What we know about the Tribe, so far
The Indians gave us a few takeaways from their season-opening series with the White Sox:
- Travis Hafner hit the ball hard on several occasions. In addition to his first homerun of the season, Hafner hit a broken-bat flyout to the warning track, and had ball hit the bottom of the fence in right-center field. It’s not realistic to expect Hafner to return to the glory days of 2005-06, but if he can settle in at a reliable pace, it will help deepen the lineup.
- Carlos Santana can hit. Three hits on opening day, another two in Sunday’s win. Having Santana on the big-league roster from Day one can’t be underestimated.
- The starting pitching will end up being OK. While Justin Masterson’s seven innings and one earned run won’t be the norm, we also don’t expect to see many outings like Fausto Carmona’s in the opener or Carlos Carrasco’s five runs in the first two innings on Saturday.
- The bullpen, especially Chris Perez, Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp and Vinnie Pestano, make us feel good. We especially liked Pestano’s inning of work on Friday.
- Matt LaPorta is starting to worry us.
- Jack Hannahan obviously won’t continue to hit .364, but if he can stay about .275 or so, especially with his glove, it will help as the front office doesn’t want to have to promote Lonny Chisenhall too quickly.
- The attendance. Oh boy. Early season, cold-weather games are always a tough sell, but 9,853 on Saturday followed by 8,726 on Sunday doesn’t do much for the bottom-line. With summer weather still a couple of months off, the Tribe needs to start playing some competitive baseball real soon.
So, while the Indians are only three games into a long season, there are more positives than the 1-2 record would indicate.
***
As frustrating as the series against the White Sox was, the Red Sox come to town on Tuesday off an even worse weekend.
What The Boston Globe calls The Best Team Ever staggered through one of its worst opening weekends ever, giving up 21 extra-base hits and 11 homers in a three-game sweep at the hands of the defending American League champion Texas Rangers.
“Just a real bad series,’’ Theo Epstein told The Globe. “For this to happen in the first series of the year leaves a bad taste in your mouth. But we’ll be better than this. Maybe we crammed April of 2010 (11-12, six games out of first place) into three days. I hope so.’’
The Tribe might be catching the Red Sox at a good time. If Boston continues to struggle, the Indians have a chance to steady the ship before heading out west.
Plus, since Progressive Field will be over-populated with Red Sox fans the next few days, it would be nice to see the Indians not only beat Boston on the field, but take money from their fans in the process.
***
Remember a few weeks ago when we told you about Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed plans to unveil a life-size, color statue of Michael Jackson outside Fulham’s home ground?
Well, the statue was unveiled over the weekend and it’s just as strange and creepy as we feared.
Check out the video at EPL Talk.
***
Peter King weighs in with some not-so-good comments about Clemson defensive end Da’Quan Bowers’ Pro Day:
I think Clemson pass-rusher Da’Quan Bowers was underwhelming Friday in his campus workout and will slip out of the top 10. In November, he looked all but sure to be a top-five pick if he came out, but after undergoing postseason arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus, he needed a great effort Friday. He was just so-so. And to show how far his star has fallen, only one coach (Ken Whisenhunt) and two general managers (Thomas Dimitroff, Buddy Nix) attended the workout. He ran two 40-yard dashes in the 4.95-second range. To show you how mediocre a time that is, understand that 11 of the 14 tight ends at the Scouting Combine in February ran faster than 4.9.
Not good.
If this is true, it seems doubtful the Browns will take a chance on Bowers with their first pick in the draft.
***
Finally, James Walker at ESPN shares the story about the day Colt McCoy crushed Blaine Gabbert.
Red Right 88 