The Indians Had So Much Potential: What Went Wrong?

When the 2009 season began and you looked at the AL Central, the Indians stood out as the clear-cut favorites to win the division, and seemed to have a good chance to advance deep into the playoffs.

They had one of, if not the best center fielders in the AL. They had the reigning Cy Young winner coming off one of the best seasons in recent memory. Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez were both back from injuries. And, the bullpen had been heavily strengthened, with the signings of Kerry Wood and Joe Smith.

As of the morning of Aug. 24, they are 11 games out of first place in the AL Central, and 13 games out of the Wild Card.

So now the question comes into play: What Went Wrong?

We'll break it down into three sectors: Managing, General Managing/Talent, and bad luck. Today, I will write about Managing, and continue the series at a further date.

Managing

Starting off in managing: The Bullpen.

Kerry Wood was coming off of a monster season in 2008, with 34 Saves, a 3.26 ERA, 11.4 Ks per nine Innings, and only 2.4 walks per nine innings. His WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched) was a sparkling 1.085. He even was selected to his second All-Star Game.

So what went wrong this year? He's perfectly healthy and has the same amount of velocity as last year. He is playing the same role, as closer, for both teams. The only difference? Look at the managers: Lou Pinella, one of the greatest managers of our era, and Eric Wedge, who has one playoff appearance under his belt. So I believe his downfall is related to managing. 

Mechanically, Wood must be doing something different than last year, which would explain the higher home run count, blown save Count, ERA, WHIP, and the lower Save total. 

Smith is starting to become a perennial solid player, as he continues his success from last year as a right-handed Specialist. However, last year he had 82 appearances, while this year, with the season winding down, he has only 35 appearances.

The Indians continue to use right-handed pitchers with much less success such as Jensen Lewis or Rafael Bentancourt (who isn't on the team anymore, but still has almost as many appearances for the Indians as Smith).

If we utilized Smith like the Mets did in 2008, the Indians would probably be a lot more successful.

Next on the list is lineup and positioning. It took injuries and trades to get the Indians in the right batting order this year. If you don't understand, you will in a minute.

Let's compare Grady Sizemore to a solid leadoff hitter. A solid leadoff hitter has great speed, has the ability to bunt for a hit, works the count and doesn't strike out. He also needs at least an average, if not good, OBP. 

Sizemore has great speed. Sizemore can bunt for a hit. However, he averages a whopping 144 Strikeouts per season and walks only 83 times per season. This is unacceptable for a leadoff hitter. Additionally, his career OBP is only .366 and this year it is less, standing at .341. 

Again, unacceptable.

Sizemore would be much better a few notches lower in the order, batting third or fourth. He consistently hits 25-30 home runs a season, and averages 85 RBI a season as a leadoff hitter, meaning his total would dramatically increase as he drops in the batting order. Additionally, when he's not hitting home runs, he's hitting doubles. In his last five seasons, he has hit 34 or more four times, including 53 in 2006. 

And his replacement at leadoff would be the Coverboy, Asdrubal Cabrera.

According to the Bill James' Gold Mine 2009, in 2008, Asdrubal Cabrera led off an inning 82 times. The Indians scored 67 runs these innings. In other words, so more than four out of five times when Cabrera led off, the Indians scored a run.

Additionally, in 2008, Cabrera led off an inning with a hit 27 times. In total, the Indians scored 43 runs in these innings, or 1.59 runs per inning. This alone shows Cabrera would be an ideal leadoff hitter because he creates runs and makes his entire team better. And he doesn't strike out 144 times.

I think I made my point. Eric Wedge needs to be fired. But Mark Shapiro needs to make a smart hire. The Indians need a proven, experienced manager. Someone who knows the game inside and out. Someone who is popular in Cleveland.

How about Mike Hargrove?