Cleveland Indians: Ready to Contend?

The Cleveland Indians had their franchise-record 14-game win streak snapped in Toronto on Saturday in a 9-6 loss to the powerful Blue Jays, but with a six game lead in the AL Central, are the Tribe ready to be taken seriously?

The city of Cleveland has had a pretty nice couple of weeks. After the Cavaliers won the NBA Championship, breaking a forever-long title drought for the city, the Indians set out to make sure that Cleveland never knew what losing felt like ever again–and they almost accomplished that goal. Well, almost. Ok, not quite. This is a long season after all.

The Indians have been a sleeper contender the past few seasons with one of the most projectable rotations in the bigs, but up until this season the team hadn’t done much contending.

This year feels different, and in looking at their ranks in runs scored and team ERA, they should be considered a legitimate threat in the American League. Entering play Saturday, Cleveland had scored a total of 383 runs, good for 11th in baseball and 6th in the AL, just one behind Toronto and three behind Seattle. The Boston Red Sox are on another planet with 439 runs scored to lead the majors.

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On the rubber, Cleveland ranks fourth in baseball in team ERA (3.34), but first in the AL with the Houston Astros (3.86) coming in second. The worst starter’s ERA on the club is Cody Anderson at 7.65, but he is currently on the disabled list, and Trevor Bauer has found his way back into the fold with a 2.96 ERA. Aside from Anderson, the worst ERA from a starting pitcher belongs to the one pitcher most people can probably name from this rotation: Former Cy Young winner Corey Kluber–and his ERA is still a full run below the AL average at 3.50.

Sanny Salazar is leading the way for the Indians with a 10-3 record and a 2.22 ERA, while Carlos Carrasco (2.56) and Josh Tomlin (3.21) round out the rotation.

The big thumpers in the lineup have been Carlos Santana (18 home runs, 44 RBI) and Mike Napoli (16 home runs, 53 RBI) while last year’s Rookie of the Year runner-up Francisco Lindor has had a very nice sophomore campaign, placing 4th in WAR among shortstops (3.5), sixth in wRC+ (120) and his strikeout percentage is lower than any of the other top guys.

Lindor reminds me a lot of Oakland’s Miguel Tejada circa 2000, but not because their offensive abilities are in any way intertwined. Tejada was a power-hitting shortstop. Lindor, while he has 10 home runs, is not. Both are part of a crop of young shortstops, but have ultimately been overshadowed by their peers. For Tejada it was Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra and Alex Rodriguez. For Lindor, Carlos Correa, Corey Seager and Manny Machado steal some of the spotlight. Lindor gets mentioned with this trio, but usually as an afterthought.

From an outsider’s perspective, Lindor appears to be the catalyst of the Cleveland offense, and for the team as a whole. Of the regular starters, Lindor leads the team in on-base percentage at .360, and is tied with Santana in OPS at .817. Add in his solid defensive skills, and Lindor could be considered the best shortstop in the game.

Reliever Dan Otero was moved around a bit this offseason, being put on waivers by the A’s, then by Philadelphia, before we had even made it to 2016. Last season with Oakland, Otero was a bit off, posting a 6.75 ERA over 46.2 innings, but in the two years before, he had extremely solid seasons, going 10-2 with a 2.01 over 125.2 innings. After allowing two runs on Saturday, Otero’s ERA on the season ballooned to 1.41. The pace that he has been setting is certainly sustainable if previous seasons are any indication.

Joba Chamberlain is another reclamation project, but the right-hander is five years removed from his dominant days in pinstripes. He has, however, been a solid addition to the bullpen this season, flashing a 2.45 ERA and is boasting his highest strikeout rate (8.8 per nine innings) outside of the six games he threw for Kansas City last season, since 2012.

Closer Cody Allen has blown two saves in 19 chances this season and while his 17 saves ranks in the middle of the pack, he does offer the Indians a solid option at the back-end of the bullpen.

The big question for Cleveland moving forward will be how they react to the bigger games down the stretch. The division is far from won with just about half the season remaining, and there will be some tough match-ups ahead. How they handle those games will determine their potential postseason seeding, and ultimately their road to the World Series. The addition of veteran Juan Uribe could end up paying huge dividends as the season goes on, and his own experience wears off on the club.

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The Cleveland Indians aren’t the sexiest pick out there, but they have an interesting mix of power hitters and high batting averages spread throughout the lineup. Whether their pitching staff can hold the juggernaut offenses of the Red Sox, Rangers and Orioles remains to be seen, but each of those teams has pitching woes at the moment, so this could be the perfect year for the blend of different types of hitters that Cleveland offers to make a run come October.

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