Cleveland Indians
1933 figures to be a make or break year for the Indians and manager Cy Dickenson. Dickenson, a 3-time Manager of the Year winner with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1920s, finally got some okay results from the team in his third year with the club. They still finished in the second division, though, and only the sheer length of Cleveland's futility has kept the front office from being totally dissatisfied.
A couple of key trades made the club younger and added s0me balance between pitching and hitting and between clutch hitting and power. If this club is going to finally take that step forward and have a plus-.500 season for the first time since 1922, they're going to need a lot more out of their lineup. As it stands, Dickenson leads all active managers with 1127 victories. Will he be able to add a World Series title to that mix anytime soon?
Code:
Record overall 74-80, .481 PCT 5th, 22.0 GB
Home 34-43, .442 PCT
Road 40-37, .519 PCT
X-innings 12-8, .600 PCT
One-run games 19-15, .559 PCT
Versus LHP 30-21, .588 PCT
Versus RHP 44-59, .427 PCT
April 7-2, .778 PCT
May 12-15, .444 PCT
June 11-17, .393 PCT
July 11-17, .393 PCT
August 19-9, .679 PCT
September 10-13, .435 PCT
October 4-7, .364 PCT
Team Batting Stats & Rankings
Batting Average .278 - 7th in AL
On-Base Percentage .334 - 6th in AL
Slugging Percentage .410 - 6th in AL
On-Base + Slugging .744 - 5th in AL
Runs Scored 792 - 6th in AL
Hits 1547 - 7th in AL
Extra-Base Hits 487 - 4th in AL
Home Runs 104 - 3rd in AL
Bases-On-Balls 471 - 5th in AL
Strikeouts 450 - 3rd in AL
Stolen Bases 24 - tied for 6th in AL
Team Pitching Stats & Rankings
Earned Run Average 4.49 - 4th in AL
Starters' ERA 4.53 - 4th in AL
Bullpen ERA 4.29 - 4th in AL
Runs allowed 843 - 4th in AL
Hits allowed 1615 - 4th in AL
Opponents AVG .286 - 4th in AL
BABIP .298 - 3rd in AL
Home Runs allowed 102 - 6th in AL
Bases-On-Balls 574 - 6th in AL
Strikeouts 464 - 4th in AL
Pitching
The Indians acquired Jesus Espin, 23-9 in 1931, to be their staff ace. Instead, he seemed to lose focus as the season progressed anf finished the year with a career-worst 21 losses. Espin was 5-1 with a 3.59 ERA as of May 26 but then went 2-11 over his next 13 starts. His ERA was still 4.76 at that point, and as late as August 24th it was looking like he could still pull out a typical Jesus Espin season. From August 25 to the end of the year, however, he was 1-7, allowing 58 runs off of 75 hits and 10 home runs in just 43 2/3rds innings pitched. He's going to need to reverse that trend if he expects to have a job in 1934.
Espin's slump opened the door for veteran Paul Rogers and youngster Tim Maisonet to vy for the stopper role for Cleveland. Rogers may not have a lot to show for it but he's posted ERAs of 3.86 and 3.88 for this team over the past 2 years. With a career record of just 84-142, Rogers has lost 20 or more games twice in his career. However, he seems to have found success with very heavy fastball that makes hitters pound the ball into the ground. Maisonet has a similar approach to his success, although his margin of error is much, much lower than Rogers'. Last year he walked less than 2 batters per 9 innings and was second to Rogers with a 55.3% groundball rate. Since his fastball tops out at 85 miles per hour, he pretty much has to be that perfect to not get hammered.
Code:
Player Age W L Pct G GS SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA VORP
Jesús Espín 35 12 21 0.364 36 36 0 253 311 156 20 136 89 5.55 1.2
Paul Rogers 34 11 14 0.440 35 31 0 250.1 293 108 10 102 84 3.88 47.3
Willard Doe 27 15 15 0.500 31 31 0 241.2 282 122 19 84 60 4.54 28.1
Tim Maisonet 23 9 5 0.643 33 18 0 154.1 183 61 6 33 23 3.56 34.9
Fred Fleming 28 6 6 0.500 14 14 0 101.1 102 39 7 32 59 3.46 21.6
Alan Ford 25 5 6 0.455 15 12 0 92 100 46 10 29 31 4.50 9.6
Ron Anglin 27 4 0 1.000 44 0 2 87.2 93 31 7 37 36 3.18 23.5
Bob Poche 24 3 3 0.500 38 0 6 50.2 48 15 2 30 32 2.66 16.5
Larry Bramble 22 5 1 0.833 6 6 0 50 52 24 3 19 18 4.32 7.0
Brian Cowell 21 1 3 0.250 12 3 0 34 46 27 5 28 9 7.15 -5.9
Steve Petrie 36 3 4 0.429 24 0 7 33 43 18 3 10 11 4.91 2.2
Chad Smalls 20 0 2 0.000 7 3 0 25.2 37 33 7 23 9 11.57 -17.1
Wu You 22 0 0 0.000 11 0 0 17.2 25 14 3 11 3 7.13 -3.0
Team Totals 26.5 74 80 0.481 306 154 15 1391.1 1615 694 102 574 464 4.49 165.8
Catcher/First Base
Yes, Fred Fleming rocked the world after getting shipped off to the Giants. That doesn't mean the Indians did not exact a pretty penny for his services. Dave Echols has an awkward batting stance that scouts just hate but looks can be deceiving. Simply put, the man can rake. Last year he hit a combined .332 for the Giants and Indians. He comes to the team in the nick of time, as Ray Alexander - a man who has, unlike Echols, appeared on top prospect lists - proved incapable of handling full-time catcher duties.
Bill Eldridge is still only 26 but has seen his average drop in each of the last 3 seasons and is beginning to look like his best years are behind him. Last year, pitchers began to realize that his bat was not to be feared and his walks dropped nearly in half from 90 to 54. This is a must-rebound season for him.
Code:
Pos Player Age G GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS VORP
C Dave Echols 23 65 62 243 27 77 16 1 2 25 0 0 16 24 0.317 0.361 0.416 0.777 10.0
C Ray Alexander 24 64 59 210 17 50 14 0 1 22 0 1 14 11 0.238 0.282 0.319 0.601 -11.0
C Andrés Merced 25 23 20 74 9 22 4 0 2 8 0 0 10 9 0.297 0.386 0.432 0.819 3.5
C Scott Bridges 28 27 13 48 6 10 1 0 1 10 0 0 7 4 0.208 0.304 0.292 0.595 -2.9
1B *Bill Eldridge 25 113 97 401 71 107 23 4 14 61 0 0 54 46 0.267 0.351 0.449 0.800 2.4
1B Mac Tillett 21 60 56 227 36 61 9 1 4 31 7 3 19 6 0.269 0.327 0.370 0.697 -8.8
Infield
You wouldn't know it by watching him play but Vernon Friedrich missed the entire 1931 season with a bad shoulder. Those issues are completely behind him now; although some scouts question how long he'll be able to play shortstop, his arm is rated one of the strongest in all of baseball. And at the plate he is unequaled. Forget Chris Gregg: this is the best shortstop in the American League.
Carl Kagan was a less-heralded acquisition by Dickenson, coming to the Indians at the end of the 1931 season for two minor-league outfielders, but he's been as key as anybody. Last year he played a serviceable third base and set career highs in hits, doubles, runs scored, and RBIs. Best of all, he's still only 23.
And then there's Alphonse Conway. Every year the Indians think they have a replacement for him and yet, every year he seems to end the season as the club's #1 second baseman. He's been their starter since 1927, a string surpassed among Indians 2nd baseman only by the man he replaced, fan favorite Charlie Henderson. Art Tribble seems poised to replace Conway but he's not the first man in that position and we bet he won't be the last.
Code:
Pos Player Age G GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS VORP
2B Alphonse Conway 28 122 117 510 84 135 32 5 10 65 1 1 40 30 0.265 0.318 0.406 0.724 14.3
2B Art Tribble 22 34 34 159 22 48 13 5 0 12 2 4 3 11 0.302 0.311 0.447 0.758 6.0
3B Carl Kagan 23 139 137 572 83 177 25 4 5 69 2 2 50 41 0.309 0.365 0.393 0.759 17.3
3B Owen Lucas 32 41 22 100 7 27 12 0 0 13 0 0 6 11 0.270 0.308 0.390 0.698 -1.0
SS Vernon Friedrich 25 109 107 448 86 144 24 2 14 61 0 2 67 36 0.321 0.415 0.478 0.893 36.3
SS #Bill Swinney 25 39 33 141 11 28 6 0 0 12 3 3 7 13 0.199 0.232 0.241 0.473 -17.6
SS Jeff Gunn 20 27 25 94 15 35 12 0 2 24 0 2 6 4 0.372 0.406 0.564 0.970 10.7
Outfield
The other big trade of 1932, and arguably more controversial than the Fleming deal, saw Jay Carbaugh move to the Philadelphia Athletics in exchange for Juan Carlos Munoz. Carbaugh had just come over to the Indians after a fine career with the Chicago White Sox and was expected to be the big piece that would push the Indians into an offensive powerhouse. He hit as well as he ever has but the rest of the team didn't respond so he was moved for Munoz, who had struggled heavily at the time of the trade, hitting just .255 with 4 homeruns and 39 RBIs over 49 games. It looks like all he needed was a change of pace: his rate stats of 306/372/540 with Cleveland are almost exactly equal to his career numbers.
Now the Indians just need production from the other two slots. Keenan Thomas looked like he might have what it takes to be Cleveland's right fielder. He was shut down in late August with a torn ligament in his thumb but this was reported to be just a safety measure. Pedro Serrea just doesn't hit lefties well enough to start full-time (.233 with just 2 extra-base hits in 64 at-bats last year). He's still a pesky hitter who belongs at the top of the order against right-handed pitching, even if his power stroke (12 HRs in 1930) has disappeared.
Code:
Pos Player Age G GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS VORP
LF Jay Carbaugh 35 89 89 360 63 117 14 2 20 66 4 3 34 32 0.325 0.383 0.542 0.925 29.8
LF *Juan Carlos Muńóz 29 64 64 265 45 81 27 4 9 53 1 0 27 17 0.306 0.372 0.540 0.911 18.5
LF Lynn Henderson 30 31 18 79 6 17 4 0 1 11 0 0 5 7 0.215 0.262 0.304 0.566 -8.1
CF *Pedro Serrea 26 105 98 388 57 123 25 3 0 46 1 6 33 20 0.317 0.377 0.397 0.774 10.0
CF Dan Douglas 24 74 50 221 24 54 19 1 3 35 0 2 16 26 0.244 0.292 0.380 0.672 -5.8
CF Rusty Dardar 27 9 8 36 5 16 4 0 2 7 1 0 1 1 0.444 0.459 0.722 1.182 7.9
CF *Carroll Walker 24 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.0
RF *Keenan Thomas 24 105 102 420 58 127 30 8 7 77 0 1 35 22 0.302 0.357 0.462 0.819 21.2
RF *Lou Gould 35 54 21 101 16 20 5 0 4 15 2 1 13 16 0.198 0.294 0.366 0.660 -7.3
Code:
- *Chris Saucier 23 12 0 12 1 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0.333 0.333 0.417 0.750 0.1
- #Preston Connors 28 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.3
Team Totals 26.2 1714 1386 5570 792 1547 340 43 104 764 24 31 471 450 0.278 0.334 0.410 0.744 127.7
* - bats left-handed, # - switch hits, blank - bats right-handed