Seattle/Cleveland Series Review

Cleveland continues its winning streak. They sweep Seattle.

Jose Mesa's eyes (warning signs) - Against Seattle relief pitchers, Cleveland got 10 hits and 5 runs in 12 2/3 innings. However, all 5 of those runs were against Tom Wilhelmsen in his only appearance. Cleveland also struck out 14 times against Seattle relief. This suggests that Cleveland might struggle to come back we trailing late in a game.

Cleveland has yet to trail by less than 3 runs late in a game. The bullpen has been good enough to one confidence in their ability to hold leads. Moreover, there have been several positive signs with their lineup. It seems that Cleveland will score runs. However, in their victories by less than 3 runs, Cleveland has scored 1 run against the 12 innings pitched by the opponent's relievers. (This is a little misleading because it doesn't count the pounding that they put on Boston's relievers in game 2 of that series.) Nevertheless, it appears that the lineup will press a bit in close games.

John Hart's vision (signs of encouragement) - Tony Sipp had a huge series as the setup man. Leading by one run, he faces Figgins in game 2 of the series and gives up a lead off double. However, he bore down and retired Bradley, Cust, and Smoak. The following day he comes in the eighth inning with a two run lead to face Figgins, Kennedy, and Cust. There are three things to really like about these outings. 1) They were both pressure situations, especially the first outing. Giving up a lead off double, while trying to hold a one run lead, is deep sea pressure. 2) This was a back-to-back performance against the same team. The more a team gets to see a pitcher the better they do. Seattle not only got to see Sipp twice, but he faced Figgins and Cust in both appearances. 3) He shut down Seattle's momentum in the final game. Seattle had come back from 6 - 0 to make it a 6 - 4 game. They had the heart of their order up. The crowd was into the game for the first time in the series. Sipp set them down 1 - 2 - 3.

Alex Cole's batting average (misleading stats) - Asdrubal Cabrera hit 2 HRs in this series. Meet your home run leader, Asdrubal. Don't look for big home run number from ACab. Cabrera's previous home run high in a season was 6. In the minors, Cabrera once hit 8 homers in a season. Let's say that he exceeds his previous season high by 2 homers starting now. That puts the over/under on Cabrera's home run total at 13. In my spring season analysis, I explained how Cabrera has gap power rather than home run power.