Shane Bieber Is Now The Clear And Obvious Choice For American League Cy Young
Ho-hum.
I told you all this was going to happen. Shortened season. Dominant starting pitching. This is the Indians year. I told you to get them at 25/1 in Vegas. It was free money. And now they're probably already down to 5/1 after last night's absolute beatdown they put on one of the best teams in the American League, the 2015 World Series Champions, the Kansas City Royals.
Shane Bieber is now the far and away clear-cut frontrunner for the AL Cy Young after last night. 6 innings. 0 runs. 14 strikeouts. For our stat guys are home, that's the most Opening Day strikeouts in Cleveland Indians history, AND it's the most strikeouts without giving up a run in MLB history. I mean, do you give it to the guy now or do we have to wait?
Either way, the Indians are now 3-0 due to the shortened season and the 2.7 game multiplier. Pretty hot start for the Tribe.....especially when 3/5ths of our division has started out 0-3. Looks like it's already a two team race to me. And seeing as Major League Baseball is putting the top two teams in each division into the playoffs, should management start getting the champagne ready? We could legitimately clinch any day now if we keep this hot streak up.
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I'll say this though: for a team that's in 1st place in late July, I was a little disappointed in the crowd last night. Cardboard cutouts or not, there was a LOT of empty space in the stands on television. Far less than other games I've seen. The cutouts in Cleveland could've easily snuck down past the ushers and gotten tickets right behind home plate. During a pennant race? This team deserves a better turnout. Especially tonight, where we have a monumental matchup at home against Kansas City. A win would move the Tribe to 6-0 (with the multiplier), just 4 games behind the 1966 team that started a franchise record 10-0. We need a HUGE crowd of cardboard cutouts on hand. Bump that fake background crowd noise like they're shoulder to shoulder at the Jake.