Tribe Bullpen Springing Some Leaks…Again

The Cleveland Indians’ bullpen was a trouble spot for the 2018 team, there can be no debate about that.

Losing Andrew Miller to injury early in the season didn’t help, and several pitchers who played key roles in 2017 were ineffective or injured, or both.

Dan Otero had a poor season. Nick Goody started the season getting hit and eventually went on the disabled list for the rest of the season. Zack McAllister’s luck getting by throwing one pitch for a strike caught up to him.

That put quite a strain on Cody Allen, and by the end of the year, the workload, perhaps an accumulation over the past three seasons, hurt him.

They turned to guys brought in over the winter on minor league deals, arms like Neil Ramirez, Ben Taylor, Matt Belisle, Evan Marshall, and Alexi Ogando.

Of that group, Ramirez did well upon his arrival, but faded as the season went on, very much prone to giving up home runs, a no-no for a relief pitcher, especially one who pitches late in a game.

In June, veteran Oliver Perez became available, and the Tribe signed him. And he helped stabilize the ‘pen, compiling a 1.39 ERA for the rest of the season.

In July, the front office dealt for closer Brad Hand and submarining righty Adam Cimber, to provide more options.

The bullpen was better, but not at the level of 2016 and 2017.

Last winter, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff did pretty much the same thing, bringing in some arms on minor league deals, but some were hurlers with a solid track record, like Tyler Clippard and Alex Wilson, and made minor deals for Nick Wittgren, A.J. Cole, and Chih Wei Hu.

Unfortunately, when training camp broke, Clippard was injured, Wilson was released, and Wittgren and Hu were sent to Columbus.

That meant it was basically the same cast of characters again for the relief corps.

The bullpen was strong the first few weeks of the season, but it started to spring leaks in Kansas City and Seattle, and continued over the weekend at home vs. the Braves.

Hand hasn’t been an issue. Getting the ball to him has been.

Ramirez’ long ball woes returned. He’s allowed four in 10 innings to date, meaning he’s given up 13 in 52-2/3 frames since arriving in Cleveland. That’s an alarming rate.

Perez has regressed to the mean, and has allowed eight hits and two walks in 5-2/3 innings. Last year, his WHIP was 0.742.

Another lefty, Tyler Olson, has allowed eight hits and five walks in 7.1 innings. If you take out Olson’s scoreless streak at the end of the ’17 season, his ERA is 5.01 with the Indians, covering almost 55 innings.

He just isn’t that effective.

Otero has generally been effective, but he has given up a lot of hits. He tends to get ground balls though, so no complaints there.

Jon Edwards started the year with promise based on his September performance a year ago, but had problems throwing strikes and was sent back to AAA.

The bright spot over the last week has been Wittgren, who allowed his first run yesterday, and picked up a two inning save in the 1-0 win at Seattle. He’s fanned 11 and not walked a batter in eight innings.

It will be interesting to see how long the front office and Terry Francona keep confidence in Ramirez and Olson.

Cole has pitched well in Columbus, and could get called up today. And watch for James Karinchak at Akron, who has pitched eight innings and struck out 19 hitters. That’s domination at any level.

It seems like another case where the management’s disdain for change has hampered them. They may be forced to make alterations soon.

The Cody Dilemma

We are sure that Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff thought they took care of the Indians’ bullpen issues when they dealt Francisco Mejia, the organization’s best prospect, to the San Diego Padres for Brad Hand and Adam Cimber.

Both pitchers coming to Cleveland will be under control for several years, important because of the impending free agency of Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

Since the deal, Neil Ramirez, who helped stabilize the bullpen since the end of May, went belly up, with a 7.30 ERA and five home runs allowed in 12-1/3 innings since the all star break.

When the deal was made, it was thought or hoped that Ramirez could be a bridge to the big three of Miller, Hand, and Allen, pitching in the 6th inning or perhaps earlier. His sudden ineffectiveness ended that plan.

Allen has also struggled giving up the long ball in the second half, allowing five homers in 16-1/3 frames, compared to six allowed in 38 innings before the Midsummer Classic.

The Indians’ all time save leader is showing signs of wear and tear. His strikeouts per nine innings is at a career low (10.5 compared to career total of 11.5). His walk ratio is at a career high, except for his rookie year (3.9 to 3.4).

His home run ratio per nine is at 1.8, compared to 1.0 for his career.

Let us remind you that walks and home runs are the worst thing a relief pitcher can allow.

Allen looks like he could use 7-10 days off to rejuvenate from carrying a very heavy workload, as he was the only reliable option in the bullpen for awhile when Miller got hurt and before Oliver Perez arrived and Ramirez emerged.

The problem for Terry Francona is that right now he doesn’t have an alternative to Allen on the roster.

The Tribe has four right-handed relievers currently on the team: Allen, Cimber, Dan Otero, and Josh Tomlin. Cimber is a situational righty, a sidearmer who is solid against right handed hitters, allowing a .240 batting average. Lefties hit .306 and have an 1.050 OPS against him.

That makes him not a viable option to pitch an entire inning most nights.

Otero has been mediocre at best this season, with his own problems with the long ball, allowing 11 circuit clouts in 49 innings. His previous career high was seven in his last year in Oakland, 2015.

We are sure Francona does not want to bring him into a game in the late innings with a one or two run lead. His role is to soak up innings when the Tribe is behind or in need of someone in the 5th inning or earlier.

As for Tomlin? He’s the long/mop up man right now.

So, right now there is no alternative to using Allen, which if he does need a little time off, doesn’t help him.

With Miller going back on the disabled list with a shoulder issue, Tito may feel the need to lean on Allen even more. With the AL Central Division all but clinched, he should be working on developing an alternative.

Either that, or the front office needs to find another relief arm before September 1st.

It seems like the bullpen story this season is one problem gets fixed and another one crops up.

Time For Tribe Front Office To Recover From “Slump”

Perhaps the executive branches of professional sports teams have hot streaks and cold spells just like players. If you agree with that premise, then the front office and management of the Cleveland Indians is in a bit of a slump.

It started in the off season, when the team predictably lost two relievers, Bryan Shaw and Joe Smith in free agency. However, president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff didn’t really address the losses in the winter.

Sure, they brought in a collection of guys on minor league contracts, but no one with a proven track record. Because of Andrew Miller’s injury, this has resulted in having the statistically worst bullpen in baseball.

Miller being out has caused Terry Francona to have no bridge to Cody Allen for much of the season. Only in the last month have Neil Ramirez and Oliver Perez, released by the Yankee organization, stepped up to give the Tribe some relief in the 7th and 8th innings.

Worse, the bullpen situation, or lack of it, have caused Francona to extend his starters, and Corey Kluber is already having some knee issues. Hopefully, that’s the extent of the effect as the season continues.

Austin Jackson was also a free agent not pursued by the Indians after a season where he hit .318 overall, and torched left-handers to the tune of a .352 batting average and 1.013 OPS.

Look, we agree that Jackson was unlikely to produce the same way in 2018, but the issue was the front office wound up picking up Rajai Davis to take his spot with the team. Unfortunately, Davis has never been outstanding vs. lefties, a career 759 OPS against southpaws, and this year that figure has dropped to 523.

Spring training also caused some curious decisions, most notably not making Yandy Diaz more versatile. Diaz played 21 games in LF and nine games in RF last season in Columbus, but in the spring, they focused him at third base, a position he was never going to play in Cleveland with Jose Ramirez there.

Diaz has little to prove at the AAA level after hitting .350 there last season, and this season has a .415 on base percentage in Columbus. The Tribe could use some outfield help, and they could also use someone at the bottom of the order who doesn’t make outs.

It doesn’t seem like the organization has any plans for Diaz, despite hitting .263 last year and getting a lot of time down the stretch last season.

These aren’t second guesses, either. Most fans of the team wondering aloud during the winter and throughout spring training just what was the front office doing. Most felt because of the weak AL Central, the brass had until the end of July to fix things.

Well, that date is drawing near, and the fear is there are too many holes on this roster to fix them all within two weeks.

But the front office has a chance to redeem itself after the slump that has continued since the end of last season. The time to strike is now.

The bullpen is the glaring need and we do not believe it will be fixed simply with Andrew Miller’s return. Hopefully, Ramirez and Perez keep pitching well, but holdovers Zach McAllister, Dan Otero, and Tyler Olson aren’t inspiring any confidence.

The offense could be solved by simply bringing up Francisco Mejia (who was recalled yesterday) and perhaps Diaz as well and putting them into the lineup. On the other hand, neither are proven at the big league level, and the Indians need to correct the current top heaviness in the batting order.

If the front office pulls off a couple of solid moves that work within the next two weeks, no one will remember the past eight months. However, they can’t just ignore the issues this team has despite a big division lead.

Tribe Cruising In Division Race, Trailing In Expectation At Halfway Mark

The Cleveland Indians hit the halfway point in the season a very puzzling team to be sure. They finished the first half of the season 44-37, on a pace to win 88 games, far below what was projected coming into the campaign.

Their offense, although somewhat top heavy with Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, and Jose Ramirez, is still productive enough to rank 4th in the American League in runs scored (2nd last year), and the pitching staff has overcome a bad bullpen to still be 6th in the AL in ERA.

We will say this, the Indians under Terry Francona have been a second half team more often than not, and hopefully that trend will continue.

To date, here are the 27 game splits record wise in 2018:

Games 1-27: 15-12
Games 28-54: 14-13
Games 55-81: 15-12

They haven’t put together streaks where they played exceptional, nor have they been dreadful. The last week or so of play illustrates the point.

Cleveland finished a nine game homestand on a seven game winning streak. They followed that up by losing four of five on the subsequent road trip.

The great play within the division is both good and alarming. On one hand, you have to play well within the division to win it, and the Tribe has done that, going 20-12 vs. the other Central Division teams, and that includes a lackluster 3-6 vs. Minnesota.

However, that means the Tribe is a pedestrian 24-25 vs. everyone else. Keep in mind, the AL Central is the worst in baseball. So, when the Indians venture out of the division, they are a below .500 baseball team.

Part of the problem is the bullpen, which has been without Andrew Miller most of the year, and recently has been buoyed a bit by the emergence of Neil Ramirez (2.25 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 16 innings) and veteran lefty Oliver Perez (allowed one run and has 11 Ks in 10 frames).

Outside of this duo, and Cody Allen, the relief corps has been dreadful. The Indians still rank 14th (just ahead of Kansas City) in bullpen ERA, and is 5th in the AL in allowing home runs out of the ‘pen.

Zack McAllister and Dan Otero have each allowed seven dingers this year, while Cody Allen has allowed five, and Nick Goody and Josh Tomlin (in 15 relief innings) has allowed four.

Many times, as we saw the last two days in Oakland, the bullpen eliminate any opportunity for a comeback win by the offense, by giving up the long ball.

As for the bats, we have always said we try to be more patient than most, but the front office’s faith in Jason Kipnis has born fruit. Kipnis has his average up to .217 after hitting .266 in June. But, should he stay at 2B?

You see, centerfield for Cleveland has been a vortex of suck all season.

Bradley Zimmer had a 611 OPS, Greg Allen won the job while Zimmer was on the DL, and promptly went 1 for 33 after Zimmer was sent to the minor leagues.

Tyler Naquin inherited the gig from Allen, and hit .162 with four RBI in June.

Perhaps the Indians should go back to their playoff lineup from last season, and put Kipnis back in center, with Jose Ramirez shifting back to 2B, and call up Yandy Diaz to play third?

Just a thought.

And then we have Brandon Guyer. Guyer is still a solid hitter vs. southpaws, hitting .246 with an 832 OPS. However, when Guyer came over at the deadline in 2016, he hit .216 vs. right handers (628 OPS). Not great, but passable.

Last year, though injury plagued to be fair, those numbers dropped to a .204 batting average and a 577 OPS.

This year, he is 1 for 39 against righties. Keep in mind, rookie PITCHER Shane Bieber is 1 for 3 vs. right-handers.

There has to be another alternative.

The second half of the season starts in Oakland today, and here’s hoping Francona and the front office find solutions to the problems. Again, the Central Division isn’t really in jeopardy. It would be a shock if the Tribe didn’t win the division.

But they are playing against their own expectations, so they need to get better.