A.L. Central Discussion 2016

[da55bums]

speak up @MiamiVice

 

[Iffster]

speak up @MiamiVice

Vice was at the Miami/Det game today. He had the best seats - of course.

 

[NinersFan80]

First place feels good. Go Sox!

 

[craigk217]

2-0!

All alone on tawp, beches!

Spoiler

Gonna enjoy this while I can.

 

[handicappers]

Vice was at the Miami/Det game today. He had the best seats - of course.

I don't believe that for one minute. He's been proven over and over to be a liar and a dirtbag douchetard.

I even ran some recon work on that "condo" he claimed to live at and you won't believe it ........he never lived there. Guy I talked to said nobody by that name lived there. (I know his name by the picture he posted from Jason's Deli).

 

[dougplayer]

Tigers ein. Hold on. That's Heart. Royals tumble to 3rd place. Verlander sharp. It's all good

 

[dougplayer]

K ROD sucks.

 

[Erie Warrior]

Royals "tumble" after the second game of the season? You are Priceless.

(see what I did there, since during your fire sale you dumped David Price)

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

My AL Central points

The Tigers Pen is still a hot mess, and has been for years

The Indians have the worst lineup in baseball, hands down

 

[bksballer89]

My AL Central points

The Tigers Pen is still a hot mess, and has been for years

The Indians have the worst lineup in baseball, hands down

Waiting on your AL East points

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

The Indians have the worst lineup in baseball, hands down

Yep. Facing David Price in sub-freezing temperatures, one would think they'd have put up at least a dozen runs...

Certainly, the Indians' offense isn't a world beater and might not even be average when 2016 is over, but to call it "the worst lineup in baseball, hands down" is far from accurate.

They ranked 18th in runs scored in 2015, scoring only 3% less runs than the MLB average, and by most accounts their offense should be improved in 2016.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

Yep. Facing David Price in sub-freezing temperatures, one would think they'd have put up at least a dozen runs...

Certainly, the Indians' offense isn't a world beater and might not even be average when 2016 is over, but to call it "the worst lineup in baseball, hands down" is far from accurate.

They ranked 18th in runs scored in 2015, scoring only 3% less runs than the MLB average, and by most accounts their offense should be improved in 2016.

Rajai Davis
Yan Gomes
Mike Napoli (Cleanup)
Marlon Byrd
Juan Uribe
Chris Cowghill

Only 9 spots in a lineup, and thats 6 of them

Man thats brutal

 

[Wamu]

The Indians have the worst lineup in baseball, hands down

At least the Indians don't have A-Roid!

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Rajai Davis
Yan Gomes
Mike Napoli (Cleanup)
Marlon Byrd
Juan Uribe
Chris Cowghill

Only 9 spots in a lineup, and thats 6 of them

Man thats brutal

Nowhere near the most brutal in MLB.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

Nowhere near the most brutal in MLB.

Love Kipnis, they are missing Brantley, and Lindor will be a star

Just thought with that starting staff, they should have added a nice bat, I know they dont spend for huge stars, but a decent bat would have been nice

 

[StanMarsh51]

Rajai Davis
Yan Gomes
Mike Napoli (Cleanup)
Marlon Byrd
Juan Uribe
Chris Cowghill

Only 9 spots in a lineup, and thats 6 of them

Man thats brutal

I don't think it's all that bad, considering every guy in the lineup except Cowgill could reasonably post an OPS+ over 100.

 

[navamind]

Phillies, Padres and Braves lineups are easily worse than that.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Love Kipnis, they are missing Brantley, and Lindor will be a star

Just thought with that starting staff, they should have added a nice bat, I know they dont spend for huge stars, but a decent bat would have been nice

I'm with you 100% about the lineup being underwhelming and the very real possibility that they're squandering a fantastic pitching staff.

I just don't think they're anywhere near the worst in the MLB. In fact, I believe by the end of the season, the team offensive stats will be above average.

Brantley will hopefully be back in a couple weeks (he's only on the 15-day DL, and has started taking BP).

Entering 2015, Gomes was considered to be one of the top catchers in baseball. From when he was handed the starting gig in 2013 through 2014, he had a slash line of .284/.325/.476/.801 across 840 PAs. His knee got shredded about five games into 2015 and he came back before he should have, but got stronger as the season went on. OPS was .626 in June, .720 in July, .662 in August and .757 in September. I'm not expecting him to match his 2013/14 production, but being a plus offensive catcher isn't out of the question, and certainly he should do better than his 2015 season.

Santana having somewhat of a bounce back season would certainly help.

The final bit of optimism I have is that the Tribe's hit sequencing was horrible last year. They were significantly below league average for BA with men on and even worse with RISP. Assuming that regresses to the mean, they should score more runs than 2015 even if their lineup didn't improve.

We'll see.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I don't think it's all that bad, considering every guy in the lineup except Cowgill could reasonably post an OPS+ over 100.

And Cowgill won't be in the lineup for long. He's only there because Brantley and Chisenhall are out.

 

[StanMarsh51]

And Cowgill won't be in the lineup for long. He's only there because Brantley and Chisenhall are out.

Yea, so it could definitely be a lineup where there are no real holes, even if there's a lack of big time hitters...

Looking at the past 3 year numbers for the guys in their lineup:
Gomes - 106 OPS+
Napoli - 116 OPS+
Kipnis - 112 OPS+
Lindor - 122 OPS+
Uribe - 115 OPS+
Byrd - 116 OPS+
Davis - 99 OPS+
Santana - 119 OPS+
Brantley - 128 OPS+
Chisenhall - 96 OPS+

So virtually all of the main position players have been right around or above league average in recent years.