Cleveland Indians 2009 Preview and Outlook

With 61 of the 65 college basketball teams now seeing their seasons end, and despite not quite spring-like weather here in Central Indiana, baseball season has come to the forefront of my sports mind. Since we don’t have a major league squad in Indianapolis, my interest goes east to Ohio’s two teams.

Unfortunately, the media has already predicted major attendance drops for the national pastime, but with attendance records actually broken the past few seasons, the jury is still out on that capricious assessment.

I will preview the two teams I’ll follow this season, beginning with Cleveland today. (Cincinnati will follow later this week)

The Indians have an even-odd year thing going in terms of success the past half-decade, so 2009 looks promising if that holds. They won the division in 2007 and exceeded all expectations in 2005, while ‘04, ‘06 and last season were grave disappointments.

But it could be tough for the Tribe, as they face their first full season without C.C. Sabathia; an injury that will keep number three starter Jake Westbrook out another few months; Fausto Carmona and Travis Hafner trying to regain prior form; and Cliff Lee needing to prove his 2008 Cy Young season was no fluke. For Lee, if spring is an indication, his disastrous 2007 that landed him in Buffalo seems more akin to his success level. “Fans of the Feathered” surely hope not.

Last year’s surprisingly effective fifth starter, Aaron Laffey, will start the season in Columbus (that’s the new Cleveland Triple A team, as they now “control” eastern Ohio baseball from Lake County to the Mahoning Valley and west to Akron and Ohio’s capital city) due to the emergence of Scott Lewis and Saint Louis’s 2006 World Series hero Anthony Reyes. Reyes, after going 4-15 for the Cards in 2007 and 2008, had an ERA under two in six late season starts for the Indians last season.

The decision to make Lewis — a 25 year old native Ohioan who attended Ohio State — the fifth starter was enabled by Laffey’s ineffectiveness, including a six runs-in-two-inning outing last week. Laffey, who will still be just 23 on Opening Day, probably had the edge at the beginning of camp, but was too inconsistent to hold the spot. He had an ERA near seven this March.

If you had to place an early bet on which starter would be the first recalled, it may not even be Laffey, but lefty Jeremy Sowers. A day after he was demoted, Sowers threw five scoreless innings in a minor-league game. Sowers was a bright spot in a dismal 2006 for Cleveland, winning seven of his 11 starts, but has lost 15 of his 20 the past two seasons with an ERA near six. The 25 year-old first round pick from Vanderbilt had an ERA just under five with the Tribe this spring.

Reports are that ex-Yankee Carl Pavano has shown an excellent change-up and good bite on his slider, but his fastball has not yet hit 90. The big league average is 90 mph, thus Pavano really needs to get it up there if he expects to compete against the best teams. But the good news is Pavano has been healthy after 2007 elbow reconstruction surgery, which is good since Jake Westbrook will push for this spot upon return.

“Jake Westbrook threw off the mound in a bullpen session and you’d never guess that he had reconstructive elbow surgery last June 12,” Akron Beacon Journal columnist Terry Pluto noted last week. “His fastball was in the upper 80s. He is beginning to throw a few breaking balls. Something can always go wrong, but so far, this is very promising.”

Westbrook’s goal is to be starting rehabilitation games in the minors by May, and to be back with the Tribe by June 12 — the one year anniversary of his surgery.

“If that happens and he is anything close to the guy who had a 3.12 ERA in his first five starts last season (or 46 wins between 2004-06), the rotation can suddenly look a lot better,” Pluto added.

Offensively this spring, Jhonny Peralta and Grady Sizemore have been crushing the ball, hitting over .400 with power. Asdrubal Cabrera, thankfully, looks far more like the 2007 version, or the guy who hit .320 after the All-Star break last season, than the 22 year-old who opened the 2008 season at .184, and therefore had to spend a month in Buffalo to regain his focus at the plate.

First baseman Ryan Garko has shed 15 pounds, and showed up early to spring training to learn the outfield in order to potentially spell starters Shin-Soo Choo, Sizemore and Ben Francisco. Twenty-four-year-old Super prospect Matt LaPorta, who the Indians obtained in the Sabathia trade last summer, is being groomed for a quick promotion. LaPorta, a first baseman by trade with questionable defense, will spend time in right and left as well. It appears the idea is to prepare the phenom to play different spots as needed in Cleveland.

Will the Cleveland Indians be a playoff team in 2009?

• No
• Yes

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Tags: AL Central, cleveland indians, grady sizemore, MLB

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