Cleveland Indians: 2017 Season Review and Offseason Preview

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CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 11: Jason Kipnis #22 of the Cleveland Indians reacts after striking out to end the eighth inning against the New York Yankees in Game Five of the American League Divisional Series at Progressive Field on October 11, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

What Went Wrong for the Cleveland Indians?

After playing just 11 games because of injuries last year, left fielder Michael Brantley started the year healthy but was back on the DL in August and missed seven weeks. He had surgery on his right ankle in October and could miss much of spring training while recovering. Even though he’s only played 101 games over the last two season, Brantley’s $11 million option for 2018 was picked up by the Cleveland Indians.

When Jason Kipnis was injured, Jose Ramirez moved to second base, and Giovanny Urshela played plenty of games at third base. He’s okay on defense but hasn’t hit a lick in two partial seasons in the big leagues. His career batting line is .225/.273/.314 (57 wRC+). He had the worst season of any position player on the team.

Urshela wouldn’t have played as much as he did if Kipnis had been healthy all year. Not only did injuries limit him to 90 games, he just hit .232/.291/.414 when he got on the field. He was particularly bad against lefties (64 wRC+).

Cleveland’s pitching was so good; it’s not easy to find many who disappointed. In the rotation, Josh Tomlin had a 4.98 ERA, but his 4.12 FIP suggests he pitched better than that. Danny Salazar was similar, with a 4.28 ERA and 3.48 FIP. In Salazar’s case, he had the best strikeout rate of any starter on the team, even better than Kluber or Carrasco.

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