The Cleveland Indians are 19 games below the break-even point going into the All Star break. That is the most important number regarding this ballclub. However, looking at some other statistics there are some other remarkable numbers that stand out.
· Victor Martinez leads the Indians with 34 extra base hits. Shin-Soo Choo is second with 32, but Grady Sizemore is third with 30, despite having 45 less at bats than the two players ahead of him. Sizemore’s slugging percentage ranks 4th on the team.
· The team leader in slugging percentage is Travis Hafner at .556 in only 135 at bats. This shows that if and when Hafner is in the lineup, he most definitely is still a productive hitter. He has also drawn 20 walks compared to 25 strikeouts on the year.
· Luis Valbuena has more extra base hits in 155 at bats (18) than Ryan Garko has in 208 at bats (17). Valbuena shows good pop for a middle infielder, but Garko’s total for a 1B/DH player is horrible. Hafner has 18 extra base hits in 135 at bats.
· Just about everyone agrees that Ben Francisco has had an awful year with the bat. However, his OPS of 714 is higher than that of Jhonny Peralta’s 710. Kelly Shoppach is worse than both of them at 697.
· Choo leads the Indians in both walks (54, tied for 4th in the AL) and strikeouts (85, tied for 7th in the AL).
· Martinez is the only other Tribesman in the top 25 in the Junior Circuit in walks, while both Peralta and Sizemore join Choo in the top 25 in strikeouts.
· As a team, Cleveland ranks 5th in the league in runs scored, 4th in walks, and 3rd in striking out.
· The Indians designated Matt Herges for assignment with an ERA of 3.55. In the last few weeks, they have added Chris Perez (12.46 ERA), Winston Abreu (10.80 ERA), and Jose Veras (5.68 ERA) to the roster.
· Rafael Perez ranks 2nd on the Indians in appearances with 31, behind only Kerry Wood’s 34 games pitched. He has appeared in this many games despite having an ERA of 8.88.
· Cliff Lee (6.7) and Carl Pavano (5.9) are the only Indian starters who average more than 5-1/2 innings per start this season. And you wonder why the Tribe bullpen is taxed?
· The biggest difference on the staff in comparing hits to innings pitched (less hits than innings) belongs to Tony Sipp, who has pitched all of 13 innings this year, allowing just five hits. The next best figure belongs to Rafael Betancourt, who has pitched 28-2/3 frames allowing 24 hits.
· The only starter who has allowed fewer hits than innings pitched is Aaron Laffey, who has pitched 40 innings and has allowed 39 hits. Of course, the southpaw has walked 21, while striking out just 20 batters.
· The only relievers who have a strikeout to walk ratio of better that 2 to 1 are Betancourt, Jensen Lewis (who allowed nine homers in 39 innings), and the aforementioned Herges, who couldn’t find a place in this bullpen.
· Raise your hand if you thought Pavano would have almost 23% of the Indians wins (8 out of 35) at the All Star break.
Looking at these numbers, I’m very happy the front office has decided to ride this thing out through the end of the year.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 