Cleveland Indians: At least Carlos Gonzalez brings hope to Tribe’s lineup
Stats show Carlos Gonzalez is a decline player, but at least the 33-year-old outfielder brings hope to lineup that’s been dreadful to watch.
There’s a lot of stats floating around surrounding Carlos Gonzalez‘s drop off with the Colorado Rockies. Those numbers shouldn’t be ignored, but at this point, who cares?
At the very least, there’s the hope CarGO is going to run into one. “Hope” just isn’t something you feel when every Indians hitter not named Carlos Santana comes to the plate.
The Tribe’s lineup has been so bad that it needs some kind of injection and Gonzalez is at the very least, an attempt to correct a horrible outfield situation.
The Indians lost their series against the Royals, a team that had two wins entering the three-game tilt entering Friday’s opener. Cleveland collected four hits in the first game and then just two in a 3-0 loss Saturday night.
To make it worse, the Indians lost to Homer Bailey…a pitcher who last earned a W against the Tribe back in 2014…a not-so-great season for the Indians. Bailey has been one of the worst pitchers in baseball ever since coming back from injury. The Tribe put 16 balls in play against the former Red, and none of those knocks had an exit velocity above 95 miles per hour.
More sobering notes for your Sunday…
1. Jake Bauers is now at .158. He’s yet to collect a multi-hit game. He’s 4-for-26 in his last seven games and 7-of-44 in his last 15. I like Bauers, specifically because he looks the part. But man, not great so far. Patience is still the key for him, though, as he’s just 23.
2. We’re seeing Max Moroff because of injuries to Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis. The former Pirate came to the plate during the Indians’ only threat of Saturday night, with runners on second and third, and Moroff predictably struck out. He’s already an -0.4 WAR player batting .077. He has 13 strikeouts in 26 plate appearances to go along with zero walks.
3. The offense is so bleak, we really should be happy with anyone who’s swinging the lumber well, and in this case, we’ll point to Brad Miller. The 29-year-old veteran is 6-for-19 in his last seven games. Small sample size. Of course, but better than another guy batting around .170!
4. Jefry Rodriguez‘s performance fits the narrative that Tribe hurlers need to be Cy Young Award worthy every single game. Rodriguez wasn’t great, but good enough to win, and for heaven’s sake, it was his first start! His offense gave him nothing.
5. Maybe Tito can tell Jose Ramirez the season started. He’s 7-for-52 (.135), WOOF!
6. Greg Allen has just one hit on the season. Perhaps Columbus would be a better fit for him at this point, just because he could be playing every day.
7. Speaking of Lindor, he’ll be joining up with the Columbus Clippers on Monday. Lindor’s been out since Feb. 6 when he strained his calf in spring training. He suffered a sprained ankle March 26. The Indians don’t seem to have a set number of at-bats they’d like Lindor to receive, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him play at least a week with the Tribe’s Triple-A affiliate. We’ve waited this long, there’s no rush to force him back into action too early.
8. Hanley Ramirez became a U.S. Citizen this week. Congrats, Hanley!
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9. Ryan O’Hearn made it 2-0 with a 429-foot moon shot into right center field in the fourth. I was shagging fly balls during the 2014 South Atlantic League All-Star Game’s Home Run Derby in McCormick Field, the historic home of the Asheville Tourists, when O’Hearn won the competition as a member of the Lexington Legends, the Royals’ Class A farm team.