Opinion

Ubaldo Jimenez appears to be set on a record-breaking course this season. Through 10 games he is 9-1 with a 0.88 ERA and has allowed only 42 hits in 71.1 innings pitched.

Let’s not get too excited.

Welcome to the Cleveland Indians Trading Post, a weekly segment meant to help my fellow Tribe fans sort out which of the few familiar faces left on the team won’t be around much longer.

This week’s potential trade bait is Mitch Talbot.

The basics

A second-round pick in the 2002 amateur draft, Talbot was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays last winter in exchange for Kelly Shoppach.

Ubaldo Jimenez has been pitching like he is from another planet this season. He won his ninth game yesterday, pitching eight scoreless innings against the Diamondbacks who fell to the Rockies by a 7-3 score.

His record now stands at 9-1 with a 0.88 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP all of which lead the NL. He has pitched a quality start in all 10 of his starts. He has allowed two earned runs only twice this season. He has allowed one earned run three times and he has held his opponents scoreless in the other five starts.

Ten days ago the Red Sox suffered a crushing loss to their arch (and division rival), the New York Yankees.  Losses happen, but this one stung more than most because Jonanthan Papelbon, the team's surefire closer over the last five seasons hardly looked like a guy who had been to All-Star games and enjoyed playoff success.

He gave up an astounding four runs in just two thirds of an inning.  For the first time in his career as a reliever he gave up two home runs in one inning and left Red Sox fans wondering if 2010 just wasn't their year.

Pure acts of kindness in this world are hard to believe.

So was it just a friendly gesture by the Chicago Cubs when they agreed to give up their radio slot to air the Chicago Blackhawks’ finals?

The Chicago Tribune reported that the Cubs agreed to let WGN-AM 720 air all of the Hawks’ Stanley Cup finals series . That includes three of the series games that overlap with scheduled Cubs games.

There are times when a Major League Baseball team can’t seem to catch a break, and the reasons are not so obvious.  Good news, Philadelphia Phillies fans: this is not one of those situations.

In losing Wednesday night to the New York Mets, the Phillies struggled with the same two problems that have killed them during the current eight game streak in which they are 2-6 against four inferior baseball teams.

The brooms were out in St. Petersburg tonight as the Boston Red Sox rocked the Rays 11-3. This was an impressive series as the Red Sox completed the first sweep of the Rays at Tropicana Field since 2002.

Completing the sweep was important and all, but now the Red Sox have climbed back into the AL East, sitting only 5.5 games behind the Rays and now six games over .500. 

Throughout the series the themes were run prevention and solid, quality pitching, the two themes this ball club is built on.

Tony Jackson’s report on ESPNLosAngeles.com Wednesday reported that the Dodgers are not discussing bringing Roy Oswalt. Too bad too, because that would have been the most perfect marriage since Bobby and Whitney’s.

Perfect may need rephrasing. But it’s still ideal.

This is getting to be the same story repeated over and over. On May 26 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Jimenez went eight scoreless innings in a 7-3 win. He probably could have pitched through the ninth inning, but he had thrown 101 pitches already so better safe than sorry. Still, with Rafael Betancourt messing up the shutout maybe Jimenez should have stayed in.

After 10 starts, Jimenez has a sub-0.90 ERA, a 9-1 record, a WHIP below 1.000, and while it's not a league leading stat, his 61 strikeouts are nothing to sneeze at.

Zach Miner.....does that name even ring a bell to anyone? Certainly not in 2010. Ok, you might remember him from such exciting shows as Imploding 'Pen 2009 and Fail 'Pen 2008. 

Miner is an everyman reliever and sometime starter most notable for not being notable. The story is always the same—average stuff, below average strikeout rate, above average walk rate, never an exceptional outing, and usually pitches as if he belongs on the trash heap.