Early-Season Observations

The season has begun, and the future path of this team has started to become clear. While most of the young hurlers are still in the minors, the pitching has been excellent thus far. A combination of young and old, above-average pitching has led the team to a solid start, even if the record doesn’t show it. The early results are encouraging, and the future appears bright.

Here’s a look at the good and bad of this young season:

Bright Spots

CF Milton Bradley - .300, 4 runs scored

Bradley has been criticized for his performance over the past few seasons, but that should all change. Bradley had a tremendous spring, and has continued that production into the regular season. If the early results are any indication, this former top prospect could blossom into one of the game’s best young outfielders. Regardless, he’s worth a roster spot in fantasy leagues, as he has shown glimpses of improved plate discipline. Take a chance on him, as he’s well worth the risk.

UT John McDonald - .400

McDonald has only four at-bats, but no other hitter deserves this spot. A flashy infielder with a decent bat, McDonald lost the second base job to Brandon Phillips. Expect to see much more of McDonald over the coming weeks, as he’ll play second, short, and perhaps a game or two at third. The rest of the infielder simply isn’t producing, and McDonald’s production makes him a nice bench player. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him win the second base job from Phillips, but that’s not going to happen for a while.

SP C.C. Sabathia – 2.63 ERA

Sabathia’s WHIP hasn’t been that great, but it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t allow anybody to score. Sabathia is the ace of this staff, and will be expected to pitch like one. He has lost weight, which is definitely an encouraging sign. There’s not many Indians that should be considered useful fantasy players, but Sabathia is one of them.

SP Brian Anderson – 1-0, 8 IP, .063 WHIP

Anderson was absolutely terrible in spring training, which makes his first start all the more surprising. A dedicated worker, Anderson is constantly watching film to improve his game. Looks like that work ethic paid off, and hopefully he’ll be able to sustain that type of production. Keep an eye on this situation, as he could be a useful AL-only fantasy option if this continues.

SP Ricardo Rodriguez – 1-0, 1.29 ERA

Touted as the top prospect in the Dodgers organization before coming to Cleveland in a midseason trade last year, Rodriguez has impressed. His spring performance was excellent, and he made a nice start to the regular season. Rodriguez could be a big surprise this season, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him as the number two starter next year. In both keeper and regular-season leagues, Rodriguez is worth a look.

RP Danys Baez – 2 saves, 0.00 ERA

Baez has been unhittable, and his only problem is a lack of save opportunities. Had it not been for poor team defense, Baez would also have a win to his record. Baez could turn out to be the most valuable player on this team from a fantasy perspective, and will likely never be cheaper. If given the opportunity, Baez is one player worth acquiring.

RP Chad Paronto – 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 2 IP

It’s early, but it’s good to see at least one middle-reliever provide steady production. If Paronto provides even semi-decent production, he will help improve the total save opportunities for Baez. A lack of bullpen arms could turn out to be problematic, so solid production out of the middle of the bullpen is crucial.

RP Carl Sadler – 0.00 ERA, 2 K, 1 IP

Sadler is the primary lefty out of the bullpen, as Billy Traber will be counted on primarily for long-relief duty. Expect Sadler to fill the role that Ricardo Rincon filled last year, providing numerous short appearances out of the bullpen. He has no fantasy value, even in leagues that count holds. However, as with the other bullpen arms, he could allow Baez a few more save opportunities.

Dismal Starts

LF Matt Lawton - .118-1-3

Lawton might have returned from shoulder surgery too soon, as his production is suffering. The ideal situation would be to allow Lawton some extra time to recover, but there are very few productive options to plug the hole. Shane Spencer could fill the role, but he hasn’t been productive. Ben Broussard could play in left, but he’s injured. Other options are in the minors, but it would be wise to allow them to stay there. The team will stick with Lawton, and hopefully the production will improve.

C Josh Bard - .063-0-0

Bard, the starting catcher, has struggled offensively. That is to be expected, as he is primarily a defensive-oriented catcher, but the extent of the struggles are a bit of a shock. Once established, Bard should hit .270 with decent supporting statistics. His real value comes in his ability to call games, which has drawn raves from teammates. That doesn’t win fantasy leagues, but it definitely helps the value of the pitching staff. Clearly, Bard is the biggest reason behind the early-season pitching success, yet he doesn’t get credit for that aspect of his game. It is for that reason that the front office can allow top prospect Victor Martinez to remain in the minors.

3B Casey Blake - .125-0-0

Blake tore up opposing pitching in spring training, but has struggled in the regular season. He appears to be pressing, which is expected from a new starter. The front office likes his ability to fill the third base position until the younger players are ready to take over, and he appears willing to fill that role. Expect Blake to get the majority of the starts at third, with Bill Selby and Ricky Gutierrez, once healthy, to also receive some playing time.

2B Brandon Phillips - .125-0-0

Phillips has struggled, and hasn’t shown the production that he provided throughout the minors and spring training. He’s still a year or two from making his true impact, so this season isn’t very important. It will be a learning experience, and poor performance can be expected. It will be advantageous over the long-run to allow Phillips some big-league playing time, but sending him back to the minors might help him more if the struggles become severe.

RF Karim Garcia - .133-1-2

Garcia has never lived up to his potential with the exception of last year, but hopefully that will change. He has always been considered to be one of the more talented sluggers around, but has been unable to put the entire package together. If he improves his plate discipline, Garcia could become one of the top home run threats in baseball. A season of 25 homers is a reasonable expectation, but the real question is how productive he’ll be in the other categories. There were minor injury concerns over the past few days, and those bear watching.

1B/OF Shane Spencer - .125-0-0

It was a shock that the team signed Spencer over the offseason, and he hasn’t done much to silence his critics. Spencer should receive 300 at-bats, but it is unlikely that he will be very productive in that playing time. Nothing more than a short-term stopgap until the other options are ready to take over, Spencer will provide insurance at first and outfield, but will not have an everyday starting job.

INJURY ADVISORY

SP Jason Bere

Bere has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with pain in his throwing shoulder. His spring performance was solid, but he will have to wait for his first start in an Indians uniform. He’s not much of a fantasy option, except in deeper AL-only leagues.

THE BOTTOM LINE
By: Jason Wachs

This section of the Indians Correspondent Report will entail my thoughts and opinions on everything related to the Indians from the Owner all the way down to the batboy. So brace yourselves to get inside my head. I will try not to offend anyone………too badly.

I came into this season promising to myself that I would try to be optimistic knowing that this team was going to be bad, sloppy and sometimes hard to swallow altogether. With the excellent Spring Training, in which the Tribe won the Grapefruit League crown, (I never understood why it was the grapefruit league and not the Orange league, because after all if you have to associate a fruit with Florida it would be an Orange, right?). Note to self; try not to stray to far from your point. So anyways, I thought to myself, well Jason this might not be too hard too handle (Opinion number one). I was flat out wrong.

I shall start with the first game in which the Indians succeeded in blowing the game not once, not twice, but three times. Count em’ three. Chance number one: In the eight inning David Riske can’t hold a two run lead, to get the game to Danny Baez, who from the way he has performed so far would have without a doubt finished off the game. So ok, we are going to extra innings tied 4-4. I think well not so bad; after all it is our first game. Chance number two: In the top of the twelfth we get what we would soon find out be a precious run to take a 5-4 lead. With two outs and a runner on third Josh Bard thinks to himself, (Wait no he couldn’t have been thinking). So lets rephrase that; with a runner on third Josh Bard lets a Baez pitch hit the middle of his glove, and roll all the way to the backstop to let in the tying run. We shall go to the thirteenth. Chance number three: With two outs and the bases loaded Gary Mathews jr. sends a routine fly ball to center field, I set my drink down on the table, and go for ESPN the Magazine, and as I get a glimpse of the T.V. and I see a baseball lying on the grass in center field. It wasn’t until I saw a replay that I realized what happened, because after all a starting MLB centerfielder doesn’t just drop an easy catch does he. Milton Bradley must have forgotten that you must catch the ball, and THEN run into the dugout once you have recorded the third out, because he just starts jogging in, when if he would have stayed right where he was the game is over and the Indians are 1-0. That’s it, I got it all off my chest, and I will try my hardest not to refer to this game the rest of the season, for any negative reason at all.

Now onto my next assault. Apparently nobody told the Indians offense that the season started, because they simply haven’t done anything. Note: for these next stats the Detroit Tigers are not included, because I simply consider them a minor league team. Yes, this will come back and bite me in the butt once the sweep the Indians later. Oops, I am trying to be optimistic. Anyways, the Indians rank dead last in the league in all of these categories: Batting Average, Slugging Percentage, On Base Percentage, OPS, Hits, Walks, Runs, RBI, Total bases, and they even managed to sink to the Tigers pathetic level in homeruns. Note that list includes every major hitting statistic except Stolen bases which they are ranked tenth in. These stats have been obtained against such Hall-of Fame bound pitchers as Omar Daal, Rick Helling, and Chris George (I had to look up George’s first name). A couple people whom I thought would have big years are off to horrid starts in Matt Lawton who has one hit (Yes I know it was a game winning homerun, but still one hit?) and Karim Garcia (Opinion number two) who is hitting a whopping .133.

If you don’t feel my pain on both/or either of the previous subjects, then you must either be a Cubs or Red Sox fan and saying to me, “What the hell do you know about rough games I have had to go through 100 years of this crap!” or you simply are a cold, and evil person. For the first excuse of being a Cubs or Red Sox fan I can forgive you, but not the other.

Now I will be optimistic…..I swear. The starting pitching has been outstanding. C.C Sabathia has pitched 13 and 2/3 innings in tow starts giving up only four runs, but is 0-1 because of the lackluster offense. Ricardo Rodriguez and Brian Anderson faired even better combining to throw 15 innings of near perfect baseball in which they surrendered only one run on nine hits and four walks. For all of the offensive categories I told you of the Indians suffering in, their pitching statistics are, or nearly as equally good. Another positive note is that Jason Bere is injured and can’t pitch for a while. Whew! The only struggling member of the staff is Jason Davis, who showed some bright signs in his start but gave up five runs in only three innings of work. Davis was the member of the staff, which I thought would be the most surprising, and productive behind C.C (Opinion number three). Figures. Danny Baez has been nearly un-hittable in four innings of work so far, in which he hasn’t given up an earned run, and acquired two saves. My opinions on Baez being dynamite as a closer before the season (Opinion number four) were right on! Well, at least I got something right.