C.C. Sabathia was not pitching well since before October 5th, 2007. Just last week, the coaching staff of the Cleveland Indians discovered he had a problem with his windup, delivery, and his release. Since then, C.C. has had two outstanding pitching performances and he has returned to his "Ace" status. That's a long time to figure things out. The Indians are not going to just come out of their slump by themselves just as C.C. was not going to come out of his mechanical problems by himself.
So what are they waiting for with Travis Hafner? Travis, a fan favorite who is a tremendous talent, has been struggling since early last year. Currently, he has struck out 26 times in 96 at bats. That leads the Indians and is tie for 3rd in the American League. In his last two games, "Pronk" has struck out 3 times and 2 of those 3 were called third strikes. If Haf is having mechanical problems, analyze his swing and get him straight already!
But one thing that can be corrected immediately is this team's tendency to look at strike three. That needs to stop ASAP! In their last 2 games, the Indians have struck out 19 times and 8 of those strike outs have been lookers! In those 2 games, they lost by a total of 4 runs. What would a swing put on each strike three have produced? Who knows but the outcome would at least have had an opportunity to improve. ASAP the looking must stop and improvement, no matter how slight would be welcome!
Maybe we need legendary Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown to lay down the law, just like he did in the movie Major League...
"The next time you take a called third strike, you owe me 50 push ups!"
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