Fausto Carmona's victorious debut in Saturday's 7-2 win over the Tigers is exactly what I mean when I say the farm system must step up for the Indians to be successful this year. After watching Paul Byrd stagger in his first two starts, I'm half-tempted to say the more prospects called up, the better.
But I know there will be a point in the season where having veterans like Byrd will be a plus. I just hope it's not when the Indians are buried 10-plus games back. Two weeks into the season, and I can already see that the AL Central is going to be a tough, hyper-competitive division that will likely go down to the wire.
Chances are, a team is not going to emerge from the pack the way Chicago did last year. I think Chicago, Cleveland, Minnesota and quite possibly Detroit could be in the division race into September. One week of bad baseball could cost any one of those teams a shot at the playoffs.
The Indians can't afford too many spans of four losses in five games, like they are enduring now. They had better dig a trench at the .500 mark and not allow themselves to slip below.
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