Hey, crimestoppers, it’s been awhile. Frankly, if you’re reading this now, then thanks for stopping in after my months-long hiatus. I thought it would be worthwhile checking in now that the season has started, especially since the Tribe is about to take on faithful reader Dave Draeger’s Twins.
“Everything Old is New Again”
- Russell Branyan is back. No, not Russell Branyan’s back, which is, of course a problem, but he IS back. He was activated yesterday and Michael Brantley was sent down. This Indians’ lineup so far has proven to be in desperate need of some pop from someone other than Shin-Soo Choo. Oh, and speaking of Russell Branyan and Shin-Soo Choo, how about this: Russell Branyan was traded in 2002 for Ben Broussard, who was traded in 2006 for Shin-Soo Choo. And now, Russell is back, too (no, not Russell’s back, which will likely continue to be a problem – c’mon, keep up!).
- Attendance for Opening Day at Municipal Stadium Progressive Field – 42,061 for the home opener. For the next five home games – 54,139 total. Ladies and gentlemen, your 1984 Cleveland Indians! In all seriousness, April weeknight home games are a tough sell even when the team is projected to be good just because of the weather unless the opponent is the FEDBU or FEDBU-Lite, but this is an indication of just what a tough sell this team is this year. It is not uncommon to hear the mouth-breathers who call Bruce Drennan talk about how they’re not going to a game until Dolan opens up his checkbook and spends a gazillion dollars on the team. The economics of baseball and the way the deck is totally stacked against small market teams is totally lost on these people. And, in fact, they are part of the problem, in that Dolan will not have revenue to make the team better and sign the free agents that these people want until they start going to games again.
- The good news – the Indians are 5-1 against the division rival White Sox (yay! Just like the 90s!). The bad news – they’re 1-5 against everyone else, everyone else being the Tigers and Rangers (boo! Just like the 30 years that came before the 90s!). Are the White Sox really that bad? One can hope.
- Andy Marte – still generally riding the pine while Jhonny Peralta’s bat continues to stink up the ballyard with his traditional Ahpril Ahwfulness. Jhonny’s OPS+ for April since 2005 – 97, 65, 110, 92, 52 and so far in 2010, 52. With the exception of 2007, the Magical Year of Unicorns and Rainbows, Jhonny has generally been well below average in April.
- The Tribe is 2-1 in games that Marte has started and 5-2 in games in which he’s appeared. Jhust sayin’, yho. And now that Russell the Muscle is back, Andy’s career as bench-riding dominoes king will continue to thrive.
- The bullpen is, once again, a complete crap shoot. Temporary closer Chris Perez is bipolar, either lights out or lit up. Raffy Perez’ out pitch, his slider, which made him such a big part of the Magical Year of Unicorns and Rainbows, was last seen in 2008. Jamey Wright is pretty much the designated Veteran Mop-Up Guy Providing Leadership in the Bullpen. Tony Sipp is erratic, throwing a 52-footer with one pitch and a devastating heater with his next pitch. Aaron Laffey is the only, true, multi-inning non-mop-up option, and so far Good Jensen Lewis has showed up (but Gopherball Jensen Lewis is always only one pitch away). Veteran closer Kerry Wood? Injured, of course. Duh.
Surprises
- The starting pitching, expected to be a major weakness for the team, so far has been credible. Indians’ starters David Huff and Mitch Talbot have both pitched complete game victories. The Indian’s starters’ ERA coming into tonight’s game is 3.40, fourth in the American League. The bullpen has pitched only 31 innings through 12 games (second only to the FEDBU’s 30 innings). If the starters can keep going deep into games like this, it will at least minimize the potential damage that will likely continue to be done by the Arson Squad bullpen.
- Didn’t everyone think this team would hit? So far, pretty much it’s been the Shin-Soo Choo Show. Overall, the offense has an OPS+ of 79. How about this line so far?: .219/.313/.343. Yikes. There are no home runs yet from catcher, first base (first base!), center field and left field. Besides Jhonny’s Ahwful Ahpril, Lou Marson, Michael Brantley, Matt LaPorta and Pronk have been off to poor starts. Lou Marson, in particular seems snakebit, having smoked several balls right at somebody, and he has an OPS+ of -25. Hopefully, Brantley will recover by going down to Columbus and smoking the ball.
- And yet, this team is 6-6. I know, small sample size and playing the White Sox and all, but 6-6 is 6-6.
The first Mojo Watch of the Season!
Shin-Soo Choo - Oh yeah, Shin-Soo is so smokin’ hot that he gets 5 Elvi.
Lou Marson – Doing his best Michael J. Fox impression, Lou Marson has got No Elvis. He’s looked snakebit both at the plate and behind the plate.- Jhonny Peralta - Like Lou Marson, Jhonny has got Nho Ehlvis. He’s been a giant pile of suckage in the middle of the lineup and has made a couple critical errors that have cost the team ballgames.
David Huff, Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona, Mitch Talbot, Justin Masterson - I’m going to give the starting staff 3 Elvi. They’ve generally looked like a major league starting staff so far, which is more than anyone expected at the beginning of the season. Fausto has started to look like he is actually learning to pitch. Huff and Talbot have both surprised with complete game victories, and Jake, after struggling in his first start, has looked a lot more steady since. Masterson still needs to figure out something he can do to pitch to lefties.- Raffy Perez - Raffy misplaced his Elvis sometime between the 2008 and 2009 seasons and it hasn’t been seen since. Raffy may be the first guy voted off the island when Wood comes off the DL. He may be a promising reclamation project for a team with some more patience, but unless somehow he can find his slider, his MLB days may be dwindling to a precious few.
Chris Perez - The kid’s got some Elvis in him. You just never know when it’s going to come out.-
Tony Sipp - The kid’s got some Elvis in him. You just never know if it’s going to come out on any given pitch. - Matt LaPorta - The kid’s playing as if he’s still injured. Looks a little less confident at the plate and not making really good contact – not driving the ball much. He’s got more Elvis than Jhonny and Lou, but not much more. With Russell the Muscle back, he may see more days off, or a return to more familiar territory in left field.
- Pronk - Pronk has showed improved Elvis so far. He looks more confident at the plate, and it appears that he is regaining his batting eye and swinging at fewer really bad pitches. However, other teams are also clearly pitching around him because Jhonny has bheen so ahwful.
Okay, crimestoppers. On to Minnesota. Remember – Pronk still needs you. His mojo is still out there, waiting and wanting to return and only you can help him find it.
