Best, Worst of April

With the first month of the season having past, I thought it’d be a good idea to look back at the best, worst, and downright ugly of the month of April for the Tribe.

April MVP: That would be Shin-Soo Choo, with a .429 OBP in April, 4 home runs, and a OPS of .929. And while I’d stop short at saying he’s been playing great defense in right field, he has displayed the cannon that he has for an arm. If it had to be decided right now, Choo would easily represent the Indians in the All-Star game.

Apologies to: Austin Kearns has been quite the surprise, in 51 at bats in April he’s got an OBP of .429 and an OPS of 1.056. The only reason he isn’t MVP is because he’s the fourth outfielder and simply hasn’t played as much. Also, while Mike Redmond hasn’t exactly been hitting well (.281 OBP in April) he has been a steady force behind the plate. And despite Friday’s ugly start by Fausto Carmona, Redmond has really helped Carmona find his confidence (and his sinker). And that alone deserves to be recognized.

April LVP: While I’m not saying he’s been the only culprit (where have you gone Grady Sizemore?), Jhonny Peralta has just been brutal so far this season. For the year, with runners on, Peralta has an OBP of .311, which drops down to .269 with runners in scoring position. For the month of April, his OBP was .349 and an OPS of .707. Oh yeah, he’s playing his usual balls-to-the-wall stellar defense. That was sarcasm. I really wouldn’t be adverse to dumping him and letting Andy Marte take a shot until Lonnie Chisenhall is ready.

April Cy Young: Surprise, surprise again, as this goes out to Mitch Talbot. And he’s not just getting it by default. 2.05 ERA in 26.1 IP, 1 complete game, and oh yeah, opponents are hitting just .227 off of the Immortal Mitch T. For anyone interested, Kelly Shoppach, the guy the Indians traded to get Talbot, is on the DL and expected to miss another month with surgery on his right knee. Sounds like a steal so far to me.

Apologies to: Both Jensen Lewis (1.93 ERA in limited work) and Aaron Laffey (3.21 ERA in 14 IP) have been stellar stalwarts out of the bullpen. Unfortunately they simply haven’t gotten enough work (although it seems like Laffey Taffy is out there every other day).

April Cy Yuck: While reliever Joe Smith was terrible while he was with the big league club, I’m going to give this to Justin Masterson. Masterson has a 5.40 ERA in 26.2 IP, and opponents are hitting .397 off of him. He’s also got a WHIP of 1.80. On the bright side, he does have 31 strikeouts going for him, which is nice.

And this last bit doesn’t really have to do with anything previously mentioned, but I find it hilarious so I will share. I was at the game on Sunday, and during one of the later innings the Indians ran a bit on the scoreboard asking the players who is the most famous person they have met. Of the ones I remember, Michael Brantley said he met NFL Hall of Famer Dan Marino and Luis Valbuena said he met Shakira. But the one who takes the cake was Andy Marte. The scoreboard ran his answer last and he said the most famous person he had met was none other than Jhonny Peralta. I really hope he’s kidding but seeing as it’s Andy Marte he may not be. Either way, it was hilarious.

Tribe opens up a three game series versus Toronto tonight. The Immortal Mitch T takes on Brett Cecil at 7:05.