The Cleveland Indians have started to play better baseball now that the schedule has lightened up a bit.
They have won four of their last five, and six of their last eight. They are currently 9-4 in June, and won series against the Twins and Yankees, two of the American League’s better teams.
The offense has been better lately, moving up to 11th in the AL in runs scored and OPS, but the Tribe is still 13th in slugging percentage, ahead of just Toronto and Detroit.
And Terry Francona still writes three hitters in nightly lineup with OPS of under 650: Jason Kipnis, Leonys Martin, and Jose Ramirez.
Despite hitting for the cycle on Friday night, Jake Bauers (.223/.306/.379) isn’t striking fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers.
These guys haven’t hit for awhile and yet, no changes have been made. Ramirez is different because he was one of the best players in baseball in 2017 and 2018, so he has earned and should get the benefit of the doubt.
Although, whether or not he should be hitting fifth is up for debate.
Fans and media alike have asked about the unreal amount of patience given to Kipnis, Martin, and Bauers. However, is it patience or fear?
The Indians sometimes operate as if they are afraid to give young players a chance for a variety of reasons. They worry about how a young player handles failure. They worry about a player they let go going somewhere else and having success.
We operate by a different theory. It’s called the “can’t do any worse” theory.
That takes the fear factor out of the equation.
Take Martin, for example. He’s hitting .204 with a 637 OPS to date this season. His strength was how he hit right-handed pitching, he’s never been a factor against southpaws. But he batting .220 with a 700 OPS vs. RHP thus far.
He’s batting .189 overall since May 1st.
Now, ask this question…could Greg Allen be worse than those numbers? We aren’t saying Allen is the next coming of Willie Mays or Mike Trout, but you have to think he could be better than what Martin has given you over the last six weeks.
Martin is also striking out at a career high rate, so it’s not as though he’s hitting in tough luck. Why not bring up Allen and give him regular playing time?
As for Jason Kipnis, we have heard him finding something in his swing before, so let’s say we are skeptical as to his success for the rest of the season. It’s pretty clear he’s not the same guy he was in 2016, and after two and a half years, that ship has sailed.
So, why not try Mark Mathias, who is hitting .294 with an 827 OPS at Columbus? Yes, we understand those numbers are much better than how he has performed at AA Akron the past two years, but maybe he found something in his swing.
You can also replace Bauers with Bobby Bradley, who is crushing the ball at Columbus.
We wouldn’t give up on Bauers, we think he can still be a productive major league hitter, but right now, he can’t put together any consistency. And that’s the name of the game in baseball.
Would switching out a third of your lineup turn the Tribe’s offensive fortunes around? What we do know is it couldn’t hurt.
It may be just getting over fear of the unknown to make it happen.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 