An Intriguing Week For The Tribe, To Be Sure.

With the Major League Baseball trade deadline at the end of July, Tribe fans had to know it would be an eventful week, and it lived up to the billing.

Yes, team president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff made some deals, but the big news was the announcement that Terry Francona was leaving the team for health reasons, and would not be back this season.

Francona’s health has now caused him to miss parts of the last two seasons, and we hope that he gets the medical attention he needs and will be back in the dugout for Opening Day 2022. And if he chooses to retire, his next stop will be Cooperstown.

Many Indians’ fans have decried the trades as throwing in the towel on the season or as ownership cutting more payroll.

Let’s face it, the Tribe has an uphill battle to make the post-season, but that doesn’t mean they won’t keep battling for interim skipper DeMarlo Hale, and although Cesar Hernandez and Eddie Rosario were among the highest paid players on the team, it’s not exactly like they were having all-star caliber seasons.

Hernandez did have a career high in home runs, but his on base percentage was down almost 50 points from a year ago and almost 40 points from his career mark. And his defense noticeably dipped as well. So, the team will get a look at youngsters Owen Miller and/or Andres Gimenez, although when the latter comes up it should be to play shortstop.

Would we be shocked if either provided more offensively than Hernandez? We would answer only slightly.

As for Rosario, everyone was excited by his signing because of the way he hit against Cleveland as a member of the Minnesota Twins. That Eddie Rosario didn’t show up this season, certainly in terms of power. His slugging percentage is almost 100 points less than his days in the Twin Cities.

He was second on the team in RBIs when he was injured, so he did contribute there.

Still, the team’s production at both positions was below league average, and in the case of Rosario, he was unlikely to be back in 2022.

Both of those moves were predictable, but the other two deals weren’t to us. We figured a reliever might be moved, but most thought it would be Bryan Shaw. However, it was underutilized (at least to us) Phil Maton that went to Houston for a very intriguing piece in CF Myles Straw.

Straw was the Astros primary centerfielder, hitting .262 with a 665 OPS. He’s got speed, currently 4th in the American League in steals. Oddly, Straw didn’t like hitting in Minute Maid Park, compiling a .297 batting average and 739 OPS on the road. Hopefully, that’s the guy the Indians will see.

What does Straw means for the future of Bradley Zimmer, Oscar Mercado, and even Daniel Johnson in a Cleveland uniform? We would certainly like to see more of Johnson, who after starting the season 0 for 9, actually has gone 9 for 35. Not great, but an Indians who gets a hit in every four at bats isn’t exactly common.

Trading Jordan Luplow thins out the crowded (not production wise) outfield, and that was the biggest surprise. Luplow had tremendous number vs. southpaws and we would have liked to seen him get a full time chance because his minor league numbers showed he could hit righties.

The pitcher Cleveland received from Tampa for Luplow, Peyton Battenfield, has 95 strikeouts in 67-1/3 innings this season in the minors, so it could be the Tribe really wanted the arm. This year showed they needed some pitching depth in the high levels of the minor leagues.

Are the Indians a better team than they were on Wednesday? It remains to be seen, but they didn’t exactly break up an offensive juggernaut. Maybe Straw provides better hitting than what Tribe centerfielders have contributed so far. Maybe Owen Miller starts to show the stroke he had in the minors.

While not truly giving up on the season (see, Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals), the front office is looking toward 2022. And based on the last month, which saw a nine game losing streak, why not?

The Little Known Veteran Trio In Tribe ‘Pen

With the Major League Baseball season starting Friday night, the bullpen of the Cleveland Indians appears to have a lot of uncertainty.

We know Brad Hand will be the closer, but the suspension of Emmanuel Clase for the season has the dreams of the young duo of Clase and James Karinchak setting up Hand on hold.

We still think Karinchak will play a big role for the ’20 Tribe, if he can throw strikes. If he does, he will strikeout a lot of hitters. In the minor leagues a year ago, he fanned 74 batters in 30-1/3 innings, and followed up that by whiffing eight big leaguers in 5-1/3 frames.

At this point, people know about this pitcher with a plus fastball and an electric curve.

They also know about the ageless southpaw, Oliver Perez, who will turn 39 next month, and posted a 3.98 ERA in 40-2/3 innings last year, striking out 48 and walking 12.

Perez held left-handed hitters to a .207 batting average last season, but right handers hit .286 against him.

The mirror image, so to speak, of Perez, is sidearming righty Adam Cimber. Cimber had a 4.45 ERA a year ago, but right-handed hitters did hit .244 against him. Lefties batted .296 with a 943 OPS, so Terry Francona will have to be very careful in spotting him vs. players who swing from the left side.

No doubt, it will be interesting to see how the new three batter rule will affect how Francona uses each of this pair of relievers. They may become guys brought in to get the last out of an inning.

Nick Wittgren might have been the guy Tito trust most besides Hand last season. He had 4 saves with a 2.81 ERA in 55 games, but became more prone to giving up the long ball as the season went on, allowing seven (of 10) after the all star break.

They guys no one really talks about are Phil Maton, James Hoyt, and Hunter Wood.

We remember seeing Maton in his rookie season pitching against the Indians for San Diego and was intrigued. He pitched 1-2/3 innings, allowed one hit and struck out three (Jason Kipnis, Erik Gonzalez, and Francisco Lindor).

In his first two years with the Padres, he fanned 101 in 90-1/3 innings, walking 37. He was prone to giving up the long ball, allowing 13 homers.

Last season, the bottom fell out for the 27-year-old right-hander. He pitched in 21 games, and allowed 34 hits, including six dingers. He was traded to the Indians for international slot money in July.

At Columbus, he must have figured something out, striking out 17 in 10-2/3 innings before being called up. He pitched in nine games with Cleveland, a total of 12-1/3 innings, striking out 13, and allowed just one homer with a 2.92 ERA.

There is talent there, and last year was the outlier for Maton. That’s what should get him the opportunity at the start of the season.

At 33, Hoyt is the oldest of the trio, and kicked around the minors and independent leagues for six years before getting a shot with Houston in 2016.

In 65 games with the Astros in ’16 and ’17, he whiffed 94 hitters in 71-1/3 innings, but was prone to the long ball, giving up 12 dingers, although seven of those were at Minute Maid Park.

He suffered through knee and elbow problems in 2018, pitching in just 30 innings, facing just three hitters at the big league level.

He spent most of last season at Columbus, but came up in September, throwing 8-1/3 innings, striking out 10 with a 2.16 ERA.

Francona used him in a huge spot against the Twins on September 15th, and he got five big outs in the 8th and 9th in a 7-5 Tribe win.

The long locked, soon to be 27-year-old Wood, came over from Tampa Bay last season with Christian Arroyo, and was kind of considered a throw in.

He has the least swing and miss stuff so far, accumulating only 81 strikeouts in 86-2/3 innings, and has allowed 88 hits. And he’s another who is prone to giving up the long ball, allowing 11 in those innings, including 7 in 45-2/3 innings last year.

It would seem here that if this trio can keep the ball in the park, they should be good options for Francona this season. Our thought is there are two things relievers have to do: Throw strikes and keep the ball in the park.

We feel better about Hoyt and Maton than we do about Wood. Hopefully, all three can help the Tribe bullpen in 2020.

These Indians Are Flying Under The Radar.

Exhibition games (we love that baseball calls them that) have started in both Florida and Arizona, and that means fans can start analyzing box scores.

They don’t mean a heck of a lot because we don’t know what opposing pitchers are working on, nor do we know if hitters are trying to hit the ball the other way, or trying a different approach.

Anyway, here is a look at four players on the Indians’ spring training roster who seem to have been overlooked coming into training camp, but have real possibilities of making the final 26 man roster at the end of March.

Jake Bauers. Bauers is a former top 100 prospect (2017 and 2018 with Tampa Bay) who came over in the deal which sent Yandy Diaz to the Rays.

At AAA, he had a 780 OPS, mostly built on a .363 on base percentage.

He was getting a lot of playing time in the outfield at the start of the season, but was hitting just .245 with a .316 OBP at the All Star break.

And he seemed too patient, which didn’t help his cause. For example, when he was ahead in the count 3-1, he was just 3 for 14.

Terry Francona had a talk with Bauers at the end of the season about being more consistent in his work habits. We will see if the left-handed hitter, who isn’t yet 25 years old takes it to heart.

He probably has the inside track to come north with Tyler Naquin hurt, but he is going to have to produce to insure that.

Jefry Rodriguez. People forget that it was Rodriguez who was the first starting pitcher called up when Mike Clevinger was hurt in his second start of the year.

In his first four starts, he went at least 5-2/3 innings and allowing less than three runs in each. In his last three outings, he didn’t get past the fifth and then was shelved with a shoulder strain.

The right-hander won’t turn 27 until July, and if he is healthy, it wouldn’t be a surprise to find him in the rotation to start the season, beating out one of this trio–Adam Plutko, Zach Plesac, or Aaron Civale.

Mike Freeman. The veteran did a solid job as the Indians’ utility man a year ago, but as usually happens to 32-year-olds who aren’t regulars he was designated for assignment when the season ended to open up a roster spot.

Freeman hit .272 with a 752 OPS in 75 games a year ago, and provided the Tribe with professional at bats. He’s adequate with the glove, can play a decent shortstop, and can even do a decent job in left field.

He’s fighting an uphill climb, with Christian Arroyo out of options, to head north with the team, but at the worst, he will be ready if needed at Columbus.

Phil Maton. Outside of the first half of last season in San Diego (21 games, 7.77 ERA), the soon to be 27-year-old (on Opening Day) has been a serviceable big league pitcher.

He had a 4.19 ERA in 43 innings in 2017, and a 4.37 ERA in 47-1/3 innings in 2018, and had a 2.92 ERA in eight appearances with the Tribe last year.

He has fanned over a batter per inning in his career, but has also allowed more than a hit per inning.

Still, we think he stands a good chance of opening the year in Cleveland.

These guys could be keys for the 2020 Indians, but no one is really talking about them right now. We will see if that changes as exhibition play continues.