| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| CC Sabathia | .391 | Jhonny Peralta | -.102 |
| Grady Sizemore | .212 | David Dellucci | -.066 |
| Shin-Soo Choo | .123 | Ryan Garko | -.066 |
Games like last night are opinion shifters. You see CC Sabathia dominate a game a day after Cliff Lee did the same and think "you know, who cares if the Indians don't have an offence or a bullpen?" Even without Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook, the rotation has been one of the best in baseball (3.68 ERA).
But even though the Indians are just 7.5 games out of first, they'd have to catch and pass three other teams (four if you include the Royals). The schedule after the Reds leave town is set up so that the Indians can make up ground quickly:
June 30-July 2: @ Chicago
July 4-6: @Minnesota
July 8-9: @Detroit
The key to this stretch are the two off days on either side of the Minnesota series, which should allow Sabathia and Lee to make two starts apiece. If the Indians can run off 6 of 8, Mark Shapiro probably isn't going to listen to offers for Sabathia. But if they drop 6 of 8, the season's essentially over.