Five Cleveland Indians we’re most anxious to watch in the short 2020 season.
The Cleveland Indians will attempt to play a 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the first Cleveland sports franchise to return to action.
For a good chunk of June, it didn’t seem like the owners and the players’ union were going to come to an agreement, and they didn’t, yet have somehow backed into getting the games in.
Will a World Series champion be crowned? The virus ultimately has the say, as recent spikes around the country indicate this thing isn’t going away.
Sports is supposed to be the grand distraction, which is why having baseball back is SOMETHING. Does a 60-game season make a mockery of the game? Of course, but at least it’s something to watch and be involved with following.
The Indians have a real shot to contend in the central, and Projections indicate the Tribe will be hunting for their fourth postseason berth in five seasons. However, because of the short schedule, all bets are off. A slow start will surely doom a team, while a mediocre club that gets off to a quick start could eventually find itself in the postseason.
Baseball is a team sport, but shared success is the result of individual performances. With that in mind, we’re most anxious to watch these five players in 2020, if the Indians are truly going to have a chance to contend.
You won’t find Francisco Lindor here, because while watching him is fun, we don’t have to worry about the four-time All-Star. These players carry a few more question marks, so…
1. Jose Ramirez
Jose Ramirez is, without a doubt, the player I’m most anxiously awaiting to watch play.
Is he the MVP candidate that we thought he was in 2017 and 2018, or was the dismal first half of the 2019 campaign a sign of things to come.
Ramirez hit .218 with a .652 OPS in the first half of 2019, costing him a spot to shine in front of the home crowd at the All-Star Game. In the final 44 games of the season, he really came on strong as the Tribe flirted with a postseason berth, as he hit .327 with a 1.105 OPS.
If Ramirez puts together those numbers in 2020, the Indians lineup will be one of the most dangerous batting orders in baseball.
Franmil Reyes, Carlos Santana, Jose Ramirez with Francisco Lindor batting leadoff? Terry Francona will be able to pencil in some tough outs for opposing pitchers.
2. Mike Clevinger
A lot of Tribe fans were expecting Mike Clevinger to pick up the ace’s glove left behind when Corey Kluber was traded to Texas Rangers.
Clevinger got hurt in Spring Training 1.0, and the loss was viewed as a major setback. Now, with time off, he’s expected to be back and healthy.
It may take a few starts for Clevinger, and every other starter for that matter, to really be in game shape, but he’s got to perform and play extremely well.
He’s going to get 11-12 starts as front of the rotation pitcher, assuming he stays off the injured list. Will he be able to go 9-3 or 8-2? If he can, and the rest of the rotation follows suit, the Indians postseason picture will be a lot rosier.
The rest of the rotation should include Carlos Carrasco, Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac. I’d also look for Adam Plutko to contribute in some way, perhaps out of the bullpen. It’s going to take a little time in the early going and having someone like Plutko may prove to be invaluable.
3. Franmil Reyes
Franmil Reyes is a large man who wield a right-handed stick and frankly, I don’t think there’s all that much excitement to see him play.
Tribe fans have been begging for a player like this and well, here’s here, and I’m anxious to see how he performs.
From a 10,000-foot view, Reyes had a tremendous 2019 season, carrying an OPS of .822 with 37 homers.
Tribe fans know that he struggled immediately after the trade though, as he hit .228 with a .759 OPS for the month of August. He picked things back up a little in September, though, and was projected to a middle-of-the-order force in 2020.
Now, with the season picking back up at the end of July, Reyes can’t afford a late-summer swoon. He’s got to mash from day one for the middle-of-lineup to be as lethal as it potentially it could be.
Reyes looked really good in Spring Training and he even appeared to be playing well enough in right field to earn the starting job. He won’t be winning any Gold Gloves, but the point is that you didn’t notice him making mistakes.
4. Cesar Hernandez
He’s not the most exciting player in the Indians lineup, but he’s significant because he could be a dramatic upgrade.
The Tribe’s only free-agent splash, and some might only call it a trickle, was a 1.6 WAR player a season ago. The man he replaced, Jason Kipnis, was 0.7. If that mark holds, the Indians will be about a game better, which could be all the difference between riding to the postseason and going home after 60 games.
Plus, Hernandez hits from both sides of the plate, which is a major plus. We all love Kip and will remember his fondly, but watching him trying to fight off left-handed pitchers late in games was getting hard to watch.
Hernandez hit .279 a season ago, and is a .277 hitter, while Kipnis was below .250. Kipnis hit a few more home runs than Hernandez (17 to 14), but their snuggling percentages are virtually identical.
I don’t think it was being talked about all that much heading into the season pre-corona, but the Tribe lineup had the potential to be very good, and it still does.
With Lindor and Hernandez setting the table, Santana, Reyes, Ramirez and DH Domingo Santana could potentially be very dangerous.
5. Brad Hand
Bullpens are going to be counted upon heavily in the shortened season, especially in the early going as starting pitchers ramp up their pitch counts.
I’m anxious to see the Tribe’s closer because he was very shaking during the second half of 2019.
One reliever we should see a lot of in these next 2 1/2 month will be James Karinchak.
I still can’t explain why the Indians waited so long to promote the right-hander toward the end of last season. The Tribe was trying to track down the Twins and Hand was very inconsistent throughout the stretch run. The unit could’ve used an injection of Karinchak much earlier than when he debuted on Sept. 14.
Bullpens are about the hardest thing to predict from season-to-season, so it’s anyone’s guess as to how Hand will respond in the 60-game season.
Hand will be the closer, and if he returns to form, that’s great. A one-two punch of Karinchak and Hand could potentially turn games into seven-inning contests.