With the “Ohio Cup” looming (whatever), manager Eric Wedge took some time from his day to talk to the Cleveland media prior to Friday’s Indians-Reds kickoff to their three-game set at Progressive Field. Wedge talks about the MASH unit that is the Indians, with updates on Fausto Carmona among the other injured players. He also talks about Jamey Carroll and the season he has had. Click below to hear Wedge’s comments.
With Omar Vizquel coming back to town for the first time, many forgot that the Indians still had a game to play on Tuesday vs the San Francisco Giants. Click below to hear manager Eric Wedge’s thoughts on Omar, as well as his thoughts on the season as it stands, the buying and selling, and the team back at home getting set for six vs the National League.
You can take the Indians recent 4-2 homestand vs the Twins and Padres one of two ways - you can look as it as a step in the right direction that the team won two straight series’ and the offense is coming around, or you can simply look at it like they are just staying enough above water for Mark Shapiro and company not to pull the plug on the season and start looking to shop around players like C.C. Sabathia.
On a positive note, after being at and watching the last six games, if you don’t agree that Grady Sizemore is not one the five most exciting players in the game, then you don’t watch a lot of baseball. Sizemore almost lifted this team on his shoulders from an offensive standpoint over the last week, hitting .310 with 5 homers and 9 RBI. Sizemore simply took the offense to another level this week, and picked up the slack when the team needs it with Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner on the bench.
I enjoyed watching the youth of this team get going as well this past homestand, with players like Shin-Soo Choo, Ben Francisco, Franklin Gutierrez and Kelly Shoppach all having a part in winning games at the plate. The team scored 48 runs this past week, an average of 6.8 runs per game. That has got to be an encouraging sign to management and manager Eric Wedge.
Yes, there were moments of frustration, such as Paul Byrd having a poor outing on Wednesday night in the teams 8-5 loss to the Twins. Byrd is one player that has never got on track this season, and in his last five starts is 1-3 and has allowed 21 runs as well as 7 homers. One has to wonder if his time as a quality starter in the Majors is over. Byrd is a class act and has always spoken out when he has had poor outings, but if this team is going to make a run, his pitching simply has to improve, and he’ll be the first to admit that.
The bullpen continues to be the great unknown, as pitchers like Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, and Masa Kobayashi have to be on the verge of giving Wedge an ulcer. You never know how these players will respond in tough situations. In the Saturday night loss, the team got into the 8th with a 3-2 lead, and Perez gave up a homer on the second pitch after a good outing by Betancourt. Then in the 10th, Edward Mujica walked in what was the game-winning run, and then made matters worse by allowing a grand slam.
One beat reporter commented to me that he has no idea what the team sees in Mujica, as he has been terrible this season, allowing three homers in 6 games he’s pitched in, and has an ERA of 9.00. Add to that the 8.31 ERA in 13 innings pitched in 2007, and the reporter who made that comment to me has a valid point, and one that the team should look at.
Overall though, I’d have to say the week had more positives than negatives, and the team did gain a game on the Sox to move within 5.5 of first. With the Rockies, Dodgers, Giants and Reds up next, all teams under .500, this team seems poised to finally tell us once and for all if 2008 is going to be a season of hope, or a season of despair.
Eric Wedge said Sunday that the lack of power for Indians catcher Victor Martinez can be traced to a hamstring injury suffered back on opening day March 31st. Martinez, who has a career average 25 homers per year in his MLB career, has no homers in 168 at-bats heading into tonights game at Texas. Right now Martinez is mired in a 10-for-57 slump that has dropped his average to .292. 39 of 49 hits in 2008 are singles.
Off day for the Indians today, and as we get further and further along with this season, there appears to be one thing that is coming to the forefront. If you have time, listen to the postgame from Eric Wedge below this post. This is not the first time this season that Eric has sounded off about some players that have not followed direction on the team. Yesterday’s tirade was directed squarely at pitcher Rafael Betancourt, who for some reason has decided he’s done when it comes to throwing inside.
It was that yesterday that cost the Indians a shot to take two out of three from the White Sox. Betancourt threw outside and away, and it was a pair of doubles in the 7th that allowed Chicago to score three runs that gave them the win. After the game was about as interesting a locker room as I have seen in sometime. Wedge speaking out announcing to the media in no uncertain terms that he’s tired of Rafael not listening to him and the coaching staff.
While Wedge usually does not throw players under the bus like that, this was done to send a message to Betancourt - start throwing inside more - or else! Betancourt in front of the assembled media didn’t deny that he’s been told to throw more inside, and didn’t really have an answer when asked why he wasn’t doing it. Bizarre to say the least.
So now you have to start asking yourself, are the players tuning Wedge and the coaching staff out? And if so - why? This is a team that has always been team that has been very willing to listen and learn, and if your not in that mold (can you say Milton Bradley and Brandon Phillips?) then you usually find yourself out the door. Is Betancourt one of those players? Stay tuned.
You could spend hours lamenting the fact that the Indians offense continues to do next to nothing, which at some point in the coming weeks is going to force GM Mark Shaprio and the organization to come to the conclusion that hard decisions are going to have to be made. Looking up and down the lineup, the team simply is not doing what it needs to do at the plate, and manager Eric Wedge can talk all he wants about what is happening “behind the scenes” and how hard the players are working, but the bottom line is that the team is not close to being a contender with the offense in the tailspin it is in now.
Here are some numbers to chew on from the offensive side as the team gets ready to wrap up their series in Chicago tonight:
* The team has scored three runs of less in 25 of it’s 46 games
* During their five-game losing streak - the team has scored a total of 12 runs (2.4)
* Going into last night Asdrubal Cabrera is hittin .087 (2-for-23) in his last seven games
* Victor Martinez continues to be in a power slump, no homers yet in 2008 and just 8 doubles in 42 hits despite hitting .304. He hit 25 homers last season with 40 doubles.
* The team is hitting an awful .234, averaging 4.0 runs per game
* Travis Hafner has hit a total of 28 homers in his last 194 games, this after hitting 42 in 129 games in 2006.
Off a 6-1 homestand, manager Eric Wedge speaks to the media following the latest Indians 4-2 win at Progressive Field over the A’s. Wedge talks about the homestand, the scoreless streak, the hitting coming around, the closer role, and the upcoming trip to Cincy. Click below to hear the Indians manager talk about this latest win and other topics.
Matt has covered Major League Baseball and the "other two" Pro teams in Cleveland since 1994. He has been on the beat of the Indians in full-time mode since 1996, working for various raido and print networks around the country.
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