Cleveland Indians: 5 disappointing players through the first six weeks

Though the Cleveland Indians have picked up their play, there are still players who have disappointed in the early going.

The Cleveland Indians got off to a slow start in April, despite some pretty high expectations. With that comes some players who disappointed with their performances, and Cleveland has their share of those guys.

Every team has those guys. Cleveland is not rare in having them, but a team with high expectations is bound to have some not-so-shining examples of that.

The pressure is on in Cleveland. The town is no longer a sports joke. Beyond just the Indians making it to extra innings in Game 7 of the World Series last season, LeBron James has taken the Cavaliers to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances, winning one of them, and there are even some hopes that the Browns might be on the upswing after a stellar NFL Draft.

The Indians can’t just be an average team and expect to draw fans. LeBron and the Cavs provided an emotional release for the city of Cleveland, but the fans are hungry for more.

That’s why it’s time for these players to turn things around. Big name free agents sometimes need to get acclimated to their new homes. Guys coming off a run to the World Series sometimes need to get back out and play before the sting of losing washes away. It’s fine.

The Indians kept their heads above water despite that, but now is the time for these players to step up and show the energy that got them so close to immortality last year.

This is a team that is looking to win it all this year. They need positive contributions from these following players to make that happen.

5. Corey Kluber

Corey Kluber is an ace. He is not pitching like one.

In his career, Kluber has only had one true shutdown year. In 2014, he pitched to an 18-9 record with a 2.44 ERA, on his way to winning the AL Cy Young Award. He’s still been very reliable in other years.

In the past three years, he has started no less than 32 games, while pitching to no worse than a 3.49 ERA.

He makes his starts, he eats innings and, most importantly, he consistently gives his team a chance to win. That has not been the case this year.

On April 21, his fourth start of the season, he threw a complete game shutout. Despite that, in only six starts overall, he has managed to get his ERA above five, at 5.06. His last start was abysmal: five runs on seven hits in just three innings.

He gets a bit of a pass for now, as he has gone on the DL with back issues. Maybe those have caused the struggles and he will take two or three weeks off and come back and be Corey Kluber. Maybe they haven’t affected him at all and some back pain is a means of getting him on the DL and off the field for a short period of time to clear his head.

We’ll see when he comes back, but one thing’s for sure, if these back issues are serious, don’t count on Kluber being the same innings eater he has been in the past.

4. Dan Otero

Dan Otero is a veteran right-hander who was part of the backbone of the Indians bullpen in 2016. Andrew Miller and Cody Allen got all the attention, but Miller wasn’t in Cleveland until July. Otero and Bryan Shaw were the guys who built the bridge to Allen and they did a great job of it.

Otero pitched to a 1.53 ERA in his first year in Cleveland. This year that ERA is 4.20. That’s seven runs in 15 innings. In that time, Otero has already given up four home runs.

Otero needs to be better. The starting pitching has been inconsistent and getting the ball to Miller and Allen has not come as easily as it did in 2016.

Shaw was above a three ERA, at 3.24, after being below three the two previous years. However, he did only allow five of 25 inherited runners to score, while reaching a career-high 25 holds. He’s off to a good start again with the inherited runners, stranding four of five so far, and he’s lowered his ERA to 2.13.

Nick Goody has stepped up, but a three-man bullpen works for nobody, especially when the rotation is an issue. Otero has been good in the past and he needs to be good now.

3. Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin

As stated earlier, Corey Kluber gets a pass for now. Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin do not.

Salazar was expected to take a big step forward this year and he hasn’t. He might have even taken a step back.

He’s tied for fourth in the AL in strikeouts with 53, and first in the majors in K/9. He’s also walked 18 batters already and gone 2-3 with a 5.20 ERA.

Bauer has just never panned out. At 26 years old, Cleveland thought this might be his year to step forward, but he currently sits with a 6.92 ERA and 3-4 record.

Bauer has never managed to keep his ERA below four and that is not likely to change this year. It’s going to be a long road for Bauer to get his ERA down to a respectable number, but he has to start with just giving his team a chance to win when he takes the mound.

Tomlin has been a disaster. He does not have the worst numbers on the starting staff, but the Indians had the lowest expectations for him.

While the team had high expectations for the rest of their starters, they just needed Tomlin to be a serviceable number five. He has not met those expectations.

In his first seven starts of the year, he’s 2-4 with a 5.87 ERA. He hasn’t been asked to do much and he hasn’t even done that.

They all need to step up. Carlos Carrasco can’t do it alone.

2. Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana is not a prototypical leadoff hitter. He doesn’t hit for a terribly high average, or steal a lot of bases, but he has had a high on-base percentage in the past.

Heading into Sunday, in 35 games, Santana hit .226 with three home runs and 18 RBI. Meanwhile, his OBP was just .333. And that came while batting leadoff in every game the Indians had played up to that point.

He’s another guy that has to perform better. He’s not going to be the main force in this lineup, but as the leadoff hitter, he has to get things started. He has failed to do that in the early part of the season and it has been one of the factors behind the Indians’ inconsistencies on offense.

The move on Sunday to move him out of the leadoff spot and down to a power spot in the lineup paid off. Santana and new leadoff man Jason Kipnis both had big days that helped Cleveland score eight runs. Manager Terry Francona likely won’t be quick to change things back, with the Indians in need of some offense.

1. Edwin Encarnacion

Edwin Encarnacion was arguably the biggest free agent signing of the offseason. Many thought he would stay in Toronto, or that the usual big players like Boston would bring him in to replace the retired David Ortiz. It was a bit of a shock when he signed in Cleveland, but it has not brought him much on-field success.

The free agent market wasn’t great for the players this past year, but Encarnacion still earned a three-year, $60 million contract from Cleveland and he has not lived up to it. Just five home runs, 12 RBI and a .198 batting average.

He held down the cleanup spot in every game the Indians had played up until Monday night , but he hasn’t given them the production they expect or need.

It’s common for a big free agent signing to arrive to his new team and struggle, but it’s also not unheard of for those guys to never break out of that struggle.

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Encarnacion is a big power bat that could replace Mike Napoli and then some. His real worth will come in the postseason, where he has hit some big home runs in the past. However, if he keeps going like this the Indians are going to have to worry just about making it back to the postseason.