June was about as good of a month as is possible for a baseball team and unsurprisingly, nearly every player on the roster this month played at or well above expectations. A 13 game winning streak to end the month makes everyone happy and we all know how well the team is playing as a whole, but let’s look at how everyone has played individually.
Below follow the Indians Player Power Rankings for the month of June. As always, players are ranked by their full season’s output, but judged on only their performance for the month. Every player will receive a rating of “Above,” “Even” or “Below” comparing their actual results to what we thought would happen. In addition, each player will have an over/under to show how they moved compared to the May rankings. The original rankings based on pre-season expectations can also be viewed here.
1. Danny Salazar – Above (+1 Change Since April)
The top two spots in the rankings flipped again this month, but they are fairly interchangeable. In a month that saw the entire Indians pitching staff pitch at an inconceivable level, Salazar was by far the best, posting a 1.91 ERA with 35 K’s in 33 innings. For the season, Salazar is not only the top player on the Indians, but arguably the best pitcher in baseball with a 2.22 ERA, .185 average against, 10 wins and 107 strike outs in 93.1 innings.
2. Francisco Lindor – Above (-1)
After his 2015 season, many were surprised by Lindor’s offense and said that he could have a similar year in 2016, but without the power. Lindor disagreed as he was second on the team with six home runs and six doubles in June, increasing his season slugging percent to .462, the highest on the team among players with at least 180 at bats. At the same time, he remains the team’s top defensive player and the best defensive short stop in the American League.
3. Corey Kluber – Above (+1)
Kluber threw two complete games and made it through the 8th with just 87 pitches in another start as he finished up June with a 2.19 ERA, .150 average against and 37 innings in five starts. For the season, his 23 to 110 K/BB rate would look incredible if it weren’t for Tomlin’s superior mark, but even still Kluber is either the Indians top starter (according to fWAR) or a close second behind Salazar (according to more traditional stats, like ERA and K/9).
4. Carlos Carrasco – Above (UnRanked)
Carrasco has pitched the least of the Indians starters because of his early season hamstring injury, but it only took him about three starts after returning to get up to full speed. His first game back was June 2nd and, while he struggled in those first three, he still finished the month with a 2.61 ERA and 43 strike outs in 41.1 innings. Based on in game dominance, it’s very hard to separate the Indians top four starters, but lack of innings will push Carrasco behind Kluber and Salazar for now.
5. Trevor Bauer – Above (+6)
The Indians used just five starters in June and all had an ERA below 3.00 in the month so it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that all five are among the Indians top six players. For the month, Bauer really stood out with a 3-0 record, 2.01 ERA and 43 strike outs in a team high 44.2 innings. Since he has pitched less than the others for the season, this affected his yearly numbers greatly, pushing his ERA to 3.19 and season average to .229 in 90.1 innings.
6. Josh Tomlin – Above (-1)
Making five starts in June, Tomlin continued his regular trend with an ERA of 2.60 despite allowing eight home runs in 34.2 innings. In addition, he had the best control in baseball with only two walks while striking out 19. Ranked 39th in the AL in fWAR, it’s hard to believe that any team has a better fifth starter than Tomlin.
7. Jason Kipnis – Even (-2)
Kipnis cooled off a bit in June, but still hit five doubles and three triples (two in one game against Detroit), while batting .271/.328/.451. For the season he’s second on the team in triples (4) and RBI (45). If there’s one area that Kipnis really took a step back this month it was in the field where he committed three errors over the course of five games after just one in the first two months.
8. Mike Napoli – Even (0)
Napoli remains the Indians power threat in the middle of the line-up with another five home runs and 16 RBI in June. His walk rate increased slightly last month, but his strike out rate remains a problem, totaling 104 already this year, second in the AL with three months to go. If nothing else, Napoli has a real chance at breaking the Indians record for strike outs in a single season, currently held by Jim Thome from 2001 (185). He also has a real chance at hitting 30 home runs and knocking in 100.
9. Jose Ramirez – Even (-2)
Ramirez had his worst month of the season so far in June, but is still batting .292 for the season and remains much more than the utility man he was expected to be. While it’s likely this fall off is simply luck catching up with him, defensively, Ramirez has been more valuable as he has played less in the outfield and more in the infield with at least parts of 22 of 26 games played on the dirt including each of his last 17 games.
10. Carlos Santana – Even (-4)
Santana batted just .255 in June, but lead all Indians with seven home runs and 17 RBI (tied with Kipnis and Lindor). The biggest drop off from the first few months of the season came from his increase in strike out to walk ratio, which finally dipped below 1:1 after striking out 20 times to just 12 walks. Santana has helped increase his value recently by playing first base more often to give Napoli some time at DH.
11. Lonnie Chisenhall – Above (+5)
We’ve grown to expect a short period of incredible play from Chisenhall each year and that period began on May 23rd this year. Since then, he’s batted .340/.383/.585 and he was easily the Indians second best overall offensive performer in June behind Lindor. The majority of his production numbers came at the end of the month when in a four game span he batted .438 and slugged 1.063 with two triples, two home runs and eight RBI.
12. Rajai Davis – Above (-2)
Davis performed his role decently in the first two months, but in June more than ever before he became a total nuisance to the opposition. After just 11 steals in the first two months, he took 10 in June without being caught, all while batting .321. Straight down the line, even defensively, June was the best month of the season so far for the Tribe’s left fielder.
13. Dan Otero – Above (-1)
Otero was the Indians most used reliever in June after the overused pair of Allen and Shaw and he allowed just one run, continuing his dominance out of the pen. He struck out nine in eight innings, but has allowed quite a few hits (9), continuing the mysticism of exactly how he is being so successful. One reason that is apparent, and a reason he ranks highest among Indians relievers on this list, is that he’s struck out 26 compared to just six walks.
14. Cody Allen – Even (-5)
The Tribe closer was pretty solid in June, although there were some questionable points. He finished with a 2.38 ERA, but blew two of eight save attempts and gave up five runs (three earned) in 11.1 innings. The good news is that he struck out 15 compared to just three walks, an improvement over his numbers from the first two months of 27 to 14. For the season, he’s saved 17 of 19 opportunities.
15. Juan Uribe – Even (+4)
Uribe had a very interesting month, missing five days thanks to an unfortunate injury, then hitting home runs in four consecutive games after returning, knocking in seven of his ten RBI for the month. Overall, he batted just .188, but slugged .438 while playing solid defense. In the end, Uribe has some value, but will eventually likely have to have his playing time reduced in the long run. This will probably happen soon with Ramirez playing more third as Abraham Almonte rejoins the outfield on July 3rd.
16. Joba Chamberlain – Below (UR)
Chamberlain pitched just 3.1 innings in June, so it’s hard to blame him for his two runs allowed as he had long stretches without play between each appearance. For the season, his numbers still look good with a .169 average against, 2.60 ERA and 18 strike outs in 17.1 innings.
17. Zach McAllister – Above (-3)
McAllister wasn’t used much during June, but he was dominant when he was, holding opponents to a 1.35 ERA and .200 average in 6.2 innings. His drop in the rankings has more to do with the increased offensive performance of a few other players while McAllister barely pitched at all.
18. Jeff Manship – Above (0)
Manship was seldom used in June and when he was, he got pretty lucky. He allowed just one run in six innings on a home run, but walked three and allowed four hits, bringing his season numbers to 10 walks and 19 hits allowed in 20 innings for a WHIP of 1.45.
19. Bryan Shaw – Below (-2)
In month that was defined by great pitching from both the starting staff and the relief corps, Shaw was the lone pitcher with a really poor month. He allowed four runs on two home runs, despite being one of the only relievers to actually get regular work, pitching in 12 games. He blew his one of five hold attempts during the month, his second blown save of the year, and raised his season ERA to 4.70.
20. Tyler Naquin – Above (UR)
Naquin’s detractors can say whatever they want, but instead of regressing, the rookie actually improved his play during June, batting .344/.444/.797 in 23 games. His six home runs were second on the team and he got in on the base stealing fun by taking two without being caught. He also hit three triples to push his team lead to five. In all, his and Chisenhall’s positive play has kept the necessity of trading for another outfielder at bay.
21. Yan Gomes – Below (-6)
Gomes defense is still as good as its ever been, but that doesn’t make it much easier to deal with a regular hitter batting below .200. Each month he’s had a short period of greater success where it looked like things were turning around, but each time he’s fallen back down. In June, that stretch was from thee 18th through the 26th when he batted .333/.360/.542, but after the short spurts in April and May, we’re not falling for it this time. At least not yet.
22. Tommy Hunter – Above (-2)
The increase in average innings pitched per game by the Indians starters affected the entire bullpen in June, but possibly Hunter the most as he had been used initially as a long man, the first man out when a starter got into trouble. With no need for that, he pitched just 5.2 innings in four games all month allowing no earned runs on three hits.
23. Michael Martinez – Above (0)
Martinez has been a pleasant surprise, playing above average defense in the outfield and hitting at an impressive level for a AAAA utility man. Even so, he’s the Indians lightest hitting position player and has been caught in his only two steal attempts. He should be the first man out once Almonte returns from suspension in early July unless Terry Francona will tolerate losing one of his eight relievers.
24. Tom Gorzelanny – Above (UR)
Usually, a left handed match-up man pitches almost every game against one batter or a time. Gorzelanny, however, has been used in just five games and 2.1 innings all month. While he hasn’t allowed a hit or run, Francona has essentially declared him as useless for the team by not using him.
25. Chris Gimenez – Even (-1)
The Indians back-up catcher deserves credit for two things, filling in for Roberto Perez without being completely terrible at the plate and being the receiver during the first really consistent period of Bauer’s career. However, while often catchers aren’t given enough credit for the success of the rotation, Gimenez may have been given too much as each of the Indians starters had an incredible month and he only caught about once every five days. Perez will hopefully be back some time next month and when he comes back, the Indians should have no problem dropping Gimenez to make room.
Removed
AAA
Cody Anderson Below
Mike Clevinger DNP
Austin Adams Even
Ryan Merritt DNP
Shawn Armstrong DNP
Suspended
Marlon Byrd DNP
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
