Cleveland Indians must hit another level in the postseason

The Cleveland Indians winning streak was one of the most impressive fetes in MLB history, but the Tribe musth it a different level to win the World Series.

The Cleveland Indians did the impossible and won 22 straight games. The streak meant everything to the fans who followed along every step of the way.

It also ignited the media and made the Tribe top contenders to not only reach the Fall Classic, but Vegas oddsmakers now have the Indians as the top contenders to win it all.

The Tribe and most fans know the streak is gold for those of us who revel in statistics furnished by the Elias Sports Bureau, but it doesnt guarentee a World Series championship.

The Indians will need to show the same kind of drive and determination that we witnessed during the streak to win postseason games.

All The Right Parts

The blueprint to cruise through the postseason and into the World Series is there.

The Indians bats have never been better and players like Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez are sending balls over the fence every other night. Ramirez leads the team in batting average with a .314, and also in hits with 172.

Lindor just hit his 31st homer of the season, becoming the first switch hitting shortstop to crack that many moonshots in a single season.

Big free-agent signee Edwin Encarnacion leads the team is homers (36), as well as RBIs (96). EE’s also getting on base at a crazy clip with an OBP of .377.

He’s been protected by Jay Bruce, who ‘s posted an .827 OPS since being acquired.

Just as predicted before the season, pitching will depend on how much damage the Tribe can do this postseason. The roster features ace Corey Kluber who leads the team with a 2.35 ERA and 252 strikeouts.. Kluber is in a battle with Chris Sale for the Cy Young Award.

A dominant Kluber may be what finally earns the Indians their first Commissioners Trophy since 1948.  Opposing batters know how dominant he can be. The fact that he can start three times during a seven-game series if needed will force opponents to respect the rotation.

The Future Goals

The Indians are heading into the postseason with all of these factors in tact and hopefully will be adding a few more. The Indians have had Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley on the DL for the past month.

Kipnis is trying to help out in center field to take over for Bradley Zimmer who is nursing a broken hand.

Brantley was reevaulated and was given the diagnosis of a deltoid ligament sprain along with ankle synovitis. He has been shut down from all running activity for 7-10 days. We’l see about him after that. .

All of this taken into account leads people to believe that the Indians have what it takes to win it all.

The Tribe need to prepare for challenges and use all of their strengths together to win. Their current surge of victories is no sign of what is to come and as Terry Francona says they “Need to take it day by day and play in the moment”.