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April 18, 2011
Another series, another sweep for your Cleveland Indians, the team with the best record in the American League. That’s right. Let me repeat it again. Your Cleveland Indians have the best record in the American League. I said it last Monday and I’m saying it again today, who saw this one coming? Seriously, is this fun or what, Tribe fans?
More great pitching. More timely hitting. More great string pulling from the manager. It just keeps getting better and better. This weekend was a bit different. The Tribe came home after a 4-2 homestand, losers of two straight, the last in heartbreaking fashion in Anaheim. I for one was very curious to see how the Tribe would respond and how the fans would respond to them.
With a strong walk-up crowd behind them on dollar dog night, the Wahoos took game one from the visiting Baltimore Orioles and never looked back, completing a three-game sweep two days later on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field.
So how exactly did they do it? What did we see that we liked? The first thing is pretty obvious.
The unexpected return of Grady Sizemore. It all came together pretty quickly. Saturday during the long rain delay, there was some scuttlebutt that the Indians Centerfielder would return early this week for his first action since May of last year. Then, unexpectedly Sunday morning, Sizemore was activated and thrown right back into the leadoff spot.
It seemed like forever ago that Sizemore was arguably the best young Centerfielder in the game. When healthy, we all know what he can do. In his first game back, he was out to show that he is ready to add to this team’s already burgeoning chemistry. All Grady did was go 2-4 with a home run, a bomb to the right-field seats in the Tribe’s 4-2 win. Not a bad opening performance.
“I just wanted to go up there, have good at-bats, help the team and get a win,” Sizemore said. “I was definitely nervous.” You can certainly understand that.
There has been a lot of chatter about Sizemore’s future. I have gone on record as saying I believe Michael Brantley, the Tribe’s long-term future in CF, shouldn’t be the one moving to left field. I also have said that Brantley should stay put in the leadoff spot while Sizemore should hit down in the order until he gets his feet wet. On Brantley’s day off, Grady showed me, and everyone where he is most comfortable.
“Two extra-base hits on his first day, that’s a pretty good day,” Manny Acta said. “We feed off of him. His energy is very contagious. What can I say? He’s one of the best players in the game when he’s healthy, and we’re very happy to have him back.”
With Brantley back tonight in Kansas City, it will be very interesting to see where Acta places both him and Sizemore in the lineup. Its a great problem to have. Meanwhile, if Sizemore comes back to be the player he was before the microfracture surgery, look out. This lineup could be lethal.
Travis Hafner hasn’t looked this good since 2007. I saw a lot of “I went to see the Tribe Sunday and 2007 broke out” tweets yesterday. Between Sizemore’s return and Hafner’s renaissance thus far, it feels like old times again. After another weekend where he looked like “Pronk” again, we are getting closer and closer to seeing Hafner at his best again.
In three games against the Orioles, Hafner was 6-9 with two homers and three RBIs. The eye was there. The patience was there. The swing was there. Travis Hafner hasn’t looked this good in four years. That’s a fact. He is locked in right now and it adds a completely new dimension to this ball club. He didn’t his his fourth home run until May 22nd of last year. The man is as comfortable at the plate as we can ever remember.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Acta said of Hafner’s hot start. “I actually think [Hafner] can do more. He’s capable of that if he’s healthy. He’s got the bat speed. He’s pretty confident with his hands.”
On the season, Travis is now hitting .354 with four homers, nine RBIs, and an OPS of a whopping 1.053. That, my friends, is production.
Good pitching never gets old. At the beginning of the season, I said that the starting pitching as a whole was going to have to take a big leap forward if the Indians were going to contend. Well, we are 15 games into the season and the best case scenario has broken out. This weekend was another extension of that. Justin Masterson seems to has transformed himself into another Tribe Cy Young candidate since August of last year.
For the third time this season, Masterson was terrific, shutting down the Orioles with seven innings of one-run ball. He gave up just four hits, walked one, and struck out three. He seems to have found the release point he needs on a consistent basis and looks like the guy the Tribe hoped he’d be when they acquired him two summers ago in the Victor Martinez trade.
“He just calls it checkpoints,” Acta said. “I haven’t even gone to find out which ones are the checkpoints. He said he found some checkpoints, and when he gets out of the zone a little bit he can go back to them. I’m glad he found those checkpoints.”
And so are the Indians fans.
Josh Tomlin followed it up Saturday with six innings of two-run ball. He clearly didn’t have his best stuff and danced around trouble all day, but when the Indians needed him to come up with a big out, Tomlin came through in the 8-3 win.
“He’s been able to do that up here,” said Acta, who said Tomlin seemed like he was “one pitch from disaster” all game. “He doesn’t let the game speed up on him. That’s his M.O. He’s very good at controlling the damage when he gets in those situations.”
Masterson and Tomlin are now both 3-0.
Then on Sunday, the ace Fausto Carmona did what he had to do to earn his first victory of the season. He scattered five hits in seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned). Carmona K’d five while walking just one. He had his power sinker working and kept the Orioles off balance most of the day. Fausto induced a couple of double plays that helped him out, including a beautifully turned 3-6-1 DP to end the sixth. Credit Matt LaPorta for a fine defensive effort starting the double play. He has come a long way with that turn.
Take away the opening day debacle, and Carmona has allowed just three earned runs is 21.1 innings pitched. That’s all you can ask for from your number one starter.
Up next for the Tribe is a showdown for first place with the equally surprising Kansas City Royals, who sit just one game back of the Indians at 10-5. Its a huge four game set at Kaufmann Stadium. As ESPN’s Buster Olney put it, “Who would have guessed that the biggest AL series starting Monday would be Indians vs. KC.
Things get kicked off tonight with Carlos Carrasco (1-1, 5.03 ERA) taking the hill for the Tribe. He will be opposed by right-hander Kyle Davies (1-1. 9.00 ERA).
(photo via Chuck Crow/PD)
22 Comments
I’m also wondering how Acta will handle the Sizemore/Brantley situation in the outfield. I’m voting to keep Brantley leading-off in CF. It’s not broken, so don’t fix it. Sizemore has been gone long enough that he can adapt to a new place.
Anyone have a stat on when the Indians completed their third sweep last year? In fact, did we even have a sweep last year?
Personally, I think Brantley should lead off until he proves he can’t produce enough. I would be fine with Sizemore in left. I wonder why anyone would question that?
Question… why did Mitch Talbot get skipped in the rotation? I’m totally fine with it, just curious. I’m nervous to say it (like saying “Candyman” too many times), but Pronk sure looks like he’s back. Those inside pitches that he couldn’t catch up to the past several seasons are now getting crushed the way they used to. I’m legitimately excited.
I, like many others, here hope that they keep Brantley at the leadoff spot and in CF. I would like to see Grady in LF and hitting 6th personally. Too much of a strikeout and swing for the fences guy for me to want at the top of the order.
I am really trying to keep my excitement down for this team. The season is a marathon and not a sprint, but I have been all in on this team since February and can’t keep telling myself to stay calm and not freak out with pennant fever for much longer.
@Vengeful Pat
Talbot was sent to the DL. There is a WFNY post on it on like Friday if you want to look back and read it. They have some good info there.
You have to put Sizemore back in CF because it’s his spot. It looks bad to other veterans if once they return healthy from the DL they lose thier starting spot. I do agree however with leaving Brantley at lead off. No reason to change his comfort zone in fielding and hitting.
Initially they said that they wanted to keep Carmona on a 4-day rest routine. Then it came out that Talbot has an elbow strain. Gomez is coming up, and it sounds like Talbot could be out 3-6 weeks.
Here’s what I’d do with the lineup: Take yesterday’s lineup, remove Buck. Move everyone 1-6 down a spot, then insert Brantley into the leadoff spot.
No opinion on Sizemore in LF or CF. Him and Brantley are both good fielders, I’m just happy to have them out there.
Best record in the American League. Yes, it’s only April 18, but I am loving it and eating it up. Who’da thunk it, really? I was just hoping to be competitive, and here we are, leading the entire AL. Yeah, the bottom may fall out at some point, or it may not, but the start is showing me that the core is there. I am jazzed. I can’t wait to get up to the ball park.
hey tribe fans – what do you think is the strongest lineup we can put out there??
@oribiasi
The Indians swept a total of 5 series last year, with their third sweep completed on July 18. Interestingly, 2 out of their first 3 swept series were 4-game series.
@ClevelandFan14 Woah, definitely some egg on my face there. I didn’t see that post about Talbot, but that’s probably because I didn’t have internet access this weekend after running a roto-tiller through the Verizon FIOS line. Currently loving the idiots who thought it was a good idea to run the line right through the middle of my backyard, buried about 2 inches into the ground.
Don’t give Masterson a Cy Young just yet – we don’t want him to be traded!
“what do you think is the strongest lineup we can put out there??”
Jon has you covered at noon. Stand by.
@10… I think that’s tricky. I understand why everyone thinks Sizemore should start down in the 6 or 7 spot in the lineup, but if he’s going to keep hitting for power and getting on base like he did yesterday, then you eventually need to rethink that. If you go Brantley, Sizemore, Choo to start things off, then you have 3 left-handed bats in a row. I hate to say it, but I think they’ll end up dropping Brantley to the #9 spot as a sort of table-setter for the 2nd time through the lineup, leaving Sizemore as the lead-off guy. The guy who probably makes the most sense to move out of the top 5 is Asdrubal Cabrera despite his hot start, but then you have 4 lefties in the top 5.
According to someone who was willing to look at baseball-reference on my twitter feed yesterday, the Indians had 4 sweeps a season ago. Only one away right now and we aren’t out of April yet.
Score.
Will the Indians be following up Dollar Dog on a Lenten Friday up with leavened bread night sometime during Passover?
@Max…nobody REALLY knows what’s in hot dogs….anything other than real meat is a great guess, therefore everyone is safe. haha
@REEPJP- the raccoons in The Great Outdoors had some insightful ideas about a hot dogs ingredient list
I think Sizemore deserves to be where he will be best. He has earned the lead off and CF spots when healthy, he shouldnt have it taken away because of injury. BUT- I am concerned if putting Brantley out of the lead off will effect the hot start he has gotten out on. Granted, he wasnt going to be hitting 300 all year, but if it stoops to .200 i think you have to rethink where Grady is so as to not effect the whole line up. Hes gonna produce no matter where he is.
about Sizemore in CF – CFers run a TON more than the corner OFs. I care about preserving his knees as much as possible this year, which is why I want him in LF. the fact that Brantley has a better arm makes that decision easier (though he doesn’t track the ball as well as Sizemore)
I don’t care about batting him leadoff. I don’t want him stealing many bases (again: preserve his knees), so if Acta wants the leadoff guy to do that, then he should shift him.
then again, the Tribe is in 1st place, 2nd best record in MLB, and Sizemore has 2 extra base hits in his first game back. Acta, do whatever you want.
Brantley
A Cabrera
Sizemore
Santana
Choo
Hafner
O Cabrera
Laporta
Hannahan
Yeah, that’s how I’d do it. I like having Sizemore at 3, Choo might find a nice groove hitting after Grady and Carlos. Just saying, look at that 2 through 6 and tell me we have a weak offense.