Thursday, June 5, 2008

The Tribe's newfound offense - is it a mirage?

The Indians are averaging just a speck under 12 runs a game, on 16 hits, in the first three games in Texas this week, and one wonders if this is the beginning of the "market correction' we've all been waiting for from Tribe hitters.

Or does it have to do more with the hot stiff breeze that has had the flags at the Ballpark in Arlington standing at attention for the entire series.

The question becomes tougher to answer when you consider that the Indians scored just eight runs in three games in Kansas City over the weekend, but 16 runs in three games against the White Sox in losing a three-game series to the Sox before heading off on the current road trip.

Given that the Tribe's highly rated pitching staff has given up 30 runs in the three games at Texas, you might lean toward believing the Tribe's offensive outburst there has been the product of the swirling winds and the inept staff that toes the hill for the Rangers.

Still, the Rangers did score a bunch of those runs against the bullpen-by-committee that pitched Tuesday night and Cliff Lee - who seems to be in the middle of a market correction of his own - on Wednesday.

Perhaps it's best not to ask - just to sit back and enjoy it while it lasts.

Looking ahead - and hoping this is not just a Texas mirage - the offensive spike could be with us at least a while longer.

The Tribe moves on to the Motor City this weekend to take on the Tigers - not exactly a pitching-rich group.

But the Tribe has developed some pitching problems of their own of late. Fausto Carmona has been on the DL for a couple of weeks now, and Jake Westbrook appears to be facing a much longer stint than that on the shelf.

Cliff Lee has been shelled a couple of times now, and the Tribe has been busy shuffling relievers on a near-daily basis, to very spotty results.

So which - if either - is the anomaly?

Is the offense truly waking up?

Is the pitching staff losing its grip?

With so many injuries, can the Tribe afford to trade for more offense? Will they need to?

We're clearly at a pivotal point in the season and all we can do is sit back and hope the worm has turned - in the right direction.

7 comments:

the moose said...

Its a mirage - win one loose one isn't going to get it done. Yes it is tme to trade CC. Everytime the tribe needs a win he can't produce.

Trade him to texas for milton bradley and trade paul byrd for brandon phillips

and david delucci and andy marte for kevin kouzmanoff

look for the pitching to get better now out of texas

who are these characters in the merry go round of a bullpen

Ron Vallo said...

Not laying the loss on him by any means because the game was over before he came in, but is it absolutely necessary for Mujica to give up at least one run every time he pitches?

Why is he on this team?

How many times does he have to shuffle up from Buffalo before the cut him loose?

Have we seen enough of Milton Bradely yet? Geese!

Shin Soo Choo looked like a certain Cleveland Central Catholic rightfielder from the early 70s trying to play the sun field at Padua High School.

I think the pitching will get back in gear soon enough, maybe this weekend but they've been beaten up so badly they may not straighten it out until after they leave Detroit, which is a pitchers park (less so than it used to be) but a good hitting team.

the moose said...

having been one to regularly bash rick byrd I want to congratulate him on his 100 th win. If there is a team in more disarray than the tribe it is the tigers. I think the white sox are for real. They got good starting pitching and hitting is comning around. The twins cant last with 4 rookie starters. I agree with Ron - pitching will be alright once they get out of Texas. 4-4 rode trip I guess I would consider 6-5 a success on the longest trip of the year but it could be better

Note - Shoo also looks like a certain RF who also played for a barber shop quartet in North Royalton

Ron Vallo said...

I think the two rightfielders you are talking about are the same person, one a few years and many beers at Joe Jaz's house later.

the moose said...

so now to got another problem - no longer have those excess SP and basically got to go with 2 rookies and the bullpen is a disaster.

Wonder if the tribe has an insurance policy on westbrook for 11 million a year

bobbydb19 said...

What the heck is going on with this bull-pen? The strength of our team last year, is now our downfall. Betancourt now officially looks like Fernando Cabrera. If he doesn't start pitching well (7.27 ERA? WTF?), he will be shipped out too. The Sox are up 7-0. Looks like we drop another game in the standings. I haven't watched a game in 2 days, but then why the hell should I?

Now we have to ask Sowers to pitch a gem for us. A tall task in Detroit. Shapiro will be making his moves very shortly. I think we are sellers. As tough as it is for me to swallow, I have reached that conclusion.

the moose said...

yes the gap between cleveland ant the white sox keeps getting bigger
7 1/2 behind chi sox and it looks like some chi sox hitters are waking up. Yes the BP does not look good - but what options are there - betancourt looks totally lost out there - there is nothing in the minors - ron's buddy Muchija, bauer, - keep jenson lewis up here - its a mess

lasts year team would have won todays game