Game #32 Observations: Patience, Power Propel Indians Early to Blowout Win Over Cardinals

Patience is a virtue. Power is a party. The Indians used some early plate discipline and a trio of homers -- Framil Reyes, Carlos Santana and Tyler Naquin flexing the muscle -- to knock out the Cardinals in Friday's series opener at Busch Stadium.

Patience is a virtue. Power is a party.

The Indians used some early plate discipline and a trio of homers -- Framil Reyes, Carlos Santana and Tyler Naquin flexed the muscle -- to blast the Cardinals in Friday's series opener at Busch Stadium, 14-2.

The 14 runs by Cleveland was a season high.

Reyes' three-run homer in the top of the first punctuated the four runs allowed by Cardinals starer Daniel Ponce de Leon in just 2/3 of an inning. The Indians finished the night with 20 hits, also a season high, and seven walks.

Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie, meanwhile, wasn't as sharp as his MLB debut, but his four innings of two-run ball provided more than enough length to set up the bullpen. McKenzie walked three and struck out three.

The Indians improved to 20-12, pulling into a three-way tie for first place in the AL Central with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox. 

Here are some observations from Friday night.

Pounce on Ponce

For all of the Indians' shortcomings offensively this season [stares at the lengthy list of articles that are based on the run-challenged Tribe], they've walked more than the retired man that strolls your local mall for exercise each morning.

Cleveland entered Friday's game with the highest walk rate in the majors (11.7 percent), and it was their patience that helped chase Ponce de Leon eight batters into the game.

Just 17 of the 41 pitches the Cardinals hurler tossed were strikes, and opposing hitters did Ponce de Leon no favors. That plate discipline led to four walks in the opening frame, the final two just before Ponce de Leon's early exit.

Santana, the biggest contributor to the Indians' walk total this year -- oh, and you'd be shocked to know that he entered Friday as baseball's walk rate leader -- walked in the first inning, one of his three free passes on the night, just before Reyes' opposite-field round-tripper. 

That 428-foot, three-run blast left the bat at 107.6 mph and gave Cleveland an early 4-0 edge, an advantage they'd never surrender.

Homers R Good

Just how important has Reyes' middle-of-the-order production been to Tribe success in 2020? Well, here's another stat that's sure to shock.

Their fearsome right-handed slugger, who has now clubbed seven home runs this year, has homered in six games this season (two coming in the same game on Aug. 16). The Indians have won five of those contests.

Perhaps he ought to try hitting a few more.

(If you've seen his thunderous swing, you know that's not an issue.)

Reyes finished the night with five RBI, adding a double and two-run single. He now owns a 1.147 OPS over his past 19 games.

Santana and Naquin, meanwhile, supplied a pair of two-run homers on Friday night to power the club with baseball's third-lowest slugging percentage.

Given that homers are the quickest way to generate offense, it would surprise no one -- once we removed the heavy sarcasm -- that 26 of Cleveland's homers have come in wins compared to just five in losses.

Seven of the Tribe's 20 hits on Friday night went for extra bases.

Catch This

Despite the somewhat unquantifiable but clearly present role Indians catchers have played in assisting the Majors' best pitching staff this season, no team in baseball has gotten worse offensive production from their backstops. 

Even a Snapchat filter would struggle to make the numbers look pleasant.

Entering Friday's game, Tribe catchers were slashing a gut-wrenching .096/.248/.138. That's a lower batting average and slugging percentage than pitchers posted as hitters in 2019.

Tribe catchers' wRC+ (100 is league average) of 16 -- sixteen! -- was, by far, the lowest in the majors.

It would be difficult to overcome that lack of production if the rest of the lineup top to bottom, was hitting. That hasn't been the case.

Of course, Roberto Perez, who was a league average hitter and slugged 24 homers in 2019, has also missed a big chunk of the season due to a sore shoulder. But perhaps Friday night was an indication of better things to come.

Perez went 3-for-5 and reached base via a walk, contributing his first multi-hit game of 2020 and providing a quarter of the hits for Tribe catchers this season in just one night.