Fourteen games into the 2017 season, the A.L. Champion Cleveland Indians have been a bit up and down to start the season.
They've gone just 4-7 since the opening series in Texas where the Tribe completed a three game sweep of the Rangers. However, a major league baseball season is a true marathon and for the time being at least, there's no need to hit the panic button. The club has taken the first two games of a three game series in Minnesota against the Twins, coming away with a 3-1 triumph behind a solid pitching effort from starting pitcher, Danny Salazar and an 11-4 whooping with Josh Tomlin on the mound to even their record at 7-7.
Salazar seems to be quickly regaining the fireballing form he displayed the first half of last season when he landed on the A.L. All-star team. He did not, however, win a single game the entire 2nd half after being beset by unfortunate arm issues that landed him on the disabled list. This coupled with stellar starter, Carlos Carassco also landing on the DL for the entire last few weeks of the magical 2016 season, as well as the entire post-season, played a significant role in ultimately derailing the Tribe in the World Series versus the Cubs.
Carassco appears to be healthy as well and the five man starting staff of former Cy Young winner, Corey Kluber, Carrasco, Salazar, Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin are set to carry the load until manager, Terry Francona's magnificent bullpen brigade takes over. Kluber got roughed up in his most recent outing similar to his start in Game 7 of the World Series versus the Cubs.
If Kluber doesn't prove to be the Kluber of old over the long haul, Carassco, Salazar and the others are really gonna have to step it up to take up the slack, otherwise the team could be in for some trouble. He's pitched a lot of innings over the past several seasons. Indians starters must be able to hold leads into the 6th inning at the least so that their stellar bullpen can take over.
It's a bit of a myth that this club has a power laden lineup. The dominating Indians teams of the mid 90's had a true power laden lineup top to bottom, this team doesn't. The key to this club repeating as both Central Division champions, American League champs and a World Series title is clearly the pitching staff. There are two legitimate 'power' hitters in the lineup and Francona chooses to continue to bat one of them, Carlos Santana , leadoff. That may or may not change when 2nd baseman Jason Kipnis comes off the DL in a few days.
I would bat Kipnis leadoff followed by Lindor, Brantley, Encarnacion in the cleanup spot, Santana, Ramirez, then the final three in the order. Those six are the Tribe's everyday regulars and while they'll probably hit a modest number of home runs, they can all smack the baseball around the park pretty darn good !
$60 million dollar cleanup batter Edwin Encarnacion, the huge free agent pickup from the Blue Jays is off to somewhat of a slow start, but, just clubbed his 2nd HR of the year against the Twins. There's a common assumption among fans and media that the former Toronto Blue Jay is a huge upgrade over Napoli. On paper, he should be. But, Encarnacion is past what have generally been considered a player's 'prime' years. Furthermore, the law of averages say no one can be expected to hit over 40 home runs six straight years or more.
That being said, maybe he'll go on to wallop 50 HR's ! With every huge contract come very high expectations and there are some fans whom are restless already, which is utterly ridiculous. There are exactly 148 games left to go in a very long season. Players have ups and downs all the time. Frankly, fans that get bent out of shape at a player's batting average with less than 50 AB'S (at bats) are irritatingly amusing. In this era of endless social media, there's ignorance everywhere.
The biggest addition, by far, to this year's lineup other than Encarnacion is the return of All-star outfielder, Michael Brantley. He walloped his 2nd HR against Minnesota and has been fairly consistently smacking the ball, including one huge game winning walkoff in Cleveland. A healthy Michael Brantley is a whale of a hitter and the club better cross it's fingers...and toes that he stays that way over the course of the long season.
3rd baseman turned temporary 2nd baseman, Jose Ramirez is off to a fantastic start and already has knocked in 15 runs to begin the season. With Kipnis' likely return in a matter of days, Ramirez will return to 3rd and Yandy Diaz, the rookie who's been playing there and doing a very commendable job will get sent back down to the AAA team in all likelihood. The spectacular SS, Francisco Lindor, who played very well on the national stage in the World Series is also off to a great start. The kid is just a refreshing jovial special kind of talent.
The catching situation is rather complicated for the time being. Yan Gomes, while being very early in the season, continues to struggle at the plate while receiving the bulk of the catching duties. He struggled unmercifully at the plate all last year when not injured, finishing with an entirely unacceptable batting average of under .170 ! Roberto Perez, who did a solid job in the post-season last year is primed to take over the fulltime duties behind the plate if Gomes and his toothpick bat doesn't get his average up to a respectable number.
Lonnie Chisenhall has been inserted in centerfield, at least for now, but, I'm not betting a dollar he stays there long. He's sort of a streaky hitter with only average power whom usually hits around .300 the first half of seasons only to tail off considerably in the second half. It was rather shocking that sophomore centerfielder, Tyler Naquin was shipped to AAA. The kid couldn't have been happy about it after hitting over .300 much of last year. It seemed like a rather odd move frankly.
Abe Almonte, suspended 80 games last season for PED use and Brandon Guyer are basically two journeyman types temporarily manning the right field spot. Almonte though has contributed more than expected.
Last, but not least, the magnificent bullpen brigade is a huge key to the fortunes of this club. Andrew Miller, the flame throwing versatile lefty strikeout artist acquired from the Yankees at the trading deadline has transformed this group to a feared bunch from the 6th inning on. Give these guys the lead at that point of the game and it's usually lights out for the opposing club.
Closer, Cody Allen throws a pretty hard fastball himself and generally can be depended upon to close out the game. Hard throwing lefty Boone Logan, another free agent off season acquisition just solidifies the group all the more. Dan Otero did a great job last season as well, generally appearing in the 6th or 7th inning. Then there's Bryan Shaw, who's done a superb overall job in a setup role the past few seasons.
If this club avoids injuries, it stands an excellent chance of winning the Central Division once again. The Detroit kittycats, uh, Tigers that is, probably are the Indians' biggest threat within the division, possibly followed by the Kansas City Royals. The White Sox of Chicago and the pesky Minnesota Twins round out the division.
And, who knows, maybe, just maybe this 2017 edition of the Cleveland Indians advances to the World Series yet again, only this time they win the title for the first time in 69 years. Tribe fans, hold on for a scintillating season !
DAVE BURKEY
E-mail: daveywriter@yahoo.com
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Saturday, April 15, 2017
CAVALIERS (NOT) SET TO DEFEND TITLE
It's time for the enigmatic Cleveland Cavaliers to put their money where there mouth is, insisting they're ready to make a run at successfully defending their NBA crown despite losing their final four games of the regular season.
A fair amount of roster shuffling and mounting losses, including a 7-10 record in March would tend to indicate otherwise however. Granted injuries played a significant role, yet a final regular season record of 51-31, while losing out to Boston for the top seed in the league's Eastern Conference are merely the tip of the iceberg amongst ominous signs that a repeat championship seems rather unlikely.
The Cavaliers' first round opponent, the Indiana Pacers finished with a 42-40 record, but make no mistake, they're a dangerous team. In a prelude of what's to come in fact, the Cavs and Pacers battled in a double overtime thriller in Cleveland on April 2nd, featuring a colossal scoring duel between Paul George of Indiana and LeBron James, ultimately won by the Cavs, 135- 130. George outscored James 43-41, in a contest the Cavs should've won in regulation but didn't, largely due to their usual mental lapses in effort and execution, particularly on the defensive end.
The Cavs were merely 23-23 after Jan. 10th with coach Ty Lue resting both Kyrie Erving and James several times on the back end of games on back to back nights. The practice was controversial as a national TV audience missed out on seeing the duo, even drawing the ire of NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver. To be fair, other teams have done the same thing with their elite players, marquee TV audience or not.
The one 'signature' win you might call it came on April 5th as the Cavaliers went into Boston and totally dominated the Celtics from start to finish to win going away in what was billed as the battle for top seed in the East. Unfortunately, that lead was rather short lived as the Cavs proceeded to come home two nights later for the first of two mystifying losses to the Atlanta Hawks. After the game, coach Lue was quite upset referring to it as a 'bad performance.' He also bemoaned the fact the team failed to capitalize on their huge Celtic victory.
In that AP story, Lue was also quoted after the game as saying, "...That's who we've been. That's who we are. I hate it. These games like this come back and bite you, especially down the stretch when you're trying to get some rest. ...." General Manager, David Griffin, the masterful chess player in manipulating the club's roster stated he was "pissed off" they blew the top seed while at the same time expressing the belief the team plays it's best with their backs to the wall.
We are about to find out, however, it's a dangerous viewpoint for any team to have in the ultra-competitive NBA. They certainly pulled the rabbit out of the hat in the finals last year to literally steal the championship from under the noses of the Warriors, but last season was last season and there's no switch to turn on when a team decides it suddenly desires to sustain maximum effort all game long game after game.
Coach Lue has brought up the notion in post game comments to the media that he has some sort of 'secret' defense to employ in the playoffs. He'd better because the Cavs rarely stopped anyone when it counted and finished with a very poor ranking of 22nd in the league on defense. As much as I'd like to believe him, I suspect the idea may be more 'smoke and mirror's than anything. Maybe newly added 7'3" center, Edy Tavares can play superman late in playoff games where the team has a large lead and can come in and swat away some of the endless easy layups the team relinquishes.
Frankly, Tristan Thompson is sorely lacking as any type of legitimate rim protector on defense and while he's a top rebounder, he's a minimal scoring threat and a major liability on the free throw line. Andrew Bogut going down in less than a minute of play was admittedly a devastating injury.
The 'Big 3' of James, Love and Irving need more help from their friends in shouldering some of the scoring load. The team averaged 110 ppg., but, guys like J.R. Smith who played a key role in last season's title and Kyle Korver, the sharpshooter acquired from the Hawks need to step up and consistently hit some shots to make another title run. The bench was woefully inadequate much of the season, continually being unmercifully outscored by other teams' benches.
Love is a tremendous rebounder and outlet passer, leading the club with 11.3 rebounds per game and prior to the knee injury causing him to miss several weeks, had been averaging over 20 ppg. as well. The Cavs seemed to be playing their best in games where Love scored early and often, taking much of the load off Irving and James. Still, the team consistently let large leads slip away resulting in wins that should've come without having to expend so much late 4th Quarter energy.
Edy Tavares to the rescue !
Seriously, don't count on that, but, at 7'3" it brings a dimension the club could sorely use at the defensive end when the Cavs need to get stops. Now, if he can learn the plays as well as tendencies of his teammates....
The road to the championship runs through Cleveland. As LeBron James sets out to play in an amazing 7th straight NBA finals, he's the one player seemingly ready for the challenge ahead. Are the rest of the Cavaliers ? We're about to find out.
DAVE BURKEY
E-mail: daveywriter@yahoo.com
A fair amount of roster shuffling and mounting losses, including a 7-10 record in March would tend to indicate otherwise however. Granted injuries played a significant role, yet a final regular season record of 51-31, while losing out to Boston for the top seed in the league's Eastern Conference are merely the tip of the iceberg amongst ominous signs that a repeat championship seems rather unlikely.
The Cavaliers' first round opponent, the Indiana Pacers finished with a 42-40 record, but make no mistake, they're a dangerous team. In a prelude of what's to come in fact, the Cavs and Pacers battled in a double overtime thriller in Cleveland on April 2nd, featuring a colossal scoring duel between Paul George of Indiana and LeBron James, ultimately won by the Cavs, 135- 130. George outscored James 43-41, in a contest the Cavs should've won in regulation but didn't, largely due to their usual mental lapses in effort and execution, particularly on the defensive end.
The Cavs were merely 23-23 after Jan. 10th with coach Ty Lue resting both Kyrie Erving and James several times on the back end of games on back to back nights. The practice was controversial as a national TV audience missed out on seeing the duo, even drawing the ire of NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver. To be fair, other teams have done the same thing with their elite players, marquee TV audience or not.
The one 'signature' win you might call it came on April 5th as the Cavaliers went into Boston and totally dominated the Celtics from start to finish to win going away in what was billed as the battle for top seed in the East. Unfortunately, that lead was rather short lived as the Cavs proceeded to come home two nights later for the first of two mystifying losses to the Atlanta Hawks. After the game, coach Lue was quite upset referring to it as a 'bad performance.' He also bemoaned the fact the team failed to capitalize on their huge Celtic victory.
In that AP story, Lue was also quoted after the game as saying, "...That's who we've been. That's who we are. I hate it. These games like this come back and bite you, especially down the stretch when you're trying to get some rest. ...." General Manager, David Griffin, the masterful chess player in manipulating the club's roster stated he was "pissed off" they blew the top seed while at the same time expressing the belief the team plays it's best with their backs to the wall.
We are about to find out, however, it's a dangerous viewpoint for any team to have in the ultra-competitive NBA. They certainly pulled the rabbit out of the hat in the finals last year to literally steal the championship from under the noses of the Warriors, but last season was last season and there's no switch to turn on when a team decides it suddenly desires to sustain maximum effort all game long game after game.
Coach Lue has brought up the notion in post game comments to the media that he has some sort of 'secret' defense to employ in the playoffs. He'd better because the Cavs rarely stopped anyone when it counted and finished with a very poor ranking of 22nd in the league on defense. As much as I'd like to believe him, I suspect the idea may be more 'smoke and mirror's than anything. Maybe newly added 7'3" center, Edy Tavares can play superman late in playoff games where the team has a large lead and can come in and swat away some of the endless easy layups the team relinquishes.
Frankly, Tristan Thompson is sorely lacking as any type of legitimate rim protector on defense and while he's a top rebounder, he's a minimal scoring threat and a major liability on the free throw line. Andrew Bogut going down in less than a minute of play was admittedly a devastating injury.
The 'Big 3' of James, Love and Irving need more help from their friends in shouldering some of the scoring load. The team averaged 110 ppg., but, guys like J.R. Smith who played a key role in last season's title and Kyle Korver, the sharpshooter acquired from the Hawks need to step up and consistently hit some shots to make another title run. The bench was woefully inadequate much of the season, continually being unmercifully outscored by other teams' benches.
Love is a tremendous rebounder and outlet passer, leading the club with 11.3 rebounds per game and prior to the knee injury causing him to miss several weeks, had been averaging over 20 ppg. as well. The Cavs seemed to be playing their best in games where Love scored early and often, taking much of the load off Irving and James. Still, the team consistently let large leads slip away resulting in wins that should've come without having to expend so much late 4th Quarter energy.
Edy Tavares to the rescue !
Seriously, don't count on that, but, at 7'3" it brings a dimension the club could sorely use at the defensive end when the Cavs need to get stops. Now, if he can learn the plays as well as tendencies of his teammates....
The road to the championship runs through Cleveland. As LeBron James sets out to play in an amazing 7th straight NBA finals, he's the one player seemingly ready for the challenge ahead. Are the rest of the Cavaliers ? We're about to find out.
DAVE BURKEY
E-mail: daveywriter@yahoo.com
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