Inconsistent Indians
The offense is already becoming a bit of a frustration for some of the Tribe faithful. How can the lineup produce nothing at all for our ace Masterson on Sunday but then explode for 10 runs later in the day to back Kluber to a win? How do they wait until the 9th inning to score any runs for the by-then-left-the-game Scott Kazmir on Saturday night but they'll happily gift Ubaldo 8 out of a total 9 runs last night? The inconsistency in hitting is starting to become a bit of a grind for some. This is a team that can get shutout one night then destroy a team for double digit runs the next. Kazmir put in a good effort on Saturday night, going 5 innings and only surrendering 2 runs but he didn't get any run support to help him out, the Indians scoring their only runs in the 9th inning of a 3-2 loss. Masterson didn't get any runs at all on Sunday, and even though he didn't pitch great, he still gave the offense a chance to keep the score close early on in the game. Nothing. Nada. Zero.
Now I'm not one of the guys on Twitter calling for heads already. I don't think we need to worry too much about the lineup, they will start hitting with some regularity once we get into the meat of the season (the past two days should show a little glimpse of that). It's still only April after all so there's no need to throw TVs out the window or anything like that.
There are some positive signs that the offense are beginning to turn things around though. Santana is hot right now, batting .386 with 27 total hits, with a whopping 1.141 OPS, leading the team by a wide margin in all three of those categories. I love what our catcher has shown us so far in 2013. There's also signs of Asdrubal Cabrera coming out of his recent slump too. He had a really good week, batting .412 in 17 at-bats with 3 RBI. Hopefully our shortstop is beginning to get into his groove a bit and can carry this bit of form with him into May and beyond.
We're Missing Bourn Badly
Since Michael Bourn went on the DL after cutting his right hand against the White Sox a couple of weeks ago, the Tribe offense hasn't been the same. The dynamic centre fielder had gotten off to a good start in Cleveland and appeared to be hitting some form before his unfortunate injury in a close play sliding into first base. With our leadoff hitter out of the lineup, Francona has been forced to shake things up a bit and I don't think the team has responded as well as the skipper might have hoped. The natural choice to fill in at the leadoff spot was Michael Brantley but our left fielder just does not look comfortable up there when he's forced to leadoff. Francona originally had Brantley batting in the 5 or 6 spot to start the season and he looked great there, shoring up the bottom half of the lineup, but the adjustment has thrown Brantley slightly out of sorts. Since taking Bourn's spot in the lineup Brantley has hit for a .265 batting average with a .342 OBP, whereas he was batting .282 with a .378 OBP before being asked to fill in at leadoff. Now I know its not that big of a difference and yes it's a small sample in April but the change in the lineup is obviously having some effect on Brantley, particularly to his mental approach at the plate. The stats won't show it but you can see he isn't as comfortable up there.
The knock-on effect from Brantley hitting leadoff is we've also lost that spark he provided in the bottom half of the lineup. The sooner we get Bourn back the better but nobody knows yet when he'll be ready to play everyday. He can come off the DL on Tuesday but Francona doesn't think he'll be ready to go just yet. "I don't think he's as comfortable as he wanted to be," said the Tribe manager. The stitches in his finger are now out but it's a pretty sensitive area as everybody knows, so you don't want Bourn to be rushed and re-injure the wound. However, the sooner he gets back the better and maybe the lineup can finally get back to normal: Bourn at leadoff and Brantley back in charge of the bottom half of the lineup.
Player Of The Series (New!)
Now I'm writing this only 30 minutes since I woke up at 7am. Am I still dreaming? Did the Pitcher Formerly Known As Ubaldo Jimenez really shutout the Royals, the previously AL Central leading Royals, over 7 fantastic innings? I've rubbed the dust from my eyes about a million times but it appears that yes, he actually did. It's a brilliant outing for Ubaldo who should really take some heart and confidence from this. The struggling righty partied like it was 2010 and stranded 3 hits over 7 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts on his way to his first win of the season. Amazing, I woke up and thought the MLB site on my phone had broken at first.
He was backed by Ryan Raburn of all people, doing his best "I belong in the major leagues" impression, who had an unreal 4-for-4 night at the plate with 2 home runs, his first big flies for the Tribe. More of that please Ryan. Jason Kipnis, also no stranger to struggle in 2013, got his first homer of the season too. Overall, the stars aligned for Ubaldo last night and he made it count, and in style too.
I think I like the idea of a Player Of The Series section here at England Tribe and for it's maiden choice, I'm gonna go with Ubaldo, simply because it was so unexpected and amazing. Congrats Mr Jimenez, you're the lucky winner.
So the Indians finally return home today to face the Phillies for a bit of inter-league action. First pitch is at 7.05pm as usual with Zach McAllister on the mound for us against Philadelphia's Roy Halladay, who looks to be turning things around a bit of late after struggling to start the year. We're now at home until the 10th May when we travel to Detroit, so I'd like to see us go on a run now and get back into the fight for the AL Central. Go Tribe!
Thanks for reading.
Tidy analysis as always, Ash. Really enjoying the blog.
ReplyDeleteReally hoping Jimenez finds his mojo and sticks it to the haters. There's a real story there, here's hoping it has a good ol' American redemption tale at the end of it.
Thanks for reading and the kind words Matt. I'm praying Ubaldo can take last night's confidence into his next start. He was dominant in KC, probably the best he's ever pitched as an Indian. You're right, it'd be some story if he can turn things around for good. Thanks again!
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