The Cleveland Indians hit the halfway point in the season a very puzzling team to be sure. They finished the first half of the season 44-37, on a pace to win 88 games, far below what was projected coming into the campaign.
Their offense, although somewhat top heavy with Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, and Jose Ramirez, is still productive enough to rank 4th in the American League in runs scored (2nd last year), and the pitching staff has overcome a bad bullpen to still be 6th in the AL in ERA.
We will say this, the Indians under Terry Francona have been a second half team more often than not, and hopefully that trend will continue.
To date, here are the 27 game splits record wise in 2018:
Games 1-27: 15-12
Games 28-54: 14-13
Games 55-81: 15-12
They haven’t put together streaks where they played exceptional, nor have they been dreadful. The last week or so of play illustrates the point.
Cleveland finished a nine game homestand on a seven game winning streak. They followed that up by losing four of five on the subsequent road trip.
The great play within the division is both good and alarming. On one hand, you have to play well within the division to win it, and the Tribe has done that, going 20-12 vs. the other Central Division teams, and that includes a lackluster 3-6 vs. Minnesota.
However, that means the Tribe is a pedestrian 24-25 vs. everyone else. Keep in mind, the AL Central is the worst in baseball. So, when the Indians venture out of the division, they are a below .500 baseball team.
Part of the problem is the bullpen, which has been without Andrew Miller most of the year, and recently has been buoyed a bit by the emergence of Neil Ramirez (2.25 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 16 innings) and veteran lefty Oliver Perez (allowed one run and has 11 Ks in 10 frames).
Outside of this duo, and Cody Allen, the relief corps has been dreadful. The Indians still rank 14th (just ahead of Kansas City) in bullpen ERA, and is 5th in the AL in allowing home runs out of the ‘pen.
Zack McAllister and Dan Otero have each allowed seven dingers this year, while Cody Allen has allowed five, and Nick Goody and Josh Tomlin (in 15 relief innings) has allowed four.
Many times, as we saw the last two days in Oakland, the bullpen eliminate any opportunity for a comeback win by the offense, by giving up the long ball.
As for the bats, we have always said we try to be more patient than most, but the front office’s faith in Jason Kipnis has born fruit. Kipnis has his average up to .217 after hitting .266 in June. But, should he stay at 2B?
You see, centerfield for Cleveland has been a vortex of suck all season.
Bradley Zimmer had a 611 OPS, Greg Allen won the job while Zimmer was on the DL, and promptly went 1 for 33 after Zimmer was sent to the minor leagues.
Tyler Naquin inherited the gig from Allen, and hit .162 with four RBI in June.
Perhaps the Indians should go back to their playoff lineup from last season, and put Kipnis back in center, with Jose Ramirez shifting back to 2B, and call up Yandy Diaz to play third?
Just a thought.
And then we have Brandon Guyer. Guyer is still a solid hitter vs. southpaws, hitting .246 with an 832 OPS. However, when Guyer came over at the deadline in 2016, he hit .216 vs. right handers (628 OPS). Not great, but passable.
Last year, though injury plagued to be fair, those numbers dropped to a .204 batting average and a 577 OPS.
This year, he is 1 for 39 against righties. Keep in mind, rookie PITCHER Shane Bieber is 1 for 3 vs. right-handers.
There has to be another alternative.
The second half of the season starts in Oakland today, and here’s hoping Francona and the front office find solutions to the problems. Again, the Central Division isn’t really in jeopardy. It would be a shock if the Tribe didn’t win the division.
But they are playing against their own expectations, so they need to get better.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 