Chisenhall gives reason for excitement

When a team is having a devil of a time scoring runs, as the Indians have lately (they just got swept by the Giants in a series in which their pitchers gave up less than three earned runs per game), and that team is in contention for a playoff spot, as the Indians are, it's time to start looking for other options. One of the chief offenders in the Tribe's lineup has been third baseman Jack Hannahan, who got off to a decent start at the plate but has been ice-cold since then. Hannahan's numbers: .214 batting, .304 on-base, .333 slugging. He's played strong defense all year, but you can't carry a bat like that in your lineup no matter what he's doing with the glove.

Enter Lonnie Chisenhall. There was talk of Chisenhall making the team out of spring training, but the front office decided to give him some more time in Columbus to develop. And his numbers with the Clippers have been decent, but nothing to sing about: .265/.352/.427. But even if you adjust those numbers for major-league-caliber pitching, it's going to be better than Hannahan. And he's been super-hot lately. In his last four games before being called up yesterday, Chisenhall went 7-for-17 with two home runs, a triple, and 13 RBIs. In Hannahan's last four games, he'd gone 1-for-14 with that one hit being a single. So why not give Chisenhall a try?

He's now played in exactly one major-league game, last night's 5-4 victory over Arizona, but the Indians probably would not have won that game without Chisenhall. He had two hits, an RBI single and a double. Maybe he'll provide an instant jolt to the offense. He's only 22 years old, so I think we can logically assume the best is yet to come. Whether he helps much this year or not, the kid's future looks pretty bright.

What's up with Fausto?

I've decided to try to make at least a quick post every day or two, rather than let the blog accumulate tumbleweeds for a couple of weeks. Today's topic is Fausto Carmona, who once finished in the top five in the Cy Young voting but has been just flat-out terrible this year.

Yesterday, Fausto appeared to have righted himself at least temporarily. He gave up a run on three hits in the first inning, then faced the minimum in the second and third innings, and got the first two hitters of the fourth. What happened to him then, I have no idea. By the time Manny Acta went out to get Fausto, he had allowed seven straight baserunners, and the Rockies had scored six runs, capped by Jason Giambi's three-run homer.

It was the fourth time Fausto has allowed at least seven runs in a start this year. Can you guess how many major league pitchers have done that four times in 2011? If you guessed one, you're right. Fausto is it.

Fausto now stands at 4-9, with his ERA at a positively hideous 6.17. He hasn't allowed fewer than four runs in any of his last eight starts, during which stretch his ERA is 8.87. I suspect there's something wrong with Fausto, and it's not a problem with his arm. I'm guessing he's lost his confidence. He'd better get it back if he wants to stay in the rotation. For all their recent struggles, the Indians are still contenders, and they can't afford to keep sending someone out there who can't do any better than that.

Indians struggling, but don't panic

The Indians won last night. That's the good news. Carlos Carrasco and three relievers (particularly Chris Perez) handcuffed a strong Yankees lineup, shutting them out. But of course, the Tribe is still just 5-14 since starting the season 30-15. And it was just their second victory in the last 11 games, and both of those were 1-0 games started by Carrasco. Obviously, Carrasco's recent performance is highly encouraging. The fact that the Indians suddenly can't seem to score any runs, on the other hand, is highly discouraging. They've scored just 22 runs in those 11 games, being shut out three times over that stretch.

But does this mean the Indians are a truly terrible team that somehow managed to get off to a hot start? That seems unlikely. They played like the best team in baseball for a month and a half. When a team plays like the best team in baseball for a week or two, it's often a fluke. But a month and a half?

As we all know, the Tigers have managed to virtually tie the Tribe for first place thanks to this cold snap. And that's who we're playing in a three-game series that starts tonight in Detroit. A mid-June series is never crucial, but this is about as important a series as there can be at this point in the season. If the Indians go in and win this series, it could turn their season around, at least temporarily. But if they leave Detroit in second place, they could continue sliding until they fall into third place or worse.

On the other hand, it's only three games. They could go get swept by the Tigers and then win 12 in a row. This is baseball. You just never know.

Still, it sure would be nice to win two or three games up there this week.

Another reason to root against the Heat

Kudos to the Dallas Mavericks for their stirring comeback last night in the NBA Finals! I didn't watch it, since I really have no desire to see LeBron James play in an NBA Finals, but I understand it was really something to behold.

I received this email today from my friend Jeff Brown, who messages me every couple of days, and whose emails are usually relentlessly negative about the Indians or Cavaliers or Cleveland's population or what have you. This one is a bit unusual in its topic, and I found it interesting enough to paste it in its entirety:

I figured out why (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) hasn't been playing the NBA finals so far -- the Heat didn't even include him on the finals roster!

This isn't a very noble way for the big fella to end his NBA career -- his team, despite starting him for 51 games in the regular season, and 8 out of 9 games to begin the postseason, has eviscerated him from the roster altogether and he doesn't even get to wear his uniform to the game, much less get in and play.

This would have been Z's second trip to the NBA finals, and a chance for him to earn some redemption for losing in four straight to the Spurs a few years ago.

Now, even when he wins his ring, it will be a hollow victory because he's sitting on the sideline wearing a suit and tie, rather than a basketball uniform.

Doesn't Z deserve better, Steve?

Well, I would stop short of saying he "deserves" better. But it does seem a bit odd that the Heat would play Z all year and then leave him off the Finals roster. He also didn't play in the Eastern Conference Finals. Maybe fallen out of favor with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra for some reason. Regardless, Z would be the only reason I'd ever want the Heat to win a title. Now that he's not even on the roster, ... yeah, I hope they get creamed the rest of the way.

Quick thoughts

* The Indians had a bit of a rough stretch there, but they've won two in a row to regain the best record in the majors. A certain Of Fair Hooker reader who has been constantly beating the drum of negativity about the Indians (who goes by the name of Jeff Brown) emailed me the other day to opine that the Tribe will soon go the way of the Royals, who are now 5-13 since starting the season 20-17. First of all, the Indians' record is a lot better than 20-17, and second of all, they're pretty obviously better than the Royals. The Indians are now on pace to win 101 games. I don't think they'll actually win that many, but it probably won't take 90 to win the Central. I will be surprised if Detroit overtakes us, and shocked if Chicago does. Kansas City and Minnesota are all but eliminated right now.

* Jim Tressel has left the Ohio State football program in disgrace after committing the unpardonable sin of allowing his players to participate in capitalism. ... Don't get me wrong, Tressel should have known better, and signs are starting to point to the fact that this has been going on for years right under his nose, and he has been running a pretty corrupt program (at least in terms of the NCAA rules). But at least he won a national title. That's better than cheating and NOT winning a national title.

* Shaquille O'Neal, who spent the 2009-10 season in Cleveland, has announced his retirement. Shaq was at one time the NBA's most dominant player, and has to go down in history as one of the five best centers ever. And he's one heck of a character. Here's what he said about coming to Cleveland: "I came here with the perfect chemist's perception. The formula they had was perfect and any added ingredient could make it go bad or worse." ... Well, obviously the added ingredient that made it go bad wasn't Shaq, it was LeBron James losing his desire to win in Cleveland. Odd that he seems to have found it again in Miami. But that's a separate issue.

* I really don't want the Heat to win the championship. That's a given. If you're reading this, you probably don't either. But you know what? If Miami sweeps the Mavericks and hoists the trophy the evening of June 7, the sun will still rise on June 8. Not only that, the Cavaliers will still exist, and will still have the first and fourth picks in the upcoming NBA draft. They'll be one of 29 teams trying to knock off the champion. Whether that's the Mavericks or the Heat is not especially material.