C-Cap Recap: Retooled Indians Clobber and Kluber the Twins

With their lone All-Star on the disabled list and veteran bats Brandon Moss, David Murphy, Michael Bourn, and Nick Swisher all permanently jettisoned from the payroll, a presumably lame-duck version of the 2015 Cleveland Indians went out and—naturally—dropped 34 runs on the reeling Minnesota Twins over the weekend, taking two of three games in the process. It was a series so packed with unlikely heroes doing unlikely things, that it makes more sense to recap it as a “re-introduction” of your beloved Tribe, rather than a simple game-by-game assessment of an otherwise meaningless match-up in the dog days of August.

Before meeting the offensive juggernaut that is your Late Summer Edition of the Cleveland Indians, though, here is a wee bit of context on just how out-of-step this weekend was with the rest of the season. Coming into the series, Cleveland (51-59) was averaging just 3.78 runs per game at home. They raised that to 4.20 by scoring nine runs Friday (in 10-9 loss), 17 runs Saturday (in a 17-4 win), and eight more on Sunday (in a 8-1 complete game victory for Corey Kluber). That grand total of 34 runs in three games is all the more impressive when you consider that—if you started lining up the Tribe’s lowest scoring games of the season from the shutouts on up—it would take you 35 games to reach that same 34 run cumulative number. It’s also fun to note that there have been five separate WEEKS during the 2015 season (consecutive games on a Monday through Sunday) in which Cleveland has failed to score more than 17 runs—their total from this past Saturday’s game alone.

So how did this happen? Was it the friendly timing of facing a Minnesota team (55-56) in the midst of its long awaited freefall from relevance? Was it a post-deadline Indians squad finally resigned to its fate and playing loose? No! As any sports fan worth his or her salt could tell you, this series was just another showcase of why the “change of scenery” effect remains every GM’s favorite magic bullet. Nobody knows exactly why it happens or what sort of witchcraft or fairy dust is involved. But when an otherwise struggling, clueless athlete finds himself suddenly whisked away to a new city, wearing a new shirt, his energy bar instantly resets to FULL and his Madden rating is re-configured to a 99. Don’t believe it? Just look at how a Braves reporter recently described the arrivals of Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher in the ATL:

“The move to get Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and close to $15 Million in cash from the Cleveland Indians for Chris Johnson was a stroke of genius for Atlanta Braves’ President of Baseball Operations John Hart. Atlanta brings back a familiar fan favorite in OF Michael Bourn to bat leadoff, provide great defense in the outfield, and wreak havoc on the base paths.

Acquiring Nick Swisher does several positive things for this young Atlanta Braves team. Swisher is a switch-hitter with some pop that can play both first-base in Freddie Freeman’s extended absence and in the outfield. Swisher is a former All-Star and World Series Champion with the New York Yankees. He loves the camera and most importantly making baseball fun all the time.

…Nick Swisher is a breath of fresh air in a Braves locker room culture that was getting quite stale. His interjection of positive energy and liveliness should get the Atlanta Braves out of their late-summer swoon and back to playing some good baseball. Playoffs might still be out of reach, but hey, let’s have an absolute blast playing spoiler.” –John Buhler, Fansided

Do those sound like the insane ramblings of a soon-to-be-very-disappointed young scribe? Maybe. But then again, Swisher came up with a big two-run double in his Braves debut, complete with an enthusiastic tomahawk chop (Bro-rgia always knows how to get the cheap pops). You can never underestimate the power of the scenery change. And your new-look Indians are no exception.

The Unlikely Lads

Abraham Almonte: 5-for-9, 2 HR, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 4 R, 1 Great Leaping Catch

Quietly acquired in the deadline deal that sent Marc Rzhdhdkzvcnsxtzi (no need to bother looking up that spelling anymore) to San Diego, Almonte has an ugly career slash line of .242 / .290 / .358 in 116 Major League games. The former Yankees prospect has been traded three times in the past two years, and at 26, has largely been assigned “bust” status. But the Change of Scenery law judges no man.

During Abraham’s first change of scenery, when he joined Seattle in 2013, he hit .313 with an .867 OPS in his first 15 games in the bigs. A year later, when the Mariners tired of his struggles, Almonte and his .198 average landed in San Diego in a midseason deal. For the next month, he hit .288 and became a productive player once more.

Flash forward to Saturday and Almonte’s debut as a Cleveland Indian. In his 31 games with the Padres this season, his .204 / .271 / .259 slash was objectively a tier below horrendous. With the CoS magic, the young Dominican exploded for four hits, including a homerun and a pair of doubles, making him the first Indians player to ever debut with at least three extra base hits and four hits overall.

In the short term, Almonte’s speed and power make him a legit threat to keep Tyler Holt, Tyler Naquin, Tyler Perry, and President John Tyler waiting in the wings. In the long term, though, he’ll probably wind up getting traded for scraps next summer.

Chris Johnson: 4-for-4, 2 2B, 2 R Meet the reason that Braves reporter was thrilled to see Nick Swisher playing first base. Chris Johnson, a former fourth-round pick of the Astros in 2006, has to have—by no fault of his own—one of the most forgettable names and faces in baseball. “Chris Johnson.” Who is he? Well, up until a year ago, he was a pretty reliably productive corner man with minimal pop but a solid glove. From 2010 through 2013, he posted a slash of .292/.330 /.443 as a member of the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Atlanta Braves. He is essentially a clone of David Freese, and is making roughly the same money in 2015 ($6 million). The problem is that Johnson is slated to get a couple $1.5 million raises over the next couple years, and his production on the field has plummeted. He was a -1.5 WAR guy in 2014 and was at -0.6 with Atlanta through 56 games this year. In his first start as an Indian on Sunday, though? You guessed it: 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles—very nearly matching Almonte’s feat from the night before. Johnson started at first base in the game and Carlos Santana moved to DH. This could become the norm going forward, particularly against lefties. Even this year in Atlanta, Johnson hit .323 against southpaws (vs. .174 against right-handers).

Jerry Sands: 3-for-12, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

A change of scenery can also include jumping from Triple-A to the Bigs. Jerry Sands is well versed in this, but he also knows how to maintain a single, consistent facial expression so as not to tip off the “photogs” to his emotional state. Sands, who has crushed minor league pitching all year, already had his Progressive Field coming out party back in April.

But since his latest recall on August 2, he hasn’t exactly been inspiring new members to his cult (he was 2-for-21 through Friday). By Saturday night, however, that contagious “Jerry Jerry Jerry” cheer could be heard again at last, as Sands clubbed an exclamation point grand slam during the Indians’ 17-4 rout of the Twinkies.

Does Jerry Sands have a legitimate chance of proving his worth in these final weeks and finding his way on to the 2016 roster? I’m going to say no. But there was once a guy named Shelley Duncan who hung around a while.

Jose Ramirez: 6-for-15, 2 2B, 1 3B, 5 RBI, 3 R

Another man redeeming himself of late is J-Ram, who’s received a double change of scenery with a return to Cleveland (after a long stint down in Triple-A) and a change in position—moving from shortstop to second base while Jason Kipnis is on the mend. Since his recall, Jose is hitting .333 across 24 at-bats with four extra-base hits. He only had seven extra-base hits in 153 at-bats during his first stretch with the big club. At just 22 years of age, Ramirez is FAR from an afterthought when it comes to 2016 plans and beyond.

I suppose it should be mentioned that just about everyone else not named Cody Anderson was great this weekend, too.

Francisco Lindor, “Meeting Expectations”: 5-for-10, 3 RBI, 5 R (now hitting .271)
Michael Brantley, “All the Sudden Back in the Batting Title Hunt”: 8-for-14, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 5 R, 1 SB (.313 avg is 5th in AL, 33 doubles is tops)
Carlos Santana, “Didn’t Get Traded”: 2-for-9, 4 RBI, 2 R, 5 BB (74 walks leads league)
Yan Gomes, “Catching Olympic Fever”: 3-for-10, 1 HR, 1 2B, 6 RBI, 4 R
Lonnie Chisenhall, “Bode’s Rightfielder”: 4-for-7, 2 RBI
Gio Urshela, “Keep Baby in the Corner”: 5-for-13, 1 RBI, 4 R

When you outscore an opponent 34-15, the offense is going to get a lot more of the attention than the pitching. But, to put it in simplest terms, this series was a “Bad, Better, Best” scenario for Cleveland’s arms and an unmitigated disaster for Paul Molitor’s hurlers.

Friday: Twins 10, Indians 9
Cody Anderson, who was being hailed as the solution to the Indians’ season-long fifth starter problem, is officially NOT the solution to the Indians’ season-long fifth starter problem.

Anderson’s First 4 Starts: 2-1, 30.1 IP, 0.89 ERA, 3 BB, 11 K, .165 BA, .167 BABIP, 19% Line Drives
Anderson’s Last 4 Starts: 0-2, 17.2 IP, 10.19 ERA, 5 BB, 9 K, .367 BA, .379 BABIP, 39% Line Drives

Even after Cody coughed up a six-spot in 2.2 innings on Friday, though, the Indians were up 9-7 by the end of the fourth after a Yan Gomes three-run shot. Every Indian reliever then proceeded to give up one run, culminating in Torii Hunter’s 36th career homer off Tribe pitching (this one off Bryan Shaw), putting Minnesota back up in the ninth. The Indians got the winning run on base off closer Glen Perkins, but couldn’t get it done. Cody Anderson was placed on the 15-day DL after the game. Who is the new fifth starter? I do not know. But let’s just agree to not get too excited about him.

Saturday: Indians 17, Twins 4
Trevor Bauer (9-8) was the beneficiary in this one, giving up four runs in 6.1 innings—three of them on long balls. He struck out eight. Shawn Armstrong made his Indians debut in the ninth inning and looked sharp, striking out two. Ervin Santana, back from his PED suspension, hasn’t exactly been a world-beater for Minnesota. He gave up eight runs on ten hits in just 2.1 innings.

Sunday: Indians 8, Twins 1
Yet another gem from Corey Kluber (7-12), taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning for what seems like the third or fourth time this year. Joe Mauer broke it up with a liner to left, inspiring the Indians dugout to faux-berate Michael Brantley for failing to make an impossible catch. Nice to see spirits are up. But scoring runs like video game robots will tend to improve morale. Phil Hughes, meanwhile, was the third and final human piñata for the Tribe, surrendering seven runs in three frames. Kudos to a severely depleted Twins pen for mostly keeping things in check after that. Cuz, ya know, a 34-run weekend is bad for a pitching staff. But nobody needs to be seeing a 40-spot up there.