Series #1 in Review April 2-5

Well the first series of the season is over, and the Indians got off to a fairly good start, finishing 2-1 against the White Sox. The  offense showed its explosiveness on Monday and Wednesday, and the bullpen was strong in helping secure an 8-7 win in the series’ second game. The defense was ok, the Indians’ made a total of three errors in the series. I was slightly discouraged by the inability to get key hits and the inability to move runners along in crucial situations. The team definitely needs some work, but obviously it is incredibly early.

I have a problem with the lineup. Now, I’ll preface this by saying that I am probably as big of a Casey Blake fan as anyone. However, Blake batting in the five spot in the order is absolutely laughable to me. He is not going to be nearly effective enough to stay  in this slot, and hopefully Garko will settle in somewhere down the road. Batting Blake fifth will allow teams to easily work around Martinez, especially with runners on. I also think that Blake should just be permanently put in right field, he is a good defensive outfielder and hes basically just being wasted standing at first base, where hes not even that great defensively. Basically, I don’t really think that Blake should be an everyday player, but instead someone who can play a variety of different positions effectively when called upon.

Player of the Series: This category is definitely probably between Martinez and Sizemore, and I think I will actually go with Martinez in this case, not because of his 6 hits, but because of the fact that he threw out Scot Posednik twice in the series.

Most Worthless Player of Series: Ok everybody, get ready to be seeing these names in this category a LOT this season, and I am willing to guarantee that. This category comes down to two finalists, with Josh Barfield finishing in third. David Dellucci and of course, Andy Marte. Dellucci just did nothing, managing only a double in 12 at bats, while Marte hit a 2 run home run in the Tribe’s 8-7 win on Wednesday, and struck out, well, a lot. Not only did Marte strike out, he just looked lost swinging his massive bat, even when he hit the homer, it looked like it was totally by accident. However, I’m going to have to give the most worthless player of the series to Dellucci, mostly due to his incredibly high BLAH factor.

Wedge’s Best Move of the Series: Sending Grady Sizemore in the eighth inning of the Indians’ eventual loss on thursday. Jason Michaels was locked up in a 3-2 count and eventually hit a double to the gap in right center, allowing Sizmore to score and momentarily tie the game.

Best Pitcher of the Series: No idea, lets just give it to Aaron Fultz. The pitching will improve.

Best Dumb Chicago fan moment of the Series: Some jackalope chanting “overrated” at Travis Hafner on opening day. Wow.

Next Series: vs. Seattle Mariners April 6-9

Game 3 Observations

I’m too pissed to ramble about this game, so I’ll probably focus more on negatives than positives from the concluded series against the White Sox. I think the 2006 Indians took the field today, by this, I mean they couldn’t get a key hit in the late innings, struck out too much, had key defensive lapses, and lost a one run game. Roberto Hernandez’s abomination of 9th inning lead to the Indians’ first loss of the year 4-3. Jeremy Sowers pitched 6 semi-strong innings, giving up 2 earned runs on only 1 hit, but walked 5. Sizmore had 2 hits and again lead of the game with a homer, but Hafner and Martinez had dismal days with bad at bats. The bottom of the order was also pathetic, with Josh Barfield and Andy Marte waving at pitches all day long.

The most encouraging aspect of the game was Aaron Fultz’s strong appearance in the 8th inning. He retired the side in order, striking out Konerko and Thome to end the inning. Unfortunately, Roberto Hernandez was thinking more about what he was going to buy with his social security check then he was thinking about retiring hitters. This is the only time I am going to say this all season, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO PICK SOMEONE OFF OF SECOND BASE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH INNING. Making that throw is absolute suicide, nothing good is ever going to come from it. Tomorrow is the Home Opener against the Seattle Mariners, the game starts at 4:05 p.m. It should be an awesome game, around 30 degrees with Paul Byrd pitching. Hooray!!!!

2-1

Game 2 Observations

Well, apparently Joe Borowski got acquainted with his role of closer by watching game film of Bob Wickman. The Tribe’s 8-7 win was capped with a nerve racking 9th inning that culminated with a falling catch by Jason Michaels. The player of the day has to be Grady Sizemore, who hit a key homer in the 7th inning that helped the Indians take an 8-7. The Indians were able to do just enough offensively to overcome Jake Westbrook’s shaky five inning outing, one that wasn’t helped with the home plate umpire’s inconsistent strikezone. The bullpen was able to come through as well, pitching four innings of scoreless ball, although plagued with walks.

The main daily concern was the team’s inability to get a big hit late in the game, especially in the eighth inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Chicago reliever Aaron Aardsma struck out Michaels, Peralta, and Marte (I know, surprised) to end the inning. Another large concern was the amount of strikeouts today, a total of 13. For now, I’ll attribute this to the fact that it was only the second game of the season.

2-0

Cleveland Indians, Game 1, my observations

Yes, the Indians took game 1 of the 2007 season from the Chicago White Sox, beating them 12-5. My player of the day is Jhonny Peralta, for a key piece of hitting with two outs in the first inning. Hopefully, Jhonny continues to go to the opposite field more often this season. You also cannot overlook Grady Sizemore for setting the tone for the season by leading off the game with a homer. It was also good to see that Trot Nixon was in good shape, in good enough shape to get 3 hits in his Indians debut. In his post game interview, he also praised the Indians strength and conditioning staff for getting him back into playing shape after his back injury. This is an interesting pointbecause the conditioning staff has been receiving much praise over the years for their masterful work with players recovering from injuries, especially pitchers Kevin Millwood and Bob Howry. So overall, it was good to see a slimmer Jhonny peralta hit the ball well, and see that Trot Nixon may be able to contribute to the team, especially batting in the crucial number two spot in the lineup.

My daily concern for opening day 2007 is the apparent limited defensive range of second baseman Josh Barfield. When we traded for him, we were told that he was above average defensively, which he may be, but he definitely suffers from a lack of range. In the game today, a ball was hit up the middle and Barfield got to it and was able to knock it down but not able to make the play. The grounder looked fairly routine, and Ronnie Belliard probably would have made that play easily, so we will have to continue to see if Barfield can increase his range and cover more ground on the right side of the infield.