End of the Road 2015: Cleveland Indians
After the Seattle Mariners defeated the Houston Astros on Wednesday night, the Cleveland Indians have been mathematically eliminated from the MLB postseason, meaning that they’ve effectively come to the end of the road in their 2015 season. As we’ll do with each eliminated team this season, let’s give them a send-off that would make Boyz II Men proud.
We’ll look at the highs and lows of their season, what bright spots their future might hold and what questions need answering as they prepare for 2016.
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HIGH POINT: The Indians actually never led the division, so finding a true high point is more difficult than you might think. A couple moments do stand out, though. The club destroyed the division-rival Minnesota Twins on August 8, winning 17-4. In July, Carlos Carrasco came an out away from a no-hitter against the Rays. That said, we’re going to go with Corey Kluber’s start in which he struck out 18 batters. Kluber could have tied Kerry Wood’s record had he come out for the ninth inning, but manager Terry Francona opted to sit his ace. Big strikeout games are fun, and people still talk about Wood’s performance during that game. If Kluber had a chance to tie that record, we could have been talking about that start for years. Instead, he’ll settle for the awesome 18 strikeouts.
LOW POINT: A six-game losing streak just before the trade deadline didn’t provide any confidence in the struggling club, preventing the team from making any major additions. While that was less than optimal, the club’s 17-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs on June 17 was more embarrassing. Shaun Marcum started the contest, and was pulled after giving up six runs in two innings. The bullpen didn’t fare much better. Due to the team’s awful defense, seven of the Cubs’ runs were unearned. This was an all-out awful game by Cleveland.
BEST HIGHLIGHT: We’re going to go with Kluber’s dominant 18 strikeout start, mainly because watching a pitcher dominate to this degree is incredibly pleasing. That said, we could have gone with a number of Francisco Lindor highlights. We’ll get to him later, though.
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE: Two words: Francisco Lindor. The 21-year-old struggled after initially being called up, but quietly turned into one of the best shortstops in the game. Lindor has hit .319/.357/.491 over 425 plate appearances all while playing excellent defense. He’s a true star, and the type of player every single franchise would kill to have. The pitching staff remains strong, and all of those guys are under contract moving forward. Danny Salazar experienced a solid breakout campaign, while Trevor Bauer showed flashes of greatness during an uneven year. Jason Kipnis returned to form, which is promising. The farm system has some intriguing guys in outfielders Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier, but neither is all that close to a call-up. The hope is currently on the major-league roster.
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QUESTION THAT NEEDS ANSWERING: Is this team really a contender? It feels like the Indians have been perpetually on the cusp of contention the past few years. They always seem to have a talented team that could win the division, and get picked as a surprise team every season, only to win 84ish games and miss out. Cleveland hasn’t been a big spender on the free-agent market recently, but this is a team that could benefit greatly by adding one or two big names during the offseason. Will they finally do what it takes to be a true contender for the American League Central next season, or will they go into 2016 with a strong upside, but the usual issues?
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
