Cleveland Indians five-point checklist for the month of June

Figure out the starting rotation

It wasn’t all that long ago that the Cleveland Indians had arguably the best starting rotation in baseball. Even entering the season there was optimism about the group thanks to reigning Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber and his 2016 MLB Draft classmates Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac. Now, injuries and disappointing starts has turned the unit into possibly the biggest question mark on the roster.

With Plesac’s injury, the weak unit was just further dinged. Luckily, in his absence there’s been flashes of potential that could emerge throughout the month. Given the unknown of Plesac’s timetable, that could be the only route the team has at the moment. Riding the hot hand.

Since being sent down to Columbus, Triston McKenzie has made two starts for the Tribe. One came last week during a single day call-up while the other was during the double-header as he served as the 27th man for the day. The first was by far the better of the two, tossing five scoreless innings. However, the second start saw him surrender five runs to the White Sox over 5.1 innings. Now, he did record 10 strikeouts, including eight straight to tie the MLB record, but the overall body wasn’t great and he still leads the majors in walks with 35.

Another spot start was pitched by reliever Cal Quantrill. Going 3.2 innings, Quantrill gave up just one run and struck out five of the 11 outs recorded while he was on the mound. Having transitioned to a reliever role, it’s uncertain if Quantrill will get another shot to start. If Eli Morgan struggles again, the odds will increase. However, if the Tribe want to continue to contend, they’ll need to solidify the third through fifth spots of the rotation, and soon.

Cut down on the walks

During the month of May, the Cleveland Indians allowed the third-most walks in all of baseball, walking a total of 124 batters over the course of 29 games played. That’s an average of more than four walks per game. Only the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Angels walked more batters during the month.

Unfortunately, that’s kind of been the story of the season for Cleveland, having walked the sixth-most for the entire season with a mark of 201 walks through 59 games. On the season, the average of walks per game is just above three, but that also means that the problem got worse in May, not better.

Among individual players, the Tribe have two in the league’s top five for most walks allowed. No other team has two players in the top five and only the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox have two in the top nine.

As stated on the last slide, Triston McKenzie is leading all of baseball with 35 walks. However, the second Tribe pitcher in the top five is a bit surprising. Shane Bieber. Now, Bieber is in the top five for innings pitched this year, so you could make the argument that it comes with usage. However, his 27 walks are still tied for the fifth-most so far this season. To put it into perspective, his 27 walks in 11 games this year is only 13 away from his career-high for walks in a season, being 40 during the 2019 campaign and those came across 34 games.

Seeing walk struggles from a young prospect is rather typical, but seeing it from the defending Cy Young isn’t a great sign. As a whole, the Tribe need to cut down on the walks in June if they want to stay within range of the playoffs.

Be better at home

In a season where both the AL Central and wild card races are close, home-field advantage could become imperative, even more so than the average season. So far this year, that hasn’t been the case in Cleveland. While the Tribe has managed to maintain a record of 29-24, they are just barely above .500 at home entering June, being 13-12 at Progressive Field.

Half of the majors is above .500 at home, being 15 teams through May. However, the best team in the game at home are the Chicago White Sox who have a record of 20-9 this year at Guaranteed Rate Field. Being the team that Cleveland is trying to catch in the divisional race, winning games at home becomes even more important for the Tribe.

Luckily, Cleveland still holds a 16-12 record on the road, accounting for the five games above .500, but a team’s home record should be better than how they do on the road. During the month of June, the Tribe have 12 home games and 14 on the road. Seeing better results at home would go a long way in cutting down the gap in the AL Central, as well as gaining ground in the wild card. Winning on the road is great, especially if that’s where the team ends up playing in October, but winning at home should be happening more than 50% of the time.

Stop grounding into double plays

So far this season the Cleveland Indians have logged 369 base hits, the third-fewest in the league. However, they’ve been middle-of-the-pack in terms of walking, getting 164 free passes. All put together, the Tribe have 648 total bases this year, right on track with the New York Yankees. However, where the Tribe have struggled this year and really hurt their chances to score runs is double plays.

In 2021 as a whole, Cleveland has grounded into 43 double plays, tied for the sixth-most in baseball with the San Francisco Giants. As for the month of May, 28 of those 43 occurred, being the third-highest mark in all of baseball for the month. Only the Oakland Athletics and Cincinnati Reds had more with 30 each.

Now, double plays are part of the game and they aren’t always the hitters fault. Sometimes a great pitch can leave no other result if contact is made, but imagine if that number could be trimmed. It won’t automatically translate to runs, but more ducks in the pond would increase the chances of scoring.

The fix is probably easier said than done in the grand scheme, but trying to hit away from the shift might be a good start.

Buyers or sellers?

While the MLB Trade Deadline is still two months away on July 31, the next month will be spent figuring out where the Cleveland Indians stand. Being on the brink of the playoffs, the month of June has the potential to make or break the season. With that comes making a decision on which side of the deadline the club will be.

In addition to figuring out the team’s stance, the front office will also be scouting and pinpointing targets for either side of the deal. If they are buying, who are they looking to get and what are they willing to give up? If it’s a selling year, who goes and what prospects are intriguing pieces to bring into the organization.

The biggest question at this point might be what’s the budget look like? If the team wants to be buyers, then they’ll obviously have a limit to what they can spend, both in money and prospects. If selling is the route, what players on the roster are desirable to other clubs across the league down the stretch?

We’ve got two months to talk about all of this, and there will be plenty to talk about, but now is when the thought process has to begin for the front office.