fact that the season HAD, in fact, slipped away) with a vengeance. He displayed the bat control and the occasional power that his 2007 season had promised:Last 62 games.320 BA / .398 OBP / .464 SLG / .862 OPS with 5 HR and 33 RBI over 194 ABThe trajectory of his career path (he STILL doesn’t turn 23 until mid-November) survived a blip and an adjustment period to put himself firmly back into the Indians’ plans, regardless of position.

Jhonny 4-SpotAfter a phenomenal 2005 season and a dismal 2006 season, Jhonny Peralta’s 2007 season and start to the 2008 season seemed to put Jhonny basically into the category of “he is what he is”. A nice 20 HR, 75 RBI player whose OPS sits between .750 and .800 fromwere able to settle at the top of MLB in runs scored after the All-Star Break. The contributions of Sizemore, Choo, Shoppach, Cabrera, and Peralta augmented Cliff Lee and a solidified bullpen (thanks to Jenny Lew) to help the Tribe go 40-28 after the Break.

But really, most of the credit goes to the offense for winning as many games as they did. Why does the offense get most of the credit in the 2nd half of the season?Consider the starters not named Cliff Lee in those 68 games:Jeremy Sowers – 5.05 ERA, 1.25 WHIP over 13 startsFausto Carmona – 7.61 ERA, 1.66 WHIP over 12 startsZach Jackson – 5.60 ERA, 1.43 WHIP over 9 startsAnthony Reyes – 1.83 ERA, 1.25 WHIP over 6 startsPaul Byrd – 1.24 ERA,