Factory Of Sadness
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No All-Star Game? No Problem – 3 Cleveland Indians who could of been All-Stars in 2020

By Chad Porto

Cleveland Indians Francisco Lindor (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Cleveland Indians Francisco Lindor (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OHIO – JULY 09: Shane Bieber #57 of the Cleveland Indians and the American League poses with the Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award after the 2019 MLB All-Star Game, presented by Mastercard at Progressive Field on July 09, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OHIO – JULY 09: Shane Bieber #57 of the Cleveland Indians and the American League poses with the Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award after the 2019 MLB All-Star Game, presented by Mastercard at Progressive Field on July 09, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

Shane Beiber

How do you follow up a season with your first All-Star selection, next to 259 strikeouts, 15 wins, and three complete games? Well, Beiber was poised for a run at the Cy Young this year, which seems unlikely due to the fact he’ll only pitch about eight times this season. There’s no real honor in winning an award that is partially based off of endurance if you’re only pitching a slightly longer playoff run for a regular season.

He doubled the number of strikeouts he threw from his rookie to sophomore years, and the hope was that Beiber would continue to ascend the hill as one of the league’s best players and pitchers. Hopefully able to be the one who replaces Corey Kluber as the team’s new ace. While he can still show that type of control and ability in a shortened season, without a Cy Young and All-Star award to give him for his sheer brutality as a pitcher, it almost feels a bit hollow.

Alternate: Jordan Luplow

Now, this may seem like an interesting pick, but Jordan Luplow played really well in relatively minimal at-bats. If Luplow played an entire season for the Indians last year, (500 at-bats), he would’ve had near-identical numbers to Francisco Lindor. We’re talking over 30 home runs, over 85-odd RBI’s; all at a clip of .275. If he could’ve built off of last year’s numbers, Luplow could’ve had a huge 2020 to remember. Instead, like everyone else, he’ll only have 60 games to showcase what he can do this season.

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