Tribe Report Volume I – Pitching

You can’t blame the loyal supporters gathered in Cleveland’s Jacobs Field if they seem a bit nervous at times. Jilted by hope and promise so often, they tend to look for the inevitable storm clouds with much reservation as to the appearance of any rainbows. Last night at the Jake had that same kind of “brace yourself, here it comes” atmosphere that is all too commonplace on the shores of Lake Erie this baseball season.

In both the fifth and sixth innings of Tuesday night’s match-up between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia flirted with danger by allowing the tying run to reach second base. The score in each situation was 4-3 Cleveland, just as it had been since the third inning.

In both situations, Sabathia did what he had done in each of his previous five starts; rose to the occasion when his team needed a stop-gap effort from its number one hurler. Sabathia struck out White Sox slugger Paul Konerko to end the fifth with runners at first and second, and then followed that up by enticing Juan Uribe into a one out pop-up and whiffing Brian Anderson to punctuate the sixth.

As he walked off the mound after the Anderson punch out, to a rousing ovation from Cleveland’s long suffering fans, Sabathia had the look of both a man who had climbed the mountain (no meager feat for the 300 pounder) and a man who knew there was a mountain left to ascend. The fans understood this also, and after the sputtering Tribe offense failed to pad the lead in the bottom of the sixth, the cheers morphed into the grumblings of an audience who had seen this act of the play one too many times. Sabathia had passed the 100 pitch mark and, after consecutive complete games, it was clear to everyone that his night was done on this exceptionally warm and humid May evening. He had done yeoman’s work to be sure and rightly deserved to retire this evening with his head held high. The issue was (as it has been all season) that the onus on preserving the victory now fell to the Cleveland bullpen. Fernando Cabrera and Rafael Betancourt pitched the seventh and eighth respectively, and while they too offered a few moments of trepidation, they held down the fort before giving way to closer Bob Wickman.  

What had been the strength of this upstart team a year ago, had become the cause of many a restless night at the ol’ ball park. Last season the Indians led the American League with a team Earned Run Average of 3.61 and were second in saves with 51. This season Cleveland is tenth in the AL in team ERA, at 4.85, and tied for last in saves with 8. That number, to be fair however, represents a perfect 8 for 8 by Wickman. Ironic due to all the off season questions surrounding Wickman.

The closer position was said to be the most concerning for the team entering the winter, and GM Mark Shapiro made overtures to Baltimore’s B.J. Ryan, who eventually signed with Toronto, and San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman who decided to stay with the Padres. With his targets spurning his advances, Shapiro was left to recommit to the rotund, but reliable, Wickman. One would think that latching onto a reliever who’s saved 58 games for you over the last season and a half (2004 was abbreviated due to injury) would not require much deliberation. However, the experience of a Wickman ninth inning with the score close is much akin to watching a circus bear ride a unicycle across the high wire; great entertainment if you have a steady nerve, but you sit there with the understanding that the whole thing can turn tragically ugly and come crashing down as he wiggles his way from point A to point B.

Nonetheless, Wickman is who the Tribe was left with and he has not disappointed; either in the end result or in the drama achieving it. Tuesday night was the same, though some very close ball/strike calls led to much of the balancing act and he did come through in the end.

The truth of the matter is the implosions have come prior to a Wickman appearance becoming relevant. The real core of the Tribe pitching in 2005 was in the middle. The middle relievers, in particular Bob Howry, were stalwart and unyielding in their extinguishing of opposition batsmen. Howry, though, has since departed for a big free agent payday offered by the Cubs, along with Arthur Rhodes, who was traded to the Phillies in the deal that brought in Jason Michaels to replace outfielder Coco Crisp, who was sent to Boston (that situation will receive separate attention in Friday’s post dealing with the Cleveland offense and position players).

One can hardly blame Shapiro fiscally for not matching the Cubs’ outlandish offer to Howry (12 million for 3 years) but the impact from his absence in the pen can not be overstated. Rhodes, while at times inconsistent, provided valuable veteran guidance to the young staff as well as demonstrating a bulldog, unrelenting attitude. If nothing else his Dave Stewart caliber glare needed to be taught to every pitcher in the system.

To replace these men Shapiro, who mind you had plenty of coin to lay down this winter, brought in cast offs and the underachieving Danny Graves and Steve Karsay. Not exactly an even swap. (More on Shapiro in Friday’s post as well).

The starters haven’t been exactly stellar either outside of Sabathia’s recent efforts. The Tribe does not have a single pitcher in the top 30 of league ERA, while rivals Chicago and Detroit have three each in the top 12. Paul Byrd leads (if that term applies) the team at over 5 runs per. Not a number that erases from memory the efforts of Kevin Millwood, whom Byrd was hired to replace the season after Millwood won the league ERA title. Opponents batting average is .334, good enough (or bad enough) for 8^th in the AL.

CC entered last night’s start having won his previous 4 outings, the last two going the full nine innings to save the pen, rather than relying on it to save him. After his opening day start that resulted in a stint on the disabled list with a strained abdominal muscle, CC has been the savior of the team. While the time on the DL holds his innings below the required number to be counted among the league leaders, his ERA of 1.71 would easily be best in the American League.

I must admit that watching CC walk off the field holding his side in the midst of that opening night debacle (a 10-4 loss to the White Sox) gave me cause to join in the speculation that his lack of pristine conditioning was justifiably alarming. While I still believe a 300 lb man whipping a ball 95 mph 100 times a night in the sultry Ohio summer can lead to great distress, since his return he has been magnificent. The Indians and their nail-biting followers need nothing less from their ace, and in fact, hope that it rubs off on his teammates.

Shapiro was rejected or outmaneuvered in improving or even maintaining the stability of his pitching staff over the winter. He must now validate his 2005 Executive of the Year moniker in working toward adding viable arms, and do so in a hurry. The July trade deadline may be too late. The Indians came from 15 games out of first last season to finish within a whisker of the wild card, and even the division title. That was largely achieved while the bullpen weathered the storm until the offense became more resilient.

At 9.5 games out as May concludes, a similar rally with the current roster seems far fetched, and leaves the Tribe-backers continuing to search for those rainbows.

stats from mlb.com