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Do IT this week: Layering
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 09:50 p.m. EDT, Jun 30, 2009
CLEVELAND: It has become the norm for manager Eric Wedge to maneuver the Indians around the diamond as if they were interchangeable parts on an assembly line.
No fewer than eight players have shared left field, though Ben Francisco has started more games at the position (29) than anyone else.
Nevertheless, Mark DeRosa, traded last weekend to the St. Louis Cardinals, played left 15 times; Shin-Soo Choo has spent 12 games in left, with Matt LaPorta (seven), Trevor Crowe (six), Ryan Garko (five), Chris Gimenez (three) and David Dellucci (one) also logging time there.
In addition to DeRosa, LaPorta, Crowe and Dellucci no longer are on the roster, but that still leaves four current Tribe players who have experienced the joys of playing left.
And be advised that six players have taken turns as starters in right, led by Choo (56 games). DeRosa was in right eight times, Francisco has played six games at the position, LaPorta four, and Garko and Crowe two each.
Second base has been home to five players: Asdrubal Cabrera has started 28 games at second, and it would have been more if he hadn't spent time on the disabled list. Jamey Carroll is next with 23 starts at second, and Luis Valbuena has 20. Tony Graffanino, back at Triple-A Columbus, started four games at second, and Josh Barfield made three starts there.
Wedge talked a lot about the value of having ''versatility'' on the roster in spring training, and he prepped his players during the exhibition season by using them in unfamiliar positions. Nevertheless, he insists he did not plan to mix and match during the season.
''We've done it by necessity,'' he said Tuesday. ''In the spring, I just knew it might be a possibility.''
Did Wedge believe that at certain positions, no single player was capable of holding down an everyday job?
''I didn't feel that way,'' he said. ''I never felt that one guy couldn't play the same position every day. In fact, I thought a guy like DeRosa could be an everyday player at more than one position.''
Now that DeRosa is gone, at least one player will find his way into the lineup more often.
''I'm going to try a little more to get Garko regular at-bats,'' Wedge said.
Garko has played more first base (32 games) than any other position, but he still is an option in left for Wedge, who has opted to use catcher Victor Martinez at first for 39 games. That has allowed Kelly Shoppach to get behind the plate 41 times, three more than Martinez.
Wedge has expressed a desire to settle into a regular lineup.
''Nothing is set in stone, but I feel good about the direction some of our young players are going,'' he said.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters. Follow the Indians on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.
CLEVELAND: It has become the norm for manager Eric Wedge to maneuver the Indians around the diamond as if they were interchangeable parts on an assembly line.
No fewer than eight players have shared left field, though Ben Francisco has started more games at the position (29) than anyone else.
Nevertheless, Mark DeRosa, traded last weekend to the St. Louis Cardinals, played left 15 times; Shin-Soo Choo has spent 12 games in left, with Matt LaPorta (seven), Trevor Crowe (six), Ryan Garko (five), Chris Gimenez (three) and David Dellucci (one) also logging time there.
In addition to DeRosa, LaPorta, Crowe and Dellucci no longer are on the roster, but that still leaves four current Tribe players who have experienced the joys of playing left.
And be advised that six players have taken turns as starters in right, led by Choo (56 games). DeRosa was in right eight times, Francisco has played six games at the position, LaPorta four, and Garko and Crowe two each.
Second base has been home to five players: Asdrubal Cabrera has started 28 games at second, and it would have been more if he hadn't spent time on the disabled list. Jamey Carroll is next with 23 starts at second, and Luis Valbuena has 20. Tony Graffanino, back at Triple-A Columbus, started four games at second, and Josh Barfield made three starts there.
Wedge talked a lot about the value of having ''versatility'' on the roster in spring training, and he prepped his players during the exhibition season by using them in unfamiliar positions. Nevertheless, he insists he did not plan to mix and match during the season.
''We've done it by necessity,'' he said Tuesday. ''In the spring, I just knew it might be a possibility.''
Did Wedge believe that at certain positions, no single player was capable of holding down an everyday job?
''I didn't feel that way,'' he said. ''I never felt that one guy couldn't play the same position every day. In fact, I thought a guy like DeRosa could be an everyday player at more than one position.''
Now that DeRosa is gone, at least one player will find his way into the lineup more often.
''I'm going to try a little more to get Garko regular at-bats,'' Wedge said.
Garko has played more first base (32 games) than any other position, but he still is an option in left for Wedge, who has opted to use catcher Victor Martinez at first for 39 games. That has allowed Kelly Shoppach to get behind the plate 41 times, three more than Martinez.
Wedge has expressed a desire to settle into a regular lineup.
''Nothing is set in stone, but I feel good about the direction some of our young players are going,'' he said.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters. Follow the Indians on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.
Comments
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Canton, OH
Posted 10:10 PM, 06/30/2009
YAWN. . .
, OH
Posted 08:05 AM, 07/02/2009
I'd rather have one guy who's good and can only play one position then a bunch of mediocre guys who can play multiple positions! The lineup juggling drives me crazy and I have to assume it does the same for the players.
