NFL Tickets
Coming into the 2016 season, the Cleveland Indians appeared to be following the same strategy as the last few offseasons – bank on a strong but just short finish from the previous campaign by making minor tweaks to the roster. They went through the same game plan last year and the year before, both times coming up short of the playoffs the following season. So, when Cleveland once again spent the winter adding cheap and aged help on offense, it was safe to assume the team would once again struggle to make the postseason.
While October is still a ways away, the one thing the Indians aren’t doing is struggling.
The Tribe just polished off its ninth straight win, decimating the rival Detroit Tigers 9-3. It was the theme of the weekend, as well as the past two series for Cleveland. As a result, the team is currently enjoying a five game lead in AL Central.
A division isn’t won in June, but still, the Indians sure look like they’re for real.
As mentioned earlier this week, Cleveland’s starting rotation has finally started to look like the dominant staff everyone expected. Nothing has changed since, as the bullpen has barely had to show up lately. Coming into today’s game, the starters had posted a 1.60 ERA in the last eight games.
Again, though, the pitching staff was supposed to be the Indians bread and butter, so this is a great but not terribly surprising development.
What’s really stunning, though, is just how dominant Cleveland’s offense has become. During this hot streak, the Tribe has been tearing the cover off the ball.
In the nine-game surge, Cleveland has only scored less than six runs twice. Other than those instances, the wins have been laughably lopsided.
Even more impressive is the fact the contributions have been relatively even across the entire batting order. Francisco Lindor has continued to play at an All-Star caliber level, while Mike Napoli is still a huge contributor at the clean-up spot. At the same time, rookie Tyler Naquin keeps surprising as one of the most consistent hitters on the team. Heck, even veteran Juan Uribe is on fire, hitting five home runs during the hot streak.
The combination of this inexplicably good offense and near-unhittable pitching has resulted in the Indians posting a plus-81 run differential, second only to the Chicago Cubs in the entire MLB. This has clearly helped Cleveland wallop every team in its path lately, regardless of how well the respective opponent had been playing.
Take the Tigers, for example. Detroit had just finished up a four-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners and were apparently eager to play the Indians after losing all six contests against them this year. Players were speaking of “swag,” and playing with “extra fire in their belly.”
The result – an outright spanking at the hands of the Tribe, getting outscored 22-8. It was all polished off with today’s win, where Cleveland tagged starter Justin Verlander with four home runs in the fifth inning alone. The Tigers may have felt confident, but right now you’ll apparently need more than confidence to beat the Indians.
Experts have been raving about Cleveland all week, and for good reason. They’ll obviously have to keep this up to eventually grab a playoff berth, but such a scenario looks way more plausible now than it has in the past couple seasons.
If this were to happen, if the pitching keeps rolling while the offense keeps running opponents off the field, you would have to assume Cleveland’s postseason stay could be a lengthy one.
Share 
