Cleveland Indians: Three keys to victory against the Chicago White Sox

More bodies on the bases

It’s no secret that the Cleveland Indians offense is its Achilles heel. The lineup has been frustrating, and downright unwatchable, at times. But the hitting has found some momentum over the past four games. They scored 19 runs in the three games, before Wednesday’s 10-2 drubbing versus the Twins as a team they hit .270 as a team, launched six home runs and slugged 12 extra-base hits.

José Ramírez and Franmil Reyes had been doing a lot of the heavy lifting for most of the season, while Jordan Luplow has made the most of his playing time by smacking six home runs to tie the team lead with Reyes and Ramírez in 30 fewer at bats. Other members of the Indians lineup have begun to lift themselves out of their early funks. Josh Naylor had a three-hit day streak in the Twins series and has pushed his batting average up to .250, which has helped distract fans from his woeful ineptitude as a fielder. Free swinger, Eddie Rosario, has also started to find some consistency with the bat.

However, the Indians are still near the bottom in almost every meaningful offensive category. The most worrying is their .284OBP clip; good for third worst in baseball. The White Sox, by contrast, lead the league in OBP. Few men on the bases means few opportunities to score runs. And when the team is also third-worst in batting average (.209), it comes as no surprise that the majority of the runs that the Tribe does score come via the long ball.

Improving the run-scoring starts with getting runners on base, and ending the over-reliance on hitting home runs to get players across home plate. The Indians need to be more patient at the plate, work counts, take walks and swing at their pitch.