It’s been a baseball season filled with ups and downs for the Cleveland Indians, but since they reside in the American League Central Division, Terry Francona’s squad coasted to the division title, the first team to clinch that spot in the big leagues this season.
We have said it all season, the Tribe lineup is very top heavy, and the team is in the top three in the AL in runs scored because of SS Francisco Lindor, 3B/2B Jose Ramirez, LF Michael Brantley, and to a lesser extent DH Edwin Encarnacion.
Beyond that quartet, there have been some hot streaks by other players, but you know it has been a tough season for many of the Indians’ hitters, when Melky Cabrera’s signing was important.
Over the last month, Lindor and Ramirez have regressed from their superman status offensively, Lindor kind of being a normal human being, while Ramirez has been in a slump.
That has made it difficult for the Indians to maintain a solid offense for the last four to six weeks.
If Josh Donaldson can be even close to the player he was in 2015 and 2016, he brings an additional impact to the lineup. And that is needed because the Indians rank in the lower third of the league in WAR at several positions.
They are second last in the AL in centerfield, fourth from the bottom in rightfield, and rank 10th (out of 15) at second base.
That’s why the front office gambled on Donaldson. That moves Ramirez to second, an upgrade, and Jason Kipnis, who isn’t having a great year, to center, where his off year is better than what the Tribe has had to use in the middle of the outfield.
Bradley Zimmer started the year out there, but struck out 44 times in a 114 plate appearance, before getting hurt and ending his season with a .226 batting average and a 611 OPS.
He was platooning with Rajai Davis, who is still active, and has an even worse OPS at 567, with just 8 extra base hits in 210 plate appearances.
By contrast, Roberto Perez, having a miserable year at the plate by anyone’s standards, has 10 extra base hits.
Greg Allen took over and by comparison has looked better, but he’s has a 613 OPS and a .241 batting average and 13 extra base hits.
Management traded for Leonys Martin from Detroit before the July 31st trade deadline, but he fell ill after playing six games, and that sent president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff scrambling.
The fear here is that the Indians will be one of those teams who are so deficient in certain areas that it offsets the greatness of Lindor and Ramirez, and the starting pitching, which claims three of the AL’s top ten in ERA, and four of the league’s top ten in strikeouts.
The Tribe’s likely first round opponent, the Astros, lead the league in ERA and in strikeouts. Meaning runs will probably be tough to come by, so even if the top of the order is hitting, someone will still need to step up to win the series.
Maybe it will be Encarnacion or Donaldson. Perhaps Kipnis will hit in the playoffs like he did in 2016, when he belted 4 homers and knocked in eight.
Unless the pitching staff is throwing shutouts, they will need more than Lindor, Brantley, and Ramirez. And remember, those three didn’t really hit well a year ago.
There can’t be anymore moves made, so the players on the roster are going to have to step up. The question is will they?
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 