Let’s talk about Cleveland Indians attendance: While We’re Waiting
August 25, 2016Trading K-Love “is not even remotely a consideration”
August 25, 2016The stench is what will get you. Holding your nose is expected after such a series whether it is due to the Oakland Coliseum having sewage back up into the visitor dugout1 or from watching the Cleveland Indians (72-53) lose the last two of a three-game set against the Oakland Athletics (55-72). On Wednesday, the Tribe let a sloppy second inning and a continued lack of offense be the deciding factors in a 5-1 loss.
The second inning was ugly. Lonnie Chisenhall misplayed a Khris Davis ball in right field to allow the slugger to record a triple. After Trevor Bauer (6.2 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 2 SO) gave up a walk and four hits, it seemed he would escape the inning with only three runs allowed until a 50-foot infield pop-up would further the damage. Carlos Santana harkened back to the days he struggled defensively and somehow allowed the ball to drop in for what was scored a two-run single (rightfully changed after the game to an error). Bauer, visibly upset, touched 97 miles per hour as he pounded the zone to strike out Stephen Vogt after an eight-pitch battle.
Last week, the Indians had a habit of coming back strong and forcing the issue late in games. Against Oakland, the Tribe could not solve the puzzle of Kendall Graveman, who would only allow a run on a solo home run by Roberto Perez.
Losing a series against the A’s does not undo the great week the Indians just had, nor is it indicative of deeper issues within the team. The Tribe are still among the AL elite teams and have a fun four-game set against the Texas Rangers up next.
Still, there are some obstacles the Indians must overcome and issues they must solve if the Tribe is going to truly compete for a World Series title.
Rotation of Domination
Losing a series against the A’s does not undo the great week the Indians just had, nor is it indicative of deeper issues within the team
Carlos Carrasco: The only good (and it was dominant) start in Oakland. Carrasco’s season went off the tracks for a bit this season when he landed on the DL with an injured hamstring. Cookie has had a couple bad starts, but his overall pitching has continued to be superb. He has a 2.99 ERA over his last 14 games started with 96 strikeouts in just over 90 innings pitched. More impressively, Carrasco is in a stretch of his last four starts where he has struck out 37 and only walked two batters (28.2 IP). Carrasco needs to be the second dominant pitcher for the Indians in October.
Trevor Bauer: Oddly, Bauer has only had more than six strikeouts in one of his last 10 starts. His walk rate has remained stable (not great considering his decreased K-rate) and his ERA is 4.82.2 He has looked better over his last four starts (3.14 ERA) and did not let a bad inning derail him from pitching well on Wednedsay. Bauer needs to continue to show consistency as the Indians will need to rely on him in October whether or not he regains his strikeout touch.
Danny Salazar: Since returning from the DL, a release point issue and mechanics need to be sorted. Is he off because of rust? Is Salazar still hurting? Or is there something about not working hard enough between starts? Or something else entirely? The quote from Terry Francona was certainly discouraging.
Indians manager Terry Francona, on Danny Salazar's need to shore up his between-start routine: pic.twitter.com/SGa5aDcXMe
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) August 24, 2016
With Salazar at full health and locked in, the Indians have a rotation that can match up against anyone in MLB. Without him? Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come down to such worries.
Josh Tomlin: Tomlin might be hurt, tired, or figured out by MLB hitters. There is a legitimate question of whether Mike Napoli (29 HR) can overtake opposing batters against Tomlin as he has given up a MLB-leading 32 home runs. Unlike Bauer and Carrasco, Tomlin has been worse off lately with a 10.02 ERA in his last four starts. He is still a perfectly acceptable fifth rotation starting option, but he needs to regain his elite control and help the Indians make their final push for October.3
Lineup Black Holes
Catcher: The only runs the Indians scored against the A’s were three solo home runs by two of their catchers and a former catcher. While Santana’s blast was enough for a win, Chris Gimenez4 and Roberto Perez both hit shots after the game was out of reach. It was still great to see something out of the catcher position though. Outside of those instances, the catchers for the Cleveland Indians have been gift outs to the opposition all season long. The slash line of .212/.295/.336 from Cleveland catchers shows just how bad it has been. Roberto Perez was even seen squaring to bunt with no men on base! Does anyone think Robo is running out a bunt?5
Third outfielder against left-handed pitching: Abraham Almonte is 5-for-28 (.185/.214/.259) over his last nine games and only has a 77 OPS+ on the season. He continues to bat against LHP, while Chisenhall and Tyler Naquin watch. Almonte does provide some defense and baserunning, so utilizing him even though he is not eligible for the postseason is OK. But, making him such an integral part of a platoon when someone is going to need to step into that role with playoff games on the line is not smart baseball. Someone needs to get at bats against southpaws to prepare for the inevitability.
That someone appears to be Chisenhall as he is simply ahead of Naquin in development. Chisenhall continues to have a steady approach throughout the season as his .306/.328/.532 line in August is nearly identical to his overall .301/.343/.474. The recent struggles of Tyler Naquin (.208/.241/.377 in August) have been masked by his two-time walk-off greatness. An adjustment can be coming for Naquin now that pitchers have figured his approach out, but the Indians would be wise to let him do it in his comfortable platoon position.
Bench: When the Indians have their customary starting nine playing, the hitting is doing well as the Tribe is the second-best run producing team in the American League. The issue is when one of the starters needs an off-day, which has been often given the lack of scheduled days off. Michael Martinez is batting .167/.211/.222 since rejoining the Indians in August. He does provide utility defense nearly anywhere on the field, but pairing him with either of our catchers makes some easy innings for opposing pitchers at the bottom of the order. The good news is the MLB postseason is filled with enough off days that the bench players will mostly just need to be platoon bats, pinch-runners, and late-inning defensive substitutes.
Bullpen: Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw, and Dan Otero make a strong October bullpen who might not even need anyone else. If they do, Mike Clevinger has proven he can provide a boost – sometimes. Plus, they’ll have Josh Tomlin as the long-man in the pen. But, for the next five weeks, more of these relievers will be needed to keep those guys fresh for an October run. It appears Jeff Manship and Zach McAllister will be logging a bunch of those innings and will need to be good enough to help the Indians secure top seeding for the postseason.
Last Word
Let’s remember all of these items above are #FirstPlaceProblems. None of them indicate the Tribe will not make it to October. None of them indicate that the Tribe have not been a fantastic team thus far. The 2016 Cleveland Indians have been a phenomenal watch and should continue to be over the regular season’s final month. However, the expectations have been raised from competing for a playoff berth to competing for a World Series title. For those items to happen, then most of the obstacles above will need to be overcome. The Indians are capable, but whether or not it happens is the question. Should be fun finding out the answer.
- Note: the Athletics have not had that actually happen since May. Three whole months without inundating the visiting team with raw sewage. Congrats. [↩]
- Including pitching in relief against Toronto Blue Jays in the 19 inning game. [↩]
- Note: Assuming Salazar figures himself out, Tomlin should not be needed to start any games in the Indians postseason. [↩]
- Really happy Chris Gimenez hit a home run in front of his family who live in the Bay area. [↩]
- For the record, he pulled back the barrel as the pitch was a ball. [↩]
43 Comments
What about taking out a flyer on Puig? Heard (yeah prob not ton of truth because it is a rumor) that his stock is way down and can be had somewhat cheap
Hey, at least we got some production out of our catchers these past couple games… AMIRITE!?!?
that mighty starting rotation is looking weaker & weaker by the week … hang in there.
too much baggage ?? …
Yeah, there were rumors the Dodgers wanted to “give him away” which is ludicrous to me. You give me a potential Manny Ramirez and I take him and laugh at you.
My guess is the Dodgers slightly reduced his price tag but are still asking a high rate for a risky character. Might be worth considering, but hard to know without knowing the cost.
Kluber, Carrasco – and even Bauer have looked fine. Tomlin and Salazar have been worrisome. Still have Clevinger if needed during the year too.
Salazar needs to get healthy or get right. Should make October regardless, but he could be the difference between major noise or a quick exit.
besides his most recent start on Monday , when he threw 8 shutout innings against the A’s , Carrasco has been very average in August … he’s still a stud , but the staff , as a whole , looks a little worn-down.
Tito should skip Salazar’s next start …
No, Greinke threw his baggage off the bus into the middle of Michigan Ave. Problem solved!
Take it from a guy who has Madison Bumgarner and Zack Greinke as a perennial keepers in his fantasy baseball league, great pitchers are going to have their ups and downs throughout the season. Bumgarner has given up 14 earned runs in 30 innings in August. Greinke has been much worse, giving up 18 earned runs in 20.2 innings. Both guys’ stats will probably look fine by the end of the season, and I’ll imagine the same for Carrasco.
hi PAT … i play in 2 roto & 1 head-to-head league … i know where you’re coming from … I’ll tell you who’s having a good year & has a shot at the AL cy young … former tiger , rick porcello.
The Almonte situation is a huge mystery to me. He’s a plus outfielder, but he’s not elite. His bat is woeful and you can mark him in pen as an out any time he’s batting in a high leverage situation. What am I missing? Why does this guy keep getting at bats?
He definitely has been. Go to the Red Sox and become a star… it’s been a constant theme with John Farrell at the helm.
He scored the GW run last week after a double, passed ball, and Naquin’s SF. So, not completely in pen in high leverage.
Still, I agree. He is what he is and that is a slightly below average MLB OFer. We need to get some ABs to the guys who will face LHP in October.
What is his baggage? Non-coachable? I know he has been a pain in the locker room, but could we pick him up and trade him this off season if needed?
Is there a thinner divide between failure and success in pro sports than a pitcher’s mechanics? It’s ludicrous how quickly a guy can go from Fausto Carmona to Roberto Hernandez.
37 strikeouts, 2 walks
He had some bad luck to give up a few runs, but only three per start in those too. Carrasco has been really, really good lately. Was nice to see the dominant stat-line on Monday show it fully.
Have you read Kyle Boddy’s research on pitcher mechanics? (Driveline)
Just using a 2-seam fastball, he shows how small the margin for error is on release, acceleration, and spin-rates. Add in different types of pitches and arm slots and it is sort of amazing the human body/mind can learn to pitch the way these guys do.
I was going to give the “he can play centerfield” defense, but then I looked up his stats.
This goes to something I’ve been thinking about a lot this year with this team: In basketball, a roster of 33% stars/67% slop might get you a championship. In baseball, even if you reversed those ratios, you’d get punished all season long. If every third start is hopeless, if you’re starting each inning by giving up an out, if every third relief attempt results in runs, then you’ve got no chance.
Which is a long way of saying: I’m worried about the soft underbelly of this team.
I’ll check out (after I do some actual work).
it is no secret he is not a good teammate & has had problems with habitual tardiness & work ethic … i think the Dodgers had to get him outta there … yes , there’s great talent talent there , but also the risk of destroying the clubhouse … is he worth it ??
Because we don’t have five better outfielders currently on the roster. Why do the Royals start Christian Colon? The Tigers Anibal Sanchez? The White Sox James Shields? It’s hard to fill out the entire roster with above replacement level people all season.
here’s the thing. the Tribe is much deeper in quality than in recent years. that lack of depth is what destroyed our chances in the first few years under Tito. we have been able to sustain more despite some injuries and cold streaks.
still, I agree, there is improvement to be had.
yes, Almonte is worth playing some of the time as currently constructed. but, should he be getting all of the starts against LHP or should we give some to Chisenhall is the main question really.
I think between Tito and the guys in our clubhouse, we could contain him. but you never know
Someone has to play on the wrong side of the platoon vs both types of pitchers in the playoffs, so I’m down to figure out who it’s going to be now as well.
Frankly I have no idea why Yandy Diaz isn’t going to be given a chance.
Tito needs his Giambis, Avileses, and Martinezes just to get through the season with a roster of a bunch of boring dudes. What makes you think he’s containing Puig?
Boring? They might be high-character, but boring is not the word I would use.
And, I seem to remember Francona doing allright w/ some eccentricities on World Series championship teams in the past. Those high-character guys help w/ the eccentric ones.
But Steve, here’s the thing… I really, really despise Abraham Almonte. That has to count for something, right?
Yandy can be put on the postseason roster whenever the Indians want him to be. The one advantage they have is 2 open spots for anyone in the organization to use (1 for Brantley, 1 for Almonte)
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/cd/f2/59/cdf259b218c0c01b67c34c7cc213ee46.jpg
Boring as in non-troublemaking.
If he can handle the eccentric guys, why are we forced to carry flotsam on the roster of guys who don’t help in any other way than to play cards with Francona in the clubhouse?
I’d like to see him get plenty of chances to prove his mettle before he gets that spot. Give him the tryout now if the alternative is only Almonte or Martinez.
Same with me and Michael Martinez. I get it.
I would not mind that one bit.
He likes “utility” and I am a bit surprised the analytical FO appeases him so much with it. Would rather they give him the 25-man and he make it work (some input from Tito, but no more M.Martinez types).
http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/jeremiah_johnson_nodding.gif
and I still hate Casey Blake.
Pat and Bode declare it, and Francona listens.
You started it. We should have said something about getting free playoff tickets. Wasted our chance.
I will be forever thankful that Blake netted us Carlos Santana.
It is amazing. My kid was a pretty good HS pitcher. He took his fair share of beatings, but when he was on it was a glorious thing. Hitting spots with both hard and breaking balls. More often than not he was ‘on’ in pressure situations. Just something about that extra focus to make the arm do what the head wants.
That’s why the Salazar thing doesn’t concern me so much. He has the stuff, he’s not hurt, he just needs to groove it, which he has shown the capability on numerous occasions. Callaway will find a trigger.
Hire Grover as a consultant. He figured a way to channel Belle.
Belle and Glenallen Hill were both on the ’93 squad that lost a ton of games and we never heard about a death match. Hargrove doesn’t get enough respect for how he managed egos/clubhouses.