At the midpoint of the 2010 season, the Indians may not really be as bad as their record indicates.
View full sizeFausto Carmona, as evidenced by his selection as te Tribe's lone All-Star, is nearly back to his 2007 form. That bodes well for the second half of 2010 ... AND the coming of 2011.Cleveland, Ohio -- This is the point in the baseball season where all the wags give mid-term grades to the teams. Right now, the Web site waitingfornextyear.com is in the midst of a series looking at different aspects of the Tribe. Today's blog focuses on the starting rotation.
Jake Westbrook looks to be closer to a return to his pre-Tommy John surgery days. The best part, though, is that Fausto Carmona appears to have regained his confidence, and picked up a measure of how to pitch, not just throw. But the bottom half of the rotation has been spottier than a Dalmatians convention.
Here's how TD, blogging for the site, sees the performance of the Tribe's lone All-Star:
Perhaps the most underrated storyline of the 2010 Tribe season has been the return of Fausto to prominence. The Indians lone All Star representative went from rags to riches in a 365 day span. At this time last year, Fausto was back all the way in Arizona rookie ball trying to find himself. A year later, he is the Indians best starter again.I'm not going to sit here and say he is the 2007 Carmona; we may never see that again. But he is definitely closer to '07 than '08-'09. Credit goes not only to Carmona himself, but new voices in pitching coach Tim Belcher and his former personal catcher Mike Redmond, who was designated for assignment last week.
We've seen the power sinker return as well as more life on his fastball. Fausto's biggest problem over the previous two seasons was his control. The walks were killing him. 2010 has been different. Sure, he could still walk less hitters, but the six walk games which seemed common in '08 and '09 have all but disappeared.With a club friendly contract and a renewed confidence, Fausto should be a fixture at the top of the Indians rotation from years to come.
Every day that Westbrook, a free agent at the end of this season, escapes the tradesman's ax is a bonus. He's been a great presence in the clubhouse and on the team. But even if and when Westy is dealt, Tribe fans should take some solace in knowing that Carmona will be around to fill the void.
And another thingNext we'll turn to Land Loyalty – which Starting Blocks is sure is his real name – blogging for opposingview.com.
Starting Blocks doesn't want to see LL beaned for being an optimist, but it's only right to point out that he sees some positive things happening in Tribe Land.
1. If there was ever a team to not expect much out of this year, it would be the Cleveland Indians. But that should be viewed as normal. What Tribe fans should be most concerned about is how well our prospects adjust to life in the major leagues.
2. The recent emergence of Matt LaPorta should be very pleasing to Indians fans. He still strikes out too much, but his five homers is encouraging. He has the ability to become the type of player that will hit for a nice average, provide a lot of power and drive in a lot of runs. Whether or not he developes more plate discipline will determine if he becomes Jim Thome or Richie Sexson.
3. Victor who? When the Indians promoted Carlos Santana I did not expect the guy to play as if he's in his fifth major league season, but that's exactly what he's done. In just 95 at-bats he has five homers, has driven in 16 runs and is hitting .284.
Looks like 2011 might not be such a bad year. If, of course, the Tribe can get some decent pitching to go with Carmona (SB is sort of assuming, which is a dangerous thing, that some contender will deal for Westbrook this year). It would also help if Mark Shapiro or Chris Antonetti (who will replace Shapiro as general manager at the end of this season) were to learn a few Jedi mind tricks for the off-season meetings with fellow execs:
"Kerry Wood is the closer you need. Telling you I am."
From The Plain Dealer
Tribe beat writer Paul Hoynes wrote from Anaheim, Calif., on Tuesday from the All-Star game. He provided a nice piece on what happens to baseball's revenue sharing money -- last year, estimated at about $400 million. But of more interest to Tribe fans was this quote from ex-Indians catcher Victor Martinez, who was there as a member of the Boston Red Sox:
"It doesn't surprise me to see (Fausto) Carmona here," said Martinez, who didn't play because of a broken left thumb. "Everybody knows Carmona has the stuff, but in this game everybody goes up and down. I'm really happy and proud for Fausto."