Cleveland Indians: Francisco Lindor remains the unlikely home run leader

Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor increased his home run total Monday night, and he remains the unlikely team leader in that category.

The Cleveland Indians seemed to have ended the search for a power hitter this offseason by signing Edwin Encarnacion.

He came in to serve as an upgrade over Mike Napoli and provide the Indians with a legitimate threat in the cleanup spot. But things haven’t gone according to plan.

The Indians enter play Tuesday with a total of 40 home runs in 37 games. Encarnacion has just five of those, while Francisco Lindor leads the way with nine.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

That’s right, the 23-year-old shortstop known for his tremendous defense leads the team in home runs and is tied for eighth in the American League with his nine dingers. His batting average has dropped to .279, but that is still good for third on the team among qualified batters.

The fact Lindor is leading the way with nine makes the lack of power from the lineup a bit less frustrating. If he was the leader with just four or five, it would show a severe lack of a home run threat in the lineup.

Yet his mark doesn’t take away from the disappointment from Encarnacion up to this point. A player who hits 40 home runs in a season could hit 30 of those from June-September, but his lack of home runs is telling of a much larger problem.

Encarnacion’s average is down to .198, and he has hit just two doubles in addition to his five home runs. His 12 RBI puts him sixth on the team in that category, even though there are only five qualified batters.

Fans can get frustrated about this for days, but the only thing to do is wait and hope he turns it around, because he is going to be in the lineup hitting fourth or fifth for the remainder of the season.

Next: 5 disappointing players through the first six weeks

What fans can do to ease the frustration is admire Lindor’s current success, as he could potentially lead the team in home runs while also being an All-Star and potentially winning another Gold Glove. Just an average season for the young shortstop.