If Tribe Can Get A Bat, What Kind Should They Get?

The Major League Baseball trading deadline is less than a week away, and we all know the Cleveland Indians have gaping holes in the lineup.

They are tied for 13th in the American League in runs scored per game, and they remain last in the league in slugging percentage and second to the bottom in OPS. The one statistic they are doing well in is drawing walks, they are 4th in the AL.

Although it seems like they strikeout a lot, they are only 8th in the league, but in thinking about some of the rallies that have died recently, it seems as if when they need a big hit, instead they get a strikeout.

Obviously, when your starting outfield is batting under .200 collectively, any batter doing anything offensively would be an improvement. However, to us, what the Tribe needs is more of a professional hitter than a big time slugger for this offense.

The Tribe has five hitters in their lineup right now than have belted 30 home runs or more in the their careers: Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, Franmil Reyes, and Domingo Santana.

However, how much would getting another all or nothing slugger like Reyes (35 strikeouts, 8 walks) or D. Santana, who surprisingly has walked 12 times this season against 24 whiffs, help this offense greatly.

We confess we do not like hitters with poor strikeout to walk ratios. While there are exceptions, we find those players ultimately have a shorter span of usefulness because eventually pitchers do not have to throw them strikes to get them out.

Case in point, it is why we had doubts about Oscar Mercado coming into this season. He fanned three times as much as he walked last season. This year, he struck out 14 times, walking just three.

Players with high strikeout totals and high walk totals, are usually very good offensive players. Jim Thome and Travis Hafner come to mind.

Think about Carlos Santana. The switch-hitting first baseman is batting just .212 this season with only three homers. You know what he’s not doing for the most part? Getting himself out. He leads the AL in taking walks by a large margin.

One guy we would love to have is (and we aren’t saying he’s available) would be a player like Whit Merrifield of the Royals. He’s a .296 lifetime hitter (791 OPS), and although his strikeout rate has gone up a bit in recent years, he puts the bat on the ball. And he’s versatile, capable of playing 2B and the outfield.

If Arizona decides to sell, Starling Marte would be of interest too. He has a career 794 OPS, and although he doesn’t walk a great deal (career high 35 in 2018), his strikeout totals have steadily declined since he came into the league.

One thing is for certain, the Tribe certainly needs to lengthen its batting order. Although Tyler Naquin has been on a little hot streak recently, most nights once Reyes bats, it would be a good time to refill whatever snacks you are eating while watching the Indians. Not much is going to happen.

Don’t complain about the catchers hitting either. Understand, the Cleveland organization values defense and handling pitchers first and foremost from their backstops. If they get any offense, like they did a year ago from Perez, that’s a bonus. They don’t care if they hit .150 as long as they do their primary job.

We feel confident the front office will do something before Monday’s deadline. The pitching is at World Series winner level. The offense is at expansion team level. Improving the latter could lead to a long post-season run.

Tribe Needs Consistency From Top Of The Order.

There is one word missing when describing the offense of the Cleveland Indians so far this season.

No, the word isn’t runs, although we could have used that. The real word we are talking about is consistency.

Just looking at the last three days, you can see what we are talking about. Thursday night, they lambasted the Reds, 13-0. That was followed by Cleveland being shutout by the White Sox, 2-0, and yesterday, they put seven up on the board in win over the Pale Hose.

Because baseball is a sport played pretty much on a daily basis, it is a sport where consistency is a must.

The Indians just haven’t gotten that, particularly from the top five men in the order, the players who figured to carry the burden of the offense this season, save for new 2B, Cesar Hernandez.

While Jose Ramirez has been the Tribe’s best hitter, Hernandez has been the most consistent.

The former Phillie has had a hit in all but three games in this young season, and in the games he hasn’t had a hit, he reached base via the walk. Quite frankly, he has done everything Terry Francona hoped for when he decided to lead him off.

In nine of the 15 games he’s played, he’s reached twice. So, he has certainly set the table for Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, and Franmil Reyes.

Ramirez leads the club in hits, home runs, RBIs, and OPS, but 10 of his 17 hits have come in three games, his homers have come in two games, and eight of his 11 ribbies have occurred in the same two games.

He recently went through an 0 for 15 on the last trip to Minnesota and Cincinnati.

Lindor had a two hit game in the 7-1 victory over Chicago, but it was only his third two hit game of the season. He’s walked just three times this season (once intentionally), and has only been on base more than once in a contest five times.

After striking out nine times in the first seven games, he has fanned just four times in the last nine. Hopefully, that a good sign for things to come.

Carlos Santana had two hits in each game of the doubleheader sweep at home against Chicago on July 28th, but has had just four hits since, and none have been home runs.

The good sign for him? Is there is such a thing as a walk tear, Santana is on one. He’s taken a free ride nine times in the last three games, and 13 times in the last seven games. He isn’t getting good pitches to hit, so he’s being very patient, which is way better than chasing and making outs.

Not a surprise, he leads the AL in walks this season with 20.

Reyes has perhaps struggled the most. Until his game winning HR Tuesday night in Cincinnati, he had just one extra base hit, and that was a groundball that eluded two Minnesota defenders and he hustled into second on what should have been a 6-3 or 4-3 putout.

He’s put together three straight two hit games, the first Indian that can say that this season. It would be nice if he could take a few more walks, but the Tribe needs Reyes to provide some pop, and two dingers this week were a sight for sore eyes.

When Cleveland gets something from the 6-9 spots in the order, they can score, but you can probably say that for most teams.

Tribe catchers are 3 for 51 on the season with no extra base hits and just one RBI.

Yesterday, Domingo Santana and Jordan Luplow joined Bradley Zimmer as the only outfielders to hit a home run.

While it would be nice for those spots in the order to get going, more consistent production is needed from the top five in the batting order. Hernandez has gotten the job done, now the next four hitters have to do the same.

Winning A Series Is Always A Good Thing For Tribe

While we are all happy that baseball has returned, even in a shortened 60 game season, three games is still the definition of a small sample size.

That said, it is always better to win than lose, and winning a series is a good thing, and the Cleveland Indians did just that, taking two out of three against the Kansas City Royals.

The Tribe’s starting rotation got superlative grades in the opening series, but you have to remember no one has the Royals even making the expanded playoffs, let alone the regular post-season, so it will be interesting to see how Cleveland does against the high potent offenses of the White Sox and Twins this week.

The Indians’ pitching recorded 40 strikeouts in the series, the most in the AL, and walked just five KC batters, the least in the AL. Of the teams coming up on the schedule, Chicago ranks 4th in the junior circuit in fanning, 29 times, while the Twins are in the lower half, with just 21 punchouts.

A majority of the strikeouts by Sox hitters came against the Minnesota bullpen, so we wonder how Aaron Civale, Adam Plutko, and Zach Plesac will fare against a group of mostly young, aggressive hitters for the Pale Hose.

So, we will use restraint on the pitching side of things for the Tribe. The Royals have some good hitters, but there was a lot of swing and miss on breaking stuff in the series, and will that continue against better hitters, or will they make the Indians’ pitchers get into the strike zone more often.

We have heard consternation about Francisco Lindor’s start to the season, but again, it’s just three games. The star shortstop looks a tad anxious at the plate, especially on breaking balls, but we are confident he will make the adjustment and be fine.

Lindor struggled with runners in scoring position last season, and we feel he wants to succeed so bad that he doesn’t put the pressure on the pitching staff.

On the other hand, the only Tribe starter who is still hitless has been patient at the dish, although that’s hardly a shock. Carlos Santana is off to an 0 for 8 start, but has drawn four walks with just one strikeout.

The new leadoff hitter, Cesar Hernandez, looks impressive in person. The switch-hitter has drawn just one walk, but has made opposing pitchers work, and looks to hit the ball where it is pitched. His double down the left field line in the Opener was a beautiful display of hitting.

And catcher Roberto Perez has shown way he received the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2019. He threw out two would be base stealers in the series, and blocked umpteen pitches in the dirt. He even went from first to third on a single to centerfield.

Terry Francona has got all of his position players in a game so far, and the only four on the roster who haven’t been in are starters Civale and Plesac, and relievers Phil Maton and Adam Plutko. The skipper likes to get everyone in as soon as possible, and he will likely get the bullpen guys an inning against Chicago.

By the way, the bullpen performed well in the first series, although in each game, no one was brought in during an inning. Everyone was used after the starters went at least six innings, and each started with a clean inning.

We know that will not always be the case.

We will have a better view of the 2020 edition of the Indians following these next two series, against the teams who figured to battle Cleveland for the AL Central lead.

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.

Tribe Killing It In Simulated Seasons

With baseball still on the shelf, the only way you can get the feeling of following a team day by day is by checking out the various simulations of the 2020 season out there.

In April, we checked out a couple such games, the Out Of The Park simulation being conducted on BaseballReference.com and the other being played out on StratOMatic.com.

According to both of these sites, baseball fans in northeast Ohio and missing one helluva season.

BaseballReference.com: The Tribe leads the AL Central with a 48-27 record and holds a seven game bulge on the second place Minnesota Twins. That mark is the best in the American League, and third best in baseball, behind the Dodgers and Cardinals.

Offensively, the Indians are being paced by Carlos Santana (.315, 14 HR, 54 RBI, 932 OPS), Francisco Lindor (.288, 16 HR, 57 RBI, 887 OPS), and Jose Ramirez (.274, 16 HR, 46 RBI, 867 OPS).

Franmil Reyes has belted 20 long balls, and Tyler Naquin returned to the active roster in May and is hitting .323. Jordan Luplow is getting steady playing time and has 10 homers to go along with a .283 batting average.

Newcomers Cesar Hernandez (.301, 6 HR, 34 RBI, .370 OBP) and Domingo Santana (.256, 10 HR) and fit in quite well to the lineup.

As we noted in April, this game has been playing Greg Allen at the everyday CF, and he’s done well, batting .280 with a .347 on base percentage.

Pitching wise, Shane Bieber has fit the profile as a staff ace with an 11-4 mark and a 2.98 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 114 innings. Aaron Civale is 7-3 with a 3.75 ERA, and though Carlos Carrasco (4-4, 4.30) and Mike Clevinger (3-3, 5.37) have struggled a bit, rookie lefty Scott Moss has picked up the slack, going 7-1 with a 4.48 ERA.

Brad Hand has 17 saves, and James Karinchak has a 1.98 ERA in 13 innings, but has fanned 24 hitters in that span.

The game had the Tribe picking up veteran relievers John Axford, Jim Johnson, and Daniel Stumpf as well.

One bone to pick–they had Cleveland dealing Tyler Freeman, Brayan Rocchio, and Juan Carlos Mejia to Texas for catcher Robinson Chirinos, a deal the Indians’ front office would never make.

StratOMatic.com: This simulation also has the Tribe sitting with a 48-27 record and an 8 game lead over the Twins in the Central. Cleveland has the second best mark in the AL (behind Houston) and third in MLB overall (Dodgers).

Reyes is the offensive machine for the Indians, batting .334 with 21 home runs and 54 RBIs, Lindor leads the team in ribbies with 55, along with 19 bombs and a .271 batting average.

Ramirez checks in at .259 with 14 homers and 45 runs knocked in.

They also have Luplow getting more playing time, and he’s responded with 7 HR, 26 RBI, and a .290 batting average.

Hernandez has had a fine season to date here as well, batting .295 with 8 dingers. And Carlos Santana is batting .300 and is third in the AL in walks with 50. His power is down so far with just 6 homers.

They have used Delino DeShields as the primary CF, hitting .258 although Bradley Zimmer has just been recalled. Oscar Mercado is on the team, but batting just .232.

Clevinger has been the best pitcher, going 5-1 with a 2.32 ERA and 74 punchouts in 73 innings, while Bieber has been solid, with an 8-5 mark, 3.59 ERA and 114 whiffs in 100 frames.

Zach Plesac is 7-4 with a 3.57 ERA.

Brad Hand has struggled. He has 21 saves, but a 5.73 ERA, but the relievers have been buoyed by strong performances from Phil Maton (1.44 ERA), James Hoyt (1.26 ERA in just 14 innings).

Karinchak has a 3.20 ERA in 25.1 innings with 32 strikeouts, and he has been joined by rookies Cam Hill and Kyle Nelson.

If these games are even close to realism, we are missing a great season to date by the Indians. Guess that should make everyone even more sad about what is going on in The National Pastime.

The Switch Hitting Infield Of The Tribe

There is no question that Cleveland Indians’ manager Terry Francona loves flexibility. He loves relievers who can pitch to both right-handed and left-handed hitters, and he uses the platoon advantage more than any other skipper in the game.

Even though he is the best in the sport at that, we believe he loves switch-hitters because then he doesn’t have to worry about it.

The infield he will manage this season has that trait covered. They all can hit from both sides of the plate.

With the signing of Cesar Hernandez in the off-season to man second base, most nights, Tito will pencil in the four switch-hitters at the four infield positions–

1B: Carlos Santana
2B: Hernandez
SS: Francisco Lindor
3B: Jose Ramirez

The left side of the infield features two of perhaps the 20 best players in the game in Lindor and Ramirez. The shortstop is well regarded as one of the best five in baseball, and let’s not forget that Ramirez has two top three MVP finishes in the last three seasons.

Lindor, who won’t turn 27 until after the 2020 season (if there is one), is pretty even from both sides of the plate, having a 857 career OPS from the right side and a 832 OPS from the left side.

His slugging percentage is virtually the same from either side, but he’s a bit more patient hitting right handed. He does hit more home runs from the left side though.

Ramirez, who turns 28 in September, is more lethal from the left side of the plate (career 850 OPS), but is still very good from the right side (808). He also hits for a better average from the right side, but his slugging percentage from the left side is .494, 27 points higher than when he is facing southpaws.

The two superstars are also equally effective at home or on the road, but slightly better at Progressive Field.

Santana, the eldest of the group at 34, is actually a better hitter right-handed, which is odd because you think of most of his big hits as an Indian has come from the left side.

The first baseman has a 834 lifetime OPS from the right side, mostly due to a .277 batting average, which is 40 points higher than from the left side. And he’s even more of an on base machine against lefties, .382 OBP vs. .360 vs. right-handers.

To us, he has always looked like he had a shorter swing hitting right-handed.

His batting average and OPS against RHP did improve last season, but he still was more effective against lefties.

The newcomer, Hernandez, just turned 30 a week ago, and he fits in with the others in that he is very similar from both sides of the dish, 736 career OPS vs. righties and 726 vs. left-handers.

His ability to get on base is the same from both sides, but his numbers show he has a little more pop (.385 slugging vs. .372) hitting from the left side.

The primary back up for Francona would figure to be Mike Freeman, a left-handed hitter who did a solid job for Cleveland last season, hitting .277 with a .362 on base percentage.

With the extra players expected to be on the roster for this season, we would bet right-handed hitting Christian Arroyo will be eligible for most games. Once a top 100 prospect, Arroyo has been hampered by injuries and has accumulated just 228 big league at bats. Still, he’s just 25 years old.

Yu Chang and rookie Nolan Jones, the Tribe’s top prospect, will also likely be on the traveling party this season.

With three all-stars, the Cleveland infield should be among the best in the game. That is, if there is a baseball season at all.

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.

Simulated Tribe Off To Good Starts

These are different times we live in, particularly without the sport which symbolizes the beginning of spring and summer, baseball.

With no real games going on, we are curious each and every day to see what is going on in a couple of sites running simulated seasons. We understand it is not real, so readers should have no concern about our sanity.

The two simulated games we are following are at Baseball Reference.com, which uses Out of the Park Baseball 21, and the game we grew up with, Strat O Matic, which shows results online daily.

Both simulations have the Cleveland Indians off to good starts, perhaps because the early schedule would’ve had a lot of games with the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox, although the latter is supposed to be much improved this season.

Baseball Reference. This site has the Indians getting off to a 5-4 start through April 4th, a game and a half game behind the White Sox, who did sweep the Tribe in a three game set at Progressive Field earlier in the week.

The Indians have taken all five games from the Tigers thus far.

Franmil Reyes is off to a great start, going 11 for 30 with five home runs and eight runs batted in. Newcomer Cesar Hernandez is also doing well, tied for second on the team in RBIs with seven.

This game surprisingly has Greg Allen getting the bulk of the time in the outfield, going 8 for 28. Carlos Santana is 13 for 31, and Francisco Lindor is 12 for 38 with 4 HR.

On the negative side, Jose Ramirez is off to a slow start (4 for 35), as are Oscar Mercado (3 for 24) and Roberto Perez (5 for 29 with 14 strikeouts).

Pitching wise, Zach Plesac is 2-0 with 4.50 ERA, while Shane Bieber has a 3.00 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 15 innings.

The simulation does not include Mike Clevinger or Carlos Carrasco, instead rookie Scott Moss made the big club to open the season.

Also, Sandy Leon is not on the big league roster, and weirdly, John Axford is, apparently acquired in a trade with Toronto.

Strat O Matic Their simulation has the Indians off to a 8-1 start, a game ahead of the Royals, who started off 6-1. FYI, the Twins have started at 3-6 to date.

They have Jefry Rodriguez in the rotation, and the righty has been very good, going 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in two starts. Zach Plesac is also 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA and 18 strikeouts.

Reyes has started hot in this simulation too, belting six dingers and knocking in 13 in the first eight games of the season.

Domingo Santana is batting .417 and Carlos Santana is at .375 with 7 doubles on the season.

They have Jose Ramirez at .303 through eight games, while Lindor is off to a slow start, batting just .211.

Brad Hand blew two saves in the Chicago series, but the Indians rallied to win both contests, one on a Reyes walk off shot in the bottom of the ninth.

They have used a platoon of Jake Bauers and Jordan Luplow in RF, with Delino DeShields getting a couple of starts in center.

This game also does not have Clevinger or Carrasco available, and Cam Hill made the Opening Day roster. In fact, they already had Terry Francona using a bullpen day in game #5, using Hunter Wood as the starter.

Without actual games, this is making the best of the situation. And happily, the Indians are off to a good start in both simulations.

Let’s hope we see some baseball on the field for real soon.

Stay safe and stay healthy.

Is The Tribe Still A Contender? You Bet!

Anyone who thinks the Minnesota Twins are going to sit on their laurels after winning the American Central Division in 2019 will probably be sadly mistaken.

The Twins seem determined to defend their title after signing one of the best free agents available in former MVP Josh Donaldson, ranked 5th best on MLBTradeRumors.com.

Minnesota scored the second most runs in the American League a year ago, and they just added another superior hitter to their lineup.

The Chicago White Sox have been very active in the free agent market this off-season, most notably signing Yasmani Grandal, Edwin Encarnacion, and southpaw Dallas Keuchel, leading many to believe it will be a three team race in the AL Central.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians have signed 2B Cesar Hernandez.

If you look at offense, the Twins scored 170 more runs than the Indians, and the Tribe scored 61 more than the Pale Hose. Even adding Grandal and Encarnacion, that’s a tough number to catch.

While it seems unreachable for the Indians to catch up to Minnesota in runs scored, one path to closing the gap would be a complete season by Jose Ramirez, and a better season from Francisco Lindor.

Ramirez wound up with a solid season in ’19 (.255, 23 HR, 83 RBI, 806 OPS), but compared to his 2017 and 2018 campaigns (957 OPS in ’17 and 939 in ’18) it pales. A return to those previous two years (he is only 27) would greatly improve the Cleveland attack.

On the other hand, the Indians can’t expect the same season out of 34-year-old Carlos Santana, who had the best season of the year (911 OPS). By the same token, Minnesota’s best hitter, Nelson Cruz, will be 39 in 2020.

Chicago’s free agent hitters are 32 (Grandal) and 37 years old (Encarnacion), so neither should be expected to do better than a year ago. Where the Sox should gain is with three young, impact bats in Yoan Moncada (25), Eloy Jimenez (23), and Luis Robert (22).

The Indians’ edge is in the pitching department, allowing almost .6 runs per game less than the Twins, and 1.11 less than Chicago.

Certainly, the continued development of Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac will be key to maintaining that edge, as well as a retooled bullpen.

It would seem the Indians still have the best pitching in the division. Minnesota replaced Kyle Gibson and Martin Perez with Homer Bailey and Rich Hill, and the White Sox figure to be better, but lowering by more than a full run?

Based on run differential, the difference between the Indians and Twins was only four games, Minnesota had the profile of a team winning 97 games (they won 101), while Cleveland should have won 93 contests, which they did.

So, the gap isn’t as large as you think it is.

The White Sox won 69 games, so even with a roster upgrade and the further development of some very good looking young players, that’s still an awful big number to make up.

We would think the White Sox will still be a factor in the race, but not quite ready to compete with the Twins and Indians.

That’s why the Indians should still be looking to add a bat, particularly an outfielder. They shouldn’t be thinking the way to go is unproven hitters like Greg Allen, Delino DeShields, Bradley Zimmer, and Daniel Johnson.

The Cleveland pitching gives it a solid chance to return to the post-season in 2020.

It’s Time To Move Lindor…Out Of The Leadoff Spot

The Cleveland Indians need to find a new home for Francisco Lindor.

No, we are not talking about trading the four time All-Star shortstop, who is one of the best players in the game. Rather, we are suggesting skipper Terry Francona find a new spot in the batting order for Lindor, a move that would help the Tribe score more runs.

Francona likes Lindor leading off because he “sets the tone” for the team, and we understand that line of thinking. But everyone knows the shortstop is the team’s leader, it’s unofficial captain, so why not bat him in a spot the benefits the club more?

First, the job of the leadoff man is to get on base. Lindor’s .335 on base percentage last season is nothing special. His lifetime figure is .347, good but not optimal for a guy hitting first.

Cesar Hernandez, recently signed by the Indians to play second base, has a career .352 OBP. Kenny Lofton, the great leadoff man for Cleveland in the 90’s, had a .375 mark during his time in northeast Ohio.

However, our biggest reason to drop Lindor in the order is his slugging percentage, which at .518 led the Indians. It is odd to us that the Tribe’s best on base guy, Carlos Santana, batted in the #3 or #4 hole all season, while the player with the best slugging percentage led off virtually every game.

Lindor’s walk rate of 7% was his lowest since his rookie season figure of 6.2%. In 2018, he had his best rate at 9.4%.

We understand in today’s game, the slugging percentage leader on a team doesn’t hit in the #4 hole, and we aren’t asking for the manager to hit Lindor there. You want him getting more plate appearances than most players.

Still, wouldn’t you want your best power hitter batting with men on base? With Lindor leading off, you are guaranteeing that once a game he comes up with no one on. That doesn’t seem optimal.

For us, if you went an two seasons (’18 and ’19) with Lindor hitting first, wouldn’t it be more prudent to have Carlos Santana there?

Santana got on base almost 40% of the time (.397 OBP) last season, and has a career on base percentage of .367. And his slugging percentage was virtually the same (.515) as Lindor’s .518 mark.

One of Cleveland biggest problems offensively was getting on base, they ranked 8th in the American League in on base average, dropping from 3rd in 2018.

That’s why getting Hernandez was a solid move, his lifetime mark in that category was 48 points more than the man he replaced in Jason Kipnis.

The Indians had only one player, Santana, among the regulars (Yasiel Puig isn’t counted because he played only two months here, but had a .377 OBP) that got on base more than 35% of the time.

By contrast, Houston, New York, and Boston all had five, and Minnesota had three. That’s a pretty telling statistic.

Jose Ramirez topped the .350 mark in 2016, 2017, and 2018, so if he’s very capable of getting on base at a high rate, but that’s why we’d be looking in that direction if the Indians are looking for another outfielder.

It’s also why we keep coming back to Puig.

We would move Lindor to the #2 or #3 position in the batting order, and would hit Ramirez or Santana (or both) ahead of him.

It might just be a good way to kick start the Indians’ attack.