Ladies and Gentlemen: Your First Place Cleveland Indians
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Are my eyes deceiving me right now? Just three days ago I was blogging about the LAST PLACE Cleveland Indians, and now we're sitting atop the division by ourselves? I know it's only 8 games in, but the fact that this team is even having a cup of coffee in first place of the AL Central may just be the most impressive storyline in Cleveland sports history. This team has the lowest payroll in the entire sport. It's not just the Dodgers and Yankees that have 5x our salary, it's the fact that there are 18 teams in the league that are spending over double what we are. It's like our owner is allergic to spending money. We don't even have one player locked into contract for next season! Even the Marlins and Rays are spending 10 and 20 million more than us this season. Every single time this team wins one game it should lead off SportsCenter. Every home run should be #1 on Top Ten. I mean, we're out here with a minor league bunch. The Cleveland Clinic next door probably has 26 medical professionals that are bringing home more money than our 26 man roster full of professional athletes. But look at us, first place.
Again, I'll be the first to admit that it's only April and we don't play the Tigers every single game, but if this record holds pace, this Indians team is going to finish with 100 wins. Do you believe in miracles?
Things that make you go "Hmmmmm"
Other things that go "hmmmmm" right now are any pitch that our closer Emmanuel Clase throws.
My man is throwing harder than any pitcher in baseball. Remember when we traded away Corey Kluber and Clase was the biggest piece in return, only to turn around and get suspended 80 games for PEDs before we could even see him? A couple things: first, if he's throwing 101 without PEDs, I want to see my man back on the juice. And two, let us all once again please forgive the Indians front office. Clase is looking very good. 4 innings, 2 saves, 6 strikeouts, and only 1 hit. Meanwhile, Corey Kluber is in New York. For the 100th straight time, the Indians front office dominated a trade. No one does more with less than the Indians front office.
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With Clase anchoring the back end, this bullpen appears to be a real asset. Which is important, because I suspect this team will need to win its fair share of 3-2 games to even sniff the wildcard game this season.
But again, maybe I just need to shut up with the pessimism because we're in FIRST PLACE. I need to start looking at the glass half full. Think about it. We could be the Twins, White Sox, Royals, or Tigers. Are they in first place? Nope. And they don't have Tristan McKenzie tonight and Shane Bieber going tomorrow in Chicago. Folks, are we going to EXTEND this lead?
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Now, with all this good news, there is some bad. It appears that a very credible source with 273 Twitter followers, spotted on .073 hitting first baseman breaking covid protocols over the weekend:
Ugh, you hate to see it. It's a shame that this very credible source had to report this news, but that's what reporters are paid to do. And I will say, I do hope the Indians act on this. We are in the midst of a global pandemic, and anyone that is willing to break protocols must be punished. I don't care if he's our starting 1st baseman. I don't care if he's hitting .077. If he's willing to stand in a crowd of people without masks then he needs to be suspended. Make it until his contract runs out. Gotta make an example if you want people to listen.