Six straight losses has Cleveland Indians all but done in AL Central Race

The Cleveland Indians were once streaking towards the AL Central title but six straight losses have dropped them to third.

The Cleveland Indians were once looking like locks to win the AL Central, but now after back to back series losses to the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins, the Indians are now 4.5 games out of first in the AL Central and might just be looking at being on the outside of the playoff window if they keep streaking towards disaster.

While it’s easy to blame the offense for this skid, the Indians gave up 40 runs in their six losses, an average of 6.0+ each game. That’s not on the offense, but on the pitching (and defense). Shane Beiber got his first loss of the season and Triston McKenzie got lit up in his series-ending game against the Twins, and the bullpen just looks gassed.

That’s to say the offense has been good because it hasn’t. There’s a lot of issues with this team’s offense. Mostly focusing on Carlos Santana, who just looks too slow at the plate. It’s not his awareness, as he’s still seeing the pitches well, but when he does try to get over on a pitch he ends up getting toasted. He’s still leading the team in OBP (on-base percentage), so it’s not like he’s become worthless as an offensive player but the fact he remains in the fourth-spot is a sign that the Indians either have too much faith in him getting back on track or if they have less faith in the likes of Franmil Reyes to replace him.

The Indians under interim-manager Sandy Alomar are trying some new things, especially with moving Francisco Lindor into the leadoff spot and dropping Jose Ramirez from 2nd to 3rd in the lineup and putting Cesar Hernandez second in the order. Hernandez was the former lead-off hitter. Despite the shakeup, the issue isn’t any of them.

Santana is. His bat isn’t there. That’s not to say the blame is solely on him, because the team still needs him. The team just needs to get drastic with where his place in the lineup should be. Consiering how good the Twins and White Sox are, it’s hard to imagine the Indians winning the AL Central now, especially with our biggest bat, Santana, just falling apart this year.

Hopefully, the Indians can make the adjustments needed to get into the playoffs. As of right now, it looks like the Tribe won’t be getting another Divisional crown.