Cleveland Indians: 3 potential in-house AL MVP candidates

The Cleveland Indians have just over a month before pitchers and catchers report. This makes now a good time to discuss possible in-house AL MVP candidates.

The Cleveland Indians have not had an American League MVP on their team since 1953. The talent they have on the roster now has the capability to produce the first AL MVP in over 60 years from Cleveland.

The Indians have a few different guys to choose from who have the ability to play at an MVP-caliber level in 2018. I have narrowed this down to three quality players who really have MVP-like ability to take into next season.

The first on this list is without a doubt Francisco Lindor. The young phenom has been everything Indians fans anticipated and more since debuting in 2015 where he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.

Lindor has sent waves of excitement throughout Cleveland since he joined the team. His great rookie campaign was a catapult for his career as he has only gone up.

His defense was at peak performance in 2016 when he won the AL Gold Glove Award for shortstops as well as a Platinum Glove, which goes to the best fielder in the entire AL. Lindor was a Gold Glove finalist in 2017 as well but came up short. He did however get his first Silver Slugger Award in 2017.

His offensive production started hot and then dipped in the middle of the year. He came on again after May/June and did not look back.

If Lindor can put his 2016 and 2017 seasons into one campaign, he can surely surpass his top-five finish in the voting in 2017. He has all the tools and talent to break out even more in 2018 to be the AL MVP.

The second player who I believe has the tools to become the AL MVP is Corey Kluber. The ace of Cleveland’s staff has the arm to throw his way to the top spot for MVP.

Kluber is coming off his best season since 2014, when he won his first AL Cy Young Award. He bested that season in every facet on his way to Cy Young number two in 2017.

Kluber even missed the entire month of May, or else he would have likely put no doubt in the voters’ minds. Kluber had the lowest ERA in all the MLB in 2017 which is impressive given the NL studs like Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer.

Corey Kluber had an MVP-type season this year that got stifled by a back injury in May. Had Kluber been able to pitch in May his normal amount, he could have been even better.

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Kluber’s got nasty stuff and hitters would rather not face him before stepping into the box opposite him. His strikeout stuff was good enough for third in all the MLB in 2017 behind Chris Sale and Scherzer.

If Kluber can put together an entirely healthy 2018, he could garner enough votes to get an AL MVP to add to his list of awards. He finished seventh in MVP voting in 2017.

The last player I believe has the ability to be named AL MVP is Jose Ramirez. He finished third in the voting last year.

Ramirez enjoyed his best season as a pro last year, compiling a .318/.374/.583 slash line. His strikeout rate was extremely low at just 11.79 percent (69 strikeouts in 585 at-bats).

He had a big jump in power numbers much like Lindor did, as well as many other MLB players. Ramirez has really come on in his last two seasons at third base.

His struggles in his first couple seasons in Cleveland did not look like the player we see now. He looked to be as good as gone after Lindor came up.

The team, however, displayed patience and he is now repaying them with MVP-caliber play. Ramirez has become a leader in the clubhouse in just two short years.

He has an extremely likable personality and his confidence levels are only continuing to rise. If he can help get the team back to the postseason in a strong 2018 campaign, there is no reason he cannot take home the AL MVP.

Carlos Carrasco has to get an honorable mention as well. He has ace potential and with Kluber wearing opponents down, Carrasco coming at them the next game is a daunting thought.

Next: How the starting catcher role could play out in 2018

The 2018 season will soon be upon us and these guys all have MVP potential. Keep an eye on them all season as they trek toward taking home some hardware.