Great Expectations: Where is the Browns’ Bandwagon, and How Far Can It Go?
July 21, 2010While We’re Waiting… Chris Paul Rumors, Tribe’s Future Lineup, and the Anti-LeBron
July 22, 2010
To this point in the 2010 season, the Cleveland Indians have not had to make many decisions. Sure, you have the occasional fifth starter or the whole Carlos Santana-Columbus deal, but given the brash of injuries that have “plagued” the team thus far, Manny Acta has been forced to go to battle with the cards he has been dealt.
At least until now.
Tuesday night’s game against the Minnesota Twins (six in a row!!) saw Acta have to make a quick-draw decision with his batting order as well as position placement. With the recently “banged up” Austin Kearns and Michael Brantley needing some time off, the Indians made an earlier-than-anticipated call-up of Asdrubal Cabrera and immediately slotted him at the top of the lineup. Having Browns-like positional flexibility at his fingertips, Acta was able to place Mr. July, Jayson Truitt Edward Nix, in left field for the short term. But once Brantley is able to return – likely not until this weekend due to Francisco Liriano pitching on Wednesday evening – what will Acta do with his two second basemen?
“Donald will get the majority of the playing time, wherever that is,” Acta said prior to Monday’s game. “He’s not going to stay here to be a utility infielder.”
If we opt to cling to the “wherever that is” portion of the statement above, it could mean that Jason Donald is in line to take another trip on I-71 to Columbus, Ohio. But not so fast, as Acta reiterated his stance on Donald just one day later.
“Donald is going to get the majority of the playing time at second base,” Acta said following the latest roster move. “Nix is going to be the utility infielder.”
For his 22 games with the Indians, that would-be utility infielder is producing an OPS of .846 with five doubles and six home runs. Not only is that mark good enough for fourth on the team, it is nearly 100 points higher than that of the 25-year-old Donald who has an OPS of .754 with 15 doubles and two home runs.
What Donald does have in his corner is the fact that he’s years younger than the recently-acquired Nix and has managed to improve month-over-month with the bat in his hands.
“These younger kids are getting better,” said Acta. “Donald has improved a lot at the plate.”
And he has. Donald hit .256 in May, .257 in June and has vastly improved to a mark of .327 through July. While he will likely never provide the power that Nix has, Donald has already topped his June mark in doubles, RBI and bases on balls (in nine fewer games) leading to an OPS mark of .849 for the month.
Something that may have allowed Donald to grow as a player may be the fact that he has gotten in to a groove of sorts as the ninth hitter. Providing a brutal OPS of .459 from spots 1-through-8, Donald has improved that mark to .867 when batting ninth. Sure, he is striking out nearly 20 percent of his at-bats from the nine-hole, but when he is getting the bat on the ball, better things are happening.
Regardless of which move Acta ultimately makes, Donald has picked a very good time to start producing. While the Indians have struggled to find a consistent second baseman since the days of Carlos Baerga and Robbie Alomar, the pipeline in the middle of the infield is flooding the box score with numbers night after night.
With the Triple-A Clippers, second baseman Cord Phelps is hitting at a team high clip of .389 in 108 at-bats. His OPS mark is topped only by Carlos Santana and Matt LaPorta – both players who are currently with the big league squad. Phelps is walking as much as he is striking out (13 times each) and is providing some power (three home runs) with his placement (11 doubles, three triples). Hitting .261 with Kinston one season prior, Phelps has many wondering about the sustainability of his current season and if it would possibly translate to the majors. Those critics can simply look down the line to current Aeros second baseman Jason Kipnis.
Drafted in the second round of the 2009 MLB Draft, the 23-year-old Kipnis was a former Pac-10 player of the year and has produced at each level of his young career with OPS marks of .847 in Mahoning Valley last year as well as a collective .906 between Kinston and Akron this season. Most impressive may be the fact that he has somehow improved league-over-league, hitting a current slash line of .338/.416/.967 for the Aeros.
In six games since the All-Star Break, Kipnis is hitting a disgusting .600 with all six being of the multi-hit variety. There’s a reason he’s among the top-ten prospects within the current Indians system.
Alas, Donald could be hearing the footsteps of the future quickly approaching him. Judging by the last two nights, it sounds like the former member of the Phillies farm system has the Indians head coach in his corner. But as we have seen many times before, the past is by no means an indication of the future and Acta could have to make some other decisions before too long.
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(Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
11 Comments
Cord Phelps: a name that demands to be starting in the bigs.
Jason Donald: just another firsty/lasty.
Beware,Donald Jason.
Good info on his OPS in spots 1-8. I was just wondering if he wouldn’t look good behind Cabrera in the lineup. Guess not.
Does Donald have much experience at 3rd? If we move Peralta, Donald could be the stop-gap before Chiz comes up. If he can get past Marte, that is.
Hey, why are you laughing?
I think the Tribe would be more willing to either play Nix at third or give the spot full-time to Marte until one of the youngsters are ready.
I am glad that they are letting Donald play 2B full time. He’s been pretty solid so far. It is encouraging that he is improving each month.
Also encouraging to see some 2B depth in the system. Can’t remember the last time the Tribe had that.
My roommate is a rabid Reds fan so I see Brandon Phillips play about 3-4 times a week (said roomie let me dominate the TV during the Cavs season, so its only fair he gets to watch his contending team).
It’s really not worth thinking about, but inner Clevelander in me can’t help but keep tabs on bad moves like this so I can complian about it when things are going wrong. Maybe Phillips would have never developed here…oh wait, yes he would have, he’s got talent oozing out his ears. Even when he was hitting around .200 for the whole first half of his rookie season, he still could have probably won a gold glove if they let him play our the year in the bigs. Every time second base is discussed on this team I think about the superstar they have in Cincy that we let Wedge run out of town. Makes me pretty angry. At least the team made up for it by making sure to lock up their DH with a huge contract instead of throwing all at their (formerly) lovable Cy Young winner. Sigh…
/end rant…sorry
i’m going to see Brandon Phillips play on Sunday in Houston. you are not alone, but every team lets a few get away.
and jason donald is becoming the new jason michael’s for me. someone i don’t really like and wish he would get replaced by the youngsters, but understand that he is a needed stopgap while we get those youngsters ready.
You guys should start selling bumper stickers:
The Chis in ’11
Kipnis in ’12
Alex White in ’12
et cetera
@myself – yes, I realize that Jason Donald is actually one of those youngsters. I just see ’10 yr non-descript vet’ as his ceiling when I watch him play.
I hope that I am wrong and he becomes a major player for the Tribe of course.
also, just got done listening to the end of “the streak” online.
say what you want about the Twins, but you gotta love their new closer’s name (ok, not their technical closer yet, but he will be with this name):
Anthony Slama
If what Acta says actually happens… well, it’ll take some getting used to a coach with the guts and decisiveness to put a young player into a position and play him. I’d love to see platooning 30-year-old players become a thing of the past.
Donald probably deserves the shot for the Moment but after seeing Cord Phelps hit (he was DH both games) he is the one I think woh will be our future. He has a very sweet swing and a very quick bat.
I have no problem watching Jason Donald do his thing. His approach at the plate is outstanding and very consistent. He reminds me of a young Mark Grudzielanek, only Donald’s numbers are better in this his rookie year. Grud’s second year saw him hitting .302 and I fully expect Donald to be a .300 hitter with his approach. Grud went on to win a few gold gloves and guess what, his rookie year was no different defensively than Donald’s.