Championship Series' Day 4: Waking Up

 

You didn't seriously think the Jays were gonna go down without a fight, did you? After scoring 10+ runs against the Yankees in the first two games? Absolutely not.

I think the reaction to the quiet bats in the first two games of the ALCS got to the Jays' head. So of course, Game 3 you have Vlad Jr., Alejandro Kirk, Andres Gimenez, George Springer and Addison Barger all going yard, totaling 8 runs against George Kirby and 14 runs in general. You rile them up, they let loose. This was a cathartic game for everyone worried the Jays would waste their offense on the Yankees series. Absolutely not. This team can still come through and chase the Mariners even if they strike first. This is a game where the Mariners got production from Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena, and it still felt futile because the rest of the team didn't do a great deal. 

The key to this was also the best starting performance for Toronto of the ALCS so far, courtesy of Shane Bieber, still capable of going through in big games. After the Julio homer he locked in, going 6 innings and only giving up 5 hits while striking out 8. It was the dominance they needed to keep the M's from coming back or making this one interesting. No matter how well Max Scherzer can do tomorrow night [and...honestly the jury's still out], Bieber noticed a needed win and made things interesting in Seattle.

I still think the M's have the right amount of leverage, and could strike back big time in Game 4. I think this'll be the one where they let Bryan Woo at 'em.....right???

Are You Perhaps Seeing the Problem Here?

 

This week alone, we have seen Shane Bieber, Spencer Strider, Justin Steele and Jonathan Loiasiga pitch some absolutely beautiful stuff and then promptly undergo testing to determine internal issues. Bieber is missing the rest of the season, Steele will be out for a while, Loiasiga is missing the rest of the season, Strider...I'm not sure but it's not looking good.

That's...three, maybe four excellent pitchers gone by Week 1. The goal, need I remind you, is for this shit to not happen.

I feel like I bring this up on the blog now every three weeks, but it's a genuinely flagrant issue. Every pitcher feels the need to throw hard on every pitch, and that is not as sustainable as it used to be. Not everyone is built like Nolan Ryan or Randy Johnson, and not everybody can just do that. So if the human body is relied upon to do that every game, there is going to be even more wear and tear.

Now, as for why it's happening more frequently now than ever? Well, the commissioner implemented two rules that are reasonably unfair to one's pitching arm. One is the ban on tack, and substances that can help pitchers gain leverage without overexerting themselves. Gerrit Cole famously would use tack, and once the ban was instituted he continued at the same pace and this season, surprise surprise, had arm issues. It should be clear that some pitchers use these sort of things not to cheat, but to make sure they don't blow their arm out. This is why Gaylord Perry pitched for 20 years, because he used sticky substances, and it helped him stay afloat in the 70s and 80s. 

The other, of course, is the pitch clock, which forces pitchers to speed up their windups and call for less time in between pitches. If you're throwing that hard over and over with less buffer time between, there is going to be wear and tear. And there's no coincidence that both this season and last season, you've seen so many pitching injuries to people acclimating to the pitch clock in March and April.

Rob Manfred is the latest example of a businessman who thinks they know what makes something great trying to dictate decisions over people who actually have first-hand experience. This is happening all over right now. The president of Warner Brothers is a charts-and-ratings guy who's writing off entire films that don't fit his exact business model, and he's pissing off all the creatives that actually know what movies are supposed to be. Hell, even in baseball, the owner of the A's has no idea what the fanbase wants and won't spend money on the team, hence pissing off everybody and moving the team to Sacramento. This never works, even if the idea of the current economy depends on what makes money instead of what is viable and ethical. 

And as much as people have criticized Rob Manfred for cutting costs and making rules the players don't support and forcing a lockout because he lets the owners have whatever they want, he's not going anywhere. He's stated that he'll be done when his contract expires, which is the equivalent of a mobster dying of natural causes. It's likely that whoever takes over as commissioner will be someone who has a lot of the same ideas about baseball as he does, and won't make any fundamental changes, as much as the fans, and the players, complain.

I have no idea what the straw that will break the camel's back will be. If there will be anybody brave enough to properly say, 'hey, we're all getting injured because the commissioner keeps putting in rules that don't respect the players'. Maybe Strider, given how smart he is. But logically, no one will want to rock the  boat so soon after the lockout, and everything will keep going on as normal, despite everything clearly being done incorrectly and sacrificing player health for exciting product.

Shane Bieber deserves better than this. Baseball deserves better than this. I'm exhausted.

Coming Tomorrow [?]: A star outfielder I figured would be gone by now, but here he is helping his team dominate in April for a second straight year. 

Shane & Gain

 

It's very odd, considering how low-key I'd assumed Shane Bieber had been since winning his Cy Young in 2020, that in all actuality, Bieber has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the game since coming up.

It's odd because right now we have an MLB that rewards the shiniest objects. Since 2019, Justin Verlander has won a Cy Young, gotten injured for two years and then won another Cy Young, and now he is currently injured. Robbie Ray had a big year in 2021, then has sort of moped around through injuries in Seattle. Bieber, meanwhile, won the award in 2020, lost a tiny bit of playing time in 2021 but has been consistent ever since, currently sports a career 3.18 ERA and a .671 W/L%, and has yet to play a losing season. It's also funny that Bieber joined the Guardians during their mega-rotation era, soon became one of their top arms and has lasted long enough to see the Guardians' top assets in a competing year again.

I've made the joke that the Guardians were noncompetitive until the moment they changed their name to the Guardians, and they've been great ever since. And while, yes, it's more of an uphill battle for a younger, small-ball-centric contact team to retain success, they've had some nice teams in their first two years with the new name. The big names have remained, such as Jose Ramirez and Bieber himself, but fans have rallied around people like Andres Gimenez, Trevor Stephan, Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor. 

What's most amusing about the current version of these Guardians teams is that, alongside a dominant-as-usual Shane Bieber and usual hurlers like Zach Plesac and Cal Quantrill, the Guards have become auditioning people for the other rotation spots as Civale and McKenzie are hurt. Initial ones, like Hunter Gaddis and Peyton Battenfield, have delivered middling results but they've let loose two straight excellent rookie performances thanks to Logan Allen [not that one, the other one] having a remarkable debut and Tanner Bibee stymieing the Rockies in his debut yesterday. Like they have before, ironically with now-relievers like Eli Morgan and Nick Sandlin, the Guardians are cultivating a deep cache of starters to prevent against the all-too-frequent injuries, and making sure they'll never be unprepared again. Even if Civale, who was strong before the injury, and Triston McKenzie, who is...Triston McKenzie, come back strong, those guys are still tested MLB options and can be called on whenever, a lot like Bieber when he was first activated.

As always, the Guardians are doing a lot right, and even if it's not immediately paying dividends, it may eventually lead to postseason success. If Bieber remains this strong and the team has this many moving parts, it might be another contact-friendly October for these guys.

Coming Tonight: It took him a few years to come into his own, but at least he did it while his team inexplicably became great.

My World 2.0

 

I was talking to my friend's dad yesterday. Lifelong Cleveland sports fan stuck out in South Jersey. Suffering beyond suffering with the exception of the Cavs and also some pennants from the Guardians. I said 'you guys might have a shot to sneak in this year', and he seemed slightly less optimistic than me [60 odd years of following Cleveland sports will do that to you] but agreed there was a chance. 

Going into this season, that's more of a chance than I thought the Guardians would be working with.

If you'll remember, my theory was that the White Sox would take first, the Royals would be behind them after their second consecutive killer Spring Training start, and then the Tigers, boosted by healthy and good performances by Javier Baez, Eduardo Rodriguez and Austin Meadows, would be in third, and I figured the Twins and Guardians would be back there due to how much of a downturn both teams seemed to be after last season.

Well, as it turns out, the Guardians' smaller moves and roster refinement was enough of a strategy to remain somewhat of a competitor. And for my friend's dad's sake, I'm kinda happy for that.

The rotation is...slightly shaky in places [Aaron Civale], but for the most part it's a pretty concise, strong group of people that the GM was banking would all be healthy and moving together. Shane Bieber seems to be in pretty good shape, and he's leading the team in strikeouts with 36 without overexerting himself too much, which is the name of the game if you're a pitcher in 2022. Quantrill and Plesac are having calmer but still strong years. And as a pure contrast to Bieber, you have 24-year-old Triston McKenzie, who has 34 strikeouts and is a pure hard-throwing menace, additionally working with a low ERA of 2.97 this year as opposed to his typical 6-ish range. If McKenzie's figured out how not to get hit as often, and Bieber's plan is to stay healthy, this rotation could be intact for a bit. Of course, if Civale gets demoted, there's always Eli Morgan waiting on standby, and he's a lot better this season. 

Elsewhere, the Guardians just have a pretty solid contact based team cooked up, with Steven Kwan, Owen Miller, Josh Naylor, Myles Straw and Andres Gimenez all having excellent contact-centric years. Gimenez I'm excited to see hitting at MLB level, because I was worried that last season's down year meant he wouldn't fit anywhere other than Queens. Gimenez, though, is having the best season of anybody, hitting .326 with 20 RBIs. And in terms of power, Ramirez and Reyes are still reliable as well. I really just wish Josh Naylor was able to do something incredible without immediately getting injured afterwards, but I suppose as a Canadian he takes less after Wayne Gretzky and more after James Paxton.

The Guardians have a lot to work with, and need to figure out how to outrun the competition if they can't quite out-power-hit them. The White Sox could rebound, the Twins could hold, the Guardians need to outdo both of them, which could be tricky. But with the people still in Cleveland, it's not impossible.

They're just an underdog again. They were one in 2016...

Coming Tomorrow- [uncontrollable laughter]

2020 Topps Final Edition: Cards #253-261

 After this post, there's 7 more of these 2020 Final Edition posts left, meaning they'll be done by around the third week of June. And while I hope you guys have been enjoying these...man am I excited to nearly be done with this project? Like, remember back in the olden days of the blogosphere where Ben Henry and Dayf and those guys did a countdown of a franken-80s set called the 792, and by the end they were exhausted and sick of posting out of that.

...shit, have we reached the generation of bloggers who weren't here for Cardboard Junkie and Baseball Card Blog? WHY DO I FEEL SO DAMN OLD?? I'M 25, FOR anyway,

These are the next 9 cards in the set, let's roll 'em

Card #253- Adam Frazier ASG, Pittsburgh Pirates

Adam Frazier would have been the only Pittsburgh Pirate on the 2020 NL ASG roster, had the game happened. He wouldn't have been a starter, and would only be a reserve utility infielder type, but as one of the few impressive performances to come out of Pittsburgh last year, it's somewhat understandable. Frazier was, and still is, one of the trickiest contact players in the game, and could be a decent trade piece for any competitor. 

Card #254- Nick Vincent, Miami Marlins

Nick Vincent is one of those consistent reliever types that you don't hear much about because he always just does his job, plain and simple. After being a solid option for San Diego, Seattle, San Francisco and Philly, Vincent became one of the many relief arms enlisted into the Miami Marlins rotation. It was a slightly weightier season than Vincent was used to, with a 4.43 ERA and a 1-2 record. Vincent did pitch an inning of postseason baseball for the first time in his career, and got out of it without any runs, and with a strikeout. Vincent's currently waiting in the minor league system of the Rangers for another shot. 

Card #255- Pierce Johnson, San Diego Padres

Speaking of another shot, that is exactly what the Padres gave Pierce Johnson in 2020, after an impressive season playing for the Hanshin Tigers. The Padres saw what Johnson did as a relief specialist in Japan and expounded on that, using Johnson as a setup man and mop-up man, and Johnson got a 2.70 ERA and 27 Ks out of it. He also stymied the Cardinals in 3 playoff games against them, despite giving up a few crucial runs to the Dodgers in the NLCS. Johnson is still one of the more relied-upon relievers on the Padres right now, and I hope he continues his success. 

Card #256- Tejay Antone, Cincinnati Reds

After kicking around in the minors for about 5 years, Tejay Antone finally got a callup in Cincinnati. The Reds used him, as they previously had Michael Lorenzen, in a relief role that occasionally called for a start. Antone went 0-2 in 4 starts, with a 3.86 ERA and 18 Ks, while as a reliever he had a 1.89 ERA with 27 Ks. So...the Reds, therefore, decided to utilize Antone more out of the pen this season, which has resulted in him becoming the primary closing option thus far. So, well done Tejay, I suppose.

 

Card #257- Shane Bieber ASG, Cleveland Indians

This is gonna sound really obvious, but Shane Bieber would have started the 2020 ASG for the AL. Like...he was one of those rare pitchers who was the best pitcher in the league both at the halfway point AND after the season. Takes skill. But yeah, Bieber would get the start, and his 2nd ASG nod, and everybody would be pretty alright with that. Glad he's become one of the best arms in the league.

Card #258- Corey Knebel, Milwaukee Brewers

This exclusion was kinda odd to me. Corey Knebel has been a pretty prevalent reliever since his ASG nod 2017, and while he did miss all of 2019 due to injuries, Topps should have welcomed him back with a card. But alas, twas not the case. 2020 was incidentally a weak year for Knebel in Milwaukee, and ultimately his final year there. In 15 games, he had a 6.08 ERA and only 15 Ks. The Brewers let Knebel loose after the fact, and he's found a new home in LA. 

Card #259- Matt Wieters, St. Louis Cardinals

Another puzzling omission, but if you remember that not putting Matt Wieters in flagship was Topps' whole thing for 7 years, it makes a lot more sense. Wieters' 2nd year as the primary backup catcher in St. Louis was not as productive as his first. In 19 games, he hit .200 with only 4 RBIs, and was a replacement-level catcher at best. Wieters didn't sign anywhere this season, but he looks to be a part of the US Olympic team for this summer. 

Card #260- Andres Gimenez, New York Mets

Of all the rookies in this set, Andres Gimenez is the one who suffered most from not having a 2020 flagship card, as his 2021 has been starkly different. Gimenez was brought up as a new infield option at 2nd and short, and for 49 games he made a name for himself as a strong hitter with great defensive abilities. His .263 average, 31 hits and 13 RBIs made him a strong contender for NL Rookie of the Year, despite coming in 7th, and his numbers would have made him a strong candidate for starting 2nd Baseman in the wake of Cano's suspension. But...the Mets wanted to use him as a trade piece in order to attract Francisco Lindor, in a trade that honestly hasn't really gone well for either party yet. 

Card #261- Gerrit Cole ASG, New York Yankees

Like Bieber, a no brainer. Cole was one of the best pitchers in the AL last year, he got right into the groove of things as a Yankee, and would have definitely made the AL ASG team last year. He will likely make the squad this year as well, so it's not an entirely big loss. I'm just...insanely glad that this guy is on my team in his prime, and I hope his prime lasts as long as possible. 

Friday, the next 9 cards in the set go up. We hit our third multiple of 90, and a lot of very interesting rookies.

Is It Too Late Now to Say Sorry?

 [I swear, I am gonna keep doing this as long as I have enough relevant Bieber song titles]

The Cleveland Indians have won 3 Cy Young Awards in the past 11 years. Two of the wins came from Corey Kluber. One of the wins came from Shane Bieber. Two very different pitchers, if you can believe it.

Corey Kluber took two years to really find his strike zone, rather than getting there pretty immediately like Bieber did. Shane Bieber was a product of the Indians farm system while Kluber landed there thanks to a trade for Jake Westbrook [he was brought up as a Padres prospect]. Kluber hit his first Cy Young in his late 20s while Bieber was 25 [shit, he's MY AGE]. 

The biggest difference between them is that through the prime years, Kluber at least had one human streak, mostly in 2015 when he led the American League in losses immediately after winning his Cy Young. He was still on point as far as strikeouts and ERA were concerned, but he wasn't winning games. Pretty much every season around that one, he won 18 or more games, so it's not a huge loss, but he still had moments where he wasn't one of the best. Bieber has been in the league since 2018 and he hasn't really had many of those. Every season he's had a positive W/L ratio, he's never had an ERA higher than 5, and has just gradually gotten better. He's had 12 strikeouts in EACH of his two starts so far this season.

Meanwhile, Corey Kluber is out of his prime and hasn't won a game yet for the Yankees. Meaning that in 2028 or whatever, BBWAA guys are gonna have to decide if the period from 2014 to 2018 is enough to base a Hall of Fame career around.

Bieber right now is the right guy to base a rotation around. He's young, he's on fire, he's healthy, and he's among the best in the league. The Indians seem to be doing alright thus far, and they've managed to wrangle people like Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale, Triston McKenzie and John Cena's homeboy Logan Allen together to have a pretty cohesive unit so far. Civale and Plesac are currently having bigger starts than Bieber solely because the lineup has shown up for theirs. Jose Ramirez, Roberto Perez and Franmil Reyes are the ones having the big seasons while Andres Gimenez and Eddie Rosario race to catch up. They're currently higher in the standings than the White Sox, but...as I've said a million times, it's early. 

We'll just have to see how league-best Bieber fares in a 162-game season. And if it does anything for Cleveland.

Coming Tonight: Two years ago, the San Diego Padres were convinced to let their infielder prospect make the Opening Day roster as a starter, and it paid off. This year, the Cincinnati Reds were convinced to let THEIR infielder prospect make the Opening Day roster as a starter. So far so good.

2020 Cy Youngs: Of Course They Are

 
Yeah, there shouldn't be any shock here. I dunno, maybe Yu Darvish had a case but...these are the two best pitchers of the year. Well done. And a year and a half ago they were playing for the same team.

Bieber I think was obvious from like the beginning of August on, as his first few starts were lights-out, he has some pretty crazy strikeout stats, and he was dominant on a team where some things were beginning to show age. Bottom line is this was a year where by the end, only one member of the 2016 rotation was left, Cookie Carrasco, and it was Bieber's job to ring in a new era of Indians starting pitching, and he absolutely brought it. I hope he keeps it up.

Bauer's was a different story. Because it took him all of 2019's second half to acclimate to pitching in Cincinnati, a lot of people underestimated him going into this year. This was also a year where Bauer was still seen as an oddity in his emphasis on unusual conditioning tactics in order to perfect his arsenal. By the end, Bauer was the chief trash-talker in the MLB, and had the stats to back it up, with 2 shutouts, 100 strikeouts, and an ERA title thanks to his 1.83 final number. He also had a 12-strikeout postseason start that's gonna be forgotten because of how quickly his Reds were in and out of the playoffs.

But yeah, the writers got it right. Well done to everybody. 

Tomorrow's is going to be insanely tough to predict. In both cases, you have a candidate that I think SHOULD get the MVP, and a candidate that probably will due to bandwagoning. I have absolutely no clue what's about to happen in the AL, but I am thinking the NL isn't going to go the way I'd like. 

Purpose [Deluxe Edition]

Yeah, I'm still not above the obvious joke

Anyway, Shane Bieber's the best pitcher in baseball right now and it's not even close.

Like...we don't really need to do the rest of the season, Bieber has the Cy  Young in the  bag. He has 43 strikeouts in 4 starts, 3 wins and a 1.63 ERA. Tomorrow night his opponent is Ivan Nova and the Tigers. Conceptually, this is a win.

...except things haven't been too peachy for the Indians lately. First of all, Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger aren't traveling with the team due to violating COVID rules. So they're down two sharp starters. Good news is, with the rotation being Bieber-Carrasco-Civale-Plutko, it could be a lot worse. And besides, considering  his recent callup, one would guess  Logan Allen has  the fifth starting position, which is  also a good thing.

But even if this rotation continues to surge, which  it probably will, the Indians, who were once in control of the AL Central, have now plummeted to fourth place. In recent weeks, the Tigers, in missing a series, have stayed at 9-7, and the White Sox, despite troubles, tie Cleveland with 10-9. It's not bad, and it's still a .500+ record with enough time to catch up, so it's not...impossible to come back.

The lineup, though, could be in better shape. Oscar Mercado, Jordan Luplow, Domingo Santana, Sandy Leon  and even Carlos Santana aren't hitting as well as they should be. Leon is covering  for an injured Roberto Perez. The Ramirez-Lindor-Hernandez-Reyes core is fine, but not at peak levels yet. This is a fine lineup, but it's not where the rotation is, and games are being dropped due to that.

I hope for some level of improvement, as this is a fine  team that would be  nice in the playoffs. But it's gonna take a lot of people exceeding .200 real quick.

Coming  Tonight: It's been a weird year for the Moran brothers. Bryan was shelved in Toronto only to find a job opportunity in Miami due to a lot of openings, and his younger brother found  himself as one of the main hitters of, yes, the worst team in  baseball.

Cleveland Ballplayers That Aren't Shane Bieber Are Doing Well

So, Shane Bieber's the best pitcher in  baseball right now and if he keeps it up he's gonna bring home the tribe's third Cy Young in 7 years. But I didn't make a custom of him yet cause I'm waiting for better photos. Usually when I do that, I leave the player open to disappoint me. He'll pitch next  during a series in Cincinnati, and while they're good...let's be honest, so are the Twins, and they couldn't hit anything the other night.

Instead, I have a Jose Ramirez custom. He's the best hitter in Cleveland right now and he's having  an improved season after a step backwards in 2019. I hope this will suffice.

The Indians' rise after a week of play back to first place in the AL Central is more surprising to me than it should have been. They sunk last year due to injuries and  inefficiency,  but I never thought they were suddenly a bad team. The way  the team bulked up with cheap free agents this offseason rather  than making a big move...worried me. I wasn't convinced that they would compete. And now they're first in the central and having arguably the best pitching staff in the bigs [even with Clevinger's woes last night, that 6-man rotation is strong  s hell and might be a force this year], and the  Twins are...good but catching  up.

Could this be 2020? The year the Unsinkable Twins sink, and the Indians are there to watch  them?

The one thing about this team is that the lineup so far is trailing the pitching in terms of accomplishments. Ramirez, the Santanas, Cesar Hernandez and Lindor are off to nice starts, but  the depth that saved them last year  hasn't showed up yet. Sandy Leon is starting games in place of Roberto Perez, and he's as ineffective as he was in Boston. Oscar Mercado, Jordan Luplow, Bradley Zimmer and Franmil Reyes are still catching up. It's early, yes, but the lineup isn't there yet.

But still, this is a promising and intriguing start for this Indians team, and I hope they keep it up.

Coming Tonight: I sincerely hope I am able to post a Cardinals custom tonight.

Never Say Never

Yeah. Had to.

Look, if the Nationals are gonna play the 'WE'RE THE BEST TEAM IN BASEBALL SINCE MID-MAY' schtick, then the Indians should do theirs: they've lost 8 games since June 14th. And they've been rolling like hell ever since.

I'm not exactly sure what made this team click after a few months of okayness. They're still without Kluber and Carrasco, and really all they've done is drop some loads like Leonys Martin in favor of rookies like Oscar Mercado. Plus, somehow, in the last month, Jose Ramirez has figured out how to hit for contact again, and is getting his average back up again. And while it's still very much the Santana and Lindor show, getting utility guys like Jordan Luplow and Mike Freeman into the mix is a solid idea.

Plus, Trevor Bauer has stepped up in a big way since the departure of the aces, on his way to 200 strikeouts within his next few starts. And Shane Bieber has been just as impressive in a full year of MLB play, with a 9-3 record and 156 strikeouts in 20 starts. If Bauer leaves, which is looking more and more likely, and Cookie and Kluber are still gone, Bieber could be a fine ace for this team. Plus, they still have Adam Plutko, Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac starting some stellar games, so...once again the rotation isn't an issue.

Hell, even the bullpen, the thing that arguably stopped Cleveland from making it far into the postseason last year, is amazing this year. That says something.

It's gonna take a week or so more of this momentum in Cleveland, and possibly some more losses from Minnesota, and the AL Central battle will really be on. I'm excited to see how it shakes out, as well.

Coming Tomorrow- A guy part of a rotation that sounded great in theory, but is FINALLY beginning to rise past its potential.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2018: Indians

The Cleveland Indians, though not quite as powerful as years past, did manage to put together an outstanding squad this year, though their foibles did shine through during their playoff series with the Astros, causing an earlier exit than they'd have liked. But they still have a lot to be proud of, and a lot to keep in mind when crafting the 2019 team.

For instance...Greg Allen's a pretty great choice for a starting outfielder. Granted, his addition to the fold came after Tyler Naquin and Lonnie Chisenhall got injured, but his speed, youth, and superior hitting beat out Rajai Davis for the final spot, alongside Michael Brantley and Melky Cabrera. He'll probably be well within the fold next year.

Speaking of Melky Cabrera, the ex-Yankee did have something of a comeback season after fading off into Kansas City last year. The Tribe took a chance on Melk well into the season, and his home run hitting and power quickly returned, surprisingly bringing a .280 average along with it. He's a free agent next year, so expect someone less fortunate to pick him up, but the Indians must be thankful for his work down the stretch.

And despite not being at 2016 levels, Rajai Davis' return to Cleveland was alright, as he did pretty well off the bench, with 21 steals, and 44 hits. He's obviously not what he used to be (I mean, he's 37 for Pete's sake), but he's still a good bench tool for any team to have.

 As for the rotation, while it was primarily predictable as to who would dominate, Shane Bieber did manage to sneak into the 5th spot and notch an 11-5 record, as well as being the fifth of five Cleveland starters with 10+ wins. His starting spot may be in slight jeopardy next year, especially as he's still in fifth, but I imagine he'll prove himself in Spring Training.

 Another comeback story in Cleveland concerned Oliver Perez, a former starter and Mets hero, who quickly became the only competent relief pitcher in the city. Thankfully he wasn't spread too thin, and ended the year with a 1.39 ERA.

Leonys Martin's Indians tenure this year ended a bit prematurely, thanks to a freak injury, but he still proved they made a great choice in trading him from Detroit, as he hit .333 in his 6 games in Cleveland, with 2 home runs. He'll definitely be an integral piece of the team in 2019.

And Cody Allen, the Indians' usual choice for closer, had a weak end to the year, hitting only 27 saves, his lowest since getting the gig in 2014, and blowing 5, his most ever. His job was mostly usurped by Brad Hand, though he still found some time in middle relief throughout the end of the season, as well as the postseason.

Coming Tomorrow- They're giving their best away, which proves that some bad decisions spoiled what could have been a great 2018 for them.