Bruce Fields can think of worse assignments than attempting to turn around the struggling offense of a first-place club on the fly.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Bruce Fields can think of worse assignments than attempting to turn around the struggling offense of a first-place club on the fly.
Fields, the Indians minor-league hitting coordinator since 2007, assumed the position of big-league hitting coach on an interim basis after Jon Nunnally was fired Saturday. Fields' first day in the dugout was Monday, when the Tribe opened a three-game series against the Rockies at Progressive Field.
"Coming into this situation, to be where we are. ... Man, that's awesome," Fields said. "Being in this position is a great position. This is a challenge, but it's a challenge I welcome."
Early Monday, Fields spoke with his hitters as a group and individually.
"I said, 'Hey, let's move on from here; what's done is done,'" Fields said. "I have to earn their respect. I'm not here to change anything. I'm here to move forward with what's been put in place and, hopefully, we can enhance it even more."
The Indians were 30-15 through May 23, but sputtering bats largely were responsible for a 9-16 record from May 24 through Sunday. The Tribe, atop the AL Central by one game over Detroit entering Monday, averaged 3.04 runs in that span -- and that includes three straight five-run games in a weekend sweep of the Pirates.
"We faced some pretty tough pitchers in that stretch when we struggled as a club," Fields said. "We battled through it and we're beyond it."
At the time of Nunnally's firing, the Indians were hitting .251 overall with 61 homers and 497 strikeouts. They were averaging 4.4 runs.
"It wasn't so much that they told me anything was wrong," Fields said. "They just told me they wanted me to come in and finish out the season. Nothing was said about something being wrong with 'Nuns.' What happened, I don't know. That's not my job. My job is hitting coach of the Cleveland Indians, and we'll see what happens from here.
"From the outside looking in, it was hard to tell exactly what the problem was and what caused it. I'm a guy who likes to see it for myself. I think I have to take it day-by-day and get a feel for what each individual guy needs to work on. Obviously, collectively we need to score more runs."
It's a new experience: Orlando Cabrera made his first major-league start at third base Monday night. Other than perhaps winter ball, Cabrera said, he could not recall playing even an inning at third.
Cabrera's previous 60 starts this season came at second base. A natural shortstop, Cabrera debuted in 1997 with Montreal. He won Gold Gloves at shortstop with the Expos in 2001 and Angels in 2007.
In the clubhouse Monday afternoon, Cabrera was asked what would be different at third. "I have no idea," he said with a chuckle. "I expect people to hit that [expletive] hard at me. Then we'll see where I stand."
When the Indians signed Cabrera in February, they told him there could be some situations where he would be asked to play third.
"I didn't have a chance to do it in spring training because I wanted the second-base job," he said. "But when I saw the moves they were making. ... I want to play. I want to be in the lineup."
When Cord Phelps was promoted from Class AAA Columbus on June 8, Acta said the switch-hitting Phelps and Cabrera effectively would platoon at second until further notice.
Cabrera began taking grounders at third when the Tribe was in New York, June 10-13.
"Once we called up Phelps, we brought up [third] to him and he was open to it," Acta said. "This gives us some flexibility. We want to see how he can handle it."
Acta said nothing was wrong with regular third baseman Jack Hannahan.
Finding success: Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo went 3-for-5 on Sunday -- his first three-hit game since Sept. 29, 2010, against Detroit.
"I was shocked when I found that out," said Choo, who played his 69th game Monday. "I can't believe it took so long."
Choo entered Monday hitting .244 with five homers and 25 RBI, but he has shown signs of busting loose in recent days. He is finally pulling the ball with authority.
"I'm not 100 percent, I don't feel great, but I feel a lot better than I did early this season," he said. "It's a lot different. I've been hitting line drives. Some have turned into outs, but that's baseball."
In each of the previous two seasons, Choo hit .300 with 20-plus homers and 85-plus RBI.
In the immediate aftermath of Nunnally's firing, Choo questioned the move, especially given that the Tribe was in first. He spoke highly of player-favorite Nunnally. Choo made it a point Monday afternoon to say he did not mean his support of Nunnally as any knock on Fields.
"I'm really close to Bruce Fields, too," Choo said. "I worked a lot with him in spring training. He's a great guy and he knows hitting. I have no problem with Bruce being here, but that doesn't mean I won't miss Jon."
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