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that's the good thing about our division. Nobody is that good or bad for that matter, you could win the division with 88-90 wins. We played the division pretty tough last year for being 24 games under .500. Our record inside the division was 34-38.

Still REALLY early, but an encouraging start anyway. Hope they can keep this up. I said last year that the Indians reminded me of the Padres team, just a year behind. Last year's Padres roared out of the gate as well. Let's just hope that we don't miss the playoffs by one game to the eventual World Series winners.

Also really funny ... EPSN has "Power Rankings" each week. Last week the Tribe was 1-2, fresh off of two blow-outs, and they have them ranked dead-last. Everyone is taking ESPN to taks for that one now.

it is definitely really early.

i think our pitchers might be overachieving a bit.

but there are some things i believe to be true.

pronk is back. the confidence, timing, power, it's all there. don't think that is some kind of illusion, either.

if you get the lead into the 7/8th inning, game over.

travis buck is horrible. sorry dude.

acta has more attention to detail than eric wedge. i was a wedge supporter but it's pretty easy to see if you watch the games. acta is on his game, and his team responds to him well, much better than they did with wedge.

OC is playing the same role as trot nixon did in 2007 except that he's actually producing on the field and is more than worthy of being an everyday player. i was never a big fan of his in boston, chicago or LA, but when you watch him every game for your own team, you can see how much he means to the team already.

the hope as mentioned above is that our pitchers were done in last year by our absolutely terrible IF fielding.


Last season:
Asdrubel being injured
our rotating logjam of terrible defenders at 3B
LaPorta learning 1B when he was actually there
and none of the 2B guys getting steady playing time

This season:
Asdrubel healthy right now
Orlando Cabrera brought in for his slick fielding at 2B
LaPorta more comfortable at 1B
Hannahan brought in for his slick fielding at 3B (with Donald's injury)

Besides the errors last year?
How many double-plays did we leave on the field?
How many hits got through because of missed assignments / poor range?
How many base runners advanced because our IF was a mess?

If all of that is fixed, and with groundball pitchers, then it could be hopeful that this start is not a total mirage. Partial, probably, but not total at least

Beware early-season fool's gold

Updated Apr 11, 2011 8:51 AM ET

There’s a saying in baseball that goes something like this: “Bad teams are dangerous early, because they don’t know they’re bad yet.”


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It’s true: Lesser clubs often play with more energy in the first few months, then succumb to their inadequacies and start trading off veteran parts.

Sometimes, though, a bad team isn’t so bad. Sometimes, a bad team becomes a surprise team, just as the Padres did last season.

I wrote last week about the Orioles. I wrote in the spring about the Nationals. Here are six other clubs that played above their modest expectations in the first 10 days of the season – and guesstimates about their chances for 2011.

Marlins

Perhaps they don’t belong on this list, seeing as how their owner, Jeffrey Loria, said at the outset of spring training, “I’ll match my guys up with anybody.”

Still, few expect the Fish to seriously compete with the Phillies and Braves in the NL East. The Marlins’ first test will be this week, when they visit Atlanta and Philadelphia after building their 6-4 record against the less-potent Mets, Nationals and Astros.

The good news for the Marlins is that they’ve gotten minimal contributions from shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who is batting .207 and missed the past two games with a left leg bruise, and right fielder Mike Stanton, who is just now recovering from a left hamstring issue.

Third base remains a question, but so far the combination of Donnie Murphy, Greg Dobbs and Wes Helms is proving oddly sufficient. Closer Leo Nunez is another question – “they can’t win with him at the back,” one scout says – but Nunez has developed a slider and is 3 for 3 in save chances thus far.

The intriguing thing about the Marlins is that Ramirez seems serious about becoming a leader, even asking manager Edwin Rodriguez his opinion on what to say to his teammates and how to handle certain situations. The clubhouse environment, at least thus far, is much improved.

Contender or pretender? Contender, in their usual 80- to 85-win way.


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Indians

This could get interesting. The Indians allowed 23 runs in their first two games, losses to the White Sox. Since then, they given up 14 runs in seven games — all victories.

Dismiss the weekend sweep against the hapless Mariners if you’d like, but remember that the Tribe swept the Red Sox at home in the series before that. Remember as well that the pitching staff was fourth in the AL with a 3.86 ERA after the All-Star break last season, and produced the highest groundball percentage in the AL.

The Indians’ season likely will hinge on whether their pitching stays consistent, and the team’s improved infield defense should help. The lineup also could evolve nicely: Designated hitter Travis Hafner again looks like his old self, center fielder Grady Sizemore figures to return by the end of the month and Triple-A third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall eventually could make an impact.

To contend, the Indians will need young players such as right-hander Carlos Carrasco, first baseman Matt LaPorta and outfielder Michael Brantley to produce at a high level. It’s a lot to ask; the team’s margin for error is thin. Then again, the AL Central is more forgiving than most divisions.

Contender or pretender? Pretender, but better than most of us thought.

Blue Jays

A difficult team to assess; the Jays are so young, they could go either way.

Still, the Jays went from 75 wins in 2009 to 85 in ’10 after losing right-hander Roy Halladay, shortstop Marco Scutaro and catcher Rod Barajas. They will not necessarily collapse after losing outfielder Vernon Wells, first baseman Lyle Overbay, catcher John Buck, right-hander Shaun Marcum, and relievers Kevin Gregg and Scott Downs.

A 5-4 record against the Twins, A’s and Angels suggests that the Jays will at least be competitive — if the young rotation continues to develop, if first baseman Adam Lind and second baseman Aaron Hill bounce back, if a number of other things go right. Good luck to the revamped bullpen maintaining its league-leading 1.11 ERA.

Contender or pretender? Pretender, but worth monitoring.


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Diamondbacks

Winning a home series against the Reds should get people’s attention. The D-Backs looked awful at times in spring training, and still might turn out that way. But they rallied from deficits of 5-0 and 7-6 to beat the Reds in the series finale Sunday. And starting with their extra-inning victory over the Rockies on Opening Day, the D-Backs have been competitive in virtually every game.

“The guys are battling,” general manager Kevin Towers says. “It’s a different culture than what I saw the last 10 days of last year (after taking over as GM). We would get down 4-0 or 5-0 and roll over. Even the games in Chicago (where the D-Backs lost two of three), we got down, and battled back, battled back.”

Most interesting fact about the D-Backs: They lead the NL in stolen bases (12 in 15 attempts) and are tied for second in fewest stolen bases allowed (four in six attempts). Manager Kirk Gibson drilled the team relentlessly in spring training, and so far the work is producing results.

It’s difficult to trust the D-Backs’ pitching, but right-handers Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson already have combined for four quality starts and the bullpen seems to be taking shape — David Hernandez in the seventh, Juan Gutierrez or Aaron Heilman in the eighth, J.J. Putz in the ninth.

Contender or pretender? Pretender. But give Towers time.

Pirates

A rival GM summed up the Pirates’ managerial change thusly: “(John) Russell never looked happy. (Clint) Hurdle never looks mad.”

The difference is huge for this downtrodden franchise, but the surprising thing about the Pirates is that they ranked second in the NL in rotation ERA before righty James McDonald allowed five runs in 6-2/3 innings against the Rockies on Sunday.

The rotation cannot sustain that level of success, but righty Kevin Correia and lefty Paul Maholm could be solid, righty Charlie Morton looks poised for a breakout and prospects are developing at every level. The Pirates will need luck and more time to develop a dominant staff, but at least now they stand a chance.

Meanwhile, most clubs would take the back end of the Pirates’ bullpen, righties Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan, and their nucleus of young position players — center fielder Andrew McCutchen, third baseman Pedro Alvarez, second baseman Neil Walker and left fielder Jose Tabata.

One rival GM describes Walker as a future batting champion. The Pirates told Tabata to stop worrying about his power, pointing out that Roberto Clemente did not reach double digits in power until his sixth full season. Be a great hitter, club officials advised, and the power will come.

Pretender or contender? Pretender, but one scout says, “They’re at least 10 games better than they were last year, maybe a little more.” The team won only 57 games last season, so even a 10-game improvement would not get them to 70. But it would amount to progress.

Royals

The Royals were 6-2 in 2008 and 18-11 in ’09, so they’re not about to get carried away with their 6-3 start.

The Royals’ best days lie ahead, when third baseman Mike Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer take over the infield corners and the arrival of pitching prospects such as left-hander Mike Montgomery ensure that the rotation no longer is a collection of fourth and fifth starters.

Still, there are some good things happening — notably, the development of left fielder Alex Gordon, whom the Royals always envisioned teaming with first baseman Billy Butler to form their offensive nucleus. Gordon, more erect in his stance, showing more hand speed, again looks like he can be a high-OBP, high-strikeout, 20- to 25-homer man.

Several of the Royals’ better prospects are still two years away, and some are certain to sputter. For now, the most noticeable difference in the club is its up-the-middle defense with second baseman Chris Getz and shortstop Alcides Escobar.

Outfielder Melky Cabrera is playing with a high level of professionalism, and the bullpen looks good. One scout says of right-hander Aaron Crow, “He’s a keeper. His fastball hits 94 with great life, and he’s got a power slider.”

Pretender or contender? Contender . . . in 2013.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/flori...d-in-end-041111

How did the Blue Jays make this list? They won 85 games last year and are a modest 5-4 (right in line with their wins last year).

I think pretty much everyone had them winning somewhere in the 80's this year. 5-4 doesn't say much else, does it?

j/c

I was really sour on the Acta signing when it happened. I did the usual Dolan is a cheap sob rant (which he is ), but with that said, I like the national league small ball he brings to the team. He has the guys manufacturing runs, seems to have the young guys attention, shows passion and seems more knowledgeable that the past manager.

I remember the Tribe being something like 11-1 in 2002 to start and imploding before 40 games (19-21) and only winning 74 games so I'm not going to get too giddy until they sustain it for 40. If they play like this to the quarter pole, then it will be a fun summer.

Yea that was Thome's last year, and had a bunch of veterans that were at the end of the line. As the writer mentioned, if the starting pitching holds, we will have a shot to win the division. Everything else is in place. The indians front office in the past, have shown they could tear it down, and build something even better than before. Even if we don't make the playoffs this year, our future is very bright to win the next 3-4 years.

Whats the point of doing power rankings if they just base them off current record? Do they really think the indians are the 9th best team in baseball and the red sox are 24th

jc...

It seemed to me last year that in a lot of the games I watched (which was, inexplicably, quite a few), they just could not get things going on both sides consistently in the same game. What I mean is that if the offense put ten runs up, the pitching and/or defense gave up twelve. If the pitching only gave up two runs, the offense could only muster one. The two sides were never able to pick each other up. I think that if they can keep those instances to a minimum they can win quite a few games. There were lots of times when they scored two or fewer runs while getting good outings from their starting pitchers.

if you are going to do power rankings, which i have no problem with, they are fun, make for good conversation/argument, but they are far from law, you have to do them based on how they look through that point of the year. not based on tradition/history/previous year record. the sox could still be there at the end of the year but right now like they look dog poo.

honestly if i were doing power rankings now i'd have the tribe in the top 5. they've played like it. they got slapped in the face in game 1 and 2 and bounced back big time.

And the pirates are higher than the tigers?

I have no problem with power ranking either, I assumed they did them to show who the best teams are, not who's playing better at that time.

teams do surprise every year. Nobody had the padres winning 90+ games last year.

I find it hard to believe that espn thinks the pirates will be better than the tigers this year. They do have a better record than the tigers, which is why they are ahead of Detroit. Hence the placement of teams based on record. I can do that on any sports website by ranking teams by record.

J/C

The boys seem to be on a roll again tonight. Asdrubal had another homerun and LaPorta just nailed a 3 run dinger.

4-0 and it's currently the top of the 3rd against the L.A. Angels. To paraphrase major league...who are these guys?!

There was an article about Orlando Cabrera talking to Asdrubal Cabrera about taking "one at bat" for himself per game .... and trying to drive the ball. Evidently the hitting coach has been saying the same thing ..... but a second voice made it sink in .... and Asdrubal has been beating the crap out of the ball.

With power he's so much more dangerous. He can do all of the little things ..... and power opens all of that up even more. He's really becoming an all around solid hitter.

I got a chance to read that last night. It was a cool article.

I know it's early and I vividly remember the 11-1 start from a few years back. I hope this team turns this season into something special.

Talbot with 7 scoreless innings, with only 2 walks.

These guys are reeling off quality start after quality start.

Hah! Retires the side, batter just looks at it.

Talbot with 8 scoreless innings.

Make that 8 scoreless.

Only drawback is that Perez can't earn a save tonight.

Edit: I take that back; he could get the save, but we'd have to surrender runs first. No thanks.

Oh, I'm very okay with no more runs scored tonight.

Or if Talbot loads the bases and then Perez comes in, but I'll pass on that as well.

Cheap base hit there. Oh well ... still a great outing by Talbot.

Pestano comes in and get the first out ... strike out.

2nd out fly ball .......

Fly ball ..... and Ballgame!

Nice job by Talbot and Pestano!

Thats a wrap! Wahoo!

Wow. Go Tribe.

8-in-a-row!

Is this just a tease? Who would of thought 8-2?

How about this little stat ......?

LinkZilla

The starting rotation is 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA (nine runs in 52 1/3 innings) during the streak.

That also mean that the other 2 games were no decisions.

Further, the Indians and getting over 6 1/3 innings per start from their starters on average during the streak. That's huge ... especially with the back end of this bullpen that can slam the door with the best of them.

it also allows the bullpen to do what it is supposed to do rather than have to bail out starters early in the ballgame.

we have a well-rested, dangerous bullpen right now.

Mitch Talbot was the last guy I expected to do well from our rotation. Even he's getting into the act. Gotta love this hot streak.