Cleveland Indians: 10 complaints as Tribe bats choke vs Twins

Complains galore as the Cleveland Indians bats fell asleep against the Twins.

The Cleveland Indians need to spend their trip to Cincinnati waking up their bats after the Tribe’s lumber slumbered through a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins.

1. What a difference a weekend can make. The Tribe kicker off the series behind another historic performance form Shane Bieber, only to lose the next three games to two mid- to back-end starter and opener Tyler Clippard in the finale.

The Indians went from 5-2 Friday morning, to 5-5 as they open a four-game series against the Reds Monday. Losses are going to happen, but it was the way the Tribe lost that’s dampened the early enthusiasm to this crazy season.

Even during the victory in Bieber’s opening game, the Tribe managed just two runs, coming off third-inning home run from Francisco Lindor. After that, the Tribe managed just two runs over the next 33 innings.

Great pitching was wasted, as Tribe hurlers made the Twins’ “Bomba squad” look relatively pedestrian. If the Tribe would’ve been average at the plate, the results of this series could’ve been drastically different.

Geesh, things need to change, as you can’t expect Bieber to channel Karl Spooner every time.

2. No one’s hitting, so it doesn’t seem fair to starting throwing guys under the bus, but how long can the Indians keep going with Domingo Santana, and no it’s not too early to pull the plug.  In 27 plate appearances, he’s slugging .211.

3. Daniel Johnson just returned from Lake County and appeared in Saturday’s loss, going 0-3 with a strikeout. It would’ve been preferable to see the Indians commit to Johnson, who arguably earned a spot on the team during Spring Training and Summer Camp.

The Indians likely viewed him as last year’s Oscar Mercado, who came up in June of 2019. Once he got here, the Tribe played him and he stayed put on the 25-man roster.

No time for that this year. The pressure’s on and if Santana can’t produce, more time for DJ is a must.

4. The slump makes you miss Tyler Naquin, who is on the IL with a hairline fracture in his toe. There is good news: He took batting practice and resumed hitting July 31.

5. Roberto Perez, who is on the IL. is missed dearly. Prime Buster Posey he is not, but the combination of Beau Taylor and Sandy Leon forming a hole in the bottom of the lineup is not, trying to be polite, optimal. Leon is batting .154. Taylor doesn’t have a hit. I have to write it’s early, but there’s also a point here. There has been zero production from the catcher position.

6. Mike Freeman started the finale at shortstop. No offense to Freeman, but his bat isn’t what comes to mind when talking about slump busters.

7. Speaking of Freeman, why did Lindor need a break in the field?  Even though he’s batting .194, I would’ve liked to have seen Franmil Reyes against a team relying on its bullpen. In regard to Reyes, he’s someone who really need to start producing. In 32 plate appearances, Reyes has struck out nine times. Five of his six hits have been singles.

8. The only players showing any consistency have been Jose Ramirez and Cesar Hernandez. Hernandez scored the lone run in the finale, after reaching base by double. Lindor knocked him home, and while Frankie has some highlights this year, he tends to disappear for a bit after doing something great.

9. Bradley Zimmer went 0-3 with two strikeouts, but he is hitting .250, and since that basically making him the Ted Williams of this club. OK, it’s better than .080. Keep it going, Zim!

10. On the bump, the big concern is Mike Clevinger, who got rocked for two more jacks during the second game of the series. That’s four bombs allowed 11 innings. Otherwise, Carlos Carrasco and Aaron Civale weren’t pitching like Cy Young candidates, but with that said, they both performed very well, deriving quality starts.

That’s all you can ask for against the Twins. Have your starters give you a chance. Unfortunately, that works both ways and you can’t win if you don’t score.