Memories Of One Last Indians’ Game

Saturday night, we made our final trek to Progressive Field to watch the Cleveland Indians. Yes, we know the team isn’t going anywhere, and there will major league baseball on the shores of Lake Erie in 2022, but as we headed down to the ballpark, there was a melancholy feeling here.

We thought about the games we attended as a kid, and joked about taking the rapid downtown from West Park before we were able to drive, something we would never let our kids do today. It was no big deal back then.

Our group talked about where we used to park when the new park first opened and attending World Series games in 1995 and 1997, and reminisced about how we couldn’t believe the Indians, who were mediocre as long as we remembered, finally made it to the Series, something that was just a TV show in October.

We were handed rally towels as we entered Progressive Field that said “Let’s Go Tribe”, curious indeed considering the upcoming name change.

We settled into our seats down the left field line, near the “Home Run Porch”, fine seats indeed. Our friends thanked us for the choice, but we didn’t want to sit in the upper deck for this one.

The ballpark wasn’t really enthusiastic when the game began, and there were many at the game from Chicago, doing the weekend thing of seeing the White Sox and the Bears in our town on the same weekend.

However, Jose Ramirez shot some energy into the crowd with a two run HR in the first, and the “Jose, Jose, Jose” chants were heard all around us. After that, it was more about taking in the atmosphere for our last Indians’ game.

A lot of jerseys were worn by fans, many of them bearing the name of “Lindor”, a symbol to us of an ownership that has never connected with the fans, despite putting a winning team on the field for most of the last eight years.

It was also discussed that the ownership trading the beloved “Chief Wahoo” mascot to get the All Star Game in 2019, and probably dealt the name “Indians” to get the state government to pony up some funds to renovate Progressive Field and extend the lease.

The best throwback jersey we saw was a 1970 pinstriped jersey with the shadow lettering and numerals with #48 on it, the number of our first favorite player, Sam McDowell.

We talked about the surveys the organization sends to fans talking about ticket plans, renovations to Progressive Field, etc. and how no one ever hears from the organization about responses. We laughed about the questions, asking essentially, why we go to the ballpark. Our answer: “to watch a baseball game”.

Sometimes it seems like the organization is looking for a secret answer as to why people don’t come down to the place formerly known as “The Jake”. Sometimes, it’s a simple as talking to fans, real baseball fans, to find out what’s missing. That’s what the great Bill Veeck would do.

As for the new name, we all agreed the ownership could’ve handled it better. They could have picked three or four names and had the fans vote on it, including them in the process. Another way the disconnect could have been narrowed.

It could be part of the problem with the new name is the fans feel it was forced upon them. They had no say.

We looked at the giant scoreboard in behind the left field bleachers with sadness, knowing “Indians” would either be gone or replaced with “Guardians” the next time we were at the park.

At the 7th inning stretch, the crowd seemed to increase the volume when the line “root, root, root for the INDIANS” was reached, seeming to say they weren’t happy with the change.

We walked around the ballpark one last time, knowing there will be big league baseball there in 2022, but also aware the park will look different, with the renovations starting this winter.

Again, we understand why the name was changed in our heads, but that doesn’t mean it hurts our hearts as fans. Memories will still be with the Indians, the Tribe, and the Chief. Heck, every spring, stations play Major League and Major League 2, which of course, feature the Cleveland INDIANS!

So, the name isn’t going to go away. Nor will it be ignored.

The elementary school and church we attended as a kid has changed its name too. But not for the people who attended it. We are sure that’s how it will be for Cleveland baseball fans in the future.

Tribe Needs To Do Better Vs. Good Pitching

It would not be shocking to say the Cleveland Indians need offense in the off-season. After all they rank 10th in the American League in runs scored, 12th in drawing walks, and 13th in on base percentage.

They also have a dreadful record against the better teams in the league, save for the divisional rival Chicago White Sox, who they have an 9-9 record against.

They are 9-25 against the Rays, Red Sox, Yankees, Astros, and Blue Jays, all of whom have won 85 games or more this season, so they will all approach 90 victories. And throw in the beating administered at Progressive Field by Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago, and that mark drops to 9-28.

After an offensive resurgence in August, the hitting has been abysmal in September, as Friday night marked the fifth time (in 24 games) that the Indians were whitewashed. They have also scored 3 runs or less 14 times (more than half for non math majors) in the last month of the season.

The league average for runs scored by an AL team this year is 4.6, and Cleveland averages 4.38, making them below average, which we already established.

We wanted to see how they did against the best pitching staffs in the league. Tampa leads the AL in ERA and in the seven games against the Rays, Tribe hitters scored 23 runs, just 3.3 per contest.

New York is second, and thanks to the pair of drubbings in Yankee Stadium last weekend, the Indians averaged over five runs per game. They also had the best record against them out of all the AL East post-season contenders.

Third best in ERA is the White Sox, and although the Tribe is 9-9 against them, they are only scoring four runs. Fourth place Houston? Cleveland went 1-6, averaging exactly 3 runs a game.

Toronto is known for their hitting, but they are 5th in ERA and the Tribe scored just 22 runs in the seven games, which is a 3.1 average. Then comes Oakland, whom the Indians went 2-4 against, mainly because they scored just 17 runs in the six games, which is less than three per contest.

Why have the Tribe struggled against the good teams? Because they can’t score against good pitching staffs, and they have to get some bats that can succeed against the better hurlers in the game.

We have long maintained that you have to score runs to get to the playoffs. The top five in the Junior Circuit this year? Houston (likely AL West champs), Tampa Bay (playoffs), Toronto (wild card contender), Boston, (wild card leader), and the AL Central champion White Sox.

And against good teams, you have to execute offensively. How many times this season have the Indians had a leadoff double, only to see the runner never move off second? It happened Friday night when Owen Miller got to second base with no one out, only to see Roberto Perez, Oscar Mercado, and Bradley Zimmer not even put a ball in play.

Yes, the Indians are a young team, so there is room for improvement and growth, but on the other hand, we haven’t seen many hitters making adjustments from at bat to at bat against good pitching, recognizing what the opposing guy on the mound is trying to do and then counteracting it.

Some times you have to tip your hat to the pitchers. We have seen opponents have to do that to Tribe pitchers.

It can’t just be Jose Ramirez though. The Indians have to be able to handle good pitching, and it hasn’t just been this season. It’s one of the reasons the franchise hasn’t won a post-season game since they took a 2-0 lead against the Yankees in the 2017 Division Series.

Why Not Take A Look At Gonzalez, Kwan Before Season Ends?

It is not a secret that the Cleveland Indians’ offense needs to score more runs, and unfortunately consistency is not in their arsenal.

In two of their last three games, the Tribe has scored double digits, getting a dozen against the Twins on Wednesday night and 11 yesterday vs. the Yankees. That’s the good news.

However, in the last 11 games, Cleveland has been shutout four times, including being no-hit for the third this season, the first time in MLB history a team has done that. Included in that span, besides the no-no, the Indians were one hit, three hit, and four hit.

That’s a whole lot of ineptitude.

On an every night basis, interim skipper DeMarlo Hale trots out a lineup with as many as five or six batters who would at best be called mediocre. Is that in the name of development? Because at this point, we think most people would say players like Oscar Mercado or Bradley Zimmer aren’t going to become players who hit well enough to be in there everyday.

Now, what if we told you the organization has two players at AAA who have OPS of over 875 this season in the minor leagues. Wouldn’t you think the organization would like to take a look at these guys as the regular season winds down?

Cleveland is 7th in the American League in home runs, but in 9th in runs scored, mostly because they rank 13th in the league in on base percentage and batting average.

And down at Columbus, the organization has a player who has compiled a .413 on base percentage in 66 games between the AA and AAA levels in 24-year-old Steven Kwan, a fifth round pick in 2018.

A left-handed hitter, in his minor league career he has reached base 38% of the time, but the only year he’s been under .400 was in 2019 at Lynchburg. He hit .337 at Akron this year (950 OPS) and .339 in 15 games with the Clippers.

He also has a little pop as well with 28 extra base hits in 287 plate appearances. The big club has only two players (Myles Straw and Jose Ramirez) who get on base more than 35% of the time, so they could use more hitters who avoid making outs.

They could certainly use an outfielder who hits with power and has a good batting average, and Oscar Gonzalez, who is just 23, certainly fits that bill.

A right-handed bat, Gonzalez has hit .300 with 28 homers and 76 RBIs (886 OPS) in 112 games, 63 of them at the AAA level. He has a .548 slugging percentage and has struck out just (relatively in today’s game) 97 times in 459 plate appearances this season.

As a comparison, Bobby Bradley has fanned over 148 times in four different minor league seasons.

What is Gonzalez’ problem offensively? He simply doesn’t walk. He’s drawn just 21 free passes this season, and that’s a career high! However, he continues to hit for a solid batting average, .276 in Columbus this season, and a lifetime minor league .282 mark.

Although we are a big believer in strikeout/walk ratio as a measure of success in the big leagues, there are guys in the majors who succeed despite not walking. Tim Anderson of the White Sox comes to mind.

Anderson averages 166 strikeouts and 24 walks per season, yet has a career .284 batting average, and won a batting title in 2019, hitting .335. Another weird stat about Anderson is that the year he set a career high in walks (2018 with 30), he had his lowest batting average at .240.

Why didn’t (or won’t) the Indians take a look at these two players, who might have helped the offense because their skill set in the minor leagues seems to be the very thing the parent club could use.

Quite frankly, wouldn’t it make the last two weeks of the season more exciting if we could watch this duo get some big league time instead of seeing players who have been decidedly mediocre for two or three years running.

This organization lives in fear at times, and this is one of those times. Kwan and Gonzalez deserve a shot these last two weeks. It would be good for them and the organization moving forward.

Tribe’s Woes Vs. The Big Boys

There is an old baseball axiom that say to be a contending team, you have to beat up the “bums” and split with the contenders. That would explain why the Cleveland Indians aren’t really in the playoff mix.

Outside of the White Sox, who the Tribe has the familiarity of playing 19 times because they are a division foe, Cleveland has had huge problems with the best teams in the American League.

If the season ended today (it does not, of course), the five teams that would advance to the post-season would be Tampa Bay, Houston, Chicago, New York, and Boston. Take out the splitting of the 14 games vs. the Pale Hose, and the Indians’ record against the other four teams would be 4-19. What is amazing is that eight of the losses have been by one run, and two more have been by two runs.

Two of the wins have also been by one run.

And if you add in Toronto and Oakland, teams very much in the wild card mix, the record is 8-28.

That means against everyone else, Cleveland is 59-38, which is really, really good.

They have been outscored in those contests, 125 to 79 against the Rays, Astros, Yankees, and Red Sox meaning they have been averaged less than four runs per game against those top tier teams. Overall, they average almost 4.5 per contest. It’s tough to win without putting runs on the scoreboard.

It’s not a stretch to say the Indians can dominate the lower class teams in the American League, but have been totally outclassed by the big boys. And that has to change is they want to be contenders next season.

Jose Ramirez and Franmil Reyes have been productive against the upper echelon teams of the AL. Ramirez has hit .322 (19 for 59) with four home runs and 13 runs knocked in. Reyes has hit .324 (23 for 71) with seven dingers (remember he had a great series vs. Tampa) with 19 ribbies.

On the other hand, Amed Rosario has struggled against these teams, hitting just .193 with 3 RBIs, and Harold Ramirez is 10 for 51 with four runs knocked in. Some of the younger Indians have struggled as well. Bradley Zimmer is just 9 for 52 (.173) and Bobby Bradley has gone 9 for 56 with a single home run.

All the losses by one run shows that for the most part, Cleveland has been competing with the good teams, mostly because their starting pitching keeps them in games early.

The Tribe is a very young team, so it might just be a part of the growth process, learning to win against the better teams. One good thing to take away from this is in each of the series, the Indians have won one game in the set, the last game. The early losses, some of them tough to take, haven’t bogged the team down.

Cleveland has gone 23-8 against the Royals and Tigers, but have struggled slightly against Minnesota, who is having a down season. They still have seven games left against the Twins to improve that mark.

Playing much better against the good teams has to be a goal for next year. We understand the mindset of Terry Francona is taking things one day at a time, but getting wins against good teams is needed to make the playoffs.

It’s been a struggle to do that for the 2021 Indians.

Whoever Is Managing The Tribe: Stop The Bunting Madness!

You might think the Cleveland Indians lead the American League in sacrifice bunts, but you would be wrong. They are actually fourth. The Royals, Angels, and surprisingly the White Sox all have more sacrifices than the Tribe’s 18 for the season.

On the other hand, the top four teams in AL in runs scored have all moved runners over via the bunt less than ten times each. Chicago is fifth in runs scored, but the Twins are sixth, and they have sacrificed seven times.

Good offensive teams don’t bunt often. Now, that could be a “chicken or the egg” argument, but it is frustrating to many fans that the Indians try to sacrifice as much as they do.

The only way to measure a baseball game is the number of outs. It famously has no clock. So, it seems very strange to give up an out when most times, it really doesn’t enhance your ability to score.

The latest example came up Saturday in a 2-2 game in the seventh inning after Oscar Mercado led off with an infield hit, and Andres Gimenez, who was trying to bunt, walked to put runners on first and second with no one out and the top of the order coming up.

Myles Straw, hitting .277 right now, and with a .336 OBP was asked to lay one down and popped up to the pitcher, making the first out, and not moving the runners.

First, Straw makes good contact and has tremendous speed, so his chances of being doubled up on a ground ball are pretty slim. Why ask one of your better hitters to deliberately make an out?

When we first started following baseball, early in games, if a leadoff hitter got on base in the first inning, the #2 hole hitter would bunt him over for the three hole hitter, traditionally the best hitter on the team. And in those days, that guy was a .300 hitter, meaning he had a reasonable chance to get a hit.

We understand the game isn’t played like that anymore. But several times this season, the Indians have sacrificed when the next hitter is batting in the low .200’s. Why give up an out for that situation?

We also get that you don’t want to bunt someone over when it opens first base and the opposing team will likely walk the next hitter. Really, for the Indians, that means not taking the bat out of Jose Ramirez’ hands, so Amed Rosario should never be bunting.

And giving up an out early in a game, particularly when the other team’s pitcher is average or below average is just dumb. Last week, the Indians were trying to bunt in the first three innings of a game started by Texas’ Jordan Lyles, who came into the game with an ERA over 5.00.

There is an old baseball adage that says when you play for one run, sometimes you get just that, one run. And there is a time for doing that, usually in the late innings of a tie game, where one run gives you a victory.

Otherwise, let players swing the bat. They might just NOT make an out.

Tribe Season Now Is About Getting Answers

In the middle of June, the Cleveland Indians looked like a team that could challenge the White Sox for the AL Central Division title, and be in the mix for a post-season berth.

After beating Minnesota on June 24th, the Tribe was ten games over .500 at 41-31 just two games behind Chicago. Yes, they seemed to be doing it with mirrors, but they were winning.

On the other hand, you felt it was a matter of time before the injuries to the starting pitching staff would take its toll.

Cleveland lost 11 of their next 12 games and the team fell 8 games off the pace.

Suddenly, the rest of this season becomes about not just winning baseball games, but also finding out things, getting answers of players.

We would think based on the current players in the organization, the only positions that can be etched in stone for 2022: Jose Ramirez at 3B, Franmil Reyes at DH, and probably Myles Straw in CF.

Here are questions to be asked, and our thoughts on the answers.

Can Bobby Bradley claim a regular job heading into spring training 2022? To us, the key to that is can Bradley develop enough plate discipline. He’s more patient for sure, but it hasn’t translated into drawing walks. His strikeouts are down a bit (40.8% to 35.6%) and walks are up (8.2% to 10.3%) from his brief appearance in 2019.

You can live with the strikeouts if he can draw more walks, but can he do that.

Our guess is the Tribe will be looking for someone else to play the spot, perhaps Josh Naylor?, in 2022.

Can Owen Miller figure in the mix? His minor league pedigree (.305 batting average, 818 OPS) say he should be able to, but he’s hitting .139 in 72 at bats thus far. Since getting called back up, he been slightly better (5 for 21, 3 walks), but has to start putting together consistent at bats.

We’d give him a long look because of those minor league numbers. The Indians could use a solid bat, and need to see if Miller can be one.

What’s the future of Amed Rosario? Rosario has one of the higher batting averages on the team, and he has great speed, but he doesn’t walk (just 23 in 405 plate appearances) and really doesn’t provide any pop. His 697 OPS is below league average and his defense at short has been very shaky.

With Andres Gimenez back up, it will be interesting to see how Rosario is used. The Tribe has to feel Gimenez is the better glove, so where does that leave Rosario? Especially when they have to see what Miller can do with consistent at bats.

We get that isn’t a popular opinion, but we don’t see Rosario in the long term future for the Tribe.

What about the outfield? Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff didn’t get Straw to sit, he’s going to get everyday playing time in CF. So, can someone out of Bradley Zimmer, Oscar Mercado, Harold Ramirez, and even Daniel Johnson seize a spot for next year?

Remember, Zimmer is the oldest of that quartet at 29, Johnson the youngest at 25. Like it or not, that could be a determining factor. We are sure that management would love it if one of them got hot at the plate and take a job. Right now, only Ramirez is even average with a bat in his hand.

The front office has to find out the answers to these questions because otherwise they will likely be stuck with the same logjam when they take the field in Goodyear next February.

The dynamic of the team and the coaching staff will still be to win as maybe games as they can, but with an eye on development of these players, some of whom aren’t as young as you think. As Antonetti says, it’s like threading the eye of a needle.

Tribe Slump A Result Of All Phases

On June 24th, the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 to bring their record to 41-31, and were just two games behind the White Sox in the American League Central Division.

Since that day, the Tribe has gone 7-17, including a nine game losing streak from June 30th, when they lost a doubleheader to Detroit to July 7th, when they lost a twin bill to Tampa.

And they’ve also lost 11 straight games to the Rays, spanning back to 2019.

The injuries to the starting pitching gets quite a bit of the blame for this bad streak, but in Cleveland’s last 29 games, a span that actually started earlier than the losing, the Indians have scored more than four runs just seven times.

Amazingly, they have lost three of those games.

Since the beginning of July, the Tribe has lost three games where they had the lead going into the 9th inning.

The point is this stretch has been brutal for Terry Francona’s squad, with each area of the roster contributing to the losing.

The team had to be happy when a starting pitcher gives them five quality innings, but recently, Zach Plesac has returned to give them some good outings, and Cal Quantrill has gone 2-0 with a 3.22 ERA in four starts.

Rookie Eli Morgan has been able to pitch five innings in each of his last five outings. His ERA has been 6.12 in those starts, but he has given the team a chance to win each time.

So, despite the injuries to their top three starters, the starting pitching hasn’t been awful. Triston McKenzie has been better since his most recent visit to Columbus either. Unfortunately, JC Mejia continues to show he’s not ready to pitch in the majors.

The bullpen has shown signs of wear and tear to the three late inning relievers, with Emmanuel Clase blowing two ninth inning leads and James Karinchak one, and Bryan Shaw has allowing 11 runs, nine earned in his last 17 appearances.

The offense has struggled along with their best weapon, Jose Ramirez. In his last seven games, Ramirez is just 2 for 18, with a homer. Over the last 14 days, he is hitting .160 (4 for 25). Even worse, over the last 28 days, he’s hitting .230 with four long balls. He still has an 846 OPS in that span.

His production has dropped since he was hit in the foot by a pitch against Pittsburgh, which coincidentally is when the Cleveland offense hit this cold patch over the last 29 games. He has also been battling a sore elbow.

Ramirez is by far the best position player on the team, and because of that, if he is struggling, it is very difficult for this offense to get anything going. The only consistent hitters Francona has are Jose, Franmil Reyes, and Harold Ramirez, and for some reason, the latter gets left out of the lineup far too often.

Yes, some players have pitched in from time to time, such as Bobby Bradley who has belted 11 homers, but in July, he has batted .158 with 30 strikeouts in 72 plate appearances. He has taken some walks, but the swing and miss issues are still a major issue.

The defense also breaks down a lot. Cesar Hernandez’ work with the glove has taken a dramatic dip. Amed Rosario has range issues and problems turning the double play. Fly balls hit to anyone besides Bradley Zimmer and Oscar Mercado have become adventures.

That doesn’t help a young pitching staff either.

Among the everyday players, outside of the two Ramirez’s and Reyes, could the front office make a deal that would weaken any other position? We doubt it. Let’s say Hernandez is moved, it would give Owen Miller another shot. Amed? They could get another look at Andres Gimenez, who would at least provide better defense.

No, the Indians shouldn’t go into tank mode, but they should look to reshape the roster with an eye towards 2022. Getting Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale back should mean an improved offense put the Indians in contention next year.

But they should look to get stronger in all areas too. There is room for that in all phases of the game.

Evaluating Amed Rosario

According to Baseball-Reference.com, seven of the Cleveland Indians’ leaders in WAR (wins above replacement) are pitchers, including Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, and Zach Plesac, all of whom have missed considerable time this year due to injury.

The only position players who rank among the top ten are Jose Ramirez, Franmil Reyes, and Harold Ramirez. Bradley Zimmer ranks 11th, and it is very telling that Oscar Mercado, who has appeared in 16 games for Cleveland (44 plate appearances) is 12th.

What does that say about the guys who have spent most of the year on the big league roster?

One Tribesman who has received positive reviews is SS/CF Amed Rosario, who came over to Cleveland from the New York Mets in the Francisco Lindor transaction.

Rosario has stabilized the #2 spot in the batting order and has very good speed, and plays hard. That’s the good stuff.

Offensively, he’s basically a platoon player. Against lefties, he has a .287 batting average and a 788 OPS, getting 11 extra base hits in 108 at bats. But right-handed pitchers have held him to a .260 batting average and a 641 OPS, with just 10 extra base hits in 208 at bats.

He also doesn’t walk. We were concerned when he was acquired that he walked just four times all season for the Mets in 2020. He’s only drawn 18 free passes for the Indians this year, which is 5.3% of his times at the dish.

For contrast, that’s just slightly better than Harold Ramirez, described by many as a free swinger. Ramirez walks in 4.6% of his at bats. Ramirez also has just one less extra base hit than Amed Rosario, despite having over 100 less plate appearances.

And defensively, let’s just say A. Rosario is not going to be a finalist for the Gold Glove in the American League once the season ends.

Rosario stands out because most of the other people Terry Francona writes on a lineup card each day is pretty mediocre. That’s not to say he’s terrible, he has very good speed and is a very good baserunner, and he likes to hit the ball where it is pitched, which is a lost art in baseball these days.

But players with a 691 OPS are not good hitters. Rosario has a poor strikeout to walk ratio (67:18) and doesn’t hit for power, and we don’t mean home runs, but extra base hits. That’s why people look at on base percentage and slugging percentage. They are important statistics.

We remember many years ago when Tribe fans and media alike fawned over Felix Fermin, who handled balls hit at him very well, but didn’t have much range. When Fermin was sent to Seattle in the deal that brought Cleveland Omar Vizquel, we told people they would soon see what a great defensive shortstop really looked like.

Their frame of reference was watching players who were basically average. When you are used to that, above average looks much better.

And that’s Amed Rosario at the plate. When compared to the rest of the Tribe lineup, he stands out. In a solid lineup, he’s batting 8th or 9th. There’s nothing wrong with that, just don’t be fooled.

Tribe Offense Could Use More Walking.

There has been a lot of discussion over the past few seasons about “launch angle” and the way baseball has gone with the approach of hitting over defensive shifts and strikeouts are no big deal.

Maybe the pendulum is starting to switch.

Everyone’s friends, the Houston Astros might be changing the narrative. The Astros lead the major leagues in runs scored, yet have struck out the fewest times of any team. Toronto, who has scored the third most runs, have whiffed the next fewest.

While it is true the other teams in the top five rank more toward the middle of the pack in striking out (Dodgers-19th, Red Sox-14th, White Sox-13th), of the teams that fan the most, only Tampa Bay, whose hitters have struck out more than anyone, score more than the sports average (4.48 runs/game).

The next best team is Atlanta, who have scored the 7th most runs.

Let’s compare the Astros and Blue Jays offenses to the hometown team, the Cleveland Indians.

The Astros have six hitters who get regular at bats with on base percentages of over .350, and four players have more than 35 walks. As we just saw when the swept the Tribe in a four game series here, when their hitters get to two strikes, they have a more old school approach, looking to put the ball in play.

They also have seven batters with slugging averages over .450.

Toronto isn’t a team that walks a lot, with only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. having an on base percentage over .350, although Bo Bichette and Marcus Simien are close. They do have five hitters with slugging percentages over .450.

As for the Tribe, they have only one hitter with an OBP over .350, and that’s Bradley Zimmer, which is quite shocking, but he only has slightly over 100 plate appearances. Among players with over 200 PA’s, there is no one. Jose Ramirez’ .347 figure leads the team, with Franmil Reyes (who actually has just 197 times at the dish) next at .325.

As for slugging percentage, the Indians have just three players over .450: Jose Ramirez (.518), Reyes (.597), and Harold Ramirez (.451).

We know we are stating the obvious, but the Indians simply need more good hitters. To have an offense like Houston or Toronto, they need really three good hitters. More to the point, they need guys who don’t make outs.

The next best offenses in the AL, the White Sox and Red Sox breakdown as follows–Chicago has four solid on base hitters (over .350 OBP), but only two sluggers, although Tim Anderson’s slugging percentage is .447.

Boston has just two on base guys, but five sluggers, including Christian Arroyo, who Cleveland let go last season.

Cesar Hernandez and Amed Rosario have been okay, although the latter seems to be getting a lot of love from the baseball media lately. Hernandez has a .300 on base percentage, and although Rosario has good speed, and does hit the ball the other way, his OBP is just .307 because he doesn’t walk, which was his problem with the Mets.

Hernandez has had good years of getting on base, and is tied for the team lead in walks with Ramirez at 35. As a team, the Indians rank 13th in taking walks, and that needs to improve greatly for the team to score more often.

We are a huge believer in strike zone judgment being a big factor as to whether or not hitters have a solid long range future. That doesn’t bode well for the Cleveland lineup going forward. It’s also one of the reasons we would like to see more of Jordan Luplow.

Despite being on the IL since the end of May, and having only 121 plate appearances, he still ranks third on the team in walks with 21. It’s a skill this team needs.

We aren’t saying it’s the only way to improve the offense, but it’s a start in the right direction. Walking is good, the Tribe should do more of it.

When It Comes To WAR, Tribe Every Day Players Rank Low

Since we are halfway through the Major League Baseball season, we thought it would be a good time to evaluate the performance of the roster of the local nine, the Cleveland Indians.

And if look at WAR (Wins Above Replacement), at least according to BaseballReference.com, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

According to their version of the formula, the Indians rank third from the bottom for non-pitchers, ahead of only the Orioles and Tigers. Even with all the injuries to the pitching staff, Cleveland pitchers rank 4th, behind only the Yankees, White Sox, and Blue Jays.

To break it down further for the guys who stand on the mound, Tribe starters rank 8th, which could have been expected considering the injuries to Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, and Aaron Civale, and the performance of the hurlers who replaced them.

However, the Indians’ bullpen ranks second in the AL, trailing just Boston.

As for the position players, it’s not a pretty picture. Since there are 15 American League teams, we will consider the top eight to be in the top half of the league. Using that standing, the Tribe has only two positions ranking in the top half, third base, of course manned by Jose Ramirez, the team’s best player and an All Star for the third time, and DH.

Franmil Reyes is the usual designated hitter, and his OPS (914) leads the team. And while Reyes was out, Terry Francona used a number of players at the spot to give them rest, one of whom was Ramirez.

The next highest ranking by position is rightfield, manned most often by the now injured Josh Naylor, followed by Harold Ramirez, who has an OPS of just under 800 (785).

Cleveland ranks in the bottom three at two positions, catcher and second base. We know the team values defense first and foremost at the catcher position, but having Roberto Perez out for two months didn’t help. And that said, we felt Austin Hedges did a marvelous job handling the pitchers, many of whom are getting their first big league experience.

Despite the good defense, Perez and Hedges have combined to hit .146 with 7 HR and 22 RBI. Those numbers are slightly better than having the pitcher hitting.

At second, Cesar Hernandez has put up surprising power numbers, he is one off his career high in HR, but his on base percentage is not what the brass is looking for and his defense hasn’t been what it was a year ago.

They are one spot above that at first base and leftfield. Bobby Bradley has helped the numbers at first, but that was after watching two months of a Jake Bauers/Yu Chang platoon at the position. The left-handed hitter has belted 8 homers and drawn 10 walks to date.

Eddie Rosario has been the primary guy in left, and although he’s been hitting better in the past month, his OPS is still under 700 (685). And let’s just say, he’s not going to win a Gold Glove anytime soon.

That would leave SS and surprisingly CF as the next best positions. Amed Rosario has stabilized short, but despite being hot over the last six weeks, he still has a 690 OPS, which is below average. The Tribe is still looking for someone to take charge in center.

It just shows there is still a lot of progress needed in the everyday lineup, and how the organization has worked around this to still have a winning record.

We don’t think WAR is the end all, be all statistic in baseball. But using it to compare the production of your team vs. others seems legitimate