Someday, maybe when Terry Francona accepts his plaque going into baseball’s Hall of Fame, he can explain why his teams get better in the second half of the season.
Since Tito took over the Indians in 2013, his teams have played at a .532 winning percentage (291-256) before the All Star Game, but a torrid .610 pace (236-151) after the Midsummer Classic.
Here is the tale season by season–
Pre All Star Post All Star
2013 51-44 41-26
2014 47-47 38-30
2015 42-46 39-34
2016 52-36 42-31
2017 47-40 55-20
2018 to date 52-43 21-10
Sometimes, it’s because the roster has been reinforced, such as 2016, when the front office traded for Andrew Miller at the trade deadline, and then added Coco Crisp at the end of August.
One thing that does stand out is the staff ERA for the pitching staff. Check out these figures since Francona took over the Tribe–
Pre All Star Post All Star
2013 4.31 3.13
2014 3.98 3.03
2015 3.80 3.53
2016 3.65 4.11
2017 3.78 2.76
2018 to date 4.00 3.10
Only in 2016, the season in which the Indians went to the seventh game of the World Series, was the staff ERA not significantly less than it was in the first half of the season. In four of the seasons (including this one), the pitchers are yielding around a run less per game.
In 2013, Ubaldo Jimenez became unhittable down the stretch, and Scott Kazmir got his legs after coming back from a year outside the big leagues. Early in that season, Francona was using Vinnie Pestano as his set up man, and he proved to be ineffective. By the end of the year, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen were in that role.
And Pestano was traded for Mike Clevinger.
The 2014 team saw the emergence in the second half of Carlos Carrasco, and T.J. House pitched great down the stretch. John Axford started the year as the closer, but he struggled and Allen took over the role, which solidified the entire bullpen.
That team fell three games short of getting in the Wild Card game.
In 2015, the pitching wasn’t significantly different in the second half, but they did get Josh Tomlin back from Tommy John surgery to make 10 very good starts (3.02 ERA) and Cody Anderson pitched well too.
Early in that season, the Tribe had Shaun Marcum (6 starts) and Bruce Chen (2) making starts. House started the year in the rotation based on his ’14 campaign, but started having arm problems.
The following year is the one season the bullpen ERA went up, and that was after adding Andrew Miller in mid-season deal. Mike Clevinger (rookie) and Cody Anderson (arm trouble) had to make 19 starts and had an ERA approaching 6.00 combined.
Last year, the second half was the time Trevor Bauer put it all together to become a dominant starter. Clevinger also joined the rotation full time and had a 3.11 ERA. In relief, Tyler Olson threw 20 scoreless innings.
This year’s improvement is due to an improved bullpen. Getting Brad Hand and Adam Cimber from San Diego, and Miller’s return from the disabled list helped a relief corps that was dismal in the first half.
Carlos Carrasco has had a better second half after he pitched below his standard before the All Star Game.
Sometimes a change in the lineup causes a surge too. In ’15, Frankie Lindor arrived and hit .313 after being called up. In ’16, Jose Ramirez settled in at 3B after beginning the year as a utility player.
But, by and large, it’s the pitching that makes the quantum leap. The organization’s development of the talent available can’t be appreciated enough.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 