The B-List Lite: 4/15

The Tribe ends their 5-game losing streak with a complete game win from David Huff,  and today's game recap features:

• David Huff's dominant outing
• Matt Harrison and an application of the Fundamental Error of Attribution
• Shin-Soo Choo saves the day
• An outrageous claim
• Travis Hafner's future role
• Ducks on the Pond!
• The finest outing by the bullpen this season

There are lots of places to watch your team hit .111 with runners in scoring position, but only one place to read The B-List.

The B-List Lite: 4/14

The Tribe runs their loss streak to five,  and today's game recap features:

• Justin Masterson's strengths and weaknesses
• Asdrubal Cabrera's weaknesses
• The Heart of the Order's weaknesses
• Tofu Lou's weaknesses
• Squander Ball
• A Bedtime Story
• The Doofus Fan

There are lots of places to watch fan interference cost your team a run, but only one place to read The B-List.

A Bedtime Story

Once upon a time, there was a team that got thoroughly dominated by Colby Freaking Lewis.

And that's how I knew they sucked.

The end.

Around the Division: This Might Be Detroit's Year

Since this blog is generally read by Cleveland fans, and, as the marvelous Mike Polk points out, "We're not Detroit," some fans may not have noticed the finish to the Tigers-Royals game yesterday.  For Cleveland fans, this had an eerie feeling to it.

Erstwhile starter Brian Bannister allowed a total of four baserunners through 6 innings on a walk and three singles.  No Tiger even reached second base, and he struck out two hitters in the 6th to look as strong as ever.  The highest number of hitters he faced in an inning was FOUR.  The Royals even scored a fifth "insurance run" in the top of the 7th when Yoon Betancourt got a hit.  This pretty much defines "your day," right?  Brian Bannister shuts down the opposition, and Yoon Betancourt gets a hit off Joel Zumaya.

It was not "Kansas City's day."  It may not be their "month."  Or "life."

The B-List Lite: 4/12

The Indians lose their home opener, which is nothing new in that they've now lost THREE home openers (CHW, DET, CLE),  and today's game recap features:

• Fausto Carmona's continued success
• The inexplicable use of Chris Perez
• The inexplicable badness of Chris Perez
• Jamey Wright succeeds!
• Jamey Wright fails!
• Shin-Soo Choo activates his bat!
• Shin-Soo Choo deactivates his brain!
• How the Indians were dominated by Rangers relievers who had no business doing such a thing

There are lots of places to watch run-scoring wild pitches at a Cleveland game, but only one place to read The B-List.

The B-List Lite: 4/9 - 4/11

The Indians managed to lose three games in Detroit this weekend, two in SPECTACULAR fashion, and today's game recaps feature:

• More on The Worst Play in the World
• David Huff being better
• Mitch Talbot being ... something
• Anatomy of a Crushed Soul: Decision Points
• Anatomy of a Crushed Soul: Failure by Suck
• C-Pez out of gas
• Jake Westbrook out of gas
• Steve Buffum's soul out of gas
• Longball for temporary fun and profit

There are lots of places to watch a walk-off wild pitch, but only one place to read The B-List.

Room for Improvement Watch: 4/11

I thought I'd go ahead and keep tabs on the 8 players I identified in the pre-season "Room for Improvement" series to see if the predictions I made are making any sense.

Grady Sizemore (+42 VORP): .273/.304/.455

The good news: 6 hits include 2 doubles and a triple.  1 SB to 0 CS.  5 RBI leads team.
The bad news: 8 Ks and 0 BB in 23 PA.
The odd news: Extrapolating, he has been in scoring position at least 4 times and has not scored.
Verdict: Obviously too early to say, but Sizemore's improvement was always more about health than talent.  How serious is the "mid-back strain" that kept him out of Sunday's game?

Fausto Carmona (+30 VORP): 4.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 6 IP, 1 H, 6 BB, 1 K, 3 R

The good news: The man gave up one hit.
The bad news: The man walked six guys.
The odd news: Carmona's BABIP is .000 because the only hit was a homer.