A's @ Indians, 4/12/08

So when should we start to worry?

Clearly, this walk problem of Carmona's is not only real, but very serious.

There should be some concern that the league has figured out the two Rafaels.

And what to do with an offense that suggests we change the name of the team to the Cleveland LOB?

Oh, and there's the matter of our ace and our seasoned veteran and their penchant for giving up lots and lots of runs.

Cliff Lee has to be our stopper tomorrow. Can you imagine such a phrase coming last season?

So what do we do?

Well, it's probably safe to say it's too early to really DO anything. It's a long season. We have to give C.C. and Byrd a chance to work themselves out. We have to give the Rafaels a chance to become regular role players again (which can only happen if our starters actually last more than three innings). And we have to give the offense a chance to come around.

But perhaps there are some small things we can do about that last point.

First, there's this: David Dellucci is hitting .278! This is a man who started 0-9! Obviously, we need to ride his hot streak as much as we possibly can, so he's got to be our every day left fielder, regardless of pitcher. His platoon partner is hitting .111, so why not?

What about right field, then? Gutierrez is only hitting .167, but a big chunk of that is due to his horrible run on the road, whereas Michaels hasn't been hitting anywhere. So you go with the lesser of two evils.

Now for the one spot to make a drastic change: third base. Casey Blake is hitting .143. Andy Marte has made one start so far and went 1-3. Granted, there's no way of projecting his numbers, but why not give him a shot? At this point, what do we have to lose over at that corner?

Marte's last start came in a Sunday afternoon game after a Saturday night game, so it would seem to only make sense to give him another chance tomorrow. If he does well, I hope to god we go to him again, because something needs to happen.

And let's not forget: we have the Red Sox on Monday.