Opening Day!

As you should well know, (if you don't, where have you been the last week?) tomorrow is the home opener for the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe will look to turn it around after a rocky season a year ago. They are playing the Chicago White Sox at 3:05.

Starting for the Indians will be Fausto Carmona. Carmona had an on and off season a year ago posting a record of 13-14. Fausto will be squaring off with Mark Buehrle. Buehrle is coming off a .500 year posting a record of 13-13. Personally, I hate Buehrle. After drilling Travis Hafner in the face in 2005. A few inches higher, and Hafner very well may have died. Buehrle is number 3 on my hate list of professional athletes.

The Indians will not be at full strength tomorrow as Grady Sizemore was placed on the 15 Disabled List. Likely starters for the Tribe will be Kearns in left, Brantley in center, and Choo in right. I expect the infield to look as follows:

3B: Jack Hannahan

SS: Asdrubal Cabrera

2B: Orlando Cabrera

1B: Matt Laporta

C: Carlos Santana

DH: Travis Hafner

It will be interesting to see what the starting lineup looks like tomorrow, but if it were up to me, I would have it as follows:

1. Michael Brantley

2. Asdrubal Cabrera

3. Sin-Soo Choo

4 .Carlos Santana

5. Travis Hafner

6. Orlando Cabrera

7. Austin Kearns

8. Matt Laporta

9. Jack Hannahan

Overall, I like the lineup a lot. There are very few, if any, holes in it. I think that the Tribe will be a solid offensive team in the 2011 campaign. The only question will be our young pitching rotation, and questionable bullpen. For tomorrows game, I predict that it will be a low scoring game as both teams have their aces throwing. I am predicting a 2-1 win for the Tribe. The key is going to be Fausto going late in the game and getting the ball to Perez for the save in the 9th.

To Pronkville or Bust

We all remember the Travis Hafner of 2006 when he hit 42 home runs and was one of the leagues most feared hitters. However, since that amazing year Hafner has been on the down slope. Some people seem to think that he was on steroids, and got off of them which is causing him to decrease in performance. However, these people are uninformed and ignorant. Hafner has had shoulder surgery twice in the off season which is very hard to come back from. He has had many injuries in his career including when he was drilled in the face by none other than White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle. Hafner has tried to recover from these injuries, and has not quite been successful.

However, I think he is going to turn it around this season. Last year he lost a lot of weight, and looked like an entirely different person. He was in the best shape of his life. He was healthy for the majority of last season, playing in 118 games which is his most since the 2007 season. The key to Hafner's success is going to be staying healthy. If he can do that, and play 120 or more games this year, I have a good feeling that hes going to turn it around. He has worked very hard this off season to return to the Hafner of old.

Another reason that Hafner will turn it around is this is a do or die year for him. Next year is his contract year on a huge 4 year $57 million contract. That was

a considerable amount of money to be spent on one player with the system that Larry Dolan runs. Hafner owes it to the Indians and to Indians fans to turn it around this year and get back to the way he use to be. Heck, the Indians named an entire section after him. The upper deck section in right field, which use to be called the mezzanine, was renamed Pronkville in Hafner's honor. This year is either to Pronkville, or bust for Travis Hafner.

Go Tribe,

Drew Lilly

Welcome to First to Third Cleveland!

This is my first post, and I'd just like to let you all know what this blog is going to be about. It will be about the Cleveland Indians, and it will feature previews, recaps, and other news concerning the Cleveland Indians. This blog is part of First to Third, which is a series of blogs all about different Major League Baseball teams. If you are interested in writing about your own team as a part of this series, please contact me or Parker Perry.

As always, Go Tribe,

Drew Lilly

Season is Two Days Away!

It is hard to believe that it is already that time of the year again. What time is it you may ask. Its Tribe time! The season looks hopeful for a young Cleveland team that hopes to redeem itself from last years mess. Lets take a look at what our pitching rotation might look like.

As far as the starting pitching rotation is concerned, I'd imagine it will look something like this:

1. Fausto Carmona

2. Carlos Carrasco

3. Justin Masterson

4. Josh Tomlin

5. Mitch Talbot

Fausto Carmona is looking to come off a mediocre year with one similar to the 2007 campaign where he was a 19 game winner. His 2007 season was phenomenal, and he looked to be a promising pitcher in the Major Leagues. However, he has not quite lived up to his potential since. If the Tribe is to make it anywhere this year, Fausto and his sinker are going to need to be at their best.

Carlos Carrasco is an enigma to me. I have not seen too much about this kid other than he is a young pitcher with a lot of potential. He is a 6 foot 3 inch 27 year old out of Venezuela. So far in spring trianing, he is 1-2 with an ERA of 5.96. Although this is only his rookie season, he is going to need to come out strong for the Tribe to make it down the stretch.

At number 3, we have a familiar face of Justin Masterson. Justin was with the Tribe last year, and was a nice young pitcher that showed a lot of potential. Masterson so far is spring training has posted a record of 0-2 and has an ERA of 5.40. If the offense is like it was last year, Masterson is really going to need to get that ERA down to be successful.

At number 4 is Josh Tomlin. Tomlin is a 27 year old who has never really lived up to his potential. In spring training, he has a record of 0-1 and ERA of 4.15. I haven't seen too much from Tomlin, but with what I've seen from him this spring, I think he will be a nice pitcher to have in the back of the rotation.

Finally at the tail end of the rotation is Mitch Talbot. Talbot was with the Tribe last year, and showed a promising future with the team. He had his ups and downs with the team, but I am hopeful he will be a key factor for the Tribe to create some commotion in the American League Central Division.

The bullpen will look something like this for the 2011 campaign.

Chris Perez (closer)

Rafael Perez

Chad Durbin

Tony Sipp

Vinnie Pestano

Frank Herrmann

Justin Germano

Joe Smith

Looking at this list, it reminds me of the beginning of the movie Major League when the construction worker is looking at the newspaper and sees the roster for the upcoming season and says "I haven't heard of half these guys". Although the bullpen features some familiar faces, there are many new faces that will need to be worked on to see if they will fit in. Last year, the bullpen was the weakest part of our team, in my opinion. I have the same feeling about this years team. The key will be to get the ball to Chris Perez who we will hope and pray will not blow it, and get the save.

The pitching rotation and bullpen are both very young. However, there is a considerable amount of talent. If the Tribe is to make it anywhere this year, the young guys are really going to need to step it up. I am very optimistic for this upcoming season, and cannot wait for it to start.

As always, Go Tribe,

Drew Lilly