10 quick thoughts as first-place Cleveland Indians enter 2nd half
Ten quick thoughts as the Cleveland Indians enter the second half of the 2017 MLB season in first place of the AL’s Central Division.
1. Francisco Lindor. Play better. The two-time All-Star isn’t just struggling at the plate (that .214 average in June still sticks out), but he’s also slipping in the field. FanGraphs.com rated Lindor as the best defensive shortstop in all of baseball at the end of the season. Now, he’s sixth in the AL.
2. Speaking of defense, Fangraphs.com rated the Indians as the eighth best defensive team in the big leagues entering the All-Star break. The Tribe finished the 2016 season rated 16, surprisingly low considering how close the Indians came to winning the World Series.
3. Francisco Mejia can help this team this year.
Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto recollected on the 2007 season, when the Tribe promoted young, unproven Asdrubal Cabrera to The Show. Cabby played a huge role in helping the Tribe win the Central. Cabrera only spent a couple of weeks at Triple A before getting promoted again.
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Pluto thinks Mejia can be treated the same way.
The 21-year-old phenom just played in the the MLB Future’s Game. He could be promoted to Class AAA Columbus anytime. Perhaps he’s just there for a couple of weeks until the Indians come calling.
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4. Before making a trade for a back-end starter, the Indians must look at Shawn Morimando. Overall, he’s 9-5 with a 3.29 ERA. But in his last 10 starts, he’s 7-1 with a 1.88 ERA.
5. It was a bummer to see Jason Kipnis get hurt. He seemed like he was finally going to turn the corner. If there’s any bright side here, it’s that Eric Gonzalez will finally get an extended look in the lineup.
6. Jose Ramirez. Can he keep it up? Can he win the AL batting title. There’s no reason to believe he’ll slow down, but we’ll see.
7. It looks like Indians RBI leader Lonnie Chisenhall will open the second-half on the DL after hurting his calf against the Tigers last weekend.
8. Obviously, keeping The Chiz Kid in the lineup would be preferred, but this opening gives Yandy Diaz another shot at the big leagues. Diaz struggled with the Indians at the start of the season, but has gone back to Class AAA Colubus and is hitting .326 (.826 OPS). He’s played a majority of his games at third and left field this season with the Clippers, but he has played right for four games, and spent 28 games their last season.
9. Andrew Miller has 67 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings, and he has a team low 1.42 ERA…and Cleveland has him for another year.
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10. Nick Goody has a 2.16 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP to go along with 38 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings. He didn’t break camp with the Tribe, but he’s been a great addition to the pen. The Indians acquired Goody during the offseason for a player to be named later who turned out to be Yoiber Marquina. The 21-year-old hasn’t started a game this season because he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery.