In general, May was a much friendlier month to the Indians than April, particularly among the hitters. This success has lead to a much better win loss record, but unlike the sport itself, this article is about the players individually, not the overall result. The following list ranks the Indians 25 man roster by their full season production with a grade of Above, Even or Below showing how well each player performed in the month of May compared to their expectations. The number in parenthesis shows their movement since the April rankings.
For your consideration, these can be compared to the original, predictive pre-season player power rankings from March and those from April.
1. Jason Kipnis Above (+14)
Whether it was turning into a lead-off hitter or the calendar page flipping, Kipnis now has to be sure his pajamas meet the flammability requirements of the state of California. Essentially, he lead everyone in everything and his .429 average has boosted him to second in the AL with a .340 mark. He also now has 37 runs scored, 70 hits and 16 doubles, 30, 51 and 15 of which have come in the month of May.
2. Michael Brantley Above (+3)
Last month, there was an obvious number one in the Power Rankings as Bauer dominated all opposition, but this month there was a tough decision between the top three. Brantley has a greater chance of continuing his numbers than Kipnis, but simply wasn’t as hot. He does, however, lead the league in doubles (17), and has 21 runs, 30 RBI and a .302/.379/.473 batting line.
3. Corey Kluber Above (-1)
Kluber had some issues in late April and early May, but has been incredible in his last four starts leading to 96 strike outs in 76.2 innings in total this year. With a 2.34 FIP, Kluber ranks first in the AL and that isn’t surprising seeing how he has averaged a 7.4 K/BB rate and nearly seven innings per start. Traditional stats are beginning to turn around as well as he didn’t win a game until May 13th, but then won three of his last four starts of the month.
4. Trevor Bauer Even (-3)
The second of the Indians four aces, Bauer was excellent in his final four May starts, allowing five runs while throwing 29.1 innings and striking out 31. Unfortunately, he had a couple bad starts at the beginning of the month that sullied his ERA, but excluding those two games, he has been dynamic. His one drawback remains a lack of control at times, but for now, his 3.02 ERA and .212 BAA lead all Indians starters, despite the walks.
5. Danny Salazar Even (-2)
From pitch to pitch, Salazar can go from being the best of the Indians four aces to the worst. Like the rest, he strikes out a ton of batters, in fact, he leads the team (and the rest of baseball as well) with an 11.7 K/9, but this comes packaged with a penchant for home runs (he leads the team with eight), high pitch totals and short outings.
6. Carlos Carrasco Even (-1)
Of the four most used Indians starters, Carrasco had the worst results in May with a 4.10 ERA and ten walks in ten starts, but this isn’t completely indicative of his performance. His 2.63 FIP is the fifth best among AL qualifiers (Kluber is first) and doesn’t fit at all with his 4.24 ERA. This is likely in part because of the Indians near league worst defense, but also could be from some poor luck as well and it is reasonable to expect continuing improvement from Carrasco. He showed some of that in his final three starts of the month when he struck out 24 in 22 innings.
7. Carlos Santana Below (-1)
May is through and Santana is still Santana. In the past month, Santana lead the team (2nd in AL) in walks again (21) and was one of the worst hitters for average on the team (.217). He had significant run production on both sides, but that had more to do with his location as the number two hitter than anything he did particularly well.
8. Brandon Moss Below (+1)
Moss is the perfect example of opportunity leading to RBI as he leads the team in opportunities (56 AB with runners in scoring position) and is second in RBI (28) despite a dismal .239/.310/.454 line (numbers that get even worse with RISP). Sadly, there are no better starters currently available to bat fourth, so Moss will continue to reap the benefits, at least until Gomes returns to full strength.
9. Ryan Raburn Even (-1)
As the season continues, it seems more and more like the entries for Raburn and Murphy should be combined, as only together do they make one full reserve right fielder. The right side of the platoon has slugged .577, better than any regular starter thanks largely to ten doubles.
10. Zach McAllister Above (+2)
The former starter has found a home in the bullpen and currently holds a 2.13 ERA as a reliver, 3.38 overall. After a decent April, McAllister was simply dominant in May, holding hitters to a .208 average and a 1.98 ERA with 19 strike outs in 13.2 innings. He was arguably the best Indians reliever in the month and has been one of the most consistent this year.
11. David Murphy Above (+6)
The other half of that platoon, Murphy has hit for a higher average (.324) in more at bats (105), but without the power. He has filled in the lineup wherever the Indians needed a batter that day including in the two hole and clean-up and has actually been decent. The biggest reason for this is likely because he has only had two at bats against left handed pitching all season (0/2, 1 BB, 1 K).
12. Ryan Webb Above (Unranked)
One of two completely unexpected helpful additions to the pitching staff, Webb joined the team for the final days of April and since then has become one of the Indians most dependable relievers with a 1.17 ERA in 15.1 innings. He leads all relievers for the year in ERA, WHIP (0.72) and AVG (.120) and, assuming the regular late inning pitchers continue to struggle, expect his use in important situations to increase as the season continues.
13. Bryan Shaw Above (+3)
The Indians most dominant non-closing reliever since 2014, Shaw looked a little off in April and many worried that it was the cumulative fatigue from two years of extreme work. He should have put any of those worries to rest with a 1.86 ERA in May that lowered his season mark to 2.65. One worry that remains is his control as he walked four batters in just 9.2 innings this month, six in 17 IP overall.
14. Lonnie Chisenhall Below (+4)
After hitting .221 in April, Lonnie has made matters even worse with a .209 mark in May. Thanks to the top of the lineup providing more opportunities, Chisenhall has knocked in more runs this month, but that shouldn’t be considered much of a bonus considering his 13/4 K/BB ratio. Completely the opposite of 2014, Chisenhall’s defense is the only thing making him a valuable player this year, comprising all of his 0.9 WAR for the year.
15. Mike Aviles Above (+1)
Between his lengthy family emergency and the return of Ramirez to being a replacement level player, Aviles played very little in May. In his 15 games, he did bat .298 with two doubles and a home run after batting just .250 in 15 April games.
16. Michael Bourn Even (+5)
A beneficiary of reduced expectations, Bourn has taken his demotion to platoon outfielder and bottom of the order hitter well, batting .301/.381/.370 in May after hitting just .200/.264/.250 in April. A large part of this improvement has had to do with his decrease in at bats against left handed pitchers, against whom he is still batting just .214 for the year.
17. Nick Hagadone Below (-10)
Hagadone’s extreme drop in this month’s rankings shouldn’t be a huge surprise as he was originally 22nd in the pre-season rankings. After being solid in April, he was the Indians worst reliever in May, allowing nine runs (three unearned) in 10.1 innings with an average allowed of .318.
18. Cody Allen Above (+4)
Since 2013, Allen has regularly held a surprisingly high place on the Power Rankings for a relief pitcher, but this year, his results haven’t matched his stuff. This seems to have turned around in May as he allowed just four runs and nine hits in 15.1 innings, striking out 21 and saving each of his seven attempts. In April, he struck out batters at a similar rate, but allowed more hits and more than twice as many runs despite pitching less than half as many innings. Considering his peripherals remained the same, this could mean he just had a string of really bad luck to start out the year, but is evening out now.
19. Marc Rzepczynski Above (0)
In an mostly dreadful bullpen, Rzepczynski has been one of the Indians most dependable in May with a 1.17 ERA, although it was just in 7.2 innings across 15 games. Both his walk and strike out rates have dropped a bit this month and, although he has allowed more hits, he has been more effective overall.
20. Nick Swisher Below (UR)
Swisher’s return to the Indians lineup early in May did help solidify the make-up of the roster, eliminating the AAAA Jerry Sands, but after claiming a daily starting position, generally as the DH, he has done little else to help the team. In fact, he has been outplayed by the platoon of Raburn and Murphy to the point that it is now difficult to keep him and his .287 OBP in the lineup.
21. Jose Ramirez Even (+3)
Outside of Kipnis, Ramirez had one of the biggest turnarounds in May, improving his defense and batting at a higher rate. He is still the worst offensive regular, but has been providing an increased value on the base paths, stealing five bases in May without being caught and scoring nine runs in 14 games. Before reacting to critically to his “Even” rating for the month despite batting below .200, remember that it is based on the expectations placed on him, and he has essentially matched those.
22. Shaun Marcum Even (UR)
The Indians resident veteran and fifth starter made three starts in May after Bruce Chen was DFA’d and subsequently retired. These were a mixed bag as he was hit around fairly easily, but in general, was able to keep the Indians in games. Somehow, his surgically repaired spine was able to hold up while he struck out an incredible 17 batters in 14.2 innings, although he did allow a not so incredible 11 runs on five home runs. With his last start, he earned at least one more and until someone else stands up at AAA, the job will likely remain Marcum’s.
23. Roberto Perez Below (-3)
It took until the very end of his time as starter for Perez to relax enough to play well, but he did post a .286/.525/.500 line during his final week as primary catcher. Thankfully, however, Gomes did return before the end of the month as Perez’s average for the month of .156 left much to be desired.
24. Yan Gomes Below (UR)
Gomes returned from the DL for the final week of May, but didn’t play much as he is still recovering. Don’t expect him to stay at the bottom of the rankings long, but for the moment he has just a .154/.190/.179 line with one RBI and two walks.
25. Austin Adams Above (UR)
Adams hasn’t been used enough to judge properly, just two innings this month, but deserves credit for giving up just two hits so far this year in 6.2 innings. One of the hits was a solo home run, leading to his only run allowed of the year. Considering the Indians bullpen struggles, the lack of use of pitchers like Adams and Webb, who have pitched well in limited amounts, is surprising.
No Longer Around
DL
Scott Atchison Below
AAA
T.J. House DNP
Anthony Swarzak Above
Brett Hayes Below
Tyler Holt Below
Zach Walters Below
DFA
Jerry Sands Above
Retired
Bruce Chen Below
Don’t agree? Put them in your own order by going to our Ranker.com page.
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