S-w-w-w-w-i-n-g and a miss and the '07 baseball season was on its way with Westbrook's first strike-out. Baseball is back and once again all is right with the world. It's great to hear the best radio guy in sports, Tom Hamilton again. He brightens the gloomiest of winter days. Although, there are a lot of questions for the Tribe this year, Hamilton's enthusiasm makes it hard not to be excited about this team.
Tom Hamilton and partner Mike Hegan continue their best to sell this team. They keep saying how great this team is and how excited they are about watching this team; but, it's hard to buy into the belief this team can win. There are bright spots and improvements have been made; but, they won't be enough to propel this team to the playoffs.
Even with his new eyes and being in the best shape of his career, Jhonny Peralta does not carry the weight of an everyday shortstop. While it was nice to see Wedge and Indian's management taking a proactive stance this year and prescribe an off-season work-out schedule for Peralta, he has a lot to make-up for with his 2006 performance. He was extremely poor on both sides of the ball last year. He can't get to anything hit to his left and only batted 257 -- and that was with a big surge at the end of the year. He's below average defense was acceptable to the Tribe because of his offensive numbers. Since he didn't hit last year, I don't see any benefit he brings to this team. I still can't believe the Tribe's brain trust thought this guy was capable of taking Omar's spot. It's very funny to hear the Tribe talk about how they are looking for an utility infielder that can play short day in and day out and produce if Peralta gets hurt. Shouldn't they find an everyday player that can do those things first?
To add to the left side of the infield woes, third base is another big concern. Andy Marte is hitting a blistering 204 in 74 games in the big leagues. Last year he made 6 errors in 50 games with the Indians. That means the entire left side of the infield is wide-open -- both in fielding and hitting. What is frustrating is that they have already have given Marte a spot, a player with a poor big-league while they are making Ryan Garko, a top-rated prospect with a stellar track record, sweat-out the spring. He must hope that Joe Inglett can play shortstop up to the Indians expectations in order to make the team.
Garko is going to be one of the best hitters in the majors and he's not guaranteed a spot on the team? If Garko does not make this team, it would be the biggest injustice the Tribe has seen since Belle was suspended for leveling Fernando Vina in '96. I'm looking forward to seeing him play -- all year.
Another bright spot is Josh Barfield. In the first game of the spring, he combined with Peralta to turn an amazing double play. The ball was hit softly to short. Peralta fielded it quickly and threw to Barfield who spun and with just using his arm, fired a strike over to first for the DP. It sounds like watching him play defense is going to be fun. It also sounds like he's going to create some excitement on the base paths this year -- if Wedge doesn't get in his way. He's got speed, he has National League experience (he can bunt), and boy, can he play. It'll be interesting to see if he can distract pitchers enough to allow Hafner to have a Monster year. He's one of the leading regulars this spring with a 324 average. I hope that translates into the regular season.
Speaking of Sizemore, he keeps on shining. He made a spectacular diving play, fighting the sun, on a sinking line drive. This kid is fun to watch!!
However, he's only batting 116 this spring. The numbers for the offense are bleak this year. Hafner is batting 237, Blake, 211, Nixon 200, Marte is one of the higher ones at 268. Although this is spring, those numbers are concerning. It's not good to be coming out of the spring in a slump.
However, it doesn't seem that management is concerned about starting slow. While the Tigers and White Sox have gotten off to blistering starts the last two seasons, management feels that they put too much pressure on getting off to a fast start last year. So, it looks like the Tribe will be playing catch-up once again this year -- if they ever get going. I don't understand why the Tribe isn't more concerned about this. If the White Sox and Tigers can do it -- and the Tigers were coming off a horrible year -- why isn't the Tribe wondering why they can't do it? Management is complacent with mediocrity. The Astros have finished first or second 12 out of the last 13 years and they've had four new managers. The A's went to the ALCS last year and Ken Macha was fired. Why is management happy with a manager who's team was the biggest disappointment of the 2006 season? Why don't they want to find a manager that wants to play well -- and can -- from the first game to the last?
This team is a house of cards, it looks pretty from the outside, but, the inside is ready to crumble. The starting rotation is good. The closer should be good. But, what about middle relief? Bettencourt and Hernandez aren't the bridge we need to get from the starter to the closer. They are shakier then one of those rope bridges. Our line-up with Michaels, Marte, and Peralta is far from solid. Add a manager who doesn't know how to get the most from his players and you have what the management is looking for -- mediocrity.
It's not all gloom and doom with the Tribe this year. Sizemore and Barfield are going to be fun to watch. Peralta is going to be better than last year -- but, that's not hard to predict; he can't get much worse than he was last year. The starters should have a good year. But, in the end, the won't have all the pieces they need to solve the playoff puzzle this year.
