When you look at the Cleveland Indians, it is hard to get a read on them.  The team went out and signed two pretty big free agents on offense when they picked up Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, and then they added veteran leadership at the DH spot when they signed Jason Giambi who was close to becoming the Colorado Rockies Manager.  They have slumped and streaked early this season, and at times Justin Masterson has looked unhittable.  Looking at this team in the preseason it was easy to believe that this team could make a run, but after a little over a third of the season it is hard to have faith in this team.

The Indians are coming up big on offense so far.  The team is eighth in the league (fifth in the AL) in average, fourth in the league (and AL) in runs scored and third in the league (second in the AL) in HRs.  That is fantastic improvement on an offense that was 18th, 22nd and 25th last season in those same categories overall.  Mark Reynolds is leading the charge as he has come back with a vengeance after a tough final season with the Orioles and is playing like the All Star caliber player he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks.  He has 13 HRs, 41 RBIs and has an astonishing .254 average.  For anyone else a .254 average is just okay, but in the case of Reynolds, a career .238 batter and has hit .221 over the last two seasons, it is a huge improvement.  With protection from Reynolds and new addition Swisher in the order, Carlos Santana has also began to turn the corner to become the star people thought he could be.  Add Jason Kipnis in the leadoff spot to the mix, and you have a solid core to the offense.

Looking at those numbers it is easy to think this team is for real, and could easily make a run at the Tigers, and be this seasons Chicago White Sox, that give Detroit a run for their money in September.  The Indians are far from a complete team, though, and the pitching numbers tell the tale of why not.

Ace of the staff Justin Masterson started off the year on a roll for the Indians, but after him the starting rotation is not something Indians fans should be bragging about around the water cooler at work. Zach McAllister, Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir are the other three regular starters in the rotation, and although McAlister has a respectable 3.08 ERA he is only 4-4 on the year and Kazmir and Jimenez have ERAs over five.  It’s not McAllister’s fault the team isn’t scoring runs in his starts, but it is going to be hard to turn this pitching staff around as Masterson has come back down to earth recently.  As mentioned before, Masterson has shown signs of greatness with two starts of zero earned runs and one start of just one in his last nine starts, but in that same nine start span he has also given up a total of 27 runs.

So although the Indians are currently in a tie for first with the Tigers, it is hard to believe in a team who is in the bottom of the league in pitching, even though the hitting is on par with some of the best teams in the league.  What makes it even harder to have faith in this team is the fact that this team is 3-7 over their last ten games and have the defending AL Champion Detroit Tigers to deal with.  This team is on its way to being a playoff contender, but as of right now, it’s hard to believe they’ll be able to push the Tigers out of the top spot.