Last year the Cleveland Indians won 92 games and made it to the wildcard game, in which they lost. Now in his second year as manager, Terry Francona looks to take them to the next step. Vegas Odds have the Indians at +500 to win the AL Central, +2000 to win the AL Pennant and +4000 to win the World Series.
The Indians ranked 13th in the league in batting average (.255), 6th in runs scored (745) and 10th in homers. The offense has no real big star power, but it is a consistent offense that is pretty solid from top to bottom. A couple veterans were a huge part of the run to the Wildcard game as Nick Swisher (22 HRs) and Michael Bourn (23 SBs, 75 runs scored) both contributed with solid seasons. Jason Kipnis had a solid year, with 17 HRs and 84 RBIs, while Carlos Santana hit 20 HRs, drove in 74 runs and scored 75 runs as the DH last year. The key to this offense may be Asdrubal Cabrera, who had a down year and strikes out way to much, as he has been punched out 332 times the last 3 years. Overall the lineup is more about consistency than any one player have a monster year and they should put up good numbers this year.
The Indians finished 15 th in the league in ERA last year (3.62) and 11 th in batting average against. This year the staff is fairly young, but with loads of potential. Justin Masterson is the number 1 starter, after going 14-10 with a 3.45 ERA last year. Corey Kluber did struggle last year, but he is a start ready to happen and he has had a solid spring thus far. Zach McCallister went 9-9 with a 3.75 ERA last year and has also had a nice spring. Danny Salazar went just 2-3 last year, but with a 3.12 ERA in 10 starts, while Carlos Carrasco rounds out the rotation and is the weakest of the bunch as he is 11-19 with a 5.29 ERA in his career. If these young arms pitch to their potential then this will be a very good rotation, but for now I will say they are solid. The bullpen was a mess last year, but John Axford was brought in to be the closer and Right-hander Cody Allen and left-hander Marc Rzepczynski are expected to the set-up guys. The pen should be a bit better this year.
Outlook: The Cleveland Indians are not a spectacular of flashy team, but they do play well together and Terry Francona will get the most out of them. The offense will score some runs, but don’t expect a ton of them from the long ball as they don’t have many good power hitters. The starting rotation has a ton of potential, while the bullpen is improved. I don’t think the Indians can overtake the Royals for second in the division, but they will make it interesting. I look for them to finish 3rd here.
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