Friday Roundtable Discussion

Welcome to the Friday Roundtable discussion!

Hello, all! Happy weekend! It's finally Friday... and that means it is time for our first Friday roundtable discussion about our tribe.

The roundtable will feature five burning questions about the team that will be answered by each one of our writers.  You'll be able to get a little bit of a different opinion from each of us.

Remember to get involved with the site though! E-Mail us at teepeetribetalk@gmail.com with your questions and comments!  We look forward to interacting with you all as we continue to build our website and create more interesting and fun content. Our job is to keep you informed and entertained about your favorite squad!

Let's go ahead and see what our writers had to think about this week's five questions! (Jake Mowery will be joining us on next week's Friday Roundtable!)

Question 1: Which team is this? The one that beats back to back Cy Young winners and averages nearly 10 runs a game over the last four? Or is it the team who sometimes struggles to score runs at all?

Jimmy Flint: It has to be somewhere in the middle. Only time is going to tell if the offense can be as good as it has shown in the past few games, but I do love the depth and versatility of the line-up. It's all about consistency for me. I believe that this is a top 8 or top 10 team offensively in baseball, but in order to reach its goals, the Indians needs more from their pitching staff.

Danny Wisard:  From what we have seen so far, this is still a team who some times will struggle to score runs.  The four game win streak has been awesome and very good for the team, but I can't predict it will last too much longer.  Expect the tribe not to be shut out as much, but expect some 3-2 or 2-1 ball games.

Question 2: What is Lonnie Chisenhall's Major League future?

Jimmy Flint: It is difficult to say if Lonnie has a big-league future or not. I just believe that he isn't ready for Major League pitching yet. He needs to develop better plate discipline if he wants to be the Indians 3B of the future. Chisenhall had 49 strikeouts vs 8 walks in 66 games during his first year of big league action. It looked like he was showing a little improvement last season, with 27 K's/8 BB's in 43 games.  This season, he has posted a putrid 18 K's/2 BB's.  I'd say be patient though, let's see if he can work on the plate discipline, because he does have a pretty high ceiling, in my opinion.

In 2011 at AAA Columbus, Chisenhall had 47 K's and 28 BB's, if he can emulate this at the big league level and hit like he did that season (~.270), I think he can have a big league future. Jury is still out.

Danny Wisard:  Before the season is over, expect Mike Aviles or Mark Reynolds to assume the role as the full time third baseman.  What we have seen so far is the exact reason over the last two years that former Indian Jack Hannahan was the starting third baseman.  Chisenhall is too inconsistent and lacks serious plate discipline to be a full time major leaguer yet.  However, he is only 24, I think another stint at Triple AAA will be good for him.

Question 3: How do you think Ubaldo Jimenez will finish out this season?


Jimmy Flint: As Danny is going to mention, Jimenez is a headcase. He reminds me of Fausto... er... Roberto Hernandez Heredia, in that he has disgusting secondary pitches, but he just doesn't know where they are going. If he can keep his velocity in the mid to high 90's, while also locating his fastball, the sky is the limit for Ubaldo.  My prediction is that we'll never see the 19-8 Jimenez again, but he needs to have a solid year in order for this team to make a run at a wild-card.

Danny Wisard: It's hard to say. Ubaldo is a head case and is very, very unpredictable.  If we get the Ubaldo like we did at Kansas City last week, put him in contention for the Cy Young race.  If we get the Ubaldo like we had on opening day against the Yankees, then it will be nothing new for us.  I honestly can't make a prediction here, but if I had to, I think at best he'll finish the year at .500, maybe going 12-12.

Question 4: Is this the real Carlos Santana? How do you expect him to perform moving forward?

Jimmy Flint: I believe so. I've been waiting for THIS Carlos Santana to show up for a few years now.  This guy was one of the most coveted prospect in the organization for a few seasons.  Santana is benefiting from two things: 1.) Playing with the WBC team that won it all... and 2.) The new acquisitions in the line-up. Santana was playing competitive baseball much before others and that gave him a bit of a "head-start". Also, often hitting 6th or even 7th in the line-up has taken a lot of pressure off of Santana and he is just starting to reach his potential. He won't continue to flirt with a .400 Batting average, but expect him to continue to be a top hitter on the club. Also, he always has had great plate discipline and that has not changed.

Danny Wisard: Absolutely.  Carlos Santana had to "put the team on his back" last year, and was expected to provide all the offense and catch behind the plate.  His back up last year, Lou Marson, while being a great defender, lacks offense.  Carlos Santana now has Mark Reynolds, Nick Swisher, Jason Giambi and the occasional Drew Stubbs (and apparently Ryan Freaking Raburn now) to provide some extra power and offense.  I think that has truly calmed him down at the plate and raised his confidence level significantly.  Remember who we traded to get this guy?  Casey Blake.

Question 5: What are your thoughts on Jason Kipnis and how do you see him performing for the rest of the season?

Jimmy Flint: People aren't talking about this, but Kipnis leads the team with 5 steals already.  The guy is doing everything he can to help the team win, the hits just aren't falling in for him yet.  I'd give him some time, offensively he will improve.  He needs to cut down on his strikeouts though or he won't be at the top of the lineup much longer.

Danny Wisard: Very, very disappointed so far offensively.  Defensively, he's a Dustin Pedroia, the guy is outstanding at 2B.  I'm not sure if he's hurt and he's just not telling anybody, but Kipnis needs to step it up.  He's starting showing signs of life throughout this four game win streak (3-for-12 with 1 HR and 2 K's), but it looks like his second half slump in 2012 carried over to this season.  Tito loves Kipnis though, so expect him to get plenty of chances to bring his average up.

Bonus Question: What is your final prediction for the Tribe's record? (Let's go ahead and go on record here!)

Jimmy Flint: 85-77, with a real shot at making one of the wild-card slots.  In a one game-scenario, I'd love to see Justin Masterson against just about any of the other competing wild-card teams in the AL. It definitely comes down to the starting rotation and how well they can be consistent. I'd say one or two of Trevor Bauer, Corey Kluber (or even a deadline deal) will have to step up and exceed everyone's expectations in order for this to happen though.

Danny Wisard: It's really, really hard to say right now.  A team that gets swept by the Red Sox and loses three straight between Toronto and Tampa Bay, and then wins four straight against the Royals and Philliles, not to mention knocking out two Cy Young award winners handily, screams inconsistency.  As much as I want to say the Indians are a contender for the AL central, they just aren't.  The Tigers and newly rebuilt Royals are going to compete for the top spot all year long.  I do think that Cleveland has a chance to earn a wild card spot, but the pitching needs to stay consistent.  We have proven that we can hit the ball, not a doubt in my mind, but we need to keep our starters going at least 6 innings while giving up 3 runs or less.  Our bullpen is absolutely insane and can shut just about anyone down, it's a matter of giving the bullpen the lead to work with.  I would say the tribe finishes right now between 82-85 wins, which would be good enough I think for a wild card spot. But they will finish above .500.