It's Tribe Time | A Cleveland Indians Franchise

[Vinsane]

Monthly Recap:

April Record: 13-9
Longest Win Streak: 8 Games
Longest Losing Streak: 5 Games

Positives:
1. Went from last to second in AL Central
2. Bested the Yankees 3-1 in New York.
3. Led the Majors in Batting Avg. (.336)

Negatives:
1. Horrible Bullpen Play
2. Ranked 26th in Home Runs (17)
3. Swept by Toronto at home (0-3)

Possible May Moves:

- M. Kobayashi more than likely will be moved down to (AAA) Columbus, his poor play out of the Bullpen has cost the Indians games, including a win in New York where the Indians could of swept the Yankees. Eric Wedge has had nothing positive out of this guy since the start of the season. He could be moved from the organization entirely if he's not careful.

- Travis Hafner has avoided the trade block due to his comeback performance in late April, he's now batting above .300. The Indians are still looking for his power however, if that doesn't come around, look for trade block talks to emerge out of the Indians camp.

- Zach Johnson has performed well in Columbus (AAA), the back-end of the Indians rotation has suffered, if their struggles continue you could see a move as early as May 4th to bring this kid up and fit into the four or five slot on the rotation.

- Jake Westbrook continues to struggle in Columbus (AAA), he may be placed on the trade block soon, or if the Indians believe he can still be used in their organization, he could be dropped to Akron (AA) in favor of one, Chris Jahnikow.

- Chris Jahnikow, of Akron (AA) will possibly be moved up to Columbus, (AAA) with all the rumors flying of a poor rotation the Indians could look to test him out in Columbus to gauge his MLB performance.

- Kelly Shoppach's future is looking good, the club can still use him, there will be little word on him through the month of May as he continues to heal, and rehab. Columbus (AAA) would be his assignment most likely to get a feel for his bat and glove again.

- Junichi Hayashi of Akron (AA) sustained an injury in late April, one that will bench him for 5-6 Months. Hayashi suffered a torn Achilles Tendon and will miss the rest of the season most likely.

[Vinsane]

Your record should improve...

Bullpen was great for one game; Wood.

Bullpen? What Bullpen?

Kobayashi has blown games, Wood struggled early on. Perez and Betancourt have been will, Smith and Meloan not so much, they've had their positives. Really just need to figure out what to do with Kobayashi.

[Vinsane]

Around The League



Standings:

Standings:

[mfbmike]

whew, look at my tigers. :D

Looks like you are #1 in the wild card standings right now though.

I really dig the Monthly Recap idea. Nice and in-depth.

[Vinsane]

whew, look at my tigers. :D

Looks like you are #1 in the wild card standings right now though.

I really dig the Monthly Recap idea. Nice and in-depth.

Yeah, I will include the Wild Card race after the All-Star Break. When it starts to matter.

nice update. the a´s are first :D

Yes, I was surprised the most by the Western division in both conferences. Where the AL West is tight but weak in record, and where the NL is strong with three teams over .500. Those are some tough teams, hope that when inter league play starts they don't beat up on me too bad.

[Vinsane]

Tribe's doing good now.


ETA - AL=14 teams & NL=16 teams. Would someone please inform Selig that 30 divided by 2 is 15.

I put this discussion up in the baseball forum way back when, before baseball was important. My solution was to move the Astros to the AL West and turn the annual inter league match-up into a division rivalry. I wouldn't see the state of Texas having a problem with it, considering that all the teams in the NL Central were relatively close to one-another, if not neighbors. So it'd make sense to me, at least.

[Vinsane]

League Leaders:

Batting Average:

||

Shin-Soo Choo - .435 Avg
P. Polanco - .395 Avg
Ichiro - .378 Avg

Home Runs:

|||

V. Wells - 9 HR
C. Quentin - 8 HR
A. Rodriguez - 7 HR
M. Jacobs - 7 HR

RBI:

||

A. Rodriguez - 28 RBI
V. Wells - 26 RBI
M. Holliday - 22 RBI

Wins:

||

N. Robertson - 4 W
R. Halladay - 4 W
J. Bonderman - 3 W

Saves:

||

B. Lyon - 10 S
K. Wood - 9 S
B. Ziegler - 8 S

ERA:

||

J. Shields - 1.67
J. Lackey - 1.73
J. Duchscherer - 1.75

[Vinsane]

League Leaders


Batting Average:

||

H. Ramirez - .404 Avg
Y. Escobar - .377 Avg
S. Schumaker - .377 Avg

Home Runs:

||

R. Howard - 10 HR
A. Dunn - 8 HR
A. Gonzalez - 8 HR

RBI:

||

M. Ramirez - 24 RBI
J. Willingham - 21 RBI
R. Howard - 20 RBI

Wins:

||

B. Webb - 5 W
B. Carlyle - 4 W
R. Oswalt - 4 W

Saves:

||

M Gonzalez - 12 S
J. Valverde - 9 S
J. Broxton - 9 S

ERA:

||

J. Maine - 1.35 ERA
D. Cabrera - 1.50 ERA
T. Redding - 1.52 ERA

[mfbmike]

Good job with Wood and Shin Soo-Choo thus far.

[Vinsane]

Tigers Roar Back.


Jensen Lewis walks off the field after giving up 6, in the ninth.

AP - Cleveland, OH - The Indians started off April in the worst way, with more questions. I'll just leave it up to Eric Wedge. "Tonight was a game we shouldn't of lost. We went out there and Aaron got rocked early, everyone kept their cool and battled back. We get to the late innings and we give up two off a homer, still in the lead. However, to give up six runs in the eighth, six, and we could of gotten out of the inning I don't know how many times? That's just bad baseball. A game we had won, we let slip away."

The Tigers started off hot, getting their first three men aboard, one coming home to score. Then it was Thames who blasted a three run shot. Aaron Laffey struck out the side and sat down the next 15. In the seventh he was pulled for reliever Joe Smith. Brandon Inge came out and blasted a two run shot off of Smith that got the game to 7-6. In the eighth all Jensen Lewis had to do was get three outs and in would come Kerry Wood to close it out. Instead he gives up six runs.

The Tigers, who have been red hot had felt some pressure from the Indians who surged in late April to come within four games of the Tigers. Tonight it was Detroit that showed who the better team was. This three game series will continue.

Lineup:

RF Choo 1-5 | 1K
C Martinez 2-5 |
CF Sizemore 2-5 | 1K
DH Hafner 2-4 |
SS Peralta 1-5 | 1K
3B DeRosa 1-4 |
LF Francisco 1-4 |
1B Garko 3-4 |
2B Cabrera 2-4 |

Batting:

2B: R. Garko (3)
RBI: G. Sizemore (11), V. Martinez 2 (7), R. Garko 2 (12), J. Peralta (15), S. Choo (12)
SAC: T. Hafner
GIDP: A. Cabrera

Fielding:

E: J. Peralta (2)

Pitching:

Laffey | 6.0IP | 5H | 4R | 4ER | 4SO | 4.45 ERA |
Smith (H, 1) | 1.0IP | 2H | 2R | 2ER | 1SO | 3.00 ERA |
Lewis (L, 0-1) | 1.0IP | 7H | 6R | 2ER | 2SO | 7.36 ERA |



Lineup:

2B Polanco 2-5 |
RF Ordonez 3-5 |
1B Cabrera 2-4 |
PR Thomas 0-1 | 1K
1B Treanor 0-0 |
LF Thames 2-4 |
DH Guillen 1-4 | 1K
CF Sheffield 0-4 | 3K
C Laird 0-4 | 1K
SS Santiago 2-4 |
3B Inge 2-4 | 1k

Batting:

2B: Cabrera 2 (7), C. Guillen (6)
3B: B. Inge (2)
HR: M. Ordonez (3), B. Inge (3), M. Thames (7)
RBI: P. Polanco (13), M. Ordonez (11), M. Cabrera (18), C. Guillen (13), B. Inge 3 (11), R. Santiago (8), M. Thames 3 (15)

Fielding:

E: R. Santiago (3)

Pitching:

Bonderman | 5.1IP | 10H | 5R | 5ER | 1SO | 3.18 ERA |
Seay (BS, 1) | 1.0IP | 5H | 2R | 2ER | 1SO | 10.80 ERA |
Rodney (W, 3-0) | 2.2IP | 1SO | 1.26 ERA |

Player of the Game:


B. Inge

2 for 4 - HR, Triple

Next Game:

(13-10) @ (18-5)

[Vinsane]

The First Move Of The Season.

Vinnie Chulk will come out of the Bullpen for the Indians.

AP - Cleveland, OH - The move was finally made earlier today as GM Mark Shapiro asked that Masahide Kobayashi report to the Columbus Clippers, and Vinnie Chulk to take his place in the bullpen. After much debate the move was made with Kobayashi, who has struggled in the first month of the season. Kobayashi has been inconsistent coming out of the Bullpen for the Tribe, most notably getting rocked by the Yankees in New York last month.

Vinnie Chulk could appear as early as Monday against Toronto. Chulk was flown out of Durham Friday night on his way to join up with the Indians as early as Sunday. Kobayashi was told by team officials he will not need to report to Columbus until the team returns from their road trip. Giving him some time off in Ohio before next Friday when the Clippers host Pawtuckett.

Vinnie Chulk will be given the opportunity to act as a third relieving option out of the Bullpen and hopefully solidify himself in the bullpen as a "go-to" guy that doesn't fold under pressure as Kobayashi has done recently. Eric Wedge was asked about the move by GM Mark Shapiro. "We knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when it was coming. The guys that are sitting in Akron, and Columbus right now. They've got to be ready, now is the times when teams looking to fill holes do so with the farm system. These guys need to realize that their chances will come over the next couple of months, and sooner or later, it will be time to deliver."

We'll see if this Indians bullpen can deliver a win as they face off in game two of a three game series against Detroit.

[Vinsane]

Indians Even The Series.


Anthony Reyes gets a strong outing, Indians win.

AP - Detroit, MI - With roster moves the talk of May, a lot of the Indians are starting to feel the pressure to deliver. No group more so than the back end of the rotation, and the Bullpen. "I went out there today, knowing the Bullpen blew it in the first game. I didn't want there to be any pressure for whoever came out behind me, so I decided that I needed to deliver a solid game, I think I did just that!" Said Anthony Reyes of the Indians.

Reyes and Pavano were told late last month that if they didn't get their stuff together, they could move to Columbus, a fate that neither wishes to share with exiled Masahide Kobayashi who was sent down earlier in the day. Reyes and Pavano close out the rotation for the Indians. And with guys like Jeremy Sowers and Jake Westbrook waiting for their starts this season, these two guys feel the pressure.

"We've got to deliver" said Pavano. "Anthony went out there tonight and got a win, now I'm going into the rubber match knowing that I've got to keep runners off of the bases, and runs off of the board, so that next week we go to Cleveland leading this series 2-1." The final game of the series will be played tomorrow.

Lineup:

RF Choo 2-4 | 1K
2B Cabrera 1-4 | 1K
CF Sizemore 1-4 | 2K
DH Hafner 2-4 |
1B Garko 2-4 | 1K
3B DeRosa 2-4 |
C Martinez 2-4 |
SS Peralta 1-4 |
LF Francisco 3-4 |

Batting:

2B: S. Choo (5)
3B: T. Hafner (3)
RBI: A. Cabrera 2 (9), R. Garko 2 (14), M. DeRosa (13)
GIDP: J. Peralta

Base Running:

CS: A. Cabrera (1)

Pitching:

Reyes (W, 2-2) | 6.0IP | 5H | 2R | 2ER | 1BB | 6SO | 4.71 ERA |
Betancourt (H, 3) | 1.2IP | 2.70 ERA |
Lewis (H, 1) | 0.1IP | 1BB | 6.75 ERA |
Wood (S, 10) | 1.0IP | 1H | 1SO | 3.00 ERA |



Lineup:

CF Granderson 1-4 | 1K
RF Ordonez 0-4 |
1B Cabrera 1-3 | 1K
DH Thames 1-3 | 1K
LF Guillen 1-4 | 2K
2B Polanco 1-4 | 1K
C Laird 1-3 |
SS Santiago 0-3 |
3B Inge 0-3 | 1k

Batting:

3B: C. Guillen (1)
HR: M. Cabrera (7)
RBI: M. Cabrera 2 (20)
GIDP: M. Thames

Pitching:

Willis (L, 2-2) | 6.1IP | 12H | 3R | 3ER | 2SO | 3.68 ERA |
Roberson | 2.2IP | 4H | 2R | 2ER | 2SO | 2.35 ERA |

Player of the Game:


Anthony Reyes

6.0 Innings 5 Hits 6 Strikeouts

Next Game:

(14-10) @ (18-6)

[Vinsane]

nice win. the bullpen did a good job

Bout time :2thumbs: I'm going to be adjusting my sliders, to get rid of so many hits, if you look early on, I struggled, now that I've got the hang of it I'm not pushing runs across but 10+ hits a game is unrealistic. I'll be dropping contact, and timing, power can stay where it's at because I barely go yard.

[A Tasty Burgerr]

I'm surprised Hafner's been able to get 3 triples this season haha

[Vinsane]

I'm surprised Hafner's been able to get 3 triples this season haha

Yeah, when I reach with him it's in on one of two plays, either a home run shot falls short and bounces off the wall, or a blooper gets under the glove and rolls to the wall.