggests he deserves it. I know it's practically impossible that Kipnis will beat out Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia for that second base slot but we can live in hope for now. I know I for one would love to see the JK Kid represent the Tribe in New York.

Cleveland now return to the road for a while, beginning with a four-game series at Camden Yards against the Orioles. It'll be a tough trip, as Baltimore strive to stay in touch with the giants of the AL East, but the Indians should have no reason to fear them and could even come away victorious if everything breaks just right for us. Until then...

Thanks for reading.

Indians Just Capital, Defeat Washington

I returned home this evening from watching the Man of Steel to catch the last couple of innings from today's 2-0 win over the Nationals, sealing the series win on Father's Day. An Indians victory for all the Dads out there, nothing better. Let's take a peak at how we fared in the series:

Pitching Good...

Justin Masterson went toe-to-toe with Washington's Gio Gonzalez in the first game of the series on Friday and came out victorious, although he didn't officially earn the win. Masterson pitched a very solid 7 innings, only getting into trouble once in the 3rd inning, when his control let him down and he allowed the Nationals' only run on a wild pitch. Besides that he was almost lights out, allowing just 2 hits and 1 run to go along with 10 strikeouts, the most he's gotten since his 11 strikeout game against Seattle on May 19th. Unfortunately Justin wasn't eligible for the win, exiting with the game tied, but the Indians emerged victorious eventually with a walk-off infield single by Jason Kipnis. With 1 out in the bottom of the 9th and Drew Stubbs at third, Kipnis got good contact and Stubbs was running for home the second the ball left the bat. Drew's speedy legs carried him home to beat Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche's throw to score the winning run, carrying the Indians to a 2-1 win to kick off the series.

Corey Kluber was sublime for the second start in a row this afternoon, pitching an absolute beauty in the Cleveland sunshine to earn his 5th win in 2013. Kluber went 8 innings again, this time allowing 7 hits to the Nats but he didn't walk anybody and got 8 strikeouts. More importantly, he didn't allow a single run, lowering his ERA to a very respectable 3.58 to go along with a 5-4 record. I'm almost lost for words to describe Kluber these days. He's become something of a revelation and has really carried the torch recently, especially since Zach McAllister went on the DL. Kluber was backed by Carlos Santana's 30th RBI of the season in the 4th inning and then got an extra run in the bottom of the 8th thanks to a sac-fly from Kipnis. Vinnie Pestano finished things off for his first save of the season to earn the Tribe the 2-0 victory and series win overall.

Pitching Bad...

I hate to be a negative Nancy after this successful series win but I feel this needs to be addressed, at the very least mentioned:

Is it time to start worrying about Scott Kazmir?

Kazmir hasn't been very good lately and hasn't pitched well this month at all. He hasn't had a win since May 30th, a 7 inning beauty against the Reds. But looking at his starts recently, that victory looks to be a bit of a blip on what's turned into a sub-par couple of months for Kazmir. Since that W against Cincinnati, Scott has given up 4+ runs in his last three starts and his game against the Nationals on Saturday was probably his worst of the season so far. Kazmir lasted only 2 2/3 innings, giving up 4 hits and 5 earned runs, walking 4 Nats and surrendering 3 home runs in that short space of time. Ghastly numbers, that leave him with a 3-4 record and a 5.89 ERA, not pretty to look at I know. In 55 innings he's allowed 68 hits, 12 for home runs, 23 walks and 55 strikeouts. I'm a bit worried about Scott, his inconsistency is causing me some concern. I hoped he would overcome his struggles adapting to life in the major leagues after his time away, getting progressively better as the season wore on but that hasn't happened yet. There's still time I know, and he's hardly been a disaster, but there's just something off with him that I can't put my finger on, only to point out the obvious and says he's not been very good. I've been a big fan of his comeback this season and want him to do well; Here's hoping he can.

Kazmir departed Saturday's game leaving the Indians to dig out of a 5-0 hole, which they duly did, taking a 6-5 lead into the 8th inning, before the heart of the bullpen took over. Ah yes, the bullpen...

Joe Smith entered the 8th inning and gave up a home run with 2 outs to make it a tie-game. The Nationals didn't stop there, hitting another home run, this time off Pestano in the 9th, and again with 2 outs, to take a 7-6 lead and eventually win the game. It was a demoralising loss, after battling back so impressively, only to throw away all that hard work. It hurt even more to see our best relief pitchers get crushed, wasting away what looked like a hard-fought win (and what could have earned the sweep). Looks like our bullpen problems haven't been fixed after all, although Pestano went some way towards making amends with his series-winning save today. Anyway, that's all the negativity for today, we still won overall and that should be celebrated.

Player Of The Series

Two in a row for Mr Corey Kluber! I didn't think he could pitch any better than he did against Texas on June 11th (8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) but he proved me wrong. Even without Bryce Harper the Nationals are still a force offensively, despite their other injuries as well. Kluber stifled the Washington lineup today, keeping them off the scoreboard and out-duelling their ace Stephen Strasburg (returned from the DL today, and lasted 5 innings). I'd argue that Kluber has elevated himself to become our number 2 starter in the wake of McAllister's injury and he deserves all the praises he gets. Congrats again Corey.

Cleveland remain at home to welcome the Royals tomorrow evening to begin a three game series against our division rivals. Kansas City have their big winter free-agent acquisition James Shields toeing the rubber tomorrow, who is quietly having a good season in KC despite his 2-6 record (he has a 2.79 ERA). The Indians send Carlos Carrasco (0-2, 15.26 ERA) to the mound, a man who hasn't gotten into any rhythm yet in 2013, due to his suspensions and demotions. He really needs a quality start to get his season under way and must put behind him all of his early season problems if he's to stand any chance at remaining with the club and not at AAA Columbus.

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Turn Corner, Win In Texas

Well that was an unexpected surprise. The Indians hadn't won a series in Texas since 2008 but they took care of that last night, winning their second game in a row and taking the series win against the Rangers.

The trip to Arlington didn't get off to the best of starts, the Indians dropping the first game 6-3, pushing their losing streak to 8 games. However they rallied to stop the bleeding on what has been a pretty horrendous roadtrip against some very tough AL competition. It started with Corey Kluber's pitching masterpiece Tuesday night, his performance guiding the Tribe to a 5-2 win. Then Cleveland rode that momentum into last night's contest, winning 5-2 again and taking the series in the process. Here's what I liked over the past three days:

Offense To The Rescue

The Tribe lineup has been pretty subdued this month to say the least. After being the baseball equivalent of a powerful Godzilla-like monster at the plate in the first two months of the season, the Indians batters had stuttered of late. Thank goodness they showed up again just at the right time. I mentioned in my previous post that maybe the ballpark dimensions in Arlington could have benefited the Tribe, even against Texas's stingy pitching staff. Thankfully it ended up becoming true, to an extent, the Indians using this trip to Texas to re-energise the offense and kick into gear once again.

Certain players had a very successful series. Jason Kipnis got at least 1 hit in every game (including 3 just last night, one a solo homer). Carlos Santana broke out of his recent slump and got a hit in every game too (4 total RBI on the trip). Mike Aviles has settled into his role as a starter, getting a hit in every game as well (including a mammoth 2-run homer to fuel the offense last night). Michael Brantley joined the club too, getting at least 1 hit in each game.

This series in Texas turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for the Indians offense, a chance to rebound and show their credentials against a top team. We've really suffered this season against the top dogs in the league but it was great to see us play so well against the Rangers, a club with World Series ambitions every year (realistic hopes at that). The offense just need to settle down now and maintain this level of performance heading into our long home-stand beginning on Friday against the Nationals.

Player Of The Series

Despite all of my praise for the offense, there's really only one man I can award this to. Step on down Corey Kluber, for pitching the game of your life on Tuesday night. Kluber went 8 innings, the first time he's lasted that long in his professional career, allowing 6 hits and just a single run (he pitched scoreless ball for the first 7 innings), walking 3 and striking out 3 as well. He did a fantastic job getting the Rangers to hit his pitches into the ground, many balls never getting past the infield. In fact he even fielded a few himself, getting the Rangers to weakly tap come-backers to the mound for Kluber to field with ease. Texas just didn't know what to do with him and whenever they looked to threaten, Kluber pitched out of the jam without breaking a sweat. A fine performance and another step up for the 27 year-old right-hander, who is progressing very nicely this season. He seems to be getting better every start, minus the aberration in Detroit back on May 10th. Kluber has quickly become an important cog in the rotation, a pleasant surprise in 2013, and looks effective and efficient every time he pitches now. Congrats Corey.

So the Indians travel home today for their off-day before hosting a 32-32 Washington team on Friday. We'll see a good pitching battle between Justin Masterson (8-5, 3.68 ERA) and Gio Gonzalez (3-3, 3.59 ERA), with Masterson looking to rebound. Our 6'6 righty has yet to win a game this month, giving up 4+ runs in both his starts in June, so he'll be fired up to get back to winning ways. It should be a good game and hopefully we can build on this excellent series win in Texas.

Thanks for reading.

Detroit Dominate, Cleveland In Freefall

This roadtrip has gotten mighty ugly, mighty quick. The Indians have lost 7 straight games and are falling away from the Tigers at the top of the division at a rapid pace. The June swoon is in full flow ladies and gents. We haven't won a game since the start of the month, June 1st...

Lets be honest, the Tribe were never really in any of these games against the Tigers. They looked over-matched, overwhelmed, short of confidence, basically exhibiting every trait and sign of a struggling team. They were always battling out of a hole, trying to rally back into contention. Our best chance came on Sunday when Ryan Raburn golfed a shot into the stands to tie the game 1-1 but the Indians couldn't build from there. Pretty soon the Tigers' Don Kelly, who hasn't been able to hit his way out of a paper bag this season (love that cliché), took Justin Masterson yard with a 3 run bomb that put Detroit up 4-1 and they never looked back from there, winning the game and sweeping the series.

It's been a depressing month for the Indians and their fans so far. They've been in a slump for a while now and aren't really showing many signs of coming out of it yet. And it gets worse: The Tribe are in Texas today for a three game series against the run-happy Rangers, sitting pretty atop the AL West with a 37-25 record. The Rangers are having a very good 2013 as expected. Their impressive pitching staff are 7th in the league in ERA and their dynamic lineup are 10th in runs scored, a deadly combination of effective pitching and successful hitting. There is a positive for the Tribe though: The hitter-friendly confines of Rangers Park in Arlington could potentially help reawaken the Indians offense, who despite their recent woes still find themselves 8th in the league in runs scored, two places ahead of the Rangers. If the Indians can get key hits off the Texas pitchers (which is no easy task admittedly) the field dimensions in Texas could possibly help them in their quest to break out of this losing streak and get back to the task of chasing down the Tigers. We just need to get those clutch hits that served us so well in the early part of the season. Easier said than done I know...

We mustn't be too hard on the team though. All these losses recently have all come against contenders, teams cruising along with plus .500 records with hopes further down the road of going deep into October. If anything, this roadtrip has helped reinforce reality, that this Tribe team aren't going all the way this year, that they are in fact one or two more years away from being a true contender. Success will not come straight away, not after the past few years of sub-par performance. This team needs time to be built up and developed properly. I think maybe we fans needed to be brought back down to earth a little bit, although perhaps the Indians could have done it in a less painful and depressing fashion. Once the Tribe return home from Texas for their off-day on Thursday, the schedule starts to relent a bit and we begin a long home-stand, starting against the Nationals on Friday. Normally the idea of facing Washington would be daunting but these Nats are struggling lately too, crippled by injuries and facing their own problems. These are not the same Nationals of 2012, and I reckon we stand a decent chance against them.

Anyway, there is still cause for optimism and the season is far from over. There's plenty of time yet to make up the ground against Detroit, or alternatively fight for a wild-card spot. Good times are just around the corner folks. I can feel it.

Thanks for reading.

Welcome To The Tribe Clint Frazier!

The Indians selected 6'1, 190 lbs centre-fielder Clint Frazier from Loganville, Georgia with their 5th pick in last night's 2013 MLB Amateur Draft. The recent high school graduate is Cleveland's highest selection in the draft since 2010 and the Tribe front office felt extremely confident in taking the 18 year-old Frazier with the 5th pick. Welcome to the Indians Clint.

Based on reports I've read, the Indians have made a pretty impressive selection and have a potential star on their hands. I've seen comparisons to an at-his-peak Grady Sizemore, even a Mike Trout-like player, which gets me all kinds of excited about seeing Frazier get to the bigs. He's verbally committed to the University of Georgia but I don't think there's any way he'll skip this chance to join the Indians (apparently he's already said he will sign with us). He's guaranteed good money for being selected with such a high pick and besides, did you see his face when he got on the stage to shake hands with Commissioner Bud Selig? He was absolutely loving it and he already looks like he belongs in that Indians jersey. "This is a dream come true," Frazier said after being handed his new club's jersey for the first time.

I look forward to seeing that unmistakeable red hair gracing the Cleveland outfield in the next few years, and hope he develops into the player all the experts believe he can be. Despite being an Indians fan for a good number of years now, this has been my first year where I've really paid attention to the draft so I'm extra excited to follow Frazier's progress in the future. Good luck Clint!

 

 Thanks for reading.

Bombed In The Bronx, Indians Swept

I hate the Yankees. I know, everybody does, but lately I really hate the Yankees. And I'm so glad that's the last time we have to play that bunch in NYC. They just have our number and somehow, despite their geriatric pensioners and spare-parts players, they are still winning and still competing in the tough AL East. I don't know how they're doing it, I really thought we'd get the better of them this year but the Yankees just seem to find a way to win practically every year.

So the Tribe kicked off this torrid roadtrip in the worst way possible, getting swept in New York. I don't think we should get too down though, the AL East teams are all ridiculously good on their day so I'm glad we're putting that division behind us for a while. Still, it's disappointing to see us playing so poorly of late and the Tribe are really being tested now. I'm going to skip the usual series re-cap today, since there is nothing positive at all to come out of New York these past three days for the Tribe faithful. Instead I'll weigh in on some of the newsworthy events that took place lately:

Asdrubal To The Disabled List

The series in New York got off to a bad start the second our star shortstop pulled up clutching his quad. So bad was his injury that he had to be helped from the field, he couldn't even walk on that leg. It's been giving him some trouble for a while now, but he's battled through the pain, grimacing every time he rounds first base to stretch a hit into a double. Asdrubal's right quad finally gave up though and he now find himself on the 15-day disabled list, with Mike Aviles taking his place at shortstop for the foreseeable future.

The injury couldn't come at a worse time, just when we need our best players on form for one of toughest parts of the schedule. Reports are that Cabrera will probably miss a month, which sucks because he's quietly been having a pretty good year. He currently leads the teams in doubles (18) and extra-base hits (25) and has been playing some exemplary defense at short lately, errorless in 32 straight games. Cabrera is one of my favourite players and I hate to see him out of the lineup. Hopefully he can rehab his quad quickly and get back to the club as soon as possible because we'll need him back firing on all cylinders if we're to stay in touch in the division race.

Perez In Trouble Again

But this time it's not baseball related. No sir, Perez is in trouble this time for a suspected narcotics package delivered to his suburban Cleveland home. Can you believe this? The guy has just had no luck lately, and even when he's not playing things won't go right for him. The details are scarce at the moment and I suspect it's all a massive misunderstanding. I seriously doubt Perez is involved in dealing drugs or anything of the kind and the story will become clearer over the next few days. Poor Chris, the guy just can't catch a break at the moment.

I'm going to leave it there for now, I'm a bit limited for time today. The Indians need to put the Yankees in their rear-view mirror for 2013 and move on. They've got an off-day now before flying to Detroit to face the Tigers tomorrow for a three-game series. Up first is Ubaldo (4-3, 4.83 ERA) against Tigers ace Justin Verlander (7-4, 3.70 ERA) who we've had some success against recently. We really need to turn things around and there's no better time or place than against our division rivals. Its still early in the season but we really can't afford to lose any more ground. It's also the MLB Draft tonight and the Indians have the 5th pick, so I may weigh in on who we select tonight with a post tomorrow (yet to be determined... we'll see). Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

Tampa Tops Tribe, Takes Two

That's some serious alliteration in the title huh? Unfortunately it's not in the Indians favour as the Tribe lost the rubber game yesterday afternoon, losing the series to Tampa Bay two-to-one. It began on Friday night in a bizarre rain-delayed game which the Tribe couldn't muster enough energy for, losing 9-2 in the early hours of Saturday morning. Cleveland didn't let the lack of sleep bother them Saturday afternoon though, shutting down the Rays offense in a 5-0 win to even the series. Despite getting plenty of hits yesterday, the Indians couldn't turn them into runs and lost the game 11-3 after McAllister ran into some early trouble, and lost the series overall. Luckily the Tigers haven't taken advantage and we are still just a 0.5 game behind them in the AL Central. Let's have a look at what I liked and didn't like against the Rays:

A Sunny Saturday With Ubaldo

Ubaldo Jimenez took to the mound Saturday afternoon and pitched an absolute gem, one of his best games in an Indians jersey. I got home from work in time to catch it all and was overjoyed to see Jimenez pitching so well. He was dominant against the Rays offense, pitching 8 shutout innings, giving up just 4 hits and walking only 1, whilst striking out 7. What impressed me most was his level of control, his ability to get ahead in the count, and the way he made the Rays swing and miss so often. Ubaldo doesn't have overpowering stuff anymore but he's using what he's got left to outsmart the opposition and nowhere was that more evident than Saturday. Tampa Bay just couldn't figure him out. It was an almost perfect day for Ubaldo and it was great to see him go 8 innings, the first time he's lasted that long since his second game as an Indian, on August 10 2011 against Detroit. The win takes his overall record to 4-3 and gives him a much healthier looking 4.83 ERA, with 60 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched.

Jimenez has really turned his season around and I for one could not be happier. Credit must go to pitching coach Mickey Callaway as well, who has worked wonders fixing Ubaldo's herky-jerky mechanics and getting his head straight. Only a month ago we were debating whether to cut our losses with the Dominican pitcher, since he looked totally lost on the mound and there was no hope in sight. But Callaway and the Indians staff have performed a miracle on a Biblical scale and Jimenez looks like a new man, pitching with confidence and getting his command under control. He's a joy to watch now (most of the time, he's still a pitcher after all) and gives the Indians a legitimate chance to win every day he pitches, something you couldn't say with a straight face only a few weeks ago. I'm not ready to proclaim that Ubaldo is back, because we'll never see the dominant Jimenez of 2010 again, but at the very least I can say he's on the right path now and will have a successful future in Cleveland if he can maintain this level of performance.

Over The Hill?

Poor Rich Hill. Life as a major league relief pitcher is never easy, and is always full of inconsistencies but the 33 year-old left-hander is struggling mightily in 2013. After getting off to a decent start in Cleveland, getting us through some tough jams and pitching well in the clutch, Hill's form has nosedived off a cliff of late and he's become somewhat of a liability out of the pen now. Hill sits with a bloated 8.44 ERA, giving up 20 hits in 16 innings, with a 1.88 WHIP. He had a really tough series against the Rays; Hill got pounded Friday night after the rain delays, giving up 5 hits for 3 runs in just an inning of work. Then yesterday he came into the ballgame and gave up 3 hits for 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning, effectively putting the game out of reach for the Indians.

I know Francona levied hard to get Hill to Cleveland in the winter, and he earned his spot on the team out of Spring Training, but I think it's time the manager had a serious look at whether keeping Hill on the team is really in the Tribe's best interests right now. At the moment Hill is doing more harm than good, to himself and the team, and might benefit from a stint in Columbus to try and fix his problems on the mound. Watch this space...

Player Of The Series

I've already spoken at length about Ubaldo and I have a habit of choosing starting pitchers for this award. It would be easy to give it to Jimenez again and he's very deserving. But he wouldn't have gotten that win if it wasn't for a certain designated hitter and his big day at the plate. Our grizzled veteran Jason Giambi powered the Tribe offense on Saturday and provided the run support for Jimenez. Giambi has been red hot at the plate lately, and had a fantastic Saturday. He smashed a 2 run homer, his 5th of the year, in the second inning to give the Tribe the lead and then added an RBI single in the third to pad the lead a little bit more. Giambi now has a .203 batting average (it was a lot worse last week) with 5 HR and a pretty impressive 19 RBI in 69 at-bats. The 42 year-old has been really productive in that DH role lately and long may it continue. He's Player of the Series against the Rays, congrats old man.

The schedule doesn't relent for the Indians now, in fact it gets worse. Cleveland travel to New York today to face the Yankees and Justin Masterson (8-3, 3.07 ERA) will face-off against Andy Pettitte (4-3, 3.83 ERA), whose returning from injury. This is the start of a long and testing road-trip for the Tribe and I'm not expecting miracles; a clean split would suit me just fine. As long as we get back to Cleveland still in touch with the Tigers at the top of the division, I'll be happy.

Thanks for reading.