Keys to the game (5/27)

Keys to the game:

1.) Stop over-swinging, especially when there are runners in scoring position. Yes, hitting home runs is fun. Yes, fans go nuts for them. But if all you ever do is try to hit the ball to Timbuktu, you are going to swing at a lot of balls in the dirt or out of the zone. Tomorrow we are facing Jason Vargas, the Kansas City left-hander who has put together a nice start to the season. He is 5-3 with a 2.30 ERA in 54 2/3 innings pitched. We have to start approaching our at bats differently. Smarter. Disciplined. We can no longer expand the strike zone and miss opportunities. Be confident in not only your ability to advance the runner, but also in the ability in the guy coming up behind you to do the same.

2.) Avoid mistake pitches. It is not like Danny Salazar has not had electric stuff this season. He has struck out 69 batters in 47 innings of work... so yeah, he has had some good stuff. But the rest of his stats, they are downright bad. He is 3-4 with a 5.55 ERA. The problem that he has had is with his command. He makes mistake pitches, and the other team is ready for them. Kansas City is an all or nothing team. They live and die by way of the long ball (as we saw in last nights game). He has got to focus more on maintaining his command, and less on securing his velocity. Keep the ball down and out of the zone.

3.) Make the plays. The Indians defense currently ranks 8th in the Majors with 24 errors committed in 45 games played. The Major League average is 29 errors in 47 games played. So all in all, our defense is pretty much average. For some teams, average would be just fine. But our defense is so much better then average. I know it, you know it, and every opponent we face knows it. So we have to make sure that we are making the defensive plays that need to be made. We don't want to give a team like KC any extra chances, because gosh darn it if they don't capitalize every time that we do. Let's clean it up and avoid giving out freebies.