Much more important than wins and losses are the individual successes by each player on the team. The opposite of this may be true, but you can’t have the whole without the parts and this is the time to break those parts down into bite sized pieces. The original, predictive pre-season player power rankings came out in March and things have changed a lot since then. Injuries, under performers and a few spectacular pitching performances have turned the rankings on their side. Listed below, from best to worst is the Indians 25 man roster. The Above – Even – Below standard shows how the player compared to his pre-season expectations while the number in parenthesis shows their movement since the beginning of April.
1. Trevor Bauer Above (+9)
When the Indians traded for Bauer, they expected him to become the ace and, at least for the moment, he has. He leads the team in ERA (1.80), BAA (.174), wins (2) and is second in strike outs (25) behind Kluber. As if his first three starts, each which was a near no hitter, were not impressive enough, in his final start of the month, an incredibly ill Bauer held the AL Champions to just three runs in six innings.
2. Corey Kluber Even (-1)
The Tribe ace started the season incredibly with two runs allowed in each of his first three starts, but hasn’t been quite as successful in the last two. Two aspects that have been consistent throughout are his great strike out rate (9.53 K/9 through 34 IP) and his complete lack of run support. The team has scored just ten runs behind him so far, six of which came in an April 11th game where the bullpen gave up seven. While he has no wins, he has still been the second best player of the season for the Tribe due to the aspects actually under his control.
3. Danny Salazar Above (Unranked)
While he has made one start less than the rest of the rotation (why he was unranked coming into the year), Salazar has been more dominant so far this year than in any other season. Through three starts, he leads the team with three wins, and owns a 3.32 ERA and 28 strike outs in 19 innings. Salazar is already one of the top strike out pitchers in Indians history and adding a solid curveball to his repertoire, as he did this month, certainly won’t hurt that.
4. Carlos Carrasco Even (+2)
The worst of the Indians incredible four in the starting rotation, Carrasco had a disappointing 4.60 ERA, especially considering his 23 strike outs to just three walks in 15.2 innings. A scary moment derailed Carrasco for essentially two starts after he received a line drive in his face, but he has pitched 9.1 innings across two starts since then.
5. Michael Brantley Even (-3)
Brantley missed a big chunk of time during the first weeks of the season with a sore back and didn’t return to his 2014 All-Star form until the final two weeks of the month. After starting the year batting .226/.273/.290, an 8/13 series against Detroit vaulted those numbers to .341/.370/.432 in just three days. Currently, he ranks first among regulars in average (.339) and doubles (7), second in OBP (.381), showing how quickly a season can turn around this early in the year.
6. Carlos Santana Below (-3)
While Santana has played far below his capacity, he remains one of the Indians top hitter despite a .239 average. He currently leads the team in walks (18) by more than double the next best and runs scored (12), while sitting in second in home runs (3), RBI (11) and steals (2). In addition, Santana has been a solid defenseman at first base, making a few incredible plays in addition to all the routine ones. Like much of the roster, he is yet to make an error this season.
7. Nick Hagadone Above (+15)
The least expected of the Indians original three left handers to be the most dependable and most used has actually been the best. Despite some early issues, Hagadone has found the strike zone in his more recent appearances, striking out 11 in 8.1 innings with a .188 BAA and 2.16 ERA. Against left handed hitters, Hagadone has faced 12, struck out five allowed just two base runners.
8. Ryan Raburn Above (+15)
Jumping 15 places since the preseason rankings, Raburn has been both the most surprising player and the Indians top “bench” hitter. At the moment, his SLG (.629) and OPS (1.007) lead the team and he has been one of the Indians few options against left handed pitchers. Despite missing six games, Raburn still ranks second on the team in doubles (6) and third in RBI (8). While his inability to play defense is a detriment, the Indians needed a DH for the first month while waiting for Nick Swisher and Raburn was an admirable fill in.
9. Brandon Moss Even (-5)
Moss had the worst start to the year of any regular, batting .143/.268/.286 with 17 strike outs and just one home run in his first 11 games, but has since turned it around batting .346/.333/.731 in his last seven with three home runs, 12 RBI and just five strike outs. After the turnaround, Moss now appears, as originally expected, to be the Indians top power hitter and a great off-season pick-up.
10. Anthony Swarzak Even (+14)
The Indians saw more in Swarzak than I did when I made the rankings last month as he has proven them right. While rarely used in pivotal situations, Swarzak has struck out 11 in 11 innings, allowing just five runs, three walks and one home run. Unlike a few relievers to be mentioned later, Swarzak has generally been a dependable member of the bullpen.
11. Scott Atchison Even (+7)
Every year there is a reliever that becomes the most dependable arm early on in the season. This is an unenviable role as it often means that pitcher is forced to come into awful situations, such as ones with multiple runners on and less than two outs. Three times Atchison has been handed multiple runners this year and he has stranded six of those seven runners. On his own, the old man has allowed five earned runs in 8 innings, two of which came off the bat of Miguel Cabrera, making Atchison just one of many victims.
12. Zach McAllister Even (+9)
McAllister broke into the season in the starting rotation thanks to the injury to Gavin Floyd and some erratic play by Salazar, but was quickly pulled after just one start and Salazar has played admirably in his stead. Now in the bullpen, he has been much more efficient, allowing just three runs in 11.2 innings for a 2.31 ERA after allowing five in four innings in his first start.
13. Jerry Sands Above (Unranked)
Sands is not currently on the 25 man roster (DFA), but his replacement has played in a single game, so including Sands in the rankings seems most prudent. A late addition to the club who joined when Brantley was unable to play, Sands has been a solid choice at the plate and a less reliable force in the field. In limited at bats, he has hit .348/.400/.435, but most of that came early when he was playing nearly every day. More recently, he has batted .167 in his last six games and will likely be the first man out if someone is promoted from AAA or comes off the DL.
14. Bryan Shaw Even (-3)
Due to the low number of Indians leads, Shaw has been used much less often this year than he was last and that’s probably a good thing. In just 7.1 innings across 11 games, he has allowed a 3.68 ERA, a .303 BAA and blown one save. A two inning, four strike out appearance on the final day of the month helped salvage these numbers as well as push his K/9 above 9 for the first time.
15. Jason Kipnis Below (-8)
Kipnis was a big question mark coming into the 2015 season and there has been both good and bad news. In the positive, his injury seems to be completely healed as his range on defense has returned to normal (he only made one obviously bad play this month) and he hasn’t shown any pain while swinging a bat. Unfortunately, a lack of pain hasn’t allowed him to regain any power as he has just three extra base hits and his .218 average leaves little other benefit at the plate.
16. Mike Aviles Even (+3)
As seems to happen every single season, Aviles started the year expecting to play sparingly, but has been in almost every game thanks to a short term injury to Brantley and the lack of a regular DH. Unfortunately, like last season, Aviles has yet to begin to hit with regularity even with the regular playing time. While his .250/.348/.450 line leaves something to be desired as a starter, it is good enough for a sub, so with less playing time, Aviles could become an even more valuable player.
17. David Murphy Below (-4)
Used exclusively as a platoon player against right handed pitching, Murphy still disappointed at the plate, batting just .256/.289/.442. Unfortunately, these numbers rank among the best on the team as do his two doubles and two home runs. With Zach Walters and Tyler Holt being better options currently in AAA, it appears only his $6M contract is keeping Murphy on the team.
18. Lonnie Chisenhall Below (-6)
Chisenhall is being ranked below expectations due to his abysmal numbers at the plate (.221/.260/.309), surprisingly however, in the field, he has improved. While he may still have very limited range, Chisenhall has done a much better job than in the past at making routine plays look routine and had no errors in the first month of play.
19. Marc Rzepczynski Below (-5)
Rzepczynski has been a very dependable pitcher against left handed batters since being acquired, but that has not been the case so far this year. His .250 average against lefties is better than only four of the 15 pitchers used by the Tribe this year. Used almost evenly against right (11 batters face) and left (13 TBF) handers, Rzepczynski has allowed a 6.75 ERA overall with five hits allowed in 5.1 innings.
20. Roberto Perez Even (0)
The Indians went into this season thankful that they had one of the best reserve catchers in baseball. That joy ended quickly with the long term injury to Gomes, but Perez has filled in admirably sitting among the team leaders in home runs (3), RBI (6) and runs scored (8). Since Gomes is slated to be out for a few more months still, the success of Perez remains paramount for the Tribe.
21. Michael Bourn Below (-12)
There has been no player more disappointing this season than Bourn after his hot Spring raised expectations for the Tribe lead-off hitter. He is second on the team in at bats and has hit just .200, reaching base in about a quarter of his plate appearances. Despite saving his speed for the regular season by not stealing in Spring, he has not been able to be a factor on the bases, getting caught twice compared to two successful steals. Noting his cold streak, Francona has moved Bourn from first to last in the lineup and, to this point, things are not much different.
22. Cody Allen Below (-14)
Allen currently holds the worst ERA of any reliever on the team, but has only blown two games total, only one of which was a save situation. The ability is still there as shown by his 11 strike outs in seven innings, but a closer can’t afford to give away a free base runner every inning and Allen has done that with seven walks. Luckily for him, there is no obvious replacement, so he will get a chance to work out of this.
23. Jose Ramirez Below (-8)
Ramirez was supposed to be the worst offensive starter on the team to begin this year, that’s why he bats ninth, so we should temper thoughts about his .175 average. On the bases, he has been the Indians only success with three steals, so there is nothing to complain about there. The biggest issue with Ramirez this year has been his defense, where his four errors are 80% of the total committed by starting Indians infielders this month and he has been unable to live up to his lofty expectations. Prior to 2015, his ceiling appeared to be as a utility infielder and place holder for Francisco Lindor and nothing has changed since then.
24. Brett Hayes Even (Unranked)
Hayes was added to the roster mid month after the Gomes injury and has received just 11 at bats, during which he hit a single home run, his only base hit. His biggest down fall so far has been defensively, where he four steals allowed on five attempts make the Indians really miss the days when Perez was the back-up and not the starter.
25. T.J. House Below (-8)
The only truly disappointing member of the Indians rotation and the most likely candidate for the next demotion. House has the highest ERA of any pitcher (13.15) and the highest loss total (4). With 12 walks and 21 hits allowed in 13 innings House has proven unable to throw strikes regularly or throw strikes that are easily missed.
Not Included
Ryan Webb Above
No Longer Around
DL
Yan Gomes Below
AAA
Shaun Marcum Above
Austin Adams Above
Kyle Crockett Above
Don’t agree? Put them in your own order by going to our Ranker.com page.
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