2016: Memories Of A Winning Year in NE Ohio.

It is easy to be upbeat about sports in the city of Cleveland and throughout northeast Ohio these days, a contrast from, oh, let’s say the last half century.

That’s what a professional sports championship does for an area. Instead of talking and writing about what a team needs to do to win, we can celebrate and bask in the glow of having that feeling a fan can have when the squad they follow has already won.

That’s why June 19, 2016 will forever be a special date to a Cleveland sports fan. It’s the date 52 years of waiting for a winner ended.

And to think, just 4-1/2 months later, we almost got to experience that kind of joy again, when Rajai Davis tied Game 7 of the World Series with a home run. Unfortunately, a rain delay got in the way of the Indians attempt to copy the Cavaliers’ title, and they fell one inning short of winning the World Series.

That’s what 2016 was all about in a nutshell.

We doubt that 20 years from now, we will remember the Browns going 1-15 (maybe). But we will forever remember Kyrie Irving’s three pointer to give the wine and gold the lead they would never relinquish.

We will not forget the Golden State shot missing and LeBron James and Kevin Love looking at each other under the basket, realizing they were NBA Champions.

It still gives us a chill when we hear the words “NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers”.

For many years to come, James, Irving, Love and the rest of the Cavs will be heroes in this area. And when they are all retired and they come back in 2026 for the 10th anniversary of the title, they will still get a standing ovation.

And it was very cool when the newly crowned Cavs jumped on board the Tribe train throughout the playoffs and World Series, showing a bunch of younger sports fans that the Indians can be cool too. If LeBron and the Cavs thought so, then it was alright.

The Tribe started developing their own heroes too. People started recognizing the play of the city’s next superstar in Francisco Lindor and fell in love with Jose Ramirez. And don’t forget the impact Adam Miller had either.

Suddenly, folks started realizing that the only name they knew on the local baseball team wasn’t the manager. Although, Tito has one name status along the shores of Lake Erie.

After the Cavs victory, the area was in party mode all week. We finally had a victory parade downtown and many people who grew up here returned for that event, something they thought might never happen in their lifetime.

The Lake Erie Monsters won the AHL Calder Cup for the first time since 1964. Stipe Miocic won the UFC heavyweight championship and defended his title for the first time right here in Cleveland.

LeBron James was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year for 2016, and is also AP’s Male Athlete of the Year.

The Indians signed a big, big time free agent in slugger Edwin Encarnacion, arguably the best power hitter in baseball over the last five years.

And although the Browns’ season was forgettable, with just one victory to date (and hopefully no more), they may emerge with the chance to have the first overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Hopefully, we will never experience this kind of drought when in comes to winning again. 52 years is way too long.

Let’s hope this is the beginning of a new era in Cleveland sports. One where we win a bunch of times. We can all get used to that feeling.

Tribe Says Merry Christmas To Its Fans and Players

When the rumors first surfaced at the winter meetings that the Cleveland Indians were interested in slugger Edwin Encarnacion, we, like most, were skeptical.

Agents float these rumors to drive up the price of a player, and when Encarnacion turned down a four year, $80 million deal from the Blue Jays, believing he could get more, it seemed like that was what was happening.

However, you don’t know the impact of getting to the seventh game of the World Series does for ownership and the front office. It’s a great feeling to play into the end of October (or November in 2016), and have the national media focused on your team.

Obviously, the Dolan family and Chris Antonetti enjoyed that experience and want to do it again.

The money made during the post-season obviously made this possible, and for the few fans questioning the move, remember, the Tribe didn’t have to cut into its farm system to add the big bat. It’s just money, and as long as Encarnacion maintains the production he has shown the last five years, it’s cash well spent.

This isn’t a Nick Swisher/Michael Bourn signing. Here are Encarnacion’s numbers over the last five seasons:

2012: 42 HR, 110 RBI, 941 OPS
2013: 36 HR, 104 RBI, 904 OPS
2014: 34 HR, 98 RBI, 901 OPS
2015: 39 HR, 111 RBI, 929 OPS
2016: 42 HR, 127 RBI, 886 OPS

He hit 22 dingers away from Rogers Centre in ’16 and had an OPS of 834. His OPS on the road was over 900 in 2015.

The only stat that is concerning is his strikeouts were over 100 for only the second time in his career, fanning 138 times. On the other hand, he walked a career high 87 times.

The strikeouts are still almost 60 less than Mike Napoli, and as for his road numbers, remember that Progressive Field was one of the best hitter’s parks in the AL last season.

As a comparison, here were Swisher’s numbers for the five years before the Indians signed him after the 2012 season:

2008: 24 HR, 69 RBI, 743 OPS
2009: 29 HR, 82 RBI, 869 OPS
2010: 23 HR, 89 RBI, 870 OPS
2011: 23 HR, 85 RBI, 822 OPS
2012: 24 HR, 93 RBI, 837 OPS

As you can see, Encarnacion’s worst year in that span is better than Swisher’s best season. Plus, we always thought Swisher was miscast as a clean up hitter, whereas Encarnacion is the prototype #4 hitter.

He appreciated what Mike Napoli did for the 2016 Tribe, but let’s face it, it was very unlikely he would match the numbers he put up. Players just don’t have career years at age 34 and then continue at that pace for a few more years.

Besides, Napoli’s OPS was 800 last year. Encarnacion is simply a much better hitter than him.

The Indians are officially going for it in 2017, and yesterday’s signing has fans in northeast Ohio are excited. The team’s six pack ticket plan was sold out today. Season ticket sales have increased.

Spring training can’t come soon enough. The Indians gave their players and fans an early Christmas present.

Tribe Should Live A Little With Extra Cash

This past week, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal wrote that even though the Cleveland Indians received a windfall from their post-season appearance that culminated in a World Series berth that went the distance, the Tribe front office was not going to change the way they do business.

We agree that the Indians should not go hog wild spending huge dollars on players on the decline. They learned a valuable lesson when they inked Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn after the 2012 season.

However, that cash should be looked at as found money. So, why don’t the Indians live a little?

Think about if you won the lottery, or won some money at the casino, would you use all that windfall on bills or put in all in the bank? Probably not all of it.

You would spend some on yourself, buy yourself something you normally wouldn’t get because it is better to spend it on necessities.

Live a little. Splurge on something fun and cool.

Or in baseball terms, sign a free agent or make a deal where you can take on some salary, taking advantage of a less successful small market team.

Obviously, the name that stands out is Edwin Encarnacion, who has been one of the game’s premier sluggers for five years running, and would be an upgrade over Mike Napoli, whether you want to admit it or not.

Besides adding production to the lineup, the added benefit would be with the ticket buying public. A big signing would continue the momentum the Indians received with their playoff run.

Right now, the inactivity is causing them to be an afterthought in the media right now.

There is no question that the front office has the faith of baseball fans throughout the area, based on last season’s success. But there is nothing wrong with getting more talent to improve your margin for error.

This isn’t to say the Indians can’t win the division again next season if they re-sign Napoli and Rajai Davis. However, the odds that they will have similar seasons to 2016 at their respective ages is slim. So, the team has to make up for that.

And as much as we want to talk about Michael Brantley’s return, the truth is he’s had just 39 at bats since the end of the 2015 season, and we don’t know if he will be productive, and if he’s productive, how many games will he be healthy enough to play in in 2017.

You also have to wonder if Carlos Santana can hit as many home runs as he did in 2016, when he set a career best.

Our point is the Indians probably need to upgrade the offense, because even though they were second in the AL in runs scored, a lot of things went their way to allow them to achieve that spot.

You can’t bank on those things again.

Our message to Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff is to have some fun with your windfall. Don’t go crazy. Don’t act like the Red Sox or Dodgers, but go out and buy yourself something nice. You deserve it after getting the Tribe to the seventh game of the World Series.

No Deals Yet, But Tribe Can’t Stand Pat

The Cleveland Indians were one of the teams who were inactive in terms of moves at this past week’s winter meetings in Washington.

That doesn’t mean they weren’t busy, it just means they didn’t get anything done before the annual get together ended yesterday.

Yet.

The rumors about Edwin Encarnacion are still out there, and at least a few national pundits have the Tribe being the favorite to sign the right-handed hitting slugger.

At the very least, the Indians know they have openings in the 1B/DH role served by Mike Napoli and an outfield slot manned by Rajai Davis in 2016.

Both of those players were huge contributors for the American League champions. Napoli hit a career high 34 home runs and his best offensive season since 2013, and was a tremendous clubhouse presence.

Davis hit the game tying home run in game seven of the Fall Classic, but had his worst season since 2013.

Both players are beyond their prime years though. Napoli will play the 2017 season at age 35, while Davis is now 36 years old.

In reality, if the front office brought both back in the same roles as last season, what would be the odds both will be as productive as they were in 2016?

Spoiler alert! The answer would be slim or none.

Both players were probably overexposed due to the injury of Michael Brantley, but we can definitely see a scenario where both players return and disappoint, more due to the expectations of the fans and management.

That’s why Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff are pursuing Encarnacion, who is a year younger than Napoli and whose production is much more consistent.

Over the last five seasons, last season might be the slugger’s worst, and even then, he belted 42 home runs and knocked in 127, to lead the AL.

If he declines slightly in 2017, what are you looking at? Probably 30-35 dingers and around 100 RBI, which is what Napoli provided last season.

Yes, Encarnacion wants a three or four year deal, but his production over the last five years merits that. It is a huge gamble to give a two or three year deal with Napoli based on his recent past.

We understand the emotional part of this would say to bring back these two heroes from a World Series season, but Antonetti and Chernoff can’t think with their hearts, they have to use cold, hard logic.

While we are still skeptical of the Tribe signing a player like Encarnacion, who is probably the best hitter on the market, the fact remains they have to resign Napoli, or replace him with someone else.

The same is true with Davis.

The front office realizes that, and we are sure they are working diligently to get something done.

So, we would anticipate a couple of moves to address those areas in the next couple of weeks. And we expect a free agent signing or trade because we doubt the Indians will trust either opening to a rookie like Yandy Diaz or Bradley Zimmer, nor should they.

They aren’t in a player development mode right now. Of course, this doesn’t mean those two players won’t be contributors in 2017, it just means the Tribe can’t count on them to start a season where they are the defending AL Champions.

Antonetti and Chernoff are waiting for the market to settle before striking. Although it’s frustrating for fans, it’s also smart.

A New Era For The Tribe?

Are we looking at a new era on the corner of Ontario and Carnegie?

Rumors out of baseball’s annual winter meetings have the Cleveland Indians talking to the agents of free agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion about coming to the Tribe on a multi-year contract.

Encarnacion is one of the game’s premier sluggers. He led the American League in runs batted in last season, and his OPS hasn’t been below 886 since 2011. His lowest home run total over the last five years was 34.

In short, he is an upgrade, at least on the field, from the player who filled his position in 2016.

According to reports, the Indians are one of three teams considered favorites to sign him, along with Boston and Texas, so it should still be considered a long shot for him to join the American League champions.

It has been reported that the Tribe paid a very handsome profit from last season’s playoff run, and remember that John Sherman was brought in as vice chairman and minority owner last summer, so it is very possible that Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff have some extra cash to spend this winter.

And obviously, if you lose the World Series in game seven, and in extra innings, you are in win now mode.

If ever there was a time to throw a little caution to the wind and “go for it”, it is the 2017 season.

Especially when it appears that your competition in the AL Central are in flux. The White Sox look to be in sell mode. The Tigers are aging and have been said to be interested in lowering payroll. The Royals have several key players eligible for free agency after the ’17 season. The Twins lost 100 games a year ago, and shouldn’t be a factor next season.

That doesn’t mean the Indians’ front office will go crazy, handing out huge amounts of cash on long term deals to players decidedly on the downside of their careers.

If the team is able to strike a deal with Encarnacion, we would image a two or three year deal, as he will turn 34 years old in January. Mike Napoli is a year older, and hasn’t shown the consistency in his career as Encarnacion.

Also, the reason Cleveland can even think about this is the low amount of money committed to their starting pitching staff, which is a sink hole for most other major league teams.

Heck, the Dodgers yesterday gave Rich Hill, who was pitching in an independent league in 2015, $48 million over three years. The Tribe doesn’t have to commit that kind of cash to their rotation.

Even if the Indians don’t reach an agreement with Encarnacion, this sends a signal that the front office is ready to spend money on the right player and in the right situation. That’s all fans want, and it should keep the momentum from last October going for the local baseball team.

So, the Indians may make a big splash this off-season, something not thought possible a week ago. Getting this close to a World Series title for fueled this.

It could also mean that the Antonetti led front office is more aggressive than the Mark Shapiro led one. There could have been many reasons for Shapiro’s conservativism, but we doubt he makes the Andrew Miller trade, and it doesn’t seem signing a big time free agent is something he would have done either.

Right now, circumstances have the Cleveland Indians in a win now situation. It’s been 20 years since we could say that.

Tribe Trade Miller? We Say No Way

Since the World Series ended, there have been several national baseball writers who have speculated that the Indians might try to move their post-season star, Andrew Miller, during the off-season.

We feel this should be filed under the same grouping as writers saying the Cavaliers are going to move Kevin Love, and the Browns will fire all of their coaches again this winter. Meaning, it’s a reflex move for writers, low hanging fruit, if you will.

Look, anyone can be traded. We love when Tribe fans will say to us things like the team will never trade Jason Kipnis or Jose Ramirez. Our response is always, if the Angels called and offered Mike Trout, a deal would be reached pretty quickly.

When Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff acquired Miller from the Yankees at the trading deadline last July, one of the reasons he was so appealing, besides that he may very well be the best reliever in the game, was he was under contract for two more years.

That’s the biggest reason the Indians were willing to move two of their top ten prospects.

The national media speculates in this way because they can’t believe the Tribe would be willing to pay $9 million for the next two seasons on a relief pitcher, and combine with a likely $6-7 million payday for Cody Allen, there is certainly no way Cleveland, little small market Cleveland, would spend close to $20 million on their bullpen.

They forget that the Indians are in a win now mode. Most of their key players are in their prime, and they have a very good starting rotation that is paid well below market value compared to their ability.

And yes, we have been critical of the franchise’s spending habits over the years, but with post-season ticket revenue and an expanded season ticket base, we think the front office won’t be as frugal this winter.

When you get to the seventh game of the World Series, your organization has to think they can win the world championship the next season.

Also, the Indians’ farm system is in pretty good shape right now.

When they made the deal with the Yankees, they had two top outfield prospects in Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier. They still have Zimmer poised to be in Cleveland by the end of the 2017 season, and Greg Allen keeps getting better and better too.

They also moved Justus Sheffield, a top starting pitching prospect. Mike Clevinger is the next man up if an injury occurs next season, and the organization has Ryan Merritt and Adam Plutko in the upper levels of the system, and Triston McKenzie, Juan Hillman and others in the lower levels.

So, Miller will be an Indian on Opening Day, 2017 in Texas unless the front office is absolutely blown away by a trade offer, which we doubt will happen.

The Indians intend to get back to the post-season next fall, and if they do, what better weapon to have than the guy who was this fall’s ultimate weapon…Andrew Miller.

On the other hand, if something happens and the season goes south, Miller could be on the move in July, and then, and only then, will Antonetti and Chernoff consider making a deal and will command the same kind of haul Cleveland gave to New York.

That’s the only scenario where Miller gets moved.

Looking Ahead To Tribe Off-Season

It still stings.

Losing in extra innings in the seventh game of the World Series for the second time in the last 20 years will do that to hardcore fans.

Despite some people in the media telling fans they should feel good about losing to the Cubs in the Fall Classic, we still think about what might have been.

The Indians were this close to a World Championship, and fell just a bit short.

So, the best thing to do is to look forward. What can and will the Indians do this winter to prepare themselves to defend the American League Central Division and the American League championship?

Despite the injuries late in the season that curtailed the Tribe’s rotation, there is no doubt the strength of the Indians is the starting rotation, and the back end of the bullpen.

Remember, Cleveland finished second in the American League in ERA in 2016.

Led by staff ace Corey Kluber, the rotation which also consists of Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer, and Josh Tomlin, and the tandem of Andrew Miller and Cody Allen at the back of the bullpen is the backbone of the team.

And don’t forget Mike Clevinger and post-season hero Ryan Merritt to provide depth as well.

As we all saw, pitching rules the day in October, and the Cleveland pitching staff was outstanding in the playoffs.

But the odd thing about baseball is you have to score runs in the regular season to get into the post-season, and quite frankly a lot went right for the Tribe to rank second in the AL in runs scored this past season.

Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana has career years in terms of power, and one of that duo may not be with the team when Opening Day 2017 comes around.

Many will peg Jose Ramirez for regression next season, but we are not one of those people. Ramirez’ minor league numbers suggest he is a good hitter and at age 24, should still be getting better.

The same can be said for SS Francisco Lindor who will play ’17 at age 23. Lindor should only get better, and should provide a little more power, which could put him with around 20 home runs next season.

Jason Kipnis should be fine, and of course, the team is hopeful of getting its best hitter coming into 2016, Michael Brantley back and provide the professional at bats he is well known for.

What the front office does to make up for the loss or possible lost production from Napoli and perhaps Santana will go a long way toward making the post-season a year from now.

The outfield is still a huge question mark. Rajai Davis is also a free agent and will be 36 years old. Tyler Naquin slumped badly in the second half and has no track record. Lonnie Chisenhall and Brandon Guyer are solid players, but aren’t cornerstones. Don’t forget about Abraham Almonte too.

And will Brantley be healthy enough to contribute. Hopefully, rookie Yandy Diaz figures in somewhere too.

The front office can’t and shouldn’t go into the winter thinking older players like Napoli and Davis will repeat the numbers they put up in 2016. It’s just not logical.

So, president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff have to be creative in what they do in the hot stove league.

One thing is for sure. The Tribe should not stand pat. They need to continue to improve the roster even though they got to the seventh game of the World Series.

You can’t assume everything will be the same as this year.

Tribe Simply Ran Out Of Gas

Going into the playoffs, we felt it would be very difficult for the Cleveland Indians to succeed because of the loss of Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar.

However, Terry Francona did a masterful job of post-season managing, relying heavily on his excellent bullpen headed by Andrew Miller and Cody Allen, and ably backed up by Bryan Shaw.

That trio, along with ace starter Corey Kluber soaked up the majority of the innings in the playoffs, and they performed magnificently…until last night.

They will deny it, but it appears those four arms simply ran out of gas, and the Chicago Cubs big hitters got hot in the last two games, while the Indians’ big bats could never get it going.

We should never forget the performance of Kluber, Miller, and Allen in particular during this run. Miller, in particular, showed every baseball fan that he might just be the best reliever in the game, and that Allen is damn good.

Dexter Fowler, Kyle Schwarber, Kris Bryant, and Anthony Rizzo wore Cleveland pitchers out in games six and seven, while Francisco Lindor and Mike Napoli hit some balls hard, but with no result.

As a result, the longest championship drought in major league baseball is over, and it has been replaced by the Tribe, who will enter next year having it be 69 years since the last time the franchise has won the World Series.

It didn’t help that the weather kind of conspired against the Indians too. The unseasonably warm evening caused the jet stream going out to centerfield and right center which aided balls hit by the Cubs.

The Indians didn’t hit any fly balls in that direction.

To our eye, the home runs hit by Fowler (to lead off the game) and David Ross didn’t appear to be dingers off the bat, and Wilson Contreras’ double off the wall fooled Rajai Davis as well.

And the fly ball Davis caught in the tenth off the bat of Bryant looked like a routine fly ball at the time and that ball carried to the wall.

Perhaps, the result would have been different if the temperature was 20 degrees cooler.

The Tribe had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth against an obviously tired Aroldis Chapman, but they couldn’t even get a man on base.

That doesn’t temper the tremendous comeback to tie the game after trailing 5-1 in the fifth. Two runs scoring on a wild pitch by Jon Lester.

And then the epic 8th inning, with a big double by Brandon Guyer, and the tremendous two run homer by Rajai Davis, which rocked Progressive Field to its core.

While the Indians are a young team, and should be contenders for the next few years, you can’t count on a repeat berth in the World Series next year because of the three tiered playoff system.

There’s no guarantee they will be back, and all the organization can do is put the Tribe in a position to win the AL Central again in 2017. That gets you back in the post-season tournament.

We will analyze what the Indians should do with the roster going forward at another time, when yesterday’s loss doesn’t sting so much. We will say that post-season performance shouldn’t figure into those decisions.

There was no goat for the Cleveland Indians in this series. The pitchers that they leaned on so much in October simply ran out of gas. The injuries finally took their toll.

Tonight Could Be The Night For Tribe

We have been fans of the Cleveland Indians as long as we can remember, which is 1965. That means we’ve been waiting for 51 years for what may or may not happen tonight at Progressive Field.

The Tribe has a chance to be World Champions.

Think about that for a second. It’s only happened twice before, once in 1920 and again in 1948.

And that’s it.

We have written about this before, but for a long time (from ’65 through 1994) the Cleveland Indians were for the most part a terrible, perhaps mediocre squad, where an above .500 record was celebrated, not expected.

But we still had our favorite players. Sam McDowell, Chris Chambliss, Buddy Bell, Dennis Eckersley, Len Barker, Joe Carter, Mel Hall, and Tom Candiotti. Many of those guys got to experience winning elsewhere.

We also had the great stars who came to Cleveland at the end of their illustrious careers, like Hawk Harrelson, Boog Powell, Frank Robinson, and of course everyone’s favorite, Keith Hernandez.

Contending for a division title? That was a pipe dream, something other franchises thought about, not Tribe fans.

There were four 100 loss seasons in that time span, amazingly, the franchise bottomed out in the last 1980’s, losing more than 100 games three times in a six season span (1985, 1987, and 1991).

Right around then, Hank Peters was brought in to run the franchise and surrounded himself with two young executives, John Hart and Dan O’Dowd, and rebuilt the moribund Indians by a forgotten (at least around here), but tried and true method.

They developed a fruitful farm system.

Suddenly, the Indians developed into a powerful club, with the foundation being home grown players like Albert Belle, Jim Thome, and Manny Ramirez, with great trades bringing in Sandy Alomar Jr., Carlos Baerga, and Kenny Lofton.

Also, they sprinkled in some key veteran free agents like Eddie Murray, Dennis Martinez, and Orel Hershiser.

Sounds familiar, right?

This Tribe squad is centered around players originally signed and developed by Cleveland, like Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Roberto Perez.

President Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff traded for guys like Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes, Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and of course, Andrew Miller.

Add in free agents Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis, and you have a team on the brink of something not done in baseball here in 68 seasons.

This isn’t talking about a coronation, because there is still a game to win and the Cubs are throwing last year’s Cy Young Award winner in Jake Arrieta and a candidate for this year’s award in Game 7 starter Kyle Hendricks.

The Tribe pitching staff has been so outstanding this post-season, holding down the powerful offenses in Boston and Toronto, and what they have been able to do thus far to Chicago.

They may need two more games of that kind of pitching.

Having a 3-2 Series lead doesn’t abate our nervousness, our sense of anticipation, and even though the Cavaliers won a title just four months ago, our sense of upcoming doom.

Allowing ourselves to think about a fourth win against the Cubs gets the goosebumps going, and emotions flooding our senses.

We’ve waited 51 years for this night. Yes, we had a Game 7 moment in 1997, but perhaps then we were just happy to be in a World Series twice in three years after so long without being in one.

Now the thirst needs to be quenched. The Cavs, the Monsters, Stipe Miocic gave our town a taste of what a title is like, and now Indians’ fans want the same.

Tonight could be that night for the Cleveland Indians.

Time For Tribe Bats To Awaken

There is no question the pitching staff has carried the Cleveland Indians in this year’s run to the World Series.

The Tribe has played ten post-season games to date, and they’ve allowed just 20 runs. Even the most challenged person, mathematically speaking, knows that’s just two runs per contest.

Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, Cody Allen, and Josh Tomlin have been very stingy in allowing opponents to cross home plate.

With the World Series tied at one game apiece and no heading to Chicago, it’s time for the hitting, and there is no question the Indians’ bats are slumbering, to pick up their end of the heavy lifting.

In those same 10 games, Cleveland has scored only 34 runs, well below their average of 4.83 runs per contest in the regular season.

Yes, we know that the pitching is better in the post-season, and naturally teams will score less runs in the playoffs, but when you consider that 12 of those runs were scored in two games (ALDS Game 2 and World Series Game 1), it is another indication the bats are really struggling.

That means in the other eight games, the Tribe is averaging less than three runs a night. Based on that statistic, it is kind of miraculous that the Indians have won six of those games and have won the American League pennant.

Besides Francisco Lindor, who has batted .342 with 2 homers since the regular season ended, and Brandon Guyer (4 for 11 in his platoon role), and rest of the hitters have struggled.

Leadoff hitter Carlos Santana has only 5 hits in 35 at bats. He has walked four times, giving him an on base percentage of just .250. The #2 hitter, Jason Kipnis, is batting .154 with just three extra base hits in the playoffs.

Cleanup hitter Mike Napoli nudged himself over the “Mendoza line” with two hits last night, but he has only one homer in the 10 games and is striking out in over one-third of his at bats (12 whiffs in 34 ABs).

World Series Game 1 hero Roberto Perez has been feast or famine. He’s hitting just .200 (6 for 30), but does have four extra base hits and a team leading six RBIs, although three of those came on his three run blast in the 8th inning of that game.

The only other consistent batter outside of Lindor has been Jose Ramirez, and even he struggled throughout the Toronto series.

The offense does have 13 home runs in the playoffs, but they have only mustered 13 other extra base hits in the ten games, all of them doubles.

Rookie Tyler Naquin has continued his struggles, going 3 for 18 with 11 whiffs, but who do you replace him with? His platoon partner, Rajai Davis is just 1 for 19 and hasn’t really hit since the middle of September.

If Davis were swinging the bat well, it would make sense for Terry Francona to replace the rookie, but right now, why make the move?

The Indians have just four hitters with an OPS over 700 in the playoffs (Lindor, Guyer, Perez, and Coco Crisp).

There is talk about Santana playing LF in Wrigley Field, but at this point, that has to be Tito hoping he will get hot, because he hasn’t hit so far.

Playoff games are supposed to be tight contests, but right now, it feels like if the Indians fall behind in a game, then it’s over. At some point in this World Series, the bats will be needed to win a game. Heck, the Cubs only scored five last night, an offensive output like Game 1 would have won that game too.

It’s time for the hitters for the Cleveland Indians to join the party, whether it’s at Napoli’s or at Wrigley Field.