Indians Confidential

If you going to start thinking about next season, you do realize that the Indians don’t have an ace pitcher – right? Well, why we’re on the subject, how about the performance as of late from Aaron Laffey, a guy who if he continues to make strides, could find himself at or near the top of the rotation for 2010 and beyond.

Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers at Progressive Field, Laffey was outstanding, throwing 6.2 innings, allowing just six hits, not allowing a run and walking three and striking out two as the Indians started a quick three-game homestand vs the Rangers with a 5-0 win. Laffey moves to 6-3 on the season, and his ERA now drops to 3.25.

The offense did all it’s damage off Ohio native Dustin Nippert in a five-run third inning that saw a Jhonny Peralta walk, a Travis Hafner single, a Luis Valbuena double and a Trevor Crowe sac fly account for all the Indians runs on the night. The team actually won the game being outhit 7-6, but with Laffey in control, the outcome was never in doubt.

So why all the sudden has this team started playing much better? The team seems a ton more loose, all the major players are gone through trades, and the young players are actually starting to show some skills, as guys like Laffey, Crowe and Valbuena are playing a lot better than they were the than earlier in the year.

The team is now 49-63, and the thought of getting to .500 would still be a minor miracle, but hey, if this keeps up, why not? They have won 5 of 6, 7 of 10 and 13 of their last 19. They are 14-9 in the second half, which is amazing considering what they have had to go though in the locker room.

The team can go for another series win on Wednesday night as they take on the Rangers in game two of the three game set. Fausto Carmona goes for the Indians vs Tommy Hunter for the Rangers.

It was one of those nights where it seemed that everything that could go right for the Indians did. And that was nice to see. From four long balls to a great outing by Aaron Laffey, the Tribe started their weekend series way out West in Seattle with a solid 9-0 win.

As mentioned, the team had its own version of home run derby, with Travis Hafner, Ryan Garko, Jamey Carroll and Ben Francisco all going deep off Mariners pitching. Laffey was solid all night, allowing just 3 hits in the shutout effort over 7 innings, walking three and striking out seven. His is now 4-2 on the year and his ERA is also a solid 3.71.

Three relievers – Joe Smith, Tony Sipp and Chris Perez wrapped up the win, with Perez looking by far the best he has had since coming to the Indians, striking out two in the 9th. So in the end, it was a lot of positives, and actually not much to complain about.

The team has quietly won three of four on the road trip, and while it doesn’t mean much, they are now 39-58 on the season. Saturday it’s Jeremy Sowers for the Indians vs Erik Bedard at 4:10 pm.

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has activated LHP AARON LAFFEY from the 15-day disabled list. To allow room on the 25-man roster the Indians have optioned LHP RAFAEL PEREZ back to AAA Columbus.

Laffey, who will start tonight’s game against the White Sox, has been on the disabled list with a right oblique strain since May 23rd. So far with Cleveland this year he has gone 3-1 with a 3.93 ERA (34.1IP, 32H, 15R/ER, 19BB, 19K) in 10 games/ 4 starts. He made 4 rehab starts between AA Akron and AAA Columbus going 0-1 with a 6.91 ERA (14.1IP, 21H, 11R/ER, 10BB, 9K) most recently starting on July 3 for Columbus (L, 4.0IP, 10H, 7ER). In 4 starts for the Indians this year he was 2-0 with a 4.09 ERA (22.0IP, 21H, 10ER, 15BB, 10K) before being moved to the bullpen on May 6th.

Perez has gone 1-2 w/a 8.88 ERA in 31 appearances (25.1IP, 37H, 25R/ER, 18BB, 21K) over two stints with Cleveland this year.

Today the Indians signed their 13^th round selection from the 2009 First Year Player Draft…Today the Indians signed RHP JEREMY JOHNSON out of Washington State University… They have now signed 18 of their 50 selections and 13 of their top 16 choices.

INF ASDRUBAL CABRERA will begin a 20-day rehab assignment at AA Akron tomorrow night when they take on AA Trenton…LHP AARON LAFFEY (4.0IP/65P) will make his 2^nd rehab start as well tomorrow night for Akron.

FOLLOW THE TWITTER: Get your official Cleveland Indians updates, breaking news and behind the scenes information on twitter… The official behind the scenes voice of the Cleveland Indians can be found at http://twitter.com/tribeinsider

MYSTERY BALL 2009: The 5th Annual Mystery Ball charity function will take place on Saturday June 27th vs. Cincinnati Reds… The Indians Wives Association will be selling 1,200 signed baseballs at $50 apiece of players, coaches and managers from the Indians roster & around Major League Baseball…Tickets will be sold at Gates A and C once gates open…A silent auction will take place during the game with items like a KERRY WOOD game used glove, VICTOR MARTINEZ catching mask & other great items …Proceeds will benefit the Providence House, Ohio’s first crisis nursery

PRONK PROGRESS: Since returning from the DL TRAVIS HAFNER is hitting .355 (11-31) w/2 2B 3HR & 9RBI in 11G (.710SLG/1.169ops) …He has hit in 7 straight games (9-20, 2HR, 8RBI) after yesterday’s pinch hit single in Chicago…His season total OPS of .996 would rank 5^h in the league if he had the required PA’s…

The Indians first trip in 2009 to the Queen City on Friday night saw their short lived two-game winning streak snapped, as they fell to the Reds 3-1. The team got a rather crazy outing from starting pitcher Anthony Reyes, who went just three innings, walking a career-high six batters and hitting another and then leaving with an inflamed pitching elbow.

Jensen Lewis did a nice job in long relief, going three innings and allowing just one hit, walking one and striking out two. Aaron Laffey took the loss, as in 1.1 innings he gave up two runs on two hits. Adam Rosales doubled home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth to put the Reds ahead for good.

The Indians on offense were shut down by Bronson Arroyo, who went 8 innings, allowing one run on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts. The only Tribe run was a solo homer in the first from Grady Sizemore (8th), as he hit in the number two hole.

Cleveland now sits at 16-27, and they have the worst winning percentage in the American League. Saturday they will throw David Huff against the Reds at 7:10pm.

The Indians had a golden shot to move to 15-22 on Friday night, but blew it with their usual crappy bullpen. Saturday they played flat in Tampa Bay, as they were shut down by Rays starter Matt Garza and eventually fell 4-2. Garza went 6 innings, going allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

There was little offense for the Indians, they went down 1-2-3 in the first two innings, then had two baserunners on walks in the third and Asdrubal Cabrera flied out to end that inning. In the 4th they had two hits and two on with two outs, and Kelly Shoppach grounded out to end that threat.

They fell behind 3-0 after five innings, and while they did rally to make it 3-2 in the 6th, the Rays rallied for a big run off Aaron Laffey to ice the game at 4-2. Carl Pavano went 5 innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He falls to 3-4 on the season, his ERA now sits at 6.33.

Laffey pitched three innings, allowing the Rays 4th run, he gave up two hits, walked two and struck out three. Three Rays relievers shut down the Indians on just one hit and five strikeouts. The team still whiffs way too much and way too often in big spots.

One positive is Victor Martinez, who has to be an All-Star in July. He is hitting .409 after a 3-for-4 day at the plate. Now at 14-24, the team is back to 6.5 out of first in the AL Central. They will battle the Rays again on Sunday.

For at least one night, the moves the Indians trying to fix the pitching woes actually worked. Carl Pavano pitched six pretty good innings, and Aaron Laffey coming out of the pen threw three solid innings without allowing the Red Sox back in the game at the Indians beat the Red Sox in Fenway 9-2.

The Tribe made a couple of moves on Wednesday trying to do whatever they can to help a bullpen that seems to give up leads as easy as any team in baseball history. They dumped Rafael Perez to Columbus (finally), and moved Laffey to the pen and called up Jeremy Sowers to start tomorrow night in the road trip finale.

It was so important for the club to rebound after the nightmare in Toronto on Tuesday, and they did an excellent job of doing just that. The offense again played well, getting some big hits, putting up 9 runs and 13 hits. Mark DeRosa and Victor Martinez each homered, and four players each had three hits.

The offense on this road trip finally seems to be coming around. Asdrubal Cabrera, who had three hits, is now hitting .333. David Dellucci is hitting .412, and Victor is still hitting well, going 3-for-5 with four RBI and is hitting .398.

Pavano allowed two runs on six hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out four, and seems to finally be settling in as the pitcher that the Indians thought they were getting after a pretty solid spring. Laffey allowed two hits and didn’t walk a batter. He struck out one, and got a double play ball to end the game and earn his first Major League save.

The team can actually go 4-3 on this 7-game road trip with a win Thursday night. They are now 11-17 on the season, and maybe if they can just stop the bleeding from a bullpen that has been beat up all season, they can finally start playing more consistant.

Thursday Sowers will go for the Tribe against Tim Wakefield, who shut down the Indians last week at Progressive Field.