Company

Since your Cleveland Indians have had their first off day in seemingly forever, I thought it would be good to take a little survey of the scene, or the damage if you want to call it that. Here on June 9th, they sit at 25-34, seven games out of first place and three and a half games out of second in the AL Central, hands-down the worst division in baseball. And that, my friends, is the sole reason that GM Mark Shapiro will not give up on this season, despite that fact that his bullpen has imploded, his rotation is in shambles, his lineup is in constant flux, he has been missing two all star players for long stretches of the first two months, and his manager is embattled.

The Bullpen – What started off as the strength of the team has turned from the biggest disappointment on the team to a semi-effective group of journeyman. We have seen a seemingly endless string of arms come and go from week to week.  At one point, Aaron Laffey and Rafael Betancourt were the late inning bridges to closer Kerry Wood. Now, they are both on the shelf with injuries, with Laffey headed back to the rotation when he returns probably in about 3-4 weeks. Rafael Perez went from the key set-up guy to a disaster who was shipped to Columbus. Now he is back in the 8th inning role essentially out of necessity.

Tony Sipp and Joe Smith got their shots. Sipp was sent back down to the minors while Smith headed to the DL. Sipp has since been been recalled and is pitching in middle relief. Masa Kobayashi and Vinnie Chulk came and went, journeyman Matt Herges, Greg Aquino, and Luis Vizcaino took over key roles and have been for the most part effective. You can actually say that Herges (1.13 ERA in 10 appearances) and Aquino (3.27 ERA in seven appearances) have been the stabilizing forces in a shaky pen over the last month. Poor Kerry Wood barely gets one save chance a week and is having a hard time getting consistent work.

There are reasons for optimism looking ahead the rest of the way. Perez has been much better since his recall from Columbus last week. Betancourt was pitching great up until his groin injury, but will return in a couple of weeks. Smith should be back this week from his DL stint and has been perfect in his rehab work in AAA. The pen seems to actually be rounding into form. The problem is the hole they dug the team earlier this season. Imagine hadn’t they blown half the leads they had, the Indians would probably be three or less games out thanks to this weak division.

The Rotation – It opened the season with Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, Carl Pavano, Scott Lewis, and Anthony Reyes as the five starters. Here we sit on June 9th and the rotation now includes Jeremy Sowers, David Huff, and Tomo Ohka. We’ve seen Lewis make one start and immediately be placed on the DL and hasn’t been heard from since. Reyes, an injury concern from day one, is out for the year and is headed for another elbow surgery. Carmona, a former 19 game winner, has been so awful (2-6, 7.42 ERA, 41 walks in 60.1 IP) and completely lost mentally, that he is back to the Arizona rookie league trying to find himself.

Aaron Laffey looked like the rock of the rotation early on, but had to be put in the bullpen out of necessity. Laffey, a ground-ball specialist, was excelling in that role until an oblique strain sidelined him for 4-6 weeks. Upon his return, he will be put back in the rotation. Huff and Sowers, two former #1 picks, have both been better of late, but still need to show they can pitch deeper than the fifth inning. Who knows what the Indians are going to get with Ohka, who makes his first start this weekend against St. Louis. I am not expecting much.

With Lee and Pavano consistent every time out (do you believe how good Pavano has been since May 1st? Neither do I), and Laffey and Jake Westbrook soon to be back from injuries to take their spots in the rotation, there is a battle going on between Huff and Sowers for that last spot the rest of the way. There is nothing wrong with a healthy in-season competition between teammates for a job.

The Lineup – On April 6th, Mark DeRosa was at third base, Jhonny Peralta was at short, Asdrubal Cabrera was at second. Grady Sizemore was hitting leadoff and Travis Hafner clean-up. Circle back to today. Sizemore hasn’t been right since day one and was finally put on the DL with an aching elbow. Before that happened, he was struggling so mightily, he was moved to the #2 spot in the lineup and took on a new nickname -”K’dy” – thanks to his swing and miss tendencies. Hafner started off decent enough, but his surgically repaired shoulder flared up landing him on the DL for close to a month. He was activated over the weekend, but cannot play more than two games in a row and is hitting sixth. Asdrubal Cabrera (.316 BA) was shooting towards stardom and took a hold of the leadoff spot before he got hurt and landed himself on the DL. Oh yeah, and he is the every day shortstop.

Peralta has completely lost his power (two HR’s in 193 AB’s) and has been moved to third base where he belongs (although he has been pressed back into SS with Cabrera on the DL). DeRosa (second on the team with 38 RBI), the subject of constant trade rumors, plays somewhere new every day, whether it be at third, right field, left field, or first base. He doesn’t seem long for this team, regardless of whether the Indians get back in it or not. Jamey Carroll has returned from the DL and is getting regular at bats at both second and third base, and producing yet again (.345 BA in 55 AB’s). Shin-Soo Choo (.298 with 33 RBI) and Victor Martinez (.344, 10 HR, 44 RBI) are the only everyday, mainstays in the order at #4 and #3 respectively, yet they both play a different spot in the field every other day.

From day to day, you literally don’t know who is going to play where, who is going to hit where, and if any of these guys outside of Vic the Stick and Choo are going to show up. We have seen it all with this lineup. We saw David Dellucci finally released (YEAH!!!!); Kelly Shoppach go from one of the best hitting catchers in the AL to a human windmill (43 K’s in 109 AB’s); Ryan Garko play more left and right field than first base; Benny Francisco (.257 BA)  playing every single day and hitting leadoff, despite looking like a fourth outfielder at best; Trevor Crowe up, Trevor Crowe down, Trevor Crowe up again; Josh Barfield up, down, up, down, and up again essentially still getting no love from Eric Wedge despite his five hits in eight at bats; Luis Valbuena getting three to four starts a week; Chris “G-Man” Gimenez hitting two jacks in eight at bats and developing a cult following; and top power prospect Matt LaPorta getting called up, barely getting playing time, and being sent back down again.

What a long strange trip its been for the everyday nine. The hope is that Wedge can continue to mix and match and pull the right combinations to stay afloat until Sizemore and Cabrera can be healthy again. With those two at the top of the order in front of Vic The Stik, Pronk, Choo, DeRosa, and Peralta, you still have a pretty offensive attack.

The Manager – Eric Wedge prides himself on “the grind.” Never getting too high or two low. Taking things day to day, and never giving in to the fight. I for one, enjoy Wedge speak. Don’t ask me why, but I do. The guy is the same every day win or lose. Some say the players have tuned him out. If that is true, how come they are able to win games with lineups that resemble a AAA club? Wedge knows this division is still up for grabs. No matter how many injuries his team has suffered and no matter how bad his rotation looks on paper right now, he is holding this team together until the reinforcements (Westbrook, Laffey, Smith, Sizemore, Cabrera) come back.

There is no doubt this has been Wedge’s most trying season. His team stumbled out of the gate yet again in the face of high expectations. His bullpen was a stick of dynamite waiting to be ignited on a nightly basis. No lead was safe. He began to manage in panic mode for the first time in his tenure (see the Toronto day game on May 5th) and began to hear calls for his job. The Grinder has to know that this is his last stand. Its his seventh season, and anything short of a division championship at this point could be cause for his dismissal. But to his credit, he stays the course and stays true to himself and his message – to grind every day.

What do I think will happen with Wedge and his team? I still think they have too many ifs in the rotation and too many injuries to overcome. In the end, the Tribe may make a late run, but like last year, it will be too late thanks to the awful hole they dug themselves in April and May – also a Wedge staple. They will finish five games under .500 and Wedge will lose his job this winter.