AL Central: Cleveland a target for jokesters

Baseball Betting Lines

05/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When your team has the second-worst record in the American League and boasts the lowest attendance totals in all of baseball, you're bound to be the butt of a few jokes.

That seems be the case for the Cleveland Indians, who are just 8-15 in the month of May and are approaching new levels of futility.

According to a recent report (with pictures) on the Dan LeBatard Show, Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had some fun with a Cleveland fan prior to Tuesday's game. The fan had asked Guillen to sign a ball. Guillen obliged, sort of.

On the one side of the ball, he signed, "Bye Bye Lebron!! LOL." And on the other side, "When are you going to win anything in sports? Please."

For the record, Guillen later said he had signed the ball for a friend of his. Still, when it comes to a fan base as tortured as Cleveland's, Guillen would probably be wise to tap into his sensitivity training from a few years ago. In any case, you at least have to give the guy credit for always knowing how to stir the pot.

All jokes aside, Indians manager Manny Acta is turning over every stone to try and keep his team competitive amidst some major roster turnover. Among those efforts is the 'positive at-bats' channel, which is available to the hitters every day on the in-house monitor in the Progressive Field clubhouse. Essentially, the channel features that day's opposing starting pitcher. But rather than always showing the pitcher's last outing, as most clubs do, the 'positive at-bats' channel shows the last time he got shelled.

"It's positive reinforcement," hitting coach Jon Nunnally said. "It reminds them that they can get the pitch they want to get and have success."

Meanwhile, the front office is also doing its part to accelerate the rebuilding process. However, as general manager Mark Shapiro rolls up his sleeves and immerses himself in that process, he can't help but be reminded of the many failures from the past decade.

As a recent column in The Cleveland Plain Dealer pointed out, of the 28 players the team has drafted in the first and second rounds between 2000-06, Trevor Crowe is the only position player currently in the majors. Jeremy Guthrie (2002), Brian Tallet (2000) and David Huff (2006) represent the only pitchers in the big leagues, although that trio hasn't exactly drawn rave reviews.

But the tide appears to be turning with regard to some of the Tribe's high- profile prospects.

Mitch Talbot, a 2002 second-round pick by the Houston Astros, leads all big league rookies with six wins, and he trails only Tampa Bay's David Price (seven) among all American League hurlers.

Shortstop Jason Donald, a third-round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies who was acquired in the Cliff Lee deal, has started to come along since being called up May 18. Donald is 6-for-15 over the last five games, and on Tuesday he registered his first big league home run off White Sox' starter Jake Peavy. Donald has also turned heads with his smooth glove and high intensity.

Meanwhile, down in Triple-A Columbus, top prospect Carlos Santana is hitting .313 and just belted his 10th home run of the season on Wednesday. The catcher leads the International League in on-base percentage (.447) and walks (35), ranks third in slugging percentage (.573) and OPS (1.020), and is tied for third in homers and fourth in RBI (40).

Of course, Santana was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a nondrafted free agent in 2004. With this year's draft quickly approaching on June 7, the Indians have the fifth pick. Obviously, they would love to strike gold in the later rounds or even find another nondraftee gem like Santana. But considering the way things have gone for the organization lately, it's almost imperative the team finds a player with that No. 5 pick.

DETROIT HOLDING LEADS

When leading in the seventh inning or later, the Detroit Tigers (25-21) have lost only two games this season, which is tied for the third-best mark in the American League. Now, consider that Detroit's starters are last in the league with 18 quality starts out of 46 games, and the picture becomes clearer as to why the Tigers remain in second place in the division, trailing Minnesota by 1 1/2 games.

Yes, the bullpen deserves most of the early-season kudos. In 11 of the Tigers' 25 wins, the bullpen hasn't allowed a run and has pitched at least three innings, according to the Detroit Free Press. But how long can they keep it up?

If the starters continue to rank last in the league in ERA (5.01) and innings pitched (257), probably not very long, one would figure. On three occasions this season, the Tigers have rallied to win after trailing by five runs in the sixth inning or later. While that may make for good TV, it's no way to go through a 162-game season. Sooner or later, the starters are going to have to hold up their end of the deal in Detroit.

CAUSE FOR CONCERN IN CHI-TOWN?

When it comes to the Chicago White Sox' schedule, there are no easy matchups.

Entering this weekend's four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays, owners of the best record in all of baseball, Chicago was 14-14 against teams with records of .500 or better, but 6-12 against teams with losing records.

"I guess it's a matter of just gearing up for the big games," reliever Scott Linebrink told the Chicago Tribune. "It's a lesson to us that we need to take the same intensity all the time. There are no pushovers in the league. We've got to play good ball against everybody.

"(Young teams) sometimes are the most dangerous. They've got nothing to lose. They're not playing for anything, and you can tell they're playing relaxed."

In other team news, starting pitcher Jake Peavy clarified some comments he made following Tuesday's start, in which he gave up six earned runs in six innings and was charged with his fourth loss of the year. Multiple reports described Peavy as having arm fatigue after the game.

"I just said I didn't have good stuff and didn't feel that great," he told the team's Web site. "That's part of being a pitcher. You won't make 33 or 34 starts and feel good and have A-plus stuff. Stuff-wise, the ball wasn't crisp out of my hand. That's part of it. There are times where your arm doesn't respond the way you hope it would. The bottom line is I have to find ways to win and keep the team in the game."

Peavy added that he is sometimes honest to a fault, and he didn't mean for his comments to be misconstrued as having a tired arm. For what it's worth, the Chicago Tribune reported that Peavy would likely skip his bullpen session this week, thus giving his arm more rest leading up to Sunday's scheduled start against the Rays.

BLACKBURN, KUBEL SPARKING TWINS

The Minnesota Twins (27-20) will be glad they won't have to face the AL East again for a while, considering they went 5-10 this month against that division. Still, Minnesota remains in first place in the AL Central despite dropping three of four to the New York Yankees this week.

Two players who helped the Twins avoid a sweep against the Yankees, and who have also keyed the team's early-season success, are Jason Kubel and Nick Blackburn. Blackburn picked up the win in Thursday's 8-2 triumph, as he allowed just two runs in seven innings and did not issue a single walk. The win was Blackburn's fifth in as many outings during the month of May. Just a couple of weeks ago, he stifled the Yankees to three runs over seven innings for a 6-3 win in New York.

Ultimately, Kubel was the hero of that game in Yankee Stadium, as he blasted an eighth-inning grand slam off closer Mariano Rivera to seal the win. This time around, Kubel knocked two homers, collected three hits in all, and drove in five of the team's eight runs.

Kubel hasn't gotten off to a picture-perfect start, batting .233 with five homers as he's adjusted to sharing DH duties with Jim Thome. But he has driven in 27 runs, and Yankees manager Joe Girardi pointed to Kubel's performance last year to make the point that he certainly wasn't being overlooked in the series. Last season, Kubel set career-highs by hitting .300 with 28 homers and 103 RBI. Kubel said he is starting to get into a better groove offensively of late.

"I felt great all day," Kubel said following Thursday's victory. "That's something I haven't been doing too much lately, is just seeing the ball. Instead of swinging at everything, I was able to get some pitches to hit and put some good swings on them."

BUTLER CARRYING KANSAS CITY'S OFFENSE

By now, most baseball fans are aware that Justin Morneau is leading the majors in batting average (.377). Raise your hand if you know who is in second place.

That would be Royals first baseman Billy Butler, who would likely be well on his way to breakout stardom if he weren't playing in Kansas City. Butler has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games and is hitting at a .348 clip on the season. Last year was his coming out party, as he hit .301 with 21 homers and 93 RBI.

"I don't know if it's because I play in Kansas City or something that they don't take any notice, but hopefully we start winning some more ballgames and people take notice of how good we all can hit," Butler told the team's Web site.

Manager Ned Yost credits Butler's approach, day-in and day-out, and his knack for always studying the game.

"If you ask me if I'd finish second in the league in hitting or get in the playoffs, you know which one I'd choose," Butler said.

Kansas City (20-28) has won two straight -- over Texas and Boston -- and is now just a half-game behind Chicago for third place in the division.