Hello Tribe fans everywhere!
Well, I guess that old baseball cliche is true -- you really can never have too much pitching. The Indians were so flush with live arms earlier this week that they sent Fausto Carmona to Buffalo. He'll be shuffling back to Cleveland now that Jake Westbrook appears headed to the disabled list with a pulled stomach muscle. It sounds like the same type of injury that cost Cliff Lee more than a month. Fortunately, Lee returns to the rotation tonight for his first start with the Indians this season.
Today, the Tribe activated Lee and called up 24-year-old southpaw Rafael Perez from the minors. To make room, they sent Shin-Soo Choo and Ben Francisco back to Buffalo. It's kind of a ripoff for Choo, whose solid hitting and fine defensive work in the outfield gave the Tribe a lift during the time when injuries hampered David Delluci and Trot Nixon.
Now that both of those players seem restored to good health and are producing at the plate, Choo has to accept his demotion.
The Indians can use Perez after last night's 11-inning, 7-6 win over Toronto. The Tribe went through its entire bullpen, which means Perez will be welcome. I was disappointed that Jason Davis and Aaron Fultz pitched so poorly. It's the third rocky outing in a row for Fultz, which means Perez could be handed a golden opportunity.
I've expressed concerns before about the Tribe's bullpen. Yes, as a whole, the relievers have been effective, but only Fernando Cabrera and Rafel Betancourt have been outstanding to date. Oh, I suppose I shouldn't gripe about Joe Borowski's success as a closer, but his 8.25 earned run abverage is troublesome. Tom Mastny hasn't been too bad, either, but the whole group feels shaky. (You can tell a longtime Indians fan -- they always wait for the sky to fall down).
You always hate to see a gamer like Westbrook go down, but, hopefully, Carmona will be able to pick right up where he left off. I'm happy for him, at least, that he'll be rewarded for his good work.
Lately, I'm thinking the key to the Indians offense is Jhonny Peralta. When he's hitting, which he has been so impressively of late, it makes everything else so much easier. The Tribe has won 8 of out 10, including every series to date, except for those three straight game they lost to the Yankees in New York. Peralta looks like a new man.
Before Westbrook went down, I was like so many other Indians fans who felt the time was ripe to peddle Paul Byrd. Of course, nobody really knows -- outside of Mark Shapiro -- if the club could have received anything in return for Byrd. I think he's a decent starter, don't get me wrong. But would anyone, even the clubs desperate for pitching, be willing to part with a top prospect? It's doubtful, I guess.
So, we should be happy with what we have, and grateful that Carmona can drive over from Buffalo in less than four hours.
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The answer to yesterday's quickie quiz is: Bob Hope once owned a chunk of the Indians in the late 1940s. Hope is a Cleveland guy, after all.
Today's quiz: OK, here's a tough one. Tell me the real first and middle names of former Tribe thirdbaseman Toby Harrah.
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-- Kevin Cuneo

