Our U Beats Your Yu

As unlikely as it might seem, I write here in praise of Ubaldo Jimenez.  Now, by no means do I feel as if he has turned a corner or resolved any of his mechanical flaws, but the man went out and tossed a gem against the team that came into the series as the top run scorer in the American League.  Texas (5.21 RPG) now sits second behind Boston thanks to being held to just 10 runs over the three game set.  While Jimenez had to work out of trouble in the first and walked the bases loaded in the third, he survived it all, allowing just two hits and retiring 9 of the last 10 he faced.  His numbers are baffling.  The 3-2 record and 4.04 overall ERA seem just fine.  The MLB high 25 walks and 1.60 WHIP do not.  The six K's against the Rangers are a season high, yet he still issued 5 free passes.  If you combine Ubaldo's first start with his most recent his ERA is 1.29, WHIP 0.79 and OBA .068.  In his other starts those numbers are 5.82, 2.12 and .319.  Compounding the inanity, two of the dog starts have come against the lowly (9-18) Royals.  I guess what I am trying to say that Jimenez is inconsistent.  Get used to it.

Despite generally similar behavior, I have less positive remarks to make toward Tony Sipp.  Sipp, who survived culling twice thanks to the mind boggling demotion of Nick Hagadone and the injury to Rafael Perez, is, very simply, pitching badly.  Among relievers with an least 8 innings pitched his 9.00 ranks 3rd worst behind Heath Bell (if you don't know, I'm not going to tell you) and Manny Acosta of the Mets, who, yeah, really is pitching much worse.  His WAR is tied for 3rd worst behind the same two guys.  His WHIP is 12th worst, his OBA tied for 10th worst.  You want AL rankings?  Um, last, last, 3rd to last, 5th to last.  Tony has never had a wide array of pitches (short men rarely need such a repertoire), so when his slider doesn't slide, he doesn't have much else on which to rely.  If Raffy's injury is not serious (i.e. does not require surgery), all logic dictates that Sipp gets the boot when Perez returns.  Remember though, that the Indians make personnel decision based on everything except on the field performance.  Keep that in mind as woManny leads you through a fumbling and befuddling account of how Tony is "throwing good pitches," because, clearly, he is not.

Travis Hafner is in a slump.  Since the Tribe returned from the West Coast swing, Pronk is stuck on a 5-for-37 schneid.  That's a .135 clip that has driven his season average down to .253.  Since April 17th, Shelley Duncan is batting .156 with one home run and just 4 of his 14 walks.  Jack Hannahan is hitting .176 since April 24th.  Despite his homer, Shin-Soo Choo is 3-for-20 since returning from his pulled hammy.  And, of course, excepting the series at Kansas City, Casey Kotchman is batting .116 (8-for-69) with 2 RBI.  His OPS outside of Missouri?  .317.  His batting average in 2011 was .306.  While CK will get a long leash, it will not last all season.

It's good to see that the Tribe can win when their starter walks 5, the opposing starter fans 11, and their left handed set-up man surrenders 2 runs in the 8th.

Cheers.

P.s.  Watch Bryce Harper steal home.