CLEVELAND, Ohio – I don’t see the Indians beating the Twins this season and regaining first place in AL Central. The Twins were more active in the offseason and added more talent.
It doesn’t mean the Indians should wash their hands, put on the masks, and hit early in this fragile 60-game season. They are talented enough to make it to the postseason and I see them doing it going 35-25 and qualifying for a wild card.
Once they arrive in October, as long as there is an October, they are set for a deep race due to their initial rotation.
What they need now is a quick start. It begins Friday night when they open the season against Kansas City at Progressive Field.
They’ve positioned themselves for it, doing things they wouldn’t normally do in a 162-game season. Yu Chang and Bradley Zimmer released hot bats in Spring Training II. Indian launchers and pirate launchers were unable to get them out.
In normal times, that wouldn’t have meant much. They would have been opted for the AAA Class Columbus, but normalcy was long gone. There is no minor league season, there are just more games in the squad waiting for them at Classic Park in Eastlake.
If Zimmer and Chang can carry their Spring Training II momentum into the regular season, that could contribute to the quick start the Indians need. The Indians are playing the burning hand and why not?
In Spring Training I, the Indians played 19 games of the Cactus League. Francisco Lindor took the lead in nine of them. That was before the coronavirus closed during spring training and the season. If the Indians were in the midst of a 162 game season right now, I think it would still be getting to the start where it established itself as one of the best offensive players in the game for the past 2.5 years.
The 60-game season has caused manager Terry Francona and headquarters to recalibrate the offense. Lindor has been dropped to third place and the lineup will feature four switch hitters at the top of the order at César Hernández, José Ramírez, Lindor and Carlos Santana. In his first seven years as manager of the Indians, Francona has preached balance when it comes to his lineup. He loved spraying his change hitters, and he always had plenty of them, throughout the lineup, so a reliever would have no difficulty working a part of the lineup late in the game.
But that was for a six-month season. This season is an illegal drag race outside the city at midnight. Francona has stacked his top four hitters at the top of the lineup to get as many at-bats as possible to do as much damage as possible from an offense that fell to seventh in the AL in runs scored last year.
Everyone is concerned about the garden. I think he’ll be fine. The Indians went to the World Series in 2016 peloton in all three places in the outfield. They put Santana in left field at Wrigley Field for the World Series. There are enough good hitters in that group to produce.
Franmil Reyes is a concern. In Spring Training I, it seemed like he was ready to take on the world. Then the game shuts down for 3 1/2 months. He hasn’t seen himself as the same hitter since he returned for Spring Training II. Domingo Santana has also been regular. Indians need production of those two or at least threats from it.
The Indians have sliced and diced their bullpen so much in the past three years that if it doesn’t work, only they are to blame. The key guys will be closer Brad Hand, Nick Wittgren, Adam Cimber and Oliver Perez. Hand had a great year last season, but the way he pitched at the end of the season was and remains a concern. Wittgren is solid as a setup person, but Cimber and Perez will be evaluated by the new three-hitter rule. You don’t have to be a scout to see that James Karinchak has a great arm, but even in a short season it’s unfair that he carries too much weight.
Still, every time Francona has nine relievers to work with, something good should happen.
Rotation is the brilliant city of the Indians on a hill. They will get to where Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac take them. Clevinger and Carrasco are still developing arm strength, so Plutko should be able to help when they launch. Bieber, Civale and Plesac pitched well in Spring Training I and II. Civale is emerging as the second ace behind Bieber.
There it is, 35-25. See you in October, as long as someone can take the hammer to the virus instead of the other way around.
Fanatics has released facial masks for the Cleveland Indians, with sales benefiting two charities. See details and product links below.
New Indian face masks for sale: This is where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed facial liners for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($ 14.99) and a 3-pack ($ 24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charities.
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