Time For Tribe Shake Up If They Want to Contend

The Cleveland Indians are starting a 10 game trip which could make or break their season.

Yes, they are still just six games out of the second wild card spot in the American League, but their record is 33-39 and an unsuccessful trip would put them with too many teams to pass to claim a playoff spot.

From May 14th through June 2nd, the Indians went 13-5 and it looked like perhaps they turned around their season.

Unfortunately, that 19 day span is the only consistent baseball they played all year, and outside of that stretch, the Tribe is 20-34, a truly mediocre record over a 54 game span, which is one-third of the season.

The Indians will tell you there isn’t much they can do about the current roster, but that’s a lie. Here is what we would do:

We hate to see anyone lose their jobs, but despite what the Indians front office will tell you, baseball is a results business. They seem to think it’s an entertainment business.

1). Get a new hitting coach. Ty Van Burkleo made not be the reason the Indians can’t hit with men on base, but sometimes a new voice is needed. In 2005, Eric Wedge replaced Eddie Murray with Derek Shelton and the offense took off.

Maybe it’s a reach, but it’s worth a shot. Rouglas Odor was just named the hitting coach for the AAA All-Star Game, so perhaps he should be promoted.

The offense has struggled for more than just this season, it was tough to score runs the second half of last year too. It’s time to try something different.

2). Eliminate the dead weight on the current roster. Think about how many players Terry Francona doesn’t want to play or pitch with the game on the line.

It’s quite obvious the organization has lost confidence in Michael Bourn, relegating him to a platoon role. It’s time to release him.

We know how much money he is making, but right now he is hurting the team. A better alternative is to pay him (you have to anyway) and not have him hurt the team. This roster would be better off with Tyler Holt or Tyler Naquin on the team instead of Bourn.

Besides, this is making Michael Brantley play more centerfield, which is not good for his back, which in turn is not good for his bat. Brantley needs to move back to left permanently, and perhaps he will start hitting better.

The same goes for the bullpen. Francona doesn’t have faith in Nick Hagadone and it seems his confidence in Zack McAllister is waning as well. Cleveland has organizational depth in relief pitchers, so why not use it.

They’ve been loathe to give Austin Adams a shot for most of the season, instead, going with Scott Atchison, and right now, C.C. Lee deserves an opportunity.

Why not see what you can get for Hagadone and McAllister and get some more prospects.

It’s not like these moves would be catastrophic. The Tribe is struggling mightily now. Why not try something else? It is doubtful that the replacements for these players or coaches could perform worse than they are right now.

The front office of the Indians has a history of patience and sitting on their hands. It’s time to get up and do something, and do it now. Otherwise, the attendance figures at Progressive Field are going to keep declining.

And instead of coming up with reasons for that…just look in the mirror.

Using WAR to Identify Tribe Veterans Not Helping Club

This seems to be an annual thing to write when it comes to the Cleveland Indians and their manager, Terry Francona.

It is about the difference between patience and stubbornness. Even Francona himself acknowledges that he can be stubborn at times because he trusts the players you have performed for him in the past.

Once again, it seems like Tito and general manager Chris Antonetti have some decisions to make if the Tribe is to remain in contention for the playoffs in 2015.

As the season nears the halfway point, it is becoming apparent that a few players aren’t contributing to the success of this team, and the question is should they be replaced?

Now, we aren’t total proponents of WAR (wins above replacement player) because our opinion is that it is tilted toward middle of the diamond players. One of the selling points on Michael Bourn when he signed in 2013 was that he had a 6.1 WAR in 2012.

We looked at the stats and said he was a terrible offensive player for most of his career. His WAR rating was high because he plays centerfield and he was a solid defensive player.

However, within a team, WAR does tell you who is contributing and who isn’t.

For example, the lowest WAR among position players on the Indians belongs to Nick Swisher at -0.6, meaning a player in AAA would be better than him.

The only other position player with significant playing time and a negative in this category is Jose Ramirez. Which kind of validates the statistic.

On the pitching staff, the hurlers who have a negative WAR on the season are Bruce Chen, who is now retired, T.J. House, who is currently injured, and two current members of the bullpen.

Those two would be veteran Scott Atchison and Nick Hagadone.

The former is now 39 years old and had an excellent season with the Indians in 2014. Unfortunately, that was last year.

This year, he’s allowed six home runs in just 18 innings of work, and Francona can’t be comfortable bringing him into a game. By all accounts, Atchison is a great guy, but he doesn’t appear to be able to be effective anymore.

Hagadone is one of those pitchers who has unbelievable stuff, and he’s left-handed to boot. Scouts and personnel people always love guys like that.

His problem though is that he can’t throw strikes consistently, and that leads to problems. He’s given up more hits than innings pitched and has walked ten in 23 innings. His career ERA is 4.79. And he will be 30 on New Year’s Day.

The point is this isn’t some 24-year-old flamethrower we are hoping will be able to corral his pitches. He’s another guy that Francona has to be hesitant to bring into the game.

You can’t tell us the relief corps wouldn’t be better off with Austin Adams (2.38 ERA in 7 games) and Kyle Crockett (five scoreless appearances) pitching in Cleveland rather than Columbus.

Here’s a list of players hovering around a zero WAR, meaning they are replacement players: Carlos Santana (0.3), Bourn (0.3) Mike Aviles (0.4), David Murphy and Brandon Moss (0.5).

And these pitchers: Cody Allen (0.1 although he’s been better since the end of April), Marc Rzepczynski (0.0), Ryan Webb and Bryan Shaw (0.4).

This shows there are a lot of Indians who aren’t getting it done, and they need to pick it up if this team is going to start winning.

Remember, once players get into their 30’s, they aren’t getting better. You can live with Giovanny Urshela and Francisco Lindor struggling a bit, because they will improve.

It’s not likely that Hagadone and Atchison will be better as the season goes on.

Tribe Last 27 Games, Much Better Than First 27.

When we evaluated the Cleveland Indians after the first sixth of the season, they were floundering at 10-17, on a pace to go 60-102 for the season.

The next 27 games proved to be much more successful, mostly due to the starting pitching and the bullpen settled into some redefined roles.

Terry Francona’s club went 16-11 in this group of games and hit the one-third point in the season at 26-28 and very much in the mix for a post-season berth.

The Royals have come back to the pack a bit and the Tigers have been in a major slump, so the surprising Minnesota Twins are currently the division leaders, with the Indians five games back. They sit just two and a half games out of a wild card spot.

The offense improved, thanks to a historic month by Jason Kipnis, who was moved to the leadoff spot, and currently sits 6th in the American League in runs scored per game. They are 4th in the league in OPS, mostly because they are 2nd in on base percentage, led by Carlos Santana, who leads the AL in walks.

Still, the offense is inconsistent. In the last 28 games, the Tribe scored three runs or less in 14 of them, exactly half of them. However, they scored seven or more runs in six games, which is what improved their ranking. Thanks to the pitching staff, they won four of the games they scored three runs or fewer.

The Twins rank just ahead of Cleveland in runs per game, and they had 10 games of three runs or less in that span, along with seven games scoring seven or more. It’s a slightly less volatile attack.

When they score four or more runs, the Indians are 21-9.

Without a more consistent offense, the pitching has to shoulder the entire burden for this team winning.

The Tribe pitching staff ranks 11th in the Junior Circuit in ERA, but the way the starters are going, they will continue to rise in that statistic. And they lead the AL in strikeouts by a wide margin, fanning 39 more hitters than Tampa Bay in two fewer games.

The “Big Four” of Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, and Danny Salazar all have allowed fewer hits than innings pitched and struck out twice as many hitters as they have walked. That is outstanding.

All of them have an ERA under 4.00 as well. Over the last month, since Kluber’s 18 strikeout performance against St. Louis, a span of 23 games, Tribe pitchers have allowed more than four runs in a game just four times, and in two of those games, they allowed just five runs.

That’s dominant pitching.

Shawn Marcum isn’t the fireballer the rest of the guys are, but he’s provided good outing in three of his four starts. Despite not being able to throw in the mid 90’s, he is striking out almost a hitter per inning.

As for the bullpen, Cody Allen has pitched well since the end of April, allowing just four earned runs in 16-1/3 innings, striking out 23. His return to form has stabilized the ‘pen, and the others have followed suit.

Bryan Shaw is looking more and more like the guy who pitched here in 2013 and 2014.

Zack McAllister and Nick Hagadone have been inconsistent, and Scott Atchison was not pitching well before he went on the DL with an ankle injury.

Things are looking up at Progressive Field.

The starters are throwing like we all expected entering the season, and if the bats can start showing some improvement, it could be a fun summer downtown.

What a difference the second sixth of the season was.

Kluber’s Resurgence Sparks Tribe

When Corey Kluber took the mound on May 13th against the St. Louis Cardinals, he had an ERA over 5.00, and hadn’t won a game.

He showed his Cy Young Award winning form that night, striking out 18 hitters in eight scoreless innings, and allowed one hit in a 2-0 victory.

The Indians’ pitching staff seemed to rediscover itself on that night.

In the last 11 games, including that night, the Tribe pitchers have allowed just 30 runs, an average of less than three runs per night. You will win a lot of games when you hold the opponents like that.

And Cleveland has, they have won eight of those contests.

It seems that getting Kluber straightened out has sparked the club, and the other starters have followed the ace’s lead, starting with Trevor Bauer, who the next day, pitched a gem of his own, striking out 10 Cardinals in 7-1/3 innings, before Marc Rzcepczynski gave up a two-run HR to Matt Carpenter.

Yes, the offense is performing a little better, particularly since Terry Francona moved Jason Kipnis to the leadoff spot, but in this recent run, the Tribe is only averaging four tallies per game, scoring three runs or less in six of the 11 ballgames.

Everyone thought the starting pitching was the reason Cleveland would be a contender in 2015, and right now they are living up to those expectations.

When your starters perform like the Indians’ hurlers have over the last 10 days, you have a chance to win every single night.

And it helps that veteran Shawn Marcum gave his team a strong outing in his first start, beating the White Sox, giving up only two solo home runs in 6-2/3 innings of work last Wednesday.

Up to that point, the fifth starter spot had been a black hole for Cleveland since the first turn through the rotation.

Francona also made some changes in the bullpen too, as Nick Hagadone and Scott Atchison have taken a backseat after a few shaky outings.

Cody Allen seems to have better control and as a result is looking more and more like the pitcher we saw in 2014. He picked up his 9th save today, and has fanned 25 in 17-1/3 frames, although the 12 walks is still a scary statistic.

Zack McAllister seems to be the primary set up man, with a 1.64 ERA out of the ‘pen and 27 whiffs in 22 innings as a reliever. Rzcepczynski is the situational lefty of choice used by the skipper right now.

It was telling that the other night when Danny Salazar could only give the team six innings, that Francona went with newcomer Ryan Webb, who has allowed just five hits and three walks in 12-2/3 innings. Webb seems to be getting a more prominent role in the bullpen right now.

Bryan Shaw has been prone to giving up the longball, allowing three bombs in 13-2/3 innings to this point in the season. It appears he has lost the eighth inning spot he had in 2014.

But it starts with the starters giving Francona and Mickey Callaway six solid innings on most nights. That means the relief corps does not get overexposed and keeps them fresh.

That needs to continue.

If it does, the Indians may just be able to climb over the .500 mark and stamp themselves as the team everyone thought they would be at the beginning of the season.

It would be nice if they would hit a little better and catch the ball better too.

However, this is a team built on starting pitching and the ace of the staff seems to be back on the beam. That’s what got the Indians pointed in the right direction.

It’s Starting To Not Be So Early for Indians

If you were going to write a blueprint on how to contend for a division title in baseball, we would guess it wouldn’t say to start off 4-11 against your own division foes.

That’s what the Indians have done and in the process have dug a little hole for themselves.

They are now seven games out of first place and the calendar hasn’t even turned to May.

There is plenty of time for the Tribe, as they haven’t reached the 27 game point of the season, the one-sixth pole if you will, but it will come sometime next week, and right now, Terry Francona’s team looks moribund at best.

The culprit? The same as last year, an inconsistent offense that lacks hitters who provide professional at bats.

Last weekend’s series at Comerica Park was a perfect example of what we are talking about, as the Indians scored 13 runs in the first contest, and followed up the next day by tallying just one.

The team’s best hitter to this point has been a guy many people wanted to replace before the season opened, Ryan Raburn, who has hit .385 in 26 at bats and is tied for the club lead (with Brandon Moss) in extra base hits with seven.

Of course, three of Moss’ long hits game in the 13-1 rout of the Tigers we were speaking of earlier.

Granted, it is early, but the usual Indians’ line up features a lot of players batting anywhere from .240 to .150.

On the other hand, at what point is it no longer early?

When the same things are occurring to start the year as ended last season, there may not be time to wait.

We had discussions over the weekend about CF Michael Bourn, who was finally dropped out of the leadoff spot after starting off 2015 the same way he closed last year: Striking out a lot, not getting on base, and not stealing bases.

At this point, it would be a shock if Bourn caught fire and wound up the year with an average of over .250.

Jason Kipnis is looking like the ’14 version which was an injury plagued campaign.

Lonnie Chisenhall is looking like second half Lonnie, not the one who flirted with .400 in the first half of 2014.

The defense continues to struggle. Thank goodness Cleveland pitchers lead the American League in strikeouts, lest more balls be put in play to challenge the tin gloves the Indians’ fielders use.

GM Chris Antonetti has built this team on pitching, yet continues to put subpar defenders behind his collection of power arms in the front of his rotation.

We have been clamoring for Francisco Lindor to be called up since the trading deadline last season, but once again, today we heard a bunch of corporate speak about how he is not yet a finished product.

And we say that despite the fact we like Jose Ramirez. Ramirez will be a good player someday, but he’s a second baseman, not a shortstop. Lindor is a shortstop.

Roster problems weren’t taken care of either this winter. When Antonetti traded for Moss this winter, they didn’t move David Murphy, despite the plan to play the newcomer in RF.

Therefore, the Tribe doesn’t have a backup centerfielder on the roster. Wouldn’t Tyler Holt fill a role with this team?

Anyway, based on past experience, Antonetti will wait and wait before making any changes with the roster. By that time, it may be too late.

We picked the Indians to emerge as the division winner, but right now, this team doesn’t have the look of a playoff team, except for the starting pitching.

Hopefully, the season doesn’t get away from them by then.

Some Things Bothering Us With The Tribe

The baseball season is still very, very young. That’s why no one should be too upset about the Cleveland Indians start after 14 games.

The Tribe is 5-9 for the season, and really the only problem with that record is that Kansas City and Detroit have launched the 2015 regular season on a hot streak.

The Indians were 5-9 at the same point in the season in 2013 and went on to win 92 games that season and made the playoffs.

If you are looking at how games behind Cleveland is in the standings, be advised that on May 18th last season, they were 10-1/2 games out of first. They still went to the final weekend of the season before being eliminated from the post-season.

However, there still are some disturbing trends that have shown up in the first three weeks of the season, and they are being carried over from a year ago.

Defense. The Indians thought this would be improved from last year because Jose Ramirez replaced Asdrubal Cabrera at SS, and Carlos Santana was established at 1B. It’s still a problem.

Ramirez has booted some routine plays in key situations giving opponents extra outs, and the fears about Brandon Moss in right have proven true. He has missed cut offs routinely, and several fly balls which looked to be outs off of the bat have fallen in safely.

On a team built on pitching, the hurlers deserve better defense behind them.

Let’s face it, shortstop and centerfield are the most important defensive positions, and the organization’s best defender at SS is in Columbus.

Michael Bourn/Top of the lineup. The centerfielder’s career has been in decline since arriving here, and to this point, nothing has changed.

In his years in the National League, Bourn was a career .272 hitter with a .339 on base percentage and a 704 OPS. In two years with the Tribe, those numbers have dropped to .257/.313/.667.

While it is very early, Bourn isn’t off to a good start, hitting below .200 and second on the team in strikeouts despite having just two extra base hits.

He’s never been a very good leadoff hitter because of his on base average, but he’s becoming a liability at the top of the order. It will be interesting to see how patience Terry Francona has with the veteran.

The guy batting after him, Jason Kipnis, is also struggling. He has just one extra base hit in 58 at bats. Just two years ago, Kipnis had 57 extra base hits for the season, today, he ranks last on the club.

It wouldn’t be as bad if Kipnis was getting on base, but he’s drawn just two walks on the season, meaning his OBP is just .246.

It’s difficult for the offense to get going when every game seems to start with two outs and nobody on.

The Bullpen. Francona has ridden his bullpen hard the last two seasons, and whether it has taken a toll or not remains to be seen. However, the relief corps has had a problem throwing strikes, and that is not good.

Cody Allen has walked six hitters in five innings. Nick Hagadone, whose control has always been an issue, has walked three in six innings of work.

Bryan Shaw has walked two in four innings, but has been behind in the count often, leading to allowing eight hits in that workload. Kyle Crockett, now at Columbus, walked three in less than three innings.

Putting extra men on base especially in key, late game situations is never a good idea. This is an area that could turn around quickly.

We generally don’t form a solid judgment on a team until they get to 27 games, or 1/6th of the season.

But the first two things noted here were around all last year, so it becomes more of a trend.

Sure, the Indians could start hitting this weekend in Detroit and come back home in a much better spot. The starting pitching, especially at the top of the rotation has been spectacular.

Let’s hope the Tribe starts playing much better starting Friday night.

Tribe Roster in Flux Already, No Need to Panic

The major league baseball season is a week old, and already the roster of the Cleveland Indians is in flux.

Even though the Tribe were swept in their first home series of the year by the Detroit Tigers, the biggest loss was that of Yan Gomes, who suffered sprained knee ligaments in a home plate collision on Saturday and will be out 6-8 weeks.

GM Chris Antonetti was forced to do some roster shuffling because of Gomes’ injury, as well as a back problem for Michael Brantley that has kept him out of the lineup for all but two games.

If he isn’t ready to play Tuesday night against Chicago, after three days off, he may join Gomes on the DL.

Brantley’s problem along with other teams throwing southpaws at the Tribe, forced the team to bring up OF/1B Jerry Sands, a right-handed bat to help in this regard.

Then after the home opener and Saturday’s debacle for the relief corps, Antonetti and skipper Terry Francona were forced to bring back Austin Adams, set back to active Sands, and also to bring up Shawn Marcum to provide innings in case T.J. House couldn’t provide innings on Sunday, which he couldn’t.

It just goes to show that major league teams really don’t have a 25 man roster, it is more like 30 guys, with all of the player movement between the big club and their AAA affiliate.

However, it’s still way to early to panic and worry, after there are still 156 games remaining.

This series against the Tigers reminded us of a weekend at home against Oakland last May, when the Tribe lost three games by scores of 11-2, 6-2, and 13-3. Everything the A’s hit that weekend either hit a hole or sailed over a fence, much like the Tigers this weekend.

How did the Indians respond last year? They won 5 of their next 6, including a three game sweep of? You guessed it, the Detroit Tigers.

And as for folks saying this year is the same as last, and Cleveland can’t beat the Motor City Kitties, let us remind you that the Tribe beat the Tigers in four of the first five games they played a year ago, and wound up the season at 8-11 against them.

Again, there is a long, long way to go.

Detroit is hitting .364 as a team, and we are fairly confident that won’t continue for the balance of the year. Also, if you want to have success against them, you have to get their first two hitter and the bottom of their order out.

Right now, Anthony Gose has a .450 OBP, Ian Kinsler’s is .480, and Jose Iglesias’ is .625. Lifetime, their figures are .306 (Gose), .344 (Kinsler), and .335 (Iglesias).

To summarize…the Tigers are red-hot and the Indians caught them at the right time.

Also, the Tigers only saw one of the Indians’ top three pitchers, Corey Kluber, and Saturday’s game featured a meltdown by the bullpen, which isn’t normal for Francona’s team.

Many baseball people say you can’t judge a team until the 40 game mark, but we disagree slightly, saying that at the 1/6th point of the season, 27 games, you can start to get a feel for what is going on.

So, relax. This week the Indians have two with the White Sox and three in Minnesota with the Twins.

Just think, a week from now, the optimism felt by everyone going into the season could very well be back.

Not Many Roster Decisions This Spring For Tribe

The exhibition season for the Cleveland Indians starts next week, but there really aren’t that many decisions for Terry Francona and GM Chris Antonetti to make in terms of who will make the Opening Day roster.

It’s another reason it should be a good season for the Tribe.

The biggest decision for Francona is deciding whether or not he is going to carry 12 pitchers, or have an eight man bullpen.

If he keeps 13 hurlers, then the three position player reserve spots will go to Mike Aviles, Roberto Perez, and Ryan Raburn or David Murphy, unless the latter is moved during camp. This, of course, assumes that Nick Swisher and Brandon Moss are healthy and ready to go.

The only reason Murphy is still here is insurance in case Moss and/or Swisher aren’t ready to play in April, otherwise, the fact that Raburn hits right-handed, virtually assures he will make the team unless he has a disastrous spring.

If Tito keeps just 12 pitchers, then you may see Zach Walters, who can play both infield and outfield could stick. Or you may see another right-handed bat, like Jesus Aguilar come up with the team.

Either way, at bats will be limited for Murphy and that’s why he’s expected to be elsewhere come April.

As for the pitching staff, the only question in the starting rotation will be is Gavin Floyd’s health. If he is ready, he will take a spot along with Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, and Danny Salazar.

If not, then T.J. House, Josh Tomlin, and Zach McAllister will battle for the open slot as a starter.

In a seven man bullpen, we know that barring an injury, Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, ageless Scott Atchison, and Mark Rzepczynski are shoo-ins, and you can probably put another lefty, Nick Hagadone, in that class too as he is out of options.

That leaves two spots open and if McAllister isn’t in the rotation, he will be in the ‘pen because he is also out of options and the Tribe doesn’t want to lose his arm. Plus, he performed very well in relief last September.

That would leave the last opening to be a fight between holdovers Kyle Crockett, C.C. Lee, and non-roster invitees Bruce Chen, Scott Downs, and Anthony Swarzak.

Obviously, if Francona keeps eight relievers, then there are two spots open for those guys.

Swarzak is a name to keep an eye on. He’s 29 years old and just two years removed from a season in which he had a 2.91 ERA for the Twins in 96 innings. He and McAllister, if he’s in relief, are capable of giving Tito multiple innings out of the bullpen, as both guys have been starters.

And we know Francona likes to use his relief corps.

The main point here is that’s the only “drama” in camp, the first 21-22 players are pretty much etched in stone, and all the Tribe is looking for is who will fill out the last spot on the bench and in the bullpen.

After years when you are trying to figure out a third of the lineup and half the rotation, it makes for a much more relaxing spring training for Francona and the front office.

Any roster surprises would only occur if one of the players coming back from injury (Swisher, Moss, Floyd) aren’t ready to go.

Why Is Tribe So Bad at Selling Themselves?

Last weekend, the Cleveland Indians held their annual fanfest, bringing in former and current players, along with manager Terry Francona to meet and mingle with the fans.

Once again, it was a very crowded place to be, indicating once again that there is plenty of interest in the Tribe, but unfortunately it doesn’t translate into larger crowds filling Progressive Field.

Let’s face it, for all of success on the field the Indians have had over the last two seasons with Francona at the helm, they are a boring franchise in terms of making news.

With all of the wheeling and dealing that occurred within major league baseball this winter, the Indians made one trade, bringing Brandon Moss from Oakland for minor league infielder Joe Wendle.

And while watching MLB Network last week, they showed a list of least money spent on free agents during the off-season, and there were the Indians sitting in the top five, with only Gavin Floyd’s $4 million deal as of right now.

That really isn’t moving the fan base to dig into their pockets and buy tickets, which by the way, aren’t even for sale yet in terms of single game purchases.

So, even if there were a reason to buy tickets, you can’t unless you are interested in a season ticket program.

And the biggest thing the front office has been promoting this winter is the renovations to the ballpark, which will not seat approximately 10-15% fewer fans come April.

So we can add not very good at promoting itself to being boring in terms of making news.

We asked the people at the website, MLB Trade Rumors, if they even had someone monitoring the Indians since not only do they not make any moves, they also aren’t really involved in any rumors either.

By the way, they laughed at our question, and said in their opinion, Cleveland can look forward to a very good season.

We agree, that’s why it’s a shame more people can’t see that, and why the organization has such a hard time promoting itself.

We wrote an article a few weeks ago that gave nine things about the team that the front office should be pointing out, instead of saying how the team has limited money to spend, and talking about market size.

That lack of self-promotion is probably the biggest problem with the Cleveland Indians.

Because there is interest in this team. We know that because the local ratings for the games is very high. If you are on Twitter during a game, there is plenty of comments, both pro and con during the contest, the same as there is for a Browns’ or Cavaliers’ game.

And some of the players, particularly the young core of talent, are starting to be recognized by the fan base. You can see allegiances being formed with Michael Brantley, Corey Kluber, and Yan Gomes.

Many people are looking forward to this season so they can finally see one of the sports’ top prospects in SS Francisco Lindor.

We don’t know why the Indians are so bad about this aspect of the game, and along with the appraisals they do in regards to the men who are playing, they should examine why they cannot connect with the people who buy tickets.

They are like the terrible sales person who has a great product to sell, but because their spiel is so poor, they can’t get folks to try it.

That makes it a priority for the team to get off to a fast start so people will sit up and take notice. It will be especially difficult this spring because it is likely the Cavaliers will be in the midst of a playoff run, and that will consume the fan’s interest.

Here’s hoping the message can be received some how, because it appears the Cleveland Indians will be in the middle of a playoff race again in 2015.

In Sports, Consistency is a Talent Worth Having

Last week, we were involved in a debate on Twitter about the merits of Indians’ utility man Zach Walters, as we compared him (as we have many times before) to former Tribesman Russell Branyan.

We were quizzed that it sounded like that comparison was a bad thing, which we meant it to be. Our opinion is that wild, streaky hitters like Branyan and Walters aren’t effective major league players.

Our contention is that consistency is a tool just like hitting with power, speed, and defensive ability.

Walters came to the Tribe at the trade deadline from the Nationals for Asdrubal Cabrera, and did whack some home runs immediately after being called up, hitting six dingers in his first 48 at bats. The downside is he only had four other hits, leading to a .208 batting average and mixing in just three walks.

A true all or nothing hitter.

From August 27th to the last game of the season, when Walters went 2 for 4 with a home run, the switch-hitter went 3 for 36 with 16 punch outs and just two walks. Do you think Terry Francona was anxious to put him in the lineup?

To be fair to Walters, it is a relatively small sample size and he is just 25 years old and could (and really needs to) change his approach at the plate.

Let’s go back to 2013 for a larger sample, using former Indian Mark Reynolds as the example.

Reynolds famously started on fire in April, hitting .301 with 8 HR and 22 RBI helping get the Tribe off to a good start.

However, in May, June, and July combined, Reynolds went 44 for 243, a .181 batting average, with 7 homers and 25 RBI. Francona started easing him out of the lineup and when it was all said and done, the slugger wanted out and the Tribe was happy to oblige.

We understand that no one is perfectly consistent. A .300 hitter doesn’t hit for that average every month, and neither does a .250 hitter. However, from a manager or coaches’ standpoint, those guys are gold because for the most part, you know what you will get.

That’s why guys like Branyan and perhaps Walters get placed into reserve roles. In the NBA, players with up and down performances are bench guys. If they come in and are hot, the coach can ride them. If they aren’t, they can be taken out and not be a part of the game going forward.

In Walters’ case, he is still young and many times it takes players without a lot of experience time to develop a consistent level. When Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome first came to the Indians, they had severe ups and downs too, and Mike Hargrove had to manage that. Heck, Thome was basically a platoon player in 1994 and 1995.

That’s something the front office has to keep an eye on with Jason Kipnis. Kipnis made his season in ’13 with a tremendous June in which he hit close to .400 and he had a solid September as well. The rest of the season? He was below .250. Just something to watch in 2015.

Remember how frustrated fans got with Lonnie Chisenhall last season?

That’s why players like Michael Brantley and Yan Gomes are even more valuable than you think. They were consistent all year-long and have been for a while.

Gomes strikes out a lot, but more often than not, the guys who strike out at a high rate are players more prone to peaks and valleys.

Consistency equals dependability. And that’s part of a player’s profile, one that shouldn’t be overlooked.