"Midseason" Grades: Pitching

The pitching has been a bit better than the hitting has been, to say the least. Our starting pitching, nearly immaculate, the bullpen, not so much, but there have been a couple of nice pieces out there as well.

Cliff Lee - A+
Who else could I possibly start with? The AL starter in the All-Star game this year (threw 2 scoreless innings), Lee is 13-2 with a 2.29 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and has allowed only 1.35 BB/9IP this year (Wow!). The numbers speak for themselves. He has completely regained his confidence, and is the front runner for the AL Cy Young this year, and should easily trump his career high 18 wins in 2005.

Paul Byrd - D+
I'm not knocking Byrd, in fact I like the Byrd man, but even for a 5th starter, his ERA is atrocious (5.28) and he has given up 23 long balls this year which is horrible. This from a guy who coming into this year won 10 and 15 games for the Indians. Byrd is only 4-10 this year.

Aaron Laffey - B+
Laffey is doing what we expected Adam Miller to be doing this year. Lee and Laffey battled out for the 5th starters job in spring training this year, and Laffey lost out, but with the injury to Jake Westbrook, the Laff man got his chance, and he has flourished. Laffey is 5-6 with a 3.61 ERA, and during the month of June was one of the most unhittable pitchers in baseball.

Fausto Carmona - A-
Started the year a bit rocky having serious control issues, but settled into an unfamiliar role, the ace of our staff. Yes, Lee has been amazing all year, but the leader of that staff who had the numbers to back it up that early was Fausto. He has been injured since May 24th, but in his 10 starts, he was 4-2 with a 3.10 ERA.

Jeremy Sowers - D-
Only reason why Sowers doesn't get an F is because he was the last option we would have liked to use in the rotation this year, but due to injury, he's been forced to pitch. Even though he has been more than ready to pitch in the bigs, things just haven't clicked for him yet.

Masahide Kobayashi - B
Masa has been a very solid back end of the bullpen guy. A closer in Japan, he took on the setup role and was great. And since the release of Borowski, Kobayashi has been our closer, and has 6 saves with a 3.30 ERA.

Rafael Betancourt - F
Absolutely awful...Raffy Right has been a complete and total bust this year. He has a 6.00 ERA...Yes, the man who was the best setup man in baseball last year now has a 6 ERA this year. I can't explain it...He doesn't look injured, he still has the velocity and the control...I just can't explain it.

Rafael Perez - B
Raffy Left in the Raffy equation on the other hand has turned his season around. There was a time early in the year where Perez was struggling just as badly as Betancourt, but Perez has been money this summer with a 3.18 ERA.

Jensen Lewis - D+
A key part of the bullpen during our playoff run last year, Lewis had his good outings and his bad this year. A 4.41 ERA and 0-3 record just don't cut it.

Joe Borowski - F--------
I hate you.

I'd also like to know why we ever got rid of Craig Breslow. He had a 3.24 ERA in 7 games with us, and has a 1.76 ERA in 15 games with the Twins...I don't understand that one.

But there you have it, your Indians "Midseason" grades for pitching and hitting.

Overall season grade - D+
A team that was supposed to go to the World Series at 44-54 this year...Injuries have taken their toll, and a lot of players that have good track records in their careers are having down years. The good news is once this team is healthy, it should be an easy transition back into the playoffs next year.