New Look Lineup Debuts with Little Success

Heading into Friday’s game in Tampa, the Indians were having some offensive struggles. In the recent three game series against Boston, the Indians scored a total of 7 runs while the Red Sox scored 20. Manny Acta attempted to shake things up by making some changes in the lineup.

Friday saw the return of Grady Sizemore, and he is obviously not ready to return to the beginning of the lineup. He was placed in the sixth spot, where he went 0-4.

Two more players who saw a change from their usual spots in the lineup were Orlando Cabrera and Carlos Santana. Cabrera moved into the two hole and Santana into the seventh. Both moves made sense based on the performance of both players.

Cabrera is batting .263 on the year with 24 RBI. He is a very reliable hitter and can be counted on to drive in runs.

Santana was dropped to seventh from his usual cleanup spot. He is having a disappointing season thus far, only hitting .203 on the year. He does have 21 RBI, but he only has 3 in his last ten games.

A player missing from Friday’s lineup was Shin-Soo Choo, who was given the night off. He has done well in his last ten games, with an average of .353, but he was given the night off due to the fact that David Price was pitching. Austin Kearns, a righty, started in his place.

With Hafner still injured and Grady still recovering, the lineup might see some more adjustments before they are both completely healthy. Both of these players are key to the success of the team moving forward.

There is no need to panic yet, as the team is 30-18 and 6 games up in the