# 2008 Cleveland Indians season

The 2008 Cleveland Indians season marked the 108th season for the franchise, as the Indians attempted to defend their American League Central title. The team played all of its home games at Progressive Field (formerly known as Jacobs Field).
2008 was the final year that the Indians held spring training in Winter Haven, Florida, at Chain of Lakes Park. In 2009 the Indians would return to train in Goodyear, Arizona for the first time in 15 years at the new Goodyear Ballpark.
The Indians approached the winter of 2007–08 with the idea that tinkering at the edges was what was primarily needed to build on the previous year. Acquired in the offseason were utility infielder Jamey Carroll, Japanese League reliever Masahide Kobayashi and reliever Jorge Julio.

## Regular season
### Season summary
#### March

The Indians ended spring training in March with only one surprise, cutting veteran reliever Aaron Fultz in favor of pick up Craig Breslow (who was cut by the Boston Red Sox). Notable contributors from 2007 to start the year in Buffalo instead of Cleveland were Aaron Laffey, Ben Francisco, Josh Barfield, and Tom Mastny. The Indians opened the regular season with a 10–8 win over the Chicago White Sox.

#### April

The victory in the home opener came with a price: an injury to catcher Victor Martinez. While the offense played well enough to win the opening series, Martinez's missing bat did not help the Indians on their west coast road trip, where they lost series with both the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Martinez returned to play for the Angels series. The Indians offense continued to struggle as the team failed to win their next four series. Near the end of the month, the Indians swept the Kansas City Royals split a four-game series against the New York Yankees and appeared to be coming out of their slump. Starting pitcher Cliff Lee was named American League Pitcher of the Month for April, as he finished the month 5–0 with a 0.96 ERA.

#### May

The sub par offense became such a concern that on May 5, in an attempt to spark more offense, Jason Michaels was designated for assignment and Ben Francisco, the 2007 International League batting champion was called up to play outfield. For the first half of the month, the starting pitching was outstanding, resulting in a 431⁄3 scoreless innings streak But the hitting still hadn't turned a corner and by the end of the month the Indians were still sub .500. Making his Indians debut was highly touted but often injured first baseman Michael Aubrey. The Indians swapped injured starting pitchers as Jake Westbrook came off the disabled list from an intercostal muscle injury just after Fausto Carmona went on it with a hip injury. And to end the month, Travis Hafner was also placed on the disabled list with shoulder soreness.

#### June

Westbrook's return was brief, returning to the disabled list with season ending Tommy John surgery. Victor Martinez also went on the disabled list with elbow problems. And Josh Barfield, called up to replace the slumping Asdrúbal Cabrera, also went on the disabled list. The Indians were one of the few AL clubs not to take great advantage of interleague play, going only 6–12 against the National League.

#### July

After plummeting to last place to start the month, the Indians threw in the towel on the season, trading CC Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Matt LaPorta, pitchers Rob Bryson and Zach Jackson and a player to be named later. They also parted ways with Joe Borowski, first designating him for assignment then releasing him. Although the Indians continued to struggle, pitcher Cliff Lee and center fielder Grady Sizemore were recognized for their individual accomplishments by being named to the American League All Star team. Lee was named the starting pitcher for the American League squad, where he pitched two shutout innings. Sizemore also participated in the Home Run Derby; he hit six home runs in the opening round, but it was not enough for him to advance to the second round. The Indians swept a series against the league leading Tampa Bay Rays right before the All-Star break, but continued their relatively uneven play, even with the return of Fausto Carmona in late July. Another victim of the Indians mediocre performance was Casey Blake, who was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Jon Meloan and baseball player Carlos Santana.

#### August

The Indians continued to struggle through the first week of August. On a road trip to start the month, the team began 2–4 before sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre to finish the road trip 5–4 – the team's first winning road trip since May. The sweep of Toronto began a streak in which the Indians won 16 of 19 games, including 10 in a row to climb into third place in the division. The team clinched its first winning month of the season on August 24. Despite the turnaround, the Indians continued to trade players in order to add depth to their farm system. On August 12, they traded veteran pitcher Paul Byrd to the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later. Again, one of the Indians bright spots was the play of Cliff Lee, who was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for August.

#### September

The Indians had a significant impact on the division championship this month, in as much as they both slowed the Minnesota Twins from catching the Chicago White Sox and then gave the Twins a chance to win the division outright by beating the Sox two games out of three in the final series. The Twins' losses to Kansas City at the same time, however, forced the White Sox to make up a game against the Detroit Tigers to help decide the division winner. Cliff Lee's spectacular season ended with him having the American League lead in wins and ERA. This effort earned Lee the American League Comeback Player of the Year award and the American League Cy Young Award. Shin-Soo Choo's great September numbers earned him the American League Player of the Month.

### Season standings

vteAL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago White Sox | 89 | 74 | .546 | — | 54‍–‍28 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Minnesota Twins | 88 | 75 | .540 | 1 | 53‍–‍28 | 35‍–‍47 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 81 | .500 | 7½ | 45‍–‍36 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Kansas City Royals | 75 | 87 | .463 | 13½ | 38‍–‍43 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Detroit Tigers | 74 | 88 | .457 | 14½ | 40‍–‍41 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Game log

2008 Game Log :
March/April: 13-15
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1March 31White Sox10–8Betancourt (1–0)Dotel (0–1)Borowski (1)41,8721–0
2April 2White Sox7–2Carmona (1–0)Vázquez (0–1)17,6452–0
3April 3White Sox2–1Dotel (1–1)Westbrook (0–1)Jenks (1)15,7852–1
4April 4@ Athletics6–3Duchscherer (1–0)Byrd (0–1)13,9162–2
5April 5@ Athletics6–1Eveland (1–0)Sabathia (0–1)16,2792–3
6April 6@ Athletics2–1Lee (1–0)Blanton (0–2)Borowski (2)16,3843–3
7April 7@ Angels6–4Shields (1–0)Borowski (0–1)35,0143–4
8April 8@ Angels4–3Westbrook (1–1)Speier (0–1)37,5874–4
9April 9@ Angels9–5Moseley (1–1)Byrd (0–2)36,1684–5
10April 11Athletics9–7Blanton (1–2)Sabathia (0–2)Street (3)17,8594–6
11April 12Athletics7–3DiNardo (1–0)Carmona (1–1)19,1704–7
12April 13Athletics7–1Lee (2–0)Gaudin (0–1)17,2285–7
13April 14Red Sox6–4Timlin (1–1)Borowski (0–2)Papelbon (5)21,8025–8
14April 15Red Sox5–3Aardsma (1–1)Lewis (0–1)Okajima (1)25,1355–9
15April 16Tigers13–2Galarraga (1–0)Sabathia (0–3)17,6445–10
16April 17Tigers11–1Carmona (2–1)Verlander (0–3)21,5476–10
17April 18@ Twins4–0Lee (3–0)Liriano (0–2)22,3667–10
18April 19@ Twins3–0Blackburn (1–1)Westbrook (1–2)Nathan (6)34,2107–11
19April 20@ Twins2 – 1 (10)Guerrier (1–1)Pérez (0–1)27,7037–12
20April 22@ Royals15–1Sabathia (1–3)Meche (1–3)16,1658–12
–April 23@ RoyalsPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for April 24
21April 24@ Royals9–6Carmona (3–1)Tomko (1–3)Betancourt (1)11,6379–12
22April 24@ Royals2–0Lee (4–0)Bannister (3–2)11,63710–12
23April 25Yankees6–4Byrd (1–2)Pettitte (3–2)Betancourt (2)31,46711–12
24April 26Yankees4–3Kobayashi (1–0)Ohlendorf (0–1)35,76512–12
25April 27Yankees1–0Wang (5–0)Sabathia (1–4)Rivera (7)31,59812–13
26April 28Yankees5–2Mussina (3–3)Laffey (0–1)Rivera (8)20,68912–14
27April 29Mariners7–2Lowe (1–1)Betancourt (1–1)13,82712–15
28April 30Mariners8–3Lee (5–0)Washburn (1–4)15,27913–15 :
May: 12-15
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
29May 1Mariners3 – 2 (11)Kobayashi (2–0)Green (1–2)15,72214–15
–May 2RoyalsPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 13
30May 3Royals4–2Hochevar (2–1)Sabathia (1–5)Soria (7)27,27214–16
31May 4Royals2–0Meche (2–4)Laffey (0–2)Soria (8)27,83614–17
32May 6@ Yankees5–3Pérez (1–1)Chamberlain (1–2)Betancourt (3)50,71315–17
33May 7@ Yankees3–0Lee (6–0)Wang (6–1)Betancourt (4)50,19916–17
34May 8@ Yankees6–3Mussina (5–3)Byrd (1–3)Rivera (9)53,22716–18
35May 9Blue Jays6–1Sabathia (2–6)Halladay (3–5)26,47217–18
36May 10Blue Jays12–0Laffey (1–2)McGowan (2–3)38,14118–18
–May 11Blue JaysPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for May 12
37May 12Blue Jays3–0Carmona (4–1)Burnett (3–4)16,04519–18
38May 12Blue Jays3 – 0 (10)Ryan (1–0)Betancourt (1–2)Downs (4)16,04519–19
39May 13Athletics4–0Byrd (2–3)Duchscherer (3–2)Kobayashi (1)16,97420–19
40May 14Athletics2–0Sabathia (3–6)Blanton (2–6)18,18821–19
41May 15Athletics4–2Laffey (2–2)Smith (2–3)Kobayashi (2)26,76422–19
42May 16@ Reds4–3Weathers (1–2)Lewis (0–2)Cordero (8)33,43322–20
43May 17@ Reds4–2Bray (1–0)Kobayashi (2–1)42,02322–21
44May 18@ Reds6–4Vólquez (7–1)Lee (6–1)Cordero (9)34,61222–22
45May 20@ White Sox4–1Contreras (5–3)Sabathia (3–6)Jenks (11)27,53322–23
46May 21@ White Sox7–2Vázquez (5–3)Byrd (2–4)38,51822–24
47May 22@ White Sox3–1Linebrink (1–0)Laffey (2–3)Jenks (12)28,04022–25
48May 23Rangers13–9Loe (1–0)Carmona (4–2)39,94722–26
49May 24Rangers5–2Lee (7–1)Feldman (1–2)Borowski (3)40,50423–26
50May 25Rangers2 – 1 (10)Wright (3–1)Kobayashi (2–1)Wilson (10)35,46423–27
51May 26White Sox6 – 3 (12)Logan (2–1)Elarton (0–1)Jenks (13)30,00623–28
52May 27White Sox8–2Laffey (3–3)Buehrle (2–6)25,42624–28
53May 28White Sox6–5Floyd (5–3)Betancourt (1–3)Jenks (14)31,74024–29
54May 30@ Royals5–4Lee (8–1)Tomko (2–7)Borowski (4)25,24325–29
55May 31@ Royals4–2Davies (1–0)Sabathia (3–7)Soria (12)23,92325–30 :
June: 12-16
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
56June 1@ Royals6–1Bannister (5–6)Byrd (2–5)22,34525–31
57June 2@ Rangers13–9Kobayashi (3–2)Guardado (0–1)17,24726–31
58June 3@ Rangers12–7Francisco (1–1)Mastny (0–1)16,37326–32
59June 4@ Rangers15–9Lee (9–1)Ramírez (0–1)19,67627–32
60June 5@ Rangers9–4Millwood (4–3)Sabathia (3–8)17,79527–33
61June 6@ Tigers4–2Byrd (3–5)Verlander (2–9)Borowski (5)40,99028–33
62June 7@ Tigers8–4Miner (3–3)Kobayashi (3–3)Jones (9)42,19328–34
63June 8@ Tigers5–2Galarraga (5–2)Sowers (0–1)Jones (10)39,94128–35
64June 9@ Tigers8–2Lee (10–1)Willis (0–1)38,44029–35
65June 10Twins1–0Sabathia (4–8)Baker (2–1)26,87430–35
66June 11Twins8–5Blackburn (5–4)Byrd (3–6)Nathan (17)18,74230–36
67June 12Twins12–2Laffey (4–3)Hernández (6–4)21,71631–36
68June 13Padres9–5Betancourt (2–3)Meredith (0–2)Kobayashi (3)31,39932–36
69June 14Padres8 – 3 (10)Bell (4–3)Mujica (0–1)37,48432–37
70June 15Padres7–3Sabathia (5–8)Maddux (3–5)33,01733–37
71June 17@ Rockies10–2Reynolds (2–4)Byrd (3–7)28,14633–38
72June 18@ Rockies4–2Francis (3–6)Laffey (4–4)Fuentes (12)28,33933–39
73June 19@ Rockies6–3de la Rosa (2–3)Sowers (0–2)Fuentes (13)33,17433–40
74June 20@ Dodgers6 – 4 (10)Borowski (1–2)Saito (3–3)Kobayashi (4)50,66734–40
75June 21@ Dodgers7 – 2 (11)Kobayashi (4–3)Wade (0–1)45,03635–40
76June 22@ Dodgers4–3Billingsley (6–7)Byrd (3–8)Saito (11)39,99335–41
77June 24Giants3–2Sánchez (7–4)Betancourt (2–4)Wilson (20)29,02435–42
78June 25Giants4–1Zito (3–11)Sowers (0–3)Wilson (21)25,65435–43
79June 26Giants4–1Lee (11–1)Cain (4–6)Borowski (6)25,25736–43
80June 27Reds6–0Sabathia (6–8)Thompson (0–1)34,84437–43
81June 28Reds5–0Cueto (6–8)Byrd (3–9)39,50637–44
82June 29Reds9–5Arroyo (5–7)Laffey (4–5)37,07937–45
83June 30@ White Sox9–7Floyd (9–4)Sowers (0–4)Thornton (1)38,46637–46 :
July: 10-14
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
84July 1@ White Sox3 – 2 (10)Russell (1–0)Borowski (1–3)25,50237–47
85July 2@ White Sox6 – 5 (10)Russell (2–0)Kobayashi (4–4)23,52237–48
86July 4@ Twins12–3Hernández (9–5)Byrd (3–10)22,63437–49
87July 5@ Twins9–6Slowey (6–6)Mastny (0–2)Nathan (24)31,88737–50
88July 6@ Twins4–3Perkins (5–2)Lee (11–2)Nathan (25)30,25837–51
89July 8@ Tigers9–2Verlander (6–9)Sowers (0–5)40,44337–52
90July 9@ Tigers8–6Jones (4–0)Lewis (0–3)41,06237–53
91July 10Rays13–2Laffey (5–5)Sonnanstine (10–4)22,66538–53
92July 11Rays5–0Lee (12–2)Shields (7–6)33,66339–53
93July 12Rays8–4Ginter (1–0)Garza (7–5)35,70640–53
94July 13Rays5–2Mastny (1–2)Kazmir (7–5)Kobayashi (5)29,70041–53
95July 18@ Mariners8–2Hernández (7–6)Laffey (5–6)42,57041–54
96July 19@ Mariners9–6Sowers (1–5)Batista (4–11)37,86942–54
97July 20@ Mariners6–2Lee (13–2)Silva (4–12)32,23043–54
98July 21@ Angels5–2Byrd (4–10)Santana (11–4)Kobayashi (6)43,03744–54
99July 22@ Angels3–2Oliver (4–1)Ginter (1–1)Rodríguez (41)43,50544–55
100July 23@ Angels14–11Lackey (8–2)Laffey (5–7)Rodríguez (42)42,18744–56
101July 25Twins5–4Lee (14–2)Hernández (10–7)Perez (1)33,51245–56
102July 26Twins11–4Baker (7–3)Carmona (4–3)35,39045–57
103July 27Twins4–2Guerrier (6–4)Perez (1–2)Nathan (28)31,56245–58
104July 28Tigers5–0Byrd (5–10)Rogers (8–7)24,68946–58
105July 29Tigers8–5Galarraga (9–4)Ginter (1–2)30,62546–59
106July 30Tigers14 – 12 (13)Fossum (2–0)Rincón (0–1)26,59646–60
107July 31Tigers9–4Carmona (5–3)Verlander (8–11)34,18647–60 :
August: 18-10
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
108August 1@ Twins4–1Blackburn (8–6)Sowers (1–6)Nathan (30)33,70947–61
109August 2@ Twins5–1Byrd (6–10)Slowey (7–8)40,93748–61
110August 3@ Twins6–2Liriano (1–3)Ginter (1–3)39,61848–62
111August 4@ Rays5–2Lee (15–2)Garza (9–7)Perez (2)17,04949–62
112August 5@ Rays8–4Jackson (8–7)Carmona (5–4)20,06349–63
113August 6@ Rays10–7Percival (2–0)Kobayashi (4–5)27,53349–64
114August 8@ Blue Jays5–2Reyes (1–0)Purcey (1–3)Lewis (1)31,62750–64
115August 9@ Blue Jays4–2Byrd (7–10)Halladay (13–9)39,62351–64
116August 10@ Blue Jays4–0Lee (16–2)Richmond (0–2)36,44752–64
117August 11Orioles13–8Mujica (1–1)Cherry (0–1)23,40853–64
118August 12Orioles7–5Perez (2–2)Johnson (2–4)Lewis (2)21,14354–64
119August 13Orioles6–1Guthrie (10–8)Reyes (1–1)21,29954–65
120August 14Orioles11–6Cabrera (1–1)Perez (2–3)22,14054–66
121August 15Angels3–2Lee (17–2)Arredondo (4–1)30,96255–66
122August 16Angels4–3Lackey (10–2)Carmona (5–5)Rodríguez (47)33,05155–67
123August 17Angels4–3Sowers (2–6)Speier (1–6)Lewis (3)28,35656–67
124August 19Royals9–4Reyes (2–1)Hochevar (6–12)18,94657–67
125August 20Royals8–5Rincón (1–1)Soria (1–3)Lewis (4)23,92058–67
126August 21Royals10–3Lee (18–2)Greinke (9–9)21,39159–67
127August 22@ Rangers7–5Carmona (6–5)Harrison (5–3)Lewis (5)20,53560–67
128August 23@ Rangers8–7Perez (3–3)Wright (6–5)Lewis (6)29,90061–67
129August 24@ Rangers4–3Betancourt (3–4)Guardado (3–3)14,95662–67
130August 25@ Tigers4 – 3 (10)Donnelly (1–0)Glover (1–3)Lewis (7)39,19663–67
131August 26@ Tigers10–4Lee (19–2)Lambert (0–1)38,77464–67
132August 27@ Tigers9–7Carmona (7–5)Verlander (10–14)38,51965–67
133August 29Mariners3–2Hernández (9–8)Sowers (2–7)Putz (10)26,04765–68
134August 30Mariners4 – 3 (10)Putz (6–4)Lewis (0–4)Messenger (1)33,38765–69
135August 31Mariners6–4Rowland-Smith (4–2)Jackson (0–1)Corcoran (2)35,37665–70 :
September: 16-11
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
136September 1White Sox5–0Lee (20–2)Richard (2–3)23,31766–70
137September 2White Sox9–3Carmona (8–5)Danks (10–8)20,98067–70
138September 3White Sox4–2Vázquez (11–12)Sowers (2–8)Jenks (28)20,32867–71
139September 5@ Royals9–3Mujica (2–1)Duckworth (2–1)21,10768–71
140September 6@ Royals3–1Meche (11–10)Jackson (0–2)Soria (35)18,79568–72
141September 7@ Royals3–1Lee (21–2)Greinke (10–10)Lewis (8)15,02369–72
142September 8@ Orioles14–3Olson (9–7)Carmona (8–6)11,18169–73
143September 9@ Orioles6–1Sowers (3–8)Liz (5–5)14,90070–73
144September 10@ Orioles7–1Lewis (1–0)Waters (2–3)12,43871–73
145September 11@ Orioles6–3Cormier (3–3)Jackson (0–3)Miller (1)12,52671–74
146September 12Royals12–5Lee (22–2)Meche (11–11)32,84372–74
147September 13Royals8–3Greinke (11–10)Carmona (8–7)25,78372–75
148September 13Royals8–4Tejeda (2–2)Bullington (0–1)Soria (37)25,48572–76
149September 14Royals13–3Bannister (8–15)Mujica (2–2)29,53072–77
150September 15Twins3–1Lewis (2–0)Slowey (12–10)Lewis (9)19,60773–77
151September 16Twins12 – 9 (11)Mastny (2–2)Nathan (0–2)21,29574–77
152September 17Twins6–4Mujica (3–2)Mijares (0–1)Lewis (10)22,90475–77
153September 19Tigers6–5Perez (4–3)Dolsi (1–5)33,73376–77
154September 20Tigers6–3Sowers (4–8)Verlander (10–17)Lewis (11)36,86977–77
155September 21Tigers10–5Lewis (3–0)Willis (0–2)36,95778–77
156September 22@ Red Sox4–3Jackson (1–3)Beckett (12–10)Lewis (12)37,82879–77
157September 23@ Red Sox5–4Wakefield (10–11)Lee (22–3)Papelbon (41)37,88279–78
158September 24@ Red Sox5–4Aardsma (4–2)Perez (4–4)Delcarmen (2)37,71979–79
159September 25@ Red Sox6–1Lester (16–6)Sowers (4–9)37,72679–80
160September 26@ White Sox11–8Lewis (4–0)Danks (11–9)Lewis (13)36,49480–80
161September 27@ White Sox12–6Jackson (2–3)Vázquez (12–16)36,03181–80
162September 28@ White Sox5–1Buehrle (15–12)Bullington (0–2)33,39681–81 :

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | AVG | SB |
| Michael Aubrey | 15 | 45 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .200 | 0 |
| Josh Barfield | 12 | 33 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .182 | 0 |
| Rick Bauer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Rafael Betancourt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Casey Blake | 94 | 325 | 46 | 94 | 24 | 0 | 11 | 58 | .289 | 2 |
| Joe Borowski | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Paul Byrd | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Asdrúbal Cabrera | 114 | 352 | 48 | 91 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 47 | .259 | 4 |
| Fausto Carmona | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Jamey Carroll | 113 | 347 | 60 | 96 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 36 | .277 | 7 |
| Shin-Soo Choo | 94 | 317 | 68 | 98 | 28 | 3 | 14 | 66 | .309 | 4 |
| David Dellucci | 113 | 336 | 41 | 80 | 19 | 2 | 11 | 47 | .238 | 3 |
| Scott Elarton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Sal Fasano | 15 | 46 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | .261 | 0 |
| Ben Francisco | 121 | 447 | 65 | 119 | 32 | 0 | 15 | 54 | .266 | 4 |
| Ryan Garko | 141 | 495 | 61 | 135 | 21 | 1 | 14 | 90 | .273 | 0 |
| Andy González | 10 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .208 | 0 |
| Franklin Gutierrez | 134 | 399 | 54 | 99 | 26 | 2 | 8 | 41 | .248 | 9 |
| Travis Hafner | 57 | 198 | 21 | 39 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 24 | .197 | 1 |
| Jorge Julio | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Masahide Kobayashi | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Aaron Laffey | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 0 |
| Cliff Lee | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Jensen Lewis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Andy Marte | 80 | 235 | 21 | 52 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 17 | .221 | 1 |
| Víctor Martínez | 73 | 266 | 30 | 74 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 35 | .278 | 0 |
| Jason Michaels | 21 | 58 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | .207 | 1 |
| Jhonny Peralta | 154 | 605 | 104 | 167 | 42 | 4 | 23 | 89 | .276 | 3 |
| Rafael Perez | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| CC Sabathia | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .333 | 0 |
| Kelly Shoppach | 112 | 352 | 67 | 92 | 27 | 0 | 21 | 55 | .261 | 0 |
| Grady Sizemore | 157 | 634 | 101 | 170 | 39 | 5 | 33 | 90 | .268 | 38 |
| Jeremy Sowers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Jason Tyner | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Jorge Velandia | 10 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5543 | 805 | 1455 | 339 | 22 | 171 | 772 | .262 | 77 |

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Rick Bauer | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 4 |
| Rafael Betancourt | 3 | 4 | 5.07 | 69 | 0 | 4 | 71.0 | 76 | 41 | 40 | 25 | 64 |
| Joe Borowski | 1 | 3 | 7.56 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 16.2 | 24 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 9 |
| Craig Breslow | 0 | 0 | 3.24 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8.1 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| Paul Byrd | 7 | 10 | 4.53 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 131.0 | 146 | 70 | 66 | 24 | 56 |
| Bryan Bullington | 0 | 2 | 4.91 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 14.2 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 12 |
| Fausto Carmona | 8 | 7 | 5.44 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 120.2 | 126 | 80 | 73 | 70 | 58 |
| Brendan Donnelly | 1 | 0 | 8.56 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 13.2 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 8 |
| Scott Elarton | 0 | 1 | 3.52 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 15.1 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 15 |
| Matt Ginter | 1 | 3 | 5.14 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 21.0 | 25 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 12 |
| Zach Jackson | 2 | 3 | 5.60 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 54.2 | 64 | 36 | 34 | 14 | 30 |
| Jorge Julio | 0 | 0 | 5.60 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 17.2 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 15 |
| Masahide Kobayashi | 4 | 5 | 4.53 | 57 | 0 | 6 | 55.2 | 65 | 30 | 28 | 14 | 35 |
| Aaron Laffey | 5 | 7 | 4.23 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 93.2 | 103 | 52 | 44 | 31 | 43 |
| Cliff Lee | 22 | 3 | 2.54 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 223.1 | 214 | 68 | 63 | 34 | 170 |
| Jensen Lewis | 0 | 4 | 3.82 | 51 | 0 | 13 | 66.0 | 68 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 52 |
| Scott Lewis | 4 | 0 | 2.63 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 24.0 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 15 |
| Tom Mastny | 2 | 2 | 10.80 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 20.0 | 28 | 24 | 24 | 11 | 19 |
| John Meloan | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Edward Mujica | 3 | 2 | 6.75 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 38.2 | 46 | 29 | 29 | 10 | 27 |
| Rafael Perez | 4 | 4 | 3.54 | 73 | 0 | 2 | 76.1 | 67 | 32 | 30 | 23 | 86 |
| Anthony Reyes | 2 | 1 | 1.83 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 34.1 | 31 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 15 |
| Juan Rincón | 1 | 1 | 5.60 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 27.1 | 34 | 18 | 17 | 8 | 19 |
| Rich Rundles | 0 | 0 | 1.80 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| CC Sabathia | 6 | 8 | 3.83 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 122.1 | 117 | 54 | 52 | 34 | 123 |
| Brian Slocum | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Jeremy Sowers | 4 | 9 | 5.58 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 121.0 | 141 | 84 | 75 | 39 | 64 |
| Jake Westbrook | 1 | 2 | 3.12 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 34.2 | 33 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 19 |
| Team Totals | 81 | 81 | 4.45 | 162 | 162 | 31 | 1437.0 | 1530 | 761 | 711 | 444 | 986 |

## Minor league affiliates

| Classification level | Team | League | Season article |
| AAA | Buffalo Bisons | International League | 2008 Buffalo Bisons season |
| AA | Akron Aeros | Eastern League | 2008 Akron Aeros season |
| Advanced A | Kinston Indians | Carolina League | |
| A | Lake County Captains | South Atlantic League | |
| Short Season A | Mahoning Valley Scrappers | New York–Penn League | |
| Rookie | Gulf Coast Indians | Gulf Coast League | |
| Rookie | DSL Indians | Dominican Summer League | |