The Diff: Statistical thoughts on the Tribe’s outlook
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August 7, 2013The Indians today announced that they have signed OF Ryan Raburn to a two year contract extension. The deal includes a third year on a team option in 2016.
“Raburn, 32, is hitting .277 (51-184) with 14 doubles, 13 home runs and 38 RBI in 66 games for Cleveland this season (.370OB/.565SLG/.935OPS), making starts in right field (37), left field (7), second base (2) and designated hitter (5). He is currently third on the team in home runs (13), is hitting .462 (12-26, 19RBI) with RISP-2outs and over his last 20 games since June 28 he has hit at a .327 (18-55) clip with 5 2B, 5HR & 17RBI. Only three qualifying hitters in the American League (M. Cabrera, C. Davis, E. Encarnacion) have a better at bat/RBI ratio than Ryan’s 4.84 (184/38) this season.
The Tampa, FL native owns a career Major League batting average of .258 (454-1757) with 109 doubles, 8 triples, 67 home runs and 254 RBI in 632 games over 8 seasons with the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians since debuting in 2004. He was originally signed by Cleveland on January 21 to a minor league contract with spring training non-roster invite.”
Raburn is a big success story for the Indians this year, who basically took a chance on the former Tiger for very little risk. He and Scott Kazmir are both big contributors to the team being in contention for a playoff spot, even though little was expected from them.
[Related: The Diff: Statistical thoughts on the Tribe’s outlook]
13 Comments
Good move.
Agreed.
Two years interesting I could have seen one more year but nothing to complain about for a bench guy.
.462 (12-26, 19RBI) with RISP-2outs
I know this has been discussed a lot on here but I can’t get over how impressive that is.
Good move locking him up.
For a bench guy (Raburn) and produces, not a bad contract. For a guy who’s supposed to be your starting left fielder (Delucci) and doesn’t produce, bad contract.
When Raburn is World Series MVP this year this will look like a total steal.
There he is, with the ear-to-ear of a 30-something yanked back from the career-ending abyss and a t-shirt that says “I’m One of Tito’s New Guys.”
Great move. Is his improved split against RHP a real change or just a statistical blip? If it’s real, I don’t see why can’t play every day for us. If not, he still rakes against lefties.
Haha, Delucci. The ladies liked him though!
OH YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEA!
Totes.
Well it didn’t work out so well when the Tigers tried it last year, and I’d assume there will be at least SOME regression toward his career average against RHP. That said, this does provide a little bit of insurance in case they can’t come to an agreement with Stubbs this offseason before he goes to arbitration. I expect they’d like to keep both guys though and continue the current arrangement.
Match made in heaven between Raburn (a great utility guy) and Francona (a manager who knows exactly when to use him). I believe Aviles is signed for 2014 as well so unless Cabrera is traded and/or Santana moves permanently to 1B/DH, our bench bunch of Raburn, Aviles, and Gomes (i.e., the strength of the team) will be intact for at least one more season (plus another Giambi-type vet, of course).