Leading Man No More, Sizemore Remains Indians' Catalyst

Grady Sizemore has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He's been a heartthrob, an accomplished leadoff hitter, and is -- in
the words of that May 2007 SI cover -- "without a doubt one of the greatest players of our generation."

OK, then.

Some might opine that Sizemore does not belong with the greats, that he's been a good player headed for the Hall of the Very Good. Baseball folks, though, salivate at his abilities and approach and point out that he's approaching his prime.

Baseball-Reference.com ranks players by a complicated analysis, and lists former players who are comparable to present-day ones at the same age in their careers. Sizemore's list of comparables include Barry Bonds, Jack Clark, Bobby Bonds and Andre Dawson -- which isn't too shabby a group.

This spring, though, Sizemore is a career .275 hitter who is trying come off the scrap heap that is Major League Baseball's disabled list.

"It was just frustrating," Sizemore said of his 2009 season, which was cut short by elbow and hernia surgeries. "You never feel right. You always feel like something is wrong."

Sizemore's return is one of a few keys if the Indians hope to have any kind of season. With him, the lineup changes. Because at his best, Sizemore is a catalyst.

In 2006, as a 23-year-old, he had 53 doubles, 28 home runs and scored 154 runs. His OPS has consistently been above .800 and one year was over .900. His career OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) of .851 ranks him 39th among active players. And he's done it playing for a team that has never really had a true and accomplished No. 2 hitter to protect him.

This could account for the fact that Sizemore's strikeout totals are too high. In the four full seasons he played before '09, he struck out a minimum of 130 times. The Indians, though, prefer to look at his strikeout totals compared to his plate appearances, not his at-bats. They point out that because Sizemore walks so often, his strikeout-to-at-bat percentage is skewed.

The Indians will take the walks from Sizemore because they improve his on-base percentage -- a key for a leadoff hitter. Over the last two years, Sizemore's strikeout totals have dropped from well above league average to the average. Plus ... this is a time when players worry less about strikeouts and more about working the count. The result is going to be more strikeouts, a reality for players like Sizemore and Ryan Howard.

Too, at 27, Sizemore should be entering his prime. Which is why his recovery is vital. Injuries turned 2009 into a washout.

"I fell apart a little bit," he said.

This season, he said he merely wants to get back to his "normal" self. If he does, the Indians will be more than happy. And if he does, he'll be doing it from a different spot in the lineup.

Sizemore will drop to the No. 2 slot, behind Asdrubal Cabrera. The Indians tried the switch for a time last season, but trying to play through the elbow injury made things tough (109 at-bats hitting second, .257 BA). New Indians manager Manny Acta wants to make this move permanent. The shift might not seem huge, and there is some thinking that Sizemore's power (33 home runs in '08) makes him an ideal No. 3 hitter. But the Indians feel that hitting him ahead of Shin-Soo Choo gives him more protection and will give him more pitches to hit.

What the Indians do not want is for Sizemore to be an advance-the-runner guy. They want him to hit as he has when he's
healthy. Because an injured and non-productive Sizemore pretty much dooms the Indians to struggles.

A lot has to go right if Cleveland is to compete in the AL Central, and a lot of that starts with Sizemore ... even if he isn't leading off anymore.