You Trade For Prospects When You Are Rebuilding. The Indians Aren’t.

In recent years, the sports talk shows in Cleveland spent a lot of time talking about the NFL Draft. It seems like folks like to talk about the possibility of getting players more than the players that actually play in northeast Ohio.

When it comes to the Cleveland Indians, it comes down to trading for prospects. Apparently, it’s better to deal for young players rather than sign the great players who are already here.

Yes, we are talking through a thin veil here about Francisco Lindor. There are many in the area who think the Indians are better off rebuilding a team that won 93 games last season, rather than trying to get over the hump and get back into the post-season.

Look, if the Tribe was 75-87 this past season and had a roster loaded with a bunch of 30 year olds, we might think the same thing.

But here is a list of the Indians’ leaders in WAR for 2019–

Shane Bieber (24 years old)
Lindor (25)
Carlos Santana (33)
Mike Clevinger (28)
Roberto Perez (30)
Jose Ramirez (26)

Does this look like a team on its last legs and ready to be rebuilt?

We also subscribe to the theory that until proven otherwise, prospects are suspects until proven otherwise. Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate top minor league talent, because we do.

In 2013, there were those in the media saying the Indians should deal Lindor to get help for Terry Francona’s first year here, and we gave the opinion that was ridiculous.

Still, dealing a player like Lindor is now, and he’s one of the best ten players in the sport, for prospects is dicey at best.

For example, here is a list of the Top Ten prospects in baseball in 2016, according to Baseball America:

Corey Seager
Byron Buxton
Yoan Moncada
Jose Urias
Lucas Giolito
JP Crawford
Alex Reyes
Orlando Arcia
Trea Turner
Joey Gallo

Of those ten, Seager and Turner are very good players, and Moncada looks to be on his way. Giolito had a great year in ’19, but struggled before that.

Reyes has been hurt a lot, and Gallo has always had immense power, and looked to be improving his game this past season before he was injured.

The other have been disappointments, and getting one of them back for a player like Lindor would be a swing and a miss.

The following year’s (2017) list contained Dansby Swanson, Reyes, Nick Senzel, Willy Adames, and Amed Rosario.

That year also featured Andrew Benintendi, Moncado, Gleyber Torres, Austin Meadows, and Cody Bellinger, any of which would be a solid return for a star player.

That’s still a 50/50 proposition.

And trading a great player for three above average players isn’t a good deal either, because if you have the former, you can likely find average guys to fill in those spots.

(Think Julio Franco for Pete O’Brien, Jerry Browne, and Oddibe McDowell for you older fans).

We are sure we will hear about how the Washington Nationals went to the World Series after Bryce Harper walked away in free agency. But the Nats had Juan Soto on the horizon to basically replace Harper.

Back in 2000, the Seattle Mariners lost Alex Rodriguez to free agency and won a Major League record 116 games the following year. Just like the Nationals without Harper.

Except the Mariners haven’t been back to the playoffs again.

Look, the Indians are going to do what they are going to do. However, we think it’s better to keep great players, which Frankie Lindor is.

And he’s here for two more years, and it would be a surprise if the Indians were not contenders in either of those years.

It’s not time for a rebuild, nor it is time to trade Francisco Lindor. And people shouldn’t assume the return will be three blue chip players.

Tribe Key In Off-Season? Improve OBP.

The Cleveland Indians finished third in the American League in runs scored in 2018, and you can make a pretty good argument that dropping to seventh in this category this past season is the reason they were sitting at home.

The Tribe was third in on base percentage in ’18 and fourth in slugging percentage, the key components to offensive baseball these days. In 2019 though, the Indians dropped to 6th in slugging, and down to 8th in on base percentage.

The latter figure is something Cleveland needs to work on for the 2020 campaign, and a reason we wished the organization would have gone in a new direction with the hitting coach.

The list of Indians’ hitters with an OBP over .350 is very short: Carlos Santana, Yasiel Puig, Jordan Luplow, and Mike Freeman. Only Santana was in the lineup all year on an everyday basis.

By contrast, the Astros, whose offense is relentless, have these players over the .350 benchmark: Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, Yordan Alvarez, George Springer, and two other players who are reserves.

Boston was second in on base average (behind Houston), and had these players over .350: Brock Holt, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Mookie Betts, and J.D. Martinez.

If you think we are being picky with the .350 figure, please be advised that the Tribe didn’t have anyone else over .340 either. The next best OBP was Francisco Lindor at .335.

To be fair, had Jose Ramirez hit higher than .255 this season, he would have hit the .350 level, because his strikeout to walk ratio (74:52) was solid.

To us, this indicates the lack of strike zone awareness throughout the roster, and this leads to hitters getting themselves out by swinging at bad pitches.

Sometimes this improves through experience, which is why we aren’t concerned right now with Oscar Mercado walking just 28 times in 482 plate appearances. If this number stays there next season, it could indicate a problem.

We have already touched on Lindor, whose walk rate was the lowest since his rookie year, and he got himself out plenty in clutch situations last season, swinging at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone, sometimes when he was ahead in the count.

If we were Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, we would be focused on getting some guys who can get on base to help the offense next season.

It might start by giving Luplow, who had a .372 OBP in his minor league career, a shot at an everyday spot in the lineup.

And Lindor is too good of a hitter not to learn from this season and make pitchers come to him instead of helping them out.

Besides, if you can get a solid hitter who can get on base, you can get the shortstop out of the leadoff spot, and hit him in the #2 hole or lower.

Together with Santana, who has always been an on base machine, and Ramirez returning to somewhere close to his norm (he has three straight seasons over .350 from 2016-18), it would give the Indians four players who can get on base.

We would also have someone work with Franmil Reyes on his strike zone judgment. If he could layoff bad pitches more, he would be an anchor in the middle of the lineup.

Against good teams and particularly good pitchers, you have to make them work, you can’t help them out by swinging at borderline strikes.

Remember the success the Indians had vs. Justin Verlander with the Tigers? They made him throw a lot of pitches early in games, and even if they didn’t have success against him, they got him out of the game.

On base percentage is the key stat for the Indians to improve on this off-season. Not saying it’s a cure all, but it will help the offense be more “relentless”, for sure.

Tribe Report Cards: Everyday Players

The Cleveland Indians reign as American League Central Division champions ended after three straight seasons.

Yes, they won 93 games, and that’s very good, they did not make the post-season, so we cannot be happy about the year, and it definitely wasn’t a success, no matter how many injuries the club and Terry Francona had to endure.

We decided to put together a report card for the squad (not that they asked!). We didn’t grade the bit players, the guys who were called up in September (FYI–don’t think anyone would have received higher than a D), but we wanted to give our appraisal of the 2019 edition of the Cleveland Indians–

Players Who Gets A’s:

Carlos Santana: After missing a year signing with the Phillies as a free agent, the switch-hitter had a career year in ’19. He tied his career best in home runs, and had his highest RBI total and OPS.

He will be 34 next year, and normally, we would say he’s a candidate to be dealt, as his value with never be higher. But, Santana’s numbers improved because he changed his approach at the plate, using more of the field.

He may not hit 34 HR’s, but his ability to draw walks make him a good offensive player if he hits around .260 with 25 dingers.

Roberto Perez: Despite all the complaints about dealing Yan Gomes (see the comments about Santana), Perez took his first opportunity as a regular and ran with it, belting 24 homers with a 7754 OPS.

He should win a Gold Glove for his defensive prowess and his ability to handle what turned out to be a very young pitching staff cannot be overlooked.

Players With A “B” Grade:

Francisco Lindor: Lindor is a superstar, but his season was below the tremendous standards he has set for himself. He missed the first month of the year with calf and ankle issues, but his walk rate was the lowest since his rookie year and his struggles in the clutch seemed to be from being overanxious.

At 25 years old, we feel safe in thinking it’s a blip on the radar.

Oscar Mercado: The rookie was a spring training sensation and probably should have made the club to open the season. He had a 761 OPS, which should improve because he’s only 24 years old, and his walk rate should get better as he gains experience.

Jose Ramirez: The switch-hitter struggled badly in the first half and was red hot after the All Star break. Still, even when he wasn’t hitting, he drew enough walks, and wound up with an 806 OPS. He even came back early from a hamate bone injury and hit a pair of homers in his first game back.

Yasiel Puig: Puig was expected to give the club a power burst, but instead was an on-base machine with an OBP of .377. All in all, not what the front office expected, but still helped the attack.

Franmil Reyes: The big man struggled mightily after coming over from San Diego, but also fell short of expectations, hitting just .237 albeit with 10 HRs. He needs to figure out the strike zone to fully blossom.

Jordan Luplow: Acquired from the Pirates, he was a tremendous asset vs. lefties. We would like to see him get an opportunity to get an everyday job next spring.

The “C” Group:

Tyler Naquin: Maybe he’s a bit too low here, but has problems staying healthy. Good arm, and if you hit him at the bottom of the order, he’s an asset.

Mike Freeman: Did a solid job as the primary infield back up, but when he had to play more, wasn’t as effective.

Greg Allen: A disappointment to us. Thought he earned a regular job in spring training, but doesn’t walk, and didn’t hit enough.

Kevin Plawecki: Did a serviceable job, but we don’t think he did enough for Francona and his staff to have confidence in him. That’s why Perez carried such a heavy load and got tired in August.

We’ll give Jason Kipnis and Jake Bauers a C-. Kipnis is way too inconsistent at the plate, prone to lengthy “0 for” streaks.

We liked Bauers’ approach early, patient, hit lefties well, but as the year went on, he struck out way too much. Doesn’t walk enough, not enough power.

We will grade the pitchers next week.

Offense Failed Tribe Down The Stretch.

It’s all over.

The Cleveland Indians’ hope for a post-season spot came to a crashing halt Friday night in Washington.

Following the home finale a week ago, the Tribe was tied with Tampa Bay for the second spot with six games to play. But after an 11-0 win in the first game in Chicago, highlighted by Jose Ramirez’ return to the lineup with two home runs, the offense snoozed and the pitching showed wear and tear in two disappointing losses, 8-3 and 8-0.

Another game of giving up eight runs eliminated Terry Francona’s squad, this one 8-2 to the Nationals. So, coming into the week, we felt the Indians could only lose one game, and they lost three straight.

We have compared the Tribe season to a basketball team that was down 20 in the first half and had to fight back to came it a game, only to have nothing left to win the game.

After Cleveland took a half game lead in the AL Central on August 12th by beating Boston on a Carlos Santana homer, thus erasing the 11.5 game bulge Minnesota had on June 2nd, the Tribe went 21-21 over the next quarter of a season, and that was simply not good enough.

Injuries didn’t help, that for sure. But the Indians got back into the race without Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco, but losing Jose Ramirez at the end of August was a blow to the offense, one that added Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig at the end of July.

And it was the offense that failed Cleveland. The Indians finished ninth in the AL in runs scored after finishing third a year ago, while the pitching staff ranked third in ERA, one of only three teams in the Junior Circuit to have a team ERA under 4.00 (Tampa and Houston).

What happened to the offense? The simple view is the Indians probably only got better performances from the first base position (Carlos Santana vs. Yonder Alonso), catcher, and at centerfield.

Jose Ramirez didn’t produce in the first half, and Francisco Lindor had the lowest walk rate since his rookie year, and it showed in his numbers with men in scoring position. The all-star shortstop was very impatient in clutch situations, helping opposing pitchers by swinging at bad pitches.

The big deadline trade brought Reyes and Puig, but the former had an OPS about 60 points lower with Cleveland (785) than in San Diego (849), and the latter hit just two home runs with the Tribe, none of them at Progressive Field, at least as an Indian.

Puig did get on base a lot though, which is a good thing, just maybe not for your cleanup hitter. His slugging percentage was behind that of Oscar Mercado and Roberto Perez.

So, the offense still wasn’t up to that of the best teams in the AL. Again, you need to score runs to make the playoffs, and Houston, New York, Minnesota, and Oakland all finished in the top five in runs in the American League.

Depending on what happens today, the Indians could be sixth, just ahead of Tampa, but Cleveland doesn’t have the relentless lineups (read: no weak spots) that those other teams do.

The Tribe has just two hitters with an on base percentage over .350 and slugging percentage over .450. They are Carlos Santana and Jordan Luplow, who doesn’t play vs. right handers.

Houston has eight, the Yankees six. Those lineup make you work. The Indians need to get some of those guys if they want to get back in the mix in 2020.

The lack of consistent hitting hurt the Tribe. Averaging 5 runs per game is good, but not if it’s done by scoring 10 one night and getting shutout the next.

Six Games To Decide The Playoffs For The Tribe

They always say the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint, but with a week to go in the regular season, the Cleveland Indians are involved in a mad dash with the Tampa Bay Rays (and to a lesser extent the Oakland A’s) for the American League’s last playoff spot.

There are six games remaining for each team, and the Tribe is on the road for all of them, three with the White Sox, and three more with the Nationals, where the Indians will not be able to use the designated hitter.

Tampa has one more with Boston and a pair with the Yankees in Tampa, before heading north of the border to take on Toronto.

It does appear Terry Francona is getting some good news in that Jose Ramirez may return to the lineup tonight in Chicago. How effective Ramirez will be has to be seen, but judging from who has replaced him in the lineup, it won’t take much for him to be a positive impact.

Cleveland is able to start their current top three starting pitchers against the Sox, a team they have struggled with in 2019, going 7-9. Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, and Aaron Civale draw the assignments in an effort to hold down the Chicago offense.

Clevinger will be available if the Indians need to win the last game of the season to get into the wild card game or to force a one game playoff with the Rays to qualify for the wild card game.

The other tough decision for Francona and his staff is what to do with Franmil Reyes in the nation’s capital. Reyes has mostly been a DH since coming over at the trade deadline, but to us, the Indians can’t afford to take his bat out of the lineup in the most important series of the year.

We would put Reyes in LF, and if the Tribe can get a lead after five innings, take him out for defensive purposes. Something tells us that the skipper will use him for an important pinch-hitting appearance.

More bad news is the Nationals are currently a half game up on the Brewers for the wild card in the National League, so home field for that game could be at stake, meaning Washington could be playing their “A” lineup and their best starters for all three contests.

A week ago, there was a hope the Nats would have a spot wrapped up, and they might, but the home field is up for grabs. However, a 5-5 stretch for Dave Martinez’ squad has made that possibility less likely.

With the Rays win last night, the Indians are down a half game starting the series.

We feel the Indians can only lose one game at a minimum and still make the post-season. And they may have to win all six.

Another positive for the Tribe is the performance of Carlos Carrasco, who was huge in the series against his former organization. Carrasco picked up a save on Friday night going 1-1/3 innings, and Sunday night, got a key double play with men on first and third and one out in a tie game.

If he can continue this, he could be a big weapon for Francona in these six games.

So, it all comes down to this: Six games. Six games you have to win. The post-season for the Indians starts in reality tomorrow night. It’s a nerve wracking time for a baseball fan.

Tito And The Young Players

To start, Terry Francona is a great manager, and will likely go into the Hall of Fame when he retires as the skipper of the Cleveland Indians.

He’s piloted two World Series winners, won three American League pennants, and currently ranks 18th all time in wins, and has a real possibility of getting into the top 15 if not higher before he retires.

And he has guided the Indians through a myriad of tough situations, most notably in the 2016 post-season when the team lost Carlos Carrasco to injury, and he used a starting rotation of Corey Kluber, Josh Tomlin, and Trevor Bauer (who really missed one start with a lacerated pinky) to get to the seventh game of the World Series.

There is certainly no one else we would like to have managing the Cleveland Indians.

His day to day approach resonates with the players. When injuries occur, and the Tribe has had many to deal with this season, including ones to star players like Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Kluber, and Carrasco, Francona stresses that the team should go about the business of winning the game played that day.

After all, that’s all you can do.

But we also say that doesn’t make the skipper infallible. He makes mistakes. He will go the extra mile for a veteran player who has performed for him in the past. And sometimes he crosses the line between stubbornness and patience, particularly with vets.

That gets frustrating in the race for a post-season spot, at least for the fans, that is.

It’s not like the manager has a lot of alternatives with the likes of Ramirez and Kipnis out of the lineup. Each night, Francona has to come up with someone who can play second base and third base, and he has to use the bullpen too, and that has become problematic recently with Brad Hand being unavailable.

However, we would take issue with not looking at a possible upside of young players, even if this is a pennant race.

Everyone should know what Ryan Flaherty is at this point. He’s a utility man, primarily at third or second base, and he can’t hit. He has a .215 lifetime batting average, and he’s been around the league.

Why not use Yu Chang instead? First, he plays Flaherty vs. right handers, and Chang is actually had more success vs. righties (9 for 39 with a HR). The only assumption anyone can make is Francona has more confidence in the veteran.

A veteran he should know is not going to contribute with the bat.

The same in the bullpen with rookie James Karinchak, who seems to strikeout everyone who steps in the batter’s box.

Wednesday night, the skipper brought in Nick Goody, who has spent the last month either walking people or giving up home runs, to face a pair of Tiger hitters in the ninth inning of a tie game.

That’s the ultimate sign of trust.

Goody got the two batters out, but Francona left himself open to big time questioning had the reliever given up the game winning hit.

Karinchak has pitched in two games, faced ten hitters and struck five of them out.

He used Tyler Clippard, arguably the Tribe’s best reliever in the last month, last night with a 7-0 lead against the worst team in baseball, when guys like Phil Maton, Dan Otero, and Jeffry Rodriguez haven’t pitched in over a week.

We feel fans have a right to ask questions and so should the media.

In most cases, we know what the veteran is going to do. Why not take a chance with the young player. He likely cannot do any worse.

Here Are Tribe’s Needs For The Stretch Run

The Major League Baseball, referred to by most people as a marathon, not a sprint, has reached the closing kick stage, as the Cleveland Indians have just 15 games remaining.

In fact, when the first place Minnesota Twins come to town Friday night for a big three game series, it will be the beginning of the final home stand of 2019.

Nine more at Progressive Field, and a six game, two city trip to Chicago and Washington, and see if Terry Francona’s squad gets a berth in the post-season tournament.

The Tribe has struggled against both the White Sox and good pitching all season long, so that last week will be a gauntlet to be sure. One thing to hope for is the Nationals might have their playoff spot (they currently hold the top spot in the NL by 2-1/2 games) solidified by the last weekend, putting them in rest/set up their pitching mode for the wild card game.

It would also help if Cleveland can avoid Lucas Giolito for the White Sox series.

As it has been all season, the key for the Indians will be generating enough offense to support the pitching they have had, ranking 2nd in the AL in ERA, just behind Tampa Bay.

We have railed on Jason Kipnis all season long, but no one can doubt the Indians need a strong finish from him, particularly with Jose Ramirez’ injury. The problem is the second baseman has had a 564 OPS vs. teams over .500 compared to 824 against good teams.

Nine of the final 15 games are against the former. They need Kipnis to get hot and stay hot in the final three weeks.

The other player who the Tribe needs to get going is Yasiel Puig. Puig was slugging .475 for Cincinnati (yes, we know about Great American Ballpark) and had an OPS of 777 with the Reds.

He only hit 9 of his 22 National League homers in Cincy.

His OPS for the Indians isn’t far off of that at 759, but instead of driving the ball, he’s been more of an on base guy, at .355 vs. .302 in southern Ohio.

The Indians could use Puig getting hot with the long ball in these last three weeks to help them push runs across the plate.

Puig has 16 RBI in 136 at bats with Cleveland. By contrast, Franmil Reyes, who started slow, has 28 ribbies in 131 at bats. If Puig could start matching Reyes’ production, that would help the lineup immensely.

The other concern is how much gas the bullpen has left.

Brad Hand needs to find the arm slot on his slider, and the sooner, the better. Hitters aren’t swinging at the back foot breaking ball he throws right now, probably because they know it will be a ball.

Hopefully, a few days off will help his tired arm.

Carlos Carrasco was supposed to help and still could, but he’s allowed three HR’s in his five relief appearances since returning to the mound.

The most reliable guys Francona has right now are the two oldest relievers, Tyler Clippard and Oliver Perez.

Clippard, 34, has a 2.25 ERA in the second half, striking out 36 hitters in 32 innings since the All Star Game.

Perez, who just turned 38 recently, has pitched to a 2.57 ERA in 16 innings post All Star break.

The ‘pen needs someone else to be reliable, perhaps Nick Wittgren, a couple of good outings recently, or Nick Goody to get back to where he was in July through mid August.

Or have Carrasco avoid the long ball.

Those are the keys as baseball heads into the stretch run. The Indians are still in the thick of the race, but right now are on the outside looking in.

With a tougher schedule in the last two and a half weeks, Francona needs a few guys to step it up.

Today’s Baseball From An “Old Guy” Perspective

We were discussing the Indians’ recent winning streak with a group of friends the other night, and the talk turned to the state of baseball in general and how different the game is now than when we were growing up.

Now, before you go further, without giving away our ages, we remember when the Tribe wore the vested uniforms with the red shirts underneath, and the strength of the team was the starting rotation of Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert, and Luis Tiant.

True confession, we aren’t “get off my lawn” guys either. In fact, several of us knew about OPS and sabermetrics for over 30 years, and respect that view of the game.

The chat started with RBIs, which has been reduced in value as a statistic in today’s game along with batting average, and the lack of “RBI men” in today’s game.

We didn’t know who even led the league in ribbies right now, because no one talks about it. It’s all about OPS and slugging percentage, etc.

(The current leader is Pittsburgh’s Josh Bell with 98, followed by Freddie Freeman and Eduardo Escobar with 96. Rafael Devers, who tortured the Tribe this week, leads the AL with 94).

We know people think now that runs batted in is a product of getting more opportunities to do so, but we watched Manny Ramirez drive in 165, the most by anyone in the big leagues since 1938.

Yes, yes, Ramirez batted behind Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, and Roberto Alomar, who got on base a ton.

But Ramirez put the ball in play a lot of times to knock in runs with ground balls, fly balls, and base hits. He did hit for a .333 average that season.

We recently read that five worst home run to RBI ratios all time are held by active players. That comes from the notion now that strikeouts are fine, and putting the ball in play with a runner on third with less than two out is passe.

We still consider guys who hit for a high batting average very good hitters. Heck, we had one with the Indians for the past few years, and Michael Brantley ranks 5th in MLB in that stat at .328. But, those guys get overlooked because they don’t walk enough.

A similar case can be made for the Mets’ Jeff McNeil, who didn’t get to the bigs until he was 26 despite a .311 batting average in the minors, because he didn’t walk or drive the ball.

We commented that the Red Sox lineup is relentless because they have put together a lineup where everyone, save for CF Jackie Bradley Jr., hits .280 or better.

By contrast, the Tribe’s lineup has improved, but Terry Francona can only put three such players in his batting order: Frankie Lindor, Carlos Santana, and Tyler Naquin.

The Indians have put a premium on contact in the past few drafts, looking for players who are hitters first, and figuring they can teach driving the ball, much like Lindor and Jose Ramirez.

The problem in our eyes is the number of hitters who swing for the fences that probably shouldn’t be. A player like Rougned Odor with Texas comes to mind.

Odor has belted 69 homers since the beginning of the 2017 season, but has hit .204 in ’17 and currently this season. Wouldn’t he be a better player for the Rangers hitting less home runs and getting on base more often? He has a lifetime .292 on base percentage.

The game has changed for sure, but we aren’t sure it’s for the better. Striking out used to be embarrassing. Maybe it should be again.

Revivals And Rookies Key Tribe Hot Streak

No matter when you think it started, there is no question the Cleveland Indians have been blistering hot for over two months to climb back into the American League Central Division race.

We like to point to May 28th, when the Tribe was trailing Boston in the ninth inning 5-2, heading to their 8th loss in nine games, when they rallied for five runs and won 7-5. Cleveland is 43-20 since.

Others point to the first game after the White Sox series, where they lost three of four. Looking at a homestand where they were playing the Twins, Yankees, and Reds, they took two of three vs. first place Minnesota. They are 41-17 in that span.

It doesn’t matter what date you start, there is no question the revival can be traced to the renaissance of some veteran players and the emergence of some rookies.

Oscar Mercado made his major league debut on May 14th after a strong spring training and great start in AAA. He hit his first home run on May 26th, and became an everyday player when the team went to Boston, which was the 27th.

The rook is currently in a 2 for 18 slide, which happens to rookies, but overall has hit .277 (768 OPS) and has fit nicely into the #2 hole in the lineup between Francisco Lindor and Carlos Santana.

This is a gigantic upgrade from the 619 OPS they were getting from Leonys Martin.

Zach Plesac made his major league debut that turn around game in Boston, and has proved to be a reliable starter since, going 6-3 with a 3.13 ERA.

He’s allowed more than three runs just three times in 13 starts, and one of those resulted in a win vs. Houston. He pitched at least five innings in 11 of those appearances, and one of those was because of a rain delay situation.

While Mercado helped the offense, the hitting still needed help and a couple of veterans got it going.

Jason Kipnis, who on June 6th was hitting .206 with a 565 OPS, starting hitting like he did in 2016. Since June 1st, he’s hit .281 with 9 home runs and 43 RBI.

That helped lengthen the lineup.

It also was helped when a player who has finished in the top three in the MVP voting the past two seasons, emerged from a slump that dated back to mid August of 2018.

On June 12th, Jose Ramirez was batting .198 with a 586 OPS. Since then, Ramirez has played like one of the best hitters in the game, batting .319 with 12 HR and 43 RBI.

His revival has made a huge difference and with the deal that brought Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes to Cleveland at the deadline, the Indians should have an offense which measures up to the other contenders in the American League.

Another rookie, Aaron Civale, has given Terry Francona and his staff two solid starts and will be counted on to do the same until Corey Kluber, who should return to the rotation by the end of the month, is ready.

And let’s not overlook the contributions of Nick Goody (1.30 ERA), the OF platoon of Tyler Naquin and Jordan Luplow, and Greg Allen (.293).

A team needs the contributions of many to be this hot for this long. The Indians have had that and will continue to need it over the last month and a half of this season.

Overcoming an 11.5 game lead to tie for the division lead is one thing. But you have to finish the job and they are still 45 games remaining.

If the rookies can keep performing and Kipnis and Ramirez can stay hot, the AL Central title can be achieved.

Many Seasons Within A Season For The Tribe.

It is difficult to believe the major league baseball season is 2/3rds over, but it is.

And for the Cleveland Indians, it has kind of been several seasons wrapped into one, and the last third of the 2019 season will probably look like a different one as well.

Here is how the Tribe has stacked up breaking down the campaign so far into 27 game (1/6th of the season) segments:

First 27 games: 15-12
Games 28-54: 12-15
Games 55-81: 17-10
Games 82-108: 19-8

It is clear that Terry Francona’s club has gotten better as the season has progressed, and there is no doubt the roster is very much different than it was on Opening Day in Minnesota.

The beginning of the year had Francona playing Eric Stamets, who was recently designated for assignment, at shortstop with Francisco Lindor injured. Mike Clevinger made two starts and pulled a muscle in his shoulder/back. Leonys Martin was in centerfield, and by the end of that stretch, Carlos Gonzalez was getting everyday playing time.

Thankfully, Carlos Santana started strong and provided pretty much the only hot hitting the Indians had.

On May 1st, Corey Kluber, a 20 game winner last season, suffered a broken arm when hit with a line drive.

The 54th game of the season (May 28th) was the beginning of the turn around. Trailing 5-2 in the ninth at Boston, facing a fourth straight loss, and their eighth loss in nine games, the Indians rallied for five runs in the ninth. A Greg Allen two run homer tied it, and Jordan Luplow’s double provided the difference in the contest.

Since then, the Indians are 36-18.

Jose Ramirez had two hits that night and started showing signs of emerging from his slump, which started in mid August 2018.

Oscar Mercado was called up earlier in May, and was working his way into the everyday starting lineup. Roberto Perez hit his 7th homer to lead off the ninth. He has belted 12 more since that day.

Still, Cleveland lost three of four in Chicago after leaving Boston. Then, Carlos Carrasco couldn’t make a start in the second game of a series at home against the front-running Twins because of illness.

The Indians unified behind the pitcher and started winning ballgames. And a lot of them.

Yes, the schedule was soft, many games against the lower echelon teams in the American League (Tigers, Royals, Orioles, and Blue Jays), but the Tribe did win the series against Minnesota and followed that with the same against the Yankees.

They also won three of four against Cincinnati.

Tyler Naquin and Jordan Luplow have formed a solid platoon in the outfield, Jason Kipnis showed life at the plate and Ramirez got hot, giving the Indians a passable offense.

Clevinger returned, Shane Bieber emerged and made the All Star Game (where he was MVP) and they teamed with Trevor Bauer to make a solid “Big Three”.

At the trading deadline, the Indians transformed from a pitching based team to a formidable offense when they traded Bauer in a three team deal and received Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes.

Suddenly, the Tribe has a solid batting order.

The last third of the season will provide the answer to several questions:

Will the production of the lineup match the potential?

Will the Indians have enough starting pitching with the trade of Bauer?

Can Ramirez’ recent revival at the plate continue?

Will the bullpen hold up, and will reinforcements from the farm system be coming soon?

If these questions are answered positively, a fourth consecutive division title can be achieved. And the rare rebuild while contending may just have been pulled off.