Month: April 2005 (Page 18 of 18)

Jake Westbrook is proving to be a legit #2 starter. The way he went after a decent-hitting White Sox team yesterday is exactly the kind of attitude this pitching staff needs. C.C. Sabathia needs this kind of attitude when pitching. Some have compared Westbrook to Charles Nagy…in my opinion, Nagy was always a nibbler, never trusting his stuff. Although the Tribe did lose, it wasn’t all bad. We all know this team will hit — the question marks reside with the pitching. If Jake and Millwood each win more than 14 games, watch out.

Okay, so the Tribe was shutout, managing only two hits against Mark Buehrle and closer Shingo Takatsu, but there is good news. Jake Westbrook looked equally as impressive as Buehrle, tossing eight innings of four-hit ball while limiting the Sox to just one run.

Look, we know this team is going to hit — they were simply overmatched by a good pitcher this afternoon. A bad day. But if Westbrook can match his effectiveness from last year — and, if his performance today was any indication, he may be poised to improve on his surprising success in ’04 — then the Tribe is in great shape. The bats will wake up, but it’s the arms that will dictate the Indians’ success this year. The ’05 season may have started with a loss, but it was a loss that offered plenty of reason for optimism.

Here it is for game #1 of 162:

CF: Coco Crisp
2B: Ronnie Belliard
DH: Travis Hafner
C: Victor Martinez
3B: Aaron Boone
RF: Casey Blake
1B: Ben Broussard
LF: Jose Hernandez
SS: Jhonny Peralta

Some notes of interest here, including Coco leading off against lefty Mark Buehrle (Belliard had been rumored to be the lead-off hitter against southpaws), Boone hitting fifth over Blake and Broussard, and Hernandez getting the start in right. You can expect to see a lot of Hernandez this season whenever the Tribe faces a lefty.

Let’s get a win!

Is this the year the Tribe makes it back to the playoffs? Is this the year they finally top the Twins? Is this the year C.C. Sabathia makes good on his immense potential? Is this the year Juan Gonzalez actually stays healthy? Is this the year Kevin Millwood regains his all-star status?

Is this the year? We’ll start finding out Monday afternoon when the Indians open the season in Chicago against the Sox at 3:05.

Rejoice Tribe fans — baseball is back!

The Cavaliers have 10 games remaining and with the Eastern Conference standings so tight, every last win is vitally important. Sunday’s 20-point drubbing of Dallas, in which LeBron James scored 37 points and added 10 boards and seven assists, was even more crucial considering the Mavericks, at 49-24, are one of the best teams in the West. In fact, of the Cavs’ final 10 games, four come against teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings (Indiana, Detroit, Washington and Boston) while three more are against teams nipping at their heels (Philly, Orlando and New Jersey). Currently slotted seventh in the East, the Cavaliers are 1.5 games behind fifth-seeded Boston and three behind #3 Chicago. On the other hand, the 76ers are just 2.5 behind Cleveland, Orlando’s 3.5 and the Nets are four back. All of which means the Cavs control their own fate. It’s time for LeBron to put this team on his back down the homestretch.