If Indians hitters stay healthy this season, it stands to reason they'll score more runs that they did last year.
View full sizeManny Acta may be pondering his lineup options, but he accepts that Shin-Soo Choo will almost certainly remain the team's No. 3 hitter this season. "He's been the most productive hitter on the ballclub the last two years," Acta said Monday in Goodyear, Ariz., "so he's there."GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Manager Manny Acta isn't ready to reveal his lineup for the 2011 season. He has good reasons to wait.
• Spring training doesn't officially begin for the Indians until Tuesday, when pitchers and catchers report. The regular season doesn't start until April 1. There's no reason to rush.
• Grady Sizemore and Carlos Santana, two big parts of the lineup, are still recovering from serious knee operations. Their rehabilitation programs have gone well, but Acta wants to make sure they're sound before deciding where they fit in the lineup.
• Orlando Cabrera, who has a good chance to be the starting second baseman, has yet to pass his physical. Until he does that, his one-year deal isn't official.
Some managers construct their lineup under cover of darkness. It's top secret stuff, for the manager's eyes only.
Acta went cloak-and-dagger last spring when he asked Sizemore to move from leadoff to the No.2 spot. The full result of the move could not be measured because Sizemore's season ended after 33 games due to his damaged left knee.
Most of the time Acta's approach to making out his lineup is much more transparent.
"The philosophy is you have to pile up your best hitters at the top of the lineup," said Acta. "It's simple. You don't put your best hitter at the back end of the lineup.
"Ideally, it would be perfect if you can balance the lineup right [handed hitter], left [handed hitter], right, left, right left. At the end of the day, you have to put your best hitters all together. That will give you the best chance to score as many runs as possible."
Runs win games and that's two things the Indians didn't do much of last year. They finished 26th in runs and lost 93 games. Injuries caused many of those problems. Sizemore, Asdrubal Cabrera, Santana, Shin-Soo Choo and Travis Hafner missed a significant number of games with injuries. If those five players can stay healthy, along with improvement from young players such as Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley and Jason Donald, things could be different this year.
"Even last year, if we hadn't lost those guys, I think it was still a pretty good lineup," said Acta.
Sizemore has spent most of his career in the leadoff spot. Last year, Santana hit third for 35 starts and fourth for 10. Still, Acta is reluctant to say where they'll bat in 2011.
"One hitter changes a whole lineup," said Acta. "And we've got two of them in Grady and Carlos.
"I don't think it's fair to the seven other guys in the lineup to tell them where they're going to hit. Then when a guy comes back [from injury], you change the whole thing. We're just going to wait a little bit."
The safest bet is Choo hitting third. He made 105 starts in the No.3 spot last year, while hitting .300 with 22 homers, 90 RBI and 22 steals.
"My philosophy has always been that your best hitter hits third," said Acta. "It guarantees your best hitter is going to hit in the first inning. And that he won't lead off the next inning with no one on base.
"He's been the most productive hitter on the ballclub the last two years, so he's there."
A determining factor to the Indians' run production will be the performances of LaPorta and Brantley, acquired from Milwaukee in 2008 for CC Sabathia. Acta could hit LaPorta behind Hafner in the sixth or seventh spot, while using Brantley at the top or bottom of the lineup.
"For us to get where we want to go, we're going to need contributions from everyone in the lineup," said Acta.
If the Orlando Cabrera signing goes through, he adds an interesting bat to the lineup. The 14-year veteran has spent most of his career batting at the top of the order, especially in the second spot. Acta knows Cabrera well. He was a coach for three years when Cabrera played shortstop for the Montreal Expos. It's a good bet he already has a pretty good idea where he'd use him in the lineup.
But why rush into a decision when all you have is time?
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/02/cleveland_indians_manny_acta_w.html
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