Monday, May 31

I wish we had ten Shelly Duncans

In case you haven't noticed, and judging by attendance you haven't, the Indians are pretty bad. Their current record of 17-28 is only better than Baltimore and Houston and . . . that's it. Losing six in a row last week, two of those against the Royals, didn't help things much either. With Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera hurt and Luis Valbuena hitting .144, you almost have to be surprised by a win during any game at this point. I suspect the rest of this season should probably be concerned with getting the most value for our trade-worthy players such as Branyan and Westbrook.

There have been a few bright spots in this season so far. Newly-called-up Shelly Duncan, who is older than everyone who writes for this blog, is hitting .600 after five at bats. Somehow Mitch Talbot (6-3) and Fausto Carmona (4-2) have winning records. I read somewhere, however, that Justin Masterson is two losses away from tying the club record for consecutive losses, so that's not so good.

Maybe the most unfortunate statistic right now is that the club's Pythagorean record stands at 18-27. Thus our 17-28 can't be chalked up to too much bad luck, though the injuries sure haven't helped much. I think I can safely say the Indians are a few years away from even being considered for contention again. That would seem to mean that the likes of Travis Hafner, Shin-Soo Choo, and even Grady Sizemore might not figure into those competitive daydream sequences you occasionally might have.

Having said all that, I don't want to sound like baseball still can't be enjoyed. Seventeen times this year the Indians have won and I've enjoyed seeing, hearing, and reading about each one. So that enjoyment is a little more spread out over the summer. I still can't wait to see my first Indians game in person this year and I still can't wait to take my two-week-old daughter to her first game. Hopefully I can convince her to be an Indians fan but I think a little winning within the next 12 to 14 years would help. Luckily I think the organization should be able to field a competitive team in that time.

Game 1: Jake Westbrook, RHP (2-3, 4.78) vs. Jeremy Bonderman, RHP (2-2, 3.78)
Game 2: Fausto Carmona, RHP (4-3, 3.69) vs. Armando Galarraga, RHP (1-1, 4.50)
Game 3: David Huff, LHP (2-6, 5.54) vs. Rick Porcello, RHP (4-5, 5.27)

Go Tribe!

(AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

1 comment:

Andy said...

Duncan only has 35 days on me. I can catch up.