Nunnally fired

[ChadS17]

Replaced with Bruce Fields.

[jellis]

saw that, kind of random with the team doing better the best past days, but sucks that he gets fired because our line up was lets face it was pretty talentless, Maybe he was let go over the failures and inability to help choo and CS

[Hermie13]

yeah a little surprised by this move. We have been terrible offensively, but injuries played a big part. Agree with jellis....this has to be more about Santana and Choo than the overall slump lately.

That or there was just some kind of rift between him and Acta?

[GoTribe028]

yeah a little surprised by this move. We have been terrible offensively, but injuries played a big part. Agree with jellis....this has to be more about Santana and Choo than the overall slump lately.

That or there was just some kind of rift between him and Acta?

Would figure the company line will be it's about the failures of Santana, Choo, and I guess Sizemore. Everyone else is batting where we expected them, with Hafner and A-Cab better than anyone could expect.

I don't remember, but when the coaching staff was filled out for Acta after his hiring, was Nunnally "his guy" much like Tolman was, or was he one the Indians perhaps told him he would take?

[MadThinker88]

Sad to see Nunnally go but I can understand the reasoning. The strange thing is choo and carlos seem to be doing better the past few days or so.

Let's be fair- the staff will be different next season. Sandy likely gets a gig with another team & Mike Sarbaugh gets onto the staff (in some capacity).

[stoike]

yeah a little surprised by this move. We have been terrible offensively, but injuries played a big part. Agree with jellis....this has to be more about Santana and Choo than the overall slump lately.

That or there was just some kind of rift between him and Acta?

Not terribly upset by the move, but seems kind of like a token move. The only one that could make this lineup much better, with the glaring weaknesses in offensive talent, would be Jesus himself. This lineup has more holes that a slice of lacy swiss cheese!!

[entertheshoe]

I don't think the cupboard is as bare as people seem to think it is.

Santana and Marson are underperforming their talent level
LaPorta is underperforming his talent level
O Cabrera is batting below what you would expect of him
Droobs is batting better than he historically has
Hannahan is batting normal
Choo is underperforming
Brantley is batting normal
Sizemore is underperforming
Hafner when healthy is batting well but its tough to attribute that to a hitting coach
Kearns, Duncan, and Everett aren't very good either way

When the team WAS hitting well, it was with runners in scoring position. To me that's sorta more luck than it is coaching. Aside from A Cabrera I wouldn't really say that we were getting the most out of our talent. We've been in first place all year but people are acting like we have no talent whatsoever. Seems like a fine move to me if the clubhouse and management are in favor of it.

[criznit2009]

Seems a little odd to fire him now but hey what do I know.... Couple of things - Choo, Santana, Sizemore (a little) LaPorta, Hannahan, Everett, OCAB have all been pretty bad this year - for different reasons of course but still bad. So that could be it. Also with what should be an increased amount of guys from Cbus coming up in the not so distant future, Fields might be more ready to work with new guys.

[ironmike]

Manny Acta, an exceptional baseball guy, upset and concerned the Indians now have more than 500 team strike outs. Strike outs DO matter. Perhaps Nunnally can get a job with Wedge. It's really ironic that Shapiro supported Wedge's BS baseball strategies, but that was his college football mentality taking over.

Manny Acta is a breath of fresh air.

PS Manny, Sizemore should be attempting at least 2 drag bunts per week. He has regressed as a hitter over the past 3 years and can't use all parts of the field. Santana too, is pull happy.

[Pork Chop Pough]

I wasn't a fan of hiring Nunnally in the first place -- he really didn't have much success making changes to a bunch of free-swingers when he was at Columbus -- but it's not often you see a 1st place team fire a coach. Asdrubal has absolutely exceeded everyone's expectations, and I'm happy with where's Brantley's at, but there isn't a whole lot else to be happy about... then again, guys like Hannahan and O-Cab don't need a hitting coach, they need a miracle. Also, I don't see Fields making any vast improvements, unless he knows where to find an affordable right-handed run producer.

However, I don't think Fields can do any worse. The work he's done and knowledge he has about these hitters from 5+ years in the Tribe system is probably more relevant than anything that can be picked statistically from his three prior years as a major league hitting coach, but... with Detroit, he went in and out with the Alan Trammell regime. He took over one of the worst offenses in the game and they became sort of mediocre. He was there for the best years of Brandon Inge and Craig Monroe, and had some success with Carlos Pena, but those teams were mostly really veteran guys who probably weren't going to change much or kids who had no talent to work with anyway.

[Prosecutor]

Choo is doing much better since he switched to a different bat. Three line drives today. Santana is 4-for-10 this series with a home run and double so he's picking it up, too.

Also, Manny has been saying that guys are trying to do too much with Hafner out. "Trying to hit five-run home runs" is the phrase he used. Obviously he's been telling them to stay within themselves but they weren't listening. Is that the hitting coach's fault?

Maybe Nunnelly got fired because the hitters weren't listening to him. But that means they weren't listening to Acta, either. But there has to be a scapegoat, apparently.

[Edible14]

Maybe Nunnelly got fired because the hitters weren't listening to him. But that means they weren't listening to Acta, either. But there has to be a scapegoat, apparently.

This is my theory. I think this was a move to get everyone's attention in the club house. The message is clear: the current offensive output in unacceptable.

[indianinkslinger]

Seems a little odd to fire him now but hey what do I know.... Couple of things - Choo, Santana, Sizemore (a little) LaPorta, Hannahan, Everett, OCAB have all been pretty bad this year - for different reasons of course but still bad. So that could be it. Also with what should be an increased amount of guys from Cbus coming up in the not so distant future, Fields might be more ready to work with new guys.

Some of those guys have never hit. How is he responsible? Sizemore looks finished to me. He strikes out at record rates and is a leadoff that cannot hit, walk or even make contact. In May Sizemore hit 143/176/347/573 with 17 Ks in 49 AB. June, when he is further removed from injury, has modestly improved stats of 206/320/349/669 with 25 Ks in 63 AB but is hitting 167 with 17 Ks in 35 AB in his last 10 games. Not sure why Nunally would be responsible for that since Sizemore has not hit in 3 years and for Choo, the drunk driver, but it sounds to me like he is Acta's scapegoat for his bad decisions. It looks like thisis Acta's MO. Blame someone else!

[Rocky55]

I always liked Nunnally. It's just a general impression but it seemed like the guys he coached supported him, at least reading players' comments. I guess someone has to take the fall, even if as noted above we don't have a bunch of talent on offense.

I hope Fields does better with the big club than he did with his own sons. He's got two of them in the minors & neither one can hit a lick. Of course, he only had a lifetime coaching them.

[GeronimoSon]

I always liked Nunnally. It's just a general impression but it seemed like the guys he coached supported him, at least reading players' comments. I guess someone has to take the fall, even if as noted above we don't have a bunch of talent on offense.

I hope Fields does better with the big club than he did with his own sons. He's got two of them in the minors & neither one can hit a lick. Of course, he only had a lifetime coaching them.

Those who can't do.. teach..

[TonyIBI]

As I have been tweeting, but an odd decision. I am not a fan of Nunnally, but also don't agree with the reasoning whatsoever with the firing. A kneejerk reaction if you ask me for five weeks of poor hitting, in which time Hafner has been out and some other injuries have come into play. If the pitching staff goes into a 1-2 month tailspin this year we going to fire Belcher now?

Hard to get on Nunnally for Choo. As I recall, Choo had a very good year last season with Nunnally as his hitting coach. Had a very good season in 2009 with Shelton as his hitting coach. In other words, the problems with Choo this year go well beyond the hitting coach. Can't blame Nunnally for them.

And for as much as Santana has been a disappointment, and maybe a guy like LaPorta has not lived up to expectations, what about the resurgence of Hafner and the emergence of Cabrera/Brantley? It's a wash if you ask me.

To me, this is more about trying to remove some of the comfort in the locker room as they were way too comfortable with Nuns. Also have to believe there may be something else at play here that won't be said publicly.

[Prosecutor]

From the PD column:

"We already joined the 500 strikeout club,'' Acta said Sunday morning. "We've run seven left-handed hitters out there just about every day against right-handed pitching and, right now, Asdrubal Cabrera leads our team in home runs (with 12). I think Bruce can probably help with that.''

(clip)

After last Thursday's 6-2 loss to Detroit, Acta criticized his hitters, but he also was unhappy with Nunnally. Acta said that the hitters were showing no signs of improvement and that some of them were too talented to be in two- and three-month slumps.

500 strikeouts. Lack of HRs from left-handed hitters. Talented hitters in two- and three-month slumps. Acta ran out of patience.

Grady has something like 17 Ks in his last 35 ABs. I wonder if the next move is to bench him for a couple of days like they did with Santana. Worked for him - Carlos is producing much better now.

[indianinkslinger]

From the PD column:

"We already joined the 500 strikeout club,'' Acta said Sunday morning. "We've run seven left-handed hitters out there just about every day against right-handed pitching and, right now, Asdrubal Cabrera leads our team in home runs (with 12). I think Bruce can probably help with that.''

(clip)

After last Thursday's 6-2 loss to Detroit, Acta criticized his hitters, but he also was unhappy with Nunnally. Acta said that the hitters were showing no signs of improvement and that some of them were too talented to be in two- and three-month slumps.

500 strikeouts. Lack of HRs from left-handed hitters. Talented hitters in two- and three-month slumps. Acta ran out of patience.

Grady has something like 17 Ks in his last 35 ABs. I wonder if the next move is to bench him for a couple of days like they did with Santana. Worked for him - Carlos is producing much better now.

yeah, who do we blame for Sizemore, if anyone? Nunnally because he can't get a "talented hitter" to hit even though Sizemore has not hit with that talent in three years? Acta, because he keeps throwing this poor shlub out there in the leadoff spot who has not hit in three years? Or Sizemore, who just may be too broke to fix?

[Hermie13]

From the PD column:

"We already joined the 500 strikeout club,'' Acta said Sunday morning. "We've run seven left-handed hitters out there just about every day against right-handed pitching and, right now, Asdrubal Cabrera leads our team in home runs (with 12). I think Bruce can probably help with that.''

(clip)

After last Thursday's 6-2 loss to Detroit, Acta criticized his hitters, but he also was unhappy with Nunnally. Acta said that the hitters were showing no signs of improvement and that some of them were too talented to be in two- and three-month slumps.

500 strikeouts. Lack of HRs from left-handed hitters. Talented hitters in two- and three-month slumps. Acta ran out of patience.

Grady has something like 17 Ks in his last 35 ABs. I wonder if the next move is to bench him for a couple of days like they did with Santana. Worked for him - Carlos is producing much better now.

yeah, who do we blame for Sizemore, if anyone? Nunnally because he can't get a "talented hitter" to hit even though Sizemore has not hit with that talent in three years? Acta, because he keeps throwing this poor shlub out there in the leadoff spot who has not hit in three years? Or Sizemore, who just may be too broke to fix?

meh, I blame people on this site who seem to think a .788 OPS and .343 OBP is bad. guess Nunnally did deserve to get fired since Brantley is obviously a bad leadoff guy (.339 OBP).


Not sure why you should blame Acta for throwing the "poor shlub" in the leadoff spot. Who should he hit there, Brantley? As bad as Grady has been, he has a higher OBP this month (JUNE, in bold for you ink) than Brantley.

And even worse, in their last 10 games (the NY series and on), Brantley has a whopping .205 OBP with 2 walks. Grady is "terrible" as well with a .310 OBP and 6 walks. And apparently Grady "can't walk" so don't even know what you call Brantley now.

Hard to bench Grady now when he's a better CF and leadoff option than Brantley.

Saying Grady hasn't hit for 3 years is also a stretch considering his OPS was well over .800 in the second half of 2009 and he's had less than 75 games since



Will say this, don't blame Nunnally for Grady's fall (and agree he's fallen). Nunnally couldn't prevent the knee injuries.

Also agree that Grady needs to pick it up. He's better than this....but sad thing is, Grady at half strength looks better than the alternatives.

[indianinkslinger]

From the PD column:

"We already joined the 500 strikeout club,'' Acta said Sunday morning. "We've run seven left-handed hitters out there just about every day against right-handed pitching and, right now, Asdrubal Cabrera leads our team in home runs (with 12). I think Bruce can probably help with that.''

(clip)

After last Thursday's 6-2 loss to Detroit, Acta criticized his hitters, but he also was unhappy with Nunnally. Acta said that the hitters were showing no signs of improvement and that some of them were too talented to be in two- and three-month slumps.

500 strikeouts. Lack of HRs from left-handed hitters. Talented hitters in two- and three-month slumps. Acta ran out of patience. Grady has something like 17 Ks in his last 35 ABs. I wonder if the next move is to bench him for a couple of days like they did with Santana. Worked for him - Carlos is producing much better now.

yeah, who do we blame for Sizemore, if anyone? Nunnally because he can't get a "talented hitter" to hit even though Sizemore has not hit with that talent in three years? Acta, because he keeps throwing this poor shlub out there in the leadoff spot who has not hit in three years? Or Sizemore, who just may be too broke to fix?

meh, I blame people on this site who seem to think a .788 OPS and .343 OBP is bad. guess Nunnally did deserve to get fired since Brantley is obviously a bad leadoff guy (.339 OBP).


Not sure why you should blame Acta for throwing the "poor shlub" in the leadoff spot. Who should he hit there, Brantley? As bad as Grady has been, he has a higher OBP this month (JUNE, in bold for you ink) than Brantley.

And even worse, in their last 10 games (the NY series and on), Brantley has a whopping .205 OBP with 2 walks. Grady is "terrible" as well with a .310 OBP and 6 walks. And apparently Grady "can't walk" so don't even know what you call Brantley now.

Hard to bench Grady now when he's a better CF and leadoff option than Brantley.

Saying Grady hasn't hit for 3 years is also a stretch considering his OPS was well over .800 in the second half of 2009 and he's had less than 75 games since



Will say this, don't blame Nunnally for Grady's fall (and agree he's fallen). Nunnally couldn't prevent the knee injuries.

Also agree that Grady needs to pick it up. He's better than this....but sad thing is, Grady at half strength looks better than the alternatives.

Would rather see Zeke at leadoff than Sizemore!

[Hermie13]

Would rather see Zeke at leadoff than Sizemore!

ha, fair enough. But don't think Brantley has fallen so far that we remove him from the lineup for Carrera

[indianinkslinger]

Would rather see Zeke at leadoff than Sizemore!

ha, fair enough. But don't think Brantley has fallen so far that we remove him from the lineup for Carrera

OK, I can live with that. BTW, it is meaningless but I think you might have misread the June numbers for the two. The Indians website has Brantley with better numbers from what I see. I am not adverse to having Grady work out his problems way down in the order but he is just killing us at the top of the order IMO.

[Hermie13]

Would rather see Zeke at leadoff than Sizemore!

ha, fair enough. But don't think Brantley has fallen so far that we remove him from the lineup for Carrera

OK, I can live with that. BTW, it is meaningless but I think you might have misread the June numbers for the two. The Indians website has Brantley with better numbers from what I see. I am not adverse to having Grady work out his problems way down in the order but he is just killing us at the top of the order IMO.

Brantley has passed him in OPS for the month, but in June Grady has a .313 OBP (w/ 7 walks) and Brantley a .306 OBP (w/ 6 walks). Both are disgustingly bad numbers for leadoff men...

So while you can get upset with how Grady has hit at the top of the lineup, I just don't see unless you want Choo or Santana there a better alternative (Carrera, no thanks) at the moment. But to each their own.

[indianinkslinger]

Today the Bruce Fields era begins! Color me unimpressed so far.

[Hermie13]

Today the Bruce Fields era begins! Color me unimpressed so far.

Wasn't he in the dugout yesterday?