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Masteron, Bauer distract from Tribe’s anemic offense

Lost in the fan euphoria over the Cleveland Indians splitting a doubleheader with the New York Yankees on Monday is the fact that the Tribe offense was embarrassingly bad.

One run over 18 innings of play? That’s all they can get with New York starting David Phelps and Vidal Nuno? And fans are supposed to be happy that the Tribe earned a split against a Yankee team that is playing without Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira?

Wow, talk about low expectations. (Or maybe we are just not being realistic in our expectations.)

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There is something oddly familiar about the Indians so far

The Cleveland Indians have a familiar look to them through the first eight games of the 2013 season.

It’s not so much the offense,even though the 2-3-4 for part of the lineup (Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis and Nick Swisher, the man with the largest free agent contract in franchise history) are hitting a combined .172 with just two home runs and six RBI on the season.

Or that the Tribe has scored one or fewer runs three times in the past six games, helping contribute to the Indians losing five of those games.

No, it’s the starting pitching that is giving Tribe fans flashbacks to 2012, when the Indians had the worst starting rotation in the American League.

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All in all, not a bad opening week for the Tribe

The Cleveland Indians come back to the North Coast for today’s home opener after what, for them, has to be considered a nice road trip to open the season.

Sure, 3-3 on the road doesn’t sound good on the surface, especially since the Tribe won the first two games of the trip in Toronto. But this is a Tribe team that has averaged 89 losses a year for the past five years, has been a collective 77 games under .500 on the road during that time, and was facing Toronto and Tampa Bay – only two of the American League’s better teams. Considering all that and, well, splitting the season’s first road trip isn’t a bad deal at all.

Even though six games is a small sample size, Tribe fans got a glimpse during the first week of what they will see from the team this year – and what the Tribe needs to do to be competitive.

Head over to The Cleveland Fan for the rest of the story.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

What does 2013 have in store for the Tribe?

The Cleveland Indians open the 2013 season tonight in Toronto with new faces on the field and in the dugout.

Did the Tribe do enough in the off-season to close the 20-game differential with Detroit in the AL Central standings? Or the 25-game gap for a Wild Card spot?

Will the Indians get the Terry Francona who managed the Red Sox to two World Series titles, or the one who was 78 games under .500 in four seasons in Philadelphia?

Is there any way that Nick Swisher is worth the largest free agent contract in franchise history?

Can anyone in the starting rotation pitch well enough to turn the game over to the bullpen?

We join some other writers from The Cleveland Fan to try and look for answers as to what the 2013 season holds for the Tribe.

Your season opening preview starts now at The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo courtesy of the Western Reserve Historical Society)