The Indians have given Luis Valbuena a pretty long audition but he hasn’t shown much. He has played in 38 games for the Indians this season and he is 27 for 138 (.196 avg, .620 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 4 homers and 10 RBIs. Valbuena is a good defensive player but he needs to hit better to stay in the majors. After all, the Indians still have Josh Barfield at AAA and they aren’t ready to give up on him quite yet. Barfield has played in 17 games for the Indians this season and he is 8 for 20 (.400 avg, .850 OPS) with 5 runs scored and 2 RBIs. But, Barfield has struggled in AAA and I think that’s because he isn’t motivated to be playing in the minors. He has played in 29 games in AAA-ball this season in which he is 26 for 117 (.222 avg, .511 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 18 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see if Barfield gets a chance soon to compete with Valbuena for at bats considering that he is still only 26 years old.

It makes little sense to the Indians to play Ben Francisco every day with Matt LaPorta playing well at AAA. Francisco has played in 69 games this season and he is 58 for 245 (.237 avg, .688 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 5 homers, 23 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He only has really been able to excel against Andy Sonnanstine of the Rays and the Tribe doesn’t have any games left with Tampa Bay. 24-year old righty swinging Matt LaPorta was the key of the C.C. Sabathia trade so the Indians need to bring him up as it makes little sense in keeping him in AAA. LaPorta has played in 56 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 62 for 207 (.300 avg, .908 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 10 homers and 38 RBIs. It’s true that LaPorta struggled in the majors but he didn’t play regularly to see what he could do in a extended tryout. He played in 13 games for the Indians earlier this season and he was 8 for 42 (.190 avg, .572 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Indians need to wake up as Francisco is not a legit starting corner outfielder in the majors. He projects as a solid #4 outfielder because he can handle all three positions defensively.

Grady Sizemore is off to the worst start in his major league career. He has played in 42 games for the Indians so far this season and he is 38 for 177 (.215 avg, .695 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 8 homers, 27 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. It appears that all of the losing is getting to Sizemore who might be putting too much pressure on himself to try to carry the team. The Indians have taken him out of the leadoff spot which is a good idea to take advantage of his power which is still there. Hopefully Sizemore’s bat catches fire soon because the Indians have to outslug opponents right now because of the pitching staff.

27-year old righty swinging 1B Ryan Garko looked like he was going to be a centerpiece of the Indians lineup for years to come after his breakout 2007 season. In 2007, Garko played in 138 games for the Indians and he was 140 for 484 (.289 avg, .842 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 21 homers and 61 RBIs. But, he hasn’t looked good this season causing the Indians to re-evaluate what they have in him. The converted catcher is not even near an average defender at 1B so if he’s not hitting he shouldn’t be playing. Garko has played in 90 games this season for the Indians and he is 74 for 313 (.236 avg, .657 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 8 homers and 49 RBIs. He will likely have the rest of the season to show he can do but if he doesn’t shape up he won’t be getting near as many at bats in 2008 for the Indians.

Jhonny Peralta has not been productive this season despite having 11 homers already. That’s because he’s not hitting with men on base. He is 18 for 98 (.184 avg) with 3 homers and 14 RBIs with men on base. When no one is on base it seems as if Peralta is more relaxed as he is 33 for 130 (.254 avg, .807 OPS) with 8 homers. So, in 59 games this season Peralta is 51 for 228 (.224 avg, .688 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 11 homers and 22 RBIs. The Indians need Peralta to start making his longballs count as they are having big problems scoring runs.