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Series #2- Kansas City @ Cleveland. Tribe home opening series.

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I just don't get what they are doing with Amed since he has a lot better bat than Gamel. We need offense and why keep him if he isn't gonna play?
 
I just don't get what they are doing with Amed since he has a lot better bat than Gamel. We need offense and why keep him if he isn't gonna play?
I think Tito isn't comfortable putting him in center yet so he's platooning with Gimenez at short. We have another series with the Tigers coming up so I expect Rosario to get some at-bats with all the lefties they have on their staff. Skubal is going in game 2 and they have five lefty relievers.
 
I think Tito isn't comfortable putting him in center yet so he's platooning with Gimenez at short. We have another series with the Tigers coming up so I expect Rosario to get some at-bats with all the lefties they have on their staff. Skubal is going in game 2 and they have five lefty relievers.
I agree Wham. The problem for me is that while Tito is getting AB for Rosario against LHP, experience against southpaws is being taken away from Gimenez. What are his options though. I'm about ready to live with whatever defense Rosario can give in CF and hope that any difficulties/shortcomings are resolved in short order.

What we need is a freakin' 1B that can be plugged into the lineup and produce. There is no in house answer to 1B at this time, just possibilities.
 
I agree Wham. The problem for me is that while Tito is getting AB for Rosario against LHP, experience against southpaws is being taken away from Gimenez. What are his options though. I'm about ready to live with whatever defense Rosario can give in CF and hope that any difficulties/shortcomings are resolved in short order.

What we need is a freakin' 1B that can be plugged into the lineup and produce. There is no in house answer to 1B at this time, just possibilities.

Chang actually hasn't done bad at 1B, but I don't think any of us actually want Bauers at 1B yet lol
 
The only thing that fries me is Gamel, esp leading off.

Amed, as I've stated before, has gotten totally screwed. Off hand, I can't think of another experienced young Tribe player who has ever been so misused.

His career OBP outside of Citi is .334, which I think is legit. In comparison, Lindors OBP his last two seasons was .335. Gamels career OBP is .331. Not only should Amed be playing every day, he should be leading off.

First it was that Tito didn't think it was fair to play him in Detroits cavernous center field. But not playing him in his home field in perfect weather is beyond me.

Still, I should practice what I always preach...patience. What we see today won't be what we see in mid May.
 
Gimenez isn't being platooned. Francona made this very clear.
Don't want to set you off, but where you see a manager being totally truthful.. I see a manager speaking out of both sides of his mouth, which I expect most managers do...

That said, I do not think Gimenez is being platooned in a traditional sense, but until Amed plays CF, 2B due to something happening to Cesar (another position he has 0 innings logged professionally) or DH - where else is he going to play???

Heck give him a 1B glove.

Edit.. I know many like to believe Tito and the FO are in lockstep most if not all of the time.. However, I believe there is definitely a bit of differences of opinion at play right now and Tito is extremely displeased with his current directive for centerfield and will continue to do what he wants. Even if the FO is telling him to play Amed more out there now, he won't until he decides it's time or he won't with any regularity while he waits for a "real" centerfielder, AKA Mercado or Johnson.
 
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Sure there is; he's just playing everyday in RF until all the others fall by the wayside.
Maybe but did Naylor play a single inning at 1b in ST? And 1B under 6' are pretty rare can't think of another outside of Santana.
 
You nailed it. Bauers is the superior defensive player to Chang, so it late inning situations when the Tribe is winning he’ll stay in to face lefties.

Naylor is getting the chance to be a full time player and he deserves it. He doesn’t have negative splits and he already had 2 hits yesterday.
For now he is a better defender than Chang, but he is nothing special Chang could catch up with more experience.
 
I think Tito isn't comfortable putting him in center yet so he's platooning with Gimenez at short. We have another series with the Tigers coming up so I expect Rosario to get some at-bats with all the lefties they have on their staff. Skubal is going in game 2 and they have five lefty relievers.
Evidently Amed has reached the Mike Aviles “good centerfielder” stage yet:)
 
Sure there is; he's just playing everyday in RF until all the others fall by the wayside.
Maybe so, but I don't see him as a 1B and neither does Tito at this time. I think he'll do a fine job in one of the corner OF spots.
 
Maybe but did Naylor play a single inning at 1b in ST? And 1B under 6' are pretty rare can't think of another outside of Santana.
So, what's wrong with the Santana example?

If that doesn't work, how about Steve Garvey? 5' 10"...played for two decades and won an MVP.

John Kruk was 5' 10", so was Gregg Jeffries. Despite his outsized presence on the field, Dick Allen was only 5' 11."

And Naylor looks like he has longish arms for his frame, so maybe wingspan helps him in this regard. I certainly wouldn't rule him out. He's also lefthanded, which is ideal for a firstbaseman with the pickoff moves our staff has.
 
Its much more important that a 1B is agile enough and has good enough hands to pick throws in the dirt than have huge wing span....because thats where most of the problems come.

George Brett was famous for air mailing throws into the stands, but most bad throws are low.

Its also better for catchers to be shorter, because its easier to give low targets and handle balls that skip right after crossing the plate, but catchers like Sandy, who was 6-5 played it well.

Size isnt as important as Ability and skill.
 
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