Cleveland Indians Playoffs: What Is The Key To Success?
By Ryan Rosko
Pitching, Pitching, and Pitching
Ric McElroy
The main key to the Cleveland Indians playoff chances is the same as it has been for the entire year, pitching! They have lost their number two and three starters and are now dependent upon Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin to step up and take their game to another level.
After all the playoffs are another level.
The return of Yan Gomes could be a plus as the offensive production at that position has been shameful. But pitching along with some clutch hitting by Mike Napoli and Jose Ramirez will help.
However, the thing that has carried the team all year and which this organization has been built on by the Dolans, Chris Antonetti, and company has been pitching. That was the main reason they didn’t trade a starter last offseason for a power bat.
Jay Frierson
The key is what it always has to be: Consistency. They can’t have lapses offensively as they did during the season. The pitching–even though the rotation is banged up, must play smart. We can’t have Tomlin throwing meatballs or Kluber get off to a slow start.
If you do that against a well-disciplined Red Sox lineup, we’ll get destroyed. The one thing we have in our favor is a strong bullpen, whereas Boston doesn’t. It’s going to be tough series through the whole postseason, but we’ve been overcoming adversity all year, and we’ll just have to do it again.