Opinion

Welcome to a series on the Cleveland Indians entitled "The Problem" where we examine one issue surrounding the current club. Although there is probably more than one problem with the Indians, you have to fix issue at a time.

Today's problem is Matt LaPorta and the horrific numbers he's put together offensively. Not only is the power not there, he flat out is one of the worst overall hitters on the club.

He's been a dependent rally killer when in the lineup and the reason for a lot of run-producing failures.

Early Wednesday afternoon, while many people were celebrating Cinco De Mayo by pounding down Corona's, New York Yankee outfielder Nick Swisher was pounding this second inning pitch for a solo home run.

It was Swisher's fifth home run of the year and his 17th RBI.

Nick is slashing .295 BA/.380 OBP/.547 SLG/.927 OPS right now.

You may be saying what is the big deal. Swisher was slashing .312/.430/.714/1.144 OPS at the end of April last season, but went into a big funk and ended up with a .249/.371/.498/.869 OPS.

I didn’t have high hopes for the Cleveland Indians this season.

I understood that this year was about seasoning our young core of prospects and sorting out our jumbled rotation. I even opposed the few veteran signings we made out of fear that their presence would jeopardize our rookies’ playing time.

The injury bug has been taking out Yankees one at a time. Is the Sports Illustrated cover curse taking its place in the Yankees locker room? The core four appeared on the cover this past week and three of the four have been battling injuries.

Jorge Posada is day-to-day with a calf strain, Mariano Rivera has missed a few games because of stiffness in his arm, and Andy Pettitte had to leave Wednesday's game with stiffness of his own in his left arm.

The Yankees finished up a series with the Baltimore Orioles yesterday afternoon. Here are some thoughts recapping the series.

How Sweep It Is

The Yankees swept the three-game series from Baltimore and improved their record to 19-8 on the year. New York has won all but one series this season, but this is their first sweep.

The New York Mets finished up their series with the Cincinnati Reds yesterday. The Reds took two out of three from the Mets as New York continues to struggle on the road this season.

The Mets are now 15-13 on the season and in second place in the National League East. They are 1.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the division standings.

Here are some thoughts on the series between the Mets and Reds:

Keep It Close

This is going to be my one of final articles here on Bleacher Report. I can honestly say that I enjoyed writing on this site. Now, I could write something narcissistic about how Bleacher Report has changed my life...but I am not.

Bleacher Report has changed my life. I have become a Sports writer and now I am the Sports Editor for Temple University Ambler Campus' student-run newspaper my time here on "the Report" writing about the Phillies and Temple University Athletics. But it really hasn't changed my life that much or to that extent.

A Fit Full of Tasers : MLB Enjoying A Week of Hearty Storylines

It usually happens like this. Everything is going great, there’s no drama, no over-excited story that garners far more national attention than it deserves, and all of a sudden the stories hit like a thunderstorm in a Michigan summer.

Anyone who knows anything about Milton Bradley’s career wasn’t surprised to hear about him in the news again for something other than his performance on the baseball field. 

Throughout his career, Bradley has rubbed more than a few people the wrong way and he has bounced around to eight different teams during his 11 years in the major leagues.

He’s always been a serviceable player; a career batting average of .276, with decent power, and a solid throwing arm. 

I wanted to write this blip after the Giants' loss to the Rockies on Sunday, prolonging their trend of taking the series then failing to sweep. It would have been more honest perhaps, and certainly a bit more dour than my current assessment after 2 impressive wins against the Marlins.