Indians: Franmil Reyes needs to focus on improving one key aspect of his game

Sometimes you can get lost in the sauce. An article from Cleveland Baseball Insiders highlighted a huge issue that is plaguing the Indians that you may not be aware of. While putting the bat on the ball is a key aspect of the game, what’s more important than just getting a hit is getting on base, generally speaking. The Indians are one of the best home run hitting teams in the majors but they often do it with no one on base. So you need to do better getting on base and if not by hitting the ball into a gap, you have to through a good ol fashion base-on-balls. This is something that the Indians and namely Franmil Reyes, need to work on.

The Indians as a whole are suffering from an inability of getting on base. What you may not be aware of, is that some of the Indians’ core players are falling into the unforgivable sin of striking out too much and not walking enough.

As the article states, striking out isn’t a death nail, as long as you’re walking too. They reference Tribe legends, Jim Thome and Travis Hafner as two players who both struck out a lot but also walked a lot. They had a good vision for the ball, they just thought their sweet-spots were bigger than they were, so they took risks.

This is where Reyes falls off comparatively. Now, the article references a few players, but most of the names they mention are demotion-fodder. It’s Reyes that stands out among the crowd. He’s the only name, besides maybe, and emphasize the word “maybe”, Josh Naylor, who is expected to produce on the roster.

Reyes currently only has three walks as opposed to 18 strikeouts.

Now, batting average is important but it’s often overvalued. If you’re not a power hitter, the key piece to look at is on-base percentage, as a walk is just as good as a single in most cases. Not every case, mind you. If you have two on, two out, and runners on second and third, you want a single; not a walk.

Yet, if it’s the top of the first inning, a walk or a single does the same thing. That’s why certain players like Jose Ramirez and Cesar Hernandez aren’t facing the same scrutiny, despite having lower batting averages. They’re not striking out nearly as much and are working the counts to get walked far more often.

Working a count also has the added benefit of wearing out pitchers.

Hits will come eventually. Averages this early in the season don’t really matter. They will rise and fall as spring turns into summer and good hitters will get their hits. It’s a matter of time. Bad hitters, however, will continue to strike out. This is where Reyes seems to have the problem.

It might be an issue of him trying to hit a home run every time at the plate because he knows his teammates are struggling and so he wants to deliver. It might be an issue of plate vision and having a hard time knowing when to swing at what pitch.

If it’s the former, just ask him to take more pitches. If it’s the latter, well, the Indians are in trouble.

The Tribe really won’t know who to call up to help the lineups out until mid-to-late May or early June. The minors don’t begin until the start of May, and since a big issue is pitch recognition, looking for hitters who can in fact show patience and dedication at the plate is going to be key.

It’s good to remember this is a long season, and Terry Francona-led Cleveland teams often start very iffy. There’s still plenty of time to turn this thing around. They do need to find better hitters though or at least get the hitters they have to start looking for better pitches.

Either or.