Albert Belle Was “Just an Angry Black Man”
July 15, 2009Contest Time!
July 15, 2009
Our analysis of the Tribe’s first half continues. Part I of this portion can be found here.
Shop, Benny, and Garks – If the Tribe was going to take that next step forward in 2009, Kelly Shoppach, Ben Francisco, and Ryan Garko were going to have to prove that they were indeed everyday major leaguers and not just one year wonders. Having the luxury of a backup catcher who led the AL in homers at his position was going to allow Victor Martinez to rest his legs and play more first base. With Franklin Gutierrez now traded, Francisco was being handed the left field job and allowed to move down in the order where he could flourish. Garko was going to play some in the outfield in addition to first base to get his bat in the lineup. After all, Garks did lead the team in RBI’s last season with 90.
Ah, the best laid plans….
Shoppach has probably been the biggest disappointment this side of the bullpen. This league is all about adjustments. The pitchers have adjusted to his swing and Shop hasn’t done anything to figure out what has gone wrong. Not only has his defense not improved, but Kelly has turned into a windmill. Why anyone throws him a straight fastball is beyond me. He entered the break with a whopping 58 strikeouts in 155 AB’s. His .194 batting average is appallingly low and he has become an automatic out at the bottom of the order. Things have gotten so bad that Vic The Stik has had to catch more that originally thought.
The 27-year old outfielder who loves to hit line-drives to the gap was ready. This was going to be his breakout season. He was going to prove that he is indeed an everyday major leaguer who has waited and waited patiently for his chance. Instead, Ben Francisco has been exposed as nothing more than a fourth outfielder. We all knew his glove was below average, but the thought was the bat would force his way into the lineup – that is why he was kept over Franky G this offseason.
Handed the left-field job, Benny dropped it as if his name was Braylon Edwards. His lack of clutch production wasn’t there, and overall he hasn’t been the high average kind of hitter he had been throughout his minor league career. At .242/6 HR/25 RBI/54 K’s/265 AB, how much longer can we expect to see his name in the lineup card? Don’t forget, four of his homers have come off of Tampa’s Andy Sonnanstine. Benny’s only saving grace is Grady’s elbow injury. With no other center field option (Trevor Crowe’s bat is 4A), Francisco has to not only stay on the roster, but as a regular.
Then there is Garko. A wise man has referred to Benny and Garks – high school teammates – are “the pressure is off twins.” I can’t say I disagree. The Stanford grad for the second consecutive year has completely stumbled out of the gate with the bat, yet has come around lately. He hit .228 in May while the team floundered.
A source in the Tribe organization has told me many times he has never been high on Garko and sees him as nothing more than a singles hitter. Meanwhile, Wedge has tried to turn him into a serviceable outfielder. Two words: bad idea. We’ve now seen three and a half years of Garko as a regular and the story remains the same – he is a power player with no power with a below-average glove who does his best work when the Indians are out of it.
Matt LaPorta anyone?
Vic The Stik – OK, so he is currently in a 4-47 slump. Give the man a break. His back and legs are probably sore from carrying the team on his back all season long.
Victor Martinez came out of the gate guns blazing, out to prove that it was the injuries alone which wrecked his 2008 campaign. He has been proven right since day one. Up until three days before the break, The Indians lone all-star was above .300 since a 1-4 opening day. The Stik hit .386 in April and .321 in May. Today, he sits at .294 with a team leading 14 HR’s and 59 RBI’s.
He has bounced back and forth between catcher and first base, but has had to catch more than the team would have liked, thanks to the struggles of Kelly Shoppach. With his team circling the drain, Victor has been one of the only players to take any sort of leadership role. The shame of it all is that with the season over already, Martinez has become the desire of many contenders, particularly Boston.
Dealing The Stik would be detrimental to not only the team’s future, but to attendance figures. He is one of, if not the most popular player in the organization. He loves Cleveland and as recent as Monday told reporters that he wants to “retire as an Indian.” With a $7 million option for next year, it behooves the Dolan’s to go to him now and offer him an extension. Damn the rules – this is the face of your franchise, a guy who wants to be here (which is rare these days), and your only leader. Extend him, put the “C” on his jersey, and call it a day.
All Aboard The Choo-Choo Train – Who else thinks that Shin-Soo Choo is an all-star caliber player who will be a fixture in the Tribe outfielder for years to come (or at least until he hits free agency or is recalled to the South Korean Army)?
Unlike Francisco and Garko, Choo has proven to be an everyday key run producer and as dependable of a player as Eric Wedge has. When he was acquired from Seattle three years ago for Ben Broussard, he came over with little fan-fare. In 2009, he is having the best season of anyone in Red, White, and Blue. The numbers do tell the story for Choo:
.292 BA/13 HR/54 RBI/.882 OPS/54 BB
Throw in 13 for 13 in stolen bases and a rocket arm in the outfield and you have yourself a stud folks. He wasn’t expected to hit cleanup, but he has settled right in behind Victor Martinez, giving him plenty of protection. Want more impressive numbers from Choo? He is hitting .315 with runners in scoring position and .314 with RISP and two outs. In late inning pressure situations – last three innings with runners on – Choo is hitting a whopping .342.
The left-handed outfielder has been all that we could have asked for and more this season. It’s a shame the rest of the team couldn’t have followed his lead.
10 Comments
All Star game fun fact: The AL hasn’t lost since the last time an AL pitcher gave up three runs.
1996: Charles Nagy.
Would anyone else be up for trying Garko behind the plate? His natural position, keeps his bat in the lineup…
Just tossing out ideas at this point.
The Other Tim – You can thank Sandy Alomar Jr for starting the trend!
It’s been repeated ad nauseum, but what’s really troubling about the young hitters is the initial rookie year success followed by the utter failure to adjust. Francisco won the International League batting title a couple of years ago, and those guys usually succeed in the majors, at least moderately. Garko had better plate discipline and gap power in 2007. Last year Shoppach made comments about not adjusting his swing because, well, the big swing is what he does. Not even sure anymore that it’s the MLB coaches, maybe it’s inherent deficiencies in the “steady” guys they draft and cherry pick from other organizations. Anyone else worry the problem might be systemic, in the organization’s player selection process?
I’m concerned it’s the coaching (see Guit, who looked lost at the plate here, but is hitting very well for Seattle).
Garko is just dorky, and plays and runs like it. He couldn’t play for any serious major league team, yet this program has kept him in the lineup. He just needs to go………going, going, gone.
I wasn’t a Choo fan, but he’s grown on me. I figured he was like most Asian players (aka Fukadome…) that just don’t hit in the long run (Icharu being the exception). Choo has a seriously nice stroke, and has definite gap power. Strong base, strong legs……..strong arm……..definitely not a Garko. Definitely not the norm in the Shapetti player development scheme.
Notice that Franklyn Giutierez is on pace to hit .300/20 hr’s/80+ RBI’s for Seattle.
This whole team is nothing but a sham. This whole regime stinks. Wedge and Shapiro both need to go. With the expectations of winning a central division crown (rightfully so, they were within 1 game of the world series, in 2007), Shapiro has drafted poorly, has over-valued his own talent and for the most part (with a few exceptions a-la choo, cabrera etc.) has done a miserable job at signing players. Wedge has also done a poor job with handling the players that he has been given. They are clueless at what to do.
I am not an expert, but am a very frusterated fan as we all are.
Heres some things I would do. ( for those who care)
Ben Francisco is nothing more than a 4th outfielder at best. its time to bring up Laporta, and put Benny on the bench. Lets see what Matt can do. This season is ovvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr. However, we can still salvage something from this year to get ready next year. Find out about sizmore’s elbow. If the elbow is bad, Why not have the surgery and let him heal like they did with v-mart. In doing this bring up Brantley, and put him in CF. This will alow us to evaluate Brantley as the lead-off hitter and CF. Keep in mind I am not saying that Brantley is better than Sizemore, Im simply saying that I feel a majority of Sizemores problems are from his elbow.
Infield: Trade JHONNY PERALTA. We have seen enough. His stats are not justifiable to him playing everday. They have to decide wheather or not Wes Hodges is going to be the future or do I dare say give Andy Marte another shot. What do we have to loose, hes only 25 and is doing very well for the Columbus Clippers. Keep Cabrera at short, he is a budding star, play Valbuena at second even though I am not completely sold on him for second base next year. That brings us to Garko. I know he is not wedges favorite player, but at least the guy is not a butcher at first and gives you some pop at first. The front office needs to make a serious decision at first base. Do we keep Garko? or Do we trade him search with in or free agency. Also, TD is right, extend V-Mart, he is the best position player we have and if you trade him your rebuilding.
For now thats all I want to say I will post something on the pithers in a little while.
@SCM – do you watch the Indians? Garko isnt a butcher at first? he’s HORRIBLE at first…has no range, routinely goes waaaaay too far from the bag than a first baseman should…he has little to no “pop”…hes purely a slap/singles hitter…hes slow as a truck, and falls repeatedly from running…he might be one of the worst players I’ve seen in a long time…yes, he had 90 rbis last year, but that was because he was doing what he was supposed to do…hit doubles in the gaps and down the lines…now hes just excited to get on base…i would take Gimenez at first over him at this point if Victor isnt playing there…
its well past time to bring up the kids and see what we have….trade what we can, bench or demote the rest…
@DK-First of all, I never said that Ryan Garko was the savior to the Cleveland Indians success. The result of the cleveland indians debacle this season has been the pitching, not the hitting. Ryan Garko is not a good first baseman but you cant trade the whole team. Part of the problem with Garko, is he always has to look over his shoulder with Wedgie. Garko could go 3 for 5 one game and then get benched the next game. I understand Garko is not the answer but merely a stop gap solution. You tell me who they could put in their other than Garko. Chris Gimenez is a journeyman at best. He is definately not the answer. Maybe they go with, Jordan Brown or maybe its Beau Mills. I don’t know who it is. All im saying is they have to make a decision on Garko, in which I would trade him for a prospect because, I like you DK, think we could do much better.
Also, you can’t just trade everybody just to trade everybody. You have to be strategic and smart about what you trade and bring up. SEE this is why we are in the boat were in. Bad drafting, poor fundamentals, bad at developing players and too many “lets find lightning in a bottle theory” it doesn’t work.
Are the struggles of Joe Smith and Wood due to the fact the AL just has better talent than the NL? I just started wondering about there bad play, due to the 200 straight wins that the AL has over the NL of late, and how the NL starter on Tuesday got lit up in the 1st inning by players who have never faced him.
Should we lay off on getting FA pitching from the NL in the future?
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