Cleveland Indians: 3 players who must be great in final week

The 2019 season has come down to six games for the Cleveland Indians and if there is to be a postseason this fall, these three players need to be great.

The Cleveland Indians woke up Tuesday morning to find that they trail the Tampa Bay Rays by a 1/2 game for the second Wild Card spot with six games remaining.

The Tribe heads into a critical six-game series against the White Sox and finishes things up against the Nationals in Washington.

Realistically, the Indians probably have to go 5-1 to have a shot at the postseason. That said, it’s not fair to ask them to sweep the White Sox. Chicago is bad, but they’re not the Tigers. Then, you’ve got the Nationals bizarrely ending the season.

the Indians won’t be able to use a designated hitter, which hurts. Why isn’t there one set of rules in baseball? It’s crazy you even have to ask.

The truth is everyone needs to play well if there’s going to be a postseason this fall, but these three players in particular need to be great.

1. Francisco Lindor: He’s already the Tribe’s best player, hitting .290 with 31 home runs and 72 RBI. It’s expected Lindor will be great to close things out against the White Sox and the Nationals, but he’s got to put on Superman’s cape to get the Tribe across the finish line.

In his last 15 games, he’s batting just .242, but is slugging .485 with four home runs.

He’s only one of nine in the lineup, but if Lindor can go on a mad tear to finish the season, you’ve got to like the Indians’ chances of getting into the postseason.

2. MIke Clevinger gets the ball tonight in Chicago, and his next scheduled start is scheduled for Sunday in Washington. If the rotation stats on schedule, he’ll be the only Tribe starter you’ll see twice between now and the end of the regular season.

As crazy as it sounds, the Indians can probably only afford to lose one more game. That means Clevinger, who’s probably been the Tribe’s best pitcher since July, needs to win both of his starts.

With Clevinger on the mound, the Tribe’s got as good as chance as anyone to win, as he’s gone 11-1 with with a  1.89 ERA with 124 strikeouts in 95 innings since the beginning of July.

3. Yasiel Puig has a lot to play for this week. He’s in the final six days of his contract and getting on fire couldn’t hurt helping him to get a better deal this winter.

Like Lindor, when Puig produces, the rest of the team seems to get picked up. I once heard Barry Larkin talk about hitting being contagious. Seems superstitious, but the Hall of Fame was dead serious when I asked him about it.

He’s played well the last two weeks, batting .382 and slugging .473, but he hasn’t homered in a long time, and has hit a surpassingly low two moonshots as a member of the Indians since being acquired July 31.

He’s been a .300 hitter since coming to Cleveland though, after hitting .252 with the Reds.

If there are any homers left in the tank, it’s time for The Wild Horse to let it all out.