Wakeup Wahoo: Peralta could hold onto the 4 spot

With the impending returns of Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez. Hafner was 1-5 last night with an RBI by the by. The good news is he played the entire game. Josh Barfield played second and got two at bats.

Anyway with those returns imminent. Jhonny Peralta could still command the 4 spot.

"[Peralta's] blossomed in that four-hole," Wedge said. (Indians.com)

Can you disagree with that statement?

This statement doesn't really make much sense though.

"We've talked about it briefly," said manager Eric Wedge. "We can work Vic and Hafner around Jhonny. We could hit Hafner and Vic three and four and Jhonny in the fifth spot. One thing we haven't decided is that we're just flat-out going to move him out of the No. 4 spot. I'm still thinking that through. That's a heckuva credit to Jhonny." (Plain Dealer)

Dadgumit.. Wait a second here Wedge.. Why not keep him there? He will only get better having Victor Martinez hitting 3rd and Travis Hafner hitting 5th! That's some protection there.

One thing Wedge said was numbers don't always dictacte where you hit a player, and I agree with that all the way. I'm big against hitting Grady Sizemore in the three hole because I think he's dangerous enough in the leadoff spot. It seems like Wedge is handling this issue more than he handles any other question.

"The only way we'd consider that is if we had somebody capable of hitting leadoff," Wedge said. "You've got to have a leadoff hitter. You have to have somebody there. He enjoys doing it and he's good at it -- he's one of the best."(Indians.com)

Hey if he's working there, why screw it up? Its an advantage to have that type of hitter up there, a guy who gets on base and can actually hit the home run. It works for the Cubs with Soriano, why do you think they haven't moved him. Sure they got a pretty good lineup, but with Hafner and Victor coming back and Peralta's emergence, I think Grady is fine in the leadoff spot. Francisco can fit in the 2 hole now and then Garko et al will fill in behind Hafner.

According to Stats inc, in the last 25 years, Cliff Lee has the highest percentage of a teams wins, excluding Randy Johnson. Johnson had 31% of Arizona's wins in 2004, but he was also 16-14. Cliff Lee is freaking 18-2 with 30%..

The road woes aren't really a big deal to Eric Wedge, he is looking at the full picture and not just how the team plays compared to the venue.

"I don't think of it as home or road," Wedge said. "We've just been playing better baseball. We have younger guys playing significant time for us and they're starting to adjust to this level." (Indians.com)

Maybe Texas should make a run for Fausto Carmona, considering he might be the one pitcher who could have success there.

"I like pitching here because it's always hot and I like the hot weather," said Carmona. "I was getting ahead of the hitters and I was keeping the ball down. I came inside against a lot of them so they couldn't lean out over the plate. That helped me." (Plain Dealer)

Fausto likes hot weather, bugs, all sorts of stuff when he pitches. You know Carmona is at his best when the bill of his hat is dripping in sweat.

Gotta love the moxie Jensen Lewis showed facing Josh Hamilton, the tying run at the plate, and striking him out.

"He's not exactly the guy you want to face with the tying run right there," Lewis said. "That was a big out. It kind of got the momentum back in our favor. He's such a good hitter with anything in the zone. I didn't want him to get extended, so I tried not to throw anything over the plate." (Indians.com)

Finally, it looks as if there is a coup going on in the Indians clubhouse. Jamey Carroll, a huge Indianapolis Colts fan as we know, has overthrown Pronk as the Fantasy Football Commissioner. Hafner did his draft from Buffalo online, but this should give him even more motivation to go for the what I believe will be a three-peat in the Championship. I'd love to see how the teams shook out and what Sal Fasano's team name is... Maybe the Mutilating Mustachios.