Cleveland Indians: First Week Recap

A look at the baseball the Cleveland Indians played–and didn’t–in the first week of the 2016 season.

Mother nature must not like the Cleveland Indians. The Indians only played four of their seven scheduled games this past week, as three games were postponed due to the weather, leaving them with a 2-2 record against MLB teams, and a 0-3 record against the weather. Now even though it’s still April, a lot of good and bad things can be drawn from the Indians first week.

Good: Offense

All offseason we heard about how the Indians offense was going to go a long way towards them contending, and through the first week the offense has been delivering, and they’ve also been delivering in the clutch, which is the most important. This was best shown on Wednesday when the Indians tied the game in the sixth on a Juan Uribe sac fly and then took the lead in the seventh inning on a Mike Napoli dinger.

There were countless times last year where the only thing that prevented the Indians from winning was clutch hitting late in the game, so it’s awesome to see them come up with two clutch hits in one game. The same could arguably be said for the Indians game on Saturday when Napoli hit a home run to tie it in the sixth and then Yan Gomes hit a home run in the seventh to give the Tribe a (short) lead. But this isn’t an offense that has just been relying on the home run ball, as Friday they put up a seven spot on John Danks and the Sox without having a ball leave the yard. If the offense can keep producing in different ways and keep coming up with clutch hits, 2016 could be the Indians year.

Bad: Defense

Last year, the Indians defense was one of the worst in baseball in the first half of the season, but as shown by Grantland (RIP), the Indians turned into a great team in the field once Francisco Lindor was brought up. Most Indians fans (myself included) figured that this year was going be more of the same from the Indians this year, but if the Indians field the same way that they did in the first week of the year, we could all be wrong. The Indians were average at best in the field this past week (sans this catch by Rajai Davis, this is insane catch, and the fact that he couldn’t see the ball off the bat just adds to it), but aside from that, the Indians looked lost in the field at certain times.

The Indians currently rank 10th in the baseball with four errors (again, they’ve only played four games, The Cardinals are in first, and they’ve played six games, the Indians could very well be higher if they played more games.) They’ve also had some mistakes in the field that haven’t gone as errors, as on Saturday Jason Kipnis and Napoli were both going for a ball in foul territory and it fell in between them because of miscommunication. Now none of these errors have come back to bite the Indians, as all 20 runs that they’ve given up this year have been earned, but it’s only a matter of time until a miscue comes up wrong for the Tribe.

Steady: Pitching

Coming into 2016, everyone knew that pitching was going to be the Indians strong suit, as they have one of the best starting rotations in baseball, and a stud closer in Cody Allen. Now a week into 2016, and the Indians pitching staff is holding pretty steady. Corey Kluber is the ace of this staff but started the year out with a hiccup. He started opening day and went 5 1/3 innings, gave up four runs, and struck out five in the losing effort. The start also came in near freezing temperatures, which very well could have lead to the pedestrian numbers. His next start is Tuesday in Tamps Bay, and he’ll be as happy as anyone to be playing in a dome. Carrasco came out the next day, and gave up four runs in five innings and got a no-decision. The best start of the week came from

The start also came in near freezing temperatures, which very well could have lead to the pedestrian numbers. His next start is Tuesday in Tamps Bay, and he’ll be as happy as anyone to be playing in a dome. Carrasco came out the next day, and gave up four runs in five innings and got a no-decision. The best start of the week came from Danny Salazar and Cody Anderson. Salazar threw 5 1/3 innings of 1 run

The best start of the week came from Danny Salazar and Cody Anderson. Salazar threw 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball while striking out seven in the snow. Anderson had just as good a day, as he went six innings, scattering 2 runs on six hits. Let’s hope that Salazar and Anderson keep trending upward and that Carrasco and Kluber’s first start’s were just flukes. The bullpen had its up and downs, as it helped them win their game on Wednesday by tossing three innings of two-run ball (both runs were given up by Ross Detweiler in 1/3 of work), and it also pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings on Friday. The blip on their radar was Saturday when Bryan Shaw surrendered five runs (and the lead) against the White Sox. Now before the season, I predicted Shaw to lead the Indians in saves, and I still stand by that prediction. I think that Shaw is an above average reliever who just had a bad game in bad conditions. Look for him to bounce back.

More guardians: Tribe send Soto to Cubs

Team Notes:

The Indians made some roster moves this past week, as they sent Zach Walters and James Ramsey to the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash, and then traded Giovanni Soto to the Cubs for cash. It’s a trade that makes sense for the Indians, as Ramsey would have a tough time cracking through the Indians loaded outfield. Walters is the more intriguing piece of this trade, as he appeared to be the next big thing for the Indians after hitting he hit seven home runs in 30 games for the Indians in 2014, including this walk-off. He could never stick with the Tribe in 2015, as he hit .133 and 15 strikeouts in 12 games. Best of luck to all three of them as they continue chasing their big league dreams elsewhere.