Tribe isn’t hearing it on weak AL Central

Don’t tell Yonder Alonso the Indians can cruise in the AL Central. “The way we look at it is every day is a must win. This is the big leagues. You’re expected to win here,” Alonso said.

The argument the Indians have no sense of urgency because they play in the worst division in the major leagues is easy to make.

Just don’t make that argument too loudly around the Indians clubhouse.

The Indians went into their game with the Royals on May 12 in first place in the American League Central Division with a record of 18-19. They would be 4.5 games behind Houston if they were in the West and 7.5 behind the Red Sox and Yankees if they were in the East.

First baseman Yonder Alonso, in his first season with the Indians, seemed insulted at the suggestion the Tribe could cruise through the regular season, still win the division easily and then play with heightened determination when the playoffs start.

“I’ll be very clear with this,” Alonso said before the Indians lost to the Royals on May 11. “We don’t care one bit about anybody else but the guys in this clubhouse and the way we go about things every single day.

“It is so unfair to, as a team, to always be aware what other teams are doing. The way we look at it is every day is a must win. This is the big leagues. You’re expected to win here.”

“The last thing on our mind is who is in second place in the wild card or who is in last place in all of baseball,” Alonso continued. “We take every team as seriously as they take us every single day. Every day is a grind. Every day we have to give it everything we have because it’s a serious matter every night. We’re not thinking about the playoffs. We’re thinking about tonight, May 11. That’s all we’re thinking about.”

• Manager Terry Francona doesn’t want to give up on second baseman Jason Kipnis, but he doesn’t want Kipnis dragging his sub.200 batting average to the plate hitting second in the lineup, so he moved Michael Brantley from fifth to second in the batting order and dropped Kipnis to sixth. Alonso was moved from sixth to fifth in the lineup against the Royals on May 11.

Brantley hit a grand slam to give the Indians a 9-4 lead. He was 2-for-5 on the night.

Kipnis, hitting .181 to start the May 11 game, did no better from his new slot. He hit a lazy fly to left in the first inning. An attempted sacrifice bunt in the fourth resulted in Edwin Encarnacion being thrown out at third on a fielder’s choice.

Kipnis walked in his third at-bat and grounded out in his final plate appearance. He is hitting an anemic .177 and doesn’t look confident with a bat in his hands.

“Kip and I talked for a while the other day,” Francona said. “We kind of did it together. I thought we did a good job, because we want to get him going. And, what’s the best way? Sometimes it’s to maybe drop him down a little bit and let him just focus on hitting—not so much moving runners and things like that.”

Kipnis has played in every game this season. Only leadoff hitter Francisco Lindor (157) has more at-bats than Kipnis (147). Kipnis has one home run and 13 RBI.

2019 NFL mock draft

It’s never too early for an NFL mock draft, right?

Rob Rang of NFLDraftScout.com has the Browns drafting seventh in 2019, picking Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa.

“A slightly smaller version of his older, Pro Bowl brother Joey, Nick Bosa is a legitimate No. 1 overall candidate with the chiseled physique, refined technique and hardrevving motor that virtually guarantee NFL success,” Rang wrote.

Rang’s sidekick at NFLDraftScout.com, Dane Brugler, has the Browns choosing Alabama defensive lineman Raekwon Davis. Brugler projects the Browns picking fifth in 2019.

“A physical freak at 6-7 and 305 pounds, Davis has a chance to emerge as the best NFL prospect produced by Alabama during the Nick Saban era,” Brugler wrote.

The Denver Broncos picked fifth in 2018. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers owned the seventh pick before trading it to Buffalo. Both the Broncos and Buccaneers were 5-11 in 2018. That would represent a fivegame improvement for the Browns.

• All draft picks look good in shorts, especially when the players they are going against are mostly signed as undrafted rookies or tryout players.

With that said, running back Nick Chubb looks like an upgrade for the Browns over Isaiah Crowell, who left in free agency to sign with the Jets.

Chubb was picked 35th overall in the draft last month. Crowell made the Browns as an undrafted rookie in 2015.

“I’ve been a big fan of Chubb for a long time,” said Browns vice president of personnel Alonzo Highsmith, a former NFL running back. “When you play running back in the SEC, you have to be able to create between the tackles with your feet. You have to be able to play a physical style of football. Nick Chubb exemplifies that in his running style.”

Chubb rushed for 4,769 yards and 41 touchdowns in four seasons with the Georgia Bulldogs. He was named SEC Freshman of the Year after rushing for 1,547 yards in 2014. He suffered a knee injury as a sophomore and then bounced back with a pair of 1,000-yard seasons.

Monsters’ new neighborhood

The American Hockey League did the Cleveland Monsters a favor last week by moving them from the Western Conference to the East. Now they will be playing the farm clubs of the teams the Columbus Blue Jackets play most often in the NHL’s regular season.

The Monsters will meet 15 opponents — 11 of them new because of the conference change. They will face the Toronto Marlies (Maple Leafs), Belleville Senators (Ottawa Senators), Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres) and Laval Rockets (Montreal Canadiens) each a total of eight times — four at Quicken Loans Arena and four on the road.

The Monsters face the following teams a total of four times — twice at home and twice on the road:

Binghamton Devils (New Jersey Devils), Charlotte Checkers (Carolina Hurricanes), Chicago Wolves (Las Vegas Golden Knights), Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings) Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals), Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers), Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville Predators), Rockford IceHogs (Chicago Blackhawks), Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning), Utica Comets (Vancouver Canucks) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins).

I didn’t know that

... Until I read my Snapple bottle cap.

Because of rising metal prices, the U.S. mint has to spend more to make a penny than a penny is worth . ... Bloodhounds can track a man by smell up to 100 miles . ... There are approximately 9,000 taste buds on your tongue . ... A rhinoceros horn is made of compacted hair . ... Charlie Chaplain failed to make the finals of a Charlie Chaplain look-alike contest . ... Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

Schudel can be reached at jschudel@news-herald.com; @jsproinsider on Twitter.

TONY DEJAK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Indians’ first baseman Yonder Alonso says that the team is trying to win every night and does not think about what other teams are doing.