When you are in a pennant race, and the Cleveland Indians are in one, if you have a slump, it cannot last very long.
That’s why the Indians need to stem the tide right away. They’ve now lost seven of their last nine games, and where they led the AL Central Division by a half game after a win over the Red Sox on August 13th, they are now three and a half games behind the Twins.
After that win, they had a two and a half game edge on Tampa Bay and a four and a half game bulge on Oakland, who would have been the first team out of the playoffs.
Today, they are on the outside looking in, a half game behind the Rays and A’s. That’s what happens when you have a bad week in a race for a playoff spot. What was once a comfortable lead, is now down to nail biting levels.
Now, Tampa Bay and Oakland are capable of having bad weeks too, but that’s their problem. The Indians have to pull them out of this themselves.
There are several issues at play here.
First, the offense was supposed to be bolstered with the acquisitions of Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes at the trade deadline, but the runs scored has dropped from 5.91 runs per game in July to 4.8 in August, and the latter figure includes the 19 run outburst in the first game at Yankee Stadium, otherwise they are scoring just 4.1 runs per game.
Roberto Perez has slumped at the plate, but his defense and handling of the staff is so valuable, he has to be in the lineup.
No doubt the Tribe misses Jordan Luplow vs. lefties, and the offense has become home run or bust recently. To us, it seems the patience at the plate has been lost, especially with runners in scoring position.
And quite frankly, to this point, Reyes hasn’t helped, hitting .154 with 26 strikeouts in 71 plate appearances.
The pitching has held up pretty well, even after the trade of Trevor Bauer. Cleveland allowed 4.27 runs in June, when they started playing well, 3.13 runs in July, and 3.81 runs in August, despite playing the high powered offenses of the Twins, Red Sox, and Yankees.
The team looks a little tired too. Coming from 11.5 games out to hold the lead in the division (at least for a day), took a toll, and with Terry Francona wanting an eight man bullpen, it doesn’t allow a rest for the non-platoon players, like Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Carlos Santana.
We feel the weariness is part of the reason for the sloppy play defensively over the past week.
Yes, the Indians have a home stand against the Royals this weekend and then go to the Detroit for another troika of games, but Tampa Bay follows that, and then a home set with the White Sox, who have been tough on the Indians.
It’s was inevitable that the Tribe cooled off after being so hot in June and July. If they would have played .500 ball over a 20 game stretch, that would have been fine, but if you are going to lose seven of nine, you have to respond with a winning streak.
That’s the new challenge for the 2019 edition of the Cleveland Indians.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 