Results tagged ‘ Cliff Lee ’

A Series Win

Well, last week was a pretty tough one for a Tribe fan.  We lose Cliff Lee, a former Cy Young award winner who was called upon to be our ace after trading away the previous Cy Young award winner the year before in CC Sabathia.  Jeez, I tell you what, I hope the Indians never develop a Cy Young award winner ever again.

Then we lose Victor Martinez, the heart and soul of this team.  I don’t think anybody wanted to be an Indian more than that guy, and they let him go.  If upper management would have let him, he would have been an Indian til his final days in the game.  He’s got power from both sides of the plate, can hit for average, has improved every year defensively, and he plays hard all the time.  And he’s gone.
However, with all that negativity the Tribe found a way to win their last series versus the division leading Detroit Tigers.  It has been a rough year, but I can’t help but love seeing stuff like that.  They still have fight in them, they aren’t going to just throw in the towel.

The 5th Starter

 I’m feeling pretty good about this year for the Tribe, but if I had to pick something I’m a little concerned about, then it’s definitely our starting rotation.  Cliff Lee looks to somehow, some way match his incredible 08 Cy Young season, but expecting that would just be silly.  Fausto Carmona needs to bounce back from a somewhat disappointing 08 season.  When both are on, they  can be a lethal 1-2 punch in the rotation, for sure.

Carl Pavano and Anthony Reyes are locks for the 3 and 4 spot, but that 5th spot is pretty much an open door, and three lefties are battling for that spot.

Aaron Laffey, Jeremy Sowers and David Huff all have a good shot at filling that void, but of the three, I think Laffey should (and will be) given the first chance at it.  If one thing is certain, it’s that the Indians have a significant amount of depth as far as the 5th spot goes, so it will be easy to call up/send down anyone if need be.  Honestly, I think we’ll see all three of these
guys at some point in the year. 

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Westbrook is due back somewhere around the All-Star break, so depending on how well everyone is doing, they all might need to take a back seat in AAA when Westbrook gets back.  It certainly will be interesting to see. 

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