Keys to the game (5/15)

Keys to the game-

1.) Consistency. We finally saw our offense come out and produce yesterday. It was fun to watch. Scoring 8 runs off of 13 hits in the first three innings of the game; it felt like a weight was lifted off of fans and players alike. As I was watching/enjoying the offensive outburst yesterday, I kept thinking “I hope they save a few of these runs for tomorrow’s game.” Consistency has been a problem so far in the 2017 season for our offense. We get fleeting glimpses at how good our offense can be, but just glimpses. We need them to start showing up and producing runs on a daily basis. Tonight we face Chris Archer, who has started the season off strong for Tampa Bay. He is 3-1, with a 3.04 ERA in 53 1/3 innings pitched. Historically, however, he has never pitched well against the Tribe. In five career starts, he has gone 0-5 with a 5.14 ERA. That’s right, he has never beaten the Indians. Let’s make sure that stays the same!

2.) Keep building your All Star resume. Carlos Carrasco has pitched extremely well so far this season… to the tune of a 1.86 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, and 46 K’s in 48 1/3 innings of work. His 4-2 record, and the fact that he has yet to secure a win at home- is deceiving because he has really pitched excellent in each of his starts. He typically goes 7 or 8 innings, hardly ever walks anybody (only has 8 on the year so far), and has not allowed more then 3 runs in a single game. If this guy is not on the All-Star roster… the whole thing is a sham! With Corey Kluber being sidelined a bit longer then we originally hoped, Hot Sauce has slid into that ace spot almost seemingly. He faces a Tampa Bay line up that does have the ability to rack up the runs (they scored 11 yesterday against Boston-8 of those coming by way of small ball). Basically, we need him to just keep doing what he has been doing: shutting down offenses.

3.) If the offense shows up, and the pitching shows up… the defense better show up as well. Look, our team has been struggling to find their footing. Each aspect of our team, when functioning properly, is good. If we can get all three aspects of our team functioning properly at the same time… we will be great. Our defense still has not been preforming their best, committing at least one error in just about every game for the last week. Sometimes the errors come back and bite us, sometimes they don’t. But one thing is for sure, they always make our pitchers work hard/throw more pitches then they have to, and they always prolong innings- giving the other team more opportunities then they should have. Let’s make sure tonight that we are playing fundamentally sound defense.