Successful the Indians were not in the first half of the 2010 season, but they could hardly be called boring.
A broken left forearm was far from the only pain the Indians felt during the first half of their 2010 season -- but Asdrubal Cabrera's injury did accurately reflect how the campaign got away from the Tribe.• Assessing the top second-half tasks for Tribe
MIDSEASON INDIANS REPORT
Evaluating the Indians, player by player, in 25 words or less. First the 25-man roster that ended the first half Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
POSITION PLAYERS
OUTFIELDERS
Michael Brantley: Let's give him a chance to get settled.
Trevor Crowe: Good speed, good arm. Needs to get on base more.
Shelley Duncan: Power off bench, especially against righties.
Austin Kearns: Solid first half, but offense is in decline.
INFIELDERS
Jason Donald: Has to get rid of the ball quicker at short.
Travis Hafner: Could lose at-bats against lefties in second half.
Anderson Hernandez: Best healthy shortstop on roster.
Matt LaPorta: Nice power surge until he got elbowed in head.
Andy Marte: It's good to be Andy Marte.
Jayson Nix: Is this real or a Karim Garcia hot streak?
Jhonny Peralta: One day Peralta will regret wasting so many at-bats.
CATCHERS
Carlos Santana: His OPS finally dipped below 1.000.
Chris Gimenez: Hopefully the second time around is better than the first.
STARTING PITCHERS
Jake Westbrook: If he reaches 180 to 200 innings, he'll have had a good year.
Fausto Carmona: No way can the front office trade him.
Justin Masterson: Leads staff in strikeouts.
Mitch Talbot: Can't ask a rookie for more than eight wins in first half.
Aaron Laffey: Must pitch well because Carlos Carrasco, David Huff and Josh Tomlin are coming.
BULLPEN
Hector Ambriz: Rule 5 pick whose timing couldn't be better.
Frank Herrmann: Remarkable what happens when you throw strikes.
Chris Perez: Needs more strikeouts if he's going to be future closer.
Rafael Perez: Improved at end of first half, but still hard to trust in the clutch.
Tony Sipp: A lot like Raffie Perez. Consistency missing.
Joe Smith: Change in delivery has helped against right-handers, but we still don't know what he can do.
Kerry Wood: Can't believe a contender won't take a chance on a power arm like this.
DON'T FORGET US
Indians who contributed to the first half, but were injured or sent to the minors.
OUTFIELDERS
Shin-Soo Choo: The Indians love Choo's talent. So does every other team in the big leagues.
Grady Sizemore: Will we ever see the 30-30 version of Sizemore again?
INFIELDERS
Asdrubal Cabrera: The more you watch other people play shortstop, the more you miss Cabrera.
Luis Valbuena: If he makes it back to Cleveland, he'll have to do it as a hitter.
CATCHERS
Lou Marson: Hitting worse in Columbus than he did in Cleveland. How can that be?
Mike Redmond: Old pro who helped Carmona get back on track.
PITCHERS
David Huff: Figuring things out in Columbus after opposition had .910 OPS against him in Cleveland.
Jensen Lewis: Gutsy, but short on stuff. Needs to throw a lot more strikes.
-- Paul Hoynes
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians went into the All-Star break with 54 losses. Successful they were not, but they could hardly be called boring.
Like an approaching funnel cloud they were hard to ignore, except when it came to buying a ticket to watch them play at Progressive Field. Then they were an afterthought, drawing the fewest people of any big-league team at the break.
Still on many nights it was hard to figure out what to do. Hide in the fruit cellar and pray the roof stayed on the house or peek out the cellar door to watch them rumble past.
The storm brought bad and good. Here is a sampling:
THE BAD:
1. On a trip to Kansas City, Baltimore and St. Petersburg, Fla., from May 11-18, the Indians lost two of their best players to serious injuries. Grady Sizemore took himself out of a May 16 game in Baltimore after re-injuring his left knee diving back into first base. Season-ending surgery followed and Sizemore's ability to reach his past level of performance in 2011 and beyond must be questioned.
The next day, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera collided with third baseman Jhonny Peralta behind second base in the first inning at Tropicana Field. Cabrera suffered a broken left forearm that required surgery. He is expected to rejoin the Indians by the end of July or early August.
2. On May 29, in the second game of the Indians' next trip, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez hit left-hander David Huff on the side of his head with a line drive in the third inning. The ball, which knocked Huff flat, deflected off his head into right field for a double. Huff's mother, father and brother, making their first trip to Yankee Stadium, watched.
Huff escaped uninjured. He even made his next start, but he was sent down soon after with an AL-leading nine losses. At the break, Huff was still tied for second in the league in losses.
3. How do you know when it's not going to be a good season? When two players and a coach get driven off the field on carts because of injuries.
Cabrera and Huff were carted off following their mishaps. On June 20, coaching assistant Ruben Niebla was shagging fly balls in the outfield at PNC Park in Pittsburgh when he blew out his knee. The injury required what amounts to season-ending surgery.
One more clue: bench player Andy Marte goes on the disabled list for an infected in-grown hair that requires surgery.
4. On the last trip before the All-Star break, the Indians played Texas at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. In the fifth inning on July 6, fire fighter Tyler Morris fell out of the second deck while trying to catch a foul ball. The Indians were in the field at the time and many of their players saw Morris fall.
"I thought he killed himself," said Trevor Crowe, who knelt in left field, praying.
Two days later Morris left the hospital with a fractured skull and injured ankle. He was wearing a Josh Hamilton jersey presented by the Rangers. They also gave him the foul ball that almost killed him.
5. Shin-Soo Choo, the Indians' most impressive player in the first half, appeared to be headed for a trip to the All-Star Game. In the eighth inning July 2, two days before the All-Star teams were announced, he tried to make a diving catch in right field in the eighth inning against Oakland. Choo injured his right thumb and was placed on the disabled list the next day. Teammate Fausto Carmona was named to the American League team instead of Choo.
THE GOOD:
Mitch Talbot was a most pleasant surprise in the first half for the Indians, recording eight wins and averaging better than six innings per start in his first season as a big-league starter.1. Starting pitchers Fausto Carmona, Mitch Talbot and Jake Westbrook pitched better than anticipated. Carmona, coming off two disappointing seasons, went 8-7. Talbot, acquired from Tampa Bay in December, led all AL rookies with eight wins at the break. Westbrook, after missing almost two years following surgery on his right elbow, was 5-5 and made all 18 of his starts.
Justin Masterson showed signs of successfully making the transition to full-time starter.
2. New manager Manny Acta showed patience, belief and baseball smarts through the first 88 games. Acta knew this wasn't going to be easy, but couldn't anticipate losing three of his best players (Sizemore, Cabrera and Choo) to injury. Still, you have admire a manager who can keep delivering one-liners in the face in the face of defeat.
Two of Acta's best:
"Life is tough. Wear a helmet with double ear flaps."
"Sometimes you're the bug. And sometimes you're the windshield."
3. Even when things worked out, they didn't.
Washington's rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg made his second big-league start at Progressive Field on June 13. He drew a crowd of 32,826, the Indians' second biggest of the season.
Strasburg was impressive, hitting 100 mph to leadoff hitter Trevor Crowe. Strasburg earned the win, but twice he had to call for the grounds crew to repair the mound, drawing boos from the crowd. So even baseball's next pitching maestro couldn't get through his second concert without being dubbed a diva.
4. The dysfunctional White Sox, on the verge of breaking up their roster only a month ago, ended the break in first place in the AL Central. The Indians, however, were not impressed. They went 8-4 against Chicago.
5. This is another one of the two-edged sword situations. The Indians scored 43 percent of their runs (154 of 360) in the first half with two outs. It's a credit to their ingenuity and persistence, but isn't the formula for winning baseball, as their 34-54 record suggests.