Indians Still Waiting on Sizemore of Old

BALTIMORE -- About the only sign Grady Sizemore was earmarked for stardom these days is his presence among the 20 names up for vote in this year's Home Run Derby fan poll.

His power stroke sure isn't any kind of reminder.

Sizemore has no home runs this year. Two years ago, when he belted 33 and stole 38 bases, a 40-40 season seemed possible. After all, Sizemore was only 25 then, a budding all-around force who appeared in his third straight All-Star Game that July and won his second Gold Glove later in the year.

But he followed that campaign up with a sub-par one in 2009 -- .248 average, 18 home runs, .788 OPS. His struggles were attributed largely to injuries. Sizemore's season ended prematurely when he decided to have surgery on his inflamed left elbow in September. He also had surgery on his left abdominal wall that month for a sports hernia suffered when he strained his groin in spring training.

What gives now, though?

Other than some lower back stiffness that caused him to miss two games in April, Sizemore has had no serious known health issues, and yet here he sits with just eight extra-base hits and a .208 average in the middle of May.



Share Sitting is just what Sizemore did Saturday night. He was out of the lineup against the Orioles' Brian Matusz, a power left-hander with great stuff, the type who could easily deepen the center fielder's slump.

"[Grady's] fine," Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. "I think he needs [the day off]."

When pressed, Acta said it wasn't about giving Sizemore a mental rest. He also said it wasn't about protecting him from a tough southpaw, even though Sizemore has just five hits (.106 average) against lefties all year, saying he has hit them in the past. (For what it's worth, he does have some fairly dramatic splits against left-handers career-wise -- a .229 average and a .380 slugging percentage.)

"I wouldn't say [his struggles] are mental. It's more a bit mechanical," he said. "We want him to be more patient at the plate. ... He's not walking as much as he used to. (Sizemore has nine walks this season. He had 199 in 2007-08)"

Acta and the team would also like to see him shorten his swing, but the club mainly thinks he needs time to sort his issues out.

"You're not gonna go from .200 to .300 in one game. ... I think we all want to see some consistency," he said.

In other words, any sign of life in his bat would be nice.

Sizemore's career has sloped downward almost perfectly in concert with the Indians as a whole; Remember they went from a 3-1 lead in the 2007 ALCS to a full-scale firesale last July.

He is far from the only Indians hitter struggling -- Matt LaPorta, Jhonny Peralta, Travis Hafner and Russell Branyan entered Saturday with eight home runs between them and all sporting averages of .250 or below. But his struggles, especially in 2010, are the most troubling and mysterious of the bunch.

Sorting them out could bring some optimism back to a baseball town that has watched CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez get traded away in the last two Julys and is suffering with its other sports teams as well. (You might have heard of this LeBron James fellow.)

At 27, there's still time too.