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The Indians lost another game on the field against the Royals Monday night, as well as another game in the standings on Detroit, whom the Tribe now trail by 7 games. Corey Kluber wasn't sharp, nor was the defense. And, breaking news, the team couldn't hit a lefty, even one who looked pretty terrible.
Recaps:
Indians.com (Bastian and Flanagan)
Other Tribe items
I said in the recap last night that Kluber wasn't a good bet to repeat his Cy Young victory (and he's not), but Jordan Bastian points out that Kluber's numbers for last April weren't impressive either.
Nick Swisher is entering what is expected to the final stage of his rehab. He'll play for Columbus today and tomorrow, get Thursday off, then play again on Friday and Saturday. Then, on Sunday he'll be reevaluated by the team's medical staff, and could be cleared to rejoin the Indians for Tuesday's game. August Fagerstrom spoke with Swisher, and believe it or not, Nick is pretty excited about things.
Around MLB
The Indians aren't the only team struggling out of the gate. The Washington Nationals, maybe the most popular preseason pick for World Series winner, are only 7-13, and are already 8 games out of 1st place. Jeff Sullivan looks at how much of their perceived edge is already gone... but also observes they're still projected to win the NL East. A team with their talent has a much larger margin of error than the Tribe has.
The Indians have fallen to #20 in Jonah Keri's weekly ranking of all 30 MLB teams. Atop the list? Detroit and Kansas City. Sigh...
Another reason to get rid of the DH? Pitchers are so bad at it their getting injured. Adam Wainwright is out for the year after tearing his achilles tendon trying to run out of the box and Max Scherzer will miss at least one start after jamming his thumb will while.
Speaking of the DH, both leagues would have had it for the last 35+ years if not for a fishing trip that caused the Phillies to screw up a vote.