Luplow breaks slump, sparks Tribe's bats

Indians temporary manager Sandy Alomar Jr. knew that keeping a hitless Jordan Luplow in the lineup would help Luplow’s confidence at the plate. The way the outfielder’s past few at-bats had gone gave Alomar a feeling that the hitless streak would soon come to an end. As it turns out, he was right.

“I want him to be the guy that we had last year,” Alomar said prior to the game. “Sitting on the bench is not going to do that. I need to put him out there.”

With six outfielders on their 28-man roster, the Tribe has tried to figure out the best way to rotate through its options as consistently as possible. And despite Luplow’s 0-for-20 skid through his first eight games, Alomar penciled him into the lineup for the second consecutive game. Luplow logged his first hit of the season in his second at-bat, a two-run blast during a six-run fourth inning that helped lift the Indians to a 7-1 victory over the White Sox on Saturday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.

• Box score

“My old college coach used to tell me, 'If you haven’t gone 0-for-20, 0-for-30, you haven’t played the game long enough,'” Luplow said. “I’m sure the majority of baseball guys have been through something like this. It’s just nice to have the support from the team and the coaches. Just grinding every day, saying, ‘You’re real close. You’re getting there. You’re getting there.’ It’s tough, but I got through it.”

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Last year, Luplow hit .276 with a .923 OPS, and he’s a hitter the Indians most certainly need in their lineup. Although he tried to remain level-headed through the slump, a lot of pressure has now gone away.

“[It felt] like the entire world just came off my shoulders,” Luplow said. “It was great. It was nice seeing all those smiles in the dugout and how happy they were for me. That shows how genuine of guys they are and how happy they were for me to finally get off it.”

The team was optimistic after an offensive outburst during a 13-0 win over the Reds on Thursday but was shut out for the third time of the season on Friday. Now, the Cleveland offense, which boasted a Major League-worst .189 average entering Saturday, is hoping it’s finally finding its footing.

The Tribe has run out eight outfielders so far this year, and the group had collectively hit .152 entering Saturday’s contest. While they wait for Tyler Naquin (right big toe fracture) to join the team, the Indians are desperately searching for an impact bat to emerge from among their outfielders. Luplow served that role in the second half of last season, especially against left-handed pitching. But before he went home for the winter, Luplow said he wanted to prove that he can be more than just a platoon guy moving forward and Alomar has been willing to give him that chance this past week, despite his struggles.

“It’s nice,” Luplow said of the consistent playing time. “You know, the past couple years I’ve been battling, trying to fight for days to play. But it’s nice being in there, getting in a rhythm, especially missing a majority of camp [with a back injury] and getting to see some more pitches and getting a feel for my strike zone and my swing and timing.”

Saturday’s long ball came off of right-hander Drew Anderson. Just one of Luplow’s 15 homers in 2019 came off of a right-hander. He slashed .216/.274/.299 in 97 at-bats against righties, while slashing .320/.439/.742 in 128 at-bats against lefties. If Saturday is a sign that Luplow’s skid is in the rearview mirror, it may also be a sign that he can play more of a consistent role in the Tribe’s lineup regardless of who’s on the mound.

Along with Luplow’s positive steps forward, Domingo Santana, Francisco Lindor and Franmil Reyes continued to show signs of heating up with multi-hit afternoons. The main storyline that’s haunted the Tribe thus far has been the offense wasting tremendous pitching, but they did just the opposite for Zach Plesac, who had seven strikeouts over six scoreless frames to lower his season ERA to 1.29. If the bats can pick up steam, the Indians know just how dangerous they can become.

“I think once we get rolling here, knowing that we only have to put up a couple [of runs], it should relax everybody,” Luplow said. “Once everyone gets in a rhythm, gets some more ABs and gets in the swing of things, we’re going to be a scary team. It’s going to be fun down the stretch.”