Cleveland Sports Forum

In case anyone wants just the best of that article, and it's excellent I excerpted this:

Head-scratching roster and lineup decisions will soon leave fans researching Rogaine-type hair-restoration products.

Cleveland, trailing by one in the eighth inning with the tying run at second base, needing a timely hit to help halt its skid and requiring a pinch hitter to replace Roberto Pérez, who was dealing with a tight lat muscle, turned to … Sandy León. I asked Sandy Alomar Jr. to explain his choice, and he first noted the righty on the mound. León is a switch-hitter, and Alomar’s other options — Oscar Mercado, Jordan Luplow, Yu Chang and Austin Hedges — all bat right-handed.

“I didn’t want to burn three players,” Alomar said. “In case they (brought) in a lefty, I’d bring Luplow in, because they had a lefty warming up. … I had Luplow ready to hit for Naylor.”

He also contributed to the Cubs’ run in the bottom of the eighth, when his errant throw on a Javy Báez stolen base attempt sailed into center field. Báez scampered all the way home to hand the Cubs a two-run cushion, which proved critical when Lindor launched a game-tying homer a few minutes later. (By the way, Hedges is defensively superior to León — and just about any catcher — and has displayed a knack for running into a homer here and there in the past.)


The pinch-hit decision underscores a greater theme to this season: The Indians haven’t made the best use of their roster, and it could have implications for 2021, not just 2020.

But what have the Indians learned about the position-player side of the roster? Mercado has struggled during his sophomore season, but he also hasn’t been awarded a consistent chance to rebound. Daniel Johnson received 13 plate appearances at the start of the year and then vanished. Bradley Zimmer followed him. Jake Bauers’ portrait is on the side of every milk carton outside of Eastlake. You know who might have been an intriguing candidate to bat for Pérez in the eighth inning, a lefty equipped with great plate discipline and the ability to hit righties? Nolan Jones, who supplanted McKenzie as the organization’s top prospect last year.

Meisel’s Mailbox: The past, present and cloudy future of the Indians’ outfield
By Zack Meisel Sep 15, 2020 16
With another regular season in Cleveland winding down — wait, didn’t it just start? — let’s open the mailbox and answer some questions.

Am I correct in stating that the last All-Star outfielder drafted or signed and developed by the Indians (not acquired via trade) was Manny Ramirez? — Nick D.

Ding, ding, ding.

Here’s the list of the Indians’ All-Star outfielders over the last 35 years:

Michael Brantley (2014, 2017, 2018)
Grady Sizemore (2006, 2007, 2008)
Matt Lawton (2004)
Juan González (2001)
Kenny Lofton (1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999)
Manny Ramirez (1995, 1998, 1999)
David Justice (1997)
Albert Belle (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)

The Indians traded for Justice, Lofton, Lawton, Sizemore and Brantley. They signed González to a one-year deal as a veteran free agent. They drafted Ramirez (first round, 1991) and Belle (second round, 1987).

To be fair, Sizemore developed for a couple of seasons in the Indians’ farm system before he broke into the majors. Brantley spent some time at Triple-A Columbus as well.

But … yeah. This has not been the franchise’s strength. In the first round, they drafted Tyler Naquin in 2012, Clint Frazier in 2013, Bradley Zimmer in 2014, Will Benson in 2016 and Quentin Holmes with their first selection (second round) in 2017. Only Naquin and Zimmer have donned an Indians uniform; they’ve combined for 5.0 WAR during their big-league careers. Benson and Holmes have plenty of work to do at the plate if they’re ever to reach the majors.

Unless Franmil Reyes shifts out of the designated hitter role, it’s difficult to see when the Indians might send their next outfielder to the All-Star Game. (Of course, Reyes was another trade acquisition, not a draftee.)

Cleveland outfielders have logged a .186/.271/.289 slash line this season, with offensive output about 50 percent lower than league average (per the wRC+ statistic). The Indians have used 25 different starting outfield combinations, which suggests they might still be throwing stuff at the wall and hoping something sticks next year.

Is Josh Naylor deserving of daily at-bats? Will he slide over to first base? Are we to buy into Jordan Luplow’s 2019 performance or his 2020 showing? What about Oscar Mercado? Will Tyler Naquin be back? How do Daniel Johnson, Bradley Zimmer and Jake Bauers fit?

There hasn’t been a single, encouraging takeaway from the outfield that the Indians can count on for next season.

Which starting pitcher among the minor-leaguers do you think has the best chance of making some noise next season? — Zachary H.

It seems as though this is an annual inquiry, which is a testament to the pitching factory the Indians have established. The assembly line may slow down for a year, only because of the youth of the current group. Triston McKenzie is 23. Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale and Shane Bieber are all 25. So, there might not be many opportunities, barring injuries.

That said, the club will eventually want to learn more about Logan Allen and Scott Moss, who have little left to prove in the minors. Cal Quantrill could factor into the mix. Keep an eye on Sam Hentges, an intriguing 6-foot-8 lefty whose fastball now reaches the upper 90s. Maybe he winds up as an aspiring Andrew Miller impersonator in the bullpen, but Hentges has occupied a starting role to this point.


Carlos Carrasco ranks fourth in franchise history in strikeouts. (Jason Miller / Getty Images)
With Carlos Carrasco fourth all time in strikeouts (in franchise history), will his number be retired? — Andy D.

The Indians maintain a pretty strict policy of only retiring the numbers of those who earn a spot in Cooperstown: Bob Feller, Lou Boudreau, Earl Averill, Bob Lemon, Jim Thome, Larry Doby and Frank Robinson. The only exception is Mel Harder, who spent his entire 20-year career with the franchise. Oh, and The Fans, though I don’t think any player was pining to wear No. 455.

I do think both Carrasco and Carlos Santana stand a good chance at one day joining the team’s Hall of Fame, which would earn each a plaque in Heritage Park and a snazzy navy sports coat.

Carrasco ranks behind only Feller, Sam McDowell and Corey Kluber on the club’s all-time strikeouts list. This season, he has passed Charles Nagy, CC Sabathia, Early Wynn and Lemon on the list. Carrasco has spent 11 years with the franchise, as he broke into the big leagues in 2009. He struggled to harness his emotions early in his career. He underwent Tommy John surgery. He was relegated to a relief role. No one would have imagined he’d last so long in Cleveland. And then in August 2014, everything clicked upon his return to the rotation.

Was the trade for Austin Hedges part of a longer play to trade Roberto Pérez this offseason or next season for prospects? — Ryan L.

One of the first things I noticed after the trade was that Hedges’ pre-pandemic salary for 2020 was $3 million. He’ll likely earn at least that much next season via arbitration if the Indians retain him.

The Indians hold a $5.5 million option on Pérez for 2021. Are they really going to pay their catchers upward of $9 million next season? If they’re simply planning to sever ties with Hedges, what was the point in including him in the trade? He has appeared in only three games. It’s all a bit odd. Bo Naylor is the club’s future behind the plate, but the 20-year-old remains at least a couple of years away from joining his brother in the big leagues.

Cleveland’s catchers have combined to hit .143 with a .214 slugging percentage this season.

What happens with all of the balls that go into the stands? — Tom S.

It’s never been easier to snag a foul ball at a game. That is, if you’re a media member, an essential employee, a cardboard cutout or a seagull.

The grounds crew collects many of the baseballs after games to recycle for batting practice use. Authenticators mark some. Also, Adam Plutko launched an initiative through his foundation, Plutko Family Partners, in which he and teammates sign some of the foul balls and send them to local kids.


When is everyone set to be a free agent? Which players have options and which are still in arbitration years? I know we have Lindor through ’21 and Santana has an option for ’21 (which I hope we pick up), but I don’t know much about the other players. — Alex J.

Essentially, the entire pitching staff is under team control for a long time. The only outcasts are Brad Hand, who has a $10 million club option for 2021 — the guess here is that if that option is exercised, it’s only to trade Hand — and Oliver Pérez, who can be a free agent this winter and will turn 40 next summer. Carrasco is signed through 2022 with a club option for 2023. Nick Wittgren is arbitration-eligible.

As for the position players, José Ramírez is signed through 2021, with club options the following two years. César Hernández can return to the free-agent pool this winter. He said last week he’d love to stick with the Indians beyond this year, but odds are against that happening. Lindor, Naquin, Hedges and Delino DeShields are eligible for arbitration this winter.

How much do you miss Mike Clevinger for his quotability? — Doug K.

Few players across the league rival his candor and storytelling ability. I’m always grateful for those who are genuine and aren’t shy about speaking their minds, rather than resorting to tired clichés.

I mean, who else would have said this, when asked if hitting prowess should factor into the clubhouse debate about which pitcher is the best athlete?

“OK, put LeBron James in a batter’s box. Is he not an athlete? Because I guarantee he won’t look pretty against big-league pitching. Is he still an athlete? He’s still the best in the world, actually. So his argument’s not that logical. It’s like a vegan saying you can’t drink milk — do animals drink other animals’ milk? No, because they don’t have the thumbs to milk their nipples. Of course not. But if they did, do you know what a dog would be doing every fucking day?”

Clevinger is one of a kind. San Diego’s writers are fortunate.

Speaking of outfielders there’s only one among our outstanding teenage prospects: George Valera in the alternate site this season but basically hasn’t played in full season ball Any big leaguers are a very long way off
Only other possibility would be moving Nolan Jones to the outfield which had been suggested on occasions

Final Thoughts: José Ramírez’s sneaky great season, Shane Bieber’s brilliance By Zack Meisel Sep 18, 2020 16
The recipe for snapping an eight-game losing streak: the presence of a Cy Young Award front-runner and a birthday boy completing two mighty hacks and one strange, yet successful, throw-the-bat-at-the-ball-and-pray-it-sneaks-through-the-infield trick.

Shane Bieber and José Ramírez have been the Indians’ most productive players this season. On Thursday night, they ensured the club’s untimely skid wouldn’t persist past eight games. Here are eight final thoughts on the Indians.

1. Ramírez is stealthily enjoying a great season. He leads the Indians in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, home runs, RBIs, runs scored and stolen bases. Oh, and he’s also tied with Anthony Rendon for the American League lead in WAR among position players, per FanGraphs. In a normal season, he’d be on pace for nearly 8.0 WAR, which is MVP-candidate territory. His statistics resemble the ones he produced in 2018, his most recent top-three MVP finish.

2018: .270/.387/.552 slash line, 146 wRC+, one HR every 14.8 at-bats, one stolen base every 4.6 games
2020: .276/.366/.546 slash line, 140 wRC+, one HR every 14.2 at-bats, one stolen base every 4.8 games

“Him coming out with that energy consistently, every single day, whether we’ve won eight straight or lost eight straight, goes a long way,” Bieber said. “And I know myself and a lot of other guys in the clubhouse appreciate him for that.”

In 2018, Ramírez walked twice as often as he has in any other year. His walk rate isn’t quite as high this season, though it’s still above his norm. His strikeout rate has ballooned to 18.3 percent this season, the highest mark of his career. (His helmet has fallen from his head 38 times this year, a historic pace.)

2. The final haul from Ramírez’s birthday bash: two homers, a double and an RBI poke that trickled through the infield after he tossed his bat at the ball.

He became the sixth player in franchise history with multiple home runs in a game on his birthday. The others:

Carlos Santana: April 8, 2012
Albert Belle: Aug. 25, 1995
Joe Azcue: Aug. 18, 1963
Ray Boone: July 27, 1957
Earl Averill: May 21, 1934

Ramírez, now 28, deemed it his best birthday performance. He also said his pesky thumb, which cost him a couple of games earlier this month, “feels better now.”


Somehow, José Ramírez turned this into an RBI single. (Raj Mehta / USA Today)
3. All right, on to the Indians’ other award candidate.

Bieber will make his next start against the White Sox at Progressive Field early next week. It’s possible it will be his final start of the regular season, his last chance to convince voters he deserves the AL Cy Young Award (he’s the undisputed front-runner) or even the MVP (that could largely depend on which criteria voters prioritize during such an atypical season).

Bieber would be in line to start the club’s regular-season finale against the Pirates on Sept. 27, but there’s little reason for him to log much of a workload that day if the Indians have already clinched a playoff berth. Game 1 of the wild-card round will take place two days later.

No player in baseball has a higher WAR total (2.9), even though Bieber has appeared in only 11 games this season. He leads the AL (by massive margins) in ERA, FIP and strikeout rate. Really, if he avoids getting shelled on Tuesday, he should have the Cy Young Award secured.

Of course, he has given it little thought.

“Baseball is a humbling sport,” he said, “so as soon as you start thinking about accolades and this and that, I feel like it’s going to come and bite you.”

4. Why was the team’s ace throwing his 118th pitch with his team ahead by 10 runs in the eighth inning? After a quick chat with pitching coach Carl Willis — they had placed a limit of 110-115 pitches on Bieber — Sandy Alomar Jr. conferred with the pitcher and the infielders at the mound. Bieber, who had just issued an eight-pitch walk to Derek Hill, had tossed 114 pitches to navigate through 7 2/3 innings. It seemed like an obvious time to summon a reliever.

Bieber said Alomar offered him the option to remain in the game and face Willi Castro or to call it a night.

“He said, ‘If I let you go get this guy, you’re going to be up around 120 (pitches), so you better get him,’” Bieber said. “And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ Obviously, it didn’t play out that way. Baseball is baseball. It’s frustrating.”

Castro socked a three-run homer that barely cleared the fence in the right-field corner. That pushed Bieber’s ERA from 1.37 to 1.74.

“He never wants to come out of the game,” Alomar said. “He keeps fighting to go out there all the time when he has 100, 105 pitches. He wants to go back out there and give the bullpen a breather. … People think when the game is close is when you get the chance. When the game is close, you want to give your pitcher a win — you don’t want him to lose the game. When the game is open, it’s an opportunity for you to go back out there and stay in the game, and if you give up a home run, you’re not going to lose the game. He wanted to pitch.”

The 118 pitches established a new career high for Bieber. Cam Hill recorded the final four outs for the Indians.

5. Bieber breezed through the first seven innings, holding the Tigers scoreless and limiting them to two hits. And he did it all without much fastball command.

“For the first time in a long time,” he said, “I was coming back in the dugout, saying, ‘I don’t know where my heater’s going.’”

It sure helps to have four other pitches he can turn to when necessary. Bieber said Roberto Pérez noticed the issue immediately, so they altered their approach between innings. Bieber relied on his change-up more than usual, as he threw 21 of them and they induced six swings and misses. They still mixed in fastballs here and there so hitters couldn’t eliminate the pitch entirely.

6. The Indians hadn’t dropped eight consecutive games since June 2-10, 2013. With their win on Thursday, they halted their bid to rival the dubious streak from 2012, when they lost 11 in a row from July 27-Aug. 7.

“We really can’t control what’s happened up to today,” Chris Antonetti said. “The reality is we’re still positioned to potentially make the postseason. We know we need to play better than we have over the last couple of weeks. We feel we’re capable of doing that.”

That 11-game skid launched the most rotten month in club history, as the Indians sputtered to a 5-24 record, sealing Manny Acta’s fate as manager. The Indians were outscored 95-34 in those 11 games.

The frustration in the Indians’ clubhouse reached a crescendo at Comerica Park on a Sunday afternoon, when the Indians were attempting to stave off a ninth straight defeat. In the top of the 10th, Travis Hafner and Ezequiel Carrera slugged back-to-back home runs and Lou Marson chipped in an RBI double to stake Cleveland to an 8-5 advantage. Chris Perez recorded two, quick outs. Then, he allowed two walks, an RBI double, a two-run single and a Miguel Cabrera walk-off homer. That capped a Tigers sweep, which all but knocked the Indians out of the division race.

Chris Seddon started on the mound for the Indians that day. Brent Lillibridge started at third base.

The Tribe pitchers saddled with those 11 losses: Josh Tomlin, Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jiménez (who officially retired this week), Derek Lowe, Zach McAllister, Esmil Rogers, Masterson again, Jiménez again, Perez, McAllister again and Perez again.

7. It’s a season full of chaos, with an expanded playoff bracket, a truncated regular-season schedule and plenty of reshuffling in the standings. But not every player is monitoring the daily activity.

“I’ll be honest, with everything going on,” Oscar Mercado said, “not being able to really leave the hotel and being restricted to being at the baseball field and back to wherever we’re living at, mentally, once I leave the field, I’m trying to stay away from the game. I don’t want to drive myself too crazy or put myself in a tough place mentally. I focus on other things, whether it’s talking to my friends or playing video games or something. So, I’m not really trying to follow (the scoreboard and standings).”

8. I’ve long wondered about the process of filling out the lineup during Terry Francona’s absence. Surely, Alomar scribbles the names onto the card, but is it a solo mission? I asked Antonetti, who said Alomar ultimately makes the decisions, but he has consulted other coaches as well as members of the front office and support staff.

“Anyone who would have something meaningful to contribute to the discussion,” Antonetti said, “Sandy’s engaged them.”

(Top photo: Raj Mehta / USA Today)

McKenzie, Tribe not worried by velocity drop [That's good; none of us should worry either, right?]


Triston McKenzie took the Major Leagues by storm in his debut on Aug. 22 against the Tigers, allowing one run in six innings with 10 strikeouts and a fastball averaging 94.5 mph. But after his sixth start on Saturday, his heater velocity averaged 3.9 mph slower than his first outing.

McKenzie’s average fastball velocity has dropped to 93.3 mph, 92.7 mph, 92.4 mph and 92.2 mph in each of his outings since his debut. In Saturday’s 5-2 loss to Detroit, the pitch sat around 90.6 mph.

“He was navigating through a lot of traffic,” temporary Indians manager Sandy Alomar Jr. said. “He had to labor a lot, and his velocity was not all there. He was throwing 89 mph. He fought hard and still pitched well.”

Four of the six hits McKenzie permitted on the night were off his fastball, but the 23-year-old still managed to give up only one run in four frames. With an 85-pitch limit in each start, he has only worked more than five innings twice. But even though he’s seen a dip in velocity, McKenzie isn’t concerned.

“A lot of just trying to find a rhythm with [catcher Roberto Pérez] … and in terms of getting my legs under me and getting my feet moving and towards the plate,” McKenzie said. “I don't think it was too bad in terms of letting up hits and letting that affect me.”

Only a month into his big league career, McKenzie said he realized just how much more he needs to learn. Prior to his debut, he hadn’t pitched in any game setting in two years due to injury and has never pitched at the Triple-A level. So despite any drops in velocity or other bumps in the road, Alomar has been impressed to see how McKenzie is evolving.

“Remember, McKenzie, he comes from an injury,” Alomar said. “He’s a very bright kid, competitor -- he’s pitching in Major League Baseball right now. He went from the other side to pitching in Major League Baseball, and he’s done a pretty good job. He just needs to trust himself and go out there and not shy away from the zone. He tends to be a little too picky. But he’s grown. Every outing, mentally, he’s getting better.”

McKenzie knows that each time he takes the mound, he’s going to be coming out of the game when his pitch count sits between 80 and 90 pitches. That’s why, even though he labored on Saturday, he’s still finding positives about the way he was able to work around his struggles to limit the Tigers to only one run.

“It was a conversation that I talked with the coaches about in between,” McKenzie said. “If I'm only going to get 85 pitches, making those 85 pitches [the best] I can and going out there and competing from pitch one to pitch whatever it is. I think I tried to do a good job of that [on Saturday].”

A mighty José Ramírez swing, an Indians playoff berth and a new MVP front-runner
By Zack Meisel Sep 22, 2020 21
CLEVELAND — José Ramírez took three, deliberate steps toward first base as he watched the bruised baseball soar toward Flo’s abdomen on the Progressive banner that covers the right-field seats.

When it sailed over the outfield fence, Ramírez turned toward the dugout, raised his arms and then commenced his trot. He slapped his chest twice near second base and pointed to the sky. When he spotted his teammates spilling out of the dugout, rushing to meet him at home plate, he raised his arms again, slapped hands with his third-base coach and removed his helmet — of his own volition, for once.

As he prepared to enter the splash zone, he couldn’t help but flash a wide smile. The diminutive third baseman — long ago a lowly regarded prospect deemed too small and unspectacular to merit anyone’s attention, once a frequent trekker along I-71, shifting between Cleveland and Columbus as he struggled to find his big-league footing — punctuated this bizarre season like few others could.

With one mighty hack, Ramírez placed the Indians in the playoff field and, perhaps, placed his name at the forefront of the AL MVP conversation.

And then, there was a melée. They smacked his head and his backside. They offered him high fives. Carlos Carrasco lifted him in the air like a giddy parent welcoming home a child who spent weeks at sleepaway camp.

When the players filtered back down the tunnel to retrieve their red postseason T-shirts and hats and their celebratory cigars, they left behind a graveyard of orange Gatorade coolers and empty water bottles in the batter’s box.

“This is what we play for,” Francisco Lindor said.

There were no corks popping, no Ramírez lounging at his locker, cigar in mouth and feet resting on a leather chair. Trevor Bauer wasn’t zipping around the clubhouse with a GoPro camera strapped to his forehead to capture the chaos. There was no plastic wrapping to protect the contents of each locker, no on-field family photos.

“A lot less champagne,” Ramírez said, “but it’s still a good celebration.”

That’s one opinion.

“It sucks,” Lindor said, stressing that every other sport envies MLB’s bubbly bashes.

There was a toast. A few players offered brief speeches. They posed for a team photo. They joked that the festivities were all to honor James Karinchak’s birthday. There were beers and cigars.

And there were plenty of new faces experiencing this kind of achievement — even with the expanded playoff field and the truncated regular-season schedule — for the first time. Two years have passed since the Indians clinched a postseason berth, but 19 of the 28 players on the active roster weren’t members of the team in 2018. There are young players, San Diego transplants and even César Hernández, who never qualified for the playoffs in his seven years with the Phillies.

“You know that they’re going to have that thought in them every single time that they’re in the middle of the season,” Adam Plutko said. “Now they’re going to want this and (know) how good this feels. … I told a couple of the rookies, ‘Man, I wish I could douse champagne all over you right now, but beer will do for now.’”


They earned the party in grand fashion. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Ramírez became the ninth player in the sport’s history to sock a walk-off homer on the same day his team secured a playoff spot.

The 10th-inning blast was his sixth homer in his last six games. There aren’t enough superlatives to properly frame his recent scorching stretch. He sits atop FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard (3.2). He is tied for third in the majors in homers, and he has hit most of them in the last three weeks.

Over his last 23 games, Ramírez has totaled 12 home runs and 26 RBIs. Over his last 11 games, it’s eight homers, 18 RBIs and a 1.067 slugging percentage.

The September surge has shoved him into a crowded AL MVP discussion along with Cleveland’s ace, Shane Bieber, a couple of White Sox hitters, Tim Anderson and José Abreu, New York’s DJ LeMahieu and the Angels’ Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon. Lindor has a suggestion.

“He’s an MVP,” Lindor said. “He’s gonna win MVP one year. He’s gonna win MVP for sure. He’s definitely going to get some votes this year. Hopefully, get some more numbers and get the MVP. So, you voters, co-MVPs: (Shane) Bieber and Ramírez.”

As Ramírez reviewed his magical moment at a postgame interview podium, he clutched the baseball he had sent into orbit. He said he knew the instant he made contact that he had sent the pitch into the seats, sent the home dugout into a frenzy and sent the Indians to the postseason.

“He’s incredible,” Plutko said. “Look, the big first baseman for (the White Sox, Abreu) is a really good AL MVP candidate, but I like our third baseman a little bit better for exactly what you saw tonight. He’s going to bring it every single day. He never asks for a day off. He looks for the spotlight.”

Why the new playoff format could benefit the pitching-heavy Indians


By Zack Meisel Sep 22, 2020 16
CLEVELAND — A wise Cy Young Award front-runner once said, with regard to the MLB postseason: “A lot of good teams make it, but a lot of hot teams win it.”

That was Shane Bieber’s rallying cry last week after the Indians laid to rest a playoff seed-spoiling eight-game skid. Anarchy could reign supreme this October, with an expanded postseason field, an extra best-of-three round (the ultimate coin flip) and a lack of in-series off days.

That last wrinkle raised the antennae of every coach and front office member in the Indians organization. The league revealed the postseason schedule last week, and it received some nips and tucks that will force teams to either flex their creative muscles or cross their fingers and pray to the heavens that their seldom-used No. 5 starter can deliver a sufficient outing.

The Indians brass had been apprised of different scenarios under consideration but didn’t receive word of the final formatting decision until the night before the league’s official announcement last Tuesday.

There will be no off days between games during the wild-card series, the Division Series or the Championship Series. Only the World Series will maintain its customary cadence.

Now, the Indians have some longstanding hitting woes to vanquish and some bad base-running habits to rectify. And the American League bracket will be stocked with viable title contenders. Sparring with the Yankees or White Sox lineup is no simple task. But the Indians are confident their pitching depth could benefit them under these unusual circumstances.

“That’s what we’re planning on,” acting manager Sandy Alomar Jr. said. “Things can change when you have a good pitching staff. In 1995, when we faced the Atlanta Braves, they had a tremendous pitching staff, and we were the best offensive team in baseball, and they stopped us. Not a guarantee — you have to score some runs, too. But it’s always good to have a great pitching staff on your side when you go to the postseason.”

Teams usually shrink their rotations to three or four starters in October. They limit their bullpen usage to their top few relievers, barring a blowout.

In 2016, four Cleveland pitchers — Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen — accounted for 58 percent of the club’s postseason innings. Shaw appeared in 11 of 15 games. Miller and Allen appeared in 10 each. That sort of approach won’t be so feasible without travel days to recharge the batteries.

The Four Horsemen:
2016 ALDS: 16 1/3 of 27 innings
2016 ALCS: 27 of 44 innings
2016 World Series: 34 1/3 of 63 innings

So, pitching depth is critical. And that’s Cleveland’s calling card.

The Indians pushed back Shane Bieber’s expected outing to Wednesday to place him in line to start Game 1 of the wild-card series on Sept. 29. Zach Plesac and Carlos Carrasco could follow Bieber in the playoff rotation.

“The first round, the wild-card round, three games in a row,” pitching coach Carl Willis said, “I think we have very good starters, obviously, to choose from to pitch in those three games, and probably a couple of them (would) be able to help us in the bullpen. So I do think, in that regard, it is a bit of an advantage for us because of the depth and the quality of the depth.”

Should the Indians advance, they could add Aaron Civale to the mix and then, for a decisive Game 5, tab Bieber on short rest or turn to rookie Triston McKenzie.

The Athletic’s Eno Sarris recently dove into some data to determine which teams might benefit most from the new playoff structure. He found that the Indians and Cardinals boast more above-average starting pitchers than any other team. (Now imagine Cleveland’s potential playoff rotation with Mike Clevinger still in the fold. Teams were not privy to information about the playoff format prior to the trade deadline. Otherwise, perhaps certain clubs would have made more of an effort to add pitching depth.)

Deep bullpens will help, too. If a team short on dependable starting pitching opts to resort to a bullpen day to navigate through a playoff game, that could further complicate its situation.

“We could look at it, in our case, as a competitive advantage,” Indians president Chris Antonetti said, “potentially, if we get to the second round and we feel like we have a very deep group of starting pitchers and are confident with any one of our guys starting a postseason game. If that means another team has to do the same thing, either that or plan for a bullpen day, it gets much more difficult to do a bullpen day in the postseason and still have those guys available for the other games.”

The AL playoff pitching picture
Indians
3.03
3.71
3.26
Twins
3.48
3.55
3.51
White Sox
3.58
3.65
3.61
Rays
3.84
3.40
3.61
Yankees
4.17
4.49
4.30
Astros
4.26
4.36
4.30
Athletics
4.47
2.42
3.64
Blue Jays
4.78
4.60
4.68
There’s more to a playoff series than starting pitching, of course. The Indians must supply José Ramírez with some offensive support. They must receive quality contributions from their bullpen. And aside from Carrasco, none of Cleveland’s starters has ever appeared in a postseason game.

Bieber was slated to start Game 4 of the 2018 ALDS before the Astros completed a three-game sweep. For Plesac, Civale and McKenzie, October is uncharted territory. Perhaps the neutral field and the lack of tens of thousands of hollering fans will ease the burden of postseason inexperience.

In seven starts this season, Plesac boasts a 1.85 ERA with four walks and 50 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings. He has limited opponents to a .215 on-base percentage.

Carlos Carrasco could receive some down-ballot Cy Young tallies, as he owns a 2.90 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 62 innings. He has posted a 1.41 ERA over his last five starts and, most encouraging, his fastball velocity has increased in each of his last three outings. On Sunday in Detroit, the pitch clocked in at an average of 94.9 mph and topped out at 96.5 mph.

The Indians lead the majors in starter ERA and WAR. They lead the AL in starter FIP and strikeout rate. Those rankings reflect more than Bieber’s brilliance, and they represent the hope the organization is clinging to as October approaches.

“It’s going to be a dramatic shift for all 16 teams that do end up making the playoffs,” Adam Plutko said. “In general, when you’re building your postseason roster, you’re thinking about three starting pitchers to really carry you through. And the fourth, if you choose to have four, the fourth is, well we’re backed up by our bullpen. And you even look at, in recent history, so many bullpens starting games and not even choosing starters. With no days off, that just physically cannot happen anymore.”

And don't forget Cal Quantrill is also now an option to start. I think he already auditioned.

In 2016, four Cleveland pitchers — Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen — accounted for 58 percent of the club’s postseason innings. Shaw appeared in 11 of 15 games. Miller and Allen appeared in 10 each. That sort of approach won’t be so feasible without travel days to recharge the batteries.

The Four Horsemen:
2016 ALDS: 16 1/3 of 27 innings
2016 ALCS: 27 of 44 innings
2016 World Series: 34 1/3 of 63 innings

And look what happened to their careers after that.

28 man roster in the playoffs, I suppose continues... so there will be lots of arms in the bullpen. In the first series at least Civale will be out there along with McKenzie and Quantrill and Karnichak and Perez and Hand, all pretty reliable. Wittgren usually. Not looking forward to seeing Maton or Hill or Plutko. I see they currently have only 13 man pitching staff; I suppose they'll add more for the playoffs, although Logan Allen Adam Cimber and Kyle Nelson don't inspire much excitement.

Sporting News likes the Indians; of course they pick Bieber for the Cy Young. that's undisputed, but they give us No. 1 and No. 3 in their MVP voting:

AL MVP
1. Jose Ramirez, Indians

Why he’s here: Cleveland decided to trade away starting pitcher Mike Clevinger without bringing back any legitimate, established sources of offense at the Aug. 31 trade deadline. Apparently, Ramirez took it upon himself to add some extra thump to the lineup. In 14 September contests, Ramirez has eight homers, 17 RBIs, 13 runs scored, a .407 average and 1.374 OPS; in Cleveland’s past five games — the Indians have won four of those five, clinching a playoff spot — Ramirez is batting .550 with five homers, three doubles and 13 RBIs, including a three-run walk-off homer against the White Sox on Tuesday night. Yes, we’re talking about small sample sizes, but this whole season is a small sample size. He leads MLB with a 3.2 fWAR (FanGraphs formula) and is one of only four players in the sport to hit double digits in both homers (17) and stolen bases (10).

2. Jose Abreu, White Sox

Why he’s here: All the preseason talk in Chicago about the White Sox’s revival centered around this massive wave of young talent — and for good reason — and I’m not sure anyone expected Abreu to put up the type of numbers he has this year. He leads the AL in RBIs (55), slugging (.641), hits (73) and total bases (141), to go with a .333 average, 176 OPS+, 18 homers, 14 doubles and 40 runs scored. He leads all AL position players in bWAR (Baseball-Reference formula).

3. Shane Bieber, Indians

Why he’s here: Can/should a pitcher win an MVP award? Look, I had one of the 30 NL MVP vote in 2014, when Clayton Kershaw topped Giancarlo Stanton and Andrew McCutchen in a close race. It was not an easy decision, but here’s how I voted: 1. Kershaw, 2. Stanton, 3 McCutchen. So, yes, I think a pitcher can win an award. And Bieber has been pretty unbelievable. But he’s made only 11 starts, with one more coming today. And, though I know the percentages are the same, I’m just not sure I can give the MVP award to a guy who’s only going to play 12 games in a season (if I had a vote this year, which I do not).

yahoo on Cy Shane:

AL CY YOUNG

Shane Bieber is going to win the AL Cy Young.

The Cleveland Indians ace is leading MLB in ERA (1.74) and wins (8), for whatever they are worth. Great, fine, makes sense. More notably: Bieber is utterly destroying the world in strikeouts. Entering Wednesday’s start, his 112 strikeouts are 16 more than second place Jacob deGrom (who is pretty good himself).

His strikeout percentage — he’s sitting down 40.6 percent of the batters who step in to the box by K — would be an all-time record for qualified starters. Yes, it’s a much shorter season and it takes much less to qualify. But combined with the pristine run prevention and outsized role in his team’s success, this is a coronation.

Bieber will win this Cy Young, and with any luck, will get a chance to keep up this form in a full season and log numbers that history can compare more evenly with the Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Clayton Kershaw campaigns that this one could rival.

Really, the only intrigue left for the 2020 Bieber campaign is whether he also wins MVP.

and on MVP:

AL MVP

It’s gotten tougher, in baseball’s information age, to narrow down what makes an MVP. Doing it in 60 games when there’s no clear frontrunner? Good luck, voters! This one is really going to come down to figuring out what you truly value.

Is it Jose Abreu’s RBI count and batting average? Is it Jose Ramirez’s overall production without any specific standout stat? Is it Shane Bieber having an utterly dominant run on the mound? Or is it Mike Trout because he’s Mike Trout because there’s no clear leader and there’s nothing wrong with Mike Trout as a default.

ven the age-old “best player on the best team” thing doesn’t work this year — even if it wasn’t a bit of outdated thinking. The best player, by FanGraphs’ WAR, on the Tampa Bay Rays is … Brandon Lowe?!

Ramirez might be the pick that stands out to many, since he leads the AL in WAR. His 3.2 fWAR is quite a bit ahead of Abreu at 2.8, the next closest hitter. It makes Ramirez the WAR leader in all of MLB, even though he doesn’t lead the league in any particular category. He’s third in homers, third in RBIs, second in runs scored — even second in stolen bases.

Abreu may end up being a popular pick, too. While he hasn’t been as exciting as Luis Robert or Tim Anderson, he’s been a steady hand for the surprising White Sox. He leads MLB in RBIs and is third in batting average, two stats that new-age voters might poo-poo. But he also leads MLB in OPS and leads the AL in wRC+, a stat that measures offensive production relative to league average.

The big question mark is how voters size up Bieber. He certainly made a difference for a turbulent Indians rotation, but the fact that there’s another MVP candidate from his lineup might hurt the notion that Bieber put the entire team on his back.

nytimes votes for Abreu and lumps Ramirez among a few other candidates:

he Yankees’ D.J. LeMahieu and Luke Voit, Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez and the Angels’ Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon have been outstanding, too. But Abreu is the choice.

Goes for Bauer for NL Cy:

Bauer, the iconoclastic right-hander, has been the best at the two factors that should matter most when evaluating pitching excellence: durability and dominance — that is, overpowering hitters while consistently working deep into games. The Reds can count on Bauer for at least 100 pitches in nearly every start (he has thrown fewer than 100 just once this season), and the results have been dazzling: a 1.80 earned run average with about 12 strikeouts, two walks and five hits allowed per nine innings.

And says very nice things about Bieber:

When something very obvious and distinctive identifies a player, he has to be really good to shake it. The Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve was always associated with his height (5 feet 6 inches) until he played so well that people stopped bringing it up. Shane Bieber is entering that territory.

He’s the only Bieber in major league history, but, of course, he’s hardly the most famous entertainer with the name. For Players’ Weekend last summer, Bieber, 25, poked fun at himself by wearing a jersey with “NOT JUSTIN” stitched across the back. He still trails Justin Bieber in Twitter followers by the slim margin of 112.4 million to 30,800, but he has become so successful on the mound that his eye-catching name is an afterthought.

We mention it here only because Bieber’s greatness as a pitcher has been so obvious. He leads the majors in wins (8), E.R.A. (1.74) and strikeouts (112), and should win the Cy Young Award unanimously. It will be his first, but may not be his last.

The amazing José Ramírez

By Joe Posnanski 2h ago 19
The season is almost over. This season only just started. This is 2020.

1. The wonder of José Ramírez
A longtime scout named Ramón Peña – who through the years signed players like Jose Lima, Fernando Rodney, Omar Infante Jeurys Familia – was pretty much the only guy who saw talent in a 17-year-old kid named José Ramírez. What was there to see? Ramirez was barely 5-foot-9 with a body type that leaned a little too close to “bowling ball.” Ramirez had no power to speak of, he was not especially fast, and it wasn’t clear at all what his defensive position would be.

The kid could hit, though; he just had a knack for putting the bat on the ball. Peña talked his way into $50,000 as an offer, and Ramírez took it because there wasn’t really anyone else making offers.

The thing that people noticed right away about Ramírez was his confidence. Ramírez didn’t see himself as the marginal prospect that he so clearly was. Instead, he saw himself as a young star who was just waiting for the rest of the world to figure it out. When he came to his first big league spring training, Terry Francona and various players thought he walked like the television character George Jefferson, you know, who was moving on up to a deluxe apartment in the sky. He radiated confidence, cockiness, assurance, whatever you want to call it.

For the first couple of years, his performance didn’t match his attitude – he was a part-time player who hit .239/.298/.346 and didn’t look like anything more than a utility infielder. Then came 2016. Suddenly, he was stinging the ball. The Tribe seemed as surprised as anybody. They just kept trying to find places on the field to play him – left field, third base, second base, shortstop, he played them all and played them well. He hit .312 and cracked 46 doubles. He was as important as anybody as Cleveland went to its first World Series in 20 or so years.

Then in 2017 and 2018, he was about as good as anybody in baseball not named Mike Trout. He finished third in the MVP both seasons, hitting a combined .290/.384/.567 with 94 doubles, 68 home runs and 51 stolen bases.

And, being honest, not too many people outside of Cleveland noticed. To be even more honest, many people in Cleveland focused on other players like Francisco Lindor and Corey Kluber and Andruw Miller. It has just been José Ramírez’s destiny to be overlooked; people have never been able to quite believe just how good he is. He got off to an absolutely brutal start in 2019, and was hitting sub-.200 in the middle of June. It was like people around baseball shrugged and thought, “Yeah, that’s about right.”

But here’s the thing: He got absurdly hot for the rest of last season – something easy to miss because he got hurt and missed a month – and this year he is quietly having yet another MVP season. His OPS is nearly 1.000, he’s top five in the league in homers, RBIs, runs scored, runs created, and at last check was leading all of baseball in FanGraphs WAR.

If you go back four seasons, the top five everyday players in FanGraphs WAR are:

1. Mike Trout, 27.7
2. Mookie Betts, 24.9
3. Anthony Rendon, 22.6
4. José Ramírez, 21.1
5. Christian Yelich, 20.8

It really is time people understand that José Ramírez is not just a good player, not just a great player, but someone playing at a Hall of Fame level.