Time For Tribe Bats To Awaken

There is no question the pitching staff has carried the Cleveland Indians in this year’s run to the World Series.

The Tribe has played ten post-season games to date, and they’ve allowed just 20 runs. Even the most challenged person, mathematically speaking, knows that’s just two runs per contest.

Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, Cody Allen, and Josh Tomlin have been very stingy in allowing opponents to cross home plate.

With the World Series tied at one game apiece and no heading to Chicago, it’s time for the hitting, and there is no question the Indians’ bats are slumbering, to pick up their end of the heavy lifting.

In those same 10 games, Cleveland has scored only 34 runs, well below their average of 4.83 runs per contest in the regular season.

Yes, we know that the pitching is better in the post-season, and naturally teams will score less runs in the playoffs, but when you consider that 12 of those runs were scored in two games (ALDS Game 2 and World Series Game 1), it is another indication the bats are really struggling.

That means in the other eight games, the Tribe is averaging less than three runs a night. Based on that statistic, it is kind of miraculous that the Indians have won six of those games and have won the American League pennant.

Besides Francisco Lindor, who has batted .342 with 2 homers since the regular season ended, and Brandon Guyer (4 for 11 in his platoon role), and rest of the hitters have struggled.

Leadoff hitter Carlos Santana has only 5 hits in 35 at bats. He has walked four times, giving him an on base percentage of just .250. The #2 hitter, Jason Kipnis, is batting .154 with just three extra base hits in the playoffs.

Cleanup hitter Mike Napoli nudged himself over the “Mendoza line” with two hits last night, but he has only one homer in the 10 games and is striking out in over one-third of his at bats (12 whiffs in 34 ABs).

World Series Game 1 hero Roberto Perez has been feast or famine. He’s hitting just .200 (6 for 30), but does have four extra base hits and a team leading six RBIs, although three of those came on his three run blast in the 8th inning of that game.

The only other consistent batter outside of Lindor has been Jose Ramirez, and even he struggled throughout the Toronto series.

The offense does have 13 home runs in the playoffs, but they have only mustered 13 other extra base hits in the ten games, all of them doubles.

Rookie Tyler Naquin has continued his struggles, going 3 for 18 with 11 whiffs, but who do you replace him with? His platoon partner, Rajai Davis is just 1 for 19 and hasn’t really hit since the middle of September.

If Davis were swinging the bat well, it would make sense for Terry Francona to replace the rookie, but right now, why make the move?

The Indians have just four hitters with an OPS over 700 in the playoffs (Lindor, Guyer, Perez, and Coco Crisp).

There is talk about Santana playing LF in Wrigley Field, but at this point, that has to be Tito hoping he will get hot, because he hasn’t hit so far.

Playoff games are supposed to be tight contests, but right now, it feels like if the Indians fall behind in a game, then it’s over. At some point in this World Series, the bats will be needed to win a game. Heck, the Cubs only scored five last night, an offensive output like Game 1 would have won that game too.

It’s time for the hitters for the Cleveland Indians to join the party, whether it’s at Napoli’s or at Wrigley Field.

Another Uphill Fight For Tribe

Some team’s World Series victory drought will come to an end this year. Either the Chicago Cubs, who haven’t won since 1908, or the Cleveland Indians, whose lack of a title is a rather pedestrian 68 seasons, will put an end to their lack of baseball’s World Championship.

Make no mistake, the Cubs are very worthy of being here, having the best record in baseball with 103 wins.

They have the National League’s best offense that doesn’t play in hitting friendly Coors Field, and they have the league’s best ERA too.

They lead the NL in on base percentage and OPS, and rank 4th in the Senior Circuit in slugging. They do not run much, as they were 4th last in the NL in stolen bases.

And they actually hit better away from the “friendly confines” of Wrigley Field than they do at home. In fact, the park on the north side of the Windy City, actually played as a pitcher’s park this season.

Joe Maddon, one of the game’s best skippers (along with Terry Francona), has the likely NL MVP in Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, both of whom have OPS over 900.

Leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler has a .393 on base percentage, while Ben Zobrist and Wilson Contreras both are very good offensive threats.

The Cubs do have some swing and miss bats in their order though, they were 5th in the NL in that category.

Pitching wise, Game 1 starter Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, and their closer, Aroldis Chapman all have ERAs under 2.00 at Wrigley Field.

Their other three starters (Jake Arrieta, John Lackey, and Jason Hammel) are all under 3.00, very formidable indeed.

However, on the road, both Lester and Arrieta, presumably the game two starter, are both over 3.00, and Lackey is over 4.00, although his start appears to be a home.

The former Angels and Red Sox hurler is 8-9 lifetime vs. Cleveland with an ERA approaching 4.

And then we have the American League’s best baserunning team, the Indians, vs. Lester, who has a known “phobia” about throwing to bases.

If the Tribe can get on against the southpaw, they need to run and run and run some more. Take advantage of every little thing possible against one of the game’s better pitchers.

And last, we will hear plenty about Francona and his relationship with Cubs’ president Theo Epstein, and how they ended the “Curse of the Bambino” in Boston and repeated with another title in 2007.

This series features two of the best managers in the sport, two outstanding young executives, one (Chris Antonetti) looking to win for the first time, and two teams with a sordid past, although with three AL pennants in the last 21 years, the Indians are the franchise with more recent success.

There is no question the Cubs are very good. Their run differential this year is the highest in the National League since 1906.

On the other hand, they played in the National League, the inferior league in our estimation. Outside of the Twins, you can argue that the five worst teams in baseball played in the NL (Reds, Braves, Diamondbacks, and Brewers).

Can the Indians pull it off? Of course, but the bats need to wake up. You can’t expect the pitching staff to continue to perform as they have thus far in the playoffs.

Two Teams Left in NBA, And One of Them is The Cavs!

Next week, something will happen that doesn’t occur all that often in these parts.

A Cleveland team is playing for a professional sports league championship. And as not to offend the indoor soccer fans in northeast Ohio, it is happening in one of the “big four” sports.

The last time a team from Cleveland had a chance to bring home a title was 2007, when the Cavaliers were swept in four straight by the San Antonio Spurs.

But when you think back since the Browns won the NFL Championship in 1964, there hasn’t been many times where one of our teams had a chance to end our championship drought.

The first time was in 1965, a time when we didn’t have a jinx or a curse, because the Browns were among pro football’s elite. They were the defending champions and went into Green Bay and were defeated by Vince Lombardi’s team, 23-12.

Little did we know then that the Browns wouldn’t have another chance to win a title, now called the Super Bowl. That string continues to this day.

It took 30 years before another Cleveland squad played for the ultimate prize, when the Indians dominated the American League with 100 wins in a 144 game schedule and ran through the playoffs to win the AL Championship and get to the World Series for the first time since 1954.

Alas, the Atlanta Braves defeated them 4-2 to take the trophy.

It didn’t take long to have another chance, as the Tribe returned to the World Series just two years later, and got as close as any team to winning the big prize, carrying a lead into the ninth inning of the seventh and deciding game, before the Florida Marlins tied it and won it in extra innings.

There have been stories told about how the Commissioner’s Trophy was in the Indians’ locker room, and the clubhouse was being readied for a celebration, only to have it all taken away.

That one stings the most. A championship was right in our hands, and it was taken away with the snap of a finger.

It was ten more years before Cleveland got another shot at a title with the Cavs in 2007, and it has taken another eight years before this opportunity.

For all the soul crushing moments we have endured as a fandom, outside of the ’97 World Series, they occurred before a chance to play for a title.

The Browns’ heart breaks all occurred in the AFC Championship game, a step before the Super Bowl, and “The Shot” happened to the Cavaliers in a first round series against the Bulls.

Our point is this, savor the moment. Even though the city has waited 51 years for a professional sports title, what is even more stunning is there haven’t been all that many opportunities. This is just the fifth in the last 50 years.

Of course, if the Cavs were to lose to Golden State in The Finals, that wouldn’t make the pain and the disappointment wouldn’t be any less.

Just let it soak in, there are only two teams remaining in the NBA, and one of them is from Cleveland.

Royals Success is Cruel Reminder of Tribe Inactivity

Let this soak in for a minute…the Kansas City Royals are the American League Champions.

They will host the first two games of the World Series next week and have provided their fans with three weeks of excitement. We remember that feeling from 2007.

During the regular season, the Royals won exactly four more games than the Indians (89 vs. 85) and based on run differential, the Royals should have won 84 games as opposed to the Tribe’s 83. As you can see there isn’t much difference between the two clubs.

Kansas City GM Drayton Moore went all in to make the post-season, perhaps because the Royals last trip to the playoffs came in 1985. He traded for right-handed hitter Josh Willingham, relief pitcher Jason Frasor, and veteran left-handed bat Raul Ibanez.

As we have well documented, the Indians traded Justin Masterson and Asdrubal Cabrera, and brought in OF J.B. Shuck and utility man Chris Gimenez.

The point isn’t the contributions made by the players who joined Kansas City in the last two months of the season, it’s that they made a commitment to the rest of the players on the roster.

We remember in 1995 when then GM John Hart traded for Ken Hill at the trade deadline even though the Indians were way ahead in the AL Central Division standings. They didn’t need to add a pitcher, but Hart wanted to send the message to everyone on that team that the organization was it in to win a World Series.

And think about it, what message did GM Chris Antonetti send to this year’s team when he didn’t help them out on July 31st?

Kansas City’s success this year is a reminder that baseball is the one sport where getting into the playoffs gives you a chance to be the World Series Champions. The percentages of the eighth seed in the NBA playoffs advancing past the first round are very slim, they are usually dominated by the best team in each conference.

In the NFL, although it was happened that a team gets on a roll, in most years, the last team to make the post-season, the sixth seed in each conference, has a lot of disadvantages. They have to play all of their games on the road, and they have to play three games instead of two for the top seeds.

But in baseball, if you can get in, you have a shot. It comes down to pitching, hitters getting hot at the right time, and solid bullpens. That’s why the San Francisco Giants, on the verge of advancing to their third World Series in five years, have missed the playoffs twice in the same span.

They have a team perfectly set up for the playoffs, but sometimes they don’t hit enough to qualify for the post-season over a 162 game slate.

This year, if the Giants and Royals play in the Fall Classic, we will be assured that a great team will not win the Series. That isn’t belittling either squad, but it is simply a fact, and it goes to show how important it can be to just make the playoffs.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear the Cleveland Indians didn’t go the extra mile to get in even though they were right on the doorstep.

The front office has to look at the Royals and think “that could be us”.