Other recent articles: |
Published April 13, 2010 Cleveland Indians for 2010 and Beyond, Introducing the Tribe-O-Meter, April 2010
The Tribe-O-Meter is my confidence gauge for the Cleveland Indians, but with a twist. It's not just for the 2010 season, but also how bright their future appears to be for contending for a division title in the years ahead. With many young players on the team and more than a couple of prospects in the farm system, plus a new manager, I didn't want to limit this to just the 2010 season. I'll update the Tribe-O-Meter on an ongoing basis, blending how well this season is going with how well the Tribe's prospects look for the next few years. For the record, I probably lean more toward the glass being half full rather than half empty. The Tribe-O-Meter is on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being no chance at all this year and prospects for the future very dim, and 10 being a guaranteed playoff team. A rating of 5 to 6 means a likely .500 season. Current Tribe-O-Meter rating (April) : 4.5 Last Tribe-O-Meter rating: 4.4 (see below for the rating on a specific date) ---------------------------------------------- April 13 Currently the Tribe sits in last place in the Central Division with a 2-5 record. The bullpen is blowing up, but not in a good way, Russell Branyan and Kerry Wood continue to collect their salaries in places other than Cleveland, the bats are inconsistent at best, and now Grady Sizemore is given a couple of days off to "rest" an aching back. Naturally, I'm raising the Tribe-O-Meter to 4.5. A point to remember here: the Tribe-O-Meter rating is not just about this year, it's about the prospects for contending in 2011 and beyond, and some of the young studs in the Indians farm system (see Carlos Santana in Columbus as prime example #1) are showing why they're considered young studs. So despite the frustrating and sometimes ugly nature of most of their losses so far, I continue to believe that the offense will come around and somewhat counter balance the shaky bullpen. However if Sizemore is really injured and begins to miss a lot of playing time, then the runs will obviously be harder to come by and the dark cloud hanging over the city will get a little darker this summer. All that being said, there's no excuse for the pitching staff to be issuing walks to batters as if it was somehow a good thing, and a few of the guys in the lineup also have to realize that putting the ball in play is more likely to result in a hit than a strikeout will. Both of those issues were much less of an issue in spring training, but apparently a lot of players forgot what they learned when they boarded that plane to Chicago for opening day. It goes without saying for all bad baseball teams that you need to throw more strikes and get more hits. But hey, it really is a simple game, just keep it simple and do what you're supposed to do and you'll win more games than you lose. The whole team can consider that my free advice for the day.
|
Add a Comment
Please be civil.