Well, after a full month of ball, there is still many questions the Indians need to answer.
There is no question they've improved dramatically from last year and Eric Wedge has shown that he's not comatose during games; but, still they have not proven they are as good as their record says.
The majority of wins have come against bad teams. They couldn't beat the Yankees, who are far from a good team, they shouldn't have won the series against Tampa Bay, and they've lost the series in Baltimore. They did beat the Twins and Angels, who can be play-off contenders. So, the question is, Is this team for real?
Peralta's defense is still questionable. He made two errors in the final game against Toronto and he has difficulty catching balls thrown to him. Despite all the errors he's made, Joe Novak points out that last year he had a better fielding percentage than the 2006 Gold Glove winner, Derek Jeter (.977 vs. .975).
The upside to Peralta's defense is that his bat is starting to come around. He's already had several big hits in this last couple of games, including a 5 RBI night. It looks like his lasix is paying off.
Speaking of offense, it's still a concern that the Tribe scores the majority of their runs of off home runs. They rank 20th of 30 in batting average, .259, but rank 8th in home runs. Their situational hitting is much better than last year, but that's not saying much as last year it was non-existent.
Grady stealing more, the occasional bunt, and a hit-and-run are all signs the Tribe is trying to manufacture runs. In Thursday's game against Toronto, Barfield singled to right with a runner at first. It was nice to see someone try to move a runner over and not swing for the fences.
Sizemore, Blake, Barfield, Dellucci, Garko, Michaels, and Marte are all struggling at the plate. If these guys hit like they're capable, it'll could be one of the best offenses in baseball this year. Despite Grady's slow start, he has a .400 on base percentage -- one of the top for AL lead-off hitters.
Now, more about the defense. Although we've only played a month and he's on the DL, it seems clear that Marte is not ready for the majors. Blake has played well at third. Garko has been alright at first. The team has a nice feel without Marte. If Rouse could hit, it would be nice to see him at short. And, it would be nice defensively to play Shoppach. Martinez still is struggling to throw out runners. Shoppach, on the other hand, as shown he has no problem gunning a man down and he hustles. Martinez offense, though, is making-up for his lack of defense.
The outfield is also a concern. It's nice to have Sizemore as the anchor; but, there a big holes on either side of him. Nixon isn't the fastest guy and neither Dellucci or Michaels have been impressive. Choo would be good in right; but, there is no room for him because we have two left fielders.
Speaking of unimpressive, Joe Borowski has had a rough start. The loss against NY was incomprehensible and he's been lucky he didn't blow a couple of the games against Chicago. He did have a great outing in the last game against Toronto; so, hopefully, he's turned the corner. Hernandez and Bettancourt have good days and bad. It's never a comfortable feeling when they come in the game. The one guy that has shined in the pen is Fernando Cabrera. He has a 1.23 ERA and 22 K's in 14.2 innings.
With the exception of Jeremy Sowers, our starters have done a good job. Carmona has done a great job filling in for Westbrook. Lee was rusty in the beginning of his first start, but, he looked good once he got going. C.C. and Byrd have been strong.
The Tribe starters have bee solid, they have a nice bench, and their bullpen has improved; but, the coaching and defense is still horrible.
Overall, I have to give this team a C. It's the tale of two teams. There are many positive signs and there are just as many negative signs. After a month of baseball, it's hard to say how this team will do. No one in the division -- or the rest of the league -- are playing really well; like Detroit and Chicago have done the last two years. Boston has the best winning percentage at .655 and the Indians are just behind them at .631. It'll be a good sign of how good this team is when we go into Boston and Detroit (.621).
If they play well against Detroit, they should be able to win the division.
