Watching Cleveland Indians Baseball: Like giving yourself testicular torsion

by hans on May 18, 2008 3:17 PM EDT

What a lineup today, heck what a lineup for the season thus far! In the past few days, we've managed to assert ourselves as the worst hitting team in the AL and the third worst hitting team in both leagues in regards to team EQA (.243). The juggernaut that is the Kansas City Royals, have finally pasted us up (.244).

Coupling our 2nd half .746 OPS (94 sOPS+) from last season with our current season's .680 OPS (86 sOPS+) We have a major problem here. As I sit here watching the irrationally (a screw this, this is rational) unacceptable unfold before my eyes (a team from Cincinnati sweeping a team from Cleveland). The statistical correction/regression that is certainly going to come (current BABIP is .273) is not going to be enough. Can this team lean on its starting pitching and swing itself into a 90 win season and squeak into the playoffs (where anything can happen right?) sure. Thats if a lot breaks our way (Chicago '08 remembers they where Chicago '07, Detroit continues to injure themselves every week, etc.). Thats fine and all, but it pisses me off to see this gigantic area of this team that needs improvement. In my oppinion we have a CF, a C, a back-up C, an avg. SS (power great, OBP not so great), an offensive hole in 2B, RF, DH, 1B, and 3B. Dellucci's recent slide (OBP has sucked) has been tempered by some hot hitting from Francisco, but is avg. at best. Expecting enough improvement throughout the season out of the players in those positions to make up the ground for our offense to be even league avg (pathetic for a contending team) is living in a fantasy. Its not going to happen.

I'll be back after the Cavs game, to write about what we can do.

And the streets of Maui are filled with rejoicing Celtic fans!

So anyways, I wanted to throw out this question to anyone knowledgeable on a single players performance impacting the rest of the lineup. What I mean is, is Hafner's collapse having a negative impact on other hitters in the lineup? and is there any research done in this area that would answer this question?

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The Cavs better win.

This would be a terrible day if they don’t.

by gahnki on May 18, 2008 3:25 PM EDT 0 recs

gulp

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Right now, I'll take .500 and run. I'm a cheap happy.

by vbc3 on May 18, 2008 7:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

last september i quit smoking. today i wonder if i should have quit caring about the indians instead. i think i would currently be happier and healthier.

by mpstable on May 18, 2008 5:07 PM EDT 0 recs

Heh. I’m at about 17 months and wondering exactly the same thing, myself.

--
Right now, I'll take .500 and run. I'm a cheap happy.

by vbc3 on May 18, 2008 7:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

I picked the wrong weekend to stop sniffing glue.

by SuddenSam on May 18, 2008 8:47 PM EDT up 0 recs

Testicular torsion?

Is someone a Venture Brothers fan? If so, Bravo sir.

by OscarDog on May 18, 2008 5:14 PM EDT 0 recs

Yes and season three can’t come soon enough

by hans on May 19, 2008 1:52 AM EDT up 0 recs

Too true. The “rejected billboards” shown on the bumps last night were incredible.

by painaxl on May 19, 2008 12:49 PM EDT up 0 recs

I have been getting by watching “Squidbillies” and “Morel Orel”...but still…neither of those shows have Dr. Girlfriend or an grown man in a butterfly outfit.

by OscarDog on May 19, 2008 9:21 PM EDT up 0 recs

Wedge and Shapiro have said several times already, “This line-up is not this bad; these guys are not .300 OBP hitters; we’re never as bad as we look at our worst, and this is our worst.” That reasoning has an expiration date. At some point, they’re not slumping; they’re just not good.

Our in-house options are limited. Maybe Aubrey gets hot, and steals some playing time. Francisco seems to be getting a full share of ABs already. Choo is coming back, and - hope springs eternal - Marte hasn’t even broken in his batting gloves yet.

Trouble is, with any of those guys, can we expect, in 2008, something appreciably greater than league average production? And even though league average production out of the corners would border on revelatory at this juncture, that would be dodging the real issue: Are the Indians ever going to hit again? Not just put together some decent innings here or there, but - you know, HIT! Sure, we can throw the ball okay, and it’s not going to take 900-some runs to win the Central this year, but I don’t want to eke out a divisional championship. I want - forgive me—BASEBALL.

I’m not even distressed anymore. I’m just bored. And the problem has deeper roots than that, even. I look three years ahead, and I don’t see a real cure. Put me on the record, and I will eat an entire minced crow pie if I’m wrong, but I’m with B-Ref on this one: Hafner’s cooked. Jhonny’s much better than this—he’s BA/biping about 100 points off his career average. Asdrubal is gonna be great, I’m not worried about that, but it may be unreasonable to expect that to happen before 2010. And that’s just a handful of guys. Is there really any reason for me to expect this to be a fun offense to watch again in the next couple of seasons? Or should I just start working harder on my golf game?

by fleerdon on May 18, 2008 7:52 PM EDT 0 recs

You want hope? We gotta start rotating young talent into positions and hope for pleasant surprises. Firstly, we demote Dellucci to bench, he’s stealing at bats. We start BenFran and Guti and rotate Choo in there. We work Marte in at a 50% share. We rotate AbaCab, Peralta and Barfield up the middle. We rotate Victor into a partial first base and catcher to give KShop more at bats. If Garko can’t shake his doldrums, we start rotating Aubrey into first base opps. If Haf can’t break out, we can rotate youth through the DH spot to give them more chances. Some of these guys will blossom.

by elsandito on May 18, 2008 10:18 PM EDT up 0 recs