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October 6, 2010NBA 2K11 Doesn’t Think Too Highly of the Cavs
October 6, 2010
In part three of our series, we will examine the outfield. What should have been a pretty set threesome from opening day on, turned into Shin-Soo Choo and two other guys to be named that morning. In the end, we will be back to where we were on opening day, but how we got there was a long and winding road.
Left Field
Opening Day Starter – Michael Brantley (297 AB’s, .246 BA/3 HR/22 RBIs/.296 OBP/.623 OPS/10 SBs) Projected 2011 Starter: Grady Sizemore
We will get to the 2011 starter thing in a minute. Coming into Spring Training, the Indians had signed Austin Kearns and Shelley Duncan to minor league deals, and Russell Branyan to be the first baseman. This opened up the Left Field job to a competition between Brantley, Kearns, Trevor Crowe, and Matt LaPorta.
LaPorta should have been playing first, but the Branyan signing had him in left, where he was too injured to play and was a butcher. Branyan’s back injury opened the door back up for him to take first. Kearns beat out Crowe for the fourth outfielder position, and Brantley – who was told he’d play every day somewhere – won the job with a great Spring.
The 23-year old who came with LaPorta in the CC Sabathia trade hit .313 in his September call up in 2009, and looked like he would take the next step. Instead, he pressed right out of the gate, going 5-32 in April before being sent back to Columbus to make room for Branyan.
Instead of pouting, Brantley went to work and improved upon the things he needed to – taking the ball the other way for one. He returned for a brief two week stint when Choo went on the DL, but was sent back to Columbus again. In early August, he would return for good as the Indians every day Center fielder.
On August 6th, he became the leadoff man, and he entered hitting .157. From that day forward – he went 2-4 – we saw the Michael Brantley we hoped we would. A spark at the top of the order who got on base, used his speed, and was a defensive wizard in Center. He hit .291 in August with 11 RBI’s and five steals. He kept it going by hitting .293 in September and October and raised his season average to .246. A big step considering he started at .157.
As for the others. Mad props must go out to Shelley Duncan for the season he had. Nobody has given him a real chance as a Major Leaguer. In fact, he is kind of known as an enforcer, a bruiser, and yes, a great teammate, despite not being much of a player. But Duncan got plenty of chances in left field this year and did decently enough. He acclimated himself well in the field, making several diving catches. He also was a witch at the plate against left-handed pitching and may have earned a spot on next year’s Tribe as a right-handed stick off the bench. Shelley hit 11 homers in 229 AB’s (or one less than Travis Hafner in 167 less AB’s) and became a crowd favorite.
I for one would love to see him back as a bench guy in 2011.
Kearns saved the Indians in April and May by becoming their most clutch hitter and cleanup guy. He hit .272 with 42 RBIs before being dealt to the Yankees for a minor league pitcher. Once Brantley was sent down and LaPorta flamed out, the job was his and he took it and ran with it.
In 2011, this position should belong to Grady Sizemore, and I will tell you why.
Center Field
Opening Day Starter – Grady Sizemore (128 AB’s, .211 BA/0 HR/13 RBIs/.271 OBP/.560 OPS/4 SBs Projected 2011 Starter – Brantley
Everyone in baseball loves them some Grady Sizemore. Or at least they used to. We were told Grady was coming in 100% recovered from his various ailments from 2009 and we’d see a return to form from him. Instead, he started off slowly again, then got hurt, and needed knee surgery which ended his season after just 33 games.
The guy we saw become a dominant force at the top of the Indians order from 2005-2008 was a shell of himself. According to reports, he will be fully recovered for Spring Training in March and ready to resume his place as the key to the Indians offense, but I wonder if we will ever see that kid again.
Grady is signed through 2011 (47.5 million) with a club option of $8.5 million for 2012, which could swell to $10.5 million if he makes the All-Star team or wins a Gold Glove. If Grady starts slow again in 2011, dare the Indians trade one of their most popular players? Nothing would surprise me.
The thing is, Sizemore is no longer the guy who should play Center for the Tribe. If I was in charge, I’d move Grady to Left immediately. Brantley is a far superior defender. Sure, Grady makes the spectacular catches out there, but with the knee injuries, the speed won’t be there. There is no comparison in the arms. Grady’s is considered below average, while Brantley has a cannon. Its a no-brainer for 2011 – you move Sizemore to Left.
Next year’s fourth outfielder will most likely be Crowe. The former #1 pick out of Arizona has never really panned out the way he was supposed to. This year, with the injury to Sizemore and the early failures of Brantley, gave Crowe the chance to be a regular. You want to know who had the most at-bats for the 2010 Indians behind Choo? That would be Crowe with 442.
I know, I couldn’t believe it either.
But he played Center and Left regularly from his May 15th recall on. Did he do anything spectacular? Not really. He has good speed (20 steals) and can play all three outfield positions, but he takes very strange routes to fly balls in Center, and hit just .202 against left-handed pitchers (102 ABs). The Indians had hoped for more from a first round pick, but it looks like what they have is nothing more than a decent bench guy for 2011.
Right Field
Opening Day Starter – Shin-Soo Choo (550 ABs, .300 BA/22 HR/90 RBIs/.401 OBP/.885 OPS/22 SBs) Projected 2011 Starter – Choo
What more needs to be said about Choo. I think Manny Acta described it best: “Choo is a stud.” Here is all you need to know about Choo: He led the Indians in batting average, Home Runs, RBIs, On-base percentage, OPS, hits, runs, doubles, steals, walks, total bases, and outfield assists.
Seriously, what more do we need to say here? The guy is great and he is under the Indians control for three more years. Sure, he has the military obligation over his head (which many believe he won’t have to do) and his agent is Scott Boras, but can we just enjoy Choo while we have him?
Power, speed, a cannon for an arm. Choo has it all.
4 Comments
“If Grady starts slow again in 2011, dare the Indians trade one of their most popular players?”
Well, it’s not like they have a history of that (pffft). Actually, a hot start is more likely to grease his way out as he’s less valuable trade bait when playing so-so or hurt. But hot or cold, they don’t want to pay anyone $8.5m with 8,000 fans there. Recent history screams that.
Wouldn’t sweat Choo doing army time. More valuable to South Korea as a widely known MLB “stud” than as a symbolic soldier. They’ll probably just try to pressure him to keep playing for the national team.
The bizarre routes Crowe takes to fly balls cannot be understated. Even when he makes the great catch, it’s only because he ran around inebriated for 80 percent of the run before finally waking up.
if a team is willing to give us anything decent for Grady this offseason, I would jump at it. I don’t believe he will be able to regain his form for at least a couple of years and by that time it will be too late.
Harv,
Don’t underestimate the SK government. They’re a prideful bunch, and don’t make many concessions for this kind of thing. I’ve seen them do some seemingly crazy, unmerciful stuff with this mandatory service that we wouldn’t think of doing (in all fairness, because we don’t have the same pressures). As I think WFNY has covered, if Choo doesn’t win the Asian baseball championship thingy, I don’t think they’ll back down. His best bet would then be to seek US citizenship and avoid service altogether – but that puts him in a tough spot at home (like never-being-allowed-to-go-back tough). I hope I’m wrong. Either way, though, I agree that we shouldn’t sweat it. Choo’s not going into the army. For all of Boras’s faults, he won’t let it happen. (Sick that one man is more powerful than a whole government . . .)