No Panic Yet, But Tribe Offensive Is A Concern

Normally, there wouldn’t be any concern about the Cleveland Indians’ offense after just eight games. But as we all know, there is very little about 2020 that can be considered normal.

In a 60 game season, when the Indians and Twins finish their series in Minnesota on Sunday, the Tribe will have played 1/6th of their schedule, equaling 27 games on the usual docket.

And that makes the offense a concern, and it puts Terry Francona in a tough spot.

Cleveland is second to last in the American League in runs scored per game, ahead of only the Texas Rangers, who sit at 2-4. The Indians are 5-4, because their pitching staff has been brilliant thus far.

Yes, Mike Clevinger didn’t have a great outing Friday night, the first “poor” start of the campaign for the team, but the staff did hold Minnesota, who is second in the AL in runs per game, to just four tallies, and Carlos Carrasco gave up just three runs last night, but the Tribe mustered none.

The average American League team is scoring 4.4 runs per game to date, and the Indians have passed that standard just twice in the nine games. If you remove the nine run outburst against the Royals’ bullpen game last Sunday, the Tribe hitters are producing a paltry two runs a contest.

They are also last in the league in extra base hits with just 13 in the nine contests.

Eventually, you have to think the pitching staff is going to have a hiccup. They’ve allowed four runs a game (less than the league average) twice, and lost both games. The way they have pitched, the Tribe should be undefeated, instead of 5-4.

The bottom of the order to date has been dreadful, and right now, Francona doesn’t seem to have figured out the correct combination in the outfield.

Domingo Santana has been fine, mostly because he has drawn seven walks, leading to an on base percentage of .458. But Cleveland signed him for his pop, and he has one extra base hit.

In fact, Tribe outfielders (and we will include Franmil Reyes, if you want to call what he hit last night a double) have just three extra base hits. Santana has a double, Bradley Zimmer has a home run, and the Reyes double.

Zimmer is 5 for 17 thus far, the the summer camp sensation had one game where he went 2 for 4 with the HR, so the rest of the games, he is 3 for 13.

Reyes is 6 for 30 with 2 RBI, but hasn’t hit the long ball yet. His lone extra base hit was a squibbler up the middle that eluded the shortstop and second baseman.

Jordan Luplow is hitless in 12 at bats, and Oscar Mercado is 2 for 22 with no walks and five strikeouts.

Mercado’s at bat Friday night in Minnesota is what we worry about him, a lack of strike zone discipline. Randy Dobnak was trying to walk him, but Mercado didn’t take ball four, he fouled them off until he waved at a pitch in the dirt.

Again, normally, there wouldn’t be a concern for a few weeks, but this season is different. Right now, we would use Zimmer in center, especially vs. RHP, with Santana in right, and why not take a look at Daniel Johnson in LF?

And we might give Christian Arroyo a few at bats, although it might be tough. After all, he hasn’t had one to this point in the season.

Understand this also, Cleveland isn’t going to get any offense from the catching spot with Roberto Perez out. The organization wants defense and game calling first from that position, and that’s why Sandy Leon and Beau Taylor are there.

We understand Francisco Lindor hasn’t got going either, and neither has Carlos Santana, but both of them look like Stan Musial compared to the bottom four in the order.

We would not use the word panic, but instead say concern about the Cleveland outfield. For now, Terry Francona is searching for the hot bat, to help the Indians generate some runs.

A Look At The Tribe At 60 Games Under Tito

It is looking more and more like the 2020 Major League Baseball season will be limited to 60 games, so it will be a sprint rather than a marathon, at least this year.

Although we believe five teams in each league is a good number for the sport to make the post-season, especially after playing 162 regular season games, we agree that this season, there is no problem with having eight teams in both the American and National Leagues making the playoffs.

With this 60 game plan, we decided to take a look at how the Tribe has done in the first 60 contests in the Terry Francona era.

2019: The Indians 5-2 victory over Minnesota raised their record to 30-30, but they trailed the Twins by 10.5 games, as the northerners were setting a blistering pace at 40-19.

Shane Bieber won his 5th game and Brad Hand saved his 17th, as Francona leaned on him early in the season as the offense struggled.

Remember the Tribe played the first month of the season without Francisco Lindor, and Jose Ramirez was hitting just .202 with a 610 OPS. Lindor did have 10 HR and 23 RBI despite missing the time, and Carlos Santana had a 907 OPS at this point.

Leonys Martin was getting the bulk of the playing time in centerfield, and was batting .214 with 646 OPS.

2018: Cleveland’s 3-1 win over Milwaukee gave them a 32-28 mark and they led the AL Central by 4.5 over the Tigers and 5 over Minnesota.

Carlos Carrasco won his 7th (7-4) with Cody Allen picking up his 11th save.

The triumvirate of Ramirez, who was slugging at a .632 clip with 43 ribbies and a 1.028 OPS, Michael Brantley (.325, 916 OPS), and Lindor (917 OPS) were pacing the offense, but Jason Kipnis was hitting just .205 (591 OPS) and Lonnie Chisenhall was struggling as well at a 571 OPS.

Rajai Davis was the centerfielder vs. southpaws, and not really hitting at .232. He was being platooned with Greg Allen, but the lack of production led to the trade for Martin, who fell ill shortly after arriving in Cleveland.

2017: A 4-2 win over the White Sox gave the Tribe a 31-29 record, good for second place, a game and a half behind the surprising Twins.

Carrasco raised his record to 6-3, with the bullpen trio of Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw, and Allen getting the last 11 outs.

Daniel Robertson started in RF that night, while Bradley Zimmer and Austin Jackson were platooning in center.

Santana was struggling at .218 (712 OPS), but Lindor, Ramirez, and Edwin Encarnacion all had OPS over 800 after 60 games.

2016: The future AL Champs won 6-2 over the Angels, making them 34-26 and they had a 3.5 game lead on Chicago, and four over Detroit and Kansas City.

Corey Kluber’s complete game gave him a 6-6 record for the season.

Ramirez played LF that night, as his 811 OPS made Tito look for ways to get him in the lineup. Jose Uribe (593 OPS) played the hot corner.

And in a portent of things to come, the starting rightfielder that night? Michael Martinez.

2015: The Indians dropped to 28-32 with a 4-0 loss to Detroit, and sat in last place in the Central, seven games behind Kansas City.

Danny Salazar took the loss dropping his record to 6-2.

Kipnis was having a very good year, hitting .332 (914 OPS), and the lineup featured Brantley in CF, Mike Aviles at SS, Brandon Moss in RF, Ryan Raburn in LF, and Gio Urshela at third.

Santana was hitting just .221 and the DH that night was Nick Swisher, batting .198 with an OPS under 600.

2014: Cleveland was at the break even mark, at 30-30 after a 7-4 extra inning win over Boston. Kluber was the starter, but Carrasco got the win with two frames of scoreless relief, striking out four.

Asdrubal Cabrera was the SS and won the game with a homer off former Indian, Eduard Mujica.

Brantley was hitting .308, and Chisenhall was sizzling at .361, playing first base in the game, while Michael Bourn was the leadoff hitter, batting .295.

David Murphy was in RF and Aviles was at third.

2013: Francona’s first Indians team was in the midst of an 8 game losing streak, dropping a 7-5 decision to the Tigers, dropping 3.5 behind Detroit.

Justin Verlander defeated Ubaldo Jimenez, who went just three innings allowing five runs. Of course, Jimenez was arguably the best pitcher in the game down the stretch for the Tribe, who rode a red hot September (21-6) to a wild card spot.

It is interesting that Rich Hill pitched in relief during that game, and Mark Reynolds played third base for Cleveland.

This research reminds us that the Indians are very much a second half team under Francona, but they will not have the luxury if indeed, there is a 60 game slate in 2020.

However, if there are extra post-season teams this year, the Indians should be able to qualify even if it takes them awhile to find their way.

In Praise Of Cookie Carrasco

Virtually every major league baseball team has one. That player who is identified with the franchise. They played in that town for their entire career, and they are that franchise’s Mr. ________.

And it’s not just restricted to large market cities. Kansas City has George Brett. Milwaukee has Robin Yount. Cincinnati has Johnny Bench and likely Joey Votto as well.

Minnesota has Joe Mauer and Kirby Puckett. Baltimore has Cal Ripken Jr. Atlanta? Chipper Jones.

Some cities have had these type of players, but unfortunately, they have passed away. We mentioned Puckett, and the Pirates had Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. The Cubs had Ernie Banks.

Currently, St. Louis has Yadier Molina and Washington has Ryan Zimmerman.

The Indians had Bob Feller, arguably the best Tribesman ever. However, what did those other players do that Feller didn’t? The all played within the last 50 years.

Feller retired in 1956. That’s 64 years ago.

Could the Indians have such a player on their roster right now? Well, as a matter of fact, they may. He may not be a superstar or a Hall of Famer, but they have a player who may play his entire career in northeast Ohio. It’s Carlos Carrasco.

Carrasco is beginning his 11th season with the organization, coming over in the trade that sent Cliff Lee to Philadelphia.

The other players who came with him were infielder Jason Donald, who was moved in the deal that brought Trevor Bauer to Cleveland after the 2012 season, Lou Marson, who left as a free agent in 2013, and never played in the bigs again, and Jason Knapp, who developed arm trouble.

Carrasco came up to the Tribe late in ’09 for five starts, and spent most of ’10 in the minors as well, making seven starts and finishing with a 3.83 ERA in 45 innings.

Cookie opened with the big club in 2011, and was a mainstay in the rotation, making 21 starts before he injured his elbow, necessitating Tommy John surgery, which kept him out through the 2012 season.

He made one April start in ’13, but spent much of the first half of that season in AAA, before coming up in July. He struggled in six starts after coming back and finished the year in the bullpen.

In 2014, he again struggled opening the year as a starter, allowing 17 runs in 19 innings in four starts, and was again moved to relief.

It was in the bullpen that he revitalized his career.

The right-hander made 26 appearances out of the bullpen, going 3-1 with a save and a 2.30 ERA, striking out 39 batters in 43 innings.

On August 10th of that year, the Indians needed a starter in a game at Yankee Stadium, and Terry Francona and then pitching coach Mickey Callaway went with Carrasco, telling him to use the same aggressiveness he used in the ‘pen.

Carrasco allowed two hits over five shutout innings, striking out four. He made nine more starts the rest of the season, pitching to a 1.30 ERA, and fanning 78 hitters. Included was a two hit shutout against Houston.

From there, Carrasco became one of the American League’s most reliable starting pitchers, going 60-36 with a 3.40 ERA from 2015 to 2019.

Last year, as everyone knows, he was diagnosed with leukemia, and missed three months before coming back to pitch in relief in September.

This season, he will be back in the starting rotation, and should be back to being one of the premier starters in the American League.

He’s also under contract with a club option through 2023, meaning he likely will finish his career here, and likely will wear just one team’s uniform, the Cleveland Indians.

He’s been underrated by fans here, mostly because he’s pitched on the same staff as Corey Kluber, but people around baseball know how good of a pitcher Carlos Carrasco is.

That’s one of the best in the game.

Doing Everything To Keep Lindor Is Still Tribe’s Best Move

Even though baseball is on hiatus due to the pandemic, it still made news in Cleveland yesterday, when The Athletic’s Keith Law said on a local radio show that Francisco Lindor and his agent won’t entertain the Indians long term contract offer.

First, we will disclose that we are of the opinion the Indians should do everything they can to keep Lindor in a Cleveland uniform, and we understand the financial aspects of that thought process.

Lindor and his agent know he will be the prime free agent on the market following the 2021 season, and they also understand he will command one of the highest salaries ever given to a major league baseball player.

Our guess is the Indians haven’t talked to their star shortstop about a deal anywhere near the money or the amount of years he will command in free agency, and that’s why serious negotiations haven’t taken place.

On the other hand, Tribe president Chris Antonetti said prior to spring training that the parties have talked, and Lindor said shortly after camp started that he did not want to talk about his contract status during the season, and the talks were done until the end of this season.

Perhaps the delay in the sport hasn’t affected Lindor’s thinking and he wants to stay focused on the season, whenever it starts, and he is just being true to his word.

Let us also say that Lindor has the right to be a free agent, and go through that process.

It’s also possible that Law spoke to someone who doesn’t know what is going on, although we are confident that he trusts his source.

Why would we keep Lindor? Because it is hard for us to fathom that a contending team, and the Indians are certainly that, improve their ballclub by dealing a great player.

If the Tribe was in decline, and finished around .500 this season, a considerable dip from three consecutive division titles and 93 win team a year ago, and they were an aging squad as well, there is no doubt it would be advisable to move the shortstop and start the rebuilding process.

But that’s not the case.

The Indians’ oldest regular player is Carlos Santana at age 34, followed by Roberto Perez (31) and Cesar Hernandez (30). Cleveland can be out of Santana’s and Hernandez’ deal following the 2020 campaign.

On the pitching side, only Carlos Carrasco (33), Oliver Perez (37), and Brad Hand (30) would be considered past their prime (assuming prime is 27-29).

We understand the Indians’ claims of financial constraints, but we feel dealing Lindor will bring you–1). A top prospect who likely will not ever be as good as Lindor. 2). Another mid range prospect who will have a solid major league career, and 3). some low level prospects who would be wild cards.

Keep in mind, Cleveland’s farm system is very strong at the lower levels, so they have a bunch of wild cards.

We would make it worth Francisco Lindor’s while to want to stay right here. However, he wants to win, and he’s been here for five years and has seen the front office/ownership not making a commitment to win a World Series.

In the last 12 months, he has watched the front office trim a whole lot of payroll money, with not a lot reinvested in the team. That concerns us, and no doubt it concerns him.

He said over the winter that he would want assurances the franchise will remain competitive.

If the alternative for the Tribe is losing Lindor and getting nothing, then a trade is better than that, but we would do everything we can to keep Lindor an Indian long term.

That’s the best case scenario.

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.

Tito And The Young Players

To start, Terry Francona is a great manager, and will likely go into the Hall of Fame when he retires as the skipper of the Cleveland Indians.

He’s piloted two World Series winners, won three American League pennants, and currently ranks 18th all time in wins, and has a real possibility of getting into the top 15 if not higher before he retires.

And he has guided the Indians through a myriad of tough situations, most notably in the 2016 post-season when the team lost Carlos Carrasco to injury, and he used a starting rotation of Corey Kluber, Josh Tomlin, and Trevor Bauer (who really missed one start with a lacerated pinky) to get to the seventh game of the World Series.

There is certainly no one else we would like to have managing the Cleveland Indians.

His day to day approach resonates with the players. When injuries occur, and the Tribe has had many to deal with this season, including ones to star players like Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Kluber, and Carrasco, Francona stresses that the team should go about the business of winning the game played that day.

After all, that’s all you can do.

But we also say that doesn’t make the skipper infallible. He makes mistakes. He will go the extra mile for a veteran player who has performed for him in the past. And sometimes he crosses the line between stubbornness and patience, particularly with vets.

That gets frustrating in the race for a post-season spot, at least for the fans, that is.

It’s not like the manager has a lot of alternatives with the likes of Ramirez and Kipnis out of the lineup. Each night, Francona has to come up with someone who can play second base and third base, and he has to use the bullpen too, and that has become problematic recently with Brad Hand being unavailable.

However, we would take issue with not looking at a possible upside of young players, even if this is a pennant race.

Everyone should know what Ryan Flaherty is at this point. He’s a utility man, primarily at third or second base, and he can’t hit. He has a .215 lifetime batting average, and he’s been around the league.

Why not use Yu Chang instead? First, he plays Flaherty vs. right handers, and Chang is actually had more success vs. righties (9 for 39 with a HR). The only assumption anyone can make is Francona has more confidence in the veteran.

A veteran he should know is not going to contribute with the bat.

The same in the bullpen with rookie James Karinchak, who seems to strikeout everyone who steps in the batter’s box.

Wednesday night, the skipper brought in Nick Goody, who has spent the last month either walking people or giving up home runs, to face a pair of Tiger hitters in the ninth inning of a tie game.

That’s the ultimate sign of trust.

Goody got the two batters out, but Francona left himself open to big time questioning had the reliever given up the game winning hit.

Karinchak has pitched in two games, faced ten hitters and struck five of them out.

He used Tyler Clippard, arguably the Tribe’s best reliever in the last month, last night with a 7-0 lead against the worst team in baseball, when guys like Phil Maton, Dan Otero, and Jeffry Rodriguez haven’t pitched in over a week.

We feel fans have a right to ask questions and so should the media.

In most cases, we know what the veteran is going to do. Why not take a chance with the young player. He likely cannot do any worse.

It’s On To The Wild Card For Tribe

It was a very disappointing day for the Cleveland Indians and their fans yesterday. After the Friday rainout, Tribe fans were giddy that the Minnesota Twins were using bullpen arms to start both games of a doubleheader.

Someone apparently forgot to tell the Cleveland hitters, because it seems like only Oscar Mercado showed up.

The Indians spent the first three innings of the first game trying to play home run derby against lefty Devin Smeltzer, and would up getting shutout, and then in the second game, with the Tribe going with a “bullpen day”, the relievers gave up three home runs, the biggest being a grand slam off Nick Goody, who is going through a rough stretch.

Cleveland now trails the Twins by 5-1/2 games with 13 to play, so they are all but out of it in terms of the division.

They still can play their way into the one game wild card spot, as they trail Tampa Bay by two games in the loss column (2-1/2 games overall). Again, though, Terry Francona and his staff are going to need some players who have been struggling to come through.

A few days ago, we pinpointed Yasiel Puig and Jason Kipnis as two guys who the Indians needed. Puig was 1 for 7 with a walk in the two games, and amazingly, has still not hit a home run for the Indians at Progressive Field.

Kipnis took a collar in game one, stretching his current slump to 0 for 12.

Here is a microcosm of the veteran’s season in the last three weeks. He went through an 8 for 60 streak, followed by going 7 for 10, and followed that (currently) by being 0 for his last 12.

That’s 15 for 82 (.183). And when people ask us why we would move on from him for 2020, that’s the reason. Baseball is a game of consistency, and Kipnis no longer has that, and hasn’t since 2016.

The bullpen has fallen on hard times as well. Goody giving up the bomb last night wasn’t shocking, he’s been ineffective for a month, giving up four homers and walking seven in his last 8-2/3 innings.

And while we are all very happy Carlos Carrasco is back on the mound, and hopefully regain complete health, he has not been the cure all for the bullpen either. He’s pitched to a 9.39 ERA in six appearances, and allowed four dingers in 7-2/3 innings in relief.

We felt the bullpen needed an upgrade at the trade deadline or at least bring up some of the power arms in the minors to help. The front office did neither and the relief corps has floundered.

They finally did bring up James Karinchak from Columbus before this series, and he did strikeout three of the five batters he faced last night. Maybe if he were called up a few weeks ago, he could’ve been trusted in a key situation.

Regardless, last night is over and the Indians need to win and win a lot in their last 13 games if they want to have a one game shot at getting to a post-season series.

After today, the Rays next eight games are against the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Yankees, although just the Los Angeles series is on the road. They have been better away from the dome this season.

So, an opportunity is there, but we figure the Tribe will have to win 10 or 11 of the last 13, and even then, it may not be enough.

It’s an uphill climb from here, but not impossible yet.

Here Are Tribe’s Needs For The Stretch Run

The Major League Baseball, referred to by most people as a marathon, not a sprint, has reached the closing kick stage, as the Cleveland Indians have just 15 games remaining.

In fact, when the first place Minnesota Twins come to town Friday night for a big three game series, it will be the beginning of the final home stand of 2019.

Nine more at Progressive Field, and a six game, two city trip to Chicago and Washington, and see if Terry Francona’s squad gets a berth in the post-season tournament.

The Tribe has struggled against both the White Sox and good pitching all season long, so that last week will be a gauntlet to be sure. One thing to hope for is the Nationals might have their playoff spot (they currently hold the top spot in the NL by 2-1/2 games) solidified by the last weekend, putting them in rest/set up their pitching mode for the wild card game.

It would also help if Cleveland can avoid Lucas Giolito for the White Sox series.

As it has been all season, the key for the Indians will be generating enough offense to support the pitching they have had, ranking 2nd in the AL in ERA, just behind Tampa Bay.

We have railed on Jason Kipnis all season long, but no one can doubt the Indians need a strong finish from him, particularly with Jose Ramirez’ injury. The problem is the second baseman has had a 564 OPS vs. teams over .500 compared to 824 against good teams.

Nine of the final 15 games are against the former. They need Kipnis to get hot and stay hot in the final three weeks.

The other player who the Tribe needs to get going is Yasiel Puig. Puig was slugging .475 for Cincinnati (yes, we know about Great American Ballpark) and had an OPS of 777 with the Reds.

He only hit 9 of his 22 National League homers in Cincy.

His OPS for the Indians isn’t far off of that at 759, but instead of driving the ball, he’s been more of an on base guy, at .355 vs. .302 in southern Ohio.

The Indians could use Puig getting hot with the long ball in these last three weeks to help them push runs across the plate.

Puig has 16 RBI in 136 at bats with Cleveland. By contrast, Franmil Reyes, who started slow, has 28 ribbies in 131 at bats. If Puig could start matching Reyes’ production, that would help the lineup immensely.

The other concern is how much gas the bullpen has left.

Brad Hand needs to find the arm slot on his slider, and the sooner, the better. Hitters aren’t swinging at the back foot breaking ball he throws right now, probably because they know it will be a ball.

Hopefully, a few days off will help his tired arm.

Carlos Carrasco was supposed to help and still could, but he’s allowed three HR’s in his five relief appearances since returning to the mound.

The most reliable guys Francona has right now are the two oldest relievers, Tyler Clippard and Oliver Perez.

Clippard, 34, has a 2.25 ERA in the second half, striking out 36 hitters in 32 innings since the All Star Game.

Perez, who just turned 38 recently, has pitched to a 2.57 ERA in 16 innings post All Star break.

The ‘pen needs someone else to be reliable, perhaps Nick Wittgren, a couple of good outings recently, or Nick Goody to get back to where he was in July through mid August.

Or have Carrasco avoid the long ball.

Those are the keys as baseball heads into the stretch run. The Indians are still in the thick of the race, but right now are on the outside looking in.

With a tougher schedule in the last two and a half weeks, Francona needs a few guys to step it up.

September Call Ups (To Date) Shouldn’t Help Much (Outside of Cookie)

Major league rules permit teams to expand their rosters on September 1st, enabling them to carry 40 players if they so choose.

The Cleveland Indians followed those rules on Sunday, activating Carlos Carrasco, a move much anticipated because of Carrasco’s battle with leukemia. It was great to see Cookie on the mound against Tampa and Chicago this week.

The rest of the moves were, quite simply, meh.

You figured Eric Haase would get called up because adding an extra catcher enables Terry Francona to pinch hit or pinch run for whoever starts that night, and he doesn’t have to be on pins and needles because he doesn’t have an alternative.

It is doubtful Haase will get any action with a game in doubt as long as the Tribe remains in the playoff race.

The other call ups were veterans, players who will probably make little impact on a team that right now seems to be gasping for air.

Dan Otero was activated from the 60 day injured list, but he’s a back of the bullpen option at this point, with an ERA of 5.47 and having allowed 37 hits (5 of them home runs) and striking out just 11 in 24-2/3 innings.

James Hoyt may be able to help, although he has a career 4.28 ERA in the major leagues.

The club also called up Ryan Flaherty, who is a lifetime .217 hitter over seven major league seasons. His claim to fame is he’s had success against Cleveland, because if you remove his performance vs. the Tribe over the years, his career average is .210.

If Francona has to give him any playing time, that’s a big problem.

Jake Bauers was brought back too, and probably would have been even if Tyler Naquin didn’t injure his knee last weekend.

While it would be nice if Carrasco could get his legs and become a guy Francona can turn to late in ballgames, it is doubtful any of the other players called up can or will make an impact on the roster.

We have heard about the power arms the Tribe has in Columbus, guys like strikeout machine James Karinchak (42 punchouts, 13 walks in 17-1/3 innings at AAA), Cameron Hill (36 K’s in 24-1/3 frames) and lefty Kyle Nelson (16 strikeouts in 12 innings), but none of these guys can help a recently beleaguered bullpen?

Karinchak not being here is very curious. He was whiffed 66 batters in 27-1/3 innings at AA and AAA this season. That’s an eye popping number.

Yes, he has walked 15 batters, but nine of those came in four appearances, all occurring before August 15th. He’s walked just one in his last six outings.

Why not see if his stuff plays at the big league level? We mean no one else is putting up those kind of numbers in the minor leagues.

In our mind, wouldn’t he be more help during the stretch run than a guy like Otero?

And the Tribe could use another southpaw in relief.

We understand none of the players were going to jump in and be better than the regular players, but on the other hand, they aren’t giving any chances to young players either.

Right now, Carrasco is the lone hope for an impact to the big league club. Francona admitted he might have jumped the gun putting Cookie in a pressure situation so soon. We would have eased him in a little more, with the goal of having him be the set up man around the middle of the month.

Yesterday, Francona said more players may get the call from Columbus before the Clippers’ playoff series is over.

Perhaps a reliever or two, and a bat with some potential? We can hope.

Tribe Has To Stay With Hand

First of all, Brad Hand has saved the last two games, and now has 31 on the year.

He’s blown five saves this season, and four of them have come since the All Star break. And when you are in a pennant race, everything is magnified, and when you lose games you had the lead in going into the ninth inning, it’s a huge deal.

However, Terry Francona is right when he says the Indians cannot run away from Brad Hand if they want to get to the post-season and go deep into October. They need Hand to be the guy he was in April and May.

Since Hand went to San Diego in 2016, he has been one of the game’s best closers, striking out more than 100 hitters in each of the last three seasons, and he’s fanned 77 in 53 innings this season.

But the real reason the Francona and the Tribe can’t go away from the lefty is they really don’t have any options.

While the Indians statistically have the best bullpen in the sport, they are doing it without the power arms one usually associates with a closer.

Think about it, who would Francona use as an alternative to Hand?

Nick Wittgren has been the guy the skipper has gone to when Hand wasn’t available because of high usage, but he’s allowed four home runs in the last two months of the season (he’s allowed seven all year), and closers have to stay away from the long ball (Hand has allowed 5 HR).

Plus, even though Wittgren has struck out a hitter per inning this season, he’s not considered a strikeout pitcher.

Nick Goody has been outstanding since coming up in May (1.93 ERA, 20 hits allowed in 32-1/3 innings), but he relies more on his breaking ball. Still, he might be the guy Francona goes to today if the Indians have a lead late.

Tyler Clippard is a guy Francona has been trusting more and more, he pitched the 8th inning last night, and he has a 2.52 ERA, allowing just 31 hits in 50 innings, whiffing 47, but he’s another guy who knows how to pitch. He’s closed before, but the last time was 2015.

The ageless Oliver Perez continues to amaze both fans and hitters with his array of deliveries and arm angles, but he and Adam Cimber are more situational pitchers at this point in time in their careers.

Hunter Wood and Phil Maton are the newest members of the bullpen, and are too new for Francona to bring into the game in the 9th inning, although Wood has started to be used in some high leverage situations.

We are also sure some fans will say what about James Karinchak, who in 24-1/3 innings at AA and AAA has struck out 58 hitters, but do you really want to put an unproven rookie in the high pressure spot of saving games right away?

If he comes up, Francona will use him in low leverage situations at first before trying him with the game on the line.

As for the comeback of Carlos Carrasco, which would be great for him and a great story, our guess is at least at the beginning, Tito will use him as a set up guy, in the 7th or 8th inning.

By the time he’s back, Hand may have solved his issues.

Our point is that it’s easy to say remove Hand as the closer, but it’s another to say who should take his place. There isn’t really an alternative on the current roster.