I've felt the same way about our relievers until I thought about it and did some research.
Unfortunately, the reason our relievers look shaky is because our hitters are terrible right now. They have the added pressure of being down or up by 1 all the time...there is no cushion. In the last 11 games, the Indians have scored 29 runs...29. But, the reason we are where we are (1st place) is because over that same span the pitching has given up 29 runs...only 29. That's not just the starters, that is the entire staff. The Indians pitching, all of it, is why we are in first. Borowski may be Wickman light, but he gets the job done...just like Wickman. He has 31 saves in 35 opportunities. Of the top 10 closers in both leagues, he is 3rd in save percentage. Betancourt has turned into one of the top setup men in the league. If Fultz gets back to his pre-injury form, he will be our lefty stopper. There is nothing to really say about the starters...they have been outstanding. CC, Carmona, and Byrd have been nothing short of amazing. There was no one available that could have helped in relief, and all the other clubs not named the Angels have the same problem. So, I'm not worried about the pitching.
The hitting, on the other hand, now, that is worrying me. Our leadoff hitter leads the league in strikeouts. Arguably our best hitter has been in a season long slump, and then was removed from last night's game with "knee tightness"; not good. Our most clutch performer through the 1st half has been mired in a dismal slump since the beginning of July. The team has hit a collective slump that has just killed their momentum.
Lucky for the Indians, the Tigers have been even worse. If it wasn't for that and our pitching, we wouldn't be anywhere near fist place, let alone in it. The hitting and the slump can be attributed to 2 places: the hitting coach and the manager. The hitting coach for obvious reasons. The manager, for not shaking up the lineup; for not giving a guy pressing to hard to make something happen (read: Grady) a day off; for not putting a true leadoff hitter into that spot and moving the current leadoff hitter, who really is more suited to the 3 hole, to that spot; for not figuring out that our lineup with the most potential has never been set.
