When you play a 16-inning game, as the Cleveland Indians did against the Houston Astros yesterday, you get plenty of chances at the plate. Getting that many at-bats can be a good thing. Just ask second baseman Jason Kipnis, who went 5-for-7 in quite an impressive performance.

However, getting that many plate appearances can also make rough days even more glaring.

Rajai Davis, Francisco Lindor and Yan Gomes all went hitless in the lengthy loss to Houston, each going 0-for-7. For Davis and Lindor, you could chalk it up as just hitting a tough day at the ballpark. Lindor in particular has been Cleveland’s best hitter this year, so you can’t fault him for yesterday’s performance.

For Gomes, though, it was more of the same. The Indians catcher has been an offensive disaster this season, and it’s quickly become a major problem.

To be fair, Gomes hasn’t been awful all season. A couple solid games against the Detroit Tigers late last month had his batting average trending in the right direction. Today, however, it’s an eyesore.

Gomes is currently batting .158. He’s also carrying an OBP of .190, so the base path isn’t an area he’s really familiar with right now. Even worse, it’s been five games since he’s even registered a hit. Yesterday, Gomes made the final out of the second, fourth, seventh, ninth, 11th and 16th innings.

For what it’s worth, Gomes is not seen as Cleveland’s slugger, someone you can center a batting order around. That said, he’s shown power in the past and is definitely expected to be hitting much better than this.

It wasn’t long ago that Gomes was one of the team’s pleasant surprises. Making 88 appearances in the 2013 season, Gomes ended up supplanting Carlos Santana as the team’s starting catcher seemingly out of nowhere. He hit .294 that year, and .278 the season after that.

However, an injury threw him off last year, and you can’t help but wonder if there are still lingering effects. He’s played in 26 of the team’s 31 games this season, so it isn’t as if he’s unhealthy enough to consistently get on the field. Still, he’s looked incredibly uncomfortable at the plate very often this season.

For an Indians team in need of any consistent offense it can find, Gomes’ struggles are a bit of a liability. Unfortunately, the only solution appears to be letting him fight his way out of this slump.

Backup catcher Roberto Perez has been serviceable, but surgery on his thumb has shelved him for the next 8-12 weeks. Chris Gimenez has looked decent in his limited time on the field, but not reliable enough to consistently spell Gomes.

Additionally, there are reasons why Gomes needs to stay in the lineup. His defense behind the plate is still phenomenal, as he’s still gunning down most of the runners who dare try to steal on him. There’s also the fact that he’s shown he can hit for power, which explains why he isn’t dropping much down the batting order.

Right now, he’s not only lacking power, he’s not hitting at all.

The hope is he can find his way out of this dreadful slump, as he’s one of the more important players on the roster. Still, right now his offense is heinous, and its negative impact on the team gets worse with every game.