Just like Jason Kipnis, pictured above, the entire Cleveland Indians roster tends to bat left-handed in their everyday lineup.
Outside of Aaron Cunningham, Shelley Duncan, Lou Marson and Jose Lopez, the only other right-handed hitters on the Tribe’s roster are Carlos Santana and Asdrubal Cabrera, both switch-hitters. However, in the comments section recently (and in articles), we forget that the Indians have six left-handed bats (Kipnis, Kotchman, Choo, Hannahan, Chisenhall (heading to DL) and Brantley, as well as the four right-handed bats and two switch-hitters mentioned above.
The glaring issue is that the Indians are hitting .217/.302/.333 against left-handed pitching; however, the right-handed bats and switch-hitters aren’t helping much against lefties in 2012:
—Asdrubal Cabrera: .299/.384/.483, five doubles, one triple, three home runs, 13 RBI, 7:10 K:BB in 87 at-bats.
—Carlos Santana: .200/.326/.229, two doubles, no triples or home runs, 10 RBI, 14:14 K:BB in 70 at-bats.
—Jose Lopez: .255/.265/.468, four doubles, no triples, two home runs, nine RBI, 5:1 K:BB in 47 at-bats.
—Shelley Duncan: .213/.329/.377, four doubles, no triples, two home runs, seven RBI, 16:11 K:BB in 61 at-bats.
—Aaron Cunningham: .167/.306/.200, one double, no triples or home runs, one RBI, 6:6 K:BB in 30 at-bats.
—Lou Marson: .233/.303/.433, four doubles, one triple, no home runs, three RBI, 4:3 K:BB in 30 at-bats.
Overall, a .237/.330/.375 line, inflated by the fact that Asdrubal Cabrera is a star. The rest of the Indians are not even as good as this line, based on the overall numbers above. They need help to survive. Where are they going to find that help? Via trades, of course.
The following slides will show some names of players, along with their stats against lefties, that the Indians could trade for to help the Indians get back on track and strengthen their lineup.