For Grady Sizemore, a bad year got even worse when he was placed on the 15-day Disabled List yesterday.
Once the Tribe’s best hitter, Sizemore has posted a miserable .211/.271/.289 slashline in 33 games.
His once-prodigious power has dried up (no homers, .078 ISO) and he’s no longer a speed demon (four SBs). Even his defense has declined, as he’s posting a negative UZR (-1.5) for just the second time in his career.
His strikeout rate (27.3 percent) is at a career high, and his walk rate (6.3 percent) is at a career low. He’s clearly having trouble telling the difference between good pitchers (at which he’s swung only 59 percent of the time) and bad ones (he’s hacked at 33 percent of them).
Now, though, he’s officially out of commission.
When Sizemore’s back acted up during the first week of the season, I wondered aloud about which of seven potential candidates would be called to replace him if he was out of the lineup for an extended period of time.
Now that the hypothetical has become a reality, I thought it would be important to provide updates on his possible replacements.