I’m with Manny, I still feel good about the Tribe too

If you would have told me back in spring training that the Indians would be (4.5) games out of first place on June 4th I’d have taken that all day.  

If you told me that after the way opening day went, I wouldn’t have even believed you. 

But today the Cleveland Indians actually sit (9) games better than that; still (4.5) up in the AL Central.  

So despite the fact that they’ve endured a handful of beatings recently, like the 11-2 job they suffered last night, I’m still all good with everything Wahoo Baseball.  I also don’t see how it’s possible for any rational Indians’ fan not to be either.

For the statisticians among us, I do understand there’s been some recent trending that could serve as evidence for concern.  As I referenced this morning, the Tribe has gone 3 and 7 over their last 10 games.  In that stretch they’ve been particularly bludgeoned in four games specifically by a combined score of 43-5.  I guess you don’t really have to be a statistician to be somewhat bearish in response to those numbers. 

However, to sell out completely on this team would be a mistake right now and you will regret it if you do.  Concern is understandable, but panic is neither fair nor warranted.   

The last ten games, and even the last twenty seven, have made it clear that the Indians won’t go undefeated for the rest of the season.  They won’t continue to sweep every series, and won’t finish with the best record in MLB history.  But the games since May 3rd when they sat 20-8, before they went on to drop fourteen of their last twenty-seven, do not indicate that this team is fatally flawed.

The reason being is simple: the Indians are 33-22.  They have a .600 winning percentage, they have the most attainable Magic Number at this point of any team in the bigs, and they have the best record in all of baseball.  I repeat, it’s June, and the Indians have the best record in baseball.  I’m going to continue to enjoy that, and I refuse to watch these games preparing to brace myself for this “other shoe” that’s supposedly going to come crashing down on my head.    

If you do want to break the season into groups like the last ten, last twenty-seven, since May 3rd, on Monday’s with the temperature above 58, on days Shelley Duncan seems less crazy, or whatever grouping serves to best support your argument, I’d suggest the sample size Manny Acta used last night.  That is if you’re looking for a streak more telling than the overall record.  

Said Acta after the loss:  “I feel good.  Hey, we’ve won two out of the last four, 500. Not bad. That’s the way I look at it.”

Same here.  I feel good too.  So much so that I just booked a trip to Boston to watch the Tribe play at Fenway in August.  I’ve been to four games already this season, and that’s three more than I went to all of last year.  The Indians are in the mix, and that’s both interesting and exciting around here in Cleveland.  Whether they fall completely off the face of the earth by September or not we’ll see, but for now they’re still on top of the baseball world.

First pitch down at Progressive Field is at 7:05 tonight against Texas.  Roll Tribe.