There is one word missing when describing the offense of the Cleveland Indians so far this season.
No, the word isn’t runs, although we could have used that. The real word we are talking about is consistency.
Just looking at the last three days, you can see what we are talking about. Thursday night, they lambasted the Reds, 13-0. That was followed by Cleveland being shutout by the White Sox, 2-0, and yesterday, they put seven up on the board in win over the Pale Hose.
Because baseball is a sport played pretty much on a daily basis, it is a sport where consistency is a must.
The Indians just haven’t gotten that, particularly from the top five men in the order, the players who figured to carry the burden of the offense this season, save for new 2B, Cesar Hernandez.
While Jose Ramirez has been the Tribe’s best hitter, Hernandez has been the most consistent.
The former Phillie has had a hit in all but three games in this young season, and in the games he hasn’t had a hit, he reached base via the walk. Quite frankly, he has done everything Terry Francona hoped for when he decided to lead him off.
In nine of the 15 games he’s played, he’s reached twice. So, he has certainly set the table for Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, and Franmil Reyes.
Ramirez leads the club in hits, home runs, RBIs, and OPS, but 10 of his 17 hits have come in three games, his homers have come in two games, and eight of his 11 ribbies have occurred in the same two games.
He recently went through an 0 for 15 on the last trip to Minnesota and Cincinnati.
Lindor had a two hit game in the 7-1 victory over Chicago, but it was only his third two hit game of the season. He’s walked just three times this season (once intentionally), and has only been on base more than once in a contest five times.
After striking out nine times in the first seven games, he has fanned just four times in the last nine. Hopefully, that a good sign for things to come.
Carlos Santana had two hits in each game of the doubleheader sweep at home against Chicago on July 28th, but has had just four hits since, and none have been home runs.
The good sign for him? Is there is such a thing as a walk tear, Santana is on one. He’s taken a free ride nine times in the last three games, and 13 times in the last seven games. He isn’t getting good pitches to hit, so he’s being very patient, which is way better than chasing and making outs.
Not a surprise, he leads the AL in walks this season with 20.
Reyes has perhaps struggled the most. Until his game winning HR Tuesday night in Cincinnati, he had just one extra base hit, and that was a groundball that eluded two Minnesota defenders and he hustled into second on what should have been a 6-3 or 4-3 putout.
He’s put together three straight two hit games, the first Indian that can say that this season. It would be nice if he could take a few more walks, but the Tribe needs Reyes to provide some pop, and two dingers this week were a sight for sore eyes.
When Cleveland gets something from the 6-9 spots in the order, they can score, but you can probably say that for most teams.
Tribe catchers are 3 for 51 on the season with no extra base hits and just one RBI.
Yesterday, Domingo Santana and Jordan Luplow joined Bradley Zimmer as the only outfielders to hit a home run.
While it would be nice for those spots in the order to get going, more consistent production is needed from the top five in the batting order. Hernandez has gotten the job done, now the next four hitters have to do the same.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 