It Was One Hell Of A Ride For The 2016 Cleveland Indians
It didn’t end up being the storybook ending that it looked like it was going to be for the Cleveland Indians when they held a 3-1 lead in the World Series, but, nevertheless, it was one hell of a ride for the Tribe this year.
In a matchup between the two longest active World Series droughts, the Indians were often referred to as “that team that’s playing the Cubs in the World Series.” With two teams vying for their first championship since before the color TV was invented, all eyes were on the Cubs, while the Indians were once again the underdogs. Serious question — has there ever been a World Series team that has ever been more doubted, or more overlooked than the 2016 Cleveland Indians? And for good reason, too.
A shoulder injury limited Cleveland’s most productive hitter in their lineup, Michael Brantley, to just 11 games this year. Prior to the postseason getting underway, the Indians lost two of their best starting pitchers in Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, which the latter actually did return for the World Series, but not as a starting pitcher, and didn’t have much of an impact at all. And their ace, Corey Kluber, suffered a quad injury in September, sat out two weeks, and didn’t return until Game 2 of the ALDS. None of that mattered. They still forced a Game 7 against the mighty Cubs, which was started by Kluber, his third start of the World Series, and pushed the Cubs as far as they possibly could, eventually losing in 10 innings by just one run.
Cleveland’s rally cry this postseason was #RallyTogether, and that’s what they did. That’s what their manager, Terry Francona, instilled in them. When it looked like there was no way that their team would be able to withstand the injuries that they had sustained along the way to their first American League Central division title since 2007, Francona remained calm, and told his players that they’d find a way. Francona also said that it wasn’t going to be easy, but they sure as hell made it look easy getting to the World Series, didn’t they?
Needing 11 victories to capture their first World Series title since 1948, the Indians went 10-2 in the postseason through Game 5 of the World Series, before losing three straight to the eventual World Series champion Cubs. But for a team that was never favored in any of the three series that they played on their road to the World Series, getting within one win, one run, of a World Series title is pretty damn impressive, all things considered.
They were underdogs against the powerhouse Red Sox, whose offense led the majors in just about every statistical category that you can imagine. Cleveland swept them, holding Boston to an average of 2.3 runs per game, while the Red Sox hit just .214 with a .655 OPS in that series. They were underdogs against the Toronto Blue Jays as well, and needed just five games to dismiss them from the postseason, circumstances, bloody pinkies, shaking boots and all.
Their biggest challenge, as expected, came when they faced the juggernaut Chicago Cubs, who led the majors with 103 wins during the regular season, boasted the best playoff rotation of any team in the dance, and the second best run-scoring offense in the National League. As the most well-rounded, and best overall team in the majors, the Cubs and their team of destiny were the only thing standing in the way of the city of Cleveland’s second championship in four months. The Indians’ biggest threat proved to be their demise, as once the Tribe had gotten out to a 3-1 series lead, they ran into the buzzsaw that was Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks in Games 5 through 7.
Regardless of the disappointing finish to a once promising World Series, Kluber led the Indians with a 1.83 postseason ERA, which spiked after a subpar Game 7 performance. It had been 0.89 coming into Game 7 in five starts. Kluber pitched his balls off this October. Without Carrasco and Salazar, though, somebody else other than Kluber had to step up, and that somebody was Josh Tomlin. Tomlin struggled so mightily in the month of August after nearly losing his father, so much so that he lost his spot in the Indians’ rotation, only to earn it back in September. Tomlin carried that momentum into the postseason, going 2-0 in three starts with a 1.76 ERA and 0.86 WHIP prior to his Game 6 start, where he would allow six earned runs to the Cubs in a losing effort.
But there’s one man who came into this postseason as a really, really good relief pitcher, and came out of it an October legend, and that man is ALCS MVP Andrew Miller. Up until the end there, when he had seemingly run out of gas, whenever Miller took the ball this postseason, it was game over. The fans of opposing teams knew it, too. In Game 4 of the World Series, Miller set the record for most strikeouts in a postseason by a relief pitcher with 29, and allowed just three earned runs in 19.1 innings over 10 appearances. All three earned runs came in Miller’s last two appearances.
Of the 98 pitchers who appeared in a postseason game this year, Miller was tied with Lester for the second most strikeouts (30). Miller’s dominance in the 2016 postseason will live long in Cleveland baseball lore, and it will also redefine how bullpen aces are used in the future, as Francona managed his use of Miller unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. It made all the difference in the Indians making it to a Game 7 of the World Series this year.
It might not have been the ending that Tribe fans had hoped for, but you can get used to seeing this team in October, because they’re built for the long haul. Their entire rotation is under contract through 2018, as is Miller. Most of those guys, like Kluber, Carrasco, Salazar and Trevor Bauer, are even signed beyond that. Francisco Lindor won’t be a free agent until 2022, and he was Cleveland’s most productive offensive player all postseason, hitting .310 with an .820 OPS.
You’ve got Jason Kipnis, who had a huge home run in Game 4, under contract through 2020, Jose Ramirez through 2021, Brantley is coming back next year and you’ve got him through 2018, and the closer, Cody Allen, is under contract until 2019. This team is special. They’re young, they’re exciting, they’re talented, they’re passionate, they’re battle-tested, and above all else, they’re American League champions.