Cleveland Indians Roundup: Attempts to Improve Yan Gomes’ Offense; Carlos Carrasco Home Run Notes

Members of the Cleveland Indians go to extreme measures in an attempt to improve Yan Gomes’ bat

Carlos Carrasco has been great for the Cleveland Indians this season, and he has been one of the better pitchers in the American League. Unfortunately, he missed a significant amount of time with an injury; otherwise, he would have been in consideration for his first All-Star Game appearance. 

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In spite of this excellence, he has become surprisingly prone to home runs this year, with his home run rate nearly doubling over what he posted from 2014-2015. The likely culprit is a rise in fly ball rate coupled with an abnormally high home run to fly ball ratio. Fortunately, the latter is likely to regress back towards the league average, but this could become a problem if he does not correct the trend.

In other news, members of the Cleveland Indians held a “sacrificial ceremony” in an attempt to help catcher Yan Gomes break out of his slump, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Apparently, Mike Napoli led the “exorcism” while sacrificing a rotisserie chicken to the baseball gods. Jason Kipnis was among the organizers of the event.

This season has been absolutely horrible for the catcher, who turns 29 years old in just two days. Through 69 games, he has slashed a pitiful .163/.198/.310 along with poor base running and above average defense. Given that the Indians are in the midst of the postseason hunt, Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com wonders how much more time Gomes will have before the Indians find a better option behind the dish. He believes that the Indians will give the catcher plenty of time to try to work things out, especially since he is acclimated to the pitching staff and the team’s defensive needs.

Also from the same piece, a fan asked Hoynes whether an extension is a possibility between the Cleveland Indians and Carlos Santana. Hoynes is unsure how that might play out, but he also noted that the team has extended him before. Just a week ago, I gave an update on the looming decision on his option with a greater focus on the team’s potential upcoming salary crunch.

More from around the American League Central:

Cleveland Indians: Carlos Carrasco Has Been Surprisingly Prone to Home Runs This Year – Wahoo’s on First

Cleveland Indians Roundup: Indians Midseason Awards; Francisco Lindor’s Trade Value; Series Preview; Drew Pomeranz Traded Yet Again – Wahoo’s on First

How Long Will Cleveland Indians Stay with Slumping Yan Gomes: Hey, Hoynsie – Cleveland.com

Teammates Ask “Baseball gods” to Help Gomes – Indians.com