So the opening series against the Toronto Blue Jays came and left with the Tribe losing the series 1-2. The Indians won game three behind a memorable birthday performance from Carlos Santana who belted two no doubt homers on Sunday. It was nice to see the power from Santana who like most of the offense, has been very slow to get hits out of the box. Santana is probably the most impressive position player I saw from the first three games. His eye at the plate is right where he left it at the end of last season, the power is still around, and defensively he has called great games at the plate as evident from the results of Masterson, Jimenez, and Lowe. He did have an opportunity to throw out a baserunner, but couldn't get the job done on that. However, when you figure that games 1 and 2 he had to catch 16 and 12 innings respectively, to come back out for the early game on Sunday, and then lead the run scoring from the offense is all the more impressive. The Indians locked him up thru 2016 on Tuesday, and I could not be more thrilled. Not many teams have a catcher that can produce as much offense as Santana can, and once his defense comes full circle I believe that we will have an elite talent on our roster.
The other big positive was the starting pitching. You couldn't ask for better performances from the three starters Masterson, Jimenez, and Lowe. All went deep into their games, and the most they allowed was 3 runs, which twice put us in a position to be ahead when they left, and we were tied during the other game when the starter left. The problem I have with the series was that we didn't win the series with 3 quality starts. As evident by how important every game can be(as evident by the playoff race last year), we need to capitalize on those types of starts if we want to get into the next level which would be the playoffs. We aren't a good enough team to assume that we will "make up for those" at a later date. Until we make the playoffs, we need to be scratching and clawing for every win until we can prove that we legitimately are a playoff team.
The offense is an issue after the first weekend of games. However its not a HUGE issue, as there will be improvements during the ebb and flows of the season. There will be a few more series that we will struggle offensively, however hopefully our starters use some of their bad starts then too, so that we don't waste quality starts anymore. Casey Kotchman I think will hit a lot better, but thru the first series he definitely impressed me the least amongst all the hitters. It wasn't until game 3 that he hit it into the outfield, he went 1 for 13, and for the most part hit at least 10 slow tappers back to the pitcher. Those were easy double plays at times that killed rallies. I am a very patient person, and his defense is definitely a run saver, however if he is going to be hitting in the 6th spot, he needs to produce a bit more, or else why not move Hanahan up who at least supplies some pop?
Defensively I was surprised by the play of Shelley Duncan who actually showed some range and made some good catches. One thing that might get taken for granted is the defensive presence of Shin Soo Choo. Seriously, how many times did a Blue Jay round second, look back at Choo fielding the ball, and then throw on the brakes? That must have happened at least 7 times, his arm is a cannon and a difference maker on defense. I am not bashing Fukodome, but his arm strength didn't get the respect of Choo's.
We got the White Sox update up next. Game 1 against the White Sox is already in the books, and the second game was postponed due to snow. Updates soon to follow.
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