Winning Any Which Way But Loose

Is it safe to go out on a limb yet and say that the Yankees series was simply a hiccup in a young season as the Tribe swept the short Rangers series without playing their best ball of the season? The Indians sit at 12-7 and are 1 game ahead of the Tigers in the AL Central, all of this with the team playing what is largely imperfect baseball.

They’ve won every series (that I can remember, or at least care to remember – they didn’t play in New York yet, right) this year and the numbers that the team has put up include nothing that jumps out as entirely successful. No aspect of the team has carried the others, as the team has figured out a way to win convincingly, win ugly, and win with smoke and mirrors.

It’s the starters, right?
While they do have 12 quality starts through the first 19 games, the Indians’ starters are only 6-5 with a pedestrian 4.89 ERA, a K to BB ratio of 2.6 to 1, and a WHIP of 1.44. Now, admittedly, a lot of those big numbers came from 3 starts (Carmona vs. CWS, Westbrook vs. NYY, Sowers vs. NYY) as 18 of the 68 ER came from those 3 games. So, that means that, in the other 16 games, the starters have given up 50 ER, or a little over 3 runs a start. Good, but not great. By the way, great would be the Oakland rotation sitting on a 2.07 ERA and a WHIP of 1.04 over 21 games. THAT is great.

Then it’s Pronk putting the team and the offense on his massive shoulders, right?
While Hafner has been incredibly hot as of late and is second in the AL in OPS and tied for 4th in HR, he still doesn’t rank in the top 10 in the AL in RBI. And, last I checked, games are still won when runs cross the plate. Seeing as how Victor is 2nd (tied for 23rd in the AL) and Peralta is 3rd on the team in RBI (tied for 39th in the AL), it’s not like this team is scoring runs in bunches. They’re no slouches as they stand at 2nd in the AL in runs scored (NYY – 6.3, CLE – 5.3, DET – 5.2, TB – 5.1, BOS – 5.1), but they certainly aren’t bashing teams like they were put together by C. Montgomery Burns.

Lord knows it’s not the fielding?
That’s for damn sure. Last in fielding percentage in the AL and 2nd in the AL in errors (despite having played 3 less games than the AL-leading Devil Rays) back up what we’ve all seen with our eyes. The defense is OK at its best, and painful at its worst.

It couldn’t be the bullpen, could it?
Actually, including the New York blow-up (6 of the 20 ER that the bullpen has let up) that sticks in everyone’s craw, the Tribe relievers are 6-2 with a 3.09 ERA, a K to BB ratio of 2.20, and a 1.18 WHIP and trail only the Tigers in the AL for saves. They have the best OPS against (.577) in the AL and have slotted nicely into their roles. Borowski has proven to be as advertised (not spectacular, but possesses a short memory and a penchant for getting out of jams) and Tom Mastny and Fernando Cabrera have been absolutely lights out. Throw in that Betancourt, Fultz, and (even) Hernandez have been solid and the biggest worry coming into the season has been a strength thus far.

The point of dissecting all of these parts of the whole equation is to prove that the Indians are sitting on top of the competitive AL Central having played what probably isn’t their best baseball.

For 2 years, the whole town has complained that the team has been unable to win close games, overcome mistakes to win a game, and have been unable to put lesser teams away as they should. So far this year, the Indians have done just that.

They sit at 12-7 with no obvious reason for the .632 winning percentage. If it’s difficult to pinpoint the reason for success and it’s easy to argue that each aspect of the team could improve (maybe not the bullpen), this team may be poised for that breakout season. That breakout season when everything falls into place, that the close games end in victory, and the team is able to get on a roll that lasts all season.