Tribe Needs Some “Average” Hitters.

The new wave baseball people will not want to hear this.

Although we agree with many of the tenets of the statistic oriented baseball experts who opine on the sport on a regular basis, the devaluing of the batting average stats is one we aren’t sure about.

There is no question that OPS is a credible stat, and we use it to judge the offensive ability of a player on a regular basis.

And while on base percentage is very important because it measures a hitters’ ability to NOT make an out, getting hits is important too.

In trying to analyze the offense of the Cleveland Indians, that is the one stat that separates the top three offenses in the American League from Terry Francona’s club.

Take for example, the Red Sox, who lead the American League in runs scored with 616, an average of 4.97 per game.

They have hit one less home run that the Tribe, yet score a third of a run per game more than the Indians.

One of the reasons is their team batting average is 20 points higher than Cleveland’s, which in turn makes their on base percentage .022 higher.

You might blame the Indians propensity to strikeout, but the Red Sox have fanned pretty much the same number of times as the Tribe.

The Indians rank 8th in the AL in batting average, 26 points behind the Tigers, who rank 2nd in the AL in runs scored, and they are 11 points behind Baltimore, who are third.

Now, we understand that batting average can be an empty statistic, as guys can hit .290 and be singles hitters who never walk, and therefore are not good offensive players. Those guys don’t add much to an attack.

Currently, the Indians have just one player with over 200 at bats and a batting average over .290: Jason Kipnis. Yan Gomes is hitting over .300, but doesn’t qualify at this time, although he is getting more playing time.

Kipnis has 47 extra base hits, which leads the Tribe.

By contrast, Boston has four such players: Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz, and Daniel Nava, with the latter’s 28 extra base hits the least of the quartet. Detroit also has four players who qualify: Miguel Cabrera, Omar Infante, Jhonny Peralta, and Torii Hunter, with Victor Martinez probably joining them soon, as hot as he has been. Infante’s 26 extra base hits are the least among those Tigers.

Baltimore has three batters who qualify: Chris Davis, Manny Machado, and Adam Jones and every one of that trio has over 50 extra base hits.

The Tribe’s next best hitter for average is Michael Brantley, who certainly has been special in clutch situations this season, but still has only 30 extra base hits, less than Asdrubal Cabrera, who has had a sub-par year at the dish, and only three more than Drew Stubbs.

The lack of hitters with the ability to get hits hampers the offense because they can only score with home runs or by using situational hitting, and that isn’t always a constant.

They don’t have a great ability to string three or four hits together, mixed with a walk here and there to put together a big inning. That’s because they don’t have high average hitters.

That’s something that needs to be looked at in the off-season, because if they can add a couple of .280-.300 hitters into the lineup, they could be a run scoring machine.

Browns Looking Professional So Far

There is no question that you can’t take a lot from NFL preseason games.

For one reason, you don’t know the motivation of the opponent. There is no way to tell if the team you are playing is trying to win, or simply just get out of there without getting anyone hurt.

All Pro T Joe Thomas said after the first game that it was easy to block the Rams defensive line because they were basically just standing there.

However, there are some good things to say about the Cleveland Browns after two games that do not involve talking about their 2-0 record in games that do not count.

In watching the two games, the team looks crisp. Gone are the silly penalties that occurred throughout each of the last two seasons, and they don’t seem to be struggling to get plays off before the play clock goes off.

To simplify, they seem less confused.

They also seem more willing to throw the ball downfield, not using the dink and dunk attack used by Pat Shurmur when he was running the offense. To be fair, QB Brandon Weeden has made a huge mistake such as throwing a critical interception.

When that occurs, we will see if coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner get conservative with the play calling in order to avoid mistakes, or if they will continue to be aggressive. The guess here is if Turner gets his way, Weeden will continue to stretch the field more than he did in his rookie season.

Trent Richardson saw his first action last night getting six carries for 33 yards. But one play stood out to us.

Richardson took a pitchout, ran wide and gained eight yards. Last year, for whatever reason, the third overall pick in 2012 ran almost exclusively between the tackles, which was odd because you would think you would want linebackers and defensive backs trying to bring him down.

Turner has a history of developing tight ends as well, and Jordan Cameron has been able to get up the field and caught two TD throws against the Lions.

It is tough to judge the defense because WR Calvin Johnson, arguably the best wide receiver in the game, didn’t play for Detroit, but in watching the action, defensive coordinator Ray Horton seems to be true to his word. He wants to get after the quarterback.

The days of watching “bend, but don’t break” schemes appears to be over.

The Browns may give up big plays at times, but fans won’t have to watch 14 play drives where the opponent has the ball for seven minutes endlessly.

Individually, NT Phil Taylor seems poised for a very good year, making impact plays thus far. And OLB Jabaal Sheard looks like he can definitely make the conversion to his new position.

The defense is fast and aggressive, which is something not seen in Cleveland for a long time.

This is not to say that the Browns are going to the playoffs this season. Remember, when they take the field at FIrst Energy Stadium at September 8th, their record will be 0-0.

But after watching this team over the last five seasons, it is refreshing to see a product that resembles a professional football team.

That’s progress anyway you measure it.

Tribe Offense Succeeds or Fails as Team

The Cleveland Indians hitting has struggled as of late. That is no secret.

They have scored just 21 runs in their last eight games, seven of which have been losses. Scoring less than three tallies per night will not translate to a lot of victories in the American League.

However, a look at the AL team batting statistics shows the Tribe ranked fourth in the junior circuit in runs scored, making them one of the more prolific attacks in the league.

Why doesn’t it seem that way?

Certainly, any team that is not hitting looks lethargic and that is playing into the feeling that the Indians need some hitting. The other reason is that there isn’t really one Tribesman having a huge year at the dish.

Jason Kipnis is having a solid season, his best in the major leagues, but his numbers project to this for a full season: .290, 20 HR, and 94 RBIs. Good numbers, but they aren’t big time statistics.

With Mark Reynolds being released (he is still tied for the team lead in home runs), it appears Kipnis will be the only Indians who will hit 20 dingers, and unless someone gets scalding hot, no Cleveland player will knock in 100 runs this season.

The only other regular with an OPS of over 800 is Carlos Santana and right now his numbers projected to .262, 17 HR, and 68 RBI, numbers comparable to last season, which was considered a down year for the switch-hitter.

There is no question Terry Francona has received a huge lift from his bench, particularly from Ryan Raburn and Yan Gomes, who is starting to get more and more playing time.

Raburn has 13 homers and 38 ribbies in a little over 200 plate appearances, but he is succeeding because he has been used on a limited basis. His previous employers tried using him everyday and he has a horrible year.

That’s the reason he is in Cleveland rather than Detroit.

Gomes is just 25 years old and is giving the skipper more and more reasons to put him in the lineup more often.

The catcher acquired in the heist that also brought Mike Aviles in exchange for Esmil Rogers, has 8 home runs and 28 RBIs in less than 200 plate appearances, and he’s hitting for average too at .310 for the season.

And he’s hitting over .300 against both right-handed pitchers and southpaws, which gives Francona more reason to start giving him everyday at bats.

Yes, the Tribe bats have got hot at times and that is a reason they rank 4^th in the league in scoring.

They are 6^th in the league in home runs, but as noted earlier, they may not have anyone hit more than 20.

They are 5^th in the AL in drawing walks, but no one will walk 100 times for the season. The leaders in getting free passes are Santana (60), Kipnis (54), and Nick Swisher (54).

The point is that the Tribe has a very balanced lineup. That works to their advantage at times, but when many guys aren’t hitting, they don’t have that one great bat that can carry them.

Kipnis did it in June when he was red-hot, but no one else has approached that level since.

That’s why the attack is sputtering. If no one gets hot and soon, it will be very difficult for the Indians to reach the post-season this season, and it makes it a necessity to get a big time hitter for next season.

Things That Make Us Say “Who Cares”

With two sports talks stations in the Cleveland area, there are many times the hosts have to try to create controversy to get people to call in to their shows.

Since the Indians were swept in a huge series and the Browns played their first exhibition game this week, you would think this would be one of those times where the action on the respective fields would have been enough to generate an audience.

Here are four subjects that made us say “Who Cares?”

INDIANS

Neither thing took place on the field, because a real fans would have to be upset at four straight defeats at the hand of the Tigers.

The first was the “Detroit’s bankrupt” chant that offended some people as a response to the Tigers’ fans rubbing it in the faces of Tribe fans during the games at Progressive Field. Why does this bother anyone?

They weren’t chanting the city was morally bankrupt, that might be considered offensive. The fact is the city did file for bankruptcy protection, so there was nothing untrue involved.

Cleveland, the city, and its fans have been taking it from people all around the country for years, and now, we can’t give a little jab to another city who is having it tough? Besides, we have gone to games in other cities over the years, and we aren’t obnoxious in our support for the hometown squad.

Cheer for your team all you want you are a supporter of a visiting team, just don’t start chants rubbing it in the face of the host squad.

Actually, it was quite funny that Tribe fans thought of this. Made us wish we’d have started it.

The second “incident” was the Indians’ players laughing when Ryan Raburn pitched the top of the ninth in the last game of the Detroit series.

No doubt, the players were chuckling over seeing a popular teammate on the hill for the first time. It does not mean that Terry Francona has “lost” the team, nor does it mean the players don’t take the game seriously.

Baseball isn’t a sport where you can say if you try really, really hard in the bottom of the ninth, you could make up the eight run deficit Cleveland was facing. In fact, after the game Jason Giambi held a team meeting to remind everyone there is a long way to go in the season. No one was laughing about being swept or losing 10-2.

There was no reason to make a big deal about it.

Browns

The big debate for football fans was Trent Richardson not playing in the first preseason game vs. the Rams. After all, the second year man out of Alabama has never played in one of these games.

Here’s a big reason that the coaching staff held Richardson out…IT DIDN”T COUNT!!!!

If Rob Chudzinski decides to get his starting running back carries in games #2 and #3, and sits him out in the last exhibition tilt, that would be perfectly fine here. It is better to keep him fresh for the regular season, where he will be expected to carry a large load.

The same goes for any nicked up player held out by the staff. It is better to have them ready in September.

The biggest “who cares” is regarding the results of the first preseason game. Yes, the Browns won, and yes, they looked like they knew what they were doing, in sharp contrast with the past few seasons.

However, the game didn’t count, and the Browns will still be 0-0 for three more weeks.

And yes, we’d be saying the same thing if they would have lost. There were things to be excited about, but the score ranked way down on that list.

Tribe Still Control Post-Season Fate

It’s been a tough week so far for the Cleveland Indians.

They lost four games to the division leading Detroit Tigers, two of them in excruciating fashion, losing a 2-0 lead in the ninth inning of the series opener on Monday night, and then losing in 13 frames on Wednesday on a Prince Fielder double, 6-5.

Oh, and they also lost Corey Kluber, who pitched 7-1/3 shutout innings on Monday and was having an excellent season to date, for four to six weeks with a sprained middle finger.

They also designated Mark Reynolds for assignment yesterday. Reynolds hit .301 with 8 HR and 22 RBI in April, and since has batted just .187 with 7 HR and 26 batted in. It has been clear for the past month that skipper Terry Francona lost confidence in the former Oriole and Diamondback, so it wasn’t a totally unexpected move.

Many fans, mostly the fair weather football minded ones, are writing off the rest of the baseball season.

To be sure, if the team doesn’t put this week behind them, the Indians will fall out of the race soon and the rest of the summer will be about the Browns and football season.

However, this isn’t the 2011 and 2012 version of the Tribe and Francona is now the manager, so it is doubtful that will happen.

Why? Because the Indians have a lot to play for, namely a berth in the post-season tournament.

Even after the debacle at Progressive Field the past four days, the Tribe is just three games out of a wild card spot, trailing the incumbent Texas Rangers and Baltimore, with the Royals right on their heels.

Keep in mind there are still 47 games left on the schedule, plenty of time to pass both teams.

The upcoming schedule will be tough to be sure. After this weekend series vs. the Angels, Francona’s crew plays 18 of the next 21 games on the road, playing possible playoff teams like Oakland, Atlanta, and Detroit (ugh!) once again. They also visit Minnesota and Los Angeles too, with the Twins visiting for the only three home games in this stretch.

If the Tribe can pull together and play like they had been playing prior to these four games, and there really isn’t reason they can’t, they will have a good shot at a wild card appearance.

Here are some things that could happen in the next couple of weeks–

First, the Reynolds’ assignment could be a precursor to the addition of a bat to bolster the offense. GM Chris Antonetti is said to be looking for another bat, and could make a move soon. Remember, anybody than can bring more production than Reynolds gave the team over the last three months will help the club.

Zack McAllister has not pitched as well since returning to the rotation after his finger injury as he had before he went on the disabled list, and if that continues, don’t be surprised to see Daisuke Matsuzaka get a shot for a few starts.

The former Red Sox pitcher has done very well in the last month at Columbus, and the front office may want to see what he can offer the big club.

There is no question the Tigers’ series was a huge disappointment, but the Tribe can’t and won’t let it linger. They still have a legitimate chance at the post-season.

Now, it’s just a matter of putting up as many wins as they can.

Don’t Forget, Tribe Has Two Shots at Playoffs

Going into tonight’s series against the Detroit TIgers, baseball fans in Cleveland looked at the four game set as a showdown for the American League Central Division lead.

Tonight’s crushing defeat has Tribe fans all over the area panicking because the pennant race is slipping away.

But Indians’ supporters are missing something else, Going into tonight’s game, both Cleveland and Detroit would make the playoffs because the Tribe held the lead in the wild card chase by a half game over the Texas Rangers.

That’s right, with all of the experts saying all season long that the non-division winners that qualify for post-season play would come out of the tough AL East and AL West, here sit the Indians with a playoff spot if the season ended today.

It doesn’t of course, but no longer is it a shoo-in that the wild card will come from one of the coastal divisions.

Several things have happened to teams in those divisions that give the Tribe a fighting chance at a post-season spot.

It is very probable that one of the wild card teams comes out of the East, with the loser in the Boston-Tampa Bay dogfight getting a spot. Right now, the Rays have a 4-1/2 game lead for a berth.

At this moment, the Indians, Rangers, and Orioles are all within a game and a half of each other for the spot to play either the Red Sox or Rays.

The Royals and Yankees, who figured to be a certain playoff team, are the same number of games behind the Indians as Cleveland is behind Tampa Bay. So, while both teams have a plausible chance to win the last spot, they would have to jump over three teams.

That’s why fans can’t overreact even if the Tigers would sweep the Indians at Progressive Field. If that happened, the Tribe would be seven games behind the Detroit, but they would still probably be within two or three games of the wild card.

And Cleveland would only have three more games against the Jim Leyland’s crew the rest of the way. Even ESPN’s Buster Olney noted the other day that the Tribe’s last 17 games are against the Royals, Twins, White Sox, and Astros.

That’s a lot of games against lower echelon teams if Terry Francona’s squad is in contention going into the last three weeks of the season.

Yes, it would be good to stay within striking distance of the Tigers as well, giving them two chances at making the post-season. And it would be nice to stop allowing the Tigers to steal wins as they did tonight.

However, fans need to look at the big picture.

There are still 50 games remaining in the season, and no matter what happens the next three days, when the Tribe plays the Angels this weekend, they will still be in the playoff mix.

They do have a tough stretch on the road after this weekend, with 18 of their next 21 games away from Cleveland. Among the teams Francona’s crew will play are playoff teams like Oakland, Atlanta, and Detroit.

That more than this week will likely determine the Indians’ fate.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words on Jimenez

We just finished reading Terry Francona’s book (written with Dan Shaughnessy) about his days with the Boston Red Sox.

First of all, we recommend that all Tribe fans read the book, because it gives tremendous insight on how the skipper relates to players, and to what kind of players he likes.

It is no surprise after reading the book how much Francona values Jason Giambi in his clubhouse.

Francona also talks about his managerial philosophy in regards to handling players in the media. Basically, no matter how upset he is with a player, he handles it privately and publicly backs the player in question.

The reason we are bringing this up is today’s announcement that the Indians will bring up Danny Salazar to start Wednesday night’s contest vs. the Tigers, a big series for Cleveland. While it’s probably not make or break because it is the beginning of August, it is more important than the series at the beginning of July because it’s later in the season.

Still, the Indians need to show the Tigers they can beat them, and there are only seven games remaining between the two teams.

Although Francona always speaks in positive tones about Ubaldo Jimenez, his actions tell us something else.

The manager couldn’t have been pleased at Friday night’s performance where the right hander threw 107 pitches in four innings, making Francona have to use his bullpen for four innings.

This after arguably Jimenez best start of the season, an eight inning effort against the Rangers where he didn’t allow a run.

It says here that’s the problem for the skipper, Jimenez is inconsistent and can’t be counted on to pitch well.

Yes, the error by Asdrubal Cabrera on a possible double play ball in the first, a mistake the shortstop took full responsibility for, made the pitcher throw a lot more pitches than he would have had to without the bobble. However, it was still first and second with one out against a Marlins’ team that isn’t known for swinging the bat.

Jimenez allowed three more hits in the inning (to be fair, one was a bloop double by Logan Morrison), and had to throw 23 more pitches. But he threw 34 more pitches in the second inning and allowed another run before Cabrera’s second error of the game.

You would think that after shutting out Texas for eight innings and facing a poor hitting Miami team, Jimenez would come out and be aggressive, challenging the hitters. He didn’t, and that has to drive Francona and pitching coach Mickey Calloway crazy.

Francona cited Jimenez poor results against Detroit this season (1-2, 6.93 ERA) as the reason for the move, and said he would make his next appearance against the Angels on Friday, but more likely the real reason is his lack of confidence in having Jimenez pitch well in a key game against the division leaders.

Certainly, the desire to see more of Salazar, who has been dominating in AAA, striking out 78 in 59-1/3 innings of work with the Clippers, and allowing just two earned runs in his last 33-1/3 frames.

If the kid throws another good game against Detroit, it could lead to him staying and being used out of the bullpen for the rest of the season. Imagine him coming in every third or fourth day for two or three innings.

This is a bold move by Francona and GM Chris Antonetti. Regardless of how it works out, you have to commend them for making the move.

Santana and Cabrera Can’t Catch Break

We understand that radio sports talk shows and Twitter are not representative of the feelings of the majority of sports fans anywhere, particularly in Cleveland. However, in listening and reading daily, there seems to be a lack of support for two regulars for the Cleveland Indians.

Those players are Carlos Santana and Asdrubal Cabrera.

Santana got off to a great start in 2013, hitting .389 with 5 HR and 13 RBI in April. Still, he is putting together his best full season with the Tribe, batting .272 with 12 HR and 48 RBI for the season. He currently is enjoying career highs in batting average and on base percentage, and has a 835 OPS and anything over 800 is very good.

For the stat guys out there, Santana ranks as the fourth best catcher in baseball in VORP (value over replacement player) behind just Buster Posey, Yadier Molina, and Joe Mauer. Posey and Mauer are former MVPs and Molina is a viable candidate for the award this season.

Much of the criticism of Santana comes on his handling of the pitching staff. However, the Tribe pitcher’s ERA with Santana behind the plate is 4.17, not all that different from the 3.87 figure with Yan Gomes, the new people’s choice. The league ERA is 4.32, so Santana is better than average.

Santana has struggled in throwing runners out on the basepaths, getting just 12% of the runners stealing, and he has been behind the plate for 38 of the league leading 56 wild pitches thrown by Tribe hurlers.

Granted, he’s not the second coming of Johnny Bench defensively, but he’s still one of the better catchers in the game and a very good offensive player. What’s not to like about a player, who at 27 is just entering the prime of his career.

Cabrera is tougher to defend because he is having an off-season in 2013, but he still is a two-time All-Star at shortstop, and still puts up solid numbers offensively at a defensive position.

According to VORP, Cabrera ranks right in the middle of American League shortstops, between Erick Aybar and Stephan Drew.

He could be suffering from having a down year after two solid offensive seasons, both of which he tailed in the second half, but he’s solid, not spectacular defensively. He also probably suffers from not being Omar Vizquel, one of the more popular Indians of the late 90’s.

Before the trade deadline, there were a lot of fans who wanted GM Chris Antonetti to trade the team’s starting shortstop for pitching prospects and turn the job over to Mike Aviles.

Admittedly, it may be prudent to deal Cabrera over the off-season with prize prospect Francisco Lindor possibly being ready for the big leagues as early as next season. But to trade him now would be crazy.

Neither Santana nor Cabrera is an outgoing player with the media, probably because they aren’t comfortable speaking English, their second language. That doesn’t play well in Cleveland, where talkative players become popular ones.

However, the reality is both are solid, if not very good players and both are extremely important to Terry Francona and the Indians. Most teams would love to have both guys playing regularly in their lineups.

Both players should get the benefit of the doubt from the ticket buying public. It’s a shame they seem to be more criticized than appreciated.

No Big Move for Tribe Now

The trading deadline came and went for the Cleveland Indians, and the only move they made at this point was getting another left-handed reliever, Marc Rzepczynski from St. Louis for a minor league shortstop.

The move certainly filled a need because Terry Francona needed another southpaw to go with Rich Hill to match up against tough lefty hitters.

While many are looking at the newcomer’s 7.84 ERA with the Cardinals and sneer, remember that he pitched just 10-1/3 innings in the big leagues in 2013, and with relief pitchers, ERA can be a very misleading statistic.

For his career, Rzepczynski has faced 365 left-handed hitters and limited them to a .224 batting average with 94 punchouts and a 607 OPS. This year he allowed five hits in 18 at bats vs. left-handed batters with four strikeouts, but right-handed batters were crushing him.

He most definitely is a LOOGY (left-handed one out guy) and Francona will most definitely use him that way, limiting his exposure to batters from the opposite side of the plate.

The bigger news coming from the deal is who the new guy replaced on the roster, as the Tribe sent VInnie Pestano back to Columbus.

While many fans were outraged by this news, after all, Pestano was arguably the best set up man in the big leagues the last two seasons, we believe it was the only move that could be made.

Who else should have been sent out?

SInce being taken out of the eighth inning role by Francona a few weeks ago, Pestano hasn’t done anything that showed the skipper he is ready to resume his usual spot in the bullpen.

And right now, the only pitcher who is struggling out of the ‘pen is another veteran Joe Smith, who took over Pestano’s eighth inning duties, and not with good results. However, Smith has over five years of big league time, so he can’t be sent out without his permission.

That makes Pestano, who has lost the confidence of his manager, the logical one to go.

The former set up man needs to go back, regain his own confidence (his walks are way up this season) and get back to helping this team in the stretch drive. The last two seasons, he walked 24 batters in 62 and 70 innings respectively, while this year he has issued 19 free passes in 33 innings of work.

It would have been nice to get another proven starter for the rotation, not that the starting pitching hasn’t been good thus far, but there aren’t a lot of proven pitchers on the list, so getting one would have enhanced the Tribe’s chance.

It also would have been nice to get another right-handed hitter to replace Mark Reynolds, who has fallen out of favor with the management because he’s really done nothing since the end of April.

GM Chris Antonetti said the asking prices were too high, and really, there weren’t a big slew of deals at this deadline because some teams are looking at the second wild card and thinking they are still in the race, a misguided notion for many of those teams (Seattle, Philadelphia).

There still is the waiver wire and some nice pieces could be moved in August. As long as the Indians play well, they will be in the market to help their ballclub.

For now, the deal they did make will help.

Numbers Show Tribe Needs Hitting

The Cleveland Indians lost four out of six games on their trip to Minnesota and Seattle after the All-Star Game despite outscoring their opponents 25-14 in the contests.

The Tribe ranks 4^th in the American League in runs scored, yet it seems like they struggle to score runs on a nightly basis.

The Indians have scored more than 10 runs nine times this season, scoring 117 of their 479 tallies in those games. That means they have put 24% of their runs on the board in those nine games, which represent 9% of their schedule.

The question is this: Is this normal?

We checked the American League leader in runs scored, the Boston Red Sox, to see if Cleveland’s situation was abnormal.

The Red Sox have scored ten or more runs 11 times, putting up 126 runs of their season total of 519 in those games. That would be the same 24% as the Tribe’s total.

The Detroit Tigers are second in the AL in scoring. They’ve gone above 10 runs in a game ten times, scoring 110 of their 505 runs in those contests. That’s 22% of their total.

Here is a chart, which also includes the top three scoring teams in the National League:

Times 10+ Runs in 10+ games Total Runs Percentage

Cleveland 9 117 479 24.4%

Boston 11 126 519 24.4%

Detroit 10 110 505 21.8%

Baltimore 7 74 490 15.1%

St. Louis 13 146 492 30.0%

Cincinnati 10 119 456 26.0%

Colorado 7 75 445 17.0%

It appears the Indians’ offense is fairly normal compared to the other top scoring teams in the major leagues. You probably would want an offense like Baltimore’s, which according to these numbers would seem to be more consistent.

On the other hand, Colorado has the most similar offense to the Orioles and they have a losing record. And before you blame their pitching, it ranks in the National League where the Indians’ rank in the AL (12^th).

However, when the Tribe scores over 10 runs, they really score over 10 runs. They average 13 runs per game when they get into double figures, a full run more than the Reds. Having two games where they scored 19 runs helps build your total.

In the 92 games where they haven’t scored in double digits, they average less than four runs per night (3.9). The Tigers and Orioles score 4.4 runs in their non-10 run games, and the Red Sox get 4.3 runs in those contests.

It’s tough to win when you can’t score four runs per game on a consistent basis.

So, maybe the people who say that GM Chris Antonetti needs to get another bat are correct. The offense needs to be more consistent. The Tribe doesn’t need to score another run per game, but averaging another half run would be nice.

It would allow the starting pitchers to pitch in less stressful situations.

Obviously, having Asdrubal Cabrera and Nick Swisher get back to their normal numbers would help, but this team needs more runs to stay in the race and it has to come from somewhere.

Let’s look at it another way. The league average for OPS is 726. Right now, the Tribe has only six batters above average, and only four are regulars: Jason Kipnis (892), Carlos Santana (837), Nick Swisher (746), and Asdrubal Cabrera (729). They also have two highly productive bench players above the mark in Ryan Raburn (914) and Yan Gomes (799).

By contrast, six Red Sox and Tigers’ regulars are above the mark, and Detroit has two more players above the mark on the bench.

There is no doubt that pitching wins in baseball. However, in the regular season, you have to score runs to make the playoffs. Despite the overall numbers, the Indians need help in that area.