Cleveland Sports Forum

I guess our lefty-heavy lineup would like to pitch against our all righty rotation

Talbot pitching better, so Acta feeling better: Terry Pluto's Scribbles
Published: Monday, March 21, 2011, 10:18 PM Updated: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 7:45 AM


1. When I asked Indians manager Manny Acta if there was a sense of relief after pitcher Mitch Talbot had his second good start of the spring, he denied it at first -- saying that Talbot had a spot in the rotation secured before spring training. But as Acta talked about Talbot, he admitted "feeling better" about the 27-year-old righthander. Acta mentioned that he wanted to see Talbot throw better, because it was not as if he has had a long track record of success.

2. No matter what the Indians have said, they had to be nervous about Talbot's early spring performances. We're talking 13 earned runs in 6 innings! Last season was his rookie year, and he really had two different seasons. Talbot was 8-8 with a 3.99 ERA before the All-Star break, 2-5 with a 5.29 ERA after that. He spent two weeks on the disabled list in early August with a "mid-back sprain." Odds are that his back was bothering him for a longer period than those few weeks.

3. Acta said what clinched Talbot's spot in the rotation was when he was 2-2 with a 2.89 ERA in his final four starts. That showed Talbot was healthy. Remember that Talbot pitched only 68 innings in 2009 because of an elbow problem.

4. Talbot was solid in Sunday's 5-3 victory over Arizona. He allowed two runs (one earned) and three hits in 51/3 innings. This came after giving up one run in five innings in his previous start, making it only two earned runs in 101/3 innings. His fastball was at the corners and low in the strike zone. His changeup was sinking away from lefties.

5. Acta wants Talbot to use his changeup more against righthanders. He uses it well against lefties, as it tends to sink and tail away from them. Talbot held lefties to a .255 batting average last season, but righties batted .295.

6. Another reason for the relief about Talbot is that David Huff did little to grab a spot in the rotation. He is 1-1 with an 8.25 ERA, pitching 12 innings, allowing 18 hits and opponents are hitting .360 against him. Jeanmar Gomez clearly is ahead of Huff as the most likely starter to be promoted if one is needed early in the season.

7. I watched Travis Hafner bat twice, and he does have a nice, compact swing. He also is hitting .333 (13-of-39). But he has no homers, only three doubles and has only pulled the ball with authority a few times. The Indians are hoping his power will come as the opener looms.Yeah, right!]

8. Asdrubal Cabrera has quietly put together an excellent camp, batting .424 (1.100 OPS) and no errors at short. Acta has firm faith that Cabrera can become a leader in the infield and show more range than he did a year ago at short.

9. Orlando Cabrera looks good at second base, hitting .321. Jason Kipnis (.167) and Cord Phelps (.211) just didn't do much in camp to make the Cabrera signing look like a bad idea.

10. The Indians are determined to upgrade their infield defense, which was rated the worst in the league by their own internal stats. Those numbers take into consideration far more than fielding average. They look at range, double plays and other nuances. Only Jason Nix (at second) and Matt LaPorta (at first) even ranked average.

11. That's why Jack Hannahan is expected to start at third, where he consistently has been above average. In 251 major-league games at third, he has 19 errors. Compare that to 20 errors in 85 games that Andy Marte and Jason Nix combined to commit last season. The idea is that Orlando Cabrera and Hannahan give the Indians above average fielders at third and second base.

12. Former Indian Russell Branyan is having a monster spring with Arizona, batting .475. But that is in the National League, with no DH. Branyan has a cranky back. He was rated the worst fielding first baseman in the AL last season in terms of range by fansgraphs.com and some other places that rate defense. So it makes you wonder why Arizona signed him, unless they plan to put up with his poor defense. Between the Tribe and Seattle, Branyan hit .237 (.810 OPS) with 25 homers and 57 RBI, along with 131 strikeouts in 428 at-bats in 2010.

Baseball America analyzes the Indians fall from grace and future


Indians Fall From Grace In 2000s

By Tracy Ringolsby
March 22, 2011
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—A decade ago, the Cleveland Indians were baseball's model franchise. They found a path to success within a mid-market world.

The Indians, however, have wandered off course.

They are back on the bottom of the American League Central, battling with the Royals each year to avoid a last-place finish. Even more concerning is that while the Indians feel they have some good prospects about to arrive, they have nothing close to the impact talent expected to be in Kansas City within the next year.

The Indians have four players ranked among Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects, with third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall highest at No. 25. The Royals, meanwhile, have nine of the Top 100, including five of the top 19.

And to think, for a seven-year stretch from 1995-2001, the Indians were what other teams wanted to be. They were a homegrown champion. Six times, they advanced to the postseason. They surpassed three million fans in a season six times. In 1995, they won their first AL pennant in 41 years.

The ugliness of the 1960s and '70s and first half of the '80s was eradicated.

With a winning team and a new ballpark, the Indians pumped new life into downtown Cleveland. Lake Erie was cleaned up. And the Indians were a factor on the field.

The fans responded. The Indians set what was then a major league record with 455 consecutive sellouts from June 12, 1995, to April 4, 2001. The ticket demand was so strong that in three of those seasons, the Indians sold every available ticket before Opening Day.

Now look at them.

The Indians returned to the playoffs in 2007 and had a 3-1 series lead in the AL Championship Series against Boston, only to see the Red Sox rally to win the series and then sweep the Rockies in the World Series.

But that has proven to be a blip on the radar, one of only two winning seasons the Indians have had in the past nine years. In five of the past eight years, they have failed to reach the 2 million mark in attendance. They sank to last in the majors in 2010, with 1.39 million fans.

Failing Regime

Times certainly have changed since the departure of general manager John Hart after the 2001 season. Mark Shapiro took over for Hart, and a whole new front-office mentality took over. It has not worked, although team owner Larry Dolan, who is praised for his loyalty, has not wavered in his support of the team's management.

While managers Charlie Manuel and Eric Wedge were made scapegoats, Shapiro was promoted to team president and his top aide, Chris Antonetti, has replaced him as GM.

A series of bad drafts have stripped the once-rich Indians farm system of talent. And when Shapiro began dealing established players for payroll reasons, he wasn't able to land impact prospects in return.

When the Indians did make long-term commitments to players they hoped would be a long-term foundation—such as center fielder Grady Sizemore, DH Travis Hafner and pitchers Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona—injuries interfered with the plan.

The inconsistent Carmona rebounded a year ago, and he's the only member of the projected Opening Day lineup who was originally signed by the Indians.

What's more, instead of creating opportunities for young players to establish themselves, the Indians have brought in journeymen such as shortstop Orlando Cabrera, 36, whom they are moving to second base, and righthander Chad Durbin, 33, who will be making a second tour in Cleveland, one of five teams he has played for.

Dolan's non-baseball interest is a law firm, which doesn't generate the type of revenue to provide a financial safety net for baseball losses. As a result, the bottom line is at the forefront in decision making.

Never was it more obvious than in the aftermath of the postseason disappointment of 2007. First came the mid-2008 trade of 2007 AL Cy Young winner CC Sabathia to Milwaukee. Then, in 2009, when it became apparent that the losses were going to be double the preseason projection of $10 million, Dolan ordered a salary purge that led to the trades of 2008 Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and catcher Victor Martinez.

It's a catch-22. The Indians have struggled on the field. As a result, they have struggled at the gate. And that has led to the budget cuts.

Civ,

Thanks for being the equivalent of Ed McMahon as the warm up guy for Jhonny.....err...Johnny Carson in this place.


This is my joint for 2011 Indians Baseball after April 15 and the end of Worldcrossing.

If it's not working for us here after a few weeks, I think some of us can help find a better place to be and share.

CALI: It seems to be working just fine. Why do you say that?

J.R. wrote:CALI: It seems to be working just fine. Why do you say that?

Of course this is a very acceptable alternative to what is going away.

I'm glad it's here.

The traffic here is slow, but of course that is largely attributable to the time of the year for Baseball and Football. Plus, the NFL lockout likely hasn't helped.

I'm just saying that if we don't seem to get a semblance of our old swagger back in this place I'll be looking for other places for us.

Heck, as wounded as we are as Cleveland Fans, seems like any expenses that might be incurred for a start would be tax deductible.......

This is a transition time still, some people are still going to the old place exclusively. So, until April 15, it will be difficult to see how this goes.

TFIR wrote:This is a transition time still, some people are still going to the old place exclusively. So, until April 15, it will be difficult to see how this goes.

With apologies to David Bowie:

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Oh, look out you rock 'n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Pretty soon you're gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time

I think this place will be just fine after everyone gets used to it. The start of the season will get folks worked up to see what's happening with the TRIBE especially if they start out winning. So they will have to come here, right? I can't find anything just like the old place. This is the closest I've seen.

Sizemore's knee gets valuable in-game tests

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 03/24/11 9:00 PM ET

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore sliced a pitch into left field and sprinted up the first-base line on Thursday afternoon. When the left fielder bobbled the ball, Sizemore received an opportunity to push for second base.

"That's exactly the kind of play we're looking for in this situation," Sizemore said.

Sizemore referred to his ongoing comeback from a June microfracture procedure on his left knee. The first-inning single against a band of White Sox Triple-A players provided him with a true test for his surgically-repaired joint.


After slowing down for a moment, anticipating a base hit, Sizemore accelerated again and advanced to second. It was a development that Indians manager Manny Acta was pleased to see, because it was a play that is hard to simulate in workouts.

"He had to kind of stop and go, and he took the extra base without an issue," Acta said. "I thought that was a pretty good test for him, because those are the type of things you can't practice on an agility-drill field, or by himself running the bases.

"He did that instinctively, and that was good to see."

Overall, Sizemore finished 1-for-3, with the single and a walk in four innings as a designated hitter in Cleveland's Triple-A game against Chicago. He was allowed to hit second in each inning he played. After his walk in the fourth, Sizemore tested the knee again with a slide into second base on a grounder.

Sizemore said the knee feels good. It's his bat that is slowly coming around.

"Everything felt fine," Sizemore said. "The swing is not quite there, yet. I need to get more at-bats. Otherwise, everything's good."

Sizemore will remain on his every-other-day playing program for now, so he will likely man center field in a game on Saturday. After camp breaks next week, Sizemore will likely begin playing on an everyday basis, but his innings will be closely monitored to make sure he is able to gradually build up his stamina.

Sizemore will begin this season on the disabled list for the Indians, but he indicated that he is hoping to be activated some time in April. Acta emphasized that there is still no established return date for Sizemore.

"There's no timetable," Acta said. "I want him as soon as possible, as long as it is under the parameters of the medical staff."

Little mystery behind Indians' lineup plans

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Manny Acta has not officially unveiled his Opening Day lineup, but the Indians' manager does not believe there is much mystery behind his current line of thinking.

"I think you pretty much know the lineup," Acta said on Thursday afternoon. "I'm still not giving it out. What is missing that you guys haven't figured out?"

After some prodding, Acta helped fill in the blanks.

It has been made known that Michael Brantley will open the season as the leadoff hitter and center fielder, because Grady Sizemore (left knee) will begin the year on the disabled list. After Brantley, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera currently projects to be the Tribe's second hitter.

After the first two spots, the heart of the order will include right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, catcher Carlos Santana and designated hitter Travis Hafner in the Nos. 3-5 holes, respectively. That is one segment of the lineup that Acta hopes to keep intact throughout the year.

"There are certain guys in our lineup that are going to hit in the same spot," Acta said. "I like guys to be comfortable, and be in there just about every day. Then, there are going to be a few things that change, depending on the pitcher or when Grady comes back. I like stability."

Acta said that second baseman Orlando Cabrera will probably be slotted into the sixth spot behind Hafner. The lower-third of the lineup remains up in the air, though it would likely consist of first baseman Matt LaPorta, left fielder Austin Kearns and the third baseman. Jack Hannahan appears to be the front-runner for the vacant third-base job.

"Everything is subject to change," Acta reiterated.

Smoke signals

Indians manager Manny Acta noted that the team will be announcing some roster cuts and decisions on Friday. Among the decisions will be the makeup and order of the starting rotation. Right now, Josh Tomlin, David Huff and Jeanmar Gomez are competing for the lone rotation vacancy. Huff and Gomez were both scheduled to pitch in Thursday night's Cactus League game against the Giants. ... One decision that will not be coming on Friday is which player will break camp as the backup catcher. Lou Marson, Paul Phillips and Luke Carlin are each being considered. Marson is the lone catcher among that group on the 40-man roster, but the team is weighing whether he might benefit from regular at-bats at Triple-A. "We haven't made that decision yet," Acta said. "I think that's going to go all the way to the last couple of days. It's a very interesting decision that we have to make." ... Right-hander Justin Masterson threw five innings, plus one batter, in a Triple-A game on Thursday afternoon. "I was happy with what took place," Masterson said. "I was getting ground balls, and that's exactly what I want. That's where I want to be." Masterson has a spot reserved in the Indians' Opening Day rotation. ... Right-hander Joe Smith (strained abdominal muscle) played catch again on Thursday. It still appears more likely that Smith will open the year on the disabled list, rather than in Cleveland's bullpen. He has not pitched in a game since March 9, due to the minor injury. ... The Indians have signed free-agent lefty Jesse English to a Minor League contract. English will report to Minor League camp.

Uncle Dennis wrote:

TFIR wrote:This is a transition time still, some people are still going to the old place exclusively. So, until April 15, it will be difficult to see how this goes.

With apologies to David Bowie:

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Oh, look out you rock 'n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Pretty soon you're gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time

Amazing that one of Bing Crosby's last performances was with David Bowie.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADbJLo4x-tk


I've read in years since that David Bowie was more nervous for his program with Bing Crosby than he had ever been in his show business life before, or after.

ndians make roster decisions
Posted by Tony at 12:01 AM
Tomlin won a rotation spot with a strong
showing this spring. (Photo: Tony Lastoria)
Some news, notes, and thoughts from my Tribe notebook…

Tomlin wins rotation spot

The Indians made several opening day roster decisions on Friday, and the big one was naming right-handed pitcher Josh Tomlin as the winner in the competition for the final spot in the rotation. The other pitchers in the mix for the final spot were left-hander David Huff, right-hander Jeanmar Gomez, and right-hander Anthony Reyes. All three of them were sent to minor league camp and should open the season in the Triple-A Columbus rotation.

Tomlin, 26, will actually be slotted fourth in the rotation ahead of right-hander Mitch Talbot who will begin the season as the fifth starter. Tomlin pitched very well this spring, and if you base the winner of the competition strictly off numbers he no doubt won the job where he compiled a 1.13 ERA in 8.0 innings of work allowing nine hits, one walk, and four strikeouts. Due to the presence of so many arms in camp needing innings he has been forced to pitch in three minor league game (or B-games) and has not allowed an earned run in 13 innings.

Huff, 26, pitched in six big league spring training games and went 2-1 with a 5.82 ERA (17 IP, 21 H, 3 BB, 8 K). He only started two of his six appearances, and in both starts combined to throw eight shutout innings. Five those shutout innings came in his best outing of the spring on Thursday night when he went five scoreless innings against the Giants.

Gomez, 23, pitched in six big league spring training games and went 0-1 with a 5.50 ERA (18 IP, 17 H, 7 BB, 14 K). While he was in the mix for the final spot, from the start of spring training he was almost certain to open the season in Columbus because of his youth and some development opportunities still considered left in him.

Other roster decisions

In addition to naming the final starter in their five man rotation the Indians also announced that Jack Hannahan would be the opening day third baseman and that Shelley Duncan and Travis Buck would make the team.

Hannahan, 31, won the third base job because of a strong spring hitting .386 (17-for-44) and also because infielder Jason Donald has been slow to recover from a hand injury which will force him to open the season on the 15-day disabled list. Even had Donald not been injured, Hannahan is a pretty good defender and has some versatility so probably would have still made the team as a bench option.

Buck, 27, will be the club’s fourth outfielder in the early going though should get a lot of time in left field in a platoon with Austin Kearns. He has been one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball this spring where in 17 games he is hitting .420 (21-for-50) with four homers, 12 RBI and a 1.213 OPS. He is a former high profile prospect with the Oakland A’s (ranked #1 in 2007) who has struggled with injuries the past several years, so if he can stay healthy the Indians may have found a bargain with a lot of upside.

Duncan, 31, will be the primary right-handed bat off the bench and play first base, left field and designated hitter. In 16 games this spring he is hitting .275 with one homer, eight RBI and a .735 OPS. He adds some veteran leadership to an otherwise very young lineup and bench. The Indians also like his ability to hit left-handed pitching which is where he will get most of his playing time.

More decisions coming

The Indians still have to make decisions on who fills the final three spots of the bullpen, the backup catcher, and the utility infielder.

At the moment only four spots in the Indians seven man bullpen are locked up with right-hander Chad Durbin, left-hander Tony Sipp, left-hander Rafael Perez, and right-hander Chris Perez. The main candidates for the final three spots are right-handers Frank Herrmann, Vinnie Pestano, Jess Todd, and Justin Germano. Herrmann and Pestano look to have a great shot at landing two of the three spots, and the final spot probably will come down to Todd or Germano.

The backup catcher role is between Lou Marson, Paul Phillips and Luke Carlin. Marson is the most valuable of the three and considered a long term part of the organization, but he is also just 24 years old and needs to play everyday in order to finish off his development as a hitter. With that in mind, the Indians are still strongly considering having him open the season as the everyday catcher in Columbus and having one of Phillips or Carlin as Carlos Santana’s caddy in Cleveland. It is also possible that they pick up a veteran catcher in a waiver claim or minor trade just before the roster deadline on Thursday.

The utility role is between Jayson Nix, Luis Valbuena, and Adam Everett. Of the three Valbuena may be the one with the most upside and versatility, but he hits left-handed which may be a poor fit for the bench since Hannahan also hits left-handed. The right-handed hitting Nix may have a leg up on Valbuena for the utility role since he can complement Hannahan’s left-handed bat better, and he can also be an option for second base and left field. Everett is a non-rostered player and appears to have little to no chance to make the club.

Roster management

With so many non-rostered players making the team, the Indians have to make some tough decisions with regard to the 40-man roster this week.

Already non-rostered players Hannahan and Buck have made the team, and both will need to be added to the 40-man roster by Thursday. In addition to them, the Indians may also need to add non-rostered players in the bullpen (Germano), catcher, and possibly even utility infielder (Everett). That’s as many as three to five spots on the 40-man they will need to clear to add these players.

The Indians roster was at the maximum of 40 players, but on Tuesday they designated right-handed pitcher Jensen Lewis for assignment to clear one spot. He cleared waivers and has been reassigned to Triple-A Columbus.

They still need to create two to four more spots on the 40-man roster. One solution may be to put outfielder Trevor Crowe on the 60-day disabled list as he has been slow to return from right shoulder soreness (rotator cuff). With the Indians desperate for 40-man spots they may opt to shut him down for awhile and use his roster spot to add a player that is needed in the short term.

The cold hard reality though is the Indians may have to designate another player or two for assignment to clear room for the remaining players they want to add. The loser in the competition for the utility role (Nix/Valbuena) will probably be removed from the roster, and assuming Pestano and Herrmann make the team there is a chance Todd could be removed to add Germano.

Do not rule out a minor trade or two as the Indians have done this in the past at the end of camp. They may trade some of their depth to clear roster space, or may also look to pick up a player in a trade or on waivers to fill any of those needs at catcher, the bullpen, or utility.

I'd take Chad Huffman over Duncan. Over Hafner, too, for that matter

Hafner can't shoulder all pressure for Indians in 2011

Veteran slugger's ability to rebound will be just one of many factors that determine Indians' fate this season

By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Sunday, Mar 27, 2011

GOODYEAR, ARIZ.: You want to put it all on Travis Hafner? You can't do that. It's unfair and unrealistic to think that the success of the 2011 Indians depends on Hafner's ability to bounce back.

Then again, if Hafner were to hit 30 home runs in the middle of the lineup, the Indians' attack would be formidable. Shin-Soo Choo, Carlos Santana and Hafner (Pronk at his peak), batting third through fifth, might even jerk the apathetic Northeast Ohio fan base out of its slumber.

Occasionally this spring, Hafner has broken out of his malaise and hit a few balls hard, only to fall back into the soft-single-to-right mode. It's the same thing he did last summer, as he went through the final stages of rehab after right shoulder surgery way back in the winter of 2008.

That procedure was described as a debridement (cleaning out the joint) performed with an arthroscope. But the mysterious shoulder twinges plagued him through 2009 and into 2010, when manager Manny Acta thought it necessary to limit Hafner's playing routine to four consecutive days.

Two years ago, Hafner's shoulder ailment was described as soreness; last year, it was inflammation and sometimes fatigue. Explanations have always been vague, but it was apparent that Hafner's swing and the accuracy of his batting eye had changed for the worse.

At times in 2010, the old swing would return along with the strike-zone discipline he showed in 2006, his last bullish season that included a .308 batting average, 42 home runs, 117 RBI and 100 walks.

Can Hafner do that again? At 33, he's not so old as to preclude him from producing those kinds of numbers. What's more, he says there is nothing physically wrong with his shoulder or anything else.

So what's the problem? Maybe after four tough seasons, Hafner's confidence is frayed around the edges. If that's what is holding him back, three good weeks might change everything. But what would it take to trigger three impact weeks?

But enough of Hafner. Either he rallies or he doesn't. Two other hitters will have a strong impact on the quality of the attack: Grady Sizemore and Matt LaPorta.

If it's unfair to put too much of the burden on Hafner, sticking Sizemore with the responsibility is doubly unjust. Here is a guy who had microfracture surgery on his left knee less than a year ago.

Few baseball players have
been subjected to microfracture surgery, so it's difficult to predict whether Sizemore will be adversely affected by the procedure. He has been brought along slowly in spring training and responded well. But if Sizemore's speed is diminished even slightly, it will alter the kind of player he has been.

Moreover, inasmuch as he hasn't played since May, it will take awhile for Sizemore to remember how to play, especially how to hit. He has conceded that his timing at the plate is off.

It's possible that Sizemore will regain every bit of the physical ability he had before surgery, but it would be something of a miracle if he began slashing doubles in the gaps and stealing bases from Day 1.

This could be a crucial year for LaPorta, THE MAN WHO WAS ACQUIRED FOR CC SABATHIA. Carrying that designation is like a marathon runner wearing 50-pound running shoes. Whether it has affected LaPorta's ability to hit isn't known. Nor does it matter. It has become part of his DNA, and he will have to live with it.

In his first full major-league season last year, LaPorta was something of a disappointment, batting .221 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI in 376 at-bats. He showed flashes of being the player who was labeled the Milwaukee Brewers' top prospect (when he was dealt for Sabathia), but LaPorta had trouble maintaining any kind of consistency at the plate.

Maybe this year. If not, the Tribe's deep thinkers probably will begin looking around at other options at first base. As with Hafner, there doesn't seem to be a physical reason why LaPorta can't become an impact hitter.

Pitching is considered almost the be-all, end-all of a team's success. If so, the Indians might be in luck. At least their bullpen looks solid, if not superior. The potential is there with closer Chris Perez, (unofficial) setup men Tony Sipp and Rafael Perez plus Joe Smith, Chad Durbin, Frank Herrmann and newcomer Vinnie Pestano.

Unfortunately (or maybe not), when the discussion turns to the rotation, things get a little hazy. We're talking about the great unknown. But that is not true of the ace of the staff, Fausto Carmona, who came into his own last year after two frustrating seasons.

Carmona is the kind of pitcher the Indians usually can't keep. Just their luck. Maybe they need to quit finding pitchers with the potential to dominate. But in this case, Carmona might stick around for a while, because the club holds options on his services for 2012, 2013 and 2014, the latter at a reasonable $12 million.

Aside from Carmona, it will be difficult to count on anyone in the rotation. That doesn't mean the other four starters are stiffs, merely that they are young and inexperienced.

If spring training is any guide, Josh Tomlin might have no peer in the rotation save Carmona. Tomlin is the kind of pitcher who begs to be undervalued. He doesn't throw hard, he doesn't stand 6-foot-5 and weigh 240 pounds, he doesn't give batters a cold stare like they just called his little sister an ugly name.

But Tomlin has pitching awareness beyond his years, and he can throw most of his pitches to spots most of the time. And he has lots of pitches: a two-seamer, four-seamer, curve, cutter and change-up.

Often he commands them all. Sometimes, one is a little shaky. So what? How does a hitter guess what's coming if Tomlin has an entire arsenal at his disposal and usually is ahead in the count? Then again, Tomlin is just a kid. Can his learning curve keep trending upward? Seems like it, but you never know.

Carlos Carrasco has a live arm, better stuff than Tomlin, but like most 24-year-olds with limited time in the majors, he needs to learn how to pitch. That doesn't often happen in a month or even a year. Carrasco probably will have his moments, but consistency is likely to be a problem.

Justin Masterson is big, strong, often has fearsome stuff but has a difficult time keeping his delivery in order. That is not surprising for someone who is 6-foot-6. Should he be in the rotation or in the bullpen, where he would only have to repeat his delivery 20 times rather than 100?

Mitch Talbot has an above-average change-up, but his fastball is average at best. To be successful, he can't afford to miss with his pitches, especially up in the strike zone.

Put all these starters together and what do you have? More often than not a pretty good chance to stay in most games. Not a bad thing if the offense generates enough runs.

But this is where we begin to go around in circles, so it's time to stop. How many games will the Indians win? If the important things go reasonably well, they could win 81 or 82. Of course, that usually doesn't happen. So let's make it 75.

Hafner is the least important of all question marks. In fact, I don't think there is any question about him. There is absolutely no doubt that Hafner WILL NOT return to his 2006 form. That's ancient history. In fact I don't know why anyone would waste time writing a column about the 2011 Indians with Travis Hafner in the lead paragraph. I would like to see someone like Buck or Huffman as DH.