Thoughts on Tribe Attendance (Or Lack of It)

The Cleveland Indians continue to hang around the playoff chase, but apparently the team’s proximity to a possible wild card berth hasn’t aroused the ticket buying public.

Last night, in a game against one of the teams they are competing against for a post-season spot, they drew less than 10,000 fans.

Why haven’t the fans responded to this group of Indians? Many theories have been bandied about all season long, but we wanted to add our perspective.

We would propose that the Indians lower their ticket prices for the 2014 season.

The ownership will surely tell you that will result in lower revenue for the team, but a baseball team isn’t a set product where the cost of the part results in the selling price.

Getting more people in the park at lower prices will generate more revenue. The Indians talk about the market conditions in Cleveland all the time, but they haven’t reduced the ticket prices substantially.

Sure, they have a lot of programs for limited season tickets, “loaded” tickets, etc., but a price reduction on a night in, night out basis is needed to get people back in the habit of going to Indians’ games.

Once there, they will see it is a great entertainment experience. That is, if the ballclub is competitive. And it will help to sell single game tickets before Christmas. People like to give them out as gifts.

We have touched on this before, but the Tribe front office made a major miscalculation in staying with WTAM as its flagship station.

The Browns went the other route and hooked up with both WKNR and 92.3 FM, two all sports talk stations. Doing that made them the topic of conversation pretty much everyday of the year, making the Indians the proverbial red-headed stepchild.

Moving the Tribe games to either of these two stations would have made those stations talk about the Indians, considering they would be the primary programming at night.

The more conversation involving the baseball team would generate interest in going to the games.

The organization dropped the ball on this one.

The other reason for fans not going is the Indians record against the marquis teams in the American League.

Casual fans know certain teams. They know of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers. When the Indians beat them, they get credibility with the lukewarm fans.

Unfortunately, the Tribe is 6-27 against those teams.

Now, we know that beating those teams doesn’t guarantee you a spot in the playoffs, nor it is impossible to make the playoffs unless you beat those teams.

However, the Indians need to attract fans who aren’t die hards to come to Progressive Field, and the comment you get when you tell a lot of people that Terry Francona’s team has a chance to make the playoffs is that they won’t because they can’t beat the Tigers or Yankees or Red Sox.

Here’s hoping the ownership doesn’t look at the lack of attendance as a reason to cut payroll in 2014. If they do, the fan base may never recover. The negative image of the Dolan ownership is based on that idea.

A recent column by Terry Pluto revealed the reason the Tribe didn’t trade for former Twins’ slugger Justin Morneau was because attendance was down, ownership didn’t want to spend more money.

That comment just confirms fans’ fears of the owner of the Cleveland Indians.

To get the fans back, the front office must build upon the improvement from 2012 to 2013. Taking a step back because of low attendance won’t help the relationship with the people who buy tickets.

Front Office Letting Tribe, Fans Down

The Cleveland Indians have many naysayers among fans and media, but the fact remains they have a solid chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

There are several teams in the mix for a post-season berth, and many of them have made moves to bolster their rosters for the stretch drive.

For example, the Yankees traded for Alfonso Soriano, who has belted 11 home runs for the Bronx Bombers since coming over in July.

The Rangers traded for Matt Garza, the Red Sox for Jake Peavy, and the Oakland A’s acquired INF Alberto Callaspo.

Even the Royals, who have since fallen to the wayside of the race, picked up Emilio Bonifacio from Toronto to help them.

Yesterday, the Pirates, gunning for their first post-season spot since Barry Bonds was on the team, went out and traded for Marlon Byrd and John Buck.

Those players mentioned aren’t going to the Hall of Fame, but they are upgrades over what their new teams had, so they are upgrades.

To this point, the Indians’ addition is lefthanded reliever Mark Rzepczynski, who has helped Terry Francona’s bullpen, but doesn’t add up to the other names listed so far.

With the Indians’ offense reaching the feeble stage in August, they rank last in the American League in batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage for the month, it is frustrating and puzzling that the Tribe front office hasn’t made a move.

Francona says all the right things, he is happy with his roster as constituted and they will get through this period where the offense is struggling.

However, he privately has to be telling GM Chris Antonetti that he needs someone who can hit or his club will fall short of advancing to the playoffs.

Other teams are doing something, why can’t Antonetti?

Getting a bat would send a message to the clubhouse that the front office is all in for this season as well. Former GM John Hart made it a point to make a deal at the deadline every year the Indians were in contention.

While you don’t want to mortgage the future to get someone who will likely be with the team for one month, but usually you can get these types of players for a middling prospect.

And the Indians have plenty of those.

For those who will say the Tribe is a year early in contending, just take a look at the Washington Nationals. Most experts felt it was a forgone conclusion they would make the playoffs in 2013, but it doesn’t appear they will.

So, you have to go out and improve this team right now, before it’s too late.

When the ownership wonders why people haven’t taken to this team, this is one of the reasons. It appears the front office doesn’t take the necessary steps to improve when everyone around them does.

And we don’t believe for one minute that when teams make deals with other teams they ask for low-end prospects, but they ask the Indians for guys like Francisco Lindor and Danny Salazar.

The pressure is on Antonetti to make this team better for the last 31 games. And the sooner the move is made, the better.

The bats don’t seem to be getting any more productive.

Cleveland Fans Want Winner, but Ignore Tribe

While many sports fans in northeastern Ohio are worrying about who will be the back up offensive tackle and who will handle the punting chores for the Cleveland Browns, they are missing a pretty good drama taking place with the Cleveland Indians.

You see, the Tribe is in the mix for a playoff spot. And unlike the other sports teams in the city, who promise winning at some point in time, the Indians are winning.

They currently sit ten games over the .500 mark going into tonight game with the Angels, and are coming home for a weekend series with the Twins before heading out for a brutal trip to Atlanta and Detroit.

To be sure, it would be nice if Terry Francona’s squad would mix in an 8-2 victory from time to time, but the closeness of the games being played nightly only add to the intensity of a playoff chase that seemingly everyone is missing.

As we have said before, part of the indifference is the Indians fault. They spent several off-seasons trying to get talent out of the MLB dumpster until last winter, and the ownership made several odd statements to the fans, alienating more than a few of them.

They also could have changed radio stations last season, but opted to stay on news/talk station WTAM, instead of going to one of the all sports station in the city.

Do you really think 92.3 The Fan would be talking Browns 90% of the day if four hours of their evening programming was the Indians?

The argument that you hear for not taking the Tribe seriously this season is their inability to play well against the Tigers, their rival for the Central Division title.

Do you know what? Who cares!

This is baseball. It doesn’t matter if you beat Detroit just as long as you beat other teams enough to qualify for a playoff spot. The fact of the matter is Francona’s team has won 68 games (the same total as all of last year) so far, and if they qualify for the post-season, that’s all that matters.

In baseball, any team that makes the tournament has a chance, unlike the NBA where the 8^th seed has little chance to take down the team with the best record.

And it doesn’t matter what your record was against any other team was during the regular season once the playoffs start.

In 2007, the last time the Tribe made the playoffs, they went 0-6 in the regular season against the Yankees. They promptly won three of four in the first round series against the Bronx Bombers, eliminating them.

Cleveland sports fans talk all the time about wanting a winner. No matter what the Indians have done in the past, no matter how badly the front office mangled things, no matter how they have played against the Tigers, they are winning and they are in contention to make the playoffs.

And the last time any Cleveland team did that, LeBron James was wearing a Cavaliers’ uniform.

Yes, things are looking up for the Browns and Cavs, but they haven’t done anything yet. Meanwhile, the area’s baseball team is in a pennant race, albeit a non-traditional one.

Unfortunately, most sports fans seem to be missing it for a bunch of petty reasons.

Tribe Needs Some “Average” Hitters.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tribe Offense Succeeds or Fails as Team

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

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

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

Why doesn’t it seem that way?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tribe Still Control Post-Season Fate

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tribe Needs to Add Starter to Rest Bullpen

While we all wish the nation a happy birthday today, the other thing that make July 4th significant to a baseball fan is that is less than four weeks away from the trading deadline in the sport.

And with the Cleveland Indians sitting just a half game out of first place in the AL Central Division, GM Chris Antonetti is very much a buyer, trying to improve his club for the stretch run.

There is debate as to what Antonetti should persue. Should he get another solid bat, some help for the bullpen or another starting pitcher?

We go with the latter, although another southpaw of the bullpen would be nice as well.

The reason we feel this way has been made evident in the last week of games, of which the Indians have won five of six contests.

Checking out the innings pitched by the starters in each of those games–

Bauer             1/3 IP
Carrasco 5-1/3 IP
Jimenez            5 IP
Masterson       9 IP
Kluber     5-1/3 IP
Kazmir             5 IP

Outside of Masterson’s complete game last Sunday, the Tribe’s starters are putting a tremendous strain on the bullpen, which could explain some of the struggles the relief corps have experienced this season.

Of contending teams, only Toronto’s starters (5.42) and Baltimore’s starters (5.67) have thrown less innings per game than Cleveland’s (5.72). And the Orioles recognized that need and traded for Scott Feldman, who threw six innings in his first start.

By contrast, Oakland and Boston led the league, both averaging over six innings per start.

Masterson has given Terry Francona almost seven innings per start this season, showing that he indeed is a workhorse, and for the most part has kept the Tribe in the game in each of his starts. However, his innings per start is by far the best on the roster.

Ubaldo Jimenez has been improved this year, there is no questioning that. Still, he is only averaging 5.22 innings per start, mostly because he is around 100 pitches at that point in the game. Yes, there have been some early exits for the righty because he’s been hit, but for the most part, he’s kept the Tribe in the game, but only for about five frames.

The same for left-hander Scott Kazmir, averaging 5.28 innings per start. Francona is being careful with him for sure, since he was pitching in an independent league last season, but he hasn’t been able to pitch deep into games.

Corey Kluber has been a pleasant surprise for the staff, but he is also throwing less than six innings in an average start. And his last two outings, he has not seen the seventh inning.

The Tribe misses Zack McAllister, who was able to complete six innings in over half of his 11 starts. He’s been replaced by Carlos Carrasco, who is averaging five innings per outing, and that includes a seven inning start vs. the Royals.

A pitching staff can endure one or maybe two pitchers who can’t go deep into games, but right now, the Tribe has an entire rotation of these guys, with the exclusion of Masterson. That’s the reason Francona loves to have as many relief pitchers as he can on the roster.

Antonetti would love to have another starter who can soak up innings on his staff. That will keep guys like Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, and the three guys at the end of the game (Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, and Chris Perez) fresh for August and September, when playoff berths can be decided.

The bullpen shouldn’t have to pitch four innings every night.

Tribe Needs to Weather Schedule Storm

Everyone is aware that the Cleveland Indians are going through a tough patch right now, having lost 12 of their last 16 games. Their next nine games are against three teams that going into the season, most experts regarded as prime contenders to win the World Series: the Tigers, Rangers, and Nationals.

That will end a brutal stretch were the Tribe also played the Yankees, Red Sox, Reds, and Rays. That’s a tough schedule for any team.

However, the only teams that really beat up on Cleveland were the Bronx Bombers and their friends from the AL East, the BoSox. The Tribe went 2-12 against them, they are still 28-17 vs. everybody else in major league baseball.

A quick glance at the schedule shows things are about to change, and if Terry Francona’s team wants to stay in the race all season long, they have the opportunity to do just that.

This is not to underestimate any opponent, because at the beginning of the season, we felt the American League was brutal, with 13 of the 15 teams having a legitimate shot at the post-season. We excluded the Twins and Astros because of their rebuilding modes, although the former is in third place, just 2-1/2 games behind the Indians.

Still, have the Nationals visit Progressive Field next weekend, 25 of the next 33 contests are against Minnesota, the White Sox, Royals, Blue Jays, and Mariners. Only two four games series, one vs. Baltimore and the other against the Tigers, are against opponents considered among the best in the American League.

That basically takes the Indians through the end of July (and close to the trading deadline).

If you look at the balance of the schedule, there do not seem to be a lot of big bumps the rest of the way. There are three games against the Rangers, seven vs. Detroit, a three game set against the Orioles, and a three game interleague series vs. Atlanta, and three more against Oakland. The majority of the slate is games against the other AL Central teams, along with seven contests against the Astros and Marlins.

The Tribe will also play the Angels six times, but at this point it is difficult to say whether or not people should consider Los Angeles a quality team or not. They were highly touted coming into the season, but currently sit eight games below the .500 mark.

Again, this is not to take any team lightly, because the Indians need to improve the way they have hit and pitched over the last three weeks to start winning again.

And they struggled against the Yankees this season, and we feel they will end the season not making the playoffs based on the injuries and collective age of their team. They’ve been doing it with mirrors, and that likely will end. That said, the Tribe could only beat them once in seven tries.

The point is, after this stretch of games, the Cleveland Indians have an opportunity to play a lot of baseball against teams they figure to have more talent than, at least on paper.

Of course, we all know games are played on grass, not paper.

Still, things could be looking up soon for Francona’s bunch. At least, according to the schedule set up by major league baseball.

Left-Handed Relief Not There for Tribe.

Many fans of the Cleveland Indians have been concerned about the bullpen recently, mostly because of the health of closer Chris Perez and set up man Vinnie Pestano.

Yes, there was that weekend in Boston, when on consecutive days both Pestano and Perez blew games, which made for crushing defeats. But for the most part, the back end of the Tribe bullpen has been fine.

However, there is bigger problem for the Terry Francona’s bullpen, and that is the need for an effective left-handed pitcher to work late in games.

Right now, Nick Hagadone and Rich Hill have been a disaster in relief.

This past weekend, the Tampa Bay Rays scored 20 runs in the three game series. Thirteen of the runs were charged to Hagadone, Hill, and another lefty Scott Barnes, who was sent back to Columbus Saturday after giving up five runs on Friday night.

Barnes looked good in his two previous appearances, a three inning save against the Red Sox and a one inning stint against the Reds. In his appearance on Friday, he came in and gave up a pair of two run homers to left-handed hitters Matt Joyce and James Loney.

The other two guys, Hagadone and Hill have had problems throwing strikes consistently, a must for relief pitchers.

Hagadone is a power arm, but falls behind in counts and then when he comes into the strike zone, the batters smash the ball. He was last seen yesterday giving up a bomb Rays’ SS Yunel Escobar, currently batting .246.

When he can get ahead of hitters, Hagadone can be lethal, capable of striking out the best left-handed batters. But he has walked 11 in 15 innings this season, way too many, and that doesn’t count the hitters he puts into good hitters’ counts.

Nine of those walks have come against right-handed hitters.

Hill is more of a situational lefty, someone who specializes against tough left-handed hitters, the David Ortizs and Robinson Canos of the world, players who will not be pinch hit for when a lefty comes into the game.

To be fair, Francona has had to use him in some blowout games to save his main relievers, so Hill has seen more right-handed hitter than he should. He has faced 40 hitters from that side of the plate, more than Francona probably wants him to.

Those hitters are batting .353 against Hill with a 925 OPS, which means every right-handed hitter the southpaw faces turns into Miguel Cabrera.

However, Hill has walked six left-handed hitters and has allowed two home runs to them as well, meaning he isn’t exactly shutting down those guys either.

This is developing into a huge problem for Francona and pitching coach Mickey Calloway, because they need someone who can get those tough left-handed hitters out consistently.

If Hill and Hagadone can’t do the job, then it will be up to GM Chris Antonetti to find someone who can.

If you watch the games, it really isn’t Perez and Pestano that are killing the Tribe consistently it is the left-handed pitchers.

Too many walks and home runs allowed by the set up lefties can blow up an entire bullpen.

Looking at Tribe After Two Months

The calendar turns another page today and as we enter June, we are also entering the third month of the major league baseball schedule.

And it is fitting that the Cleveland Indians played their 54th game last night/this morning, which also marks 1/3 of the schedule has been played. The Tribe’s record is 29-25, which means they are on pace to win 87 games in 2013.

For the record, for the first 27 games of the season, Cleveland went 14-13, which means they improved slightly in the last 27 contests.

The Indians’ offense has been a little better than expected, ranking fourth in the American League in runs scored per game at 4.93, trailing just Detroit, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay. They rank 7th in on base percentage, but 3rd in slugging behind the Orioles and Rangers, both of whom play in great hitters parks.

The Tribe is 4th in the AL in home runs, behind those same two teams and Toronto, another team that plays in a very good place if you have a bat in your hands.

The one concern about the Cleveland offense going into the season was strikeouts, and that concern has manifested itself. The Indians hitters have struck out 455 times, an average of 8.4 per game, although you have to go down to 10th among the league leaders to find an Indian, with Mark Reynolds and Drew Stubbs tied for that spot.

Both players have fanned over 200 times in a season, so that’s not a surprise.

Individually, really no one really overachieving among the everyday players, although fans should be pleasantly surprised by the production of Ryan Raburn (.296, 5HR, 16 RBI in 98 at bats) and Yan Gomes (.310, 5 HR, 14 RBI in just 71 at bats).

Jason Kipnis has been streaky and his numbers reflect it (.238 average, .307 OBP). The Tribe needs better out of the second baseman if they are to contend all season. Asdrubal Cabrera got off to a slow start, but had a solid May (.278, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 806 OPS) and actually leads the Indians in extra base hits with 24, ahead of Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana’s 21 each.

To us, an elite offensive player is a guy who has an on base percentage over .350, and a slugging percentage of over .450. The Tribe currently has two of these players: Santana and Swisher. That should put to rest any concern about these two players.

Santana’s average slipped big time in May, but he still takes walks and has a .390 on base percentage. We’ve heard some mild concern about Swisher, but people have to realize big money doesn’t make you a better player. Swisher is who he is, a player who has pop and gets on base.

The recent problem for the Indians has been pitching, with the staff ranking 10th in the AL in ERA. However, the starting pitching, supposedly the weak link of the team, hasn’t been bad, but the bullpen has struggled mightily of late.

New pitching coach Mickey Calloway has emphasized throwing strikes, and all five Tribe starters have strikeout to walk ratios of over 2:1, which is outstanding.

The only complaint about the starters is the need to work longer in the games. With the bullpen struggling, the starters need to get through six innings consistently. There have been too many “five and flys” this season.

With Chris Perez on the disabled list, much focus has been put on the back-end of the ‘pen, but the left-handed relievers have been terrible. Terry Francona cannot be confident in any situation where he needs to get a tough left-handed hitter out, because Nick Hagadone, Scott Barnes, and Rich Hill have not been effective, nor have they been able to throw strikes.

Hill has walked 10 in 15-1/3 innings, and Hagadone has also issued 10 in 13-1/3 frames. Barnes has only walked three in eight innings, but has allowed three home runs.

The team needs to find someone who can be effective in this role, or it will haunt them all season.

The Cleveland Indians hit the one-third point in the campaign in good shape, on pace to win 87 games and just a half game out of first. Fortifying the bullpen, especially with an effective southpaw would seem to be #1 on the priority list right now.