Surprises and disappointments

[Wham with the Right Hand]

In the Ex Indians update thread somebody mentioned Eddie Rosario and the discussion turned to who were some of the biggest surprises and disappointments this season (Rosario obviously in the latter category). Gson suggested that discussion should have it's own thread, and I agree, so here it is. Have at it.

I'll start.

Disappointments: Injuries to the the top three starters, Eddie Rosario, Daniel Johnson, Karinchak, the offense in general but especially the corner outfielders and catchers.

Surprises (positive ones): McKenzie, Quantrill, the trade for Straw, Sandlin

Jury still out: Naylor, Bradley, Chang

 

[Gson]

Biggest disappointment: The failing health of Tito.. So happy to see he is well on his way to full recovery and WILL be back in the dugout in 2022..

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I suppose some of us might include the decision to change the team's name as the biggest disappointment, but I was thinking more in terms of personnel.

The Tribe desperately needed a dependable, productive outfield bat, but unfortunately Eddie Rosario's power disappeared for some reason. The other free agent signing, Cesar Hernandez, was also a disappointment as his defense and offense declined from the 2020 mini-season.

Hopes were high for Daniel Johnson to fill a hole in the outfield, but he was a disappointment both at the plate and in the field.

The horrible injury to Josh Naylor might be the biggest disappointment from the standpoint that you never want to see a player suffer an injury like that. If there was one thing I had the power to change about this season it would be the Naylor injury, even more than the Bieber injury.

 

[Benway]

I was mildly surprised that Amed was able to pull himself together and start raking once they stopped jacking him around.
Also pleasant to see Clase put it together so quickly and become an actual Pitcher.
Quantrill is a third who rebounded from a rough start, and McKenzie a 4th. (McKenzie is really the only one who exceeded even my most optimistic expectations.)
I'll count Morgan as a surprise even though he's not particularly good. Ernie Clement being our best defensive infielder rates as a bit of a surprise too.

Finally and once again I am thoroughly surprised that this team would be scoring on a par with the Yankees.

 

[CDAV45]

Yeah Eddie and the Jet were 2 of my biggest disappointments this season.

I'm not a Josh Naylor fan(as a baseball player although I love the kid), but I hate to see an injury like that to anyone. I truly hope he recovers fully and makes my doubts about his ability look stupid. I'm pulling for him even though I have my doubts.

I really grew to love Amed's attitude, hustle, and play.

I'm disappointed in Gimenez's season, but he's doing much better of late and is very young.

Miller's complete and utter failure to translate his AAA performance to Cleveland when called upon surprised and disappointed me as well. I do think he'll come back in a big way next season as he's been hitting the ball much better of late too.

Pleasantly surprised with the Straw acquisition. Damn good CFer whose bat and base running play in a big way.

While the injuries to Bieber, Civale, and Plesac sucked, it did provide them with an opportunity to see guys they normally wouldn't have.

Cal Quantrill is a bad MF'er!

I am completely surprised how a corner OF conglomerate can suck so badly. For the love of baby Jesus will somebody step up and become a good corner OFer!

Berto's inability to stay on the field and both of our C's sucky offense is so disappointing to me. So much in fact that the injury to Ramos was one of the most upsetting injuries for me this season. Yes, that's how bad Perez and Hedges are with the bat.

Clase is a stud, but let's hope the new "tacky" ball helps the wild thing regain his form.

 

[Criznit]

I might add more later.

Biggest disappointments: Bauers, Berto, E.Rosario and Karinchak HM: Daniel Johnson and Andres Gimenez

Biggest surprises: A.Rosario, QUANTRILL, and almost all the minor league prospects of note.


General disappointments - almost all the new "regular" position players did not do much/breakout.

 

[CATS44]

I'm not going to address the injuries. They happened, as is often the case.

I expected that Quantrill and Amed would perform well, if put in one spot and left there. They did. They are core pieces.

The biggest disappointment to me by far was the FOs insistence on continuing the never ending tryouts for Zimmer, Mercado, Johnson, Chang, and Harold....and the constant merry go round for the infielders.

The refusal to let Gimenez play every day.

Performance wise, Clase and Sandlin were above my expectations, as was Hentges, when they stopped screwing around with him, too.

I'm very surprised we got Straw for Maton and a prospect that wasn't gonna be protected anyway. I'm surprised that we got anything for Bauers...and reasonably good looking pitching for Luplow and Hernandez as salary dumps.

Bauers was a disaster. Hernandez was what should have been expected, not a replay of a career season. Eddie was somewhat of a disappointment, and his injury didn't allow him time to right the ship.

We go into the off season better off than we were at the beginning of spring training.

Quantrill, Clase, and Straw make it so.

We also had a lot of terrific seasons from the prospects, along with the additions of Pilkington and Battenfield. Our wealth of tradeable assets has appreciated considerably.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

Disappointments: Obviously, Eddie, pitching injuries, catching injuries, and general lack of offense from the catching position.
Slightly disappointed NJones didn't get an opportunity to taste MLB, or play OF more.
Not disappointed with Bauers. He did exactly what I expected.

Surprised: I was not too familiar with Myles Straw. But when he came in here with the Astros, and pretty much affected every game, I was impressed. When we got him in a trade, I was thrilled. When I saw him the rest of the season, I was overjoyed.

 

[Alabuckeye]

Surprises: Amed…..really like him. Straw…I think we have a CF. Fran with a solid year. Quantrill. McKenzie showed some progress. Clase.

Disappointing: the fact that none of Bradley, Bauers, Naylor, Johnson, Mercado, Zimmer, nor giminez grabbed a job and didn’t let go.

the fall of karinchak. I’ve not given up on him, but he just fell off, whether due to stickum or what.

Titos health.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Biggest surprise was Quantrill - I never saw that coming. Imagine a guy who was in the bullpen at the start of the season after getting knocked around in spring training leading the team in innings pitched.

Also McKenzie. I was hoping he would take a step forward but that string of starts he had late in the season where he was totally dominant was unexpected to say the least.

I was surprised by Sandlin pitching that well in his first exposure to the bigs and Morgan's improvement as the season went on. By September he looked like a legitimate big league starter. Not bad for a guy who has only 27 innings at AAA.

Biggest disappointment besides the injuries to the top three in the rotation was Karinchak. I was hoping he would take the next step and become a dominant back end closer. Also disappointing to learn that a big chunk of his success was due to cheating. Now he has to learn to be successful with a much lower spin rate. He may end up being just another relief pitcher.

Lesser disappointments were Mercado and Eddie Rosario. They didn't have awful seasons, but I was hoping for more. I think Franmil had a disappointing season. I can't complain about .254/.846 but I thought he was capable of more. He struck out 35.6% of his at-bats. The announcers were saying he was disappointed in his season and feels he can do better.

I also was surprised by Chang's strong performance over the last two months.

 

[Kippax]

First Post
I've followed the Indians since the mid 90's when a TV station in the UK began showing live baseball, I think I chose the Indians because I loved Jim Thome's set up when batting, he oozed confidence and I like that in sportsmen (and women, don't want to offend anyone). Anyway I've watched more Indians games this year than any of the previous ones, I'm estimating around a hundred and the reason for turning up at work bleary eyed most mornings since March.

I just wanted to thank all the contributors on this board for the education and wisdom you have imparted through your posts, I have a much better understanding of baseball, and the Indians, since finding this forum this year. I follow football (soccer) religiously and most forums dedicated to football teams here are poisonous, it's great to see differences of opinion treated respectfully here, it makes a pleasant change from what I am used to. So thank you once again everybody.

Biggest surprise: Quantrill & Straw

Biggest disappointment: I'm not sure I'm qualified enough to make an informed answer but the lack of offense at times was a struggle to stay awake for. I can see Austin Hedges striking out in my nightmares.

All the best from the UK.

 

[Alabuckeye]

Great first post Kippax......it's cool to see our favorite team from a set of fresh eyes so to speak...

 

[MadThinker88]

First Post
I've followed the Indians since the mid 90's when a TV station in the UK began showing live baseball, I think I chose the Indians because I loved Jim Thome's set up when batting, he oozed confidence and I like that in sportsmen (and women, don't want to offend anyone). Anyway I've watched more Indians games this year than any of the previous ones, I'm estimating around a hundred and the reason for turning up at work bleary eyed most mornings since March.

I just wanted to thank all the contributors on this board for the education and wisdom you have imparted through your posts, I have a much better understanding of baseball, and the Indians, since finding this forum this year. I follow football (soccer) religiously and most forums dedicated to football teams here are poisonous, it's great to see differences of opinion treated respectfully here, it makes a pleasant change from what I am used to. So thank you once again everybody.

Biggest surprise: Quantrill & Straw

Biggest disappointment: I'm not sure I'm qualified enough to make an informed answer but the lack of offense at times was a struggle to stay awake for. I can see Austin Hedges striking out in my nightmares.

All the best from the UK.

Welcome Kippax...

Looking forward to your continued posts and POV..

 

[Lee]

First Post
I've followed the Indians since the mid 90's when a TV station in the UK began showing live baseball, I think I chose the Indians because I loved Jim Thome's set up when batting, he oozed confidence and I like that in sportsmen (and women, don't want to offend anyone). Anyway I've watched more Indians games this year than any of the previous ones, I'm estimating around a hundred and the reason for turning up at work bleary eyed most mornings since March.

I just wanted to thank all the contributors on this board for the education and wisdom you have imparted through your posts, I have a much better understanding of baseball, and the Indians, since finding this forum this year. I follow football (soccer) religiously and most forums dedicated to football teams here are poisonous, it's great to see differences of opinion treated respectfully here, it makes a pleasant change from what I am used to. So thank you once again everybody.

Biggest surprise: Quantrill & Straw

Biggest disappointment: I'm not sure I'm qualified enough to make an informed answer but the lack of offense at times was a struggle to stay awake for. I can see Austin Hedges striking out in my nightmares.

All the best from the UK.

What is your opinion on cricket vs baseball?