It has happened almost every April under manager Eric Wedge. The Indians come out of spring training looking unprepared. Saturday's rout notwithstanding, the Indians have managed just four wins in the first 12 games and sentenced themselves to another long run of playing catch-up just to be competitive.
It is not an easy task. Just ask Detroit, which started slowly last year and ended the season in last place in the AL Central with a $130 million payroll. I wonder if too much time was wasted this spring on trying to make the roster as versatile as possible. Players such as Ryan Garko, Josh Barfield, Jamey Carroll and Tony Graffanino were playing all over the field. Yet the core of Wedge's club rarely played together until the last few days of camp.
Certainly there were reasons for that. Travis Hafner had to be worked back into the lineup slowly because of his surgically repaired right shoulder. Mark DeRosa and Shin-Soo Choo missed virtually missed all of camp because of the World Baseball Classic.
But what was the point of moving Barfield all over the place if he's not going to play when it counts? His lone appearance came Wednesday as a pinch-runner. After the game, he was optioned to Class AAA Columbus. Garko, meanwhile, has yet to play a game in the outfield.
The Indians are 69-80 under Wedge in March and April. That's seven seasons worth of numbers. To an organization that has a deep belief in statistical analysis, such data has to draw a deeper conclusion besides that it's tough to play Baseball in Cleveland in March and April because it's cold outside.
