Lee to start All-Star game
In a season marred with failure, Cliff Lee's turnaround has been one of the few bright spots for the Indians.
Lee will become the first Indian to start the All-Star game since Charles Nagy in 1996. Unlike Nagy, Lee didn't have the benefit of his manager picking who the starter was. Back in 1996, I remember thinking Mike Hargrove (who managed the American League) was just trying to give Nagy confidence. It may have had the oppisite effect, since Nagy was rocked and the American League lost.
There's no doubt Lee deserves this, though. A 12-2 record with a 2.31 earned run average makes Lee, statistically, the best starter in the league and perhaps in the game at this point.
I'd be lying if I said I thought he could keep this pace up beyond this season. But he still deserves a ton of credit. Remember, this is a guy who was sent to the minors last season after being booed at Jacobs Field and sarcastically tipping his cap to the fans.
At the time, I thought Lee may never start for the Tribe again. Glad I was wrong on that.
Labels: MLB
posted by Zach @ 8:27 AM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Better hope Lee does keep up the pace. C.C. is gone, Jake Westbrook is gone until the second half of next year at the earliest and -- at least as far as I'm concerned -- Fausto Carmona is still kind of an unknown quantity. One 19-win season does not a reputation make.
Assuming Shapiro doesn't go out and add an impact starting pitcher this offseason (pretty much a slam-dunk assumption), the Indians are going to be relying heavily on Lee both for the remainder of this year and next year.
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