Posted on 3/13/2008 12:08:13 AM

2008 MLB Betting Preview - Cleveland Indians

By Dave Golokhov

The Cleveland Indians pitching staff is deep and good, which doesn’t bode well for the rest of their neighbors in their Central division.

With C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, the Indians have two 19-game winners at the top. Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd follow and are virtually interchangeable in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots. Aaron Laffey, Cliff Lee and Jeremy Sowers will compete for the No. 5 role, although all three might be capable of holding it down.

There hasn’t been a lot of change from last year but considering the Indians won 96 games mostly on the strength of excellent starting pitching, change wasn’t necessary.

Relief Pitching:

To the untrained eye, Joe Borowski looked like one of the best closers in the American League last year. He led the league in saves but posted an ERA of 5.07 while allowing 1.43 walks/hits per inning. The good news is that Rafael Betancourt was and is one of the best setup men in the majors and the Indians signed Masahide Kobayashi from Japan – a closer that has had at least 30 saves in the last seven seasons.

Kobayashi serves as a potential insurance plan for Borowski in case he implodes like most people expected him to do last year.

Aaron Fultz and Rafael Perez are solid lefties. The Indians should boast one of the better bullpens in the American League.

Hitting:

Considering Travis Hafner is off a rough season, the Indians expect to have him – and his pop – back this season. Grady Sizemore, another key member in the Indians lineup, also had a modest season as his batting average was a bit lower than expected.

With Hafner and Sizemore on full throttle, the Indians bats should be stronger this year.

The Indians are loaded at catcher with Victor Martinez (one of the best in the league) and Kelly Shoppach (one of the best backups in the league). Ryan Garko is a clutch hitter while Jhonny Peralta is solid.

The Indians have plenty of depth in the outfield and it playing time at the corners will likely be dictated by the hot bats.

Regular Season Win Total: 90.5

The Indians starting pitching looks strong, the bullpen might be improved with the addition of Kobayashi, while the batting lineup is expected to improve as Hafner finds his stroke.

This Indians team won 96 games last year and the American League Central isn’t stronger than it was last year. The Minnesota Twins are flailing, the Kansas City Royals are still garbage, the Chicago White Sox are a wild card, which leaves the Detroit Tigers as the main competition for the Indians.

As long as the starting pitching stays healthy, the Indians will buzz around 90 wins.

Baseball Free Picks: Over 90.5 wins

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