The Cleveland Indians are one of the most underrated teams in the MLB, and I believe they will win the World Series this year. With our two MVP candidate infielders Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor, our new additions to the team, and our phenomenal starting pitchers, we have a legitimate shot at winning it all. Even though the last two years of playoffs were disappointing, it was good progress and all signs point to victory.
Franky Lindor is one of the best shortstops in the MLB, and definitely the most entertaining. Nicknamed "Mr. Smile", he brings chemistry to our team and fun to every game he plays. Baseballreference.com shows that he is a 3x all-star (2016, 2017, 2018), Gold Glove winner (2016), a Silver Slugger recipient (2017), and received the prestigious Platinum Glove in 2016. These achievements alone show how valuable he is to our team.
Playing next to Lindor, is a man equally as great. Jose Ramirez has nearly the exact same career stats as Lindor, and he is a 2 time all-star, a silver slugger winner, and this year he has joined the prestigious 30-30 club (30 home runs and 30 steals in the same season), from baseballreference.com. Another awesome fact about this duo is that they both played for the Lake County Captains, the Indians class-A affiliate team, at the same time.
Stats from baseballreference.com, Lindor and Jose video thanks to MVPFLF on Youtube.
The Indians have also made some major additions to our team to help with our championship run. On July 19, the Indians acquired relief pitchers Brad Hand and Adam Cimber from the San Diego Padres. This was a major help because our bullpen had been struggling earlier in the season. Along with this, we have also picked up All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson from the Toronto Blue Jays!
Photo 1 from Erik Drost on flickr, photo 2 from Keith Allison on flickr.
Brad Hand is becoming one of the best left handed relievers in all of baseball, according to cbssports.com, since 2016, he's compiled a 2.66 ERA and 3.94 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Adam Cimber is a rookie submarine pitcher with a lot of promise. It is likely that Cleveland will get him in his best years.
Simply one of the best pitchers in the MLB. According to baseballreference.com, Corey finished this season with 20 wins, and an ERA below 3. He is also a 2x Cy Young Award winner (2014, 2017).
A very slept on pitcher, Carlos has a relentless work ethic and brings great team chemistry. Thanks to espn.com, Carlos finished the season with 17 wins, a career high. He also had 2 complete games which is tied for first in the MLB.
Trevor has been one of the best pitchers in the league this season, and if he didn't get injured he would be a serious candidate for the AL Cy Young award. According to baseball-reference.com, he finished the season with a 2.21 ERA, the lowest on our team. He made the all-star team for the first time in his career this year, and will be back to pitch for the post season.
Mike Clevinger, nicknamed "Sunshine" took the league by storm. Thanks to baseball-reference.com, he finished the season with 200 innings pitched for the first time in his career. He also finished with and ERA just over 3, and 207 strikeouts.
200K picture from @Indians on twitter, Kluber and Carrasco pic from Erik Drost on flickr, Bauer picture form Arturo Padavila on flickr, Clevinger pic from Erik Drost on flickr
