It's probably time to start talking about the Indians. I have them pegged at 75 wins this year and I've seen some things since the start of the year that may cause a bit of a spike above that, but they are certainly not going to contend for anything. Realistically, you have to throw out this recent sweep of Seattle, simply because the Mariners don't hit. Great that the Indians took care of business out there, but let's not go overboard. They didn't have to face King Felix.

And could you believe Wedge's pet, Chris Gimenez, caught today's game for Seattle? "Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge said Friday, April 8, that he picked C Chris Gimenez over C Josh Bard as an injury replacement for C Adam Moore (knee) due to his versatility, reports Geoff Baker, of The Seattle Times. "The biggest part of that was just his versatility, the fact he can play multiple positions for us right now," Wedge said. "That entered into it as much as anything. I was really impressed with what I saw of him this spring." This demonstrates one of my biggest pet peeves in baseball, in general, of Eric Wedge, in particular. Sure, Gimenez is versatile, but weakens virtually every position he plays by his inability to hit major league pitching, as his .160 career batting average would attest.

Hitting-wise, I know no one wants to believe it, but Travis Hafner is starting to drive the ball again. He's OPSing like it's 2006 again. The fact that he did the Indians a solid by getting into better shape this year, may go a long way in determining their season. I'm happy with what I've seen from him.

Orlando Cabrera seems to be a good pickup. I thought this was a good late off-season move by Chris Antonetti. Seems motivated and provides that good veterean presence. How come no one told me he's old "Pretzel Boy" Jolbert Cabrera's brother? He's off to a good start, as is most everyone in the lineup. Shin-Soo Choo is coming out of it, but Travis Buck's playing time will evaporate, once Grady Sizemore returns.

Let's face it, Jack Hannahan won't be hitting like this all year. I'm still waitin' for The Chiz to get the callup. But Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana and Matt LaPorta haven't embarrassed themselves at bat so far, so it looks like the strength of the club may be the hitting.

Walks are up, as are strikeouts. But they rank 3rd in hitting, and 2nd in On-Base %. Wahoo Baseball is the way to go, because slugging only ranks 7th.

Pitching. Ah, pitching. If only I had a crystal ball. All starters in their mid-20s. We've seen gems from Carmona, Carrasco and Masterson, thus far. But we've also seen a bad Carmona start, and iffy starts from Carrasco and Tomlin. That's what you're gonna get this year. If Masterson doesn't have two whole months of awful like 2010, they'll be a more solid core. But far from dominant.

I thought the relief corps was top-notch last year. Rafael Perez saved his career and Chris Perez became a reliable closer. The cast of thousands filled in rather nicely, as well. This year, Tony Sipp is playing a prominent 8th inning role.

So far, they are 4th in strikeouts and have given up only 3 home runs. And they've given up less hits than innings pitched (Thanks, Seattle). Plus, only 5 errors in 8 games.

Probably gonna take til the end of the month to really formulate an opinion of where they'll end up. I'm liking what I've seen, thus far, but there is a long way to go.

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Visitor

None, on a really warm Sunday.