The 2013 Cleveland Indians

[AZ_]

Bastian clearly bored and playing on Baseball Reference during the rain delay.

Been there.

 

[kidduck]

Just about every analysis of the Tribe before Opening Day panned the rotation. Despite some bright spots, to date the weaknesses there are apparent with each game played. When your SPs average less than 6 innings per start, the train is coming off the rails. I doubt any team in MLB can sustain a playoff run when the bullpen has to get 10 or more outs per night. Too much competition for too little available help in the trade market pretty much means the only help possible will be internal.

BTW- Reynolds whiffing at breaking balls requiring a boat oar to reach brings back not so fond memories of Cory Snyder.

 

[shoes22]

To be honest, I'm not too bothered by the rotation. Maybe it's because I had ridiculously low expectations coming in, but they've actually performed a bit better than I expected they would. (I'm using last year's rotation as the benchmark here.) On a given night I expect our starters to average 6 innings and give up 4-5 runs, and rely on the offense to bail them out. This doesn't work against elite pitching, but things are more or less going to plan. The bullpen is the bigger hole that needs to be plugged.

 

[Soar]

Kipnis and Masterson All Stars per Withers

 

[Nicky]

At least we have that going for us.
Bittersweet.

 

[BMAN]

Looking like Danny Salazar will be called up next time through rotation.

 

[Derek]

Looking like Danny Salazar will be called up next time through rotation.

Will be interesting to see how he does considering he hasn't pitched more than 5 innings in any AAA start. I thought they'd work on extending him a little more before bringing him up.

 

[Stark]

We need Brett Myers back and in the bullpen.

 

[AMC]

Looking like Danny Salazar will be showcased next time through rotation.

Fixed.

 

[Huber.]

We need Brett Myers back and in the bullpen.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Francona: Myers (right elbow) still felt discomfort while warming up Monday. Didn't throw planned 2 IP and has been shut down for 3-5 days.</p>&mdash; Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBastian/statuses/352191522835410944">July 2, 2013</a></blockquote>
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[MoFlo]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Another <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Indians&amp;src=hash">#Indians</a> pitcher is going to make his MLB debut on Friday as RHP Chen-Chang Lee is expected to be called up (Salazar optioned).</p>&mdash; Tony Lastoria (@TonyIBI) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyIBI/statuses/355542778912051200">July 12, 2013</a></blockquote>
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[Derek]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9469720/first-half-mlb-mvps-cy-youngs-rookies-managers

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera

In almost any other year, in any other league, I would be using this space to spin an eloquent tale of the incredible saga of Chris Davis in Baltimore. But unfortunately for him, he had a first half for the ages at the same time that the great Miguel Cabrera was reminding us once again that he is one of the most special bat artistes any of us have ever laid eyes on. So take a deep breath and behold this man's first-half stat line through the first 90 games:

.366/.457/.682/1.139/30 HR/94 RBIs


Rick Yeatts/Getty Images
Miguel Cabrera hit three homers against Texas on May 19.
C'mon. Seriously? This is the 81st season to include an entity known as the "All-Star break." Would you believe that no one, in those 81 years, has ever matched that stat line at the break? And yes, I said no one. Way back when, in pre-All-Star-break history, Lou Gehrig had a .397/.484/.839/1.313/29/102 "first half" in 1927 that would have included 31 homers and 114 RBIs if we counted his first 90 games, according to baseball-reference.com. And Jimmie Foxx had a .375/.475/.769/1.244/30/93 "first half" in 1932. But in actual modern times, we've never seen anything like this. Did you know the list of men who never had 29 homers or 93 RBIs in any season includes Pete Rose, Lou Brock, Craig Biggio, Mark Grace and Wade Boggs (not to mention many, many others)?

But Miguel Cabrera has already reached those levels (along with that amazing slash line to go with it) by the All-Star break? You know, I could keep going here. I haven't even gotten into the fact that this man is hitting .452/.561/.923 with runners in scoring position, or that he's hitting a mind-warping .487/.630/1.026 with runners in scoring position and two outs. But basically, there's no need to keep piling on stats or accolades. I know what greatness looks like when I see it. And it looks just like the guy who plays third base in Detroit.

Apologies to: Davis, Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Dustin Pedroia, Josh Donaldson, Evan Longoria, Robinson Cano, Jason Kipnis, Edwin Encarnacion, Adrian Beltre.

Thought it was cool to see Kipnis get a some recognition

AL Cy Young: Max Scherzer

Let's get this straight right from the top. This choice is not just about wins and losses. But that doesn't mean I have to ignore wins and losses, either. My stance on this is, essentially: As life-altering baseball statistics go, "wins" are overrated. Way overrated. But they're not meaningless.


Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports
Max Scherzer has given up at least a run in every start, but he has yet to lose.
Obviously, a big reason Max Scherzer is 13-0 is that he leads the major leagues in run support. And his bullpen has pitched great for him, allowing no more than one run after he left the game in 14 of his 18 starts.

I get all that. But I also get this: Max Scherzer has been tremendous, at a time when his team needed him to be tremendous, because The Ace, Justin Verlander, has been shockingly mortal (for him). The Tigers are 15-3 when Scherzer pitches -- and two games under .500 when anybody else pitches. That's not meaningless.

He has given them big innings, pitching into the seventh (or beyond) in 13 of his past 16 starts. That's not meaningless. In the eight starts he's made following a Tigers loss since mid-May, they're 7-1 (thanks to one blown save), with Scherzer allowing just 32 hits (with 60 whiffs) and 15 earned runs (a 2.37 ERA) in 57 innings. That's not meaningless, either. There are excellent cases to be made here for Felix Hernandez, Chris Sale, Yu Darvish, Bartolo Colon and Hisashi Iwakuma. But Scherzer ranks in the top three in the AL in WHIP, strikeouts, strikeout ratio, FIP, opponent average, on-base, slugging and OPS. None of the other starters in this argument can make that claim.

So I'm not casting this vote just because Max Scherzer is 13-0. But I'm sure as heck not going to penalize him for it, either.

Apologies to: Hernandez, Darvish, Sale, Colon, Iwakuma, Derek Holland, Justin Masterson, Clay Buchholz, Jesse Crain, Greg Holland.

Masterson too

AL Manager: John Farrell

One baseball man we know had the perfect description for John Farrell's managerial mission in Boston this season: He didn't merely have to change the Red Sox's culture; he "had to clean up a toxic waste dump." So true.


Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
John Farrell's Red Sox are on pace to win 98 games.
The most amazing part of this team's journey to first place isn't the production it has gotten from 37-year-old David Ortiz, or the emergence of guys such as Daniel Nava and Iglesias, or the brilliance of Clay Buchholz (when healthy), or the bullpen-rescuing of closer No. 3, Koji Uehara. It's that, when you're around the Red Sox, it feels as though last year never happened.

That's a tribute to the leadership of Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia. It's a reflection of the excellent job GM Ben Cherington did in bringing in players of exceptional character. But no one should minimize the manager's many contributions -- from reviving his pitching staff to finding a way to get 12 different players at least 140 plate appearances to, above all, restoring the Red Sox vibe that was all he once knew, back in happier times.

Apologies to: Terry Francona, Bob Melvin, Buck Showalter.

And finally, Terry

 

[Ruken]

Was at the game yesterday and Salazar was filthy. Only one start but the stuff that kid possesses is top flight without a doubt.

 

[Chris]

.366/.457/.682/1.139/30 HR/94 RBIs

That is the most absurd thing I've seen in this sport in a long time. Just, what. Is there another league above MLB we can send this guy to?

 

[Pyro]

Indians announced that the theme for Rock-N-Blast will be The Rolling Stones. So naturally, I bought 3 tickets.