Tribe Happenings: White injury should be cause for concern

Indians talented pitcher Alex White could be

out longer than expected. (Photo: AP)

Some news, notes, and thoughts from my Indians notebook…

Whiteout

The Indians suffered a big blow last weekend when right-handed pitcher Alex White sprained the middle finger of his pitching hand. He was immediately placed on the 15-day disabled list and is expected to miss up to six to eight weeks to recover from the injury. He will not throw a ball for four weeks and no surgery will be performed at this time as the Indians hope rest and rehab will get him back to 100%. Not only is his loss a big one to the starting rotation, but the injury is definitely a big concern.

While the Indians are downplaying the injury right now, there is certainly some concern that this could be the Adam Miller situation all over again. Miller had other complicating factors involved with his middle finger sprain he initially suffered back in May of 2007, but back then he was initially diagnosed with a “slight” sprain of his middle finger and not considered “serious” and expected to only be out for six to eight weeks.

To go back in time and recollect what Miller initially went through with his middle finger sprain in May of 2007, here is an excerpt from Miller’s scouting report from my 2008 Top 50 Prospects listing:

Miller was scratched from a scheduled start in May with a slight strain on the last digit of the middle finger on his pitching hand, an injury commonly found among rock climbers. The Indians put him on the disabled list and he was out of action for 45 days as a precautionary move. The Indians caught a big break in that the finger injury was not serious, and the Indians were extremely conservative with Miller's progression back and followed the recommendations and protocols of hand specialist Dr. Tom Graham. After returning to the rotation in late June from the finger injury, Miller was shutdown for a month because of inflammation in his pitching elbow.

Sound familiar?

The same thing is being said right now about White as the injury is similar to Miller’s in that it is uncommon in baseball and commonly found in rock climbers. Also that the Indians are cautiously optimistic he will be okay and that rest and rehab will get him back in six to eight weeks.

Miller certainly had some other complicating factors that were involved, but as we know his career took a turn for the worse as he had multiple surgeries and missed almost three full seasons before making his triumphant return this year. His case was an extreme one, but also one where with him and White sharing the same uncommon injury that White’s status for this season and beyond could be in jeopardy.

Lineup decisions

With the return of outfielder Grady Sizemore from the 15-day disabled list on Friday, manager Manny Acta unveiled a new lineup. Instead of inserting Sizemore back into his customary leadoff spot he has been placed in the sixth spot in the lineup, which is a testament to how well outfielder Michael Brantley has been playing and how comfortable the Indians are with him settling into the leadoff spot on a more permanent basis.

It also means that the Indians are trying to give the middle of the lineup a boost. With designated hitter Travis Hafner out a few more weeks, the Indians could really use some more thunder in the middle of the order and Sizemore is the best answer for that in the short term. Depending on the matchup it looks like Sizemore could hit either fifth or sixth in the lineup until Hafner returns or Carlos Santana gets things turned around.

Speaking of Santana, the Indians finally made the decision to slide him down in the order. The move should help take some of the pressure off of him hitting in the cleanup spot so that he can get things straightened out and most importantly gain his confidence back. He is still one of the most dangerous hitters in the lineup, but he is clearly over-swinging at a lot of pitches and pressing so the shift to the seventh spot in the lineup will do him some good.

With Santana out of the cleanup spot it does leave an interesting quandary of sorts for the Indians to work through. Right now they lack really any right-handed bat that should be hitting in the middle of the lineup. First baseman Matt LaPorta is an option, but he is not ready for the burden to hit fourth or fifth in the lineup. They have also tried reserve player Shelley Duncan in the fourth or fifth spot since he is a right-handed bat and can break up the lefties, but a player like him in that spot of the lineup simply will not cut it. Finding a run producing right-handed bat is clearly a need for the team if they wish to contend the rest of this season and do any damage in the playoffs if they make it there.

With the offense in a funk and some key players still struggling or hurt, the Indians really have their hands tied behind their back right now to put a lineup on the field that can consistently score runs and give the team a chance to win. That means some desperate measures will need to be taken in the short term with the lineup, which is what we are seeing this weekend in Tampa.

Santana’s struggles

Carlos Santana is struggling through the pains of his first full season in the big leagues. While he is technically no longer a rookie, he came into this season with just 46 career games in the big leagues under his belt so is pretty much in the rookie camp. Very few players hit on all cylinders out of the gates when they reach the big leagues, and with him we are likely seeing the adjustment period so many young players have to make when moving up from the minors to the big leagues.

In 45 games Santana is hitting .209 with six homers, 22 RBI, and a .716 OPS. He has shown flashes of the power and has drawn 33 walks and has a solid .344 on-base percentage. He ranks 5th in all of baseball in walks and he leads all of baseball in total pitches seen per at bat, so he is putting up good at bats. The problem is his swing is out of whack and needs to be simplified and toned down some so he can make more consistent, hard contact.

Victor Martinez went through a similar slump early in his career. After a very good first full season in the big leagues in 2004 where he hit .283 with 23 homers, 108 RBI and a .851 OPS, he struggled massively at the start of 2005 where up to the All Star break he hit just .236 with nine homers, 35 RBI and a .692 OPS. The light switch flipped on for him after the All Star break where he hit .380 with 11 homers, 45 RBI, and a 1.027 OPS in the second half, numbers that Santana himself is certainly capable of putting up to level out his performance this season.

There is no denying Santana’s talent as he has a gifted arm, a powerful bat, and is one of the best young hitters in the game. But right now he is simply just pressing and trying to do too much as he is struggling both at the plate with his hitting and behind it with his throwing. The Indians have given him a few days off recently as “mental health” days, something which is more useful for players than people think. That along with reducing his role in the lineup hopefully will spark him because over the course of the rest of the season the Indians are going to really need his bat.

Attendance concerns

While the Indians are seeing more people at Progressive Field of late, the attendance is still nowhere close to what should be expected from a team that is in first place and putting up some of the most memorable finishes on a nightly basis not seen in a long time. The Indians rank 27th in the league in attendance this season as they are averaging 18,574 fans a game. That average will continue to rise as we get into the hot summer months, especially if the team continues to play well.

It has been reported that the Indians cable TV network SportsTime Ohio has seen over a 100% increase in their ratings this year. This comes as no surprise and shows that people are interested in the team and watching, they just choose to spend their entertainment money elsewhere.

One thing that may be affecting the attendance is the proximity of so many minor league affiliates for the Indians. A little over ten years ago the only local affiliate in town was the Double-A Canton-Akron Indians. Since then, Canton-Akron moved to a new ballpark in Akron in 1997, the Indians short-season Single-A affiliate Mahoning Valley moved to Niles in 1999, their Low-A affiliate Lake County moved to Eastlake in 2003, and their Triple-A affiliate moved to Columbus in 2009. So in a little over ten years they went from one minor league affiliate in Ohio to now four affiliates all located in Ohio.

With fans looking to stretch their dollars during tough economic times, some may be opting for the less expensive and more kid friendly atmosphere of minor league baseball where they can still enjoy baseball and follow the Indians at a lower level.

June swoon?

The Indians have been exciting to watch all season and a fun ride for all of those who have jumped on board their bandwagon. But there are still many skeptics out there who wonder if they will be able to keep up their late inning heroics and great pitching all season.

With well over a 100 games still left in the season, anything can still happen. Thankfully for the Indians their strength lies in pitching and they have lots of it and it is the real deal. This alone will keep them competitive all season, even in the wake of a few significant injuries. Some national baseball pundits may not agree with my view on the Indians pitching quality, but there is no denying it when you consider the performance, youth, and impact the pitching has made so far not only in Cleveland but at Triple-A Columbus as well. To say otherwise is pure ignorance.

Right now it appears a lot of people are waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. With the team winning such a high percentage of one run games at home, winning so many games in their last at bat, and with the lineup struggling and looking to be a major issue going forward, the skeptics expect the Indians to regress and begin their nosedive in June and eventually out of playoff contention by late August or early September.

There may be some truth to this as the Indians look like they are in their first rough patch of the season, something every team goes through at some point in the season. The key will be finding a way to minimize the losses and not letting them mount up where all the work they put in to get where they are now goes out the window with a few five or six game losing streaks.

The team may be a year early as they were not expected to contend until next year, so with that they have not had time to get the lineup where they truly want it to be as several of their long term alternatives are still in Columbus. So it is possible they may ultimately not make the playoffs this year, or may struggle a lot in the second half.

But don’t worry about all of that. There is nothing like winning baseball on a daily basis throughout the summer and fall, so just enjoy the ride and whatever happens, happens.

Draft time!

The 2011 Major League Baseball Draft kicks off a week from Monday on June 6th at 7:00 p.m. EST with the first round. Rounds 2-30 will be held on Tuesday June 7th starting at 12:00 p.m. ET, and then rounds 31-50 will be held on Wednesday June 8th starting at 12:00 p.m. ET. The Indians have the eighth pick in each round.

As always, this stie will have up to the minute draft results as picks are made over the course of the three days of the draft. I along with a few other site contributors will provide immediate analysis, scouting reports, video, news and other information on all the Indians picks as they happen.

Also, at the conclusion of the draft I will be tracking all the news and rumors with regard to signings and so on. If you are into the MLB Draft or curious about it and want to see who the Indians pick up, there is no better place to follow it on-line than here at the IPI.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Posted in: 2011 Draft,Adam Miller,Alex White,Carlos Santana,Cleveland Indians,Grady Sizemore,victor martinez