Injuries could hurt Indians

Seven games into the baseball season, the Cleveland Indians had their fans thinking about a return to the postseason.
In the nine games since then, those same fans are wondering just what's happened.
Get used to it.
The remainder of the season promises to be more like the last 10 days, although with a better showing than one win every three games.
Cleveland's fortunes shifted from the high of a laughable 15-1 rout of the Orioles on Tuesday night to the low of horrendous bullpen effort 24 hours later, an 18-9 loss that left not only the Indians' psyche bruised but the right elbow and back, respectively, of relievers Matt Miller and Rafael Betancourt.
Miller is facing surgery on the same elbow that shelved him for much of the second half of last season. Betancourt is also on the disabled list. Anyone with chronic back pain -- not to mention anybody's who's been a pitcher -- will testify that recovery is not an overnight process.
Sabathia due to come offdisabled list shortly
The arrival of Miller and Betancourt to the DL will just about coincide with the return of starter C.C. Sabathia off of it.
Sabathia was scheduled for a four-inning simulated game Saturday, meaning he threw somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 pitches. If that went well he'll likely have a rehab assignment with Akron or Buffalo before returning to the Indians' starting rotation.
Sabathia's return gives the Indians a pretty decent starting foursome, joining Cliff Lee, Paul Byrd and Jake Westbrook.
At the back end of the bullpen, Bob Wickman has looked as reliable as ever. It's the middle relief that has caused the most problems. The loss of Miller and Betancourt won't help. (Perhaps now Indians fans will appreciate the value of Bob Howry last season as Wickman's setup man.)
Indians must avoidinjuries to compete
Truth be told, the Indians face the same challenge as every other major league club located outside of the East Coast, Chicago and Southern California -- injuries and depth.
Cleveland's starting lineup can compete with any other American League team, but if Grady Sizemore goes on the DL, who's the leadoff hitter and center fielder? If Victor Martinez is injured, who takes the five hole in the batting order? Certainly not Kelly Shoppach, who has just 18 at-bats in his major league career.
The same question can be asked if Jhonny Peralta, or Travis Hafner, or virtually any other starter faces extended time on the DL.
Cleveland has a couple minor leaguers, like third baseman Andy Marte and outfielder Jason Dubois who could transition into an everyday player at the big-league level.
But general manager Mark Shapiro can count on one hand the number of players at AAA Buffalo who could be promoted and keep the Indians playing a championship-caliber level.
Money doesn't alwaysmean happiness
Of course, spending a boatload of money doesn't guarantee a thing. Exhibit A: the Chicago Cubs, who have the majors' seventh-highest payroll, lost first baseman and power hitter Derek Lee for up to eight weeks with a broken right wrist.
Lee led the Cubs in homers and RBIs, had already stolen five bases and taken more than one-third of the team's walks this season. Given the competitiveness of the NL Central, Chicago may be in a major hole in the standings by the time Lee is ready to return to the lineup.
Which segues to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
This is, in a nutshell, how the Bucs' season has gone -- with a couple of exceptions -- they can't score when the pitching is good (Thursday's 4-0 loss to the Cardinals, for example) and they can't stop anybody when they're beating the ball around the park (like their 11-6 loss to the Cubs on April 14.)
Pittsburgh has averaged almost 5 runs per game this season, which is in the bottom third of all National League clubs.
Combine that with this -- the Bucs' starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 6.45. That means, virtually every night, the Pirates have little room for error. It's tough to play winning baseball that way and little wonder they are sitting at the bottom of the standings.
Rob Todor is sports editor of The Vindicator. Write to him at todor@vindy.com.