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Is Asdrubal doing enough to play? Photo credit: firebrandal/flickr

Asdrubal’s O is up a notch, but is it enough?

By Ron Vallo | August 4th, 2008

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The Tribe sent infielder Asdrubal Cabrera back to Buffalo in early July to get him refocused at the plate.

At the time he went down his stats were dismal. In 158 ABs, Cabrera was hitting .183; .247 (SLG); .285 (OBP); .532 (OPS). He had scored 16 runs and had 13 RBIs.

He’s been back in the bigs since July 18. For the most part the commentary I’ve heard and read is that Cabrera’s glove is to die for, but his hitting may not justify full-time employment next season.

That is an easy impression to get, looking each night at Asdrubal’s stats - still weighed down by his awful first half.

But it seemed to me his bat has gotten better-enough (if you will) to earn his keep. Here’s what I found.

Since he’s been back with the Tribe, Cabrera has had 52 ABs, or roughly 1/3 as many as he had before being sent out. He’s got 9 runs scored and 4 RBIs since his July 18 return to the lineup, so his runs-scored pace is a little better, and Ribbie level about the same.

But Cabrera is getting on base with more regularity and with a little more pop - not a lot, but some.

Cabrera is hitting .269, up from .183; .383 (SLG) vs. .247 and .372 (OBP), up from .285 prior to his demotion. That raises Cabrera’s OPS to .755 after his recall from Buffalo from a dismal .532 before being farmed out.

With his homer tonight, he’s had two since coming back, compared with one before being sent down - much too small a number to make any judgment on, but I bring it up because it’s there.

I am biased in favor of defense and I say when you have a potential wizard with the glove you play him - if his numbers justify it at all. In Cabrera’s case I think the numbers - since his return at least - are encouraging. But we’ve still got two more months (almost) to get a better feel.

By the way, to illustrate my point about defense being as important (or more so) at keeping runs off the board as offense is in putting them on, tonight’s two runs for the Rays scored due to Jhonny Peralta’s lack of range.Peralta’s bat has convinced me we need to keep him, but we need to see what he’s all about at 3B - especially since Andy Marte has disappeared again and - to me - has pretty much shown he has nothing.

Reyes on the way?

MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince reports we may be getting our first look at one of the guys who recently joined the Tribe during all of the trade-deadline activity.

Anthony Reyes, picked up from St. Louis, is 2-0 at Buffalo and Castrovince reports there are strong hints coming from the big-league club that we may see Reyes the next time the Tribe needs a starter on Aug. 12.

Oh ya! The man Cleveland fans love to hate - David Dellucci - had another 2-run dinger tonight. The game winner in fact.

Does that mean I want to see more of him? Of course it doesn’t.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 8:21 pm and is filed under Asdrubal Cabrera, Anthony Castrovince, Anthony Reyes, Jhonny Peralta, David Dellucci, Cleveland Indians, Andy Marte. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “Asdrubal’s O is up a notch, but is it enough?”

Rlaninthesun says:

August 4th, 2008 at 10:03 pm

The Tribe would be insane to give up on Cabrera - and he definately belongs at shortstop.

He reminds me of Omar Visquel when he first arrived from Seattle. During our great Thome/Bell/Ramirez teams Visquel developed as a clutch hitter long before he hit for an average - a minor point on what was then a classic power hitting ballclub.

I am in full agreement that the SS position SHOULD be defensive-minded first, but this era has discounted the D, and a dilema like Peralta is common.

Shapiro & Wedge need to do whatever is necessary to convince the Jhonny to make the switch to 3B - if it was good enough for ARod and Meggie lovehandles Cabrera - it’s good enough for Jhonny.

I can live with Cabrera hitting .250 as long as he puts up respectable RBI #’s. Unlike Marte I’m inclined to believe he will work his way into becoming a respectable hitter.

Anthony Reyes sounds pretty good thus far, but I remain a skeptic for this reason alone. He was tossed from St. Louis - La Russa and Dave Duncan rarely whiff on quality starters.

I find the Brendan Donnelly story more tantalizing - granted he’s trying to come back from elbow surgery at age 37 - but he was an excellent set up man w/great career numbers.

If the Baseball God’s smile - we just might score with both.
Ron Vallo says:

August 5th, 2008 at 5:29 am

It’s easy to forget about Donnelly (I did) because he was signed and stashed. But he could be a nice addition next year, assuming he is under contract with the Tribe for next year. I’d have to check that out.

I’m hoping Reyes personality conflict with Duncan was the issue for him. I’m pretty hopeful about him.
Andrew S says:

August 5th, 2008 at 6:37 am

Its true that Duncan and LaRussa rarely whiff on a pitching prospect, which is what gives me hope for him to still turn out. They saw something with him to build up all the hype. I some how missed how he got on the team, can someone fill me in?

Also, I think it might not be the best idea to move JP to third. Third base, as we have seen with Marte at the beginning of last year, is almost as important defensively as shortstop. It could be interesting to try him at DH, but I think his lack of range could be just as exposed at third. Imagine JP charging a slow rolling bunt in a crucial situation. I agree with Shapiro in that, while he will never make the spectacular play, JP is solid when it comes to the routine.
Ron Vallo says:

August 5th, 2008 at 6:43 am

Reyes was acquired for Double-A relief pitcher Luis Perdomo (who had some pretty good numbers) on the same day as the Casey Blake trade. The Reyes trade kind of got lost in the shuffle.
Andrew S says:

August 5th, 2008 at 7:03 am

Any chance he brought his really cool red high socks with white stripes?
Halifax says:

August 5th, 2008 at 9:21 am

Joba Chamberlain exited last night’s game with shoulder stiffness . . . Paul Byrd anyone? Wang and Hughes already on the shelf.
James Pete says:

August 5th, 2008 at 6:36 pm

Hey ‘fax…I was thinking the same thing. Even if he’s healthy…there’s question enough about their staff, and the Joba rules…that Byrd would be a good addition. The question would then be…would we get anything?

I’m spoiled. I want to rip someone off for Byrd.

As for Donnely…I watched him first hand the other night against Durham, and he looked really…really good.
joe loudmouth says:

August 5th, 2008 at 7:01 pm

Someone will come looking for Byrd for sure. Hopefully it will be soon because the wheels can come off pretty quickly. The Globe reported today that the Red Sox are looking at Joe Borowski. To be honest I am not sure it wasn’t a joke but maybe it shows how desperate teams can become. One more high quality start and Byrd will bring in a great prospect.