Clevelinks: Cleveland Indians Lose; Deadline Notes; Santana’s Offense

The Cleveland Indians ended a winning streak, but should they be buyers at the deadline?

The Cleveland Indians lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday, and their five-game winning streak came to a halt. While a loss is a loss, it was a very close game, and the Pirates only nudged ahead of the Tribe with a one-out single in the sixth inning. Aside from a trio of singles, Jeff Locke and Mark Melancon dominated the Indians’ lineup.

Despite a silent lineup, Cody Anderson continued to impress. In his third major league start, the right-hander collected his third quality start while allowing just his second earned run of the season. His 0.57 ERA is quite special, and it’s not that often that we get to see a rookie come up and prevent runs at such a rate.

These results, however, could begin to worsen shortly. The right-hander has yet to strikeout many batters and has walked an uncharacteristically low number of batters. ERA estimators FIP, xFIP, and SIERA all suggest ERAs ranging from 3.34 to 4.34. It will be interesting to see how things play out once he starts striking out batters at a higher rate.

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In other news, the Cleveland Indians now appear to be on the fence as to whether or not they will buy or sell at the Trade Deadline. Cody Norman noted that the Tribe has put themselves within striking distance of the Wild Card with their recent winning streak, and Katrina Putnam listed four reasons why the Indians should buy at the Trade Deadline.

Finally, many fans have criticized Carlos Santana for various aspects of his offense. From a low batting average to an alleged “swing for the fences mentality”, the complaints never seem to stop. With this in mind, I decided to defend his offense with a few reasons why his low batting average is not a problem. In addition, I also debunked a few other major myths about his batting.

More from around the AL Central:

Defending the Cleveland Indians’ Carlos Santana’s Offense – Wahoo’s on First

Four Reasons the Cleveland Indians Should Be Buyers at the Trade Deadline – Wahoo’s on First

Loose Play Has Cleveland Indians Back in Contention Heading into All-Star Break – Wahoo’s on First

Detroit Tigers Bullpen Moves Are Not a White Flag Raising – Motor City Bengals

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