Whither Fausto?

In his first start since signing a contract extension, Fausto Carmona couldn't control where the ball was going. Fausto walked eight hitters -- EIGHT HITTERS! -- in 3 1/3 innings against the Oakland Athletics. How many times has he walked eight hitters, you ask? Well, one. Yesterday.

What does this mean? Now that Fausto is going to make all that silly money, is he going to stop caring whether he pitches well or not? I don't think so. Even discounting the competitive nature he must have had in order to get to this point, he's got not one, not two, but three club option years built into the contract. If the Indians don't exercise any of those options, the deal is worth $15 million. If they exercise all three of them, it's worth $43 million. So yeah, Fausto's got some incentive to pitch well over the next four years.

That said, last night's outing was troubling. Fausto walked a grand total of 61 guys last year, in 32 starts. He walked one-fifth as many Saturday night. You don't have to be a sabermetrician to know that's a recipe for disaster. But let's not overblow the significance of one outing. Fausto is now 1-1 with a fine 2.20 ERA. His other two starts were fantastic. He's going to be fine. I hope I can say the same for C.C.

The Indians are now 4-7, having lost three straight. They and the Tigers were everybody's picks for the AL Central, and they are now in fourth and fifth place, respectively. I still think they're the two best teams in the division, but if they both continue to falter, it will open the door for the Royals and/or White Sox. I don't think the Twins have the talent to challenge, but they're ahead of us right now, so who knows.