Cleveland Indians: Final player grades for the 2019 season

The Cleveland Indians came into 2019 with playoff expectations. Injuries and lackluster play sent the team home early for the first time since 2015.

An early start to the offseason means Cleveland Indians fans can spend one more month looking back at both the good and the bad from the 2019 season.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say the season was a failure. In the eyes of some, anything less than a World Series title is considered a failure. But such a mindset would drive any Indians fan crazy given the current title drought.

Instead, the 2019 season can be seen as one where injuries and the lack of one more playmaker on offense ultimately doomed the team. Having even one person step up over the final week could have allowed the Indians to play in October.

This piece will assign grades to the many players who donned an Indians uniform this year. 26 position players recorded an at-bat in 2019 so we will only grade those who had at least 100 at-bats. That means no grade for the legend of Hanley Ramirez, unfortunately.

Starting pitchers who appeared in at least 10 games will receive a grade as well. I was going to make the cut-off higher but that would have excluded Aaron Civale. His season was too great to brush aside. The cut-off for relievers is at least 20 appearances.

These grades are just my opinion so if you have your own thoughts be sure to let me know in the comments section or on social media.