If you read this blog (and I’m not sure if you do why you do) you know that I have a lot of respect for Anthony Castrovince, who writes about the Indians for Indians.com. His stories have sound news angles, he’s a good writer, and he’s insightful. Castrovince recently took some letters, and in them discussed the long-term futures of Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee, the status of Andy Marte (“He put himself back in the discussions here,“ GM Mark Shapiro says), Martinez’s hitting since he fouled a ball of his knee on May 31 (it’s taken a precipitous drop) and the status of Matt LaPorta. Interesting stuff. And let me add, Castrovince is an employee of MLB.com and his stories are not subject to review or editing by the Indians or the game day staff at Progressive Field. Castrovince also does a nice story on Ben Francisco’s struggles. "I just haven't been able to feel comfortable in my swing for any period of time," Francisco said.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
"I just haven't been able to feel comfortable in my swing for any period of time," Francisco said.
So please explain what the what Derek Shelton is still doing as the hitting coach. Season after season our players fall into hitting slumps and our offense stinks.
And people want to call the kids up from Columbus. Why? Same result, different players.
Dear Ben,
I haven't felt comfortable with your swing this year either. And I continue to wonder what kind of hex you've cast on Eric Wedge to enable your unproductive bat to stay in this lineup day after day, year after year. It's pretty apparent that your hitting coach has not enabled ANY hitter on this team to be consistent in either approach or success. The entire offensive situation is mind-boggling. How you people can keep jobs at the major league level is…..well….only in Cleveland, man. Only in Cleveland.
Why is it always the hitting coach, or pitching coach, or manager? Why isn't it the player/talent? How many major league at bats does Ben have and what is his average. Ben's stats say he is a #4 outfielder at best. 788 major league at bats, .256 average, .326 on base average, .424 slugging average. This is his 3rd season and his numbers are consistently at this level. Put him with the best hitting coach in America and he probably still is a #4 outfielder at best.
Oh, absolutely Tim. It's most definitely the PLAYER. The problem is, the folks in charge (Wedge / Shapiro / Shelton) continue to put the underperforming player in the lineup! That's always been the problem. There's no "fixing" a guy who's just marginal and/or mediocre at best. But Wedge and Shapiro can't seem to distinguish between a productive player and dead-weight on the roster.
Ergo, we get Dellucci, Michaels, Francisco. And just HOW BAD must the poor guys at Columbus BE…if they can't even take playing time away from a guy like Ben, who in NO WAY is a part of our future? It's total insanity.
I'm not giving a pass to Shelton, sorry. Its not just the talent level, its the inability to get the most out of it. How long of a leash did they give Eddie Murray when he was the hitting coach.
Lets look at Victor right now: Lights out the start of the season and just before the all-star break, the bottom fell out. How is it being addressed, how are they helping him? Or are they forcing him to play injured again?
Francisco's always been borderline major league talent. But we just Franklin Guiterrez hand us our lunch this weekend. Amazing what some playing time can do, huh? Maybe if Ben wasn't always looking over his shoulder and relaxed and had some confidence, the results would be better?
As for the 'platoon' – it was a bad idea from the word go. In Dellucci, you had Mark's big time veteran signing for the offseason, and in Michaels a guy clearly cut out for bandboxes in the national league. Mark signed them, then dumped them in Wedge's lap and said "here, make it work" in his best Tim Gunn.
If this organization is going to be centered around young and cheap players and no veterans, then you better get some people in here who can coach, not just repeat a catchphrase. Those managers run teams with established talent and can afford to buy additional pieces. We just rush players through our minor league system and think a decent August and September automatically means their major league ready. When they hit the wall, we blame them. Were they ever ready in the first place?
I'm not sure I understand your point Elizabeth. Weren't DeLucci and Michaels veterans? I'm not the first to point out that probably the only reason Ben is not in Columbus is that there would be no one to play CF other than Grady. Yes Shapiro and the lads missed when they picked Trevor Crowe or he would have taken advantage of the opportunity when Grady was DL'd. Seattle insisted on Franklin when the Tribe tried to convince them to take Ben. But I'm not sold on Franklin…let's check on him this time next year.
I have more of a complaint with Shapiro than Wedge although I know they come as a package. Shapiro convinced the Dolans to spend money on the farm system and they have. But all the farm system has produced is a bunch of soft tossing lefties. In fact one of them, JD Martin, started last night for the Nationals after being cut by Cleveland in the spring.
Tim, *I* could start for the Nationals. In fact, I'm still out of work, I think I'll send them my resume. I too am a quality southpaw and I know I would be a strong locker room presence. I'm really not sure what being a strong locker room presence means, but sportswriters seem to type it all the time, so obviously it must have validity. I think it means I'm supposed to aggressively stare at the ding-dongs in the shower, or something.