Playing with the big boys

One of the difficulties in Major League baseball is trying to contend with the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox.  These big market teams have double the payroll of many of the other teams in major league baseball. Well, there IS one way to level the playing field, and we are seeing it now with our beloved Wahoos.  It is pitching.  The Indians are playing great baseball right now and winning games because of pitching.   Wasn't it Branch Rickey that said that pitching was 90% of baseball, meaning that pitching is the most important part of the game.  If you have great pitching, you can contend and win in the game of baseball.  Great pitching is the great equalizer.

So here is the way the Indians can play with the big boys, year in and year out.  Cleveland needs to be a pitching development factory.  They need to find, draft, develop, and send to major league team quality pitching.   They need to have an over abundance of pitching.  When you think of Indians baseball, you need to think of pitching, it needs to become their identity and what they are known for.

My hope is that the Indians front office will apply the lesson they have learned early in this 2011 season.  Baseball is built upon the foundation of pitching.  Keep drafting and developing it in the minors so as to send it to the majors.  When you have pitching, you have a real shot of playing with the big boys, year in and year out