Jason Kipnis & Remembering the 2007 Change at Second Base

The 2011 Indians will look to Jason Kipnis to provide the same spark as Asdrubal Cabrera provided in 2007. 

The 2007 Indians offense needed a boost and second baseman Josh Barfield had posted a disappointing slash line of .244/.273/.318 (.590 OPS) covering 414 plate appearances.  The Indians made the change on August 8th, 2007 by replacing starting second baseman Josh Barfield with a 21 year old infield prospect named Asdrubal Cabrera.  A bold move for the Indians franchise as Cabrera had played most of the season in AA Akron where he posted a .310/.383/.454 slash line in 425 games before being promoted to AAA Buffalo where he appeared in only 9 games (40 PA) prior to his callup.

After the callup, Asdrubal Cabrera finished 2007 with a slash line of .283/.354/.421 (.755 OPS) covering 186 PA.  More importantly, the Indians went 31-14 in games that Cabrera appeared (28-12 in starts) and the Indians held off Detroit and went on to win the AL Central crown.

In 2011 the Indians find themselves in need of an offensive spark and  once again have a need at second base where veteran Orlando Cabrera has posted a slash line of .244/.275/.323 (OPS of .598) covering 335 PA. The Indians will look to 24 year old second base prospect Jason Kipnis to provide the boost that Asdrubal Cabrera provided in 2007. Through 91 games (398 PA) in AAA Columbus, Kipnis posted a slash line of .279/.361/.481 with 12 HR and 55 RBI.

Can Kipnis match Asdrubal's production and value from 07. Asdrubal Cabrera played nearly every game as he was a switch hitter and Kipnis playing time, according to manager Manny Acta, will be determined on a game by game basis dependent on matchup. For additional information on the path that Jason Kipnis took from University of Kentucky to the majors, check out the Jason Kipnis Future Star or Superstar article.

The Indians and Carlos Pena

When NFL draft day is lurking, the smart advice is to ignore what clubs are saying and pay attention to what they aren't saying.  Using this strategy with the Indians relative to the 2011 trade deadline means that a right handed hitting outfielder and a starting pitcher may not be the target but a first baseman and back end reliever may be.

Carlos Pena - Cleveland Indians?

To some, this may not make a lot of sense as the Indians have Matt LaPorta and Carlos Santana at first base and a bevy of relievers (Chen Lee, Zach Putnam, Nick Hagadone, and Josh Judy available in AAA Columbus) but there is one player out there that may be available and would provide the Cleveland Indians much benefit at a low cost and that player is Carlos Pena.

Carlos Pena would provide the Cleveland Indians with a middle of the order power bat, leadership in the clubhouse, and gold glove caliber defense at first base.  Each one of these skills is desperately needed on a young Indians club entering a pennant race in the AL Central.

Choo & Santana Off to Slow Starts

Entering Saturdays game in Minnesota against the Twins, the Indians are in first place in the AL Central with with a 13-6 record.  They rank first in the American League in runs scored with 99, first in batting average at .269, first in on-base percentage at .341, and fourth in slugging percentage at .418.  They've managed to  accomplish this with  #3 hitter Shin-Soo Choo and  #4 hitter Carlos Santana struggling to find themselves at the plate.  

Carlos Santana is in his first full season in the majors and has hit in the cleanup spot in every game he's played.  Unfortunately for the Indians, he has not responded favorably posting a slash line of .215/.325/.338 with 2 HR, 10 RBI, and has struck out 13 times while drawing 11 walks.  Manager Manny Acta has said that fans should get used to seeing Santana in the cleanup spot because he is going to be there all year. Good news for the Tribe and Santana is that it appears that he may be coming out of his slump.  He is currently on a five game hitting streak and he has driven in a run in each game.  Additionally, 3 of his 5 hits have gone for extra bases.

Like Carlos Santana, Shin-Soo Choo is off to a slow start.  Choo is currently posting a slash line of .203/.265/.311 with 2HR, 10RBI, and has struck out 21 times while drawing only 7 walks.  Is this something to be alarmed by?  Has Choo had a history of starting slow?  For whatever reason, Shin-Soo Choo is off to an uncharacteristically slow start.  Although the Indians are finding early success, they will need Santana and Choo to contribute in the middle of the order to keep the good times rolling.  

  

The Indians Lineup vs Lefites

Manny Acta will have decisions to make each time the Indians face a left handed starting pitcher.  Acta has 4 everyday starters who are left handed in Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Travis Hafner, and Michael Brantley.  Below are the Indians splits versus left handed pitching for each player on the roster:

Today the Indians take on Brian Duensing of the Minnesota Twins.  In his career he has held left handed batters to a .195/.250/.248 and right handers have hit him at a .278/.338/.416.  The Indians have right handed bats in Adam Everett, Austin Kearns, Shelly Duncan, and Lou Marson on the bench today.  Did Acta make the right call with his lineup or is he simply working off of "gut instinct" and going with the hot hand?  Below are Duensing career numbers vs the Indians:

Grady to Return To Leadoff Hitter?

Sizemore or Brantley....Brantley or Sizemore.....Both?

The purpose of a batting order is to produce runs by getting your best players the most plate appearances and protect the big bats in the lineups.  The Indians have a decision to make soon on whether to bat Grady Sizemore in the leadoff position or drop him in the order and keep Micheal Brantley in the leadoff spot.  Brantley has done an adequate job through the early part of the 2011 season many fans feel it would be a mistake to disrupt the lineup by inserting Grady into the leadoff while dropping Brantley.  

I believe that Manny Acta will insert  Grady Sizemore into the leadoff spot in the lineup against right handed pitching when he returns but Grady will either receive a day off or drop to 6th or 7th in the lineup against lefties.  For his career Sizemore has a slash line against RHP of .292/.382/.521 while only a .230/.320/.380 against LHP.  Brantley in his young career is much more evenly split.  Against RHP Brantley has a slash line of .269/.323/.335 and .278/.322/.361 against LHP.  Additionally, a player loses approximately 18 PA for every position in the lineup that he drops and I believe Manny Acta would rather give the extra at-bats to Grady Sizemore than to Micheal Brantley.  Finally, Brantley and Orlando Cabrera could form a nice wrap around at the bottom of the lineup providing plenty of opportunities for Sizemore to show off his power and drive the runners in.  

Sal "The Barber" Maglie & The Cleveland Indians

Sal Maglie won 119 games in his big league career and spent the majority of his career with the New Yrok Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers.  He also spent parts of seasons with the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and  had a very brief stint with the Cleveland Indians in between his time between the NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers.  Maglie seemed to find himself involved in some of the most memorable games in major league history none bigger than the opposing pitcher in Don Larsen's perfect game.  Much of the detail for this story was from the book PERFECT by Lew Paper, a book I give high praise to.

October 3, 1951 - Worked the first eight innings of the playoff game between the NY Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Left the game after 8 innings trailing 4-1 and watched from the clubhouse as Bobby Thompson hit the "shot heard round the world" sending the NY Giants to the World Series. 

September 29, 1954 Was the game one starter for the NY Giants against the 111 win Cleveland Indians in the 1954 World Series.   He was replaced after 7 innings with the game tied at 2 with two men on base and Vic Wertz due up.  He watched from the dugout as Vic Wertz drove a ball deep into the right field at the Polo Grounds and Will Mays make "the catch"..  

October 8, 1956 Was the starting pitcher for the NY Giants in Game Five versus the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series.  He took the loss and watched from the dugout as Don Larsen struck out  Dale Mitchell to complete the only perfect game in post-season history.

If you are like me and like stories of guys that overachieve and take interesting routes to success, then Maglie is your type of player.  He was a very popular basketball player in the Niagra Falls area but his true love was baseball and ge turned down a scholarship in basketball to Niagra University in order to draw a paycheck to help his family and spent weekends playing semi-pro baseball.