Tribe Use Chicken To Beat Orioles

My vote for 'Strangest Blog Title I've Ever Written' goes to the one above: Tribe Use Chicken To Beat Orioles. Yes, what you're reading is correct, the Indians team did in fact use a chicken in batting practice to help them overcome Baltimore in the rubber game last night. It worked and the Indians have now climbed ahead of the O's in the wild card race. And it's worth stating that no chickens were harmed in the process.

The series got off to a bad start, the Tribe dropping the first game 7-2 and losing Justin Masterson after an inning to a rib injury (more on that later). Thankfully the home-town team responded the next night behind a terrific outing by Ubaldo Jimenez, coming out on top 4-3 after a nervy 9th inning save from Chris Perez. Finally the Indians summoned the powers of the chicken and rallied to win the series last night, emerging victorious in a 6-4 ballgame. The series win keeps the Indians in the hunt for a playoff berth and hopefully the Tribe can kick on from here and take advantage of their September schedule, most games coming against sub .500 opposition.

Let's have a little look at some talking points from the Baltimore series:

Masterson's Season Could Be Over

Justin Masterson, the iron work-horse of our rotation, who leads the team in innings pitched, starts, wins, and strikeouts, had to leave Monday's game after just 1 inning due to an injury in his left rib cage. He's since been diagnosed with a strained left oblique muscle that could shelve him for the rest of the season. Normally this type of injury takes up to 4-6 weeks to heal but the Indians are optimistic Masterson can return to the team as soon as possible and hope he'll only miss one or two starts at the most.

It's a real shame to see Masterson struck down with such an injury. The big right-hander has had a fantastic season, earning a career high 14 wins so far. To be honest, he hasn't looked right for a few weeks now and this injury could explain why. If he's been playing through the pain, that could explain why his control has been out of sorts lately. The silver lining of course is that this injury has nothing to do with his precious arm, elbow or shoulder, and he should be able to make a full recovery without any hindering long-term effects. Here's hoping Justin makes it back before the end of the year and can contribute to our playoff push before September is over. Corey Kluber is scheduled to replace Masterson in the rotation, as he comes off the DL this week, and will face the Mets on Saturday.

Player Of The Series

This is difficult. There were a few contenders who stepped up over the last couple of days. Carlos Santana, who just keeps getting on base with more walks. Ryan Raburn, returning from the DL to make a splash in last night's game. earning 2 RBI. How about Ubaldo Jimenez, pitching 6 shutout innings on Tuesday on route to his 10th win of the season? All these guys are worthy of the award for this series but I can't look any further than one man. Mr Yan Gomes, who has cemented himself as a fan favourite, had 4 hits in the series for a total of 4 RBI, every single one of them absolutely crucial in earning the Indians the series win. Terry Francona just cannot keep this guy out of the lineup and Gomes' production, as well as his defensive prowess behind the plate, more than validate his selection. Congratulations to the Yanimal.

The Tribe can enjoy today off before welcoming the New York Mets to Progressive Field on Friday. I'm a little bit sad that Matt Harvey won't be making the trip but I'm also kind of glad; he won't be able to pitch against us, thus increasing our chances of taking home the series win. Friday's contest will see Scott Kazmir (7-7, 4.36 ERA) looking to rebound from his rough outings recently, as he's been battling fatigue, and he'll face off against the Mets' rookie Zach Wheeler (7-3, 3.36 ERA).

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Can't Top Tigers, Swept In Four

This was not how I hoped this series was going to turn out when I returned from my trip to Germany on Tuesday. Whilst I was away the Indians swept the Rangers, the White Sox, and took two of three from the Marlins. But yet again the Tribe came unstuck against our division foes, being swept over four brutal games.

I think we all need to recognise now that winning the AL Central is out of reach for this Indians squad in 2013. It's still mathematically possible of course but I don't see Detroit losing many games between now and the end of the season. Our best hope for the post-season will be through the wild card and the Indians now need to put this moral-sapping series behind them and concentrate on winning as many games as possible before the end of September. Thankfully we only play Detroit one more time towards the end of this month and our relatively easy schedule in September will make or break our playoff hopes.

I'm not going to do an in-depth series re-cap today, it'd be far too depressing. Instead I'm going to weigh in on a few talking points concerning the Tribe over the last few days.

Farewell Mr Reynolds

Our struggling slugger Mark Reynolds was finally put out of his misery and was designated for assignment by the Indians yesterday. And so his career in Cleveland comes to an end. Reynolds has told the front office he is unwilling to accept a demotion to AAA Columbus so he will surely be released over the course of the next few days. It'll be interesting to see if any other teams decide to take a flyer on Reynolds, or maybe the Indians can trade him for somebody useful to help us down the stretch (it's unlikely though).

It's a sad ending to what looked like a bright story early on in the season. Reynolds got off to a fantastic start in Cleveland, batting .301 in April with 8 home runs and 22 RBI. He was a key part of the offense and helped win a lot of games for the Indians over the first couple of months. But then the hits dried up and the strikeouts kept increasing. We all knew Reynolds had that side to his game; he has struck out at a ridiculously high level at every club he's been to. But that was ok as long as he was still hitting a few home runs. Right? Well that quickly became the problem, as his production at the plate has been non-existent since May. Francona had obviously lost all faith in Reynolds over the past few weeks and looked reluctant to insert him into the lineup on a daily basis. It has been pretty agonising to watch Reynolds recently, as he has looked largely over-matched nearly every day, becoming an automatic out for most opposing pitchers.

I'm somewhat sad to see Reynolds leave and it's a shame things couldn't work out the way we wanted. Having said that, I'm kind of relieved we don't have to endure watching him struggle at the plate any longer.There were a few fans calling for him to have his contract extended after his bright start to the campaign but I bet they're glad the front office didn't follow their advice now. Good luck in your future endeavours Mark. I'm sure he'll land onto another club in the near future. Some team out there will be willing to take a punt and see if his power can return (I expect the desperate Yankees may be monitoring the situation).

Raburn Earns An Extended Stay

Ryan Raburn has had a very impressive season off the bench for the Indians in 2013 and the club have rewarded his efforts with a 2 year extension that could see Ryan in Cleveland until the end of 2016. I have to say I'm pretty pleased the club have decided to keep Raburn on the team and I think he deserves it. His production has been a pleasant surprise this year, considering he was originally just a minor-league invite in the Spring. He's currently batting .274 with 13 home runs (3rd on the team) and 38 RBI, with 14 doubles as well. Not bad for a bench guy. Raburn's versatility in the field has also been of great benefit to the Tribe, slotting in with ease at both corner outfield spots as well as his natural position at second base. With Reynolds now leaving the team I can see Raburn playing a lot of DH between now and the end of September. I'm sure Francona will look to get him into the lineup as often as possible.

And what about Raburn as a pitcher? A couple of days ago you would have laughed in my face at the idea but after last night's emergency relief appearance the idea doesn't seem quite so ridiculous. And hey, the bullpen needs the help right? (I am of course joking). The Tribe's pen were exhausted again during the blowout 10-3 loss and Francona turned to Raburn to pitch the 9th inning. Ryan said no problem and proceeded to pitch a shutout inning as well as recording his first career strikeout. I don't imagine it was how Raburn intended to celebrate his contract extension, but he did add yet another layer to his versatility. The guy can do everything apparently. Congratulations to Mr Raburn.

Player Of The Series

This four-game set with Detroit has been a disaster of epic proportions but there were a couple of bright spots amongst the disappointment. Despite the Tribe losing all four games, there was some decent pitching involved. Two men stood head and shoulders above the rest: Corey Kluber, who went 7 and a 1/3 innings on Monday, giving up 6 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 6 whilst keeping Detroit scoreless. And Danny Salazar, who lasted 7 and 2/3 innings on Wednesday, giving up 7 hits and 4 runs, walking 1 and striking out an astounding 10 Tigers, often on fastballs that reached close to 100 mph. Both pitchers put in superb shifts: Kluber kept Detroit off the board in his outing, and the rookie Salazar, in just his second start, struck out the powerful Tigers with ease, although he did get hit for 2 HRs. It's tough to choose this week's Player Of The Series so I'm going to give it to both men, the first time I've done such a thing at England Tribe. Kluber has since been diagnosed with a finger injury that will keep him out for 4-6 weeks, a devastating blow to the right-hander who had turned his season into a very successful one. The impressive rookie Salazar will take his spot in the rotation and can hopefully continue to dominate unsuspecting opposition lineups.

The Tribe welcome MVP candidate Mike Trout and the Angels to Progressive Field today for a three-game series that the Indians must win. Our boys really need to rebound and do it quickly if they're to keep pace in the wild card chase. Despite Anaheim having a sub-par season and standing no chance of making the playoffs, they should not be underestimated, not with the talent they have on their roster. The Indians look to Scott Kazmir (7-4, 3.89 ERA) tonight to turn things back around and he'll faceoff against Angels ace Jered Weaver (6-5, 2.90 ERA). The Tribe need to bounce back in style and they need to start doing that tonight.

Thanks for reading.

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.

Unstoppable Tribe Sweep White Sox

The Indians made a bit of history last night, defeating the White Sox 4-0 to achieve a four-game series sweep in Chicago for the first time since 1948. Why is this important? Every Tribe fan knows why but I'll elaborate nonetheless: 1948 was the last time the Cleveland Indians won the World Series, led by Tribe heroes like Bob Feller and Bob Lemon. A good omen? We hope so.

The Indians could not have picked a better time to get hot, as our AL Central foes in Detroit have slipped somewhat of late. Their loss to the Rays last night coupled with the Indians fourth win in Chicago means your 2013 Tribe have vaulted back into first place (we're tied, but hey it's still first). I did not think we would get back on top this quickly after the dreadful start the Indians made to the month of June, but there you go, that's baseball and credit to the team for putting together this wonderful run lately.

Here's a quick re-cap of the series in Chi-Town:

Offensive Explosion Powers Tribe

The Indians kicked off the series with a double-header on Friday which became the longest 18 inning double-header in major league history. And it was oh so sweet for the Indians, who won both games thanks to our powerful offense putting the White Sox pitching staff to the torch.

Cleveland took the first win by a score of 19-10, with every Indians batter getting at least one RBI except for Asdrubal Cabrera (who still collected 3 hits and 3 runs). It looked like the Tribe were in for a long night after Trevor Bauer, making a spot-start from Columbus, got absolutely annihilated in just 2/3 of an inning, giving up 6 hits, 2 of which were home runs, for 5 earned runs before he was pulled. It was the worst possible way to start a double-header, where the preservation of your bullpen is key. Luckily it didn't bother the Indians in the slightest, as guys like Ryan Raburn (4 RBI), Drew Stubbs (3 RBI) and the King of June Jason Kipnis (2 RBI) fuelled the offense and carried the Indians to a dominating victory.

After that marathon opener, the Tribe had another game to win and they delivered in dramatic style. Carlos Carrasco took the mound for us and managed to save the bullpen a bit better than Bauer did. Carrasco wasn't very good but ground his way through 5 and 2/3 innings, surrendering 10 hits for 6 runs. He wasn't doing too bad, until a 4-run 6th inning proved to be his undoing. Chicago tacked on 2 more runs in the 8th inning off reliever Matt Langwell, leaving the Indians trailing 8-5 and with a considerable hole to climb out of in the 9th. It didn't faze the Indians one bit as they roared back to tie the game on a Kipnis sac-fly before Nick Swisher redeemed himself for his recent batting woes with a monster solo home run to right field off White Sox closer Addison Reed. That made it 9-8 to the Tribe and they never looked back, Vinnie Pestano getting his 6th save of the season.

Swisher was enjoying his return to Chicago, where he spent a pretty miserable season in 2008, and wasn't finished with his Friday night heroics. Swish was torturing White Sox fans again Saturday night, getting the game winning hit in the 8th inning to bring home Cabrera to put the Tribe on top 4-3. Chris Perez made his return to the closer's role and pitched a clean 9th inning (do not adjust your screen, it is true) for his 7th save of the season, cementing the Tribe's series win.

The cherry on top of this delightful series was delivered by Justin Masterson on a sunny Sunday afternoon. In a battle of the team's aces, Masterson out-duelled Chicago's Chris Sale in a 4-0 complete game shutout to seal the series sweep. Sale was very good as usual, giving up 3 runs over 8 innings with 10 strikeouts, but Masterson was in a different class altogether. Facing just 3 batters over the minimum, our tall right-hander cruised through 9 innings, giving up 6 hits and a single walk, to go along with 8 strikeouts on his way to his 10th win of the season. It's the third time in Masterson's career he's reached double digit wins with the Indians and he's just 2 away from equalling his career best 12 wins (in 2011). He still has half a season to achieve that and just 3 more wins to break his career high. If he continues to pitch like this in the second half of the campaign, we could be looking at Masterson becoming a 20 game winner. It'll be a very difficult task for Justin but he's half way there already and as long as he stays healthy, there's always the possibility. With Masterson's fantastic outing yesterday, he surely has cemented his spot on this year's All Star team and he fully deserves it. It was the perfect way to end what was a wildly successful series for the Indians, putting us right back in contention in the AL Central.

Player Of The Series

This is a difficult one since there were so many outstanding contributors over the last four games. But my gut feeling has to give it to Nick Swisher. After my last post about his recent struggles in the Orioles re-cap, Swisher answered his critics in style in Chicago. Despite being rested for yesterday's game, Swisher collected 4 hits in the series, including a double and his game winning solo home run on Friday, for 4 total RBI, as well as scoring 4 runs and earning 4 walks. A very successful series altogether, with two memorable game-deciding hits produced from his bat. As impressed as I am with his performance, I'm almost more impressed with his mental fortitude to get out there and keep plugging away. It would be easy for a player to let his recent woes at the plate get him down but Swisher shook that off during this series and got a measure of redemption against the White Sox. Honourable mentions must go to Jason Kipnis, who is still on fire at the plate and had a terrific series, and Justin Masterson of course, whose complete game shutout was his third of the season, currently leading the league. But the way Swisher responded to adversity earns him the award for this series. Those game winning hits helped too. Congrats Nick.

The Indians ended June victorious and begin July with an off-day before travelling to Kansas City for a three-game series beginning on Tuesday. Corey Kluber (6-5, 4.16 ERA) will take the mound for us, looking to rebound from his disappointing start in Baltimore, and will face the Royals' Luis Mendoza (2-4, 4.16 ERA). I'm starting to enjoy this winning thing, let's just hope we can keep it up and ride this great form into the All Star break. Until next time...

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.

Phillies Fall To Terrific Tribe

The Indians have begun their nine game home-stand with a bang, beating Philadelphia twice in a row to take the mini two-game series. Cleveland's winning streak is up to four games now and the club are a single game from getting back to a .500 record. What a lovely way to begin the month of May. Let's have a look at how it went down:

Offense Clicking Into Gear

April saw the Indians offense take on a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde persona. For a couple of games they wouldn't string any hits together, then 24 hours later they'd explode for double-digit runs and leave opposing fans cowering behind their sofa cushions. The inconsistency on a nightly basis was baffling. How could a team with this much power, this raw ability to crush the ball, be so limp at the plate all of a sudden? Well thankfully the last few games have seen the Tribe offense begin to find their rhythm and no game highlighted that more than Tuesday night. 

The Phillies brought Roy Halladay to the mound, not so long ago one of the best pitchers in the game, a two-time Cy Young winner and proud owner of a perfect game to his résumé. But this is not the same Halladay of yesteryear. Doc is having a rough time of it lately and the Indians only added to his misery. Poor Roy got shelled for 9 brutal hits for 8 earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings.

And that was only the beginning. The Indians hit 7 home runs in total Tuesday night in the 14-2 thrashing, taking it to the Phillies' bullpen after Halladay had left the game. The Tribe got homers from Santana, Reynolds, Chisenhall, Brantley, Stubbs and 2 from Ryan Raburn (more on him later). The offensive outburst somewhat overshadowed Zach McAllister's fine outing: Number 34 went 7 strong innings, scattering 5 hits with 4 strikeouts. Zach did give up 2 home runs to the Phillies but they were solo-shots and really the only mistakes the 6'6 righty made all night. 

The offense carried over their fine performance from Tuesday night into yesterday's game. The Indians' bats stayed alive in the 6-0 victory, ensuring the series win and sweep over the Phillies. Cliff Lee made his first start against his former team since his trade out of Cleveland in 2009 but even he couldn't quiet the Tribe lineup. I have fond memories of Lee's 2008 Cy Young season but I can't say I wasn't pleased to see him get smacked around for 9 hits in 6 innings of work. His opponent for the Tribe was our young pitching stud Trevor Bauer, making a spot-start before going back to Columbus today. Bauer lasted 5 innings, only surrendering 1 solitary hit but he walked 6 Phillies batters. He had a lot of trouble in last start in Tampa Bay when he had too many walks (7!), and again last night his control was just as wild. Nearly every fastball he threw was far too high, and he struggled to keep anything down. One positive though was his breaking ball; he had a mean curveball working, a thing of beauty when he got the Phillies' Ryan Howard to strike out looking in the 1st inning, then catcher Carlos Ruiz to whiff badly in the 2nd. Bauer still needs to work on his control before he can be considered MLB ready, that many walks is unacceptable and infuriating, but the potential talent is obvious. I don't expect it will very long before he becomes a permanent addition to the starting rotation.

The key hit in last night's game was Asdrubal Cabrera's 2 RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the 3rd inning, scoring Brantley and Kipnis to stake the Indians to a 3-0 lead. They never looked back from there, tacking on 3 more runs over the remaining innings, coasting to the win. Cabrera has really been hitting well over the past week and looks to have put his early slump behind him now. Still, he's not as hot at the plate as this guy...

Player Of The Series

Take a bow Ryan Raburn. The versatile 32 year old has been making the most of his playing time lately, doing his best Joe DiMaggio impression. The guy can't miss, he's hitting everything. Since Bourn went on the disabled list, the speedy Drew Stubbs has shifted over to centre field with Raburn taking his place in right field. He got off to a bit of a rough start and I can remember a few times when Raburn swung at the first pitch to end a crucial rally with a double-play ball. But he's done a great job of late to change his critic's opinions.

It started in the final game of the series in Kansas City this past Monday, when Raburn unloaded for 2 home runs, and it didn't stop when Philadelphia came to town. Tuesday night saw him go 3-for-4 at the plate, with 2 more monster home runs in the 14-2 rout. Then last night he went 4-for-5 with a double and 2 RBI in the 6-0 win. He's been unstoppable at the plate, whether its a bloop single, a double in the gap, or another fence-clearing homer, Raburn has been on fire. So the award goes to Ryan for this Phillies series. What a beast.

So the Indians can enjoy their time off today before the Twins arrive in Cleveland tomorrow to begin a three game series, where we'll see Minnesota's Pedro Hernandez (1-0, 2.35 ERA) face off against our Justin Masterson (4-2, 3.12 ERA). Until next time...

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Tribe Take Two, Split Series In KC

After dropping the first two games of the four-game series in Kansas City, the Indians rebounded to win the final two match-ups, the highlight being Ubaldo Jimenez rolling back the years and pitching an absolute beauty last night in a 9-0 Indians victory. That win ensured Cleveland returned home from this long road-trip on a positive note, with a 5-4 record on their travels, which actually isn't too bad given the way they've played sometimes. Let's look at what went down in KC:

Inconsistent Indians

The offense is already becoming a bit of a frustration for some of the Tribe faithful. How can the lineup produce nothing at all for our ace Masterson on Sunday but then explode for 10 runs later in the day to back Kluber to a win? How do they wait until the 9th inning to score any runs for the by-then-left-the-game Scott Kazmir on Saturday night but they'll happily gift Ubaldo 8 out of  a total 9 runs last night? The inconsistency in hitting is starting to become a bit of a grind for some. This is a team that can get shutout one night then destroy a team for double digit runs the next. Kazmir put in a good effort on Saturday night, going 5 innings and only surrendering 2 runs but he didn't get any run support to help him out, the Indians scoring their only runs in the 9th inning of a 3-2 loss. Masterson didn't get any runs at all on Sunday, and even though he didn't pitch great, he still gave the offense a chance to keep the score close early on in the game. Nothing. Nada. Zero.

Now I'm not one of the guys on Twitter calling for heads already. I don't think we need to worry too much about the lineup, they will start hitting with some regularity once we get into the meat of the season (the past two days should show a little glimpse of that). It's still only April after all so there's no need to throw TVs out the window or anything like that.

There are some positive signs that the offense are beginning to turn things around though. Santana is hot right now, batting .386 with 27 total hits, with a whopping 1.141 OPS, leading the team by a wide margin in all three of those categories. I love what our catcher has shown us so far in 2013. There's also signs of Asdrubal Cabrera coming out of his recent slump too. He had a really good week, batting .412 in 17 at-bats with 3 RBI. Hopefully our shortstop is beginning to get into his groove a bit and can carry this bit of form with him into May and beyond.

We're Missing Bourn Badly

Since Michael Bourn went on the DL after cutting his right hand against the White Sox a couple of weeks ago, the Tribe offense hasn't been the same. The dynamic centre fielder had gotten off to a good start in Cleveland and appeared to be hitting some form before his unfortunate injury in a close play sliding into first base. With our leadoff hitter out of the lineup, Francona has been forced to shake things up a bit and I don't think the team has responded as well as the skipper might have hoped. The natural choice to fill in at the leadoff spot was Michael Brantley but our left fielder just does not look comfortable up there when he's forced to leadoff. Francona originally had Brantley batting in the 5 or 6 spot to start the season and he looked great there, shoring up the bottom half of the lineup, but the adjustment has thrown Brantley slightly out of sorts. Since taking Bourn's spot in the lineup Brantley has hit for a .265 batting average with a .342 OBP, whereas he was batting .282 with a .378 OBP before being asked to fill in at leadoff. Now I know its not that big of a difference and yes it's a small sample in April but the change in the lineup is obviously having some effect on Brantley, particularly to his mental approach at the plate. The stats won't show it but you can see he isn't as comfortable up there.

The knock-on effect from Brantley hitting leadoff is we've also lost that spark he provided in the bottom half of the lineup. The sooner we get Bourn back the better but nobody knows yet when he'll be ready to play everyday. He can come off the DL on Tuesday but Francona doesn't think he'll be ready to go just yet. "I don't think he's as comfortable as he wanted to be," said the Tribe manager. The stitches in his finger are now out but it's a pretty sensitive area as everybody knows, so you don't want Bourn to be rushed and re-injure the wound. However, the sooner he gets back the better and maybe the lineup can finally get back to normal: Bourn at leadoff and Brantley back in charge of the bottom half of the lineup.

Player Of The Series (New!)

Now I'm writing this only 30 minutes since I woke up at 7am. Am I still dreaming? Did the Pitcher Formerly Known As Ubaldo Jimenez really shutout the Royals, the previously AL Central leading Royals, over 7 fantastic innings? I've rubbed the dust from my eyes about a million times but it appears that yes, he actually did. It's a brilliant outing for Ubaldo who should really take some heart and confidence from this. The struggling righty partied like it was 2010 and stranded 3 hits over 7 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts on his way to his first win of the season. Amazing, I woke up and thought the MLB site on my phone had broken at first.

He was backed by Ryan Raburn of all people, doing his best "I belong in the major leagues" impression, who had an unreal 4-for-4 night at the plate with 2 home runs, his first big flies for the Tribe. More of that please Ryan. Jason Kipnis, also no stranger to struggle in 2013, got his first homer of the season too. Overall, the stars aligned for Ubaldo last night and he made it count, and in style too.

I think I like the idea of a Player Of The Series section here at England Tribe and for it's maiden choice, I'm gonna go with Ubaldo, simply because it was so unexpected and amazing. Congrats Mr Jimenez, you're the lucky winner.

So the Indians finally return home today to face the Phillies for a bit of inter-league action. First pitch is at 7.05pm as usual with Zach McAllister on the mound for us against Philadelphia's Roy Halladay, who looks to be turning things around a bit of late after struggling to start the year. We're now at home until the 10th May when we travel to Detroit, so I'd like to see us go on a run now and get back into the fight for the AL Central. Go Tribe!

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Tribe Roster Set: My Thoughts

With the news coming from Goodyear that the Indians have set out their plans for the Opening Day roster, I thought I'd weigh in on the results:

Kazmir Gets The 5th Rotation Spot

The comeback story of the Spring, once-upon-a-time flamethrower Scott Kazmir has finally beaten his competition and captured the 5th place in the Tribe's starting rotation. It's obvious he's worked incredibly hard since his exit from MLB in 2011 and done really well to regain his lost velocity. He's not going to be striking guys out like he did in his heyday (he led the American League in strikeouts with the Rays in 2007) and gone are the days of his heater blowing batters away. But he has worked his way back to getting his fastball to a respectable low-to-mid 90mph level, which is a lot better than the mid 80s stuff he was throwing prior to his release from the Angels a couple of years ago. I'm really happy Scott won the job to be the 5th starter but, and he'll be the first to admit it, the real job is just beginning. Time will tell how he performs against MLB competition after time away from the elite level and there's no knowing yet how his arm will hold up in the dog days of summer. For now though, we can all enjoy the success story that's been Kazmir's return and I'm excited to see how he does for us.

Versatility and Veterans

Possibly the biggest difference between this year's Indians and the teams over the past few years is the veteran presence on the roster. No longer must we suffer the sight of the Tribe starting every season with one of the youngest teams on the field. The oldest guy on the team is Jason Giambi and the 2000 American League MVP and 5-time All Star looks set to make the team despite being the grand old age of 42. He's been placed on the DL with a lower back strain but all signs point towards him making the bench once he's healthy. It's impossible to predict what Giambi will provide on this 2013 Indians team. He still has some power in those arms and might chip in a few homers this season. Put it this way, if he comes into a few games to pinch hit in the latter innings and his hits mean we win a few games that we normally wouldn't then that would be amazing, the best possible result from his signing. However, I think what really earned Giambi his place on the team is his experience and his ability to be a role model for the younger players. The guy has been around for a long time now and knows how to win. Francona has already stated how important Giambi could be in the clubhouse: "He's not a veteran, he's the veteran. I've already gone to him three or four times asking him questions. He's solid. Brings a lot." If the Indians can get any production on the field from the elderly DH then that's wonderful but I feel he's going to be even more productive off the field and in the locker-room. 

The other interesting addition to the roster is 31 year old Ryan Raburn (pictured above). The ex-Tiger, who can play second base as well as the outfield, provides some much-needed versatility to the team and could be an important player off the bench. He beat out the likes of Cord Phelps and Ezequiel Carrera for the final bench spot and I like the decision to go with Raburn. He's had a solid spring and earned his spot for sure. Hopefully he'll contribute, spotting Kipnis from time to time and filling in for an outfielder when they need a day off.

For more details on the Indians team set to begin the 2013 campaign, Nino over at The Tribe Daily has done a wonderful roundup on the Opening Day roster that's definitely worth checking out: http://www.thetribedaily.com/2013/03/the-roster-is-set.html#more 

Overall I really like the Opening Day roster and I'm enthusiastic about our chances in 2013. It's not very often I've said that since I've been a fan of the Tribe. There's been an amazing sense of optimism ever since the hiring of Francona last year and I've certainly never been more excited to watch the Indians. Luckily, and for the first time, I will be able to watch every and any game I like this year, having purchased MLB TV a couple of days ago. I made the decision because I was so sick of trying to watch games on crappy streams and sitting through endless pop-up ads and all the other shit that comes with illegal streaming. Best $129.99 (about £88 for you fellow Brits interested) I've ever spent. Bring on Opening Day!

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