Category: Cleveland Indians (Page 71 of 96)

Seems like everyone is finding religion when it comes to Eric Wedge’s abilities as a manager and Mark Shapiro’s rebuilding strategy. To his credit, Bill Livingston joined the chorus by praising Wedge in an excellent column in Wednesday’s Plain Dealer. I couldn’t bring myself to post this on Wednesday following the Tribe’s gut-wrenching loss on Tuesday night to the White Sox, but now is a good time to talk about it after the Tribe pounded them on Wednesday night and then pulled within a game and a half of the fading Sox last night.

Livingston correctly pointed out that Wedge has excellent leadership skills:

“He certainly has sold the team on playing hard every day, concentrating for every inning, focusing on every pitch. Nothing but positive vibes carry over because the Indians wipe out what happened yesterday and don’t bank on anything tomorrow. “

Wedge has been preaching this all season, and we saw another example on Wednesday night when the Tribe bounced back from Tuesday’s tough loss with a 8-0 pounding of the Sox to take the series.

Livingston also pointed out correctly that Wedge can sometimes be shaky with his tactical decisions, but those decisions are often trumped by the more important quality of believing in his players. Many thought for example that Wedge should have juggled his rotation in September to take advantage of some off days by skipping Elarton’s turn. Wedge felt it was more important to keep the good chemistry going, and Elarton responded with a dominant September.

Livingston explained some interesting contrasts with past Tribe managers:

“Mike Hargrove always managed by the book. But he pinch-hit for Travis Fryman in a blow-out when the retiring third baseman played his last game in Detroit, Fryman’s home for most of his career. A miffed Fryman never got the curtain call he deserved. This would never happen with Wedge.

Charlie Manuel was a player’s manager, but his best player, Robbie Alomar, quit on him in a decisive playoff game. That would never happen with Wedge.”

Both are excellent points. Wedge has done a fantastic job, and kudos to Livingston for eloquently giving him his due.

Another Tribe win. Another White Sox lost. Cue historic choke stories.

I have been resisting Tribe playoff mode for a while, mainly because I knew that the moment I got into it, I would not be able to stop paying attention, no matter how tired I am.

As I write this, the Tribe is up somewhat safely on the Royals, 9-6, middle of the 8th. Normal human beings would go to sleep right now. Not me. I’m afraid I’m going to be losing a lot of sleep in the coming weeks.

The only problem I had with last night’s game was how Wedge used his bullpen. Bobby Howry had pitched two nights in a row and got hit pretty hard the night before. I don’t necessarily have a problem with running him out there in the eighth last night — he’s probably your best reliever, especially with the loss of Rhodes — but I have absolutely no idea why Howry was still out there in the ninth with an 8-0 lead.

Fine, they’ve got an off day today, which will give Howry an extra day of rest. Whatever. You’re still talking about a guy with a history of arm problems who right now is probably the most important guy in your bullpen (yes, more than Bob Wickman). He’s now pitched three nights in a row. You’ve got an eight-run lead. If anything, the off day is even more of a reason to sit him for the ninth rather than running him out there for another 13 pitches. You’ve got to keep these guys fresh, not run them into the ground, especially when the game has already been decided.

Then again, maybe Wedge figured his ‘pen wasn’t going to get much in the next few days with a weekend trip to KC slated next.

After the way Elarton pitched last night, and after watching the Indians take two of three from the Sox, this may seem like a foolish question but should Wedge consider adjusting his rotation a bit so that C.C. and/or Lee can go in next weekend’s Sox series? As the rotation currently stands, the Indians will be running the same trio of starters out for that series (Millwood, Westbrook and Elarton), and while each starter pitched well enough to win (or well enough for the Indians to win, anyway) this time around, this scenario just makes me nervous.

Sabathia and Lee are arguably your two best pitchers, but at the very least Sabathia, Lee and Millwood are your three best — how you slot them is up for debate. C.C. may be the hottest pitcher in baseball right now and Lee, on some writers’ scorecards, has vaulted into Cy Young contention in the AL. With a series that potentially is going to have so much riding on it, you almost hate to have two of your best starters on the bench watching the drama unfold.

Of course, the argument against juggling the rotation would be two-fold. First, why mess with success? Millwood, Westbrook and Elarton led the Tribe to a series victory this time around, so why couldn’t they do it again? And second, adjusting the rotation could have a negative effect rather than a positive one. These guys are used to a routine, and taking them out of that routine by moving starts up or back could take them out of their rhythm and cause the move to backfire on the Tribe. Plus, if you adjust the rotation for the Sox series, how does that affect your potential playoff rotation?

These are, of course, valid points, but what if that weekend series rolls around and the Indians need a sweep to get into the playoffs? Or what if they need to win two of three but split the first two games? Who do you go with Sunday? You could always have C.C. and Lee ready to go in the bullpen if needed, but will that be enough? Would they even be effective in relief? These are all questions Wedge needs to consider now because, if he is going to make some changes, now’s the time to do it in preparation for next weekend. Most people would probably elect to stand pat and go with what got you here, and I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if Wedge did just that, running Millwood, Westbrook and Elarton out there next weekend. But it would be such a shame to see this team miss out on the playoffs by a game or two while their two best pitchers are riding the pine.