Triple S

JHH wanted small sample sizes? Well let's give him small sample sizes. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you outlandish conclusions based on nine games!

The Team
At 7-2, the Tribe is headed right for a solid 126-36 finish. I see no roadblocks standing in the way of them running away with an AL Central title and posting the greatest single season in Major League History.

Manny Acta
The Tribe's Pythagorean won-loss is 6-3, one game lower than their actual W-L. Thus: Manny Acta's managerial strategies steal the Wahoos one game every nine, a talent that would transform an ordinary 81-81 club into a 99-game winner. Or, in the case of the 2011 Indians, turning a so-so 108-game winner into the 126-36 juggernaut you see before you. Manager of the Year.

Attendance
This is pretty brutal, regardless of sample size, though the Opening Day sellout is quickly getting weighed down by a series of 9,000-strong crowds.

Travis Hafner
OPS is 1.063, just like in the glory days. Time for Indians brass to rebuild Pronkville, by which I mean re-hang that one cheap-looking banner out there that inexplicably wasn't done in Indians colors.

Asdrubal Cabrera
Your 2011 American League MVP, on pace to participate in 18 triple plays at shortstop, crack 54 home runs, and OPS+ 166. I think his arm feels OK now.

Orlando Cabrera
Even I can't extrapolate The OC's .417 OBP and .917 OPS over a full season, even jokingly, but man has this guy had a good influence on the club. It's amazing how much easier it is to win baseball games when your infield isn't constantly kicking balls around and giving away runs, and your bullpen doesn't torch every third game. Plus it's cool to have a Cabrera-Cabrera double play combination.

Jack Hannahan
Nothing remarkable here, just The Zookeeper providing the 153 OPS+, 36 home runs, and 108 RBI we expected when we signed a guy with a lifetime OPS+ below 80 who didn't play in the Majors last season.

Team Speed
72 steals for the year actually sounds about right. Rickey had 60 at the break.

Shin-Soo Choo
There is absolutely, unequivocally, no way Shin-Soo Choo is going to improve on the 59 OPS+ that he's posted so far this season, and this will definitely be his batting metric at the end of the 2011 season. May as well trade him now.

Justin Masterson
Your 2011 AL Cy Young winner, posting a 36-0 mark on the strength of a 1.35 ERA and 162 strikeouts.

Fausto Carmona
Pay no attention to the seven dominant shutout innings Fausto chucked against the HoSox last week - he is undoubtedly headed for a disastrous season having compiled a 9.00 ERA, and will probably be traded mid-year.

Chris and Rafael Perez
As a duo, the Los Perez are on track to post a 36-0 record, 72 saves, and no earned runs in 162 innings pitched. Sheer dominance.


Yes sir, other than these unproven, worry-ridden characters Carmona and Choo, the Indians look to be headed to a rollicking 2011. Go Tribe!