There is no question the Cleveland Indians season has been a disappointment. After coming within one game of the World Series last season, the Tribe finds itself tied for fourth place in the AL Central Division, 9-1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox. Injuries have played a part in the fall, but they are by far not the only reason for the poor first half of the season. What individual players have been the biggest disappointments for the 2008 Indians?
Rafael Betancourt. GM Mark Shapiro knows that the most volatile part of a baseball team is the bullpen, and he tried to fortify this area of the squad by signing Masa Kobayashi. However, no one could have predicted the decline of Betancourt from 2007 to 2008. Last year, the righty had arguably the best season by a set up reliever in history, and this year he has been dreadful. In 2007, hitters batted only .183 against him, in 2008, they are teeing off at over a .300 clip. His ERA is 4.5 runs higher than last season, and is over 6.00 overall. His ineffectiveness has contributed to making the Tribe bullpen one of the game’s worst.
Ryan Garko. Garko had a good first year as regular, hitting .289 with 21 HR’s and 61 RBI in almost 500 at bats. That followed a partial season in 2006 where he hit .292 with 45 RBI in less than 200 plate appearances. It was thought he would be a solid component in the middle of the Tribe order. However, he has been anything but that. His average has dipped to .242, and he has just 6 HR. His walks have almost exceeded last year’s total, but maybe that patience at the plate has taken away his power. He may want to go back to his style of hitting from last season.
Franklin Gutierrez. After hitting around .270 in his first two seasons, although in limited at bats, Gutierrez was expected to blossom as an every day player this season. He received the bulk of the time in RF down the stretch last season and was the star of training camp. However, he has not progressed in strike zone judgment and has looked lost at the dish in 2008, hitting just .227 with 3 HR. His strikeout rate is down from a year ago, but so is his walk rate. At this point, he looks very much like a fourth outfielder that is an excellent defender.
Paul Byrd. After last season’s 15 win season, some people (this blog) advised the front office against picking up Byrd’s option, citing his good year, bad year career. The veteran has been a huge disappointment after some early success, with a 3-9 record and an ERA of over 5.00. He has been giving up home runs at an alarming rate, particularly to left-handed hitters. He has been prone to the big inning, and his ineffectiveness has ruined any chance for a winning streak after following Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia in the rotation.
Jhonny Peralta. Peralta appears to be an odd year player. He had solid years in 2005 and 2007, but 2006 was a downer, and 2008 has been the same. His batting average is .244, but that’s a high water mark for the season. His on-base percentage is under .300. His strikeouts are down, but so are his walks. His defense is average at best, and if he’s not a key contributor offensively, it is tough to live with his shortcomings with the glove.
Excuses. This team has had injuries to key people, but enough using those injuries as excuses. The Red Sox have lost David Ortiz and Daisuke Matsuzaka; the Tigers have lost Gary Sheffield, Jeremy Bonderman, and now Magglio Ordonez. Eric Wedge talks about grinding it out all the time, but he and the front office haven’t done that. It’s time to play some different people. It should start with the release of David Dellucci and the call up of Michael Aubrey or a red hot Trevor Crowe.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 