Speaking of sustainability, let's jive a second on my favorite topic: Jack Hannahan. Off of another multi-hit effort that featured a key two-out two-run jack in the 2nd, Cap'n Jack is now hitting .563 with 1.792 OPS with 2 outs and runners in scoring position. Quick quiz - Who has a better batting average: Jack or Shin-Soo Choo? A better OPS: Jack or Carlos Santana? More RBI- Jack or Travis Hafner? Look it up. Since August 15th 2011, Jack is batting .333 with 6 homer runs and 35 RBI in 51 games. His OPS over that span is .919. G'head, keep telling me that it's not sustainable.
Again on sustainability. Back when Michael Brantley was hitting .230, I heard many suggest that such a low average was his MLB capacity. C'mon man, Brantley was .265 career hitter coming into the season and, after his four hit effort last night, he's up to .255 in 2012. It is wildly uncommon, though not unheard of, for a hitter to regress in his fourth big league campaign. Much more likely, it is where he plateaus. In my opinion, .255 is still too low for Michael's talents. I would expect him to, at the very least, get back to that .265 clip and, probably, even out around .275 or .280. Although I honestly don't believe that he's a .300 hitter, it's a hell of a lot more probable than Brantley hitting .230. It might be time to flip back to the top of the order...
What? Derek Lowe ties for the American lead with his 5th win and he gets relegated to paragraph 4? Too true. Lowe has been, by far, the Tribe's best starter this season. Not only is his 2.47 ERA the best in the rotation, it's the only under 4! Derek is not going to awe you, especially at age 38, but he is going to go out there every 5th day and do his job. With the exception of his April 18th dog start against the Mariners (his only loss), Lowe has 1.83 ERA and has not allowed a home run. As Cap'n Jack noted, when Derek is going good, he will get you a lot of ground balls. Such was the case last night, when he coaxed 18 ground ball from the 28 batters he faced. In 2002, unquestionably his best season, Lowe's GB/FB ratio was 1.95. During his productive years that number runs anywhere from 1.9 to a career best 2.15, as opposed numbers in 1.3 to 1.5 range over the past 3 (mediocre) campaigns. Take out the Seattle star (small sample size and all that aberration stuff) and that ratio is 2.13 in 2012. If Derek has gotten his sink back, then his early performance is quite likely sustainable itself.
Before we say adieu, let's speak briefly of the pen. Tony Sipp: still bad. What a meatball he threw to Pedroia. Vinnie Pestano: on his worst day still better than most. He walked the bases loaded but still held the BoSox scoreless. Nick Hagadone: still wow. How's about these numbers: 10.1 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 10 K, 0.87 ERA, 0.48 WHIP, OBA .088. Yeah, wow.
Roll Tribe.
Cheers.
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