2020 Cleveland Indians Mid-Season Player Awards
By Chad Porto
Indians Mid-Year Cy Young Winner: Shane Bieber
Yes, there is no “team Cy Young winner” but we’re having fun here so just roll with it, ok?
If you’re someone who believes that pitchers should qualify for the MVP award, then Shane Bieber is your 2020 MVP as well. That said, this is not an article that believes pitchers should ever qualify for an MVP. Hitters contribute every day (save for the rare day off) and starting pitchers only once every five days. That isn’t to take away anything from Bieber, who is among the top three or four pitchers in all of baseball at the moment.
He’s currently 6-0, with a 1.35 ERA and 75 strikeouts. He’s only given up seven runs all year, and only nine base-on-balls. He’s been absolutely magic from the pitcher’s mound. He’s not just the best pitcher on the team but he’s probably the best in the league.
Indians Mid-Year Standout Reliever: James Karinchak
You’d be forgiven if the name James Karinchak isn’t one that you remember. Having only pitched five innings in 2019, the still-rookie is currently 16 innings deep into his premiere year and has only given up one run so far into the 2020 campaign.
Posting a ridiculous .054 ERA, Karinchak has become untouchable. A crazy high 31 strikeouts for a ratio of nearly 2k’s per inning thrown. He’s been unbelievably effective coming out of the bullpen.
Brad Hand is still the closer and has done an admirable job as the team’s back-of-the-bullpen guy but Karinchak is showing the team and the league that he’s going to be the next great reliever in the Majors; assuming he continues to pitch well.