Key Injuries For Tribe, And Can They Survive Them?

The Cleveland Indians avoided the injury bug for the first quarter of the Major League Baseball season, but it has come back to bite them in the past few days.

Two key members of the Tribe, continuing to battle in the American League Central at 26-21, just a game and a half behind the front-running Chicago White Sox, will be among the missing for probably 4-6 weeks, if not more.

Saturday, Franmil Reyes, the second best offensive threat Terry Francona has had at his disposal this season, strained an oblique and was placed on the injured list. Reyes leads the team in RBIs with 29 and is second in home runs with 11, one behind Jose Ramirez.

The next day saw another key injury as Zach Plesac fractured his thumb (off the field injury) and was also forced on the IL. Plesac was one of the three starters (Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale, the others) the skipper can count on right now, so the starting pitching is very, very thin right now, especially when it comes to experience.

Losing the second best hitter on a below average offense will make it even more difficult for Francona to cobble together lineups that can score runs. Owen Miller came up to replace Reyes on the roster, but really, the Tribe needs Eddie Rosario, currently hitting .228 with just 3 home runs to start hitting the way he did against the Indians when he was with the Twins.

It would also help if Josh Naylor stepped up more, and Cleveland could get more offense out of the first base position. Jake Bauers has been better lately, but a .303 slugging percentage says he’s not providing much pop.

As for Miller, he’s off to a slow start, but since the Tribe brought him up, they have to play him everyday to see what he can contribute.

Reyes’ absence also means opposing teams will have even more incentive to avoid Ramirez in late inning situations, where he has been lethal. We would let E. Rosario, Jordan Luplow or virtually anyone else to beat my team late in a contest rather than Jose Ramirez.

The loss of Plesac can be devastating. Cleveland brought up Triston McKenzie, just sent to AAA to work on control issues, to pitch last night, and right now, the only start not going to Bieber and Civale that is etched in stone is Sam Hentges going on Saturday.

The problem is exacerbated by Monday’s doubleheader (albeit seven inning games, meh) against the White Sox

The obvious thing to do (at least to us) was to start stretching out Cal Quantrill, which the club announced yesterday. With the resurgence of veteran Bryan Shaw and the emergence of rookie Nick Sandlin in the bullpen, and the fact that Francona prefers to use certain relievers when he has a lead, Quantrill has a very limited role in the ‘pen, pitching in very low leverage situations.

And remember, going into spring training, Quantrill was being groomed as a starter. He dropped out of contention for the rotation because of command issues and Logan Allen pitching lights out in Arizona.

It seems to us, right now Quantrill is more valuable to the Indians as a starting pitcher, keeping the team in games early.

We would also give a start to another rookie Jean Carlos Mejia. Mejia started the year in the rotation at Columbus, making two starts, and has pitched in two games in the bigs, allowing just one hit and fanning six in 3-1/3 innings.

Who knows, maybe the organization finds out they regained some rotation depth in Quantrill and Mejia.

This is where Francona’s one game at a time pays dividends for his team. He won’t bemoan the injuries and who isn’t there, he will just ask his team to win the game they are playing that night.

Really, that’s the best approach to take right now.

Tito Mixing And Matching Nightly With Lineup.

Mike Hargrove said it when he was managing the Cleveland Indians, there are two things that every man thinks he can better than everyone else, those are cooking a steak and managing a baseball team.

And despite winning two World Series and getting to a third, Terry Francona still hears his share of questions about how he handles the Cleveland Indians. Heck, half the fun of watching a baseball game is trying to manage along with your favorite team’s skipper.

We do it too, we aren’t going to deny it.

The Indians rank 9th in the American League in spite of being second last in the league in batting average. Yes, we know batting average isn’t in vogue right now, so they are also 14th in the AL in on base percentage.

They are doing it with a team that really only has five regulars: Jose Ramirez at 3B, Cesar Hernandez at 2B, Eddie Rosario in LF, Franmil Reyes at DH, and when healthy, Roberto Perez behind the plate.

Everyday, Francona has to decide who should play at shortstop, first base, centerfield and rightfield. Now, Josh Naylor has been in the lineup somewhere on an everyday basis, so he’s either at first or in right. But, Francona has to mix and match at three spots on a nightly basis.

He’s tried going with the hot hand. Jordan Luplow was hot earlier in the season, culminating in a walk off HR against Minnesota. So, he started getting regular playing time. He responded by going 1 for 22 over a seven game stretch.

Amed Rosario had four hits, including the game winner Wednesday afternoon against the Cubs. He started the first three games of the Seattle series at shortstop in place of a struggling Andres Gimenez, and went 1 for 12.

Harold Ramirez came up for the Kansas City series and gave the offense a spark, getting four hits in the first two games. He followed that with a 2 for 18 stretch, before getting two hits, including a home run in last night’s 7-3 loss to the Mariners.

At first base, everyone thought it was a matter of time before Jake Bauers would be replaced by Bobby Bradley as the left-handed hitting platoon. However, it’s the right-handed half that seems to have lost his job.

Yu Chang pinch hit last night, but hasn’t been in the lineup vs. southpaws over the past week. Going 7 for 50 with just two extra base hits seems to have cost him his job, and soon, perhaps his roster spot. At AAA, Bradley has started off just 6 for 37 with 15 strikeouts. He has belted three homers.

Bauers isn’t exactly tearing the cover off the ball either, and that has resulted in Naylor playing more at first.

Our point is that it’s a tremendous challenge for Francona and whoever helps him make out the lineup to put a competitive attack out there. Consistency is the best feature a professional athlete can have, and the Indians don’t have many consistent hitters.

And before you say just bring up players from AAA, it has to be a good fit. The last thing the organization wants is for a top prospect to come up and get sporadic playing time. It generally doesn’t help the development of the player.

That said, we believe some changes will be coming soon.

The pitching has for the most part held up their end of the bargain. We’ve said it before, how successful the Cleveland Indians will be depends on how many runs they can score.

Terry Francona has a challenge getting his team to do that with the current make up of the team.

Nothing New: If Tribe Can Score, They Can Contend

So far in this 2021 Major League Baseball season, it’s quite simple: If the Cleveland Indians score four runs in a game, they win.

When the Indians get to that figure, they are 17-1 on the season. When they don’t, they are 1-13. The only game they lost when reaching the four run figure was the second Carlos Rodon/Zach Plesac matchup in Cleveland, when the White Sox beat the Tribe 8-5.

The only game they won scoring less than four? The epic Shane Bieber/Lucas Giolito game that went to 10 innings and resulted in a 2-0 Cleveland win.

Recently, the Indians’ offense has been a little better, Friday night’s no-hitter not withstanding. In their current stretch where they’ve one 10 out of 13, the Tribe has scored an average of 4.8 runs per game, getting at least four in all of the wins.

Overall on the season, the league average is 4.41 runs, and the Tribe is sitting at 4.25, so they are still below average.

So, it’s simple right? If the Indians can have close to a league average offense, they can be a contender in the AL Central. The two favorites coming into the season, the White Sox and Twins have problems. Chicago has lost two key offensive pieces in Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert, and the Twins have injury and bullpen issues to date.

Now, the question is, can the Tribe put together a league average offense?

Right now, the Cleveland attack is very top heavy. They have two real good offensive players, with OPS’ over 800 in Franmil Reyes (914) and Jose Ramirez (891). They have only two other players with an OPS over 700–Jordan Luplow at 789, and his batting average is just .171, and Josh Naylor at 724.

To date, the league average OPS is 704, so Cleveland has just four hitters who are better than the American League average.

That’s not good, nor does it bode well for the future.

We believe Eddie Rosario and Cesar Hernandez’ track records indicate they will hit, and while Rosario has had several years where he has been above the 800 OPS mark, Hernandez is more of a 750 OPS batter, meaning he’s above average, but not on the elite level.

The key continues to be Josh Naylor. If Naylor can hit like he has so far in May (.300 with two home runs and a 930 OPS in a small sample size), the Tribe’s offense just may be good enough. Notice that his surge has tied in with the offense being better.

First base is still a disaster area with Jake Bauers and Yu Chang combining to go 18 for 104 with just a single home run. Please note we are again talking about 32 games, not 10 anymore.

And the defense, particularly in the outfield, has been poor. Harold Ramirez has provided a bit of a spark with the bat (five hits this week, including three doubles), but he’s not a centerfielder. We know Naylor isn’t going to win a gold glove in right, and Rosario is average in left.

Terry Francona has tried to play Amed Rosario at shortstop against lefties, but it seems like he makes one misplay in each game he is out there.

And Roberto Perez’ finger injury means we will see a lot of Austin Hedges behind the plate, and let’s be kind and say he is offensively challenged. We know the Indians go defense first behind the plate, and we understand that, but right now, that position provides a slight upgrade over a pitcher offensively.

We have already seen opposing teams start to pitch around Ramirez and take their chances with Rosario and Reyes, and so far, they’ve come through. But given a choice, it wouldn’t be shocking to see more teams simply not give Ramirez anything to hit in late innings.

Nothing really has changed for the Tribe. If they can score, they can contend. Their ability to push runs across remains the key to the 2021 season.

Tribe Needs To Walk, And Walks Are Good.

It goes without saying that the Cleveland Indians are struggling offensively. We’ve discussed it before, but currently the Tribe is averaging less than four runs per game, 12th in the American League.

They are second last in batting average (.209), but weirdly lead the league in home runs. They have the largest percentage of their runs scored coming from homers, which might seem like a positive statistics, but really is a negative one.

They don’t score much unless someone hits a home run.

They do rank 5th in the AL in walks, and have dropped in recent days to a tie for third in striking out the least amount of times.

We are a big believer in the strikeout/walk ratio in determining the ability of a hitter.

While there are exceptions, hitters that have high strikeout totals and don’t walk a lot aren’t destined to have long careers in the big leagues. It’s fine if you have high whiff and walk rates. In Cleveland, think about players like Jim Thome and Travis Hafner.

It’s one reason we were concerned about Amed Rosario, who last season had a 39/4 ratio.

What worries us is that if a batter doesn’t know the difference between a strike and a ball, pitchers figure that out pretty quickly, and realize they don’t have to throw the batter a pitch in the zone to get them out.

It’s also why we are anxious to see how young hitters like Tyler Freeman and Owen Miller do when minor league baseball starts in May. So far in their professional career, they make opposing pitchers throw strikes to get them out for the most part.

So far, the Cleveland hitters with the worst ratio in this regard are Austin Hedges (7 K’s/1 BB), Franmil Reyes (18/3), Andres Gimenez (10/2), and Josh Naylor (12/4).

Can you imagine how lethal Reyes would be at the plate if he could lay off pitches out of the strike zone? We understand some of that comes with experience, because hitters are anxious to come up with the big hit, rather than keep the line going and pass on the opportunity to the next batter.

On the other hand, here are the hitters who have good ratios: Jose Ramirez (8/7), Cesar Hernandez (13/10), Jordan Luplow (10/7), and Roberto Perez (14/9). This is one of the reasons, despite a .167 batting average thus far, we think putting Hernandez in the leadoff spot would be a good move.

It’s also why we are encouraged about Luplow, and why we think he should start seeing more at bats vs. right-handed pitching. He leads the team home runs and RBIs, despite having just 37 plate appearances, and is 3 for 6 with two dingers against righties. The outfield has not provided a lot of offense since the beginning of the 2020 season, so why not give Luplow more chances based on this success.

So far, the Indians have been dismal hitting with runners in scoring position, which is the biggest reason they have become so dependent on the home run to score. The more opportunities these selective hitters get, we should see better results, as long as they maintain patience.

Think to Tuesday night, when Luplow fanned with the bases loaded in the fifth despite being ahead in the count, 3-1. He swung at two pitches above the zone. That inning is different if he just takes the walk, which he has done the season for the most part.

On the other hand, keep an eye on players like Reyes, Gimenez, Naylor, and to a lesser extent, Amed Rosario, and see how many times they get themselves out.

We aren’t saying it’s easy to hit big league pitching, but it helps if you limit yourself to swinging at good pitches.

The encouraging thing about Tuesday’s contest was the Indians drew nine walks. They need the base on balls to help their offense.

A Big Spring For Bradley, Chang, Zimmer.

Some things have changed since the Indians gathered in Goodyear, Arizona last spring, besides the pandemic. The Tribe will have a new shortstop, two of the pitchers who opened the season in the starting rotation are gone, and there is no slated in right now to be the closer.

However, for three players this spring is much like a year ago, except they are a year older, and in their current situations that is not good.

It is kind of make it or break it for Bobby Bradley, Yu Chang, and Bradley Zimmer, and it didn’t help any of them that last year was reduced to producing in the satellite camp in Eastlake. Now, they need to have big springs to make an impression on the front office and Terry Francona.

Bradley, who will turn 25 in May, didn’t get a chance with the big club last season despite the Tribe’s offensive woes. That’s because he was blocked at DH by Franmil Reyes and at first base by Carlos Santana. He had a 912 OPS in his last minor league season with Columbus in 2019, but did get 49 plate appearances with the Indians, but only hit one homer and struck out 20 times.

That’s the issue for the left-handed swinger, contact. He fanned 153 times at AAA (453 plate appearances), but did belt 33 round trippers. He will get an opportunity to win the job at first this spring, but will have to battle Jake Bauers with Josh Naylor also in the mix.

If an outfielder hits well, that will push Naylor to first and probably knock Bradley off the roster. It is difficult to judge Bradley in spring training because he won’t likely see the quality breaking pitches he needs to demonstrate he can hit to make the team. Our guess is he has an uphill fight to open the season with the Indians.

Chang will turn 26 during the 2021 campaign, and was the sensation of the summer camp, hitting home runs seemingly in every intersquad game. He did get 11 at bats in the regular season, getting two singles. He has 97 big league plate appearances, recording a .179 batting average (551 OPS).

His problem in the minor leagues has been getting on base (.326 on base). He has some pop, but has a low batting average and doesn’t draw a lot of walks, although he has 13 in the majors. He is in the mix at shortstop with the two newcomers from the Mets, Andres Gimenez and Amad Rosario, and could also make the squad as a reserve because he has played second and third base.

For Zimmer, time is really getting against him as the former first round pick in 2014 is now 28 years old. He’s had the most extensive look at the big league level, registering 510 plate appearances with a 649 OPS. He’s battled injuries, but he’s another player with contact issues, fanning 164 times versus just 41 walks.

Since the second half of his rookie year, Zimmer has hit .194 with 6 HR and 26 RBI in 304 at bats, striking out 121 times against 29 walks. Zimmer is an athletic freak, his speed is off the charts, but as the saying goes, you can’t steal first.

He’s competing for the CF job with Oscar Mercado, the newest Indian Harold Ramirez, non-roster invitee Billy Hamilton and perhaps Ben Gamel. He needs to hit and get on base. He’s probably the best defender of the group, but it doesn’t matter how good you are with the glove, you have to be able to contribute offensively.

It’s really a crossroads for these three players. If that don’t make an impact in spring training, it’s doubtful any of the trio will be back in Goodyear a year from now trying to make the 2022 Cleveland Baseball Team.

Tribe Has Many, Many Questions Heading To Goodyear

The people who run Major League Baseball seem to want to delay the season, but the players didn’t agree, so it appears spring training will start in about 10 days in Goodyear, Arizona.

What does the season hold for the Cleveland Indians? There are probably more questions surrounding the Tribe that for any other team in the sport.

It would not be surprise to us if the Tribe won anywhere from 75 to 90 games in the 2021 season. That’s how much uncertainty we have.

The starting lineup has few people entrenched. Jose Ramirez will play 3B, Cesar Hernandez will be at second, Eddie Rosario will be in the outfield, Franmil Reyes will be the DH, and Josh Naylor figures to be in there somewhere, outfield or 1B.

Roberto Perez and Austin Hedges will share the catching spot, and we would guess Jordan Luplow will be in the lineup whenever the Tribe plays a left-handed starting pitcher. Oh, and Shane Bieber will be the Opening Day starter, if he is healthy.

At first base, Terry Francona has a bunch of candidates. We believe Naylor is the frontrunner, but Jake Bauers, who spent all last season in the satellite camp, is out of options. He hit .226 (683 OPS) when we last saw him in 2019. There is also Bobby Bradley, who will turn 25 during the ’21 campaign. He hit 33 HR in AAA in ’19, but struck out 20 times in 49 plate appearances in the bigs.

Bradley hasn’t been on a Top 100 prospect list since 2017, so this spring is probably make or break for both him and Bauers.

At shortstop, which player obtained in the Francisco Lindor deal does Francona go with? Andres Gimenez or Amad Rosario?

Gimenez is 22, a left-handed hitter and had a 732 OPS a year ago. Rosario is 25, a right-handed hitter, but had a bad year in ’20, hitting just .252 with a 643 OPS. Gimenez is the better defender, while Rosario could also be a candidate to play centerfield.

As we said, the outfield is up for grabs with half the positions open. Rosario will play everyday and Luplow at least vs. southpaws.

Centerfield would seem to come down to Oscar Mercado, who had a solid rookie season, but was terrible last season, hitting .128 with a 27:5 strikeout to walk ratio, the perpetually tantalizing Bradley Zimmer, who outside of the first half of his rookie season (2017) has had contact and production issues, or could A. Rosario be in the mix?

And what about Daniel Johnson, who had a 868 OPS in the minors in 2019? He’s mostly played rightfield, but can and has played in the middle of the outfield.

We would rather see Johnson out there, at least as part of a platoon with Mercado, than Zimmer, who continues to struggle making contact.

Or does Johnson platoon in RF? Or does Naylor, if Bauers or Bradley win the first base job?

The thing to watch when exhibition games start (at the end of this month!) is who is hitting, and who are they hitting against?

And don’t forget the utility infielder spot. Does Yu Chang have the inside track for the spot? Don’t forget the Tribe brought back veteran Mike Freeman as an invitee, and although many don’t like him because Francona uses him like a security blanket, he is perfect in that he doesn’t require regular at bats to keep his swing ready.

The only question behind the plate is whether or not both Perez and Hedges open the season with the Indians. Both are among the highest paid Indians, and does the front office want to have two highly paid guys paying the same position?

That seems to be an odd question, but that’s life as we currently know it for supporters of the Cleveland Indians.

While many regard (and rightly so) the starting pitching staff as the strength of the team, but there are many questions there as well. We will discuss those next week.

Just think, next week, baseball fans can start getting reports about on the field activity. Finally. After a crazy 2020, that’s something to look forward to.

Is Tribe Selling Hope Or Success?

We have always said the two things professional sports franchises can sell their fans are a championship contending team or hope of future success. That’s why the Indians are having a tough time with their fan base, particularly those who have been around longer.

First, we understand the Tribe has a good farm system, but we also understand that’s a highly speculative thing. As the late, great Pete Franklin used to say, until proven otherwise, prospects should be called suspects.

As it stands right now, the Cleveland Indians probably aren’t in the mix for an American League Central Division title. They could be in it for a wild card if they can muster enough runs. They ranked 13th in the AL in scoring last season, and they no longer have three of the top five on last year’s squad in OPS (Francisco Lindor, Cesar Hernandez, and Carlos Santana).

Can someone emerge from the organization to replace that run scoring capability? Of course, anything is possible. We like Josh Naylor, who will play somewhere, and certainly Daniel Johnson deserves a real shot at everyday at bats.

However, that’s the real question. Assuming Jose Ramirez and Franmil Reyes are the best two hitters in the everyday lineup, who is the third best hitter? Is it Naylor? Or does a Jordan Luplow finally become a hitter who can be productive against right-handed hurlers, meaning he can play in most games?

There is no question the strength of the Indians is their starting pitching staff, led by Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, but without Carlos Carrasco as a veteran anchor, the rest of the starting rotation doesn’t have much of a track record.

For example, barring an injury issue, Bieber will start Opening Day in Detroit on April 1st. Who pitches the rest of the series? You could assume Zach Plesac goes in the next game, but he’s thrown less than 200 innings (171) in his big league career.

As for the rest of the rotation, Aaron Civale has pitched 132 innings. Triston McKenzie has logged 33 frames, Cal Quantrill has 135. Does Adam Plutko sneak back into the mix? If he does, he’s the old man of the group at 217.

None of these guys have pitched an entire major league 162 game season. So forgive us if we are a tad skeptical if they can pitch at a high level from April until the end of September.

The good news is more starters should be ready soon. Guys like Scott Moss, Logan Allen could get shots in 2021, and don’t count out Sam Hentges, Eli Morgan, and Joey Cantillo, who came over in the Mike Clevinger deal.

Where the lack of hope comes in is does anyone have any faith in anyone staying in Cleveland past the time they will be a free agent? Does anyone believe Jose Ramirez will be here beyond 2023, when his club options expire?

Lindor and Clevinger both alluded to how this organization does business now. If a player is about to make big money, they are traded. Maybe it’s just those two, but my guess is this is discussed in the clubhouse, and that will make it difficult for the front office to convince any player to take less money to sign long term.

That makes it difficult to get attached to players and/or a team. Why do people gravitate to the Tribe teams of the late 1990’s? Kenny Lofton played here nine years in a decade span, Omar Vizquel was here 11 seasons, Jim Thome 12 years before coming back for a swan song. Charlie Nagy was here for 12.

When players are part of an organization for that long, they become family.

We understand the sport has changed, but are simply saying having a revolving door in the locker room doesn’t help build an identity with the fan base. That’s why trading Carrasco hurt many. He was here for ten years.

Just remember this. The last Indians who played more than 10 years in Cleveland and never played anywhere else retired in 1956! That was Al Rosen.

A Monumental Off-Season For The Tribe

To say this off-season is monumental for the Cleveland Indians is truly an understatement. Yes, the Indians made the playoffs in the shortened regular season, and only five key players on the roster are over 30 years old, but it feels like a shift in the franchise is at hand.

Will Terry Francona still be the manager or will his health issues cause him to take another role within the organization.

Roster wise, you can feel confident that only three regulars will be in their same positions when the Tribe reconvenes in Goodyear next February: 3B Jose Ramirez, DH Franmil Reyes, and C Roberto Perez.

The biggest elephant in the room is the status of SS Francisco Lindor, who can be a free agent after the 2021 season. The most likely scenario is president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff will see what they can get for their star player and trade him.

To us, that could signal in a rebuilding phase, albeit maybe a short one.

The Indians struggled to score runs all season long, so on the surface, it would seem like dealing one of your few dependable hitters (yes, we know Lindor didn’t have a great season, but he was one of four players with an OPS+ over 100) would not be a way to help the offense.

Carlos Santana will turn 35 around Opening Day 2021 and is coming off the worst year of his career, and has a $17.5 million club option, that the Indians will surely not pick up. Will they be willing to bring him back on restructured deal? If they do, they need a back up plan. Could that be Josh Naylor or perhaps Jake Bauer?

Cesar Hernandez was a great pick up from the Phillies, but he will be 31 in ’21 and had one of his best years, so we would imagine he is looking for more than the $6.25 million he earned this past season. If that’s true, does that put him out of the Indians’ range?

And Brad Hand will also turn 31, and seems to have lost some velocity off his fastball. He has a $10 million club option for 2021, but with Emmanuel Clase coming back, we would predict the only reason the organization picks it up is to trade the closer and get something back.

It’s pretty clear to everyone the outfield needs to be overhauled. Cleveland’s OF ranked lowest in the AL in WAR this season, and two of the starters, Delino DeShields Jr. and Tyler Naquin could wind up being non-tendered. We find it improbable that next year’s OF will be comprised of three unproven youngsters.

That leaves the Lindor situation, and we can all get ready for a winter filled with speculation on where the shortstop will spend next season. We feel a deal involving Lindor would likely signal the closing of the contention window.

We know the organization has tremendous pitching, but can they survive a 162 schedule struggling to score runs.

However, the safe bet is Lindor will be dealt in the off-season, but we say why not play it out, especially since the Collective Bargaining Agreement end after the 2021 season.

It is unlikely the Indians will get a fair return for their star shortstop. Keep him, try to win and make the post-season next season, and see what the new rules for baseball will be following the season.

For all we know, there could be a “franchise player” clause. Or revenue sharing might be more prominent, or what about a salary cap with a corresponding salary floor.

All might be more advantageous to keep Francisco Lindor, and the added benefit is another chance to make the playoffs.

Without a doubt, this is a very important fall and winter for the Cleveland Indians’ organization. What this team will look like in February is anyone’s guess.

Tribe Couldn’t Afford A Poor Season From Santana.

When you are second to last in a league in runs scored, there is clearly no one person to blame. It’s clearly a team effort.

We have pointed out in previous pieces that the Cleveland Indians have four positions (catcher and all three outfield spots) that rank in the bottom three in the American League in WAR. The front office took a “wishin’ and hopin'” approach to the outfield during the off-season, and has paid the price for it.

Because of that, there is an enormous amount of pressure on the top five hitters in the batting order to produce. Francisco Lindor, who has an OPS of 786, which is third on the team (behind Jose Ramirez and Franmil Reyes) has certainly heard his share of criticism because of his batting average with runners in scoring position. He is 9 for 51 with 13 RBI’s this year.

However, among those players being heavily counted upon by the Tribe this season, perhaps the most disappointing is 1B Carlos Santana.

The switch-hitter was coming off a career season, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by a drop off. And we don’t want to say Santana has no offensive value, because he leads the league in walks and still has a .355 on base percentage.

But his slugging percentage, a career high .515 in ’19 has dropped more than 200 points to .296 in this COVID shortened 2020 season.

We didn’t feel there would be a huge regression for Santana because he clearly changed his approach at the plate last season, going from a full out pull hitter to a player who used the middle of the field more and had more success.

And for all of Santana’s struggles, what does it say about the Indians’ management that they continue to hit him in the cleanup spot in the batting order, a position where power is most definitely needed.

This isn’t to denigrate Santana, who has been a very good player for the Cleveland franchise for ten years. He is starting to appear on the club’s all time top ten in several categories, including 8th in home runs (213, one behind Andre Thornton), 2nd in walks behind Jim Thome, and 10th in times getting on base.

However, it does point out two things.

First, the extreme amount of pressure the organization put on the top five in the batting order to produce. The Indians couldn’t afford any of them to have off years, and Santana has had one.

Second, the lack of depth on the roster, which doesn’t allow them to give the veteran switch-hitter to have a day off to refocus. Let’s say, the manager decides to play Josh Naylor at first base, who takes Naylor’s spot in the outfield? Or can you imagine the outrage on social media if they decided to play Mike Freeman at first?

Santana’s lack of production power wise does make it curious as to when the Indians decided to shuffle the lineup a bit, they left him in the #4 hole. Why not move him up in the order? After all, he does get on base, even this season. As we said, he leads the league in walks.

We would have put him, not Francisco Lindor, in the leadoff spot, and shuffled from there. That would put an emphasis on what the hitter is doing well this season.

It also calls into question what the organization will do with the option on the first baseman’s contract for 2021 at $17.5 million. We always figured the front office would try to restructure it, since Santana likes it in Cleveland, but now, even that should be up in the air.

We know Santana is a team player, and his struggles bother him to be sure. But quite frankly the Indians weren’t set up for an important player to have an off year.

And that’s troublesome in itself.

Blaming Lindor? It’s Because We Will Miss Him If He Leaves.

We have lived in the Cleveland area for a long time, longer than we care to remember. And we have seen how people in northeast Ohio deal with their sports grief, and in many cases, preparing themselves for the sadness.

Right now, supporters of the Cleveland Indians are doing this with their all star shortstop, Francisco Lindor.

If you are a regular reader of this writer, we have made it abundantly clear how we feel about the Tribe shortstop. We believe if he plays the majority of his career with the Tribe, he will be recognized as the best position player ever to wear an Indians uniform.

The prevailing thought is with 14 games remaining in this shortened regular season, the days of seeing Frankie Lindor’s smile are coming to an end. It has been speculated by national baseball writers that the four time all star will be traded this off-season.

We are very much against such a trade and would pay the man the market value for someone who if he isn’t one of the ten best players in baseball, is certainly one of the top 15 players.

Keep in mind, Lindor will not turn 27 until after this season ends, and has hit 30 or more home runs three times, 40 or more doubles three times, scored 100 runs twice (he led the AL in 2018), and has won two Gold Gloves.

While there is no question Lindor hasn’t played up to his normal levels this season, he isn’t the only superstar you can say that about in the 2020 season (see Christian Yelich’s or Javy Baez’ statistics), blaming him for the Indians’ anemic offense is simply not right.

And yes, we know Lindor has struggled this season and last season in hitting with runners in scoring position. You know who is aware and probably putting too much pressure on himself to come through? Yes, Lindor himself.

We get it though, fans are cushioning the blow of Lindor leaving after the season. So, he is becoming the poster child for Cleveland’s offensive problems. We hear fans saying he’s checked out on the Tribe because he knows he’s out of here after the season, and point out his 6 for 45 performance with runners in scoring position as the example.

Actually, we think it is just the opposite, and we believe Lindor and his longtime teammate and the Tribe’s other megastar, Jose Ramirez have themselves believing if we don’t do it, no one else will either.

Tribe television analyst Andre Knott has said many times, Lindor is the Indians’ leader, but Ramirez is the team’s heartbeat.

Look the reason the Indians’ offense is struggling is they are getting pretty much no production out of four positions: All three outfield spots and catcher. If they were getting hitting out of those spots, Lindor’s struggles wouldn’t stand out as much.

And when the top of the order has games where they don’t hit, you get games like Thursday night, when rookie Brady Singer of the Royals gave up one hit in eight innings.

Lindor ranks third on the team in OPS (784) behind just Franmil Reyes and Ramirez. He’s in the top five on the Indians in both on base percentage and slugging percentage.

He ain’t the problem, folks.

Is Lindor having an MVP type season? No, he’s struggled early, but hit .282 in August and has actually improved that mark in September so far, at .293, and he’s cut down on the strikeouts as well, just five in 11 games this month.

Lindor is taking a larger portion of the heat for the poor performance of the offense because he likely won’t be with the team much longer, because ownership doesn’t want to pay for great players, and it’s easier to say goodbye.

The fans are pushing his away, they don’t want to admit the Indians are better with him. We understand that’s how it works in our town. However, it doesn’t mean the blame is being properly placed.