Sometime in the next week, the Cleveland Indians will clinch the American League Central Division title, their 10th since the three division set up was established in 1994.
They will also be making their 11th post season appearance in that time frame, trailing only the powerful, big market Red Sox and Yankees in the American League.
These are heady times for baseball fans in northeast Ohio, especially when you consider this team has several of the best players who have ever worn the Indians’ uniform.
Even after the Tribe wraps up the division crown, they will be very interesting to watch through the end of the season. Here are some things to watch–
Josh Donaldson. The former AL MVP will return to the active roster next week in Tampa, and then the seismic position shift will begin, assuming Donaldson’s calf holds up.
When he is ready to play the field, Jose Ramirez will move to second base, and Jason Kipnis goes to centerfield. That is, if Kipnis continues to swing the bat like he has over the last week to ten days.
If he slumps again, Terry Francona could go back to Greg Allen, who is a better defender, and has provided some timely hits since Leonys Martin fell ill.
The Bullpen. With Cody Allen back on the beam (hopefully), who will be in the bullpen for the post-season is still up in the air.
The first order of business is getting Andrew Miller healthy and back in the mix. We doubt he can carry the same load he did in 2016, but if he can give Francona an inning of quality relief two or three times in a series, that would be big.
Also to be determined is what other right-handers will the skipper want. Adam Cimber should be one, because of his success vs. right-handed hitters, but will the manager really want to bring Dan Otero or Neil Ramirez into a playoff game?
Our guess is that was why veteran Jon Edwards was given a look see after striking out 56 in 39-2/3 innings at Columbus this year.
And that makes it kind of curious that Ben Taylor wasn’t brought back for another look. The 25 year old made six appearances early in the year, and fanned 70 in 57-1/3 innings at AAA this year.
The Bench. There won’t be a need for 13 pitchers come October, so we figure two spots on the bench will open up.
In our estimation, Francona will go with four starters and seven arms out of the bullpen, so who gets those roster spots?
If Kipnis is in CF, one spot will go to Greg Allen for his defense, and Rajai Davis will be there as a pinch runner, but will that mean Yandy Diaz makes the roster this fall?
Remember, a year ago, Diaz was bypassed in favor of Giovanny Urshela’s glove.
This year, Diaz may be in the lineup vs. left handed pitchers, replacing Yonder Alonso, who is batting .212 with a 607 OPS against southpaws.
For a team coasting into the playoffs, the 2018 Cleveland Indians have a lot of things that are unsettled. We are sure the Tribe management would like things to crystalize in the next three weeks.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 