Cleveland Indians: 5 biggest disappointments of 2021 at quarter pole

3. Cleveland Indians 1B lingering problem

With 25 percent to the season in books, the Indians are no closer to fixing first base than they were in spring training.

One could even argue that if the Indians still had Carlos Santana, they’d be two games better in the standings. We must not forget the Tribe lost a game when their first basemen (Yu Chang) threw to second base and hit a runner in the back, while Josh Naylor let a routine grounder Bill Buckner itself under his legs in Cincinnati.

As for hitting, first base is amounts to an automatic out. Think about it. They might as well as have the pitcher hit. Triston McKenzie is batting 1.0000 after ball. No, I’m not serious, these are the jokes, folks.

Jake Bauers still can’t hit. Yu Chang only mashes when the games the games don’t count. Josh Naylor is needed in the outfield. Bobby Bradley is in the minors ,where he still strikes out too much.

It’s so bad, one has to wonder if middle infielder Owen Miller will be given a first-baseman’s mitt just so the Tribe can get his hot bat into the lineup. He’s played one game there with the Clippers this season.

Not bringing Santana back was a mistake. Wouldn’t you rather have Santana earning Rosario’s $8 million? Santana is batting .250 with 8 home runs (.852 OPS). I know, no one saw this coming after his 2020 season when it looked like his career was toast.

An argument could’ve been made for his veteran leadership and defensive work at first, though.

Alas, here we are. First base is still a mess. Bauers took Shoehei Ohtani deep the other day, so perhaps he’ll finally start to hit, although I’m not holding my breath.