Cleveland Sports Forum

Carrerra up and Pronk on the DL and Valbuena back to Columbus. I hope Acta is creative with his lineup. I'd start Carrerra because I like the speed and defense he brings. I'd also start Marson behind the plate and put Santana at first and move LaPorta to DH. Revised lineup:

CF Brantley
SS Cabrera
RF Choo
1B Santana
DH LaPorta
2B Cabrera
CA Marson
3B Hannahan
LF Carrera

If Pronk and Sizemore look like they are headed for extended trips to the DL then we'll need to callup Phelps as well. Buck and Duncan seem like good guys but they should not be in the lineup on a regular basis. Kearns is expendable.

Scratch the above lineup, I'd hit Cabrera second where he can do what Vizquel used to do for us in that spot. New lineup:

CF Brantley
LF Carrerra
SS Cabrera
1B Santana
DH LaPorta
RF Choo
2B Cabrera
CA Marson
3B Hannahan

Bench - Everett, Buck, Duncan, either Phelps or Donald

Your lineup contradicts your statement. TG

Manny Acta has done things with the lineup that I wouldn't have: keeping Choo and Santana 3rd and 4th, hitting Brantley 7th, etc. But it is working out. He deserves a huge amount of the credit for keeping this team moving in the right dirction. Avoiding a serious losing streak is crucial and he has succeeded. Yesterday easily could have been (should have been?) our 3rd loss in a row but he salvaged another great win.

I am usually the last to give manager credit or blame for game outcomes but Manny really seems to be driving this team.

JR - I mean Carrerra not Cabrera. Too many Latin American names that start with C to keep track of...

Branyan for Carrerra is a trade that has promise...

Could you imagine Herb Score announcing a pop up into the shallow OF with Cabrera, Cabrera and Carrera all converging on the ball?

I turned the game on last night right at the pitching change before ECs' drag bunt hit. I had to stop whooping it up to get that this guy was even a Cleveland Indian.

I absolutely love all the ways this club is finding to win games.

A Wedge managed club would have gone down in flames last night.

There are so many good storylines going on with the team right now that our cups runneth over.

Very tough for the Tribe to keep it going with 2 big players on the DL.

I know Hafner is supposed to miss 3 week and could be 6. What's the schedule for Grady?

When you look at our pitching matchups, you have to question whether any of the starters can handle big games: White, Tomlin and Carrasco, in this series, but they have been remarkably consistant.

I've read comments here by some fans who say that the manager has nothing to do with the team's success, and it depends solely on the talent and winning ability of the players alone.

I gave that idea a lot of consideration and I figured I'd wait and see if the facts bear those ideas out as the seasons go by.

The more games I watch this year, the more I have to say that that idea doesn't seem to hold water.

No way in hell, not in a million years, would Wedge of Hargrove EVER have put in a rookie call-up in the latter part of the game, with 2 outs and RISP, to execute a freaking drag bunt to manufacture the winning run of a ball game. The kid could fly, he obviously knows how to lay down a well placed bunt, and the 1st baseman was back holding the runner on first. Very nice job of managing to win, IMHO.

That kind of strategy requires a degree of confidence and risk-taking that was unknown to the previous managers of the Indians. Surely it could have failed, but if it did then it would have been no different than having a different batter ground out, fly out, or strike out they way they often did under the old school thinkers.

Also - Acta handles the pitching staff better than either Wedge of Hargrove ever dreamed of doing. Now you can say that Acta failed in his previous managing jobs. But from what I'm seeing he has learned a lot about how to get the most out of the skill sets his players have, and Acta seems to adapt his strategy to fit the tools at his disposal. I love watching how this team performs under Acta.

I could never say that about the managers who just filled out the line-up cards and let'em play, which was the primary strategy of guys like Wedge and Hargrove. Neither Wedge nor Hargrove would have ever considered using a guy like Carrerra in that situation.

Acta is proving to me that the manager can be a huge difference in a team's success.

Just my opinion.

CIV: Could you imagine Herb Score announcing a pop up into the shallow OF with Cabrera, Cabrera and Carrera all converging on the ball?

Let's really mess with their heads and trade for Detroit's first baseman -- and fave Carrasco start each game