The Cleveland Indians Struggles Continue
9,990. No, that is not how much money I have in my wallet. It is the total number of fans that showed up at Progressive Field last night and rightfully so. The Cleveland Indians have been just as much of a bipolar team as they were last year, only it ended with a 10 game winning streak which led them to the Wildcard against the Tampa Bay Rays. It obviously didn’t end as most Tribe fans had hoped but it was seen as progress coming into this season.
Well that has not been the case at all. Little improvements were made during the off-season. David Murphy, Nyjer Morgan ( non-roster invitee) and John Axford were the only signings by the Indians. Pitchers Scott Kazmir and Ubaldo Jimenez were not re-signed by the team due to “financial limitations.” Kazmir soon signed with the Oakland Athletics. Besides his last few starts, he has pitched like a Cy Young all year long and is a big reason the A’s are in the position that they are in now.
Jimenez (4.96 ERA) signed with the Baltimore Orioles, however he is having one of the worst seasons of his career as he was demoted to bullpen duty last month.
Now to the progress of the players that the Tribe signed. Murphy started out on fire hitting .284 for the month of April. He then hit .258/.185/.280/.387 ( only 9 games). He is currently on his way back to the team after being on the 15 day DL.
David Murphy: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Don’t worry, it gets better.
Morgan started out hot as well hitting .381 in nine total games for the month of April. He then landed on the 60 day DL with a sprained right knee and was out for a majority of the season. He was finally released on August 5th. Axford ( 3.83 ERA) was supposed to be the cure to the Chris Perez cold every Indians fan had but instead he turned into the flu that wouldn’t go away. He had 10 saves along with three that were blown. However it always seemed like he had more with every appearance he made. He was demoted to middle relief and then to strictly relief when the game was a blowout.
Axford then got traded to the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates on August 14th. If you have been keeping count only one of the player’s we signed still remain. So after a 92 win season they technically only made one move to improve the team. The power outfielder Nelson Cruz was available and eventually dropped down his asking price to $8 million. The Indians never reached out to him or his agent. The team has been in need of a right-handed power bat for years and for some reason refuse to address the situation.
The problem has reared its ugly head in many games this season including the current series against the Detroit Tigers. They were coming off a stretch in where they won 4 of 6 against the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals. The final game against the Royals got delayed due to “rain.” They now have a four game series with the Tigers and have already lost the first two. All they can hope for now is a split.
Last nights loss stings even more than the 12-1 loss on Monday. Carlos Carrasco was dealing the whole game. His slider and changeup were falling off the table and his fastball could not be seen for a few innings as he was hitting 98 mph on the meter. The Tribe even took an early 2-0 lead after Carlos Santana hit a two-run homerun off of their rookie lefty, Kyle Lobstein. It was a pitchers duel for most of the game as both had 10 strikeouts apiece.
Miguel Cabrera is the Indians Kryptonite as he has been for years but yesterday it was the duo of J.D. and Victor Martinez that did the most damage. Martinez since being traded from the Indians in 2009 is hitting .420 against them. They both went 3-5 against Indians pitching and the biggest blow came in the 9th inning when J.D. hit a three-run homerun giving the Tigers the 4-2 lead and the eventual win.
J.D Martinez
Detroit went 3-16 with RISP. Most teams lose with that kind of performance but championship built teams persevere and win games like that. The Tigers had 15 hits compared to the Indians 7. So in two total games the Tigers have outhit the Tribe 39-15. It doesn’t get any better as they’ll be facing Justin Verlander today and Max Scherzer on Thursday.
There are numerous problems on the Indians that need to be fixed. One player cannot help with all of them but it could make a difference. The constant refusal to add impactful players to the team whether it is out of stubbornness or financial woes has hurt them in situations like this for years. Until the pocketbook is opened up or better decisions are made, the struggles of this once feared baseball team will continue.