Yan vs Bran: 2019 World Series Preview

The Indians won't be playing in the World Series tonight but two of our former sons will feature, for the Nationals and Astros respectively.

Michael Brantley, of Houston, and Yan Gomes, of Washington, face off for the title in what's set to be a fantastic contest between two truly excellent teams.

Brantley, who spent 10 seasons in Cleveland, enjoyed a fruitful 2019 in his new home of Houston. In 148 games he batted .311/.372/.503 with 22 home runs, 40 doubles and 90 RBI, for an 126 OPS+ and his fourth All-Star selection. I was so sad to see him leave the Indians, as he'd long been my favorite player on the team. I will admit, it hurt to see him play at his consistently superb level in a new uniform, particularly given the Tribe's outfield struggles this year - we could have really used him. If you haven't seen his unbelievable double play in the ALCS yet, enjoy.

Gomes didn't enjoy the same measure of offensive success as Brantley this year, but did control and organize one of the best rotations in the game. An All-Star in 2018, the Brazilian backstop played 97 games this season for the Nats, sharing time with veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki. This platoon has been utilized by manager Dave Martinez into the postseason as well, but Gomes is still expected to flash his elite defensive abilities for the majority of the action. Gomes batted .223/.316/.389 with 12 home runs and 43 RBI, for a disappointing 78 OPS+.

Outside of my support for both Brantley and Gomes, the aspect of the series I'm most excited for is the pitching battles. Both teams boast incredibly stacked rotations and fans aren't expecting a great deal of relief work ahead - just like the old days.

The favored Astros have three legitimate aces they can call upon in Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and mid-season acquisition Zack Greinke. At least two of these men will be serious contenders for the AL Cy Young award in the winter.

The Nationals have a trio to reckon with of their own, thanks to Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin. Despite Houston's fearsome lineup of Altuve, Springer, Brantley and Bregman, Nats fans will be optimistic with Strasburg on the mound; in 22 innings of postseason work he's allowed just 4 earned runs thus far.

My personal preference would see the Nationals emerge victorious, despite my love for Brantley. Outside of him, I don't much enjoy the Astro's supporting cast of characters, and Washington's journey has been more fun to follow this season.

A special mention must go to former Indians Asdrubal Cabrera and Joe Smith as well, who will also play some part in the games to come. Infielder Cabrera (Nationals) spent just over 7 years in Cleveland, and Smith (Astros) pitched in relief for most of 5 seasons with the Tribe (with a brief return in 2017).

Even though our current Indians are absent, try and support Brantley and Gomes in the World Series. Once it's all over, we settle in for that excruciating wait until baseball finally returns in March.

Enjoy the show whilst it lasts.

Regular Season Review: Position Players

Success breeds expectation, and when a city and its fanbase become accustomed to winning on a consistent basis, a regular season like the Indians just had can feel slightly underwhelming.

I suppose it can be considered a positive sign of how far the Tribe have progressed when a third straight AL Central title is only greeted with modest applause, and not city-wide celebrations. We all know that champagne sprayed in September doesn’t taste the same as it does in late October, and the players know this more than anybody.

It’s not their fault that people feel this way. Ever since Cleveland’s 2016 journey to game seven of the World Series, the only results that really matter are those that occur in the postseason. Nothing else matters once you’ve come so close to having it all.

With that said, their performance over the many months of the regular season deserves recognition. Despite the lack of competition in their division, the players still had a job to do and they achieved their mission. A number of guys have really excelled in 2018, and this review will focus on them and all the other contributors that helped build this Indians club into a contender.

The Lineup

Francisco Lindor SS - 745 PA, .277 BA, .352 OBP, .519 SLG, 38 HR, 92 RBI, 129 R, 70 BB, 25 SB
Michael Brantley LF - 631 PA, .309 BA, .364 OBP, .468 SLG, 17 HR, 76 RBI, 89 R, 48 BB, 12 SB
Jose Ramirez 3B - 698 PA, .270 BA, .387 OBP, .552 SLG, 39 HR, 105 RBI, 110 R, 106 BB, 34 SB
Edwin Encarnacion DH - 579 PA, .246 BA, .336 OBP, .474 SLG, 32 HR, 107 RBI, 74 R, 63 BB, 3 SB
Yonder Alonso 1B - 574 PA, .250 BA, .317 OBP, .421 SLG, 23 HR, 83 RBI, 64 R, 51 BB, 0 SB
Yan Gomes C - 435 PA, .266 BA, .313 OBP, .449 SLG, 16 HR, 48 RBI, 52 R, 21 BB, 0 SB
Melky Cabrera RF - 278 PA, .280 BA, .335 OBP, .420 SLG, 6 HR, 39 RBI, 28 R, 20 BB, 1 SB
Jason Kipnis 2B - 601 PA, .230 BA, .315 OBP, .389 SLG, 18 HR, 75 RBI, 65 R, 60 BB, 7 SB
Greg Allen CF - 291 PA, .257 BA, .310 OBP, .343 SLG, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 36 R, 14 BB, 21 SB

The undisputed leaders of this team are Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. This young pair have surpassed all expectations (and they were particularly high in Lindor’s case) and together they have emerged into legitimate MVP candidates. The dynamic duo continue to make their mark on history, and became the first teammates to reach 80 extra-base hits in consecutive seasons since Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio achieved it for the 1936-37 Yankees.

Lindor was voted to his third straight All Star game and somehow improved upon his performance from last season. This year he’s collected a career-high 38 home runs, putting to bed the notion that he would never develop into a power hitter, but it’s also encouraging that he’s been able to raise his batting average as well (.273 in 2017, to .277 this year). This team will go as far as Lindor carries them, in 2018 and in the years to come, and Indians fans everywhere will celebrate the day the club can tie him down to a long term deal. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.

Ramirez emerged into one of the most dangerous hitters in the league last season but, like Lindor, has taken things to another level in 2018. His batting average has taken a slight dip but in exchange for a significant power increase, with a career-high 39 home runs. Perhaps the most welcome progression Ramirez has made is in his stolen base numbers, stealing an incredible 34 bags this year, good enough for fifth place in MLB. Now part of the elite 30/30 club, reserved exclusively for those with that unique combination of power and speed, he’s only the third player in the club’s history to achieve the feat (Joe Carter and Grady Sizemore the others) and first AL player since 2012. Jose's mixture of energy and power make for a dangerous mix, and the fans will be hoping he sticks around for a very long time.

Michael Brantley is another feelgood story of the season, and I could not be happier for him. When the Tribe picked up his contract for an extra year, many were sceptical due to his recent struggles with injury, but Brantley’s ability to remain in the lineup has been an absolute blessing. His consistency at the plate has kept the Tribe offense ticking along nicely and the veteran left fielder deservedly made the All Star team, for the third time.

The heavy hitters of Edwin Encarnacion and Yonder Alonso might not be able to keep up with Brantley when it comes to batting average, but they have contributed the sort of power numbers we wanted. Alonso has never been a prolific home run hitter, and last season was the first time in his career he hit double digits (with 28 HR split between Oakland and Seattle), so for him to collect 23 in his debut season with the Tribe is a respectable tally. Given Carlos Santana’s slight decline in offensive performance since his departure to Philadelphia (112 OPS+ in 2017, a 105 OPS+ in 2018), Yonder has performed admirably in his place.

Encarnacion's second season in Cleveland saw a small reduction in his numbers, but that’s mostly down to missing time with injuries, limiting him to 137 games. His 32 home runs continue his streak of seven consecutive years with 30+ homers but a slight concern is his decrease in walks, down from 104 in 2017 to 63 this year. Nevertheless, Edwin has still been a very capable and important player in 2018 and the Tribe will gladly accept the 30+ home runs and 100+ RBI from their first basemen and designated hitters.

If you took a poll in the spring, most fans would probably have agreed that the odds were slim of seeing the 2014 version of Yan Gomes ever again. However, the Brazilian backstop earned his first All Star call-up during a campaign that saw him recapture some of that form that made him one of the game’s best catchers just four year ago. His .266 batting average is a vast improvement from last year (.232) and he is still the defensive presence the Indians rely upon so much. Would-be base stealers know better than to run on Yan.

Brantley aside, the rest of the outfield were formed by committee to create a Frankenstein-like monster, composed of misfits and rookies. When Melky Cabrera was added to the Indians roster, most of us assumed he would be an insurance option at best but the 33 year-old surprised us all by developing into a key contributor. In the 78 games Cabrera featured in the field, the veteran soon endeared himself to the Tribe faithful. He was partnered for the majority of the season by either the rookie Greg Allen or veteran Rajai Davis in center, who both caused havoc on the bases, collecting 21 stolen bases each, helping the Indians rank first in the entire league with 135 SB total. Allen has been a fine defender in the field this season, although his bat is still developing, and Davis has been a solid presence when called upon, since his return to the team from 2016.

Jason Kipnis endured a difficult 2018 but the 31 year-old managed to stay healthy for the majority of the year. The second baseman, converted into a center fielder in September, struggled at the plate but never let his head drop, and did manage to turn things around a bit in the season’s final weeks (.282 average in the final couple of weeks with 6 of his 11 hits going for extra bases). His 18 home runs mark the second highest total of his career but he would be the first to admit his batting average is not where he would have liked it to be. A portion of the fanbase were starting to get on his back as the season progressed but as long as he’s on the team, I’ll continue to back him.

Other notable contributors include:

• Josh Donaldson, the Tribe’s new third baseman and former American League MVP, worked his way back to full health during his few weeks with the club, and he’ll be hoping he can carry his late season form into the postseason. In 60 plate appearances for the Tribe, Donaldson hit .280 with 3 home runs and 7 RBI, with a .400 OBP and a .520 slugging percentage.
• Brandon Guyer was used predominantly in right field this year, his third season in Cleveland, usually as part of a platoon but he wasn’t as effective as we might have hoped. Guyer’s ability to attack left-handers was always his calling card but this year Francona utilized him against righties too, but the results were about the same unfortunately (.233 BA against LHP and a .176 BA against RHP). The guy still has a talent for getting hit by pitches though, with 11 balls crashing into him this year!
• Roberto Perez, Erik Gonzalez, and Yandy Diaz were the handful of bench guys able to have an impact in the few games they featured in. Only Diaz really made an impression on me (although his renowned batspeed hasn’t translated into extra-base hits yet, with just 8 XBH in 143 PA) and Perez appears to have finally put to rest any notion that he could be an everyday catcher, despite his defensive abilities.
• Bradley Zimmer, Leonys Martin, Lonnie Chisenhall and Tyler Naquin were all hit by the injury bug and missed significant time. In the case of Martin, the life-threatening illness that derailed his season caused him to make just 6 appearances for the Indians after his trade from Detroit (they were at least 6 excellent appearances). All of us wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him anchor the outfield next year. Zimmer might have some trouble reclaiming his place in center field once healthy, since the addition of Martin and promotion of Allen, and Naquin will once again have to work hard to even make the roster. Chisenhall is set to leave Cleveland as a free agent, having never really fulfilled his potential with the Indians. He’ll be hoping a club is willing to take a chance on his return to full health, and the Indians might even be tempted to keep him around if the price is right.

As the Indians enjoy their first significant rest period since the All-Star break, attention now turns towards the Houston Astros and game one of the ALDS. The reigning champions host the Tribe this Friday and the lineup will be busy studying the likes of Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, and the rest of their impressive pitching staff ahead of what many predict to be a tightly contested series.

I will have a pitchers regular season review coming up shortly. Thanks for reading.

Gomes Propels Indians To First Series Win

On Sunday afternoon, at a frigid Progressive Field, the Indians sealed their first series win of 2018 in walk-off fashion, when Yan Gomes took a Brandon Maurer pitch over the left field wall for a 2-run blast that knocked out the Kansas City Royals in a grueling 3-1 Tribe victory.

With one out in the ninth inning and Erik Gonzalez pinch running at first base, Gomes battled Maurer in an epic at-bat, fouling off pitch after pitch. With a full count, Gomes watched a low pitch and absolutely golfed it. I was certain the ball would die in the wind, as so many fly balls had done previously throughout the series, but it kept carrying, over the heads of the Royals outfielders, before ricocheting off the fans in left field.

It was a euphoric finish to what had been an arduous afternoon of baseball. My arms were raised in joy as the crowd went wild, but they were also raised in relief. I don’t think I could have endured extra innings, of having to watch more scoreless baseball.

A moment that stood out to me: as Gomes completed his postgame interview with Andre Knott (SportsTime Ohio’s sideline broadcaster), he walked back to the dugout to collect his catcher’s gear. With his chest protector safely tucked under his arm, Gomes turned around to catch the replay of his walk-off blast playing on the big screen in center field. As Tom Hamilton called the winning play, Gomes gave a nod of modest satisfaction, with the smallest hint of a smile on his face. It was a classy moment for the Brazilian backstop, and endeared him to me even more.

Let’s take a peak at some of the talking points from the Tribe’s first home stand of this season:

Cleveland In April: Where Fly Balls Go To Die

This entire series was heavily affected by the weather conditions and both team’s offensive output suffered as a result. To any fans reading this who were in the stands, I salute you.

The Indians’ offense have hardly started 2018 on a tear but their first home stand really ground things to a halt. It was evident right from the start of the home opener on Friday afternoon: anything hit in the air was not going far.

The strength of the wind knocked down everything, and outfielders often found themselves having to break inward on line drives, instead of ranging back as they usually would. The wind helped the ball settle nicely into their gloves, whereas most of those hits would have resulted in extra bases on a normal day. Jason Kipnis in particular had a couple of long fly-outs over the weekend that could have been doubles at the very least in normal conditions. Sunday’s rubber game was reported to be 32℉, the coldest regular season game in Progressive Field history, even though the sun was shining all day.

Brantley Returns and Offensive Woes

Michael Brantley made his return to the club just in time for Friday afternoon’s home opener, and made an instant impact.

After Tribe starter Carlos Carrasco scuffled in the first inning and put the Indians in an early 2-0 hole, Royals’ starter Danny Duffy followed suit and found himself in hot water too. Duffy couldn’t find his location and Brantley made him pay in his first at-bat. With the bases loaded and the Indians trailing 2-1, Brantley stepped into the batters box and lined a single into right field to score two runs and put the home side ahead 3-2. It turned out to be the last runs of the day, as Carrasco and Duffy began a pitchers duel from the second inning onward, and the Indians held on for the win.

In fact, the Indians didn’t score another run until the eighth inning of Sunday’s game. That’s 23 consecutive innings, the longest scoring drought in Terry Francona’s tenure as Cleveland manager. That’s a measure of just how bad this series was for the Tribe offense.

Despite their anemic hitting, the Indians prevailed, outscoring the Royals 6-4 for the two-to-one series win.

Here are some other snippets of note during the series:

• Tyler Naquin was sent down to Triple-A before Friday’s opener, to make room for Brantley’s return. However, Naquin never made it to Colombus, as Lonnie Chisenhall hurt himself early in Saturday’s game (calf strain) and was placed on the 10-day DL. Estimates are predicting Chisenhall could miss 4-6 weeks, so Naquin has been gifted another opportunity to impress. I expect he will split time in right field with Brandon Guyer, and spell Brantley in left field as the veteran eases his way back into regular everyday play.
• Mike Clevinger got the start on Sunday and was superb over 7.1 innings. Despite being far from sharp (often pitching behind in the count), Clevinger really battled, both the elements and the Royals. The right-hander scattered 9 hits, issued 2 walks and struck out 4. This outing was a career high for him in terms of length, both in innings pitched and total number of pitches (110). 
• Trevor Bauer pitched an absolute gem on Saturday, and was very unlucky to lose, as the offense couldn’t back him at all in a 1-0 loss. Kansas City’s lone run came from a Lucas Duda solo shot, the only mistake Bauer made over 8 stellar innings. Bauer’s off-speed pitches were especially nice to watch, and he struck out 7 Royals, only giving up 3 hits and 2 walks over 100 pitches. His maturity on the mound has impressed me a lot so far this year.

Cleveland now have a 4-5 record and will remain at home, as they host Detroit for a four game series. The Tribe are expected to send Corey Kluber to the mound in a bid to continue their winning ways, and gain some early momentum in this young season.

2018 Spring Training Wishlist: Part 1

Baseball, glorious baseball, is nearly upon us.

Cleveland pitchers and catchers report for their first workouts this Thursday. Jerseys will be buttoned, caps will be pulled on, and balls will be thrown in anger. Finally.

The Indians have very real ambitions of making it back to the World Series, as they did in 2016. Last year was ultimately a disappointment, a collapse at the hands of the New York Yankees in the ALDS.

Perhaps the team can use that defeat to fuel them this season. It could be just the chip on their shoulder that is needed to spur them forward.

If I have any criticism of that 102-win team from 2017, I could say they strolled their way to the postseason in a perfunctory manner. They encountered no challenge in their division and the stakes never felt very high. The streak was amazing but the rest of the year felt like purgatory until we got back to October. Once there, they were rudely woken up by the Yankees. Hopefully the team will be keen to right this wrong in 2018.

On that note, and with Spring Training so tantalisingly close, I'm going to look at some Indians related topics that I want to see answered over the course of the next couple of months.

Falling For Francisco

This time last year I spoke about the catcher position, and my wish to see some stability there between Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez. Stability is largely what we got in 2017, as Gomes had his best season since the 2014 Silver Slugger-worthy campaign that made him a household name (in Cleveland anyway). Perez also improved in 2017, recording admirable stats for a back-up catcher.

However, neither catcher really took total ownership of the position, thus leaving the door ajar for Francisco Mejia, recently voted the number one catching prospect in all of baseball. Mejia will almost certainly be given an opportunity to make an impression on Francona and the big league staff this spring, and I would like to see him make the most of his opportunity. I would even go so far to say that he should be setting his sights on that starter's spot for Opening Day, despite his relative inexperience.

The 22 year-old Mejia had a brief glimpse what life is like on the Indians roster last year when he was rewarded with a September call-up. The switch-hitter posted a .154/.214/.154 slashline, with 2 hits in 14 plate appearances. It wasn't exactly the first impression he would have maybe liked but it would be harsh to judge him on so small a sample.

On the whole his 2017 season was largely successful. Mejia spent his entire time in the minor leagues at Double-A Akron where he slashed .297/.346/.490 with 14 home runs and 52 RBI over 383 plate appearances. A very solid season by all accounts, despite being hindered by the odd leg injury on occasion. He undoubtedly has one of the best bats among all prospects and his power numbers are on the rise each year too.

However, it was noted that Mejia did appear slightly worn down towards the end of the minor league season, with reports claiming he "looked tired and disengaged behind the plate."

With thoughts of his long term future and progress in mind, the Indians have toyed with the idea of Mejia playing at third base, and he even featured there during the Arizona Fall League towards the end of last year. The Indians, in my opinion, look set at third base for the immediate future, with Giovanny Urshela, Yandy Diaz and Jose Ramirez all comfortably able to play the hot corner. However I can see the benefit of testing Mejia there, as a bit of versatility in a player his age cannot be a bad thing. If it extends his playing career, I'm in support of this idea.

Wherever he ends up playing, the Tribe certainly don't need to rush Mejia along. He hasn't even seen time at the Triple-A level yet and could probably benefit from more maturation in Columbus. Gomes and Perez are both committed for a couple more years yet, and the signs from both men in 2017 were positive.

Having said that, I'd love to see Mejia enjoy a breakout spring and have realistic ambitions on making the Opening Day roster. If he can stick as a catcher, that would be even better.

My mind says, 'stay on the farm.' My heart says, 'this is your time Francisco.'

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That'll wrap up part one. I'll be back again, looking at a different aspect of the 2018 Indians team before the season begins.

Jays Drop Tribe, Take Series

The Indians narrowly lost this recent three game set in Toronto, dropping two games to the Jays. The games the Tribe lost were both close though and Cleveland now sit with a 18-15 record, still atop the AL Central and half a game above Minnesota.

The Trouble With Trevor

I think the vast majority of Indians fans made their peace a long time ago with the fact that Trevor Bauer is unlikely to become the star pitcher we thought he might be when the Tribe acquired him from Arizona many moons ago. Now, in his fifth season in Cleveland, Bauer is scrapping just to hold onto his place in the rotation, let alone reach the heights we once imagined for him.

Most major league ballclubs are content with their fifth starter to deliver over 150 innings and average an ERA between four and five runs over the course of a season; this is an acceptable output for the man you send out there every fifth day. If this guy can last between 5-6 innings a game and give up just a handful of runs, keeping his team within striking distance, then he's doing good work. For the most part, Bauer does this, and in reality he's actually the Indians' fourth starter (as most would consider Tomlin the fifth guy, despite pitching out of order.) As a full-time starter the past three years, he's never pitched less than 150 innings in a season, and even managed a career high 190 in 2016. His season ERA during that span also never surpassed 4.55. So why is it that Bauer in particular seems to receive so much more criticism from his fans than your average fifth starter?

For one thing, it could be the expectations. If your fifth guy is a bit of an unknown, a lucky-just-to-be-on-the-roster type, then whatever he can give you is wonderful. But for former star prospects like Bauer, things become a little more tricky. We expect excellence and when these guys don't reach that, the rot begins to set in, until finally we accept them for what they are, a back of the rotation starter at best. Maybe this is the stage we are at with Bauer. Perhaps we need to finally accept this is as good as he can be, and stop holding onto the slim chance he'll suddenly develop into an All Star.

And of course the other reason Bauer probably receives more grief than your average fifth starter: the controversy. Trevor doesn't shy away from being the center of attention. Whether it be rapping about ex-catchers or tweeting his support for Donald Trump, the 26 year-old Californian can't avoid the spotlight. Don't even get me started on the whole drone thing...

After Monday night's loss, Bauer sits with a 2-4 record and a 7.36 ERA, with 37 strikeouts and 15 walks in 33 innings of work. It's not been an ideal start for the right-hander but looking at the numbers, it's about right for what we should now expect from him. That bloated ERA will decrease as the season wears on and likely settle somewhere between 4 and 5. We must give credit where it is due as well; despite giving up 4 runs before the third inning was over on Monday night, he kept battling out there, and managed to last 6 full innings. This helped save the bullpen for the rest of the series, as only Zach McAllister (2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) was used in relief of Bauer.

Time will tell how long Francona and the front office are willing to put up with Bauer's level or performance. Behind the scenes they could be perfectly content with what he's done so far. Bauer himself seems to think so: "The results are what they are, but if you just look at the quality of the pitches and where I'm locating... I'm executing really well." But if Mike Clevinger sticks around once Corey Kluber returns from the DL, he will certainly have his eye on Bauer's rotation place. This could push Trevor into a long relief role out of the bullpen, but Tito already has McAllister for that job, and he's been doing it very well thus far. Does that then make Bauer an expendable asset and a potential trade chip? Whatever happens, his progress this year will be worth watching, even if it's not always as pretty and efficient as we might have once liked.

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Here are some other notes from the series:

• In Kluber's absence, Carlos Carrasco has taken over as the definitive ace of this pitching staff. Dare I say it, Cookie might still be the ace even once Kluber returns. His game two performance on Tuesday was sublime: 7 shutout innings of absolute dominance, allowing just 3 hits (all of them singles), and striking out 7 Jays. He's had a great start to 2017 and now lowered his season ERA to 1.86.
• Remember just the other day when I said Yan Gomes could be back? Well he's still swinging that lumber better than ever. In Tuesday's game Gomes went 2-for-3 with a mammoth 3-run homer in the top of the eighth inning that buried the Blue Jays, putting the game beyond their reach. Wednesday's game saw Gomes pick up another hit before he had to withdraw from the game in the third inning due to illness. Hopefully it's nothing serious.
• Cody Allen has been playing with fire all season long and finally got burned, taking the loss in Wednesday's rubber game. With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, Toronto drew 2 walks and 2 hits from Allen to force home the winning run. It was inevitable he was going to get caught out at some stage.

The Indians have today off before opening a three-game set with the Twins on Friday. Josh Tomlin is set to take the bump and he's coming off a strong outing against Kansas City. He'll face Ervin Santana, and the right-hander is off to an impressive start in 2017, although he did have his worst start of the year last time out (4 homers surrendered against the Red Sox.) 

Thanks for reading.

Indians Score 5 Total Runs, Win Series

And just like that, the Indians are back atop the AL Central. The road to postseason baseball is littered with the corpses of division rivals and it was nice to see the Tribe chip away at their Central foes in Kansas City over the weekend. Despite scoring just 5 runs over three games, it proved to be just enough to eke out a series victory over the Royals, on the road no less. Cleveland improves their record to 17-13.

I'm pretty short for time today so here's a quick rundown on some of the events that transpired during this series:

• Francisco Lindor continues to show he has the ability to be a real power threat in the lineup as he hit his 8th home run of the season during Saturday's 3-1 win. He still leads the team in this category, and also sports a team-leading .922 OPS as well. He does it all! Frankie's ninth inning blast put the cherry on top of a great late-inning comeback win, as the Tribe scored 3 runs in the final two innings to knock out the Royals. 
• Has the Catcher Formerly Known As Yan Gomes returned to us? It seems there is hope for him yet. In his last 13 games stretching back to 17th April, Gomes has started to turn things around at the plate. He slashed .353/.463/.471 during that span with 4 doubles, 5 walks and just 3 strikeouts in 42 plate appearances. Caution alert: this is the mother of all small sample sizes but where Gomes is concerned, I take every small piece of encouragement I can find. Let's watch this space carefully and see if he can keep it up until the end of the month.
• Josh Tomlin pitched his best game of the season during Saturday's win, lasting 7 innings and giving up just 3 hits for 1 earned run, with 3 strikeouts and zero walks allowed for good measure. It was an encouraging outing from Tomlin and he dominated the Royals lineup. Now he needs to ride this momentum into his next start.
• Carlos Santana hit not one, but two game winning hits this weekend. On Saturday he smashed the go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth inning to win the game and tie the series at one apiece. Then in the blazing Kansas City sunshine on Sunday afternoon, he lined a single inches past Royals' starter Danny Duffy to score Gomes in the top of the fifth. It was the only run of the game and proved just enough for the Tribe to hold onto for the victory. Clutch Carlos at his best.
• As predicted, Mike Clevinger took Corey Kluber's turn in the rotation and did a fantastic job on Sunday. Clevinger pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just a single hit. He did struggle with his command at times, issuing 4 walks, which didn't help with his pitch count. He struck out 5 batters and his off-speed stuff was working really well, particularly his changeup. Overall I thought he looked composed out there and certainly not out of his depth. I hope he can stick around for more than just the spot-start and gets a fair shot at a permanent gig in the rotation.
• Sunday's uniforms were absolute fire. Both teams wore retro uniforms to salute the Negro Leagues and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, with KC donning replicas of the 1942 Monarchs and the Indians opting for the 1946 Cleveland Buckeyes. I would absolutely love to see the Tribe wear those Buckeyes uniforms again this year. Just look at them:

That's all I got folks. The Tribe are now in Toronto for a three game series before finally returning back to Cleveland on Friday. Trevor Bauer pitches tonight and will be looking to improve after his last outing, that terrible shellacking he received from Detroit. He'll face the Jays' Marcus Stroman, he of the single-digit-pitcher variety that I hate so much (just pick a number with two digits dammit!)

Thanks for reading.

Bats Still Silent, Detroit Drops Indians

The Tigers came into Cleveland over the Easter weekend and managed to take away a series victory, beating the Tribe two games to one. The series defeat capped off a disappointing homestand for the Indians, who are still struggling to put it all together since the sweep of Texas to open the season. They now sit with a 5-7 record.

Detroit took the first game on Friday night 7-6, despite the Indians' best attempts to make it close in the final innings (a Lonnie Chisenhall grand slam will help) but ultimately their comeback came up short. The Tribe lineup burst into action on Saturday though, annihilating Tigers' ace Justin Verlander in a lopsided 13-6 win, with Jose Ramirez having an especially good day (more on that later.) Sadly the hometown team couldn't win the rubber game on Sunday, as the Indians apparently used up all their runs the day before, and lost 4-1.

Let's look at a couple of talking points from the weekend's series:

Where Did You Go, Yan Gomes?

It's common knowledge in Cleveland that the Indians' Brazilian catcher has been in quite a slump, and it's lasted for over two years now. Nine games into his 2017 season, well lets just say it appears Gomes' problems at the plate haven't gone away just yet. He's currently batting just .067/.152/.167 (AVG/OBP/SLG); that's only 2 hits in 30 attempts. Fair enough Yan, one of them was a home run, but this is still a very bad start to an important season for the 29 year-old. With his backup Roberto Perez nipping at his heels and the impressive prospect Francisco Mejia on the rise, Gomes' days in Cleveland appear to be numbered and his time with the Indians might come to a close sooner rather than later if he doesn't find a way to turn things around. Despite being signed through to 2019, how long does the club endure Gomes' offensive struggles? That magical period between 2013-14 when he was the AL Silver Slugger suddenly feels like a long time ago and the current version of Gomes the Indians trot out there everyday looks like a shadow of his former self.

I've been a big Gomes supporter in the past but the odds of him recapturing some of his former glory look slim. It's still very early in the season, make no mistake about that, so there's time to turn it around yet. Thankfully he still calls an excellent game defensively but with the bat he's an awful mess right now. For his sake more than ours, I just hope he can start stringing together some hits before things turn ugly.

Carlos Carrasco - Ace In The Making

Corey Kluber is the definitive ace of the Indians' pitching staff and the former Cy Young award winner deserves his position at the top of the rotation. However an argument could be made that Carlos Carrasco is pitching as well, if not better than Kluber so far in 2017, and the Venezuelan right-hander may be on the cusp of earning ace status pretty soon.

Carrasco has been on the verge of making the leap for a couple of years but an odd injury here and there has stalled his progress and disrupted his momentum. Despite struggling with some swelling in his elbow this spring, the injury doesn't appear to have hindered him thus far.

In his three starts Carrasco has pitched 19.1 innings and given up just 5 earned runs while striking out 19 and walking 6, to the tune of a 2.33 ERA. No other Tribe starter has pitched as many innings so far this season, not even the ol' workhorse Kluber.

On Sunday Carrasco lasted 6.2 innings, scattering 4 hits for 2 earned runs. He struck out 5 Tigers but he gave up 5 walks as well, which was uncharacteristic but thankfully didn't come back to hurt him. The damage Detroit dealt to Carrasco came on a Alex Avila two-run homer in the second inning, on a fastball Carrasco mistakenly left right over the middle of the plate. After that blip Carrasco knuckled down and didn't let Detroit tag him again. However the Indians' offense couldn't provide their starter much run support and Carrasco was unfairly given the loss, despite pitching a good game.

It has long been remarked by both fans and scouts alike that Carrasco may possess the best stuff on the Indians staff. His split-finger can make opposition hitters look downright foolish and he mixes his fastball and slider to devastating effect. In fact Carrasco's slider has been called "one of the best pitches in baseball" by Baseball Prospectus. Is 2017 the year he finally puts it all together and qualifies himself as a bonafide ace? We won't know for a little while yet but he's certainly off to a good start.

Player Of The Series

Jose Ramirez wins the award this series, and by some margin. Over the course of the three game set Ramirez had 11 at-bats against Detroit and managed to collect 7 hits. It was on Saturday in particular when he really broke out, recording a hit in all 4 of his plate appearances. The dynamic 24 year-old Dominican hit 2 home runs for 6 RBI, and recorded a walk for good measure in the Indians' blowout win. Ramirez has been a fan favourite for a while now but he further cemented his place in my heart with this performance. His offensive output on Saturday catapulted my fantasy team from 9th to 2nd place in my 10 team mixed league. I am forever grateful Jose, and congratulations on winning the award for this series.

The Indians go on the road for their next seven games, beginning with a four game series in Minnesota. The Twins will likely start Kyle Gibson and the Indians will send out Danny Salazar for his third start of the season.

Thanks for reading.

2017 Spring Training Wishlist: Part 1

Baseball, played by actual baseball players, will be with us once again in a few week's time. And with that comes excitement, anticipation and expectations. Cleveland had a remarkable 2016, and they came oh so close to winning the World Series. Just getting that far was beyond my wildest dreams but to come up just short really hurt.

As a result, expectations for 2017 are higher than ever, especially when you consider the big free agent addition of Edwin Encarnacion. I'm hesitant to say it's World Series or bust this season but there's a definite feeling that the club need to capitalise on this momentum and ensure they are as competitive as possible during their best player's prime years.

With that being said and with Spring Training so tantalisingly close, here are some of the things I want to see from the Indians before the 2017 season gets underway for real:

A Healthy Michael Brantley

There's a sense of déjà vu this Spring Training where Brantley is concerned. This time last year the Indians' outfielder was busy rehabbing his right shoulder but it never felt entirely right, limiting Brantley to just 11 games in late April and early May before being shut down entirely in August for another trip to the operating table. That pesky shoulder of his never healed properly but hopefully it's been fully repaired this off-season.

So far in 2017, Brantley has made no promises on a return date and is wise to do so. Slow and steady is the motto this year, and any action he sees over the Spring is a bonus. I would love for him to get some much-needed reps in the Arizona sunshine but not at the expense of losing him during the summer. He's been my favorite Indians player for some time now and the team are undoubtedly a stronger force when he's in the lineup. Just think, we won the pennant without him. How good might we be when he's back to his near-MVP best?

Stability At Catcher

Yan Gomes has not had a good time of it lately. Coming off the back of a stellar 2014 campaign with an AL Silver Slugger award in his back pocket, big things were expected of Gomes. It seemed we finally had a replacement for Victor Martinez, and he was locked down on a long-term deal at a great price, 6 years for $23 million.

However since his breakthrough Gomes has been in sharp decline, and his bat has all but disappeared. Injuries have definitely taken their toll, and really hindered his ability to escape from some of those slumps that ate away at his stats. Whether it was his knee, his shoulder, or a fractured hand, nothing went Gomes' way between 2015-2016. His batting average the past two years is a combined .205, with just 22 walks to 173 strikeouts in that span. The rest of his stats don't make for pretty reading either (a .240 OBP - ouch).

To make matters worse, Gomes' understudy Roberto Perez proved to be more than adequate in Gomes' absence. As adept defensively as Gomes (Perez had a defensive rating of 6.9 compared to Gomes' 7.0, per Fangraphs), Perez also had some major moments with the bat, mostly in the postseason. However over the course of the 2016 regular season, Perez wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire, with a subpar .183/.285/.294 (BA/OBP/SLG) batting line in just 61 games played.

It's safe to say that the catching position wasn't a strength for the Indians in 2016, at least not offensively. So with that in mind, I'm just looking for some stability from our catchers this year. I think a healthy Gomes is more likely to provide this; if he can be at least average at the plate, when you combine that with his strong defensive work then the catching position can once again be a key contributor to this squad. I'm still very happy with the solid Perez in the backup spot, but should Gomes falter and not recover, then it would be interesting to see what Perez could do as a starter over a full season.

Both players had better get their acts into gear though, as 21 year-old top prospect Francisco Mejia is hot on their heels. The young Dominican catcher, recently ranked the 18th best prospect in all of baseball by ESPN's Keith Law, put on a show in 2016, slashing .342/.382/.514 with 11 homers and 80 RBI between A-ball Lake County and A+ Lynchburg. Mejia rose to minor-league fame thanks to his DiMaggio-like hitting streak, batting safely in 50 straight games to announce himself to the masses. He'll likely start 2017 at AA Akron so Gomes and Perez can rest easy for a little while, as Mejia is at least a year away from making his Indians debut. But Gomes and Perez cannot be complacent and must show signs of improving this year because in the long-run their days are numbered if they don't turn things around soon.

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That'll do for part one of my 2017 Spring wishlist. I'll return soon with part two.

Thanks for reading.

Indians Officially Sign Encarnacion

It was the Christmas present every Indians fan wanted. We all wrote it down on our list:

Dear Santa,

Please sign Edwin Encarnacion for the Cleveland Indians.

Yours, 

Suitably-excited Tribe fan

And guess what? Our wish came true, and just before Christmas Day Edwin agreed to join the American League pennant winners in their battle to once again reach the World Series, and go that one step further and win the damned thing.

In a morning press conference today at Progressive Field, the Indians officially announced the signing of first baseman Encarnacion to a three-year deal, the biggest free agent acquisition in recent memory.

It's positively unheard of to see a small-market club like the Indians make such a splash in free agency, but splash they did on Edwin. He has been handed the largest contract in franchise history, reportedly raking in $65 million in guaranteed money. His contract also includes a $5 million buyout clause for a fourth-year team option worth $25 million. If that option were to be picked up, Encarnacion's contract could reach as high as $80 million in total.

That's a lot of money for a 34 year-old slugger (his birthday is this Saturday), but the Indians did just add one of the most powerful right-handed hitters in the game. In 2016 Encarnacion had a battling line of .263./.357/.529 (BA/OBP/SLG) with an outstanding OPS+ of 133. The Dominican Republic native clubbed 42 home runs, drew 87 walks, scored 99 runs and 127 RBIs last season for the Blue Jays. He spent close to 8 years in Toronto altogether, and his slugging percentage didn't dip below .500 in the past 5 years; he also hit at least 30 homers in that time span, topping the 40 homer mark twice.

Encarnacion will likely split time between first base and DH with Carlos Santana (who will stay in Cleveland after his $12 million team option was picked up for 2017). Our new number 10 (Yan Gomes has swapped to number 7) will replace Mike Napoli as the team's premier power hitter.

Some might view this acquisition as a risky move for the Tribe but given that the deal is only for three years, it's not as risky as it could have been, especially considering Encarnacion's offensive output in recent years. The acquisition of Encarnacion was made with the "win now" mentality in mind and the Indians have every right to adopt this approach coming off the back of an incredible 2016. I can't wait to see him in Spring Training and together with Santana, Lindor, Kipnis and a healthy Brantley, the AL Central should be very afraid.