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2020 Series # 6 Tribe Hosts the Cubs -- Aug 11-12

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Our 3 catchers have 3 hits in about 60 at bats this season. Jordan Luplow has 1 hit in 26 abs.

Every game it seems we have about 3 guys who are guaranteed outs.
 
Lord Mar said:
Did anybody catch Matt Underwood's reference to the Guardian statues on the bridge at the onset of the broadcast? Foreshadowing perhaps?
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I sure did. I wondered if that was a bit of foreshadowing, and it seemed like a slightly forced insert. Odd enough that it just kind of jumped out at me.
 
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Bradley Zimmer got off to a decent start hitting .267/.835 in 15 at-bats in July. But in August he's 2-for-14, both singles, with no RBI's. The only saving grace for Zimmer is his ability to draw walks and get hit by pitches. In 11 games where he got to bat he's been hit four times. Add in five walks and his on-base percentage is a very good .385.

He has six hits - five singles and a home run. A couple of the singles were of the infield variety, which is fine, but they don't get a run home from second base. His slugging percentage is a miniscule .310. For a 220-pound corner outfielder to be slugging .310 is kind of ridiculous.

The most discouraging thing is he has struck out 11 times in 29 at-bats, so that hasn't changed since the last couple of years. There was optimism that his new batting stance would allow him to make more consistent contact but that has not been playing out. In fact, it looks to me like he's gone back to his old stance of hitting out of a crouch. Lucas Giolito was throwing belt high 93 mph fastballs right past him one after the other on Sunday.

I suppose if he can keep his OBP above .350 he'll have some value, especially factoring in his speed on the bases and his range and arm in the outfield. But the lack of pop and continuing very high K rate is really discouraging, especially for a player who is already 27 years old.
 
Wouldn't get too high or too low on a 39 plate appearance sample in his first meaningful major league action in 2 years.
 
Wham with the Right Hand said:
Bradley Zimmer got off to a decent start hitting .267/.835 in 15 at-bats in July. But in August he's 2-for-14, both singles, with no RBI's. The only saving grace for Zimmer is his ability to draw walks and get hit by pitches. In 11 games where he got to bat he's been hit four times. Add in five walks and his on-base percentage is a very good .385.

He has six hits - five singles and a home run. A couple of the singles were of the infield variety, which is fine, but they don't get a run home from second base. His slugging percentage is a miniscule .310. For a 220-pound corner outfielder to be slugging .310 is kind of ridiculous.

The most discouraging thing is he has struck out 11 times in 29 at-bats, so that hasn't changed since the last couple of years. There was optimism that his new batting stance would allow him to make more consistent contact but that has not been playing out. In fact, it looks to me like he's gone back to his old stance of hitting out of a crouch. Lucas Giolito was throwing belt high 93 mph fastballs right past him one after the other on Sunday.

I suppose if he can keep his OBP above .350 he'll have some value, especially factoring in his speed on the bases and his range and arm in the outfield. But the lack of pop and continuing very high K rate is really discouraging, especially for a player who is already 27 years old.
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Even with all of that, he's still doing better at the plate than our newest Santana. I think Zimmer needs to be in the lineup every day.
 
Urban said:
Wouldn't get too high or too low on a 39 plate appearance sample in his first meaningful major league action in 2 years.
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Absolutely right, especially since hitting is down everywhere, but he looked so good in spring training I was hoping to see some improvement even in just 39 at-bats.

Now that Naquin and DeShields are back the Indians will have some hard decisions to make on how long they are going to stick with guys who are not producing like Luplow, Mercado, Zimmer and Santana.
 
kidduck said:
Zimmer has not played at his past level in the field. His value on the roster is questionable.
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Definitely true, his reactions to balls seem slow and I can recall 2 instances very early on in the season where he seemed tentative chasing a fly ball towards the outfield wall

As things stand right now he's probably the odd man out once the Indians recall Clev and Plesac. Maybe Mercado.
 
Urban said:
Definitely true, his reactions to balls seem slow and I can recall 2 instances very early on in the season where he seemed tentative chasing a fly ball towards the outfield wall

As things stand right now he's probably the odd man out once the Indians recall Clev and Plesac. Maybe Mercado.
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I'll politely disagree. Santana and Luplow are hitting worse than Zimmer is.
 
ncinthenext3 said:
I'll politely disagree. Santana and Luplow are hitting worse than Zimmer is.
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Santana is likely the bubble candidate, but his play in the field has been better than originally proclaimed. The odd man out here is likely Chang.
 
ncinthenext3 said:
I'll politely disagree. Santana and Luplow are hitting worse than Zimmer is.
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It won't be Luplow, his role is established

I'd be disappointed to see the Santana experiment cut short in less than 1 month.
 
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