The Indians pitchers and catchers showed up in Goodyear, AZ today, and with it comes another spring of excitement for an Indians team that hopefully will get off to a faster start in 2016 and continue it all the way into the postseason.
The good news, a number of other players (not just pitchers and catchers) were on hand in Goodyear, which is a sign of the excitement level for this years squad.
While many prognosticators have the World Series champion Royals as the best team in the division, already there’s one major newspaper that is picking the Tribe as the best in the AL Central – that being the Washington Post.
Barry Svrluga wrote today that the Indians will win the division due to a starting rotation that will be very good, and it will mean enough wins to take the division.
Here’s part of what Barry wrote today:
Corey Kluber surprisingly won the American League Cy Young award in 2014. Last year, his ERA jumped from 2.44 to 3.49, and his record said he went 9-16. Lousy year, right? Not so. Kluber had a lower WHIP than his Cy Young year (and was third in the AL), ranked sixth in the AL in FIP (fielding independent pitching, which eliminates defensive factors) and fourth in strikeouts per nine innings. This all indicates Kluber is still excellent, and his results should follow. Say that for the entire Cleveland staff. No rotation in baseball posted a higher strikeout rate (24.2 percent). Cleveland starters led the AL in WHIP and in FIP. Danny Salazar is coming off his first 185-inning, 30-start season and throws the ball harder than all but three AL starters – a tick faster than teammate Carlos Carrasco, who checks in at 94.5 mph with his average fastball (down from Salazar’s 94.9). The guts of the Indians rotation ranks among the AL leaders in strikeout percentage: Carrasco second (29.6 percent), Kluber fourth (27.7), Salazar fifth (25.8) and Trevor Bauer ninth (22.9). That’s a rotation with enough pure stuff to push a team to a division title.
It’s exciting to think of how good the Indians can be if the rotation pitches as well as some of the stats pointed out above. A big question will be how good will the offense be, and can they survive without Michael Brantley for awhile in a lineup that seems to still have some holes.
For now, here’s to hoping that the rotation will be that good, and that the offense can do enough to support them all the way to a Division Title.
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