Eric Steinbach Expected to Miss Season for Browns
August 30, 2011While We’re Waiting… Lowered Expectations, Suspensions and Curses
August 31, 2011
The Indians needed to send someone down to AAA to make room for tonight’s starter Jeanmar Gomez. With the numerous injuries to the outfield, guys like Shelley Duncan and Ezequiel Carrera had to stay. Jason Donald’s injured finger is one swing away from keeping him out, so Cord Phelps wasn’t going anywhere. Obviously nobody in the bullpen is moving. So who did the Indians send down I-71?
First Baseman Matt LaPorta.
That’s right, the one time top prospect, the supposed gem of the Milwaukee Brewers system who came over as the centerpiece of CC Sabathia trade in July of 2008, has been demoted.
While I am shocked that the Indians have decided to make this decision, I can’t say I disagree with it. LaPorta was counted on to be the right-handed hitting power bat that this lineup sorely lacked. He was handed the keys to first base every day at the beginning of the year and once again hasn’t done much with the opportunity.
LaPorta has been given every opportunity to succeed here this year and save for a some late-inning heroics from time to time, he has been frustrating to watch. He has been losing playing time to Lou Marson, with Carlos Santana sliding over to first. The DH at-bats aren’t there for him either, with the arrival of Jim Thome. He’d have ABs if he could hit lefties.
When he has played, he continues to languish near the bottom of the order, which speaks volumes when you consider all of the injuries suffered to the core of the team. When Shelley Duncan hits cleanup and LaPorta is hitting seventh, that tells you all you need to know.
Here are some numbers to chew on:
.238 BA/.289 OBP/.404 SLG/.205 vs lefties- that tells you that he is not getting on base, and when he does, he doesn’t show much power.
319 ABs/11 HRs/44 RBIs/79 Ks/20 BBs – disturbing trends from a guy who was counted on this year to balance out a left-handed heavy lineup.
The Tribe had a move they could have made which wouldn’t have rocked the boat; sending Lonnie Chisenhall back to Columbus. He has lost most of his playing time to Jack Hannahan at third and has options left. Nobody would have said a word if he had been sent out for the required 10 days (unless a DL move is made, then LaPorta can come back immediately).
Instead, they chose to send a message to LaPorta.
The thing is, I’m not into messages. I’m into production. Matty just wasn’t producing and had all year to get his act together. He couldn’t, so he will spend some time in C-Bus until the rosters expand in a few days.
*Again, its worth noting. If an Indians player is placed on the DL anytime in the next 10 days, LaPorta can come back immediately.
photo via Chuck Crow/PD
23 Comments
I think it’s safe to say that LaPorta has been a bust. I know he’s battled some injuries this year, so it’s not clear that he’s completely healthy, but he’s still been a major disappointment. That’s not to say the Indians should completely give up on him, but hopefully at this point they’ve realized that they can’t count on him. The front office should make adding a right-handed 1B a top priority for the offseason, if not THE top priority.
The contention ability of this team will largely hinge on the team’s ability to get an upgrade at first base. I’d love to be in the Prince Fielder sweepstakes, but I don’t see it happening.
That said, I imagine they DL Choo in the next day or so to bring LaPorta back up – I’ll be shocked if he stays down there the entire time.
Boy, what a year to forget for LaPorta. Here’s to hoping they take the lead out of his bat in c-bus.
The scariest thing to me was listening to the game on the radio the other night and hearing “LaPorta just swung at one he probably could have swing three times at. It looked like he was sitting fast ball and decided he was swinging before the pitch came.” His bat speed is abysmal and to make up for it he is clearly guessing and guessing wrong. Heck, even when he guesses right he can barely get around on the ball. Thank god for Brantley.
I have to disagree somewhat with the assertion that he was given the full time first base job. It seemed like right off the bat he was losing playing time regularly to a catcher who wasn’t hitting much over .200 himself at the time. Batting is all about timing. Impossible to get your timing down and get a good feel for how the ball is coming out of a pitcher’s hand with irregular playing time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m frustrated by his lack of consistency and all the strikeouts. I just hate to give up on a player with that much potential. Compare LaPorta to Santana (guy taking playing time from him). Similar poor BA’s. Santana has more homers, but that is with 130 more AB’s. We bitch about LaPorta’s strike outs, but Santana has 50 more K’s. Biggest advantage Carlos has is better eye at plate resulting in more walks. Not comparing them to dump on Santana, just want to show that management has been more patient with one than the other.
@ stin4u – I agree that LaPorta decides whether to swing or not before the pitch is thrown. Don’t see too many good hitters doing that! You are probably right that it is because his bat speed is too slow to do anything else. Maybe he should try a lighter bat…
With Jimenez here the next two years, I think Cleveland needs to aquire a solid power bat. I don’t know if it should be a firstbasemen or not but LaPorta has a .694 OPS this year. Although he has had some big hits (.487 SLG with RISP).
I don’t understand how LaPorta was even hitting .238 since he never gets hits. I’m tired of seeing him in the lineup, and I really hope the Indians look for a free agent first-baseman for next year.
Scott took the words right out of my mouth. I also expect LaPorta to come back up once Choo goes back on the DL. I read today that he may not be ready to go for about 2 weeks. Doesnt sound promising.
God damn this team frustrates the hell out of me – shitty players on top of all these injuries makes me want to scalp myself.
Not to pile on LaPorta too much, but…his defense sucks. (I was going to say “well below average”, but that doesn’t really capture his ineptitude in the field.) He has the range of a statue and is inaccurate with his arm, probably due to his poor footwork.
Give Cord Phelps a first baseman’s glove. He can’t do any more damage than LaPorta. When Donald comes back, give him a try if Phelps fails.
As stated in the posts above, 1B should be one of the priorities for 2012.
Go Tribe.
I’d be shocked downright stunned if the Indians would pay for Fielder. Even more if he came here. Lack of power is an organizational problem.
Maybe they will stick with Marson catching and Santana playing 1st for awhile. I wouldnt mind if they did. Marson is only slightly worse than LaPorta at the plate but at least he is a solid defensive catcher with a good handle on the pitching staff. I think Santana is our best first baseman and with the Tribe needing his bat now more than ever, playing 1st regularly could be beneficial to he and the team.
Agree with @4 Largebill. Laporta’s stats not much different than Santana’s and his defense at 1B is a shade better.
Which isn’t to say he doesn’t look like a stiff out there most of time.
Maybe a couple weeks in AAA will light a fire under him.
Ive been very critical of Santana at times, but he is way ahead of LaPorta in his development. LaPorta has been with the team longer as well, he’s got 972 plate appearances under his belt compared to Santana at 726.
Santana has a very respectable .350 OBP with a .795 OPS, LaPorta is at .289 and .694.
.289 OBP combined with below average defense is not typically a winning combination. If he wasnt the guy they acquired for CC Sabathia I doubt it would have even taken this long for him to get demoted.
Is it me or has the tribe had trouble developing young position players? So many guys that were supposed to be incredible prospects have been so frustrating – LaPorta, Marte, Brandon Phillips (until we traded him), and even Peralta. Ugh…
Thanks for covering that Ghost. 60 points of OBP makes all the difference.
Not to mention, the offensive expectations for a first baseman are far greater than those for a catcher. That’s one of the reason I’m iffy on moving CS to 1B in ’12 – as a catcher, he’s a well above average hitter. As a 1B, he’s average.
Not sure what they should do about the C/1B situation. They need to go after one or the other in the offseason. Unless there is a hidden gem in our system somewhere who hasnt been discovered yet. Im still operating under the assumption, or at least the hope, that Santana will continue to progress. He has the ability to be a 30 home run guy, but we shall see.
It might be easier, and more cost efficient, to find a decent catcher than a power hitting 1st baseman. Somebody like Ramon Hernandez from the Reds might be available. Those power hitting 1st baseman tend to get paid really well, even Carlos Pena got 10 million from the Cubs this year.
Oh another noteworthy stat on the Santana/LaPorta comparison. Carlos has 77 walks this season. LaPorta has 78 walks, for his entire career.
When is Kipnis coming back??
Isnt Beau Mills tearing it up in Cbus? Or was he at least on a hot streak in July/August at one point? Not for this year, but he might be able to make the team out of spring training next year.
The way he is going, Santana may be a 30 HR guy this year.
@17 – Hilarious that you mention Pena and his $10M price tag. Just yesterday I was researching possible options for us at 1B in ’12. He was at the top of my list until I noticed those eight digits.
Has Chisenhall played any 1B? Based on Hannahan’s late season surge and his excellent glove work all season, I wonder if we might not be better letting him get most the games at 3B next season and let Chiz play 1B/3B/DH. Then maybe we could bring in a Duncan-esque, platoony RH bat to split that time against lefties?
LaPorta has no idea what he is doing up there. Yes he is guessing. He swings at 2-0 sliders on the corner or outside the zone. Someone needs to teach this guy how to approach an at bat, how pitch selection varies by count, how to swing at strikes and not balls. He is terrible, but it is all mental. Either the hitting coach isn’t coaching or he isn’t listening. They should trade him now while he still has some value. I would rather have an aging Derek Lee playing first (gold glove) and providing a right handed middle of the line up hitter.