SHL American Midwest: Powerful Offense Has Tribe in Hunt

While the Orioles and White Sox have battled each other for first place in the American Midwest division, the third-place Cleveland Indians have stayed within shouting distance with a 27-25 record and a six-game deficit.

Most of the Tribe’s success has come courtesy of the team’s big bats.  Cleveland’s offense ranks among the top 10 in all but two categories, home runs (11th with 48) and stolen bases (20th with 47).  The Indians are second in extra-base hits (182), and third in runs (285, 5.5 per game), hits (523), slugging (.438), and OPS (.778).  Unfortunately, their pitchers are as bad as their sluggers are good, which would explain their third-place standing after 52 games.  Cleveland’s hurlers rank among the bottom 10 in all but two categories, including ERA (4.99), runs allowed (293), home runs allowed (62), and walks allowed (200).

With a roster that features Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker, Joe Jackson, Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Roberto Alomar, Al Rosen, Lou Boudreau, Manny Ramirez, and Hal Trosky, perhaps the most surprising thing about Cleveland’s offense is that it’s being led by shortstop Joe Sewell.  Sewell is batting .341 with a team-leading .935 OPS, thanks to a .414 OBA and an uncharacteristic slugging percentage of .520 (Sewell posted a .413 SLG in his actual 14-year career).  It’s not that he’s slamming out home runs at an unrealistic pace—he has only one on the year—it’s that he’s rapping out doubles (13) and triples (3) like there’s no tomorrow.  That he faces only right-handed pitchers and has only 123 at-bats makes his accomplishments all the more impressive.

Alomar is also platooning, facing only lefties, but that could change soon, especially if he continues to hit .302/.387/.521.  Lajoie scoots over from second and plays first to make room for Alomar whenever the Tribe faces a southpaw, and if Trosky continues to struggle at the plate (.244/.297/.370), that could become a full-time arrangement.  Lajoie isn’t the greatest first baseman in the world—he’s already committed four errors in 22 games at the initial station—but getting Alomar in the lineup would most likely make up for Lajoie’s defensive shortcomings.

Lajoie’s bat makes up for his glove—he’s hitting .343/.383/.505 with a league-leading 23 doubles and has already scored 40 runs, which has him among the top 10 in the SHL.  And only five others have more hits than Lajoie’s 74.  Indians fans will have something to look forward to when the Tribe starts to play more games at home; Lajoie is hitting .316/.354/.474 on the road, but .406/.449/.578 at home, where the Indians will be for a good chunk of July.

Not surprisingly, the team’s top slugger is Belle, who is batting .290 with 12 homers and 45 RBIs.  Belle ranks among the top four in the latter two categories, and is among the top 10 with 111 total bases.  Like Lajoie, Belle could use some home cooking—he’s batting .339/.379/.576 at the Jake vs. .270/.308/.520 on the road, and drives in runs much more frequently at home: one every 3.1 at-bats vs. one every 5.7 at-bats in away games.  At his current pace, he should finish among the league leaders with 36 dingers and 133 runs driven in.

Speaker and Jackson are providing solid offense from center and right field, respectively.  Speaker is batting .318/.391/.435 with 11 doubles, four triples, and 11 steals in 14 attempts, and is playing typically stellar defense, having gone all 52 games without an error and leading all starting center fielders in range factor at 3.28.  Jackson is hitting .312/.347/.414 with 16 doubles and 11 steals (albeit in 21 attempts), and is off to a strong start in June, going 7-for-20 (.350) with three doubles in six games.

The Indians bench is also strong, at least in the power department.  Thome (7 homers and 23 RBIs), Rosen (6 homers, 22 RBIs), Sandy Alomar (5 homers, 20 RBIs), Johnny Romano (.850 OPS), and Ramirez (.325/.400/.425) provide plenty of punch off the bench or in platoon roles.

If the Indians’ pitching was even half of good as their hitting, they’d be challenging the White Sox for second place and possibly the Orioles for first.  Alas, the mound corps has been a disaster thus far.  Addie Joss has been solid at the top of the rotation, going 5-4 with a 3.78 ERA, but his peripheral stats aren’t eye-popping and his quality start percentage is only 46%.  On the other hand, he’s gotten better each month, and he’s allowed only three earned runs in his last 24 innings.

The rest of the rotation has been largely disappointing.  Bob Feller is 4-5 with a team-worst 6.87 ERA, and has issued the third most walks in the league (48) while fanning only 27.  He’s walked at least five batters in four of 12 starts, but has struck out that many only once.  Unlike Joss, “Rapid Robert” is getting worse each month and could be ticketed to Triple-A Columbus if he doesn’t improve soon.  Sam McDowell is 5-4 with a 5.10 ERA and a team-leading 49 strikeouts, but he’s also walking everyone in the park, issuing 5.79 free passes per nine frames.

Stan Coveleski boasts a 4-4 mark with a 5.10 ERA and, though he’s had better luck finding the plate than his cohorts, his 0.61 K/BB ratio is nothing to cheer about.  Opponents are hitting .305 against Covey, but it’s a soft .305 as he’s surrendered only one homer in his first nine starts.  It’s tough to tell how his season will progress from here, as he went 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in April, 0-4 with an 8.77 ERA in May, and is 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA in June.  Gaylord Perry isn’t having the same issues as the others, but he’s only 3-2 with a 5.28 ERA and is having issues of his own, namely keeping the ball in the yard (he’s surrendered 10 home runs in only 46 innings).  On a bright note, he’s 3-0 in his last three starts with a 2.35 ERA, and has allowed only one earned run in his last 14 innings.

The bullpen’s ERA of 4.61 ranks 13th in the SHL, but the relief corps isn’t much better than the rotation.  Doug Jones has done a pretty good job closing out games for the Tribe, recording 12 saves and a 3.38 ERA and placing among the leaders in the former, but he’s also blown three saves.  Aside from that, though, he’s been solid, holding batters to a .217 average and striking out 19 in 21 1/3 innings.  He also has a streak of 10 consecutive appearances dating back to May 7 in which he hasn’t allowed a run.

Bert Blyleven has been better in a support role than his numbers would indicate.  He’s 1-3 on the year with a 4.05 ERA, but all three losses came in extra-inning games that were decided by a single run—he allowed a run in the bottom of the 13th against the Blue Jays on April 9; tossed 3 2/3 innings of outstanding relief before allowing a run to the Braves in the 11th inning on April 26; and threw 3 1/3 effective innings of relief against the Athletics on May 15, but allowed a game-tying homer to Jimmie Foxx in the 10th, then surrendered the game-winner in the 13th.

Don Mossi (2-0, 4.60), CC Sabathia (1-2, 4.79), and Bob Lemon (1 save, 6.14) round out the bullpen and have their own baggage to deal with.  Mossi is lucky to have a 4.60 ERA (his ERC is 6.58) and is issuing a team-worst .533 slugging to enemy batters.  Sabathia is whiffing 7.8 batters per nine innings, but has allowed 11 homers in only 41 1/3 innings.  And Lemon is holding batters to a .264 average, but boasts a team-worst 1.86 WHIP and has 18 walks against only 10 strikeouts.

Unfortunately, there’s little help in the minors—Luis Tiant is 5-8 with a 3.01 ERA for Columbus, and Mike Garcia has a 0.79 ERA in relief (although he was just moved into the rotation), but no one else is standing out from the crowd, and Bartolo Colon is out for at least eight weeks with bone chips in his elbow.

Scattered Hits

Heading in Opposite Directions: Since last week’s report, the Orioles have gone 11-6 while the White Sox are only 6-11.  Jim Palmer went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA to run his record to 5-2 and lower his ERA to 3.98, but he also suffered a strained back muscle in his last start against the Expos and went on the 15-day DL. Al Bumbry (.464), Roberto Alomar (.458), and Frank Robinson (.435) have all been on a tear at the plate, especially Robinson, who slugged .652 and has driven in seven runs in has last six games, and is second behind only Willie Stargell in RBIs with 52.

The White Sox have gotten strong hitting as well—Eddie Collins batted .417 and reached base at a .500 clip last week; Frank Thomas batted .409 and slugged .727; Dick Allen hit .400 with a homer and four RBIs in 10 at-bats—but the pitching staff posted a 4.84 ERA and Hoyt Wilhelm blew two saves and has seen his ERA climb from a season-best 1.54 on May 13 to 4.26 in his last six appearances.

Roaring Success: Tigers closer Joel Zumaya and setup man John Hiller are quietly putting together fantastic seasons.  Zumaya is 12-for-13 in save situations and just suffered his first loss of the season, although he can hardly be blamed for the defeat.  He entered a game against the A’s in the top of the 12th and allowed one-out singles to Frank Baker and Mickey Cochrane, putting runners at second and third.  He then proceeded to strike out Bert Campaneris and Dennis Eckersley, but not before catcher Mickey Tettleton threw the ball into left field on a pickoff attempt to allow the go-ahead run to cross the plate.  Zumaya was charged with the loss despite giving up no earned runs.

After the two inning stint, his ERA dropped to 1.17 on the year.  He’s allowed only two earned runs in 15 appearances, is holding right-handed batters to a .105 average, and is holding all batters to a .224 AVG and a .544 OPS (.286/.259).

Hiller has been equally effective, if not more so, pitching 13 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run, posting a 0.95 WHIP in eight appearances, and holding batters to a team-best .208 average.

Triple Threat: Detroit has a different team leader in the six Triple Crown categories—Ty Cobb is leading the team in hitting at .355, Tettleton leads in homers with nine, Harry Heilmann leads in RBIs with 44, Ed Killian leads all pitchers in wins with seven, Harry Coveleski paces the staff in ERA at 3.77, and Hal Newhouser leads in strikeouts with 44.

All Dressed Up With No Place to Play: Columbus third baseman Buddy Bell is hitting .315 with five homers and 39 RBIs and teammate Grady Sizemore is batting .326/.413/.471, but neither has a spot on the Indians’ roster.  With an outfield of Belle, Speaker, Jackson, and Ramirez, and a third base platoon of Thome and Rosen, the Tribe aren’t in need of any help from the farm.  At best, Sizemore may be called up to strengthen the fifth outfield spot currently held down by a struggling Rocky Colavito (1-for-12 in 14 games).

Norfolk’s Nick Markakis is hitting .359 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs and Jim Gentile is batting .320/11/40, but with Robinson, Bumbry, and Ken Singleton clogging Baltimore’s outfield, and Eddie Murray tearing the cover off the ball at first base, the Tides’ best players will have to be patient.

Paul Konerko has nine homers and 47 RBIs in 61 games for Charlotte, but he’s unlikely to get a whiff of first base in Chicago’s south side, not with Thomas and Allen combining to hit .368 with 15 homers, 50 RBIs, and 49 runs.

Detroit’s version of Colavito is smoking the ball at Toledo (15 homers and 50 ribbies), but will be hardpressed to break into a Tigers outfield that boasts Cobb, Heilmann, Al Kaline, and Magglio Ordonez, who is smacking the ball all over the place while Kaline recovers from a tender elbow.