Leonys Martin has had a rough season and is struggling mightily at the plate. It is time for the Cleveland Indians to move on.
The outfield of the Cleveland Indians has been a constant topic of discussion this season. While someone like Oscar Mercado is the darling of the outfield, Leonys Martin has not performed up to expectations. Martin came into the season as the Indians everyday center fielder and is not playing at a level that warrants extended play time. It is time to go in a different direction.
Leonys Martin is slashing .207/.281/.347 with an OPS of .628 on the season. This is quite the lackluster performance at the plate. This is worse than Martin’s career slash line of .245/.302/.367/.669 which is not even that great in the first place. Martin is striking out an alarming rate this season with 72 strikeouts in 58 games. This does not appear to be something that is going to correct itself. If allowed to play out the season Martin very well could strikeout more this season than any other season in his career (the most times Martin has struck out in a season is 149 in 2016).
Watching the past 18 games Leonys Martin has not had much success, when looking at the numbers they are not exactly a surprise. Martin is slashing .148/.200/.246 with a .446 OPS. During this time Martin has struck out 18 times (once a game) while only walking four times. While Martin has hit two home runs, the overall production is not enough to warrant more playing time, Cleveland already has enough guys like this in the lineup.
Cleveland has multiple outfielders on the roster currently who can take Martin’s playing time. The Indians do not need as many outfielders as they currently have on the roster. The smart move would be to designate Martin for assignment and bring up Bobby Bradley from Columbus to provide some pop in the lineup while making the outfield rotation a bit more clear.
