32-year old righty reliever Kerry Wood has looked like his old fireballing self the last couple of months for the Cleveland Indians. Since August, Wood has pitched in 18 games out of the pen for the Indians and he is 1-0 with 6 saves, a 2.50 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. When you’re the closer for a bad baseball team (like the Tribe) it’s hard to get consistent work and I think that’s part of the reason that Wood’s numbers don’t look that good this year. Wood has pitched in 57 games (0 starts) for the Indians this season and he is 3-3 with 20 saves, a 4.33 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He has 62 whiffs in 54 innings this season showing that the stuff is still there to succeed. The Indians might try to trade Wood in the off-season but I think they should keep him.

26-year old lefty reliever Tony Sipp is pitching really well for the Indians this season. Sipp has pitched in 41 games (0 starts) for the Indians this season and he is 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He has outstanding stuff so all he will need to do is tighten his control to dominate. He has walked 19 batters in 34 2/3 innings for the Indians and that’s way too many. Sipp only has allowed 22 hits in 34 2/3 innings while whiffing 43 batters which shows just how nasty his stuff really is. Sipp will continue to be the Indians go to lefty late in games for the Indians the rest of this season.

24-year old righty reliever Chris Perez could be the Indians’ closer of the future. He came over from the Cardinals in the Mark DeRosa trade and got off to a rough start. But, he’s on fire right now earning a lot of work late in ballgames. Perez has pitched in 20 games (0 starts) for the Indians so far this season and he is 0-0 with 1 save, a 2.75 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He has only allowed 13 hits in 19 2/3 innings for the Tribe while striking out 22 batters. At the time of this trade I thought it was a good move for both teams. But in the end this trade will look really good for the Indians as Perez and Jess Todd could both become mainstays in the Tribe’s bullpen down the road.

After the trades of Cliff Lee and Carl Pavano the Indians needed someone to step up and give the Tribe a good chance to win every five days and that has been 24-year old lefty Aaron Laffey. Laffey has pitched in 19 games (13 starts) this season for the Indians and he is 7-3 with 1 save, a 3.40 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Laffey is a crafty pitcher as his fastball rarely touches 90 miles per hour but he knows how to pitch and that has served him well. Laffey does have one weakness as he tends to nimble sometimes as he has walked 41 batters in 90 innings this season and he will need to improve in that area.

Everything went perfect for Cliff Lee in 2008 as he won the Cy Young Award in the American League finishing with a 22-3 record with a 2.54 WHIP. But, this season Lee hasn’t been getting any help at all from the hitters in the lineup. He has started 9 games so far this season and he is 2-5 with a 2.90 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Whispers have been heard around the league that teams are lining up to offer trades for Lee if the Indians make him available, but, to trade him now would be downright awful for the pitching staff as he is the only starter that gives the Tribe a good chance to win when he’s working.