July was the Indians worst month so far this season, not necessarily in winning percent, but in momentum as it was the final one where the dream of 2015 contention still existed. With a clear vision, the Indians became total sellers at the deadline and will look to build towards 2016 with a still promising roster. In the rankings this month, Moss, Murphy and Rzepczynski are still included as they played almost the entire month with the team before being traded.
Before reading this list and judging, know that players are ranked by what they have done this year, not what they are at their best or what they could provide for the rest of the year. In addition to being ranked by their season stats, each player’s production in July is judged with a grade of Above, Even or Below comparing actual performance to their expectations. The number in parenthesis shows their movement since the June rankings. For your consideration, these can be compared to the original, predictive pre-season player power rankings from March and those from April, May and June.
1. Corey Kluber Above (+1)
While Kipnis has been impressive, Kluber is possibly even surpassing his 2014 Cy Young campaign. July was his best month so far this year with a 2.91 ERA and a .212 average against. His 172 strike outs are fourth in the Majors right now 13 behind the magnanimous Clayton Kershaw and five behind Chris Sale for the AL lead.
2. Jason Kipnis Even (-1)
The Indians lone All-Star has slowed down in July (batting just .280), although he remains the Indians top hitter. He still leads the league in doubles (31) and the team in triples (6), hits (132) and steals (11T). While team success remains elusive, Indians fans can at least follow Kipnis’ trek for a possible Silver Slugger and some MVP votes.
3. Danny Salazar Above (0)
Salazar finished the month off with a flourish, keeping the A’s from scoring an earned run in the final game of the month. He finished July with a 2.65 ERA and 35 strike outs in 34 innings comparable with Kluber as the Indians best pitcher in the month.
4. Michael Brantley Above (+1)
Brantley hit a peak in early May when he was batting .352, but dealing with a sore back really hurt his production as he dropped to .292 before the break. No player saw a bigger change going in and out of the All-Star break, however, as he has returned to form with a .346/.452/.635 line and ten RBI and two steals in the second half.
5. Carlos Carrasco Even (+1)
Carrasco finished out the month with one of his best starts yet, a complete game, one run effort and remains the Indians second best starter on the year. He is third among the Indians top four starters with a 4.03 ERA, but is second in strike outs with 140 and has allowed the least amount of walks at 27. He was so coveted at the deadline that the Indians received many trade offers for him, despite saying none of the starters were on the market.
6. Cody Allen Even (+5)
The Tribe closer as still been solid this month, although he did blow his first save since April. He had only limited opportunities, but struck out 11 in 8.1 innings and now has 63 K’s in 41.1 innings. With a save in the final game of the season, Allen has now protected Indians leads of three runs or less in 21 of 23 opportunities.
7. Carlos Santana Above (+5)
The most improved player of the month, Santana went from a season low .206/.345/.359 on July 5th to .228/.359/.398 to end the month. In particular, he really stepped things up from July 9th through the 22nd, batting .400 with six extra base hits, eight walks and three steals. Even at his worst, Santana is one of the Indians best hitters and with a few improvements, he is undoubtedly the third best hitter on the team.
8. Trevor Bauer Below (-5)
One of the primary reasons the Indians haven’t completely taken off since the All-Star break is the struggles of Bauer in his first two starts. In those two, he allowed eleven runs in ten innings after giving up just four in 14.1 innings in his first two July starts. Unfortunately, one bad start quickly outweighs multiple good ones and Bauer’s ERA has now risen to 4.13 after a 4.59 in July.
9. Bryan Shaw Above (+1)
Shaw has been absolutely incredible this season as the Indians primary set up man, posting a 1.77 ERA and a .209 average against with even more impressive numbers in limited action this month (1.00 ERA, .167 BAA). While the Indians have had few leads, Shaw has done a better job of maintaining those than any other Indians pitcher.
10. Zach McAllister Even (0)
Undervalued because what he does is boring, McAllister has been one of the best general relievers in baseball this year and that has continued into July with a 2.16 ERA and 14 strike outs in 8.1 innings. In addition, thanks to a blown Allen save, McAllister picked up his first career save in an extra inning win.
11. David Murphy Below (-3)
Murphy was traded to the Angels on July 28th. Murphy was one of the Indians most disappointing hitters in July, batting just .188 with no home runs and three doubles. He still didn’t strike out much, just six times in 48 at bats in July, but in general he was swinging to pull rather than his normal contact swing.
12. Francisco Lindor Above (+10)
Lindor’s glove and arm strength have been impressive since day one, but this was his first month where the bat seems to have caught up. Batting behind Kipnis has given him plenty of opportunities and this month he was second on the team in RBI (14) and first in home runs (4) thanks to those. He batted .280/.357/.380, his best performance of his young career.
13. Ryan Raburn Below (0)
One of many hitters to blame for the Indians offensive issues in July, Raburn hit just .130 and struck out 12 times compared to just three walks and three hits. Raburn also committed his first error of the year, but that isn’t a fair representation of his defensive prowess as his lack of range keeps him from getting to many balls.
14. Brandon Moss Below (-8)
Moss was traded to the Cardinals on July 30th. Thanks to opportunities, Moss was third on the Indians in RBI (13) in July while also being worst on the team in strike outs (27) and average (.177). He is also first (106 K’s) and second (56 RBI) for the season. With a resurgence of Santana, he is now the Indians most disappointing hitter, but still better overall than quite a few hitters overall on the roster.
15. Cody Anderson Below (-1)
Never in Indians history has a pitcher began a career so well as Anderson and never has a pitcher fallen so far so quickly. In his first four games, Anderson was incredible, allowing three total runs, but in his last two this July, he allowed 11 runs in 8.1 innings. The truth lies somewhere in between as a switch in luck (BABIP) and MLB hitters learning the rookie have caused the stark turnaround.
16. Roberto Perez Even (+3)
Such a valuable reserve catcher that he was rumored to be wanted by some teams at the deadline as their starter, Perez continues to provide a steady bat in lieu of Gomes. Currently, only four starters have an OPS ahead of Perez (.756) and he remains the only catcher to catch Billy Hamilton twice this season. Thanks to all the off-days, however, Perez played in just eight games in July.
17. Yan Gomes Even (+4)
Every time Gomes has had a solid hit this year it seems he is turning around, and he has hit .260/.305/.416 in July, he simply hasn’t been the type of hitter the Indians need him to be. Without much power in the lineup, Gomes is essentially the right handed power bat that everyone is always asking for. To this point, he hasn’t filled that potential and it is looking more and more like 2015 will be a lost season for him thanks to the early injury.
18. Giovanny Urshela Even (+2)
One of the most consistent hitters in June, Urshela has fallen back a little in July, batting just .253/.289/.367 with only six extra base hits and one home run. He continues to be a force at third, probably the best defensive player there since at least Travis Fryman.
19. Michael Bourn Below (-1)
Since his second year with the club, Bourn has generally been a disappointment, but now he is legitimately the worst player on the team. His WAR of -0.3 is the worst of any Indians player outside of Ramirez and Nick Swisher as he is a negative value player both at the plate and in the field. He did show a slight upswing at the end of July, batting .406 with four steals and three doubles over the last eight games, but little emphasis should be placed on such a short period.
20. Jeff Manship Above (+4)
The most positive bullpen surprise so far this year, Manship was a Spring Training invitee who stuck around in Columbus and actually performed above expectations when he was asked to serve at the Major League level. In July, he has allowed just two runs and five hits in 10.1 relief innings, striking out nine and walking two.
21. Ryan Webb Even (-6)
Still one of the biggest surprises this year (both in ability and the fact that he’s still on the roster), Webb has had a 3.00 ERA for the season as well as in his six innings during the month of July.
22. Mike Aviles Below (-5)
The Indians announced that Aviles would not be traded this month early on, despite his upcoming free agency and this makes complete sense from a baseball perspective. An offense that has already had issues scoring can definitely use his .114/.170/.182 line in July (0/20 in his last five games to end the month) and his bumbling around left field would certainly be missed.
23. Austin Adams Even (0)
Adams was used more often in July than in any other month this year, but that may have exposed the young reliever. After a 2.57 ERA in June, he has fallen to a 4.70 in July and has allowed 14 base runners in 7.2 innings. As he has options left, Adams could be the first man out if Terry Francona decides he wants a bigger bench.
24. Marc Rzepczynski Below (-8)
Rzepczynski was traded just prior to the deadline to San Diego for Abraham Almonte. With Hagadone out for the year and Crockett back in AAA, it appeared Rzepczynski would be the main option from the left side of the pen for the rest of the year, but he will now be replaced by Roth. This may be a positive as, despite being solid against left handers, he has still had major problems against the other half, allowing a .310 average and 7.71 ERA vs RHH.
25. Michael Roth DNP (Unranked)
Roth was added to the Major League roster in the last week of the month, replacing Aguilar and giving the Indians an eight man bullpen again. He did not play during the month, largely thanks to complete games by Kluber, Bauer and Carrasco his first three games with the team.
On roster, but not included:
Tyler Holt Even
Lonnie Chisenhall Above
Jerry Sands DNP
No Longer Around
AAA
Jose Ramirez Even
Jesus Aguilar Even
Kyle Crockett Below
DL
Nick Hagadone Below
Whether you agree or not, you can vote for your own rankings by going to Ranker.com.
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