Questioning Baker? Way Too Soon.

There is no question Baker Mayfield hasn’t played to the level he finished last season at.

His completion percentage has dropped from 63.8% to 56.6% and his interception rate has increased from 2.9% to 5.6%, almost double of his rookie season.

However, talk that he isn’t the answer to the Browns’ decade long quarterback issues is way too premature.

First, last season’s number were compiled over 14 games, 13 of them starts. This year, he has played just six games. So, there is a decent chance some of his numbers can improve over the next eight games.

This isn’t to say Mayfield has been blameless in the Browns’ difficulties in the early going. His interception just before halftime vs. Seattle was reckless considering the situation.

And yes, we know Jarvis Landry got a hand on the throw, but their were three defenders in the area, and considering the score at the time (Browns were leading 20-12), the better decision would have been to throw the ball in the seats and live to play another down.

On the other hand, Dontrell Hilliard and Antonio Callaway should have held on to passes each of the last two weeks, instead of popping them up into hands of defenders.

Quite frankly, it’s way too soon to jump off the bandwagon.

Mayfield’s biggest issue in our opinion is he is too aggressive at times. That’s a good thing in most football circumstances, but when he learns when to pull back on the throttle at times, we feel everyone will see a much more efficient (and better) player.

Some guys never get this, so we aren’t saying it will happen for sure.

What we do know is in the last seven games in 2018, Mayfield was sacked three times. Total. This year, in six games, he has been tackled for loss 16 times. That’s a huge difference, and most definitely could be a reason for diminished stats.

How many times have you heard opposing coaches say a quarterback can’t hurt them if he’s laying flat on his back.

How did the Giants beat the Patriots in two Super Bowls? The put pressure on Tom Brady. And as former Browns’ executive Ernie Accorsi has said, the two most important positions on the field are the QB and a guy who can get to the opposing QB.

No coincidence that when the Browns had the first overall picks in both 2017 and 2018 they took Myles Garrett and Mayfield.

What we don’t see, and this leads us to believe this is a blip on the radar, is a passer not being able to throw guys open, or missing wide open receivers.

Mayfield has had two games where he has hit over 65% of his throws this season (vs. Houston and vs. Baltimore).

And he’s not dinking and dunking either. The former Heisman Trophy winner ranks third in the league in average yards per completion at 13.4, behind only Patrick Mahomes and Jameis Winston.

Also, of the 10 worst pass defenses statistically, the Browns have faced one, Baltimore.

Conversely, they’ve faced two of the top 10 squads: San Francisco and Tennessee. So, Mayfield has seen more real good defenses than real bad ones.

Browns Have Plenty To Fix During Week Off.

Back in the late 1960’s, when the Browns were heading into a playoff game, the late sports editor of The Plain Dealer, Hal Lebovitz used to talk about “zero defects”, meaning the football team needed to stay away from mistakes in these big games.

We thought about that as we watched Sunday afternoon, when the Browns squandered a 20-6 lead and fell to 2-4 after a 32-28 loss to Seattle.

Freddie Kitchens’ squad is second in the NFL in turnovers on the season with 14, sandwiched in between the New York Giants and Tampa Bay, two teams who didn’t come into the season with big playoff aspirations.

And the Browns also are tied for the league lead in penalties (with Atlanta), and they have accumulated the most yards penalized to date.

You put those two things together, and it is amazing the Browns have won two games.

It is difficult for a coach to tell his team not to commit turnovers and still have them be aggressive, but in the past two games, interceptions before halftime have hurt the Browns badly.

This past Sunday, Baker Mayfield’s pick with a 20-12 lead and under two minutes to go was a terrible decision. The intended receiver, Jarvis Landry, was surrounded by defenders. With the score in his favor, the quarterback should throw the ball in Lake Erie instead of trying to fit one in.

At the very least, Cleveland should’ve went into the half with a 23-12 lead.

Now, it wasn’t Mayfield’s fault the defense let Seattle go 88 yards to cut the lead to 20-18 before intermission.

After a promising start to the season, the defense has been bad the past three weeks, allowing at least 175 yards rushing in each contest.

Here is a current list of the worst teams in the NFL against the run:

Cincinnati (0-6)
Miami (0-5)
Kansas City (4-2)
Cleveland (2-4)
Washington (1-5)

Another old adage for football teams is if you can’t run the ball and stop the run, it’s tough to win, and that holds true even in today’s pass happy NFL.

You can see from this list, you have to have an overwhelming offense to overcome not being able to stop teams from running the ball, and the Chiefs have lost two straight because their opponents have controlled the clock and played keep away.

Kitchens said during training camp the defensive front might be the strength of the team, but right now it looks far from that, and as for the pass rush, the Browns rank 4th, but it seems like if it isn’t Myles Garrett (9) applying the pressure, it simply isn’t there.

Cleveland is only in the middle of the pack in terms of quarterback pressures.

We understand it’s a pretty simplistic viewpoint, but it’s clear these are the two areas to clean up during the bye week.

The defense has to be better against the ground game. They cannot let opponents control the line of scrimmage and gash them for big yardage.

Offensively, they have to hold on to the ball, you cannot continue to turn it over at this rate and win football games.

It has been a brutal schedule to be sure. Cleveland has played two of the best five teams in the NFL thus far (San Francisco and Seattle) and will play another one (New England) in their next game.

The team currently leading the division, Baltimore, has to play the 49ers and Seahawks, as well as the Rams.

So, the division is still in play.

But the Browns have to get into “zero defects” mode. If they can, this season will still have a long way to go.

Tribe Should Be Active In Hot Stove

Let’s make this very clear, the Cleveland Indians have never asked us for advise on running the team.

However, that doesn’t stop us from making suggestions on what they should be thinking about this winter.

Here is what we would do starting the day after the World Series ends so the Indians can return to the American League playoffs in 2020 as Central Division champions.

We agree with the decisions they’ve said they will make already. That means we would pick up the option on Corey Kluber and decline the options on Jason Kipnis and Dan Otero.

Yes, we know Kluber struggled in his seven starts in 2019, but as we just said, it’s seven starts. And there will be less burden on the two time Cy Young Award winner, with the emergence of Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber. If Kluber can provide 200 innings in ’20, he is well worth the $17.5 million the Tribe will pay him.

We would also decline to offer Danny Salazar and Cody Anderson arbitration and we would add one more name to that list in Kevin Plawecki. If we were Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, we would look for an upgrade to back up Roberto Perez.

To replace Kipnis, we would look for a third baseman, either on the trade market or in free agency (most likely the former) and move Jose Ramirez to second base.

We think there will be some bargains available in free agency at one of those positions. A one year deal would be ideal because top prospect Nolan Jones is on the horizon, if he can cut down on his strikeouts.

We would also strongly suggest to Terry Francona to get Francisco Lindor out of the leadoff spot. Besides Jordan Luplow, Lindor had the highest slugging percentage on the team, clubbing 74 extra base hits, nine more than Carlos Santana.

Wouldn’t it be nice if some of those extra base knocks came with men on base? The shortstop bats at least once every game with no one on by leading off.

We know Francona likes Lindor to set a tone in that spot, but when the offense has fallen off like it did in ’19, it might be more efficient to put someone who gets on base consistently in the leadoff spot (Carlos Santana?) and move Lindor to the #2 or #3 spot.

Speaking of Lindor, the biggest thing the Indians front office should do is take care of his contract situation, and by that we mean open up the purse strings and sign him long term.

And as we have said before, we don’t buy for a minute the notion that the ownership can’t keep Lindor in a Cleveland uniform long term, nor do we think the Tribe can’t be competitive and pay the shortstop a boatload of money.

Somehow, they have to shore up leftfield, which was a sinkhole for much of 2019. We would recommend seeing if Jordan Luplow can man the spot. Luplow was lethal vs. southpaws (.439 OBP, .742 slugging), but in the minors, he handled right handers well.

He would get the first shot at the job, but we also would take a long look at Daniel Johnson in spring training.

The bullpen needs work too. In today’s game, you need more power arms, something the Indians lacked last season. James Karinchak is a start, but more are on the way, guys like Kyle Nelson and Cam Hill.

In terms of trade pieces, the rotation depth the Indians developed in ’19 could be key.

The projected starters right now would be Clevinger, Bieber, Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and for the sake of argument, let’s say Aaron Civale.

That leaves Zach Plesac, Adam Plutko, Jeffry Rodriguez, Logan Allen, and don’t forget Triston McKenzie as possible pieces to get some bats.

If you trade one of them, you still have a lot of depth.

Hopefully, the front office feels it is imperative to get back to the top of the heap in the AL Central. They need to get better against good teams and good pitchers.

Let’s see what happens in the hot stove season.

Browns Offensive Plan Seems Inconsistent.

There has been no NFL team more schizophrenic than the Cleveland Browns in 2019, and because they are still a very inexperienced group, we should have expected that.

It seems like every week Freddie Kitchens and his coaching staff are trying to reinvent themselves, and that’s why we are seeing results that resemble a roller coaster.

For example, the Browns were very successful in their win vs. Baltimore running the ball and throwing quick hitting short passes, for the most part. Yet, against San Francisco, a team with a very good front four, they decided to throw the ball downfield early.

After the pass by Odell Beckham Jr. on the game’s first play, three of Baker Mayfield’s next four passes were considered “deep throws” according to the play by play on NFL.com.

None were completed, one was intercepted, and Cleveland was lucky the turnover didn’t turn into points.

It seemed like a curious game plan to say the least.

We thought going into the game the Browns might be better off calling some short passes on early downs to gain the down and distance advantage since the 49ers are very good up front.

Get into 2nd and 4 or 3rd and 3 situations instead of long distance situations where the San Francisco pass rush can pin their ears.

Keep with manageable down and distances. However, here are the first few distances the Browns had to cover on third down on Monday night:

3rd & 13: Deep pass to Ricky Seals-Jones (incomplete)
3rd & 7: Baker Mayfield sacked
3rd & 3: Mayfield fumbled (no short pass options open)
3rd & 6: 12 yard pass to Jarvis Landry for a first down.
3rd & 12: incomplete pass

Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter said he thought the Browns were trying to run their offense to keep people happy. It appeared they were forcing the ball to Antonio Callaway, just returning from suspension.

Mayfield’s first interception was intended for the second year receiver.

And the first quarter seemed to be more about getting Beckham involved. The first play was a pass from Beckham to Landry, and the second was an incomplete pass to OBJ.

Later in the first quarter was another long throw to Beckham and a reverse for him too.

It certainly seems like the coaching staff was trying to feature the former Giant after he caught just two passes last week. Was he complaining about not getting the ball? No one has reported anything like that.

Mayfield doesn’t seem to have a ton of confidence in the offensive line’s pass blocking, so why not run some short passes early and run the ball to take the pressure off of them. Putting them in long yardage situations just exacerbates the problem.

The weird thing is the inconsistency in the play calling from week to week. The Browns had a lot of success the week before using short, quick passes and then went away from that against San Francisco.

Did the 49ers take it away from them? It’s doubtful that early in the game, because they didn’t seem to try any of those plays.

And the longer passes seem to play against the weakness of the offensive line, longer developing plays seem to put more pressure on that group.

Right now, the Browns need someone to say this is how we are going to play and then implement that plan on a weekly basis. It’s called having an identity.

Hopefully they will start to develop one.

Tribe Key In Off-Season? Improve OBP.

The Cleveland Indians finished third in the American League in runs scored in 2018, and you can make a pretty good argument that dropping to seventh in this category this past season is the reason they were sitting at home.

The Tribe was third in on base percentage in ’18 and fourth in slugging percentage, the key components to offensive baseball these days. In 2019 though, the Indians dropped to 6th in slugging, and down to 8th in on base percentage.

The latter figure is something Cleveland needs to work on for the 2020 campaign, and a reason we wished the organization would have gone in a new direction with the hitting coach.

The list of Indians’ hitters with an OBP over .350 is very short: Carlos Santana, Yasiel Puig, Jordan Luplow, and Mike Freeman. Only Santana was in the lineup all year on an everyday basis.

By contrast, the Astros, whose offense is relentless, have these players over the .350 benchmark: Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, Yordan Alvarez, George Springer, and two other players who are reserves.

Boston was second in on base average (behind Houston), and had these players over .350: Brock Holt, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Mookie Betts, and J.D. Martinez.

If you think we are being picky with the .350 figure, please be advised that the Tribe didn’t have anyone else over .340 either. The next best OBP was Francisco Lindor at .335.

To be fair, had Jose Ramirez hit higher than .255 this season, he would have hit the .350 level, because his strikeout to walk ratio (74:52) was solid.

To us, this indicates the lack of strike zone awareness throughout the roster, and this leads to hitters getting themselves out by swinging at bad pitches.

Sometimes this improves through experience, which is why we aren’t concerned right now with Oscar Mercado walking just 28 times in 482 plate appearances. If this number stays there next season, it could indicate a problem.

We have already touched on Lindor, whose walk rate was the lowest since his rookie year, and he got himself out plenty in clutch situations last season, swinging at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone, sometimes when he was ahead in the count.

If we were Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, we would be focused on getting some guys who can get on base to help the offense next season.

It might start by giving Luplow, who had a .372 OBP in his minor league career, a shot at an everyday spot in the lineup.

And Lindor is too good of a hitter not to learn from this season and make pitchers come to him instead of helping them out.

Besides, if you can get a solid hitter who can get on base, you can get the shortstop out of the leadoff spot, and hit him in the #2 hole or lower.

Together with Santana, who has always been an on base machine, and Ramirez returning to somewhere close to his norm (he has three straight seasons over .350 from 2016-18), it would give the Indians four players who can get on base.

We would also have someone work with Franmil Reyes on his strike zone judgment. If he could layoff bad pitches more, he would be an anchor in the middle of the lineup.

Against good teams and particularly good pitchers, you have to make them work, you can’t help them out by swinging at borderline strikes.

Remember the success the Indians had vs. Justin Verlander with the Tigers? They made him throw a lot of pitches early in games, and even if they didn’t have success against him, they got him out of the game.

On base percentage is the key stat for the Indians to improve on this off-season. Not saying it’s a cure all, but it will help the offense be more “relentless”, for sure.

Curious To See These Cavs

When you really think about it, there is no place to go for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but up.

After four straight Eastern Conference championships, the wine and gold won just 19 games a year ago, a season in which their best player, Kevin Love, played just 22 games.

You have to think having Love active for even 60 games (the whole load management thing) makes the Cavs better in their 50th season.

Many speculate the organization wants to move Love, and maybe they do. But it only makes sense if the Cavaliers get a premium for his services. As long as the veteran is happy and isn’t causing any problems in the locker room, why trade him just to move him?

There is no evidence the big man from UCLA wants out. And why not have some veterans for the young Cavs, there are six key players with under three years experience to learn from?

Besides, it’s not as though the wine and gold need more young players. They will likely have three rookies, a second year player, and two third year guys getting a lot of time in 2019-20.

One thing we have praised Koby Altman and his staff for is the type of people they have brought in here. The veterans are willing to teach and groom the younger players, and the youth on the team has been very willing to work hard in order to get better.

We saw the leap last year’s first round pick, Collin Sexton made within the season, going from 15.1 points and 2.9 assists in the first half to 20.8 points and 3.2 assists after the All Star Game.

His shooting went from 40.8% to 47.7%.

We expect quantum leaps from Sexton, as well as Cedi Osman and Ante Zizic.

New coach John Beilein is a teacher, and he is indicated he will use Love at center, but we also believe that will depend on how veterans Tristan Thompson and John Henson will play. If they are productive, Beilein may use a traditional starting five with Love at power forward and Osman at small forward.

If Larry Nance Jr., another player who improves his game every single year, out plays Thompson and Henson, then Love will shift to the pivot.

The coach has indicated he will start Sexton and top draft pick Darius Garland at guards, and we would guess Brandon Knight and Jordan Clarkson will back them up.

As for possible trade speculation, we would predict Thompson and Clarkson are bigger candidates to be moved than Love.

With Love, Nance, and Henson (who has to prove himself after missing most of last season) getting time, and Zizic needing to play, it would seem Thompson is the odd man out, and his experience and defensive prowess would seem to make him desirable to contending teams.

As for Clarkson, he doesn’t seem to be a fit. He doesn’t move the ball, he’s not a particularly strong defender, and if and when Kevin Porter Jr. is ready to get time, he would seem to be the odd man out.

We are anxious to see Garland, because he has a reputation of being a good passer and he has some range on his shot. Remember, he only played a handful of games in college at Vanderbilt.

Beilein would seem to be the right coach for a very young roster. And with the work ethic of this team, perhaps they can be better than expected.

It’s a season of curiosity for sure.

Tribe Report Cards: Everyday Players

The Cleveland Indians reign as American League Central Division champions ended after three straight seasons.

Yes, they won 93 games, and that’s very good, they did not make the post-season, so we cannot be happy about the year, and it definitely wasn’t a success, no matter how many injuries the club and Terry Francona had to endure.

We decided to put together a report card for the squad (not that they asked!). We didn’t grade the bit players, the guys who were called up in September (FYI–don’t think anyone would have received higher than a D), but we wanted to give our appraisal of the 2019 edition of the Cleveland Indians–

Players Who Gets A’s:

Carlos Santana: After missing a year signing with the Phillies as a free agent, the switch-hitter had a career year in ’19. He tied his career best in home runs, and had his highest RBI total and OPS.

He will be 34 next year, and normally, we would say he’s a candidate to be dealt, as his value with never be higher. But, Santana’s numbers improved because he changed his approach at the plate, using more of the field.

He may not hit 34 HR’s, but his ability to draw walks make him a good offensive player if he hits around .260 with 25 dingers.

Roberto Perez: Despite all the complaints about dealing Yan Gomes (see the comments about Santana), Perez took his first opportunity as a regular and ran with it, belting 24 homers with a 7754 OPS.

He should win a Gold Glove for his defensive prowess and his ability to handle what turned out to be a very young pitching staff cannot be overlooked.

Players With A “B” Grade:

Francisco Lindor: Lindor is a superstar, but his season was below the tremendous standards he has set for himself. He missed the first month of the year with calf and ankle issues, but his walk rate was the lowest since his rookie year and his struggles in the clutch seemed to be from being overanxious.

At 25 years old, we feel safe in thinking it’s a blip on the radar.

Oscar Mercado: The rookie was a spring training sensation and probably should have made the club to open the season. He had a 761 OPS, which should improve because he’s only 24 years old, and his walk rate should get better as he gains experience.

Jose Ramirez: The switch-hitter struggled badly in the first half and was red hot after the All Star break. Still, even when he wasn’t hitting, he drew enough walks, and wound up with an 806 OPS. He even came back early from a hamate bone injury and hit a pair of homers in his first game back.

Yasiel Puig: Puig was expected to give the club a power burst, but instead was an on-base machine with an OBP of .377. All in all, not what the front office expected, but still helped the attack.

Franmil Reyes: The big man struggled mightily after coming over from San Diego, but also fell short of expectations, hitting just .237 albeit with 10 HRs. He needs to figure out the strike zone to fully blossom.

Jordan Luplow: Acquired from the Pirates, he was a tremendous asset vs. lefties. We would like to see him get an opportunity to get an everyday job next spring.

The “C” Group:

Tyler Naquin: Maybe he’s a bit too low here, but has problems staying healthy. Good arm, and if you hit him at the bottom of the order, he’s an asset.

Mike Freeman: Did a solid job as the primary infield back up, but when he had to play more, wasn’t as effective.

Greg Allen: A disappointment to us. Thought he earned a regular job in spring training, but doesn’t walk, and didn’t hit enough.

Kevin Plawecki: Did a serviceable job, but we don’t think he did enough for Francona and his staff to have confidence in him. That’s why Perez carried such a heavy load and got tired in August.

We’ll give Jason Kipnis and Jake Bauers a C-. Kipnis is way too inconsistent at the plate, prone to lengthy “0 for” streaks.

We liked Bauers’ approach early, patient, hit lefties well, but as the year went on, he struck out way too much. Doesn’t walk enough, not enough power.

We will grade the pitchers next week.

A Week Changes A Lot For The Browns

Everyone can relax, at least for a week.

The Cleveland Browns, who were described as disappointing by more than a few pundits, went into Baltimore and punched the Ravens in the mouth, leaving with a 40-25 victory and now sit atop the AFC North at 2-2.

Maybe the Browns did read the press clippings and got a little full of themselves. Their coach was vilified by many as being over his head, he got his job because Baker Mayfield liked him.

However, on Sunday the Browns looked like the team that finished the season in 2018. They did mix in some trickery, a long pass thrown by Odell Beckham Jr., and an shovel pass to Jarvis Landry which turned into an option play. But they were a power team, rushing for 193 yards (yes, 88 came on one run), and overall rolled up over 500 yards.

That’s why you don’t form opinions on NFL teams after two weeks, three weeks, or even four weeks.

Folks were talking about how good the Ravens looked in their first two games, apparently not realizing they were against the Dolphins and Cardinals, neither of whom have won a game in 2019.

Meanwhile, the Browns two losses have come against Tennessee (2-2) and Los Angeles (3-1). Look, we aren’t declaring Freddie Kitchens’ team as Super Bowl contenders, we are merely saying we thought Cleveland could be the best team in the AFC North going into the year, and we aren’t changing our minds.

And the Browns are nicked up too. David Njoku is out for several weeks, and the four guys in the starting defensive secondary have collectively played one game (by Damarious Randall) in the past two weeks.

The loss of Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams perhaps didn’t matter as much against Baltimore because they likely would have played a lot a zone to keep tabs on Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson, but when they return, the defense, which has performed very well, could and should be better.

Still, in the NFL you are only as good as your next game, and the Browns have to travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers, one of the remaining unbeaten team, on Monday night.

Kyle Shanahan’s team has compiled a 3-0 record beating Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, that have combined to win one game, but they did beat Tampa Bay, who if not for a missed short field goal against the Giants, would be 3-1.

Much like the Ravens on Sunday, the Browns’ defense will be the toughest one faced by the Niners, so it is a game the Browns could win before they head home to take on another NFC West foe in Seattle, in their last game before the bye week.

The Browns played like they were supposed to on Sunday.

Did they make some mistakes, sure, but all teams do, perfect games aren’t played in the NFL. The victory showed the team that both the fans and the national media fell in love with in the second half of last season, was still there.

Now the challenge is to keep it going, and follow up that performance with another one next Monday night. That’s what playoff teams do. They show up every week.

That’s what Kitchens and his players need to do going forward.

Offense Failed Tribe Down The Stretch.

It’s all over.

The Cleveland Indians’ hope for a post-season spot came to a crashing halt Friday night in Washington.

Following the home finale a week ago, the Tribe was tied with Tampa Bay for the second spot with six games to play. But after an 11-0 win in the first game in Chicago, highlighted by Jose Ramirez’ return to the lineup with two home runs, the offense snoozed and the pitching showed wear and tear in two disappointing losses, 8-3 and 8-0.

Another game of giving up eight runs eliminated Terry Francona’s squad, this one 8-2 to the Nationals. So, coming into the week, we felt the Indians could only lose one game, and they lost three straight.

We have compared the Tribe season to a basketball team that was down 20 in the first half and had to fight back to came it a game, only to have nothing left to win the game.

After Cleveland took a half game lead in the AL Central on August 12th by beating Boston on a Carlos Santana homer, thus erasing the 11.5 game bulge Minnesota had on June 2nd, the Tribe went 21-21 over the next quarter of a season, and that was simply not good enough.

Injuries didn’t help, that for sure. But the Indians got back into the race without Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco, but losing Jose Ramirez at the end of August was a blow to the offense, one that added Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig at the end of July.

And it was the offense that failed Cleveland. The Indians finished ninth in the AL in runs scored after finishing third a year ago, while the pitching staff ranked third in ERA, one of only three teams in the Junior Circuit to have a team ERA under 4.00 (Tampa and Houston).

What happened to the offense? The simple view is the Indians probably only got better performances from the first base position (Carlos Santana vs. Yonder Alonso), catcher, and at centerfield.

Jose Ramirez didn’t produce in the first half, and Francisco Lindor had the lowest walk rate since his rookie year, and it showed in his numbers with men in scoring position. The all-star shortstop was very impatient in clutch situations, helping opposing pitchers by swinging at bad pitches.

The big deadline trade brought Reyes and Puig, but the former had an OPS about 60 points lower with Cleveland (785) than in San Diego (849), and the latter hit just two home runs with the Tribe, none of them at Progressive Field, at least as an Indian.

Puig did get on base a lot though, which is a good thing, just maybe not for your cleanup hitter. His slugging percentage was behind that of Oscar Mercado and Roberto Perez.

So, the offense still wasn’t up to that of the best teams in the AL. Again, you need to score runs to make the playoffs, and Houston, New York, Minnesota, and Oakland all finished in the top five in runs in the American League.

Depending on what happens today, the Indians could be sixth, just ahead of Tampa, but Cleveland doesn’t have the relentless lineups (read: no weak spots) that those other teams do.

The Tribe has just two hitters with an on base percentage over .350 and slugging percentage over .450. They are Carlos Santana and Jordan Luplow, who doesn’t play vs. right handers.

Houston has eight, the Yankees six. Those lineup make you work. The Indians need to get some of those guys if they want to get back in the mix in 2020.

The lack of consistent hitting hurt the Tribe. Averaging 5 runs per game is good, but not if it’s done by scoring 10 one night and getting shutout the next.

Good News…Browns Have Improved Each Week

To say the Cleveland Browns have disappointed their fan base would be an understatement.

Of course, after two seasons with a combined 1-31 record, last year’s 7-8-1 finish would compare to another franchise going 14-2 during the regular season.

And after GM John Dorsey traded for Odell Beckham Jr., the supporters of the Browns around northeast Ohio and all across the country had visions of a 12-4 or better record for the 2019 season.

So, the start after three games, with a 1-2 record, has greeted them like a bucket of ice water dumped over their collective heads.

No doubt, it has been a shock.

On the other hand, if you are a fan who didn’t allow visions of a Super Bowl dance in your head, then the performance of Freddie Kitchens and his football team is, although not satisfying, understandable.

In looking at the first three games of the season, the Browns are guilty of playing one horrible quarter, the fourth in the season lidlifter against the Titans.

Other than that, they’ve played okay. Not the above average brand of football many expected (including us), so there is certainly a lot of room for improvement.

Baker Mayfield hasn’t played to the level he showed in the second half of the 2018 season, and he appears to be indecisive, which could be an indication of running a different offense from a year ago.

This was illustrated to us in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game vs. the Rams when on a third and long inside the Browns’ own five, Mayfield was sacked by Clay Matthews III.

There was no outlet receiver for the quarterback. All of the targets streaked down the field, 20 yards from the line of scrimmage. There was no option to avoid the sack, outside of heaving the ball downfield and risking an interception.

This leads us to think there is more of the offense Todd Monken used last year in Tampa and less of what was successful for Cleveland when Kitchens was the offensive coordinator.

There is no question Mayfield plays better when he throws quickly, and also Beckham’s strength seems to be getting the ball on the move and his ability to run after the catch. So, why not do more of that?

We hope there was more than a discussion between Kitchens and Monken to do more of what Mayfield does well. After all, isn’t that the definition of coaching? Putting your players in positions where they have the best chance to succeed?

One thing that we think is for real is the Browns’ defense. Yes, the 43 points in the opener doesn’t look great, but 21 of them came in the last quarter with the Titans having a short field due to three interceptions.

Even with a totally new secondary against the Rams, they held the LA offense to just 20 points. And the Browns have a player offenses must account for in Myles Garrett, who has had a sack in all three games, and overall has six for the year.

John Dorsey added experienced depth in the secondary and it has paid off thus far. If that unit keeps improving and gets healthy, by the end of the year, it may very well be the strength of the team.

Because NFL teams play once a week, there is too much emotion involved in each game. If the Browns win this week at Baltimore, they will be tied for first in the division, and the optimism will no doubt be heightened.

Let’s all just take a deep breath.