In any baseball game there are moments where you can look back and say, if this did not happen, the other team would have won or if one player was absent from the lineup that the results would have been different. In a one run game, this can be even more extreme. This line of thinking won’t get you too far beyond causing excess regret during losses, but there was a distinct player and situation worth noting from Wednesday night’s game against the Twins where, had he been absent, the Indians would likely have lost and the Twins would have earned the three game streak.
That player, as you can tell by the title, was not Carlos Santana, who had three hits and two runs scored or Francisco Lindor, who knocked in three. We knew these players would be in the starting line-up in 2016 by this time last year and they have played in every game so far in 2016. It was also not any of the relievers, who pitched four shut out innings to maintain the win. Dan Otero, Joba Chamberlain and Jeff Manship have shown that you don’t have to be Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw and Zach McAllister to throw a shut out inning.
No, the player who deserves credit for providing the biggest difference was Tyler Naquin, the rookie center fielder who has now played in just 17 Major League games. After the first two innings, when the only batters to reach against Jose Berrios were Santana on a single and Yan Gomes, who was hit by a pitch, Naquin worked an impressive walk after starting off down in the count 0-2, ultimately seeing eight pitches. His fleet feet allowed him to take third on Santana’s second single and he scored on a Lindor double for the first run of the game.
Naquin wasn’t done though. After a 1-2-3 fourth, he lead off the fifth with a single, then after Santana walked, he scored on a Jason Kipnis double to tie the game. He struck out in his next two at bats, but the Indians maintained their one run lead earned in the sixth and won the game to push back above .500.
Going back to the original thought, it is hard to say that Naquin did anything that anyone else couldn’t have done, but it is something his predecessor didn’t do. It is no insult to Rajai Davis, but the Indians have only rostered two players who could be considered defensively sound in center field, Naquin and Collin Cowgill. While Cowgill does possess a fine glove, his .083 average with no extra base hits and just two walks was too similar to his .188/.233/.290 line from 2015 for the Indians to feel comfortable that he would be able to turn things around. The Indians decided to retain the services of Naquin over Cowgill when Lonnie Chisenhall came back from the disabled list and it is a decision that has already paid off.
More than just a single game, Naquin has batted .333/.350/.436 this season, leading the team in average and striking out just 11 times in 39 at bats. Much like Lindor in 2015, Naquin has already provided at a level far exceeding his expectations. Like Lindor, Naquin was a first round pick (just one year later in 2012) and like him, he started off with lofty expectations. Over the years since, however, the Indians drafted two more outfielders in the first round (Clint Frazier in 2013, Bradley Zimmer in 2014) that surpassed Naquin on most minor league rankings. This, combined with some unfortunately timed injuries at the end of 2015 lead many Indians fans to look beyond Naquin to the future outfield of 2017 and beyond.
Luckily for those fans, the Indians didn’t overlook Naquin. Instead, after he showed his promise in Spring Training, they cleared his way, selling Zach Walters and James Ramsey to Los Angeles. The Indians have given Naquin every chance to succeed this year and he has taken advantage.
While Naquin was platooning early in the season with Cowgill and sometimes Davis, he has been playing more regularly of late. This may have been unnecessary, but it allowed him to get used to right handed Major League pitching before facing any left handers, who he had problems with in the minors. He has not had problems with them to this point in the Majors, however, and in his first five at bats versus South paws he already has two hits including an RBI double. This is far too small of a sample size to make any judgments, but it does prove that he isn’t completely lost in the box against left handers and given his defense, he should be worth starting in center field every day unless he proves otherwise.
The Indians still have five outfielders and Jose Ramirez, an excess if there ever was one, but perhaps Naquin’s success will allow the Indians to finally make the move many have been begging for years for and finally depart from Lonnie Chisenhall. A roster move is coming in about a week when the Indians will need a fifth starter again and, chances are, the vacated roster spot will come out of the outfield. With Naquin in center and Brantley in left every day, finding work for Davis, Chisenhall and Byrd in right will be nearly impossible. Of those, two are veteran hitters who have years of proven ability behind them and the other is Lonnie.
The Indians new they would need two center fielders at the Major League level at some point this year and worked Chisenhall out there for two games in AAA, but Naquin has been playing center for years and it is hardly something anyone could excel at after a few in game innings. Naquin is the better bat, the better glove in center and doesn’t have to be platooned to succeed. If the question is which player will help the Indians win now or which will help the Indians win in the future, the simple answer is just Tyler Naquin.
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