Cleveland Indians: 2017 Season Review and Offseason Preview

What Went Right

My personal IBWAA Awards Ballot has four players from the Cleveland Indians are among my ten picks for AL MVP—Corey Kluber, Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, and Carlos Carrasco. Kluber and Carrasco also made my top five for AL Cy Young, and Andrew Miller was one of the best three AL relievers. There is some serious talent on this team.

In just a couple years, Jose Ramirez has transformed himself from a light-hitting utility player into one of the best players in baseball. Two years ago, he hit .219/.291/.340 in 97 games. By wRC+, he was 28 percent below average as a hitter. He had a breakout season last year (121 wRC+) then took it to a whole other level this year (148 wRC+, fourth in the AL).

The most significant change in his batted ball profile was a substantial increase in his hard hit percentage. After being in the 23-27 percent range from 2014 to 2016.

Ramirez had a 34 percent hard-hit rate last year, which allowed him to double more than his rate of home runs per fly ball. One of the best moves the franchise has made recently was signing Ramirez to a five-year, $26 million extension before last season.

First baseman Carlos Santana had another Carlos Santana-like season. He’s been a consistent .360-ish OBP guy with 20-30 homers for the last seven years. When Santana wasn’t at first base, newcomer Edwin Encarnacion took that spot. E-Squared led the team in home runs and RBI and had the second-best on-base percentage of his career.

Corey Kluber led the AL in ERA, WHIP, complete games, and shutouts. He could win his second AL Cy Young Award in the last four years. By Fangraphs WAR, Kluber had one of the ten best seasons ever by a Cleveland starting pitcher.

Carlos Carrasco (18-6, 3.29 ERA, 3.10 FIP) was also outstanding. He’s been a productive pitcher for the last four years but has had difficulties with pitching deep into games and staying healthy for a whole season. He finally got there this year, with his first 200-inning season.

Cleveland starting pitchers led baseball with 81 wins and had the second-best ERA, behind only the Dodgers. Their bullpen was outstanding also, leading baseball in ERA and FIP. Andrew Miller had a second-straight season with an ERA under 1.50. Cody Allen saved 30 games and had a 2.94 ERA. Bryan Shaw led the team in appearances and relief innings.