As the baseball season rapidly approaches the midway point, it is clear that the Cleveland Indians are a contender for a playoff spot due to the balance of the American League.
The Tribe currently sits at 37-39 on the season, but they are just five games out of first place in the AL Central, and are three games out of the second wild card spot in the AL.
However, it is also obvious that the Tribe is a flawed team, and it will be tough to make the post-season for a second straight year with the roster as currently constituted.
The Indians rank fifth in the AL in runs scored per game, but they have several holes in the lineup that have to be addressed. The league average OPS sits at 714 right now. The Tribe has three players getting regular at bats who sit way below this figure: Nick Swisher (595), Ryan Raburn (525) and Mike Aviles (631).
Since the Francona prefers 13 pitchers on the roster, that means 25% of the position players aren’t really producing at the plate.
Considering two of those players (Raburn and Aviles) get most of their playing time vs. left-handed pitching, you can see the Tribe is very susceptible against southpaws.
That forces the skipper to ride his regulars. Yan Gomes doesn’t get many days off and he’s playing a grueling position, as does Michael Bourn. David Murphy is probably being overexposed as well.
Also, Jason Kipnis isn’t hitting either (.247 batting average, 679 OPS), but he continues to hit in the middle of the lineup. And although Lonnie Chisenhall has been a pleasant surprise, even we would say it is doubtful he will continue to hit like he has thus far.
What happens when he cools off, which he has over the last two weeks.
Outside of Michael Brantley, who is having an all-star season, most of the players who are hitting are liabilities in the field. Chisenhall’s defense has been below average and SS Asdrubal Cabrera’s has been atrocious.
A logical move could be to move Cabrera to 3B, and let Chisenhall DH, and bring up prime prospect Francisco Lindor, but where does that leave the team’s highest paid player in Swisher?
As for the starting pitchers, Francona probably only feels comfortable when Corey Kluber takes the mound. The other four starters are inconsistent to say the least. Trevor Bauer shows the most promise, but no one knows what will happen when Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin take the hill.
And there really isn’t any help to come from within either. The manager doesn’t have confidence in Jose Ramirez and Jesus Aguilar to use them on a consistent basis, and the only starting pitcher options are lefty T.J. House, who was okay when he was here, and Danny Salazar, who struggled earlier in the campaign.
That means GM Chris Antonetti has to make a deal, and based on the inactivity in the off-season, Tribe fans can’t feel optimistic about that. The Indians farm system is getting better, but the front office seems to fear being burned giving up a young prospect.
And they can’t and shouldn’t deal Lindor or last year’s first round pick Clint Frazier for a player who at best would play here for a year and a half.
The point is this, the Indians are probably good enough to hand around the playoff race, but they are flawed and they don’t seem to want to correct those flaws.
The manager still believes guys like Raburn and Swisher will start hitting, and the front office doesn’t seem anxious to go outside for help.
That’s very frustrating to say the least.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 