May 20, 2013

MLB News: Indians option Chisenhall and LaPorta to Columbus

March 27, 2012 by 20 Comments

The Cleveland Indians made a round of roster cuts this morning, most notably sending third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall and first baseman Matt LaPorta to Columbus. Lesser known Chad Huffman was also sent to minor league camp. That is good news for all you Casey Kotchman and Jack Hannahan fans out there.

It will be nice to know that Chisenhall is available in Columbus this year in case the veterans falter. Hopefully if they do, the Indians won’t wait as long to pull the trigger as they did a year ago with guys like Adam Everett and Austin Kearns.

Now, if Shelley Duncan can just finish off the competition for the left field job and solidify that spot for the entire season…

[Related: Jon took on the position battles the Tribe face this spring]

 

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  • JeBronLames

    Me likey.

    CF Brantley
    SS Cabrera
    RF Choo
    C   Santana
    DH Hafner
    2B Kipnis
    1B Kotchman
    LF Duncan
    3B Hannahan

    I could deal with that lineup if they all produce.

  • Boomhauertjs

    Chiz will be back and LaPorta will not.

  • Steve

     If they all produce. How quaint. Also, I’m not sure why Brantley, and his .318 OBP last year is set in stone as the leadoff men to everyone in town, including Acta when they have a guy who OBP-ed .378 last year.

  • kjn

    Kotchman had a rather high BABIP last year – regression to the mean and all that.

    But I agree on Brantley. He hasn’t shown he can get on base with any consistency in the majors. He is young though and battled through some injuries last year. Acta is a pretty number savy manager so I’m he won’t stick with a struggling guy.

  • JeBronLames

    Who else then, Kipnis? I don’t think that kind of pressure is needed on him just yet, but thanks for trying to make a point.

  • Gavmack2

    I don’t like this. Lonnie should be up as he was last year. And they need a right handed bat. If laporta fails you could send him down. But they need a righty in that linup

  • Steve

     Maybe you missed where I mentioned the guy who has shown he’s capable of a .378 OBP.

    And kjn – I know he’s likely to regress based on BABIP, but looking at the projection systems, he’s still expected to be 4th on the team behind Choo, Santana, and Hafner, which is already set as the middle of your order.

  • Jaker

    First thing I thought of when I saw this(no joke): How awesome the lineup in Columbus is going to be…

    CF-Zeke
    2B-Phelps
    RF-Canzler
    3B-Chiz
    1B-LaPorta
    SS-Donald?
    C-Marson?/Carlin
    LF- Spilborghs?/Pie/Lewis
    DH- Best player available

    Honestly they might be better than they were last year, and thats pretty darn good

  • JeBronLames

    He also had a career year last year…and has never led off…and is more valuable later in the order…take your pick.

  • Vindictive_Pat

    You might not understand why Brantley is set in stone as the leadoff guy, but unfortunately that’s how it’ll be.  Acta doesn’t strike me as being too much of a stats guy and historically he’s always thrown Brantley into that leadoff spot (as long as Sizemore wasn’t available).  As long as Brantley keep up a decent batting average, he’ll be the leadoff hitter sans Sizemore.

  • mgbode

    hitters control their BABIP alot more than pitchers.  not absolutely of course, but still.

  • Steve

    Why is he more valuable later in the order? Guys who get on base are more valuable at the top of the order. No idea why never leading off matters at all. And even if we discount his performance last year, I’ll gladly take his likely .340 OBP over Brantley’s likely .320

  • Steve

    Acta actually has shown a propensity towards stats, but this “speedy guy must leadoff” concept has long been the common belief in MLB. I think it needs to be fixed.

  • Vindictive_Pat

    I agree that OBP should be the first consideration.  If all things are equal, then of course you’d want a guy who can steal bases, but in Brantley’s case he is neither a high OBP guy or a great base stealer.  I’m not disagreeing with you, just saying that Acta seems pretty set in his belief that Brantley is a lead-off hitter.

  • JeBronLames

    Kotchman will likely produce more than Brantley, correct? Therefore his ability is put to better use than if he is leading off. Why don’t the Red Sox leadoff with David Ortiz then because he has a higher OBP than Ellsbury?

  • Steve

     Produce more what? Kotchman is a higher OBP guy without a lot of power. That’s someone you stick at the top of the lineup. And the Red Sox are fortunate to have 5 high OBP guys on the roster. I’m not worried that they might not find enough OBP at the top of the lineup.

  • Steve

     Actually, speed doesn’t seem as important to me at the top of the lineup. Cabrera, Choo, Santana and Hafner are all going to rack up quite a few extra base hits. Speed is important in front of singles hitters, not power.

  • mgbode

    I don’t know.  fangraphs has the projections from all the statheads and pretty much all the numbers between Kotchman and Brantley are within a margin of error. 

    i’m not worried about which one leads off as much as the fact that we are relying on both of them to produce.

  • Steve

     Sure, its within a reasonable margin of error. I’m still taking the guy with the higher projection and has already shown the ability to put up a legitimate leadoff hitter OBP

  • Hypno_Toad

    Hannahan actually hit lefties better than righties last year.