I’ll admit I’ve been waiting for the Cleveland Indians to fall back to the pack in the AL Central. I just knew their flukey start to the season wouldn’t last. Some of their hot hitters would come back to earth and their pitching staff would scuffle at some point. They had the best record in the Bigs, but it was just a matter of time… any day now… gonna start dropping games… a big losing streak is on the horizon… a month into the season and still the best record in baseball… 40 games in and still the top team in the majors… You know I think this team is for real.
Their offense is top 5 for runs scored, home runs, on base percentage, slugging percentage , and batting average. Seven hitters have more than 20 RBI. But it’s the pitching that’s the biggest surprise.
As a staff they are top 10 in ERA, BA against, base on balls, and quality starts. Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin are both pitching like top of the rotation guys. Closer Chris Perez has 12 saves in 13 chances, and the relievers have 21 holds with Tony Sipp having 10 of them.
The rest of the AL Central will have to fight their way up to them, because the Cleveland Indians aren’t going anywhere.
Published: May 24, 2011 01:34 pm