Cleveland Indians' surge bodes well for playoffs
Trevor Bauer might be the most analytic player in the major leagues.
The Cleveland Indians right-hander was an engineering major at UCLA and has a great understanding of the physics that goes into pitching.
Bauer has studied ways to strengthen his body and use leverage so he can throw his fastball up to 99 mph despite standing just 6-1 and weighing 190 pounds. His understanding of spin rate has allowed him to develop one of the best curveballs in the game.
However, when it comes to his team, Bauer cannot explain the Indians in absolute terms. It is more art than science.
The Indians clinched their second consecutive American League Central title Sept. 16, two days after they set the AL record with their 22nd consecutive victory by beating the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in 10 innings at Progressive Field.
The streak ended Sept. 15 with a 4-3 loss to the Royals, but the Indians won their next three games, giving them 25 victories in 26 games as they continue a six-game road trip at the Los Angeles Angels this week.
Bauer played on a team at UCLA that also had a 22-game winning streak. Yet he knows the odds of running off that many victories in a row at the major league level are astronomical.
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The only team to have a longer streak were the 1916 New York Giants. Yet their 26-game run was interrupted as a tie, which did not count as a game, and was aided by playing all the games at home at the Polo Grounds during a different era of the game.
“You just get to a point where there is a flow to everything and that is the way it is for us,” Bauer said. “You get up in the morning, eat breakfast, come to the field, the pitchers play catch before the game, the hitters take batting practice then we go out and just play the game. One day just flows into the next and it not seems like nothing disrupts it. It’s a great feeling to have.”
The Indians had that feeling even before they started their winning streak Aug. 24 with a 13-6 victory against the visiting Boston Red Sox, scoring seven runs off ace Chris Sale in three innings.
Since losing six of their first seven games following the All-Star break, the Indians had won 46 of their last 58 games through Tuesday.
That gave them the best record in the AL at 94-57, 1 ½ games ahead of the Houston Astros (92-58), meaning Cleveland would have home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs if they can hold on to the top spot. The Indians also had an outside chance of overtaking the Los Angeles Dodgers (96-55) for best record in the major leagues and home-field edge in the World Series.
“Their starting pitching, their bullpen, they are athletic, their lineup, with all those switch hitters,” said Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, whose team was outscored 18-3 during a three-game sweep by the Indians from Sept. 11-13. “Nothing against the Astros or Dodgers but the Indians are the toughest team to match up with.”
While much was made of the Cubs ending a championship drought that stretched more than a century to 1908, the Indians’ last title came in 1948, making last year’s seven-game defeat agonizing for players and fans.
“It hurt a lot,” right-hander Mike Clevinger said. “Once the tears dried that night, though, we walked out of the clubhouse knowing there was a real opportunity for us in 2017. We felt good about ourselves and our future.”
Yet the Indians have not been obsessive in their chase of a World Series crown.
“We want to win the World Series, especially after coming so close last season, but’s it isn’t like we sit around in the clubhouse and talk about it,” ace right-hander Corey Kluber said. “It’s a long season and I think it’s better to try to stay in the moment instead of looking too far ahead.”
However, the Indians can afford to look ahead now. They have the division title clinched and will open postseason in about two weeks.
The Indians seemingly to have all the ingredients necessarily to win it all, including excellent depth. Left-handed reliever Andrew Miller appeared in only one game during the streak while recovering from knee tendinitis while second baseman Jason Kipnis and left fielder Michael Brantley were on the disabled list the entire time.
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“This team is getting a reputation as a team that can overcome injuries and other challenges,” Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. “And we didn’t rely on two or three stars. Everyone contributes.”
Adding right fielder Jay Bruce, who was acquired from the New York Mets in a trade in early August when Brantley was injured: “It doesn’t matter who we put out there. We’ve got guys up from Double-A ball (such as catching prospect Francisco Mejia) taking meaningful at-bats.”
The Indians’ greatest strength is pitching with a rotation that includes three pitchers with at least 16 wins in Kluber, Bauer and right-hander Carlos Carrasco. Josh Tomlin, a hero in last year’s postseason, will likely get the nod over Clevinger as the fourth starter in the playoffs.
Kluber is 10-1 in his last 12 starts, putting himself in position to win the AL Cy Young for the second time in four seasons after also winning in 2014.
Through 27 starts, Kluber, who missed almost all of May with a strained back, is 17-4 with a 2.35 ERA.
“He’s just so tough,” Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He pounds down and away, down and away, with that heavy sinker, and then the slider and breaking ball. He’s a premier guy. The year he won the Cy Young Award is the way he looks now.”
Miller looks like he is finally healthy and leads a dominant bullpen that nearly carried the Indians all the way last October and includes closer Cody Allen, right-handers Bryan Shaw, Joe Smith, Nick Goody, Zach McAllister and Dan Otero and s intriguing rookie left-hander Tyler Olson.
The lineup is solid from top to bottom and has an emerging leader in 23-year-old shortstop Francisco Lindor. An All-Star each of the last two seasons, the switch-hitter was hitting .278 with 30 home runs and 14 stolen bases through 148 games, hitting twice many home runs as his previous best in 2016.
“He’s got a ton of tools, he’s a hard worker, and he’s a smart kid,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He’s one of the better players around, because there are so many ways he can impact the game.”
Infielder Jose Ramirez, also a switch-hitter, has also moved into the ranks of top players in the AL, hitting .314 with 27 homers and 15 steals in 142 games. He has make a seamless shift to second base from third base while Kipnis, a two-time All-Star, has battled a hamstring injury.
Designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion has lived up to his three-year, $60 million contract with 36 home runs and 94 RBI through in 147 games. First baseman Carlos Santana has had another strong season following a poor first half, hitting 23 homers with a .371 on-base percentage through 144 games.
“It’s an easy team to like and get behind, and organizationally, we’ve gotten really good at the ‘we’ mentality,” Francona said.
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