First Half Season Review: Pitchers

Yesterday I rounded off my review of the Indians' position players for the first half, you can find that here (or just scroll down you bums). Today the focus is on our pitchers, who've had a mixed season but overall I'd say they've been alright. Especially when you consider that many predicted the rotation to be a complete train-wreck this year. Without further ado:

Rotation

Justin Masterson A-

First time All Star Justin has rediscovered some of the magic he had in 2011 and has been the undisputed leader on the Tribe rotation. The biggest surprise has been his ability to get strikeouts, with 137 K's in 135.1 innings, good enough for 6th overall in the entire league, 4th in the AL. Not bad for a groundball pitcher huh? He's run into a bit of trouble lately, especially with his control (54 walks, 4th highest in the league), but he continues to pitch well every 5 days and has become the most reliable pitcher on the staff. Hopefully he can remain this good in the second half, maybe even get close to 20 wins. That would be fantastic.

Room for Improvement: Limit the walks.

Corey Kluber B+

A revelation this year and continuing to get better as the season progresses. Kluber has cemented himself as a solid number 2 behind Masterson since Zach McAllister got hurt in June. He has flourished with the added responsibility. Brilliant so far.

Room for Improvement: Keep doing what you're doing,

Zach McAllister B+

Zach started the year wonderfully before a finger injury at the beginning of June halted his progress. Showed enough of his supreme talent in his 11 starts though and can hopefully return to that level of effectiveness when he comes off the DL later this month. His introduction back into the rotation could be like a new signing and could just be what the rotation needs for the playoff-push in the second half.

Room for Improvement: Get healthy and pitch exactly the same as you did before.

Ubaldo Jimenez C-

Just when everyone had given up on him, Ubaldo somehow managed to sort himself out. We have finally begun to see flashes of the player we thought we were acquiring in the 2011 trade. It's not been all roses though. Jimenez's pitch counts are astronomical, hitters are nearly always pushing him to 3-2, and as a result he barely makes it past the 5th inning anymore. Some of that is luck and some of it is down to the defense, but Ubaldo has to find a way to pitch deeper into games if he is to have a future in Cleveland after 2013. At the moment, most people don't imagine him as part of the 2014 rotation. He has to prove them wrong in the second half.

Room for Improvement: Get at least 6 innings in the majority of your starts. Must pitch longer.

Scott Kazmir B-

We should all be celebrating the fact Kazmir even made it out of Spring Training, let alone to the half way point of the season. He's not the star he was in Tampa Bay anymore but we realise that, so expectations were low to begin with. Still, Scott has been a solid back-of-the-rotation starter, eating innings and has become one of the feel-good stories of 2013. A pleasant surprise all in all.

Room for Improvement: Keep contributing like you have. Limit the hits.

Trevor Bauer D

In the handful of spot-starts Bauer made in the first half, he's shown he's still not quite MLB-ready. Not yet anyway. Trevor is still struggling with his control, walking 16 batters in just 17 major league innings. The problem is, he's hardly setting AAA alight either. His numbers in Columbus aren't exactly mouth-watering, a 4.06 ERA in 14 starts, 76 hits and 9 HRs in 77.2 innings. I think Bauer could benefit from spending the majority of the second half in Columbus, and only join the big club in September. The elite talent is still obvious, he has possibly the best stuff on the roster, but a bit more seasoning at the AAA level is necessary to harness that potential.

Room for Improvement: Work on that control, have to limit those walks. Be patient, your chance will come.

Carlos Carrasco F

Carrasco's 6 starts with the big club can be considered a train-wreck by all accounts. He only pitched 1 quality start, against the Royals on June 17th, when he pitched 7.1 innings of 1 run ball and deserved a victory his team-mates couldn't provide. Aside from that single game he's been hideous. 47 hits and 29 earned runs in just 28.2 innings leaves him with a sky-high 9.10 ERA at the All Star break. The centre-piece of the 2009 Cliff Lee trade has failed to rebound successfully from the Tommy John surgery that kept him sidelined in 2012. It's not all doom and gloom for Carrasco though; he's been lighting up Columbus, with 60 strikeouts in 54.2 innings, with an impressive 3.29 ERA. He just hasn't put it all together at the major league level yet. There's still time, but he has to prove it to the big club, and the fans, sooner rather than later.

Room for Improvement: Transfer dominance from AAA level to major leagues. Avoid controversy.

Bullpen

Chris Perez D+

What a roller-coaster of a season so far for Perez, but he's actually been very good since his return from the disabled list. With expectations at an all time low, Perez seems to be pitching better than ever before, with 4 relatively incident-free saves within a period of 5 days in the run-in to the All Star break. He now needs to carry this consistency into the second half and become the closer he was in 2011 and 2012.

Room for Improvement: Keep your mouth shut and pitch. Stay healthy.

Vinnie Pestano D

Oh Vinnie, what happened man? Pestano has not been the same pitcher we've been accustomed to seeing so far in 2013. He's been struggling, the life in his fastball just doesn't seem right, and it's led to questions about his health and/or mental approach. Whatever the problem is, Vinnie needs to take these few days of rest to re-focus and fix himself. If its a physical problem, hopefully the club can give him the time he needs to recuperate. Pestano at 100% takes our bullpen to another level.

Room for Improvement: Fix what's ailing you and return to the Pestano we all know and love.

Joe Smith C

Normally one of our best bullpen guys but even Smith has struggled at times this year, especially lately (could be to due to being over-worked). Like Pestano, Joe needs to re-energise himself during the break and prepare himself for the second half. We're gonna need him at full health for the run-in.

Room for Improvement: Embrace the responsibility of carrying the load when the rest of the bullpen is failing.

Cody Allen B+

Arguably the lone bright spot in this year's bullpen, Cody Allen has established himself as a very good relief pitcher, maybe even a future closer (his strikeout rate of 11.80 K/9 is astounding). I've been extremely impressed with his composure and ability to handle the high-pressure situations that Francona throws him into. Excellent so far.

Room for Improvement: Keep it up.

Matt Albers C

Albers has been better than I thought he would be during the first half but like so many others he needs to cut down his walks if he wants to be an effective reliever in this bullpen. To his credit he has given up the least amount of home runs (2) amongst the bullpen staff with 10+ appearances.

Room for Improvement: Work on your control.

Bryan Shaw C

Shaw gets a bad rap from some fans but he's largely been effective in his 39 appearances thus far. Nothing spectacular but he's got the job done. I'd prefer if Francona left him out of some of the more volatile situations though. Shaw should strictly be used in emergencies during tight games, as I'd prefer to see Allen or Smith.

Room for Improvement: Limit the walks and hits.

Rich Hill D-

After starting the season so well, Hill has been a disaster ever since, with a lot of fans expecting the news of his release weeks ago. Rich is still capable of getting outs and there's been signs of him turning things around lately, but the fan's confidence in him is still pretty low. I'm a big fan of that sweeping curve ball though, the way it leaves hitters completely frozen at the plate. Hill needs to pitch better in the second half, like he did to end the first, or he won't last the year in Cleveland.

Room for Improvement: Cannot afford to keep walking the first batter you face or your days are numbered.

Nick Hagadone D

The once-promising left hander has had his fair share of troubles like the rest of the bullpen and needs to make the most of his next opportunity with the big club when his name is called again. Like Hill he needs to work on his control and limit the walks, or the Tribe will look elsewhere for left handed relief.

Room for Improvement: Cut down those walks and be prepared next time you make it to the bigs.

Not applicable for grading: Brett Myers, Scott Barnes, Matt Langwell, Joe Martinez, Danny Salazar, David Huff, Preston Guilmet, CC Lee

Myers was one of the off-season signings acquired to help shore up the rotation but injury has ruled him out of having any effect on the Indians in the first half. Danny Salazar is the highlight of this bunch, his impressive debut last week causing a quite a stir.

So there you have it, my review of each player as the first half has come to an end. The second half will reveal whether the Indians pitching staff are pretenders, like the previous 2 years, or contenders; can the Tribe actually make a real push for a playoff spot? Our hopes will lie largely with the rotation and the bullpen, and their collective performances will determine just how far these 2013 Indians will go.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the All Star Game tonight.

First Half Season Review: Position Players

The Indians enter the All Star break with a 51-44 record, good enough for 2nd place in the AL Central, just 1.5 games behind Detroit. It's been quite a journey so far and we've seen a good deal of ups and downs along the way. Here is my season review for the position players up to this point, based on my expectations of what we expected out of Spring Training, as well as my feelings about how they can go forward into the second half of 2013. Enjoy:

Catchers

Carlos Santana B+

Despite a slump here and there, Santana has been one of the Tribe's more consistent hitters so far and a constant threat in the middle of the lineup. He's only just behind Kipnis in terms of OBP (.382), amazing for a catcher. He narrowly missed out on being an All Star this year and arguably deserved it more than the Royals' Salvador Perez. Santana has become one of the best catchers in the American League, albeit with some concerns about his defensive abilities behind the plate. Still, he's had a very good first half all in all.

Room for Improvement: Work on preventing so many passed balls. Keep getting on base.

Yan Gomes C+

A revelation behind the plate and effective with the bat as well, Gomes made a considerable impact on the fans in the first half. I'd like to see Francona try and fit him into the lineup more often in the second half, slide Santana to first base and let Gomes catch. He's probably a better catcher than Sanrana defensively, so it will be interesting to see how much playing time Gomes sees from here on. Hopefully a lot.

Room for Improvement: Keep doing what you're doing.

Lou Marson N/A

Limited to just 3 games before getting hurt and is now on the 60 day DL for a shoulder issue that's kept him away from the club since April. Surely considered the 3rd choice catcher now since Gomes has done so well in his absence.

Room for Improvement: Get healthy, fight for your spot when the opportunity arises.

Infielders

Nick Swisher C

The face of the franchise has struggled to play like the star he was expected to be. That might be unfair on Swisher, he's never been a true star player at any stage in his career, but the Indians paid him a lot of money to perform like one in Cleveland. Had a terrible June when he played through injury but has started to turn things around a bit lately. His positive attitude and enthusiasm in the clubhouse has undeniably had an impact on the team though. He's a big reason why this team has been so fun to watch.

Room for Improvement: Get that batting average up. Play like a guy who deserves to be hitting 4th/5th.

Mark Reynolds C-

Reynolds got off to a blistering start, crushing every ball in sight in April, before declining rapidly in May and he hasn't been able to turn things around since. The grade I've given him might seem a bit harsh for a guy who has hit 15 home runs (still leads the team) but he's been such a liability at the plate since April that its easy to forget how good he was earlier in the season. Maybe now we're seeing why Arizona and Baltimore were happy to let him leave, despite his impressive home run totals. When he's slumping, he's a black hole in the lineup. Reynolds need to take the All Star break as an opportunity to re-focus and re-energise.

Room for Improvement: Improve on the woeful .218 batting average. Bring the power back.

Jason Giambi C

The veteran has had his critics all year but he's been better than I thought he would be up to this point. The .200 batting average is painful to look at but considering he's effectively a 42 year-old cheerleader on this team, he's not doing too badly. And I mean no disrespect with that cheerleader remark (just being a wise-ass) because the job he's been doing as a leader in the clubhouse has obviously had a positive effect on the team so far. Francona loves him and he's met my expectations so far in his limited opportunities.

Room for Improvement: Make the most of your time left in The Show. Get to 10 HR's by end of year.

Jason Kipnis A

Quickly becoming the heart and soul of this team and now an All Star, deservedly so too. Hard to find many faults in his game, especially since he got hot with the bat in June, winning the AL Player of the Month award for his efforts. Got off to a slow start in April but he was playing hurt in his defense. Has more than made up for it since though, and now leads the team in batting average (.301), RBI (57), stolen bases (21), hits (96), runs (53) and OBP (.383). Nearly every offensive category actually. I've even seen him mentioned in some AL MVP conversations (way down the ladder in 8th/9th but still, just to be part of the conversation is incredible). An amazing first half for the JK Kid.

Room for Improvement: Cut down the strikeouts. Stay consistent with the bat in second half.

Mike Aviles B

The invaluable utility man would likely be starting every day for a lot of other teams, such is his quality. He's been a great addition to the team and his versatility off the bench has been put to use by Francona in a variety of ways. We've seen him at SS, 2B, 3B, even LF once or twice, and he's been solid at every position. His production dipped slightly when he was thrust into the role of starter, when Cabrera went on the DL, but overall he's been a reliable and effective option off the bench in the first half. I'm a big fan of Aviles.

Room for Improvement: Try and get those power numbers up, otherwise just continue as before.

Asdrubal Cabrera B-

Injury has hindered his season a bit but he's still one of the best shortstops in the AL and remains a wizard with the glove, pulling off some spectacular plays in the field and making it look routine. Seems to be finding his groove a bit lately, hopefully an encouraging sign heading into the second half. He's still our premier trade chip, with the Cardinals and Yankees very keen, but I'd be sad to see him go this month. I'd prefer the Indians to keep hold of him for as long as possible, at least until the end of the year, but his days are likely numbered since Lindor is progressing so well. Time will tell just how much longer Cabrera will remain in Cleveland...

Room for improvement: Get the .255 batting average up. Stop chasing so many pitches outside the zone.

Lonnie Chisenhall C

After an impressive Spring Training, Lonnie struggled to start the campaign and was soon sent to Columbus to fix his swing and reset himself. His stint at AAA did wonders for him and he's been remarkably solid since his return. Looks a lot more comfortable now at the major league level than he did previously. See my KC re-cap yesterday for more on Chiz's encouraging performances.

Room for Improvement: Be more disciplined at the plate and the .243 batting average will grow in time.

Outfielders

Michael Brantley A-

Brantley is quietly having a great 2013, some might even say a breakout year for the outfielder. He's starting to look like the talent we hoped we'd get in the CC Sabathia trade of 2009. Brantley has successfully hit in nearly every spot in the lineup and has become an invaluable part of the offense, especially adept at scoring runners in clutch situations (48 total RBI, second on the team behind Kipnis). He's been equally good in the field as well, a crucial part of the outfield trio that has helped make us much better defensively. Brantley is one to watch in the second half, so long as he keeps up this level of performance.

Room for Improvement: Not a lot since his power is progressing nicely of late. Keep up the first half pace.

Michael Bourn B

A finger injury on April 14th kept him out for nearly a month and prevented him from finding his groove early on but he's been everything we expected since his return. Fantastic defensively and near-unstoppable running down the first base line, he's proving his worth since we poached him late in the off-season.

Room for Improvement: I expect to see more stolen bases. Produce more RBI's in the second half.

Drew Stubbs C+

A terrific outfielder and natural defender, and practically impossible to catch in a double-play, Stubbs' speed is deadly both defensively and offensively. But the guy strikes out too much, even for a number 9 guy (he's second on the team behind Reynolds, with 93 strikeouts in 287 at-bats). It's hard to knock his effort and he comes across as a very likeable guy, but he has to be more disciplined at the plate. Too often he's an easy out.

Room for Improvement: Cut down the strikeouts. Other than that, keep doing what you're doing.

Ryan Raburn C+

Versatile like Aviles, Raburn has seen the majority of time in right field and has been an important figure in the Indians' first half success. His power threat has been a big bonus off the bench, with an impressive 10 home runs before the All Star break. Raburn even earned the AL Player of the Week award for April 29th -May 5th. Hopefully Raburn can maintain this pace in the second half and Francona can find a way to maximise his bat when he's at his best.

Room for Improvement: Get hot with the bat again like you did in late April/ early May.

Ezequiel Carrera N/A

Began 2013 with the club but was among the unlucky few cut before the end of Spring Training. He managed to get picked up by the Phillies though, before they eventually released him and the Tribe re-acquired him once again in early May. Has only played in 2 games so far, both in May, and hasn't featured for the Indians since. Carrera could still prove to be useful though; the Indians could put his impressive speed to good use late during a playoff-push or he could become a useful trade chip if the club decide to make any moves in the near future.

Room for Improvement: Make yourself useful, via performance on the field or as a potential player to trade.

Not applicable for grading: Omir Santos, Cord Phelps, John McDonald

McDonald and Phelps had more at-bats than Carrera and Marson combined in the first half but their influence on the team was negligible at best. McDonald has been traded and Phelps doesn't really figure into the Indians future, not yet anyway. Santos is strictly a depth player in case of injury.

Overall, despite their ups and downs, the offense has been impressive as a unit and the biggest reason for the Tribe's success in the first half. The good news is there is still room for improvement. Provided Cabrera doesn't get traded, he has the ability to produce more. Reynolds can hopefully break out of his slump and Swisher can revert back his career-norm in terms of offense. There's a lot more to look forward to from this offense. They aren't finished yet.

Thanks for reading. Pitchers review coming shortly.

Tribe Enter Break In Royal Fashion

What a fantastic way to cap off the first half of the season, sweeping the Royals in three games as the All Star Game draws near this Tuesday. The Indians have been in fine form of late and had everything working for them in this series, shutting out KC 3-0 on Friday, beating them 5-3 on Saturday, before sweeping them with a fine 6-4 victory today, Sunday. This afternoon's win leaves the Indians with a 51-44 record, remarkable given how streaky the team have been at times, and the club are just 1.5 games behind the Tigers in the race for AL Central. As Wayne Campbell so nicely put it: Game on!

Kluber Continues To Impress

Corey Kluber is having a hell of a season for the Indians in 2013. His first half numbers don't initially dazzle the eye, and that's partly due to him feeling his way into the season, but for a guy who wasn't even supposed to be part of this club's rotation this year,he ain't doing too badly if I say so myself. At the break he has a 3.88 ERA, with 94 strikeouts in 95 innings and just 22 walks. Kluber appears to be getting better every time he takes the mound and his latest outing ranks amongst his best so far.

Kluber kicked off the series against Kansas City on Friday with a dominating pitching performance. He lasted 7 2/3 innings, surrendering only 3 hits and 3 walks, to go along with 8 strikeouts, whilst all the while keeping the Royals off the scoreboard. He was damn near untouchable, like he has been so often since the start of June. With Zach McAllister missing from the rotation due to injury, Kluber has picked up the torch and has cemented himself as the number 2 starter in McAllister's absence. If he can continue to pitch like this in the second half of the season, and McAllister can return to full health and be effective like he was before he got hurt, our rotation will immediately look a lot better. In fact, it would be so much better that I'm almost willing to admit that the Indians wouldn't need to trade for a new starter before July's deadline ends. A rotation led by Masterson, McAllister and Kluber inspires a lot of confidence in me, and if all three guys can continue to pitch into September like they have done so far, well I reckon the team can only prosper.

Player Of The Series

There are a number of worthy candidates for the award this series, Kluber amongst them for the reasons I have just mentioned. But my pick for this series goes to our young third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall, for his efforts at the plate and in the field over the last couple of days. Lonnie smashed the first grand slam of his MLB career on Saturday, his 4 RBI bomb fuelling the Tribe to the 5-3 win. His grand slam ultimately proved to be the difference, supporting Scott Kazmir's sterling effort on the mound (6 1/3 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts for his 5th win of the season). Not only was Lonnie impressive at the plate against KC, he was also confident and impressive with the glove, making all the routine plays at third, showing none of the nerves he displayed earlier on in the year. Chiz made a superb catch during today's game, catching a towering pop-up over the camera-man's railing by the third base dugout, pulling it off with ease. It's just so refreshing to see him playing with this level of confidence, looking like he finally belongs on a major league field. He's really starting to progress nicely now and just needs to maintain this level throughout the second half of the season. Keep it up Lonnie and congrats.

So now we can all look forward to seeing Masterson and Kipnis in New York on Tuesday at the All Star Game. I hope both guys manage to get into the game for a bit, and I'll be making the effort to stay up late here in the UK to watch the game. Keep your eyes peeled here to the blog over the next couple of days, I'll have a first half season review coming up shortly. Until then...

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Too Much For Toronto

Are we beginning to turn things around against the AL East? Possibly, or maybe we're just pretty good against the Blue Jays, the cellar-dwellers of that monstrous division (hey, they're still pretty good). Either way, the Indians faithful can celebrate another series victory today, closing the gap on the Tigers a little bit more. Detroit fell to the White Sox this afternoon so the distance has been narrowed down to just 2.5 games.

The Tribe kicked the series off on Tuesday with a 3-0 win, thanks to a solid effort from Ubaldo Jimenez, who managed to keep the Jays scoreless through his 6 innings of work. He wasn't flawless and ran into trouble more than a few times, but he remained calm and escaped danger to earn his 7th win of the season. I managed to watch the entire game and kept fearing the worst, that Toronto would finally make us pay for Ubaldo's awful location, but the big hit never came for the Jays and the Indians emerged victorious. Ubaldo only walked 2 Jays during his outing, but he really struggled to get ahead in the count and constantly went deep into at-bats. He has to be more efficient and effective with his pitches in the future because when he pitches like this, he'll never make it past 6 innings. We're often lucky to get 5 from him. But I'm not going to be too negative, he worked hard and earned the Tribe the win and that's all you can ask for at the end of the day.

Cleveland dropped game two of the series 5-4 to even things up. Justin Masterson was decent through 6 2/3 innings but had location trouble again, walking 5 batters. He did enough to keep the Tribe in the game though but it all came crashing down in the top of the 9th inning, the Jays striking for 3 runs off Rich Hill and Joe Smith to put the game beyond the Indians. The home side did try to rally back into the game, scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th, but it wasn't to be.

The Indians quickly put Wednesday's loss behind them and wrapped up the series in style today, winning 4-2 to take the series win. On a beautiful summer's day in Cleveland, rookie right-hander Danny Salazar made his first major league start for the Indians and pitched an absolute beauty, carrying a no-hitter into the 6th inning. He out-duelled Jays ace and reigning NL Cy Young winner R.A Dickey for the first big league win of his young career. It was quite a debut for the 23 year-old and he'll be the happiest man in town tonight. Salazar lasted 6 innings (he was on a pitch count) and gave up just 2 hits for 1 run, with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. It's unlikely Salazar will stay with the big club though, today was just supposed to be a spot-start, but his superb performance might earn him an extended stay past the All Star break.

Player Of The Series

Is there any question? I have to go with the rookie from the Dominican Republic. To step up the way he did was amazing, to pitch with such confidence on your big league debut. Danny Salazar fully deserves the award for this series. He may have elevated himself above Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco in the Tribe rotation pecking order as well. He showed no nerves on the mound and left the game to an enthusiastic ovation from the home fans. Well done Mr Salazar. I'm looking forward to his next start already.

The Tribe welcome the Royals to Progressive Field tomorrow for the final series before the All Star break. Friday's game will see Corey Kluber (6-5, 4.23 ERA) take the mound against KC's Bruce Chen (3-0, 2.41 ERA). The Indians can hopefully take this winning momentum into the series against the Royals tomorrow and close the gap on the Tigers even more before we send Kipnis and Masterson off to NYC for the Midsummer Classic.

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Slip Behind, Lose Ground To Tigers

The Indians could only manage one win against our division rivals Detroit in this recent four-game series, losing yet more ground in the race for the AL Central. Cleveland have now lost five of their last six games and trail the Tigers by 3.5 games. Not an insurmountable lead of course, but this was still an important series the Indians needed to at least split to show they belong in the race, that they stand a legitimate chance at competing with Detroit. Obviously there is still some work to be done if we're to go head-to-head with the Tigers, who are one of the best teams in baseball (and I hate saying that).

We Live And Die On Pitching

Whether it be our starters or our bullpen, the Indians can only go as far as their pitchers take them. And lately they haven't taken them very far.

Let's begin with the bullpen, who have been our Achilles' heel all season long. A unit that were so strong, often dominate, in 2012 have fallen apart so quickly in 2013. Nothing highlighted this quite like Sunday's game. After another fantastic Corey Kluber outing (6 1/3 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and 10 strikeouts), the Indians carried a 6-1 lead into the 7th inning. You'd figure a healthy 5 run lead would be enough, even for our bullpen? You would be wrong of course, nothing about this bullpen's lack of ability to get outs should surprise any of us anymore. Joe Smith came in, one of our best guys on his day, but he's been shaky lately and was again on Sunday, letting Kluber's runner score as well as one of his own. The lead was cut to 6-3 as Vinnie Pestano entered the game to start the 8th inning. Pestano proceeded to give up 4 hits and a walk, capping it off with a Torii Hunter 3-run homer to tie the game 6-6. Poor Vinnie hasn't looked right all year and you have to start questioning is it a mental thing, or is something physically wrong? Whatever the problem, Pestano needs to be kept out of tight situations until he's been fixed because he was terrible on Sunday and nearly cost the Tribe the game. Thank goodness for Michael Brantley, who saved our bullpen's ass with his heroics (more on this later) to win the game 9-6 for the Indians, their solo victory of the series.

But what about our starters? They've been better than a lot of us predicted but they aren't making life any easier for the bullpen this season. If every starter not named Justin Masterson could last a bit longer in games, we'd surely be performing much better and the bullpen probably wouldn't be suffering quite so much. Even Masterson had a stinker this series, having his shortest outing so far in 2013 as the Tigers got to him quickly Friday night in the 7-0 loss. But I feel we need to see a bit more from our starters on a regular basis. I'm not pointing fingers at Kluber, he's been great and has pitched past the 6th inning in a lot of his starts lately. However guys like Ubaldo and Kazmir, who honestly have done alright this year, they need to last a little longer if our bullpen is going to stand any chance. Kazmir pitched well again last night but couldn't make it through 6 innings, leaving it up to our tired bullpen to carry the Tribe to the finish (credit to them as well, they pitched pretty well last night, despite losing 4-2) Then we get into the Carrasco and Bauer situations and that's a completely different mystery, we never know how long those guys will last into games (not very long more often than not). So given what has transpired recently, the rotation could use some serious help and I'd like to see the front office make a move this month to remedy this. Go out and get one of those starting pitchers, because this group needs more stability if we're going to remain competitive in the second half of the season.

Congrats To The All Stars

It's not all doom and gloom here at England Tribe, as I thought I'd quickly mention Justin Masterson and Jason Kipnis were both announced as All Stars on Saturday. It's fantastic news and great to see both players recognised for their strong starts to the season. Both guys are first time All Stars as well, so they must be ridiculously excited for the trip to New York next week. I'm really glad Kipnis made it onto the team, it was going to be pretty close whether he made the cut or not. Masterson has easily been the best pitcher on the team in 2013 and he deserves his spot amongst the AL pitchers. I just hope both players manage to find themselves involved in the game and not get left on the bench. I'm looking forward to watching both guys represent the Tribe and I expect I'll be making a special effort to stay up that night to watch the game (it won't start until after midnight here in the UK).

Player Of The Series

Despite a pretty miserable series, there's only one winner for me and that's Michael Brantley. He carried the Indians on his back this series and put in an amazing performance on Sunday. Batting in the number 5 slot, Brantley smashed 2 home runs as well as a double for a total of 5 RBI. It was his second home run of the day that proved to be the difference. Brantley destroyed the ball for a 2-run bomb that put the Tribe back in the lead after the bullpen had allowed the Tigers to tie the game in the previous half-inning. Honourable mentions to Kluber and Lonnie Chisenhall, whose bat has come alive of late as he's hit a bit of form since his return from AAA. But Brantley's memorable Sunday earns him the award for this series, congrats Mike.

The Indians welcome Toronto to Cleveland today, to begin a three-game series. It'll be the Jays' big winter acquisition Josh Johnson (1-3, 4.89 ERA) up against Ubaldo Jimenez (6-4, 4.67 ERA). We need to start this series off better than we did against Detroit so I'd like to see Ubaldo last longer than the 5th inning tonight. Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

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.