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The 2020 Cleveland Indians

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Derek said:
I think you know I like Luplow, but you also know that don’t consider 128 AB a worthwhile sample size.
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I’d like to know what his numbers fall to if you remove his ABs vs Manny Banuelos :chuckle:

But I also would definitely be open to a revolving door at the 2 spot if Tito is so set on having a lesser caliber player than his superstars hit there.
 
Gson said:
Santana's run production in the middle of the order.. is too valuable.. at the same time, his ability to get on base says lead off.. Perhaps there's another name that can be considered.. but only against off handed pitchers: Jordan Luplow.. His .320/.439/1.181 triple slash v LHP's is about as good as it gets on the Indians. Add to the fact that against LHP's as a starter, he'd almost guarantee two AB's before the opposing manager would be able to bring in a RHP.. This type of micro-managed exploitation of a players ability will be much more important in the sprint that should be the 2020 season?

Santana can lead off against RHP's.. This works very well as Carlos is vastly more patient against RHP's than LHP's... That is, he derives a much greater portion of his BB's by an almost 2:1 margin versys RHP's thereby allowing the hitters coming behind him to see more/most of any pitcher's arsenal for that day?

Thoughts?..

Thoughts?
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Santana draws too many walks to be that low. That would cost him a decent amount of ABs over the course of a season. Although, maybe not so many this season.
 
The leadoff hitter has one job...get on base.

Hernandez has done it as good or better than Frankie throughout their respective careers.

But Hernandez cant come close to the pop that Lindor can provide in the middle of the order.

Putting Hernandez first and moving Lindor down a few spots makes sense to me.

******************************

Moving JRam to second, instead of behind Carlos, also makes sense to me. Previously, Jose was needed as protection for Carlos, but now we have Reyes.

I'd stack our first five up against anybody in the division, and we have fairly good odds of getting early leads...and then our pitching gives us an added advantage.
 
I'm hoping that Luplow gets a real shot at every day at bats.

Not because of what he did vs lefties last year but because at every age and at every level, all he has done is hit hit hit when he has played full time.

His track record mirrors that of Casey Blake, who was a fine player for us.
 
Indians and Pirates doing exhibition games on July 18/20/22.

All will be broadcast on STO and AT&T (Pittsburgh).

11 days away from the real thing, possibly.
 
ncinthenext3 said:
Santana draws too many walks to be that low. That would cost him a decent amount of ABs over the course of a season. Although, maybe not so many this season.
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too many what?.. please clarify..
 
AZ_ said:
Indians and Pirates doing exhibition games on July 18/20/22.

All will be broadcast on STO and AT&T (Pittsburgh).

11 days away from the real thing, possibly.
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So the games in Pittsburgh will be available on Pittsburgh local TV ?

If so, great news. Sure there will be streams available.
 
Ohio said:
So the games in Pittsburgh will be available on Pittsburgh local TV ?

If so, great news. Sure there will be streams available.
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Seems like all three will be on STO and AT&T in Pittsburgh.
 
Gson said:
Santana's run production in the middle of the order.. is too valuable.. at the same time, his ability to get on base says lead off.. Perhaps there's another name that can be considered.. but only against off handed pitchers: Jordan Luplow.. His .320/.439/1.181 triple slash v LHP's is about as good as it gets on the Indians. Add to the fact that against LHP's as a starter, he'd almost guarantee two AB's before the opposing manager would be able to bring in a RHP.. This type of micro-managed exploitation of a players ability will be much more important in the sprint that should be the 2020 season?

Santana can lead off against RHP's.. This works very well as Carlos is vastly more patient against RHP's than LHP's... That is, he derives a much greater portion of his BB's by an almost 2:1 margin versys RHP's thereby allowing the hitters coming behind him to see more/most of any pitcher's arsenal for that day?

Thoughts?..

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I like to see people thinking outside the box and backing it up with hard data. I doubt we'll see anything so logical as your proposal, though. Tito likes tradition. He probably thinks players do better when they hit in the same spot in the order every day rather than being switched around depending on the opposing pitcher.

As for Santana's run production being needed in the middle of the order, I'm pretty confidant in the run production of Lindor, Hosey, Reyes, Domingo Santana, and either Luplow or Naquin. I like Santana's .397 OBP in the leadoff spot over Hernandez's .333, which has declined two years in a row. I also want him to get as many at-bats as possible and certainly more than Hernandez, who had on OPS+ of 92 last year, also down two years in a row.

If Hernandez does turn out to be the every day leadoff hitter I hope he focuses on getting on base and not on hitting home runs. He was much better offensively in 2017 when he had a .373 OBP with six home runs as opposed to last season when he hit 14 but popped out four times as often.
 
OPS+ doesn’t matter for lead-off hitters

Also, describing Hernandez as a .333 OBP% guy when it’s by far his worst production in the last four years is as disingenuous as describing Santana as a .397 OBP% guy.

I feel like Phil Connors right now.
 
CATS44 said:
I'm hoping that Luplow gets a real shot at every day at bats.

Not because of what he did vs lefties last year but because at every age and at every level, all he has done is hit hit hit when he has played full time.

His track record mirrors that of Casey Blake, who was a fine player for us.
Click to expand...

This won’t help.

 
Lindor OBP 2018....352
2019...335
Career...347

Hernandez OBP 2018...356
2019...333
Career...352
 
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