Cleveland Indians First Half Recap Part One - The Infield

Well folks, here we are at the all-star break and it’s time to take a look at the Cleveland Indians first half of the season. This was to be a happy time for folks here in Cleveland, a time where we were to be in the upper half of the Central Division standings, a time where our line-up was to be a feared one at the plate, and a time when we would be evaluating our pitching staff to see if a trade was required to put enough pieces in place to make a possible run in September to be a playoff contender. Instead this is one of the gloomiest times in Cleveland sports history.

The city of Cleveland is indeed drowning in its collective sport sorrows this week. We have lost the most beloved local sports figure in recent memory with LeBron James dumping his home town for the beaches of Miami. We have a football team that shows a lot of promise, but has been shrouded with a veil of secrecy as to what is really going on behind the scenes which is causing a big of trepidation amongst their fan base. Worst of all, we have a stadium sitting in downtown Cleveland that is less than half-full for every baseball game (they have set records for lowest attendance this season.) That is largely due to the fact that we have a baseball team that is sitting at 34-54, 20 games under .500 and in the basement of the Central staring up at the Kansas City Royals, and most of our fan favorites are on the disabled list for the foreseeable future. Amongst all of this angst, is it possible to find anything positive about the first half of the baseball season here in Tribe Town?

Well.......

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In short, no there isn’t. It seems that nothing has gone right for the Indians since they took the field in Chicago on April 5. If our line-up were a hotel, it would have a revolving door heading to the lobby. Whether by injury or by inadequate play the Indians have used almost 20 position players in the first half. One of the positions that has seen the most change has been the backstop for the club. The Indians started the season with rookie Lou Marson behind the plate and grizzled veteran Mike Redmond backing him up. Marson did a fine job calling games for the Tribe and was actually a step up defensively from Victor Martinez and Kelly Shoppach. Marson’s Achilles heel was his inability to do anything at the plate. Hitting under .200 for almost his entire tenure with the club, the Indians finally decided to pull the plug on his experiment in June and called up their young phenom Carlos Santana to take his place. Santana came in as a man on fire and his presence at the plate was greatly appreciated. Redmond never really clicked offensively either and though he did an amazing job catching Fausto Carmona the Indians decided to call up their utility catcher Chris Gimenez from Columbus and release Redmond in early July.

The Tribe’s infield has been in a bit of a flux as well this season. Third baseman Jhonny Peralta has been increasingly unpopular with the team’s fan base (what’s left of them anyway,) and seems to be on his way out of town if the team can find anyone who wants him (which may be harder than it sounds....) Peralta has tried to fit in at third, but it seems like he will never fully embrace the idea that he is not a shortstop anymore. If Peralta is traded it is likely that Andy Marte will take over at third base, but Marte has committed several costly errors at third this year, and he cannot seem to find a rhythm at the plate either. Both of these combined with the fact that just a year ago Marte seemed destined for designation due to these same struggles do not add up to a very good outlook for the second half.

At the shortstop position, the Tribe has been hanging on with Jason Donald filling in for Asdrubal Cabrera since he broke his forearm in May (colliding with Peralta.) Donald has done an admirable job on the field and at the plate, but he is not Cabrera (or a younger Peralta for that matter) and has also blown a few plays himself. Cabrera will start a rehab assignment next week and could be back by the first week in August. At that time, it is likely that Donald will be sent down unless Peralta is traded. If that were to occur, the Tribe would probably keep Donald as their utility man. The Indians opened the season with veteran Mark Grudzielanek as their utility player and he did a great job filling in at first, second and shortstop. Despite his good play and strong plate presence, not to mention the veteran leadership he brought to the clubhouse, the Indians released Grudzielanek when he had one of the highest averages on the team causing a lot of puzzled faces around Tribe Town.

One of the few moves that the Tribe has made that worked in their favor was the acquisition of Jayson Nix off waivers from the White Sox. Nix came in and lit up the ball at the plate and has been a welcome addition to the infield as well. The acquiring of Nix meant that struggling youngster Luis Valbuena had to be sent down to Triple-A Columbus to work on everything from his fielding to his anemic batting average. Most fans called for his demotion in early June when it became apparent that he was not going to get any better at the big league level. It is pretty unlikely that Valbuena will see any more time in Cleveland until the very end of the season as they want him to improve in the minors so that he can have another chance to make the club in 2011.

At first base, the Indians started the season with Matt LaPorta being backed up by Ande Marte as their big offseason acquisition Russell Branyan started the season on the disabled list. When Branyan was well enough to join the team, LaPorta was moved to the outfield and Marte to third base to back up Jhonny Peralta. LaPorta was eventually sent back to Columbus because he didn’t have a chance to play very often with the Indians. Branyan did a fine job playing first and was a monster at the plate for the club that gave him his first big break back in the ‘90s. Unfortunately, Branyan was proving to be too good for the weakened Tribe and was traded back to Seattle for prospects opening the door for LaPorta to return to the Tribe and to first base. Upon his return, LaPorta took off like a rocket and has been a big shot in the arm to the club.

The story of the Tribe’s infield is just part of the struggle that has been their 2010 season so far. Next time we’ll take a look at the Indians’ outfield, which is now completely different than the one that started the season. Later in the week we’ll take a look at the Tribe’s bullpen, and finally we’ll examine their starting pitching at the end of the week.

By Robert Gonzalez
Cleveland Indians Correspondent

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