As the Cleveland Indians’ franchise-record win 14-game win streak ended last week, I wrote this article looking back at the 12 biggest Tribe hot stretches over the last 40 years:
History Tells What The Tribe Streak Means For This Season
Of those dozen squads, five had seasons of 91 or more wins. The best of the bottom seven was 84 wins.
So which category will this 2016 version of the Wahoos gravitate to?
CONTENDERS or PRETENDERS?
A strong indicator would be the common thread of those five successful Tribe teams: a balance of solid hitting, pitching and fielding, usually excelling in at least one of those categories.
Does this year’s Indians fit that bill?
Pitching-wise, they lead the A.L. with a 3.61 ERA (Toronto is a distant second at 3.82). Danny Salazar (2.36 ERA), Carlos Carrasco (2.47), Trevor Bauer (3.30), Josh Tomlin (3.51), and Corey Kluber (3.79) comprise the best starting rotation in baseball. The luxury of always having an ace starter in the lineup does more that just put the team in a good position to win each day. It minimizes the potential for long losing stretches, since there is always a good chance one of those guys will put goose eggs on the scoreboard.
This season, Cleveland has not lost more than three games in a row. They have never been worse than 4-6 over any 10-game stretch. On the other hand, the team has also had earlier win streaks of 4, 4, 5, and 6 games. The long 162-game baseball season lends itself to hot and cold stretches. The Tribe’s ‘Fearsome Fivesome’ have kept their hands on the hot knob.
Defensively, Cleveland has more than held its own. Shortstop Francisco Lindor is the cover boy of the defense, with his defensive gems littering the ESPN highlights on a nightly basis. But he is not alone. Fangraphs.com, a website that does advanced breakdowns of defensive performance, has most of the infield ranked high among American Leaguers: Catcher Yan Gomes (2nd), 2B Jason Kipnis (1st), SS Lindor (1st), and 3B Juan Uribe (2nd).
The big question for the long term is if the offense can hold up its end of the bargain. Cleveland bats rank in the middle of the A.L. in home runs (8th), batting average (8th), runs (7th) and on-base-plus slugging percentage (7th). On the plus side, Lindor is proving to be an all-star offensively, while Carlos Santana has lifted his batting average up to .248 to go with 19 HRs. MIke Napoli has provided a big bat in the middle of the lineup (17 HRs, 57 RBI). Jose Ramirez (.296), Lonnie Chisenhall (.302), and Tyler Naquin (.325) all have been pleasant surprises.
Gomes is the glaring red flag, batting .175. But overall, the offense has done its job of not dragging the team into mediocrity. And this is all with its star, Michael Brantley, on the sidelines. If he can get healthy, look out.
This 2016 squad also has a trump card unmatched by previous Indian clubs: manager Terry Francona, a two-time world champion.
Better keep those championship parade route maps handy!
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