Opinion

Heading into spring training, Michael Morse had already proven that he was a major league hitter. In parts of seven seasons, the 29-year-old had batted .284/.347/.440 with 21 homers and 92 RBI in 661 at-bats.

If he had a good spring, he had a lock on at least half of the left field job, likely platooning with Roger Bernadina. His spring however, was a knockout. Morse batted .364/.421/.818 with nine homers (second in the Grapefruit League) and 18 RBI.

He won the left field job outright.

Welcome to Tribe Talk, where Bleacher Report's Cleveland Indians fans weigh-in on the ups and downs of the club each week throughout the season.

This week, we formulate a strategy for the Tribe to win the Kansas City series; speculate on recently-returned Grady Sizemore's future; cry about our long relief woes; and fess up on who our favorite Indians are.

It's getting bad for the New York Mets—as if it wasn't bad enough already.

They're 5-13 (one win in their last 10 games) and six and a half games out of first place already. After finishing 47-34 at home last season, the Mets are a woeful 1-9 at Citi Field so far.

From top to bottom, this team is a mess.

They're 29th in baseball in team ERA (5.18), 22nd in batting average (.238).

Remember back in December when Cliff Lee declined the Yankees' enormous offer to sign with the Phillies and Andy Pettitte subsequently retired to spend more time with his family?

Every baseball fan on the planet immediately began to write off the Yankees and question their previous thoughts of the Yankees making the playoffs.

Having completed an old fashioned double-header over the weekend, the Washington Nationals get set to  complete three games in a 24 hour span.

Sitting at 9-8 right now, a record good enough to sit on top of the N.L. Central, few notice because the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves dominate the N.L. East ink.

The Milwaukee Brewers farm system has been talked about all spring, but for all the wrong reasons.

After unloading a boatload of young talent to acquire two top-tier starters before Christmas, a common thought has been that the Brewers have the worst system in all of baseball. Yes, in order to acquire Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, the Brewers had to shell over their top prospects in Brett Lawrie, Jake Odorizzi and Alcides Escobar, among others.

The Seattle Mariners offense came alive last night against Phil Coke and the Detroit Tigers, scoring 13 runs on 15 hits. Mariner fans were left wondering one thing.

Was it for real?

So far this year, Troy Tulowitzki has gotten off to a hot start, batting .323/.442/.742 with seven HR and 14 RBI.

After he hit .315 with 27 HR and 95 RBI last year, the expectations are through the roof. Tulo is expected to be better than Hanley Ramirez and many think he already is. I disagree with that belief, but that’s another story for another day.

Through the team’s first 17 games, the Oakland Athletics lead the majors in ERA, and it’s not even close. The A’s team ERA currently sits at 2.44, while the major’s second lowest ERA (Angels) is 3.01.

If you look at baseball with a limited enough scope, the game is full of more surprises than the Cracker Jack stand at Yankee Stadium.

Through 15 short games, we really can’t learn much about anything. A great hitter could struggle during such a time, a weak bat could smack two home runs and a bad team can win two-thirds of their games.

The challenge becomes separating the lucky from the talented, the flukes from the real things.