2013 Indians Preview: Outfield

In 2012, the Indians struggled all season to find a consistent left fielder, using nine players throughout the campaign. Eight of those nine are no longer with the club. The Indians also struggled to find an outfielder who could add power to the lineup.

Johnny Damon was added in mid-season and Shelley Duncan had streaks of solid play, but both were cut in August. The Indians outfield defense was not the strongest and that certainly didn’t help the struggles of the starting pitching.

The Indians surprised everyone in baseball by signing All-Star center fielder Michael Bourn.

In the offseason, Cleveland made it very clear that the outfield was the top priority. The Indians had good reason to make moves in the outfield.

The Tribe immediately made a splash by signing Nick Swisher, a right fielder with a power bat that the Indians desperately needed. However, due to other moves, Swisher was moved to the infield.

Cleveland acquired stellar defender Drew Stubbs from the Reds in the Shin-Soo Choo deal and shocked the league by signing All-Star center fielder Michael Bourn just before Spring Training began. Bourn signed a four-year, $48 million contract to play center field for the Tribe.

Cleveland put their money where their mouth was this offseason and the money went to the signing of Swisher and Bourn, a combined $104 million investment. In the offseason, Indians owner Paul Dolan sold SportsTime Ohio. A coincidence? I think not.

Here are the expected starters at each outfield position:

Michael Brantley is hoping to build off his success in 2012.

Left Field: Michael Brantley – Brantley was banged up a bit last year, but still had a very solid season. Brantley hit .288 with 37 doubles and six homers. The 25-year old also drove in 60 runs with 12 steals. His average was second among AL center fielders with 500 or more plate appearances. Brantley was a very good defender, committing just one error all season. He will make the move from center to left field to accommodate Bourn, a move that shouldn’t change his defensive numbers too much.

Center Field: Michael Bourn – Bourn possesses speed and defensive ability that will remind Indians fans of Kenny Lofton. Since 2008, he leads all Major Leaguers with 257 stolen bases and is second in bunt hits and infield hits. His stolen base numbers are 55 more than the player in second over that span. Bourn is a two-time All-Star (2010, 2012) and a two-time Gold Glove winner (2009, 2010). The lefty hit .274 last year with Atlanta with 57 RBIs and 9 home runs. Bourn doubled 26 times and tripled 10 times to go along with 42 stolen bases.

Right Field: Drew Stubbs – Stubbs comes over from Cincinnati where he was never able to translate his speed and defensive ability to consistent offensive success. The 28-year old hit .213 with 13 doubles, 14 homers, 40 RBIs and 30 steals last year. Stubbs is lightning quick on the base paths and an excellent defender, holding .982 fielding percentage last year. He was fourth among National League center fielders in runs with 75. Stubbs has never played right field and there should be a slight adjustment period.

Drew Stubbs will help make the Indians the best defensive outfield in baseball. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Backup: Ryan Raburn – Raburn had a solid 2011 season with Detroit, hitting .256 with 14 homers and 49 RBI in 121 games. However, he went into a long slump in 2012, hitting .171 with one home run in 66 games and got the boot from the Tigers. The Indians signed Raburn this offseason and the utility man was fantastic in Spring Training. Raburn hit .341 in 44 at bats with a team-high five homers and 12 RBIs. Raburn is primarily an infielder, but can play some outfield and is the only bench player capable.

Nick Swisher will also back up in the outfield and move to right field when someone needs a day off and Santana or Reynolds can go over to first base, but more on that in the Infield preview.

Bottom Line: This is a much-improved trio from last year. The Choo loss hurts Cleveland, but Bourn will fill Choo’s role as lead off hitter. The Indians won’t have to worry about left field as much this year with Brantley taking over. The Indians will feature three center fielders in one outfield and could possibly be the best defensive outfield in baseball. As noted in earlier blogs, that is a welcome sight to the Indians poor starting pitching. The x-factor for the Tribe in the outfield will be the offense of Drew Stubbs. If Stubbs can produce at the plate, the Indians will be very good one through nine. This is a pretty young outfield, but a very talented one.

Prediction: This will be the best defensive outfield in baseball. Bourn wins a gold glove and gets to the All-Star game and Brantley and Stubbs have fantastic seasons defensively in right and left. The outfield combines for under 10 errors. Offensively, Bourn continues to succeed and provides an excellent leadoff hitter for Cleveland. Bourn and Stubbs combine for 70 stolen bases. A healthier Brantley continues his success from 2012 and hits very well at fifth or sixth in the lineup. The hope for the Indians is that Stubbs can at least hit .250 and show some power. Stubbs hit 22 home runs in 2010 and Cleveland would love for him to hit 15+. Stubbs may be the weaker of the three outfielders, but he is a much needed upgrade from the carousel that was Johnny Damon, Shelley Duncan and Aaron Cunningham. The outfield should make the Indians incredibly entertaining to watch in 2013.

2013 Indians Preview: Bullpen

For the last two seasons the strength of the Tribe has been the bullpen. 2013 should be no different for the Bullpen Mafia.

However, the Cleveland bullpen saw a rise in ERA last year to 3.99, second-highest in the league. This was mainly due to a poor starting rotation leading to overworked relievers. The Indians bullpen worked 528.1 innings, which was fourth-most in the American League.

The 2012 Cleveland Bullpen was 20-18 with 43 saves, sixth in the league. The Tribe featured a 77 percent save percentage and allowed the second most earned runs with 234.

In the offseason, GM Chris Antonetti acquired Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw to help bolster the pen in the Shin-Soo Choo deal that also netted Cleveland Trevor Bauer.

Chris Perez has saved 75 of 83 opportunities over the last two years.

The Bullpen Mafia, however, will have some other new faces. In the same deal, the Tribe also sent lefty Tony Sipp to the Diamonbacks after Rafael Perez was non-tendered due to injury problems. The Tribe also sent hard-throwing righty Esmil Rogers to Toronto for Mike Aviles and Yan Gomes.

Closer Chris Perez returns with the Tribe after an offseason of turmoil and trade rumors. The righty has been fantastic for Cleveland over two years. Despite an 0-4 record and 3.59 ERA last year, the two-time All-Star still saved 39 games in 43 chances. Over the last two seasons Perez has closed the door 75 of 83 opportunities. Despite a shoulder injury early in camp, Perez should be back on the mound for Cleveland on Opening Day.

Vinnie Pestano will once again fill the setup role for the Tribe bullpen. The 27-year old pitched in the World Baseball Classic with the United States and is coming off a 3-3, 2.57 ERA year in which he saved two games. The setup man certainly fulfilled his responsibilities, tallying 36 holds to set a club record and finish second in the American League.

If you could call the back end of the Cleveland bullpen a three-headed monster, Joe Smith would be the third and final head. The side-arming right-hander was 7-4 with a 2.96 ERA last season and had 21 holds. He was second in the league with seven relief victories. Smith is a vital piece to the Cleveland bullpen, holding lefties to a .218 batting average and righties to .209.

Matt Albers is one of a handful of new faces in the Bullpen Mafia.

Right-handers Albers and Shaw will replace Sipp and Rogers in the slightly new look Bullpen Mafia. Albers was 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA in 63 appearances last season with Boston and Arizona. The 30-year old will appear mostly in middle relief and against lefties (.207).

Bryan Shaw has spent his entire career in Arizona and was 1-6 with a 3.49 ERA in 64 appearances with the Diamondbacks last year. Shaw relies on a fastball and a cutter and appeared mainly as a seventh or eighth inning reliever. Shaw was great against right handed hitters(.211), but really struggled against lefties, who hit .333 against him.

Youngster Cody Allen will start in the bullpen in his first full year in the bigs. Allen was 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in 27 appearances with Cleveland last year. He spent time at all three minor league levels and the big leagues last season. Allen struck out 27 in 31 innings with the Indians as a September call-up last year.

Lefty Nick Hagadone returns to the Tribe pen after finishing last season in the big leagues. 6-5 Hagadone started last year in AAA, but finished in Cleveland going 1-0 with a 6.39 ERA in 27 appearances. Indians fans didn’t get to see much of Hagadone though, as he injured his wrist midway through the year and didn’t see action for the rest of the season.

Lefty Nick Hagadone hopes to make an impression after miss half of 2012 with injury.

Rounding out the Cleveland bullpen is newcomer Rich Hill. Hill is a 33-year old left-handed hurler who spent last season in the Boston pen. Hill only appeared in 25 games, holding a 1.83 ERA and a 1-0 record. Hill has dealt with injury problems over the last few season as he had Tommy John surgery in May of 2011.

Bottom line: Like all bullpens, the Indians will need some slight assistance from the starting rotation to keep their workload down. Last season the Tribe bullpen struggled due to short outings from the starters. As with the starters, the bolstered Cleveland defense is a welcome sight to the relief. Despite the late season struggles, the Cleveland bullpen is still one of the best in baseball with Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez headlining.

Prediction: The Tribe bullpen continues to perform as one of the best in baseball. Chris Perez comes out fired up after the debacles of last year and the offseason rumors and tallies just over 40 saves. Perez is one of the best closers in baseball and garners another All-Star appearance. If setup men could get All-Star appearances, Vinnie Pestano would be at the top of the list. Pestano continues to be lights out in the eighth inning and holds over 35 games again. A young Cody Allen turns a lot of heads in the bullpen and projects to be part of the back end. As a bullpen, the Tribe’s ERA drops to 3.70 as the starting pitching improves to help cut the bullpen workload.

2013 Indians Preview: Starting Rotation

The Indians starting rotation was one of the worst in baseball last season. The Tribe’s starters combined for a 5.25 ERA, second worst in the American League last year.

The ace of the rotation, Justin Masterson, returns from a shaky 2012 season looking for a bounce back year. He is not alone as Ubaldo Jimenez is looking to turn his career around after a couple rough seasons.

Masterson was very good in 2011, going 12-10 with a 3.21 ERA in 216 innings pitched. However, he underwent surgery on his non-throwing surgery and struggled to regain form in 2012.

The 28-year old was inconsistent, going 11-15 with a 4.93 ERA in 34 starts. Masterson threw over 200 innings for the second straight season, but was wildly inconsistent. Masterson particularly struggled against lefties, with left-handers hitting .296 against the side-arming righty.

Justin Masterson (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

Jimenez has been an enigma since his incredible 2010 season where he posted a 15-1 record and a 2.20 with the Rockies. Since then, he has posted a 23-37 record with a 4.78 ERA. Many of Jimenez’s problems have been linked to mechanics and he even admitted to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that “I’d have the ball in my hand and didn’t know what to do with it.”

Jimenez has shown flashes of solid pitching, but has had control problems since joining the Tribe. Jimenez led the AL in losses, wild pitches (16) and stolen bases against (32). Not to mention that Ubaldo passed out 95 walks, second-most in the league.

The Indians have a new pitching coach in Mickey Callaway, who visited Ubaldo twice in the Dominican Republic over the offseason. Jimenez says he spent most of his time reviewing videos of last season and hopes to get back to basics by the end of spring training.

Jimenez showed improvement in his last spring start on Sunday, giving up three runs in seven innings over work and two of the runs were given up by the bullpen after he left with two on in the eighth. The tall right hander retired nine of the first ten Cubs he faced. Over the spring, Ubaldo has gone 2-1 with a 4.62 ERA in 25.1 innings pitched.

Ubaldo Jimenez will look to turn his career around in 2013. (AP Photo)

It is imperative that Jimenez and Masterson have bounce back season or at least improve significantly from last year for the Indians to compete for a playoff spot.

Cleveland signed Brett Myers in the offseason and moved him back to a starting role after closing for Houston and Chicago last season. Myers has shown he can be a capable starter in his career and the Tribe hopes the 32-year old can eat innings.

Myers was 3-8 with 19 saves and a 3.31 ERA last season out of the bullpen. Myers is taking on a very similar role to former Indian Derek Lowe, and the hope is that he can pitch between 180 and 200 innings. Myers last started in 2011 for Houston, starting 33 games and going 7-14 with at 4.46 ERA.

Zach McAllister will take over the fourth spot in the rotation after making his splash in the big leagues last year. McAllister had his ups and downs in his first consistent time as a starter with the Tribe going 6-8 with a 4.24 ERA in 22 starts.

Finally, lefty Scott Kazmir was named the fifth starter on Monday. I wrote about Kazmir and his incredible return to the big leagues in an earlier blog. Kazmir has been excellent this spring, going 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA in 13 innings pitched. Kazmir will be the only lefty in the Tribe rotation that has a lot of question marks headed into the season.

Scott Kazmir has been solid for the Tribe this spring. (Photo by Paul Sancya/AP)

Bottom line: This can easily be the weakest part of the Tribe, or it can be what turns the Indians into a contender under new manager Terry Francona. This will be the make or break unit and there are a lot of questions to be answered.

First of all, Justin Masterson has to return to 2011 form and provide a solid ace to the Tribe staff. The Indians lacked an ace pitcher to the rotation last year and that didn’t help the inconsistencies. The hope for Terry Francona and Cleveland fans is that Masterson has worked out the kinks of 2012 and the big righty’s sinker is working well.

This season could be Ubaldo Jimenez’s last chance to turn his career around. After being acquired in a trade in 2011, Jimenez has struggled to find any kind of consistency with the Indians and patience is wearing thin with the fan base and management. Over the past year Indians fans have heard his mechanics are being worked on and now is his time to show the results. Jimenez is certainly a key to which direction the Tribe will head in the standings this year.

Myers will not be expected to be dominant and isn’t known for strikeouts, but if the veteran can eat innings after a year in the bullpen, it can really help stabilize a shaky Tribe rotation. McAllister has a good portion of last season under his belt and his goal has to be avoiding the home run ball. The young righty gave up 19 homers, but only walked 38 and struck out 110 in a little over 125 innings last year.

Finally, Kazmir can really be an x-factor for the Indians this season. The lefty is looking for a solid return to the major leagues and was once one of the best left-handers in the league. Kazmir showed signs of his former self this spring and if he can get anywhere close to what he once was, the Indians will have the ultimate steal in Kazmir at the fifth spot in the rotation.

Prediction: Tribe staff improves from last season, but not enough to push the Tribe to the top of the division. The rotation will be enough to give the Tribe a chance at a wild card though. The defensive upgrades the Tribe made over the offseason will certainly help. Masterson bounces back and returns to ace form, but Ubaldo continues to struggle and pulls down the rotation. Myers goes 10-12 with a 4.00 ERA and pitches 180 innings, just about what the Indians wanted, but no exactly the quality innings Tribe fans are hoping for. McAllister contiues to improve and with some experience from last year under his belt gets even better and Kazmir returns to the bigs with a bang. I expect a breakout season from Kazmir and I expect him to surprise a lot with his comeback.

Does Giambi Deserve a Roster Spot?

Jason Giambi is 42-years old and his prime is well behind him. However, the grizzled veteran has a chance at grabbing the Tribe’s final roster spot this spring.

Giambi has not appeared in over 90 games in a season since 2009. And has spent the last three-plus seasons in Colorado as an extra bat. Giambi appeared in 60 games last year with the Rockies, hitting .225 with one homer and eight RBIs in 89 at-bats. The 89 at-bats were the least he has seen in his career in a season.

Jason Giambi is making a strong push at making the Indians Opening Day roster.

This may be Giambi’s last chance at a big-league roster, as the Tribe signed the slugger to a minor league contract in the offseason.

Indians manager Terry Francona seems to favor the veteran, as Tito think he still has some pop left in his bat and loves the presence Giambi brings to the clubhouse.

Francona told press recently that “He’s not just a veteran guy, he’s the veteran guy. The guy interviewed for a manager’s job, and I don’t think it’s too far from reality to think he could have gotten it. I truly thin it’s an honor to have him in camp.”

Francona has already said Giambi will not play against left-handers. The Indians have three spots for utility players and one is surely taken by Mike Aviles, who signed a two-year contract with Cleveland in the offseason. Aviles’ main position is at shortstop, but can play just about everywhere. If Giambi were to make the team, the other utility role would have to go to a player who can play most positions as Giambi will not play in the field.

The other contenders for the open spots are Ryan Raburn, Ezequiel Carrera and Yan Gomes. Raburn is likely to take one of the spots left, because he can play outfield and some infield and is a very capable hitter.

Before an incredibly rough season for Raburn last year, he had hit over .250 in three straight years with an average of 15 homers and over 45 RBIs each year. One bad year should not scare the Tribe away from the 31-year old.

The question has to be asked, is it really worth spending a roster spot on a veteran whose numbers are down? Is it worth taking a spot away from a younger player?

Giambi is great for the Tribe’s clubhouse. But he isn’t the greatest for the team on the field. Giambi has three hits in 20 at-bats so far in spring training with one homer and three RBIs.

I don’t expect much of a change in his numbers from last year to this year, but his presence in the clubhouse and stick off of the bench may be enough to give him a spot on the roster over unproven youngsters.

Why the Tribe Can’t Afford to Lose Perez

Indians closer Chris Perez has been overly honest to the media about his feelings for well, anything and everything.

Chris Perez (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

So much so that some fans can’t stand to see him in an Indians uniform.

Perez has called out Cleveland fans on multiple occasions, citing lack of fan support as a serious problem with the organization. He has called out former coach Manny Acta and even called out the front office and ownership all at the end of last season.

Should he have said what he said to the media? Probably not. Was he right? Definitely. The fan support has been very poor for the Tribe. The front office and ownership had done a poor job to that point of putting a competitive and exciting team out on the field and Manny Acta had once again botched another hot start.

This year, Perez shouldn’t have much to complain about. The front office made some big moves this offseason and ownership spent money for the first time in quite a while. The Tribe hired Terry Francona to manage the team and then cut prices on concessions. The organization has done everything they can to put butts in the seats in 2013.

Chris Perez started all kinds of rumors and conspiracies on Friday when he left camp with a shoulder strain. Perez will miss the World Baseball Classic and could miss up to a month of action.

One of the rumors that gleefully came from so many Tribe faithful was the possibility of Perez storming off upset because of a trade. Now why would the Indians trade an All-Star closer after all the team has invested this offseason?

Perez has backed up his talk with his play on the field. Since joining the Indians, Perez has 99 saves and has been to the All-Star game two years in a row. He strikes out just over nine batters per nine innings pitched compared to just two walks.

Vinnie Pestano could easily jump to the closer position and Matt Capps has experience as a closer, but why destroy one of the best one-two punches in baseball. The bullpen has been the strongest unit for the Indians for two years now and that likely won’t change if Perez sticks around.

The Indians were 24-12 in one-run games and were 20-7 in games that Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez appeared in. The trio had a combined 3.01 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP compared to a 3.99 ERA and 1.35 WHIP for the rest of the bullpen.

He may ruffle some feathers with his off the field comments, but Chris Perez is certainly silencing them with his on the field play and that is why the Indians need to keep their closer around.

Kazmir Making Case for Starting Rotation

Before Spring Training began it was a long shot for Scott Kazmir, who hasn’t started in a big league game since 2011, to make the Tribe starting rotation. A few weeks into camp, Kazmir is turning heads and quickly becoming a contender for the fifth spot in the rotation.

Over the offseason, the Indians rolled the dice on Kazmir, signing the 29-year old to a minor league contract with an invite to spring camp. Kazmir isn’t the only reclamation project the Indians are willing to take a gamble on as the Tribe signed hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Scott Kazmir is competing for a spot in the Tribe’s rotation this spring.

Believe it or not, Kazmir was once one of the best left-handed pitchers in baseball pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays. Between 2005-2008, Kazmir was 45-34 with a 3.51 ERA and was sixth in baseball with 742 strikeouts. The lefty averaged over 9 K’s per nine innings and in 2007 he lead the American League with 239 strikeouts. Kazmir was an All-Star in 2006 and 2008.

Since then, it has been all down hill for Kazmir, having dealt with mechanical problems, injuries and a sharp decrease in velocity. Kazmir went from throwing in the mid 90’s to the mid 80’s seemingly overnight and he doesn’t know why. He never suffered any major injuries, but Kazmir says it may have stemmed from a triceps injury he suffered in 2008.

After the All-Star Break in 2008, Kazmir struggled, posting a 4.55 ERA. That carried over into 2009, where he put up an ERA of 5.92 before being shipped off to the Angels in August.

He had sporadic success with the Angels after the trade, but then completely fell apart over the next two years. In 2011, Kazmir made one big league start. His average fastball was clocked at 86 MPH and he was sent down to Triple-A where he posted a 17.02 ERA and his velocity dropped to 82 MPH.

Kazmir turned down a Triple-A opportunity with the St. Louis Cardinals last year to go somewhere where he knew he could get consistent starts and an organization wouldn’t “tinker” with him. He signed with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League.

Things weren’t perfect for Kazmir in Texas either, going 3-6 with a 5.34 ERA in 14 starts. However, Scott was making progress and he knew it. In November, he traveled to Puerto Rico to play winter ball and put up a 4.37 ERA and his velocity started to come back, hitting 94-95 MPH.

Since coming to camp in Cleveland, Kazmir has appeared twice, throwing a total of four innings and giving up two hits with four strikeouts.

The lefty has impressed Tribe manager Terry Francona as well. Francona told media late last month that “He has looked so good it’s scary. I wish we could bottle it right now for the season.” Francona knows it is early, but knows anything is possible, especially with a rotation that was one of the worst in baseball last year.

Kazmir is competing with Daisuke Matsuzaka, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco and David Huff for the final spot in the rotation.

If Kazmir continues to play this well, the spot in the rotation may be his to lose. And if he gets anywhere close to his prime form, the Tribe will have the sign of the year.