The Hit List

Lets see, Jose Lopez had 5, a career high.  Lou Marson had 4, also a career high.  Shin-Soo Choo had 4 as well, tying his career high.  All told, the Tribe banged out 19 hits off of 5 Orioles pitchers with Tommy Hunter surrendering 8 by himself in just an inning and 2/3.  Aaron Cunningham, he set a career high in... at-bats with 6.  He also tied a Major League record for fewest hits in a game with ZERO!  Slater finishes up the month of June 1-fo-21 (.048).  Some (including the Indians' craven skipper) will tell you that Cunningham is on the team not for his offensive production (thank goodness), but rather because of his of versatility in the outfield.  Well, the kid isn't exactly Paul Blair in the field either.  No disrespect to the guy (I crossed that line long ago), but he is less than worthless, he is a hindrance.

Josh Tomlin earned the win today, but it's not like he wowed anyone with his outing.  In allowing 10 more baserunners in his 6 innings of work in Baltimore, Josh's WHIP now sits at 1.48.  In 2011, it was 1.08.  Let's fudge the math and say that Tomlin is putting an extra guy on every two innings.  That is simply not going to cut it.  The opposition has an .862 OPS against Josh.  The Tribe has exactly one hitter with an OPS over .862 (Asdrubal Cabrera - .871) and he broke that barrier thanks to today's offensive outburst.  I am unsure if Tomlin is doing something differently or if he hasn't made any adjustments since the league caught on to his tricks, but what he's doing is not working.  Don't get me wrong, I am a Josh Tomlin fan.  That being said, if he continues to pitch like this he has to go.

Still, after their starter hit the showers, the bullpen was outstanding for the Indians.  That's the status quo for Esmil Rogers (yeah, I'm saying that) and Vinnie Pestano, but even Tony Sipp got in on the act.  The effort actually dragged the the relief corps' ERA for June under 5 to 4.95 and their OBA under .250 to .245.  I know that no one on the staff looks at these numbers, but in the eyes of this casual fan, the progression is significant.  If the Indians truly are going to content this summer, the bullpen has to bounce back to full 2011 form.  Coming into this season there were a number of serious questions in the lineup and one big one about the consistency of the rotation, but the mafia was expected to take care of business.  Chris Perez does an outstanding job running his mouth to the press, perhaps he should instead practice his oratory on his peer.

Finally, some much deserved love for Asdrubal.  Playing without a back-up for much of the season, Cabby has had his ups and downs.  The average has always been right around 3 bills, but of late he has shown a surge of power.  Over the past two weeks, he has batted .305 with 6 dingers and 15 RBI while posting a .926 OPS.  The oddest bit?  Today's was the first double in that mix.  Weird.  Like the spelling of weird.  Weird.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.

P.s. Since moving to the lead-off spot, Choo has homered 7 times, all of them solo shots.