GOODYEAR, ARIZ.: Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor was so exceptional as a rookie in 2015, his expectations for 2016 amongst fans will be incredibly high, perhaps even impossibly high.
All he has to do is build off of one of the best rookie seasons for a shortstop in baseball history, continue to hit better than anyone thought he ever would, play Gold Glove-level defense and be one of the faces of the franchise as a 22-year-old with less than a full season in the big leagues.
Lindor arrived in Cleveland as the prized prospect, the uber-valuable shortstop, the next big thing. After a slow start, he showed he had it all, that the prophecies were right. The slick glove. The highlight-reel plays. He hit for average. He hit for more power than anyone reasonably expected. He hit in key situations. He ran. He was in the middle of it all. He had the always-present, trademark smile after every play.
He hit .313 with a .353 on-base percentage, 12 home runs, 22 doubles, 50 runs scored and 12 stolen bases in only 99 games and finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting.
He became the first Indians rookie to total at least 10 home runs, 10 steals, 20 doubles, 100 hits and a .300 average since Earl Averill did it just before the stock market crashed in 1929.
It was more than any reasonable projection had him hitting.
Take away the rookie moniker and Lindor still ranked among the best. His 10 defensive runs saved, per FanGraphs, led all AL shortstops and were the most for an Indians shortstop since some guy named Omar Vizquel in 2003.
He was second among shortstops in Wins Above Replacement or WAR (4.6) behind only the San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Crawford (4.7), who played in 44 more games. Factor in his service time and that he won’t be arbitration eligible until the 2019 season, and he could be one of the best values in baseball for the next several seasons.
Keeping cool
It was a lot for a young player to handle, but Lindor has kept his calm, cool demeanor through it all, even the rough first couple of weeks. He allowed everything to slow down.
Many nights in the clubhouse, Lindor was the last player to leave, often the final player to speak to the media. He didn’t want his season to fly by, for everything to catch up with him. So he let it sink in, completely, took his time after the game and then went home to his family and talked about anything but baseball.
“Once I get home, my mom, my girlfriend, my family, they let me watch movies,” Lindor said. “They’re not on ESPN or MLB Network. … Once I’m home, they just want to make sure I’m relaxed. I want to talk to them about how their day went. … [In the clubhouse], I try to let everything [calm down], whether it was a great day or a bad day. I try to let everything out in the clubhouse because, once I’m out, it’s time for me to spend time with my family.”
But the question now is, what do you do for an encore? He’s now a known commodity. Pitchers will make adjustments. He’s on the regional covers of season preview magazines over other high-profile players on the roster.
Baseball is an unforgiving sport. It’s built on failure. April, especially, can be cruel to younger players. Getting off to a rough start means a player has to stare at his subpar batting average on the scoreboard every day.
April anticipation
The Indians, of course, know they could have something really special for a long time. Lindor getting off to a good start in April in his sophomore season is a key hurdle.
“April can be a rough month for a lot of people, especially when you’re in the Northeast,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “It’s cold and sometimes games are sporadic. … Regardless of how he gets out of the gate, he’s a good player.”
The Indians want to be cautiously optimistic with Lindor. They aren’t downplaying his potential, but to build off that rookie season? He’s already considered one of the best all-around shortstops in the game (MLB Network’s “The Shredder” ranked him No. 1). The Indians know expecting everything to go well all the time is probably setting a young player up for failure, even one with Lindor’s talent and drive. But now that they know him as a person — Francona has raved about how well Lindor listens to instruction — and have seen what he can do on the field, they aren’t worried about reeling him in, either.
“If you’re watching the game, you see it. There’s nothing he can’t do,” Francona said. “I don’t think there’s a ton of concern about him just because we know him really well now. … Does it guarantee he’s going to have the best April? No, nothing does. But we know he’s a good player and probably is going [to] end up being, hopefully, a great player.
“There’s still a lot of things for him to learn, which he understands, like the league and what they’re trying to do to him, things like that that don’t show up in the box score. I think he’s going to be fine. … I don’t think you proclaim somebody after three months in the big leagues a hall of famer. But I don’t want to talk him down. We love him. Shoot, the kid’s really good.”
Making adjustments
To Lindor, this season is about two things: remaining consistent in his work but making adjustments at the plate. He has to change his approach as quickly as pitchers will be changing their sequencing for him.
“Adjustments, adjustments,” Lindor said. “Making adjustments right away and not letting myself get down too early. Just continuing to believe in myself, making the adjustments day in and day out as fast as I can make them.”
The spotlight will only be brighter this season. Lindor already has to be considered one of the faces of the franchise, along with Jason Kipnis, Corey Kluber and Michael Brantley. He said in January he doesn’t consider himself a “follow me” type of leader. He’s not as vocal in that way, especially because he isn’t a veteran. If he continues to put in the work to learn the league, the Indians are OK with that.
“I don’t know that ‘Follow me’ is being a leader,” Francona said. “Guys can do it in a different way. Sometimes by the guy’s play, that can be leadership. As your shortstop, you want guys to know what’s going on and be able to quarterback the infield.”
Expectations same
He’s certainly now in a position to be scrutinized, just like Kipnis or Kluber or Brantley, as a high-profile major-leaguer. Lindor’s expectations for himself haven’t changed. And the attention doesn’t bother him.
“In the minor leagues, I have a bad month and they’ll write about it three weeks later. Now, I have two bad weeks, they’re writing [about] it every single day,” Lindor said of the increased attention last season. “It’s a little different. … To be honest, it didn’t really affect me.”
Once he got going, that appeared to be especially true — not much went against him offensively or defensively. But stretching out three months of great play into an entire season the next year isn’t always an easy accomplishment.
Baseball can be unkind in that way, but Lindor does have a lot going for him.
The Indians know they could have something really special, as Lindor proved last season. It was a superb three to four months. Now begins the sophomore encore.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ