Indians:
Strengths - Lineup, front end of the rotation, defense, set up
Weaknesses - Shaky bullpen, strikeout a lot
Neutral - Middle relief, closer
Offense - The Indians are a very strong offensive team, ranking 9th in MLB in runs scored this season. They hit for a solid, though not great, average, they hit for excellent power and are capable of stealing a base when they need to. Victor Martinez, Hafner, and Grady are the anchors of the lineup. Victor had one of the best seasons of his career this year, and while Hafner and Grady both had down years they should still be feared. Garko has also had a very strong year, the only real holes on the line up are Josh Barfield, but he has been supplanted by Asdrubal Cabrera, and the platoon of Trot Nixon, Jason Michaels, and Franklin Guttierez. The offense certainly shouldn't hurt them this off season. Their only real source of speed is Sizemore, but I don't think that should hurt them too much.
Defense - The Indians are a very solid defensive team. They have a few Gold Glove caliber players, including Grady Sizemore and Ryan Garko, along with getting solid defense from players like Blake, Barfield, and Peralta. I don't think will help, nor hurt the Indians a whole lot this postseason.
Pitching - The Indians have two 19 game winners in Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, which says a lot in itself, but the pitching is slightly questionable after that. Cliff Lee has been terrible this season, after winning 18 games not too long ago, Paul Byrd is a cagey veteran and is battle tested in the playoffs, but he is getting up there in age and has almost nothing left on his fastball. Westbrook is probably the one other guy I would rely on, he is still pretty young and doesn't have to rely solely on his fastball or sinker. The bullpen is a huge weak spot though. Borowski has been a disaster this season, with an ERA over 5.00 as a closer and allowing over half as many runs as Carmona in over 100 less IP, and is probably on a very short leash in the playoffs. Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez have both been very good this season, both with sub 2.00 ERA's, and if Borowski blows a save or costs the Indians a game once they may get the call to close. They are the only two reliable bullpen arms, however, as almost all the others post ERA's over 4.00.
Overall - The Indians area very well rounded team and may very well advance to the WS. Their only glaring hole is at closer, which could be easily fixed by putting Betancourt or Perez at closer, otherwise they are set without any big holes. I'm expecting them to advance past the Yankees to the ALCS (hopefully) against the Red Sox.
Angels next.
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Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez have both been very good this season, both with sub 2.00 ERA's, and if Borowski blows a save or costs the Indians a game once they may get the call to close. They are the only two reliable bullpen arms, however, as almost all the others post ERA's over 4.00.
You're forgetting our rookie, Jensen Lewis. His reliabilty is nearing that of Betancourt and Perez (I say "nearing" because he's only been pitching with us since July) and his ERA is 2.15. He's definitely earned a place in Eric Wedge's RP "circle of trust".
You're right. I didn't see him looking through before, but he is a rookie and its difficult to say how he'll react if hes brought in in a tough spot in the playoffs in Yankee stadium.
Thanks for reading though, I hope you continue to.
It's difficult to predict how many of our guys will react in the playoffs. So many are either rookies or have never been in the postseason.
I was clued in to your blog via a google alert for "Rafael Betancourt", but I will continue to read. Thanks!
Thanks. I'm not a real avid follower of the Tribe so would you say it was mostly accurate otherwise?
For the most part, yes. The only thing I disagree with is set up being neutral. It's definitely one of our strengths. Betancourt and Perez have it locked up with Lewis quickly coming up to their speed. Closing... I would classify that as a weakness.
Good summation, overall!
I started to realize that set up was a strongsuit for them as I was writing it, but I forgot to change that around.
Thanks and keep reading, spread the word if you could too!
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