Jul
19
Written by:
Matt Underwood
7/19/2010 5:32 PM
Indians Manager Manny Acta gave me a simple, straight forward answer when I asked him what he wanted to see from his team in the 2nd half of the season. "I want to see our pitchers attack the strike zone," said Acta. "We lead the league in allowing walks and we are last in strikeouts. That cannot continue. We don't have a staff that strikes out a lot of hitters so we have to make the hitters earn their way on base."
During the 4-game sweep of Detroit the Indians pitching staff was tremendous. They held the Tigers to 8 runs in the series and the bullpen was outstanding. Jeanmar Gomez made his Major League debut on Sunday and pitched 7 innings allowing only 2 un-earned runs. Personally, I'd like to see more of Gomez. He's 22 years old and obviously will be part of the team's future. We may have to wait until September but, I also want to see Hector Rondon, Carlos Carrasco and Kelvin De La Cruz.
Carlos Santana has already proved he is the real deal and should be the Tribe's catcher for the next 6 years. Matt LaPorta is finally getting a chance to play every day and has showed signs of promise. He has great power but, his plate discipline has been shaky at times. Hopefully that is something that will improve as he learns the pitchers in the American League.
Is Michael Brantley the center fielder of the future? Offensively he has struggled but, he is getting a chance to prove that be belongs. When Grady Sizemore returns next spring we assume he will be back in CF. Brantley could move over to LF although Trevor Crowe has continued to improve and will not give up without a fight.
Jason Donald has been impressive with his grit and determination. He will look much better as a second baseman when Asdrubal Cabrera returns on Friday. That raises another question. Is Jayson Nix for real? He burst into the Tribe line-up and homered at a Ruthian rate in Texas. Its definitely worth giving him an extended look in case the White Sox made a blunder in releasing him.
These are all reasons to watch the Tribe in the 2nd half of the season. Getting Cabrera and Choo back in the line-up will be a big shot in the arm for this line-up as we head into August. Sure, they will have to play well in order to avoid a 100-loss season but, I see hope that this club could turn things around in the near future.
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