Indians show promise for ’16

Cleveland Indians fans probably would offer different answers about when they gave up on the Tribe’s chances to gain a spot in the 2015 American League playoffs.

For some Indians followers, perhaps any postseason dreams were dashed after an incident in late March.

That moment came when Sports Illustrated predicted that the Indians would win the 2015 World Series. As part of touting the Tribe’s upcoming championship, Sports Illustrated featured pitcher Corey Kluber and left fielder Michael Brantley on one of four regional covers for the March 30 edition.

The cover shot triggered bad memories for many Cleveland sports fans, who remembered what happened when Sports Illustrated gave the same pre-season blessing to the 1987 Indians. Instead of finishing first, the Tribe ended that year as the worst Major League team with a 61-101 record.

For 2015, Sports Illustrated predicted that the Indians would achieve a 92-70 regular season record en route to the World Series.

Sports Illustrated writer Ben Reiter offered this glowing assessment of the Indians in an online story that preceded the March 30 release of the magazine:

“The offense is loaded once more behind in-theirprime (if underappreciated) stars like MVP candidate Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes, Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana, and newly imported slugger Brandon Moss. This time, though, led by reigning Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, they have the pitching staff to match — we’re sure of it.”

It all turned out to be wishful thinking on the part of Mr. Reiter and Sports Illustrated.

The 2015 Tribe finished 81-80, 13 1/2 games behind the American League Central champions Kansas City Royals. In addition, the Indians came up 4 1/2 games short of qualifying for a wild-card playoff berth and couldn’t even match their 2014 regular season mark of 85-77.

After starting the season with a dismal 7-14 mark in April, the Tribe languished with a winning percentage under .500 for most of the season. They never led the AL Central, and fell behind by as many as 18 games, according to baseballreference.com.

Among players, one of the biggest disappointments was Kluber, who slipped from an 18-9 record and 2.45 ERA in 2014 to a 9-16 mark with a 3.49 ERA in 2015. Compounding Kluber’s difficulties this year was the Tribe’s failure to provide run support during many games in which he pitched well.

But the 2015 season wasn’t all gloom and doom for the Indians. Consider some of these positives: • Left fielder Brantley batted .310 with 15 HR and 84 RBI. He also led the American League with 45 doubles.

• Rookie Francisco Lindor sparkled after being called up in June from Triple-A Columbus. An outstanding defensive shortstop, he also hit 12 home runs and 51 RBI with 122 hits, including 22 doubles and a .313 batting average in 99 games.

• Pitcher Carlos Carrasco chalked up a 14-12 record with 216 strikeouts (compared with an 8-7 record and 140 strikeouts in 2014), while Danny Salazar recorded a 14-10 mark with 195 strikeouts (6-8 with 120 strikeouts in 2014). Kluber, despite his lopsided losing record, struck out 245 batters, third best in the American League. Overall, Tribe pitchers notched 1,407 strikeouts to lead the American League.

• The Indians proved their ability to finish strong. After achieving a 42-46 record in the first half of the season, they improved to a 39-34 second-half record.

Looking ahead, if the Tribe can play winning baseball from start to finish, build upon its strengths from 2015 and make some solid player acquisitions, they could make a stronger bid for a winning record and post-season berth in 2016.