Fastball Fans

In 2005, the upstart Cleveland Indians were the surprise team of baseball winning 93 games and narrowly missing out on a playoff spot; however, 2006 saw the Tribe regress and finish with only 78 wins. The city of Cleveland and much of baseball saw the Indians as a contender last season, but after a horrible first half, they were far behind the amazing Tigers, the resurgent Twins and the steady Chicago White Sox.

In light of a 2006 that did not live up to expectations, the Indians are a young team on the rise with a great, talented core. This upcoming season, they are looking to make an impact as well as gun for the American League Central crown. All in all, the Indians have nothing but a bright outlook for 2007 and the road beyond.

Much of the team’s core is back, and subtle changes took place in the offseason. In the fold for the Indians are stars Grady Sizemore, big bat Travis Hafner, and imposing ace C.C. Sabathia. During the winter, the team lost Aaron Boone to free agency and Andrew Brown along with Kevin Kouzmanoff to trades. In the offseason, the team acquired second baseman Josh Barfield from the San Diego Padres; pitchers Joe Borowski, Keith Foulke, Aaron Fultz and Roberto Hernandez via free agency, and signed former Red Sox right fielder, Trot Nixon.

The top of the pitching rotation will be led by C.C. Sabathia, the young ace of the staff. He went 12-11 last year with a 3.22 ERA and struggled with an aching knee. His numbers could have been slightly better, but overall he’s been reliable and could move himself into the elite class of pitchers fairly soon. Jake Westbrook will probably be the second starter as he had a solid year in 2006 with a 15-10 record and an ERA of 4.17. Westbrook been a steady, solid pitcher and if he can improve on his 2006, he and Sabathia will be a great pitching tandem for Cleveland.

Cliff Lee should in the middle of the rotation, as he finished with a 14-11 record and with an ERA above 4. He had a down year considering he was 18-5 in 2005, and helped the Indians contended that season. If he can return back to his ’05 form, he’ll help the Indians in a big way. Veteran Paul Byrd will probably be the 4th starter, as he finished 10-9 with an ERA under 5. Over his career, he’s been a solid pitcher, but the Indians will need him to give up fewer runs, as his ERA last season was nearly a run higher than in his previous 2 seasons.

The wild card in the rotation will be Jeremy Sowers. He was 7-4 with a 3.57 ERA last season and the team hopes he can build upon his rookie season. Also possibly factoring in the rotation is Fausto Carmona, though he finished 1-10 and may find himself possibly in the bullpen or the minors in ’07.

The bullpen for Cleveland has been revamped for ‘07 and is stocked with long time veterans. The relief corps has been vastly improved after only after a disastrous 2006 where they could not close out games and often blew game wide open for the opposition. The team added veterans Keith Foulke, Joe Borowski & Roberto Hernandez to compliment Rafael Betancourt, Fernando Cabrera, Aaron Fultz & Jason Davis.

At this point, Borowski may be on deck to be the closer for the Indians in a stacked AL Central. He was 3-3 with an ERA of 3.75 in 2006 (which is a little high for a closer, in my opinion), but he was solid for a young and upstart Marlins team. He’ll be 35 going into the season, and the Indians will rely on him to be as effective as he was in ’06 or better.

The wild cards in the bullpen with are Keith Foulke and Roberto Hernandez. Foulke was 3-1 with an ERA over 4 in Boston last season, and battled back after an injury riddled ’05. In previous years, he has incredible success as closer for both the A’s and Red Sox and the Indians hope he can recapture that magic. If he can bounce back after a subpar ’05, the Indians will have one of the better relief corps in baseball.

Roberto Hernandez is back for another tour of duty in the big leagues, as he’s now 42, but shows no sign of slowing down. After a few so-so years in the National League, he was golden for the Mets in ’05 and ’06 appearing in more than 130 games and compiling an ERA of 3.11 last season, and an ERA of 2.58 in ’05. If he could be as productive as he was in the NL for the Indians, the bullpen will be amazing.

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