[August 05, 2011] Your morning Phil: Indians, Peavy, Campana Tweet May 24, 2011 (Chicago Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Talking baseball while hoping the Bulls score more and pass less: 1. Barry Larkin was a great shortstop and is among the smartest analysts working. He proves it by being the first guy I've heard to mention this possibility: Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera as AL MVP. Larkin said this Sunday night, after Cabrera's two-home run game helped the Indians cap a sweep of Cincinnati. Cabrera was at it again Monday night against the Red Sox, hitting another homer and delivering the big blow of the game, an eighth-inning double on a 96-mph fastball from Daniel Bard in the pouring rain as Cleveland turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory. Cabrera epitomizes the Indians' amazing turnaround. This is his fifth big-league season, and he somehow has made the jump from pedestrian regular to superstar. He's batting .312 with 10 home runs -- a career high -- and 34 RBIs, five more than he drove in last season. "Asdrubal has the reins on this team right now," Indians left fielder Michael Brantley told the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes. "When he's up in that situation, it fires everybody up." Cleveland landed Cabrera from Seattle in a 2006 trade for veteran Eduardo Perez. That was one in a series of moves that have helped the Indians become relevant again. The dramatic victory on was the eighth home game this season that the Indians have won in their final at-bat, including seven of their last eight wins. They are making the dramatic routine. I've been catching flak from fans for not ranking the Indians higher in the Tribune's weekly power rankings -- and when even ESPN is putting them first it is hard to justify having them fifth. But it's one thing to be the hottest team in baseball before Memorial Day and another to be the best team in baseball. There's no question that the Indians are playing better than anyone now. But are they the best team? That's the question a lot of people are wrestling with. I contend that I would take the teams I have ranked above them (Red Sox, Rays, Yankees and Phillies) to win a best-of-seven series, but wins like the one Monday night do make you wonder if the Indians might have staying power. Boston throws Josh Beckett against Fausto Carmona on Tuesday night and Jon Lester against Mitch Talbot on Wednesday. If the Indians can finish off this series win and then win a series over the Rays on the weekend, I'll get on the bandwagon and put them in the top spot, with the logic better late than never. 2. There's no debating their superiority in the upside-down AL Central. But Baseball Prospectus' computer isn't overreacting to their seven-game lead over Detroit, which beat Tampa Bay on Monday. BP's daily playoff odds give the Indians a 41.1 percent chance to win the Central, followed by the Tigers at 35.9 and the White Sox at 20.9. For the White Sox to get off the mat, they need their starting pitching (8th in the AL with a 3.81 ERA) to continue to improve. John Danks hasn't had any luck, which is why he's 0-7, but his 4.34 ERA is the highest in the rotation and above his career mark. Danks admits that the burden he carries is "getting harder and harder," and it's easy to see why. He's the guy people looked to as the ace when the season began. But Jake Peavy can lighten that load if he can consistently resemble the guy who three-hit Cleveland last Wednesday. He starts Wednesday in Texas and says his body has bounced back just fine from the complete game against Cleveland. He is clearly a man on a mission. Look for him to come out firing again Wednesday. 3. Left-hander Jonathon Niese starts for the Mets tonight at Wrigley, and that probably means Reed Johnson starts in Marlon Byrd's spot. But right-hander Dillon Gee goes Wednesday, so Mike Quade should give rookie Tony Campana his first start. The horrific beanball suffered by Byrd opens a spot for at least a month-to-six weeks and it's a great chance to give the undersized Campana a real look. Very few scouts ever looked at him and saw a big-league regular in center field and the leadoff spot; he has been viewed as an extra guy, at best. But as recently as the start of spring training that same chorus was being raised about Darwin Barney and he's hitting .315 and looking the part of long-term second baseman. Now's the time to find out if Campana can follow in his (size 9) footprints. ESPN's Bobby Valentine called Campana arguably the fastest player in the majors. Wouldn't it be nice if the Cubs finally had some speed? 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