Indians Just Heavenly Against Angels

The Tribe come home from their West coast road-trip with a well earned series sweep against the Angels, and a sense of renewed optimism as well. The highlight of the series was undoubtedly Drew Stubbs' 14th inning 2-run homer on Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning (just after 8am here in the UK!) to cement the series win. It was another memorable moment for the Tribe and a just reward for all the fans who had stuck with the team Tuesday night. The Indians have now surpassed their win total from last year and we still have over a month of baseball left to play.

Let's take a look at some talking points from the last few days:

Guys Stepping Up When It Matters

This series certainly helped restore some faith and optimism in this Tribe team. And that was largely thanks to a few key guys who we expected to perform this year but haven't really delivered yet, stepping up in the big moments.

Lonnie Chisenhall, our young third baseman, played an exceptional series. He's had his fair share of troubles this season, at the plate and with the glove, but he was brilliant in Anaheim. Chiz's 2 run homer on Monday fuelled the Indians offense in their 5-2 victory, getting the series off to a hot start. He made some impressive plays at third base as well, snagging a sharp Josh Hamilton grounder in Wednesday's game to get Rich Hill out of the inning unscathed. I'm a big fan of Lonnie, he comes across as such a likeable guy, so I'm extra eager for him to have success with the Tribe.

Nick Swisher has also been on form of late, and it looks as if he's starting to turn the corner a bit. It's safe to say many fans and critics have labelled Swisher's debut season in Cleveland as disappointing. He hasn't produced at the level most of us expected. However he had a fine series in Anaheim, hitting 2 home runs in the series to take his season tally to a respectable 15. They're not amazing numbers by any means but it does now at least appear that Swisher has gotten some heat into his bat finally. Long may it continue.

But the most important man for the Indians during the series was probably Drew Stubbs. The right fielder was the hero of the series thanks to his extra-innings heroics on Tuesday night. His 14th inning 2-run homer nudged the Indians ahead and ended up earning the series win, an invaluable victory in our late season push for the post-season. It was past 3 am for the Indians fans watching in Cleveland and the East, and just after midnight for those very vocal supporters left in the stadium in Anaheim. I actually woke up just before 8 am here in England to start getting ready for work. I did my usual routine of turning on MLB TV and I saw to my disbelief the Indians were still playing. Luckily for me I had awoken just in time to see Chisenhall reach base with a line drive single into centre field, and then Stubbs smashed that 2-run shot off LA's poor Joe Blanton. It was a euphoric moment and I was jumping around the room like a lunatic, possibly the most active and energetic I've ever been at 8 am. A great moment and I'm happy for Drew that he could contribute with his bat. We all know he's a quality defensive player but too often he fails to impress at the plate, so it was great to see him come through in a clutch situation, and in style too.

Dice-K Released

So last week I entertained the idea of Daisuke Matsuzaka being promoted from AAA to fill out a spot in the rotation, should the opportunity arise. He's been very solid in Columbus over the last couple of months and I thought he could possibly contribute something to the Indians pitching staff, bring a veteran presence if you will.

Well that concept was put to bed pretty quickly, with the news on Tuesday that Matsuzaka has been released by the Indians. Apparently he spoke to the front office, who made it quite clear to him that his chances of making the big league club were limited between now and the end of the season, and so he requested his immediate release and the club granted his wish. Daisuke's goal now will be to sign on with a different team and hope his efforts in Columbus since the All Star break were enough to sway a team to take him on. I wish him luck in his search to find work elsewhere and just hope he doesn't sign on with a team that could directly harm us in our push for the post-season. Mike Axisa at CBS has written an interesting article pondering where Dice-K could end up.

I was really excited when I first heard the news he had signed with us in the winter, since I was an admirer of his during his hey-day in Boston in 2007 and 2008. So I was looking forward to his first start in an Indians uniform. But it just wasn't to be obviously, and thankfully the Indians should have sufficient cover for starting pitching even with Matsuzaka leaving. Josh Tomlin has been progressing nicely in his rehab outings and is set to make his first start for Columbus on Thursday, almost a year to the day since his Tommy John surgery. With that in mind, I'm sure Chris Antonetti felt pretty comfortable allowing Dice-K to go.

Player Of The Series

It's got to be Drew Stubbs for the reasons I've previously stated. Honourable mentions must go to Nick Swisher, Lonnie Chisenhall, Zach McAllister and my boy Justin Masterson, for picking up his 14th win of the year.

The Indians return home now for a quick three game series against the Twins before jetting off on another road trip (a difficult one too, facing Atlanta and Detroit). The Indians have today to rest before Ubaldo Jimenez (9-7, 4.00 ERA) faces off against Minnesota's Samuel Deduno (7-7, 3.82 ERA) on Friday. Let's hope we can keep the momentum going and build on this hot streak.

Thanks for reading.

Indians Win In Minnesota The Hard Way

I was beginning to get really worried there for a second. Heck, I still am worried about this team and their chances at making the playoffs. With the way they're playing right now, despite grinding out a much needed series win against the Twins, I don't think we'll be watching October baseball in Cleveland in 2013.

But let's try to lose the pessimism and focus on the fact that the Indians battled throughout this series and emerged victorious. It didn't look like they would most of the time but they did and that's all that really matters.The Indians haven't had the best August (6-8 so far) but we're still just 3 games behind in the wild card with everything still to play for. Let's take a little look at some of the key points from this series in Minnesota.

Old Man Giambi Still Got It

Jason Giambi, our 42 year-old designated hitter, has had his fair share of detractors and critics this season. Many fans see him as a glorified cheerleader on this Indians team, at best an assistant coach to Francona in the locker room. But Giambi to his credit steps up to the plate every time he is called upon. He's not even close to the juggernaut he was at his peak and we knew that when the Indians signed him in the off-season. Hell, he's 42 years old, the guy should be coaching or sat in a commentary booth. 

However, since Mark Reynolds' release the DH position has lost a viable option, thus increasing Giambi's chances of being in the lineup and starting games more often. And if he can keep producing big hits like he did on Wednesday afternoon then his spot on the team will be more than validated. Down by 3 runs in the 8th inning, Giambi stepped up with two runners on base and proceeded to smash his 8th home run of the season off Twins reliever Casey Fien to tie the game. It was a huge moment for the Indians, and without Giambi's homer the odds of the Tribe coming through victorious were slim that late in the contest. 

He's not going to bat .300 and he won't produce for us every time, but I'm glad Giambi can still provide a meaningful contribution to this Indians team on the field and not just through his leadership in the clubhouse.

A Japanese Alternative To Carrasco?

Carlos Carrasco has had a bad year in the big leagues. That much is obvious, and it's been well documented. I was hopeful he had begun to turn things around after his impressive 5 inning relief appearance against the Angels last week. But with Carrasco it always seems to be one step forward, two steps back. Francona was swayed enough by that Angels performance to hand Carlos the start for Wednesday's rubber game but the 26 year old right-hander couldn't capitalise on the opportunity and had a disappointing game yet again. Carrasco was pulled after 4 and a 1/3 innings, giving up 10 hits for 4 runs with 4 strikeouts (he didn't walk anybody, a positive sign, but his pitches weren't missing many bats, the Twins hitting practically everything). His season statistics make for ugly reading: a 7.82 ERA, an 0-4 record, 58 hits surrendered in 38 innings, and opponents hitting .356 off him. 

Now if I was the manager, I think I'd safely say that Carrasco's future as a starting pitcher for the 2013 Indians should be over. I'm not saying his days as a starter are over for good; nothing is stopping him from coming back in 2014 and proving he has what it takes. But I think now that every game from here until the end of September is considered "must win", putting Carrasco out there as part of the rotation is a bad idea and doesn't give the Indians a great chance of winning ball games. I still think he could provide some effectiveness out of the bullpen this year, and maybe his major league future belongs as a reliever, but his time as an Indians starter needs to come to an end this season.

So who would replace him then? Who takes Carrasco's spot? 

The answer is more obvious than you might have thought. Remember a Japanese veteran pitcher named Daisuke Matsuzaka? Oh yeah, that guy. Only one of the most famous and successful Japanese pitchers in modern times, who caused a media storm when he signed for Boston in 2007. Well he's not at the level he once was and poor Dice-K didn't make the big club out of Spring Training, but after overcoming some injury troubles, Matsuzaka has quietly been having an impressive year in Columbus. Especially when you look at his numbers recently. In his last 8 starts, he pitched at least 7 innings in 7 of those 8 games. Since the All Star Break he has a 4-2 record with a 2.36 ERA and has been throwing some real gems these past few weeks. 

Matsuzaka's dominating run of late at the AAA level earns him a shot in my opinion. With Kluber out of action until mid-late September, I'm sure an opportunity will arise where the Tribe will need an emergency starter at some point over the next few weeks. Especially if another injury were to occur. What do the Indians have to lose by putting Matsuzaka out there? He's obviously in form and he's surely a better alternative than Carrasco right now. I would very much like to see what the 32 year old right-hander has to offer and judging by what he's exhibited in Columbus, it's pretty good.

Player Of The Series

A tough choice this week. Nobody on the team really stood out head and shoulders above everybody else during this series. Jason Kipnis was at his usual best, an offensive spark-plug. Giambi's important contribution I've already discussed, but he didn't do much else during the rest of the series. Michael Brantley had another fantastic day with the bat on Wednesday and right now looks like the best guy to put in the 4th spot, ahead of the struggling Asdrubal Cabrera. But the guy who wins the award this series for me is Zach McAllister, who pitched a solid game on Tuesday and was largely responsible for getting the Tribe back into this series. McAllister has been a bit rusty since returning from the DL but appeared to have his stuff working better this time around. Zach pitched 6 solid innings, giving up 4 hits for 2 runs, only 1 of them earned though. He walked just 1 batter and struck out an impressive 7 Twins. A very good day at the office for McAllister and we'll need more performances like this from him between now and the end of the season. Keep it up Zach and congrats.

The Indians remain on the road but travel a little farther away from home, way out west to Oakland for a three game series with the A's. It's going to be a tough trip as Oakland are having another fantastic season but we've fared well against them so far this year and the Tribe will be hoping that success continues, starting tomorrow when Justin Masterson (13-8, 3.59 ERA) faces off against Oakland's A.J. Griffin (10-8, 3.88 ERA). 

Thanks for reading.

What I Want In 2013

We're into the meat of Spring Training now and Opening Day is within our sights. With that in mind I thought I'd kick off this new blog with a wishlist of sorts: what I want to see from our Cleveland Indians this 2013 season. Some of it is largely obvious but necessary too. Without further ado...

1) Masterson and Jimenez to Bounce Back

Now this one is so obvious it should be on every Tribe fan's wishlist for 2013. Whether we like it or not, Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez are the "aces" of our pitching staff and both guys had pretty miserable 2012 campaigns. It's fair to say that expectations are about as low as can be so if Masterson and Jimenez can just get back to respectable form I think most Indians fans will be relatively happy. If one of them could regain some of their past magic (Masterson 2011, Jimenez 2010) and distinguish themselves as a real ace then we're golden. What a bonus that would be. Both guys are having a solid spring so far and look to be rejuvenated by the good feelings in the clubhouse that all the new additions have brought. Plus, if anyone can get the best out of Masterson, it's gotta be new skipper Terry Francona who never shied away from his admiration for the big righty during their time together in Boston. Time will tell but the success of this Indians team lies on the arms of Masterson and Jimenez. We need them to perform if we stand any chance at competing.

2) Stay Healthy (AKA Get Lucky)

Every MLB team gets hit with injuries over the gruelling season. It's part of the game. However if we can get a little bit of luck and keep our key guys healthy for the majority of the season, especially our speedy outfielders, we'll have a much better shot at staying with the Tigers this year. The most depressing sight in baseball is seeing your star player/s go down with long term injuries. So this wish is for us to get a bit of luck when it comes to the team's health. Fingers crossed...

3) New Boys Perform

The Indians had an unusually busy off-season this year and brought in a lot of new talent. If our new guys like Swisher, Bourn, Stubbs and Myers can just live up to their career averages then the Indians are immediately a more dangerous team in the American League. If any of them can surpass their average and have a career year, then that's even better! As long as each man can be on the field for the majority of the season and perform at the level we're accustomed to seeing, then the Tribe have a real shot at making the Playoffs.

4) Can the Back of the Rotation Surprise?

At the time of writing this, the 5th and final spot in the starting rotation is still up for grabs. I feel like whoever wins the job could surprise a few people in 2013. Yesterday Daisuke Matsuzaka was told by the organisation that he would not break camp with the Indians roster so the battle for the 5th spot is now down to Scott Kazmir and Carlos Carrasco (with Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer all but confirmed to be starting the season in the minors). Kazmir has been a Spring Training star and has surprised everyone during his bid to break back into the majors. Carrasco is now healthy after missing all of 2012 through injury and has had a solid spring so far, pitching well. It looks like everyone is leaning towards Kazmir grabbing that 5th spot and I think that would be fair. There are still a lot of questions about his durability and whether or not the velocity on his fastball can hold up over multiple innings but so far the signs have been good, if not great. The 5th spot in the rotation on the majority of major league clubs is usually the place for an average to below-average pitcher so if Kazmir does make the roster and contributes solid innings, the Cleveland front office will be overjoyed. With Zach McAllister already confirmed at number 4, the back of the rotation will be under watchful eyes all season. If somebody doesn't pan out or looks shaky, the good news is we have some decent guys ready and waiting to step up. Bauer is one of the best pitching prospects we have and could easily force his way onto the 25 man roster. If Dice-K does well at AAA he could be brought up, plus the young arms of Kluber and Carrasco will be stating their cases too. That's a lot of healthy competition, which can only be a good thing for the Tribe.

Overall this 2013 team will live or die on the strength of it's pitching. We all know the bullpen are pretty good but the starting pitchers are still a mystery at the moment. On paper our offense should be well equipped to keep us in games but we won't get anywhere if can't hold back the opposition. Hopefully the rotation can surprise the nay-sayers and play well. The season will depend on it.

Thanks for reading.