The 2020 Cleveland Indians

[sportscoach]

it wasn't just Harold Baines.

Fangraphs did a profile on him before last season, part of which said things like...just scratching the surface...could be a fantasy stud.

Bauers was a top 100 prospect with a ton of upside. He's had every opportunity to pan out, so if he doesnt its really on him and not the Indians.

I mean there has been plenty of top prospects would flop and the under the radar guys who succeed. Reason why I don't mind the Clev trade is the fact, it sounded like the Padres didnt want to give up the top guy, so we got a whole bunch of the tier 2 guys from them. Our chances of this trade succeeding is now very high since we brought in 5 players who are 25 and younger (two with a taste of the bigs) and an established big league catcher.

 

[Obscured By Clouds]

Bauers was a top 100 prospect with a ton of upside. He's had every opportunity to pan out, so if he doesnt its really on him and not the Indians.

I mean there has been plenty of top prospects would flop and the under the radar guys who succeed. Reason why I don't mind the Clev trade is the fact, it sounded like the Padres didnt want to give up the top guy, so we got a whole bunch of the tier 2 guys from them. Our chances of this trade succeeding is now very high since we brought in 5 players who are 25 and younger (two with a taste of the bigs) and an established big league catcher.

Weren't their reports of him not doing the work he was supposed to be last season in the batters box, or just doing the bare minimum?

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

....looking at his spray chart from last year, he did not have many flyballs to right field (where balls go to die). He had more line drive to right but had a lot of flyballs to left field. Progressive has 10 feet shorter fence in distance but more of the monster fence. So we will see what happens. His issue is more the ground outs to the right side and reason for the shift...

That's the point I made a couple of days ago - he's not a pull hitter or a fly ball producer, so the deep right field fence at Petco should not have had a big impact on a guy who hits >50% ground balls and only pulls the ball about one-third of the time. I get that his OPS was much higher on the road but I'm not convinced the park factor was mostly responsible.

 

[sportscoach]

Weren't their reports of him not doing the work he was supposed to be last season in the batters box, or just doing the bare minimum?

From what i could tell @BimboColesHair may know more, but it felt like he did things his way, and it wasn't near what the organization needed or wanted him to do. He likely will still be on the roster next season, but it will be his last chance for him in Cleveland to make the roster.

 

[CATS44]

Bauers came to the Tribe with a rep that he put in a lot of work, but that wasn't the case here. In his own understated way, even Tito called him out on it.

Since this was opposite from the reports in Tampa, I searched for every article I could find on him, and came up with a gem. In an interview after he had arrived in Tampa and found initial success he said...and this is a general paraphrase...I dont pay.mich attention to hitting instruction, because I've always been able to hit a baseball.

In a.mea culpa article that followed the fangraphs article I referenced earlier, a statistical analysis found that Bauers was unlucky on both his swinging strike rate and on his walk rate, which offset his high plate discipline...but that wasn't his biggest problem. When he does hit a baseball, he seldom barrels it up and doesn't hit many hard. His batted balls are inefficient.

The writer still feels that Bauers has somewhat of a future, because he is due for some positive regression and a 24 yr old suddenly finding his in game power is hardly news worthy. But the addition of Naylor probably means that future won't be in Cleveland.

That, and the fact that Tito saying anything about a fringe player that can be construed as negative is the kiss of death in this org.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Bauers came to the Tribe with a rep that he put in a lot of work, but that wasn't the case here. In his own understated way, even Tito called him out on it.

Since this was opposite from the reports in Tampa, I searched for every article I could find on him, and came up with a gem. In an interview after he had arrived in Tampa and found initial success he said...and this is a general paraphrase...I dont pay.mich attention to hitting instruction, because I've always been able to hit a baseball.

In a.mea culpa article that followed the fangraphs article I referenced earlier, a statistical analysis found that Bauers was unlucky on both his swinging strike rate and on his walk rate, which offset his high plate discipline...but that wasn't his biggest problem. When he does hit a baseball, he seldom barrels it up and doesn't hit many hard. His batted balls are inefficient.

The writer still feels that Bauers has somewhat of a future, because he is due for some positive regression and a 24 yr old suddenly finding his in game power is hardly news worthy. But the addition of Naylor probably means that future won't be in Cleveland.

That, and the fact that Tito saying anything about a fringe player that can be construed as negative is the kiss of death in this org.

As I recall the Indians were frustrated last year because as you said, he "didn't pay much attention to hitting instruction" despite the fact that he was having an awful season offensively. After the season Bauers admitted he needed to change his ways and work on his hitting, but apparently it's not doing him much good. The Indians have the worst hitting outfield in baseball and have been desparate for a left-handed bat even after Naquin came back, but they never brought up Bauers and gave him a look. Instead they tried Daniel Johnson, who is clearly ahead of Bauers now, and then traded for Naylor. That says it all.

Now the first base job might be wide open with Santana turning 35 and due to get $17.5 million next year, which won't be picked up. How lucky can Bauers get? This year we were hurting for a left-handed hitting outfielder with power and next year we may need a first baseman. He's definitely in the right organization.

The guy has tremendous power. He hit a home run last year to right center that was something like 480 feet. It's at the 1:47 mark of this video...


He also has an outstanding batting eye, rarely chasing a bad pitch. But his problem, as you pointed out, was when consistently swinging at pitches in the zone he rarely squared them up. I can't remember how many times I saw him get ahead 2-0 and then get a fastball down the middle that he pounded into the ground or popped up.

Bauers needs to spend this summer working with the hitting coach on correcting his hitting issues and working on his defense at first base. I doubt that will salvage his career but he's still young and you can't teach power or a great eye at the plate so he may have a chance to emerge as a major league first baseman if he works his butt off. This year (and last) is a humbling experience and will definately prove to him that he can't just show up and hit - he has to put in the work.

Best case scenario is he turns out (in time) to be a Carlos Santana type player who walks a lot and hits 30 home runs but does not have a high batting average. But it's more likely IMO that we never hear from him again.

 

[CATS44]

We always seem to at least one player with a disconnect. We've had Phillips, Salazar, Yandy, Mejia, and Puig. Im sure weve had others we didnt know about who quietly disappeared.

Bauers may be another, or he may make a right turn.

But with his skill set, somebody will give him a look.

 

[BimboColesHair]

Weren't their reports of him not doing the work he was supposed to be last season in the batters box, or just doing the bare minimum?

Bauers came in with a very entitled opinion of himself. Refused to adjust and change things prior to and during the season.

Organization laid out some areas of improvement for him during exit interviews, things proceeded to get a little heated between him, the front office, Van Burkleo, and Tito at the end of the year. Tito and the organization won that battle.

By all accounts he’s put in a lot of work after getting “knocked down a peg or 2” following a reality check for him last year.

 

[sportscoach]

Bauers came in with a very entitled opinion of himself. Refused to adjust and change things prior to and during the season.

Organization laid out some areas of improvement for him during exit interviews, things proceeded to get a little heated between him, the front office, Van Burkleo, and Tito at the end of the year. Tito and the organization won that battle.

By all accounts he’s put in a lot of work after getting “knocked down a peg or 2” following a reality check for him last year.

Do you think it is enough for next season to get him from the AAAA looking player to a MLB regular?

 

[Otsego Mar]

The Tribe is 2nd in the league in runs allowed (STL first w/ 9 fewer games played) and tied for 3rd in run differential.

 

[sportscoach]

The Tribe is 2nd in the league in runs allowed (STL first w/ 9 fewer games played) and tied for 3rd in run differential.

I thought you hated stats

Joking aside, even though the offense hasn't been consistent, you dont get these types of numbers without your pitchers going up and throwing goose eggs inning after inning.

 

[Otsego Mar]

I thought you hated stats

Joking aside, even though the offense hasn't been consistent, you dont get these types of numbers without your pitchers going up and throwing goose eggs inning after inning.

Those are fairly reasonable stats that give a good indication of how a team is doing (ya know, besides wins and losses).

We have a good offensive team. It's not elite, but it's time we started hitting consistently (I hope).

 

[bigfoot5415]

How many more starts for Bieber are we looking at and what do we think his odds for MVP are at right now?

 

[sportscoach]

How many more starts for Bieber are we looking at and what do we think his odds for MVP are at right now?

Well i am not sure on the amount of starts (around 4-5 area I believe left). Its going to be hard to vote Bieber over Trout when it comes to MVP, but Bieber for sure should have the Cy Young in the AL if he keeps doing what he is doing.

A fair amount of voters anymore have the pitchers only in the cy young and the hitters for MVP. Bieber will get some votes, but i would lean that the MVP will go towards Trout, Teoscar Hernandez or Jose Abreu. Cruz could as well, but him only DH doesn't help him.

Right now if I was choosing American League award winners, Cy Young- Bieber, MVP-Trout, Rookie of the Year- Kyle Lewis, Comeback player of the year-Carrasco.

I am actually surprised they arent doing an all star voting thing this season. Aka just for the end of the season so guys can earn recognition/bonuses in a sense.

 

[BimboColesHair]

Bieber is the front runner for MVP right now, not really close too.