Cleveland Indians: Three Keys to an Indians World Series Championship
Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Indians will take on the Chicago Cubs tonight when Game 1 of the 2016 World Series kicks off at Progressive Field in Cleveland. For the first time since 1997, Indians fans will have a rooting interest in the Fall Classic, as the Indians search for their first World Series championship since 1948.
In 1948 the late Bill Veeck turned to the Negro Leagues to acquire Satchel Paige just one year after he signed Larry Doby, helping break the color barrier in the American League, and leading the Cleveland Indians to their last World Series championship 68 years ago.
In fitting fashion the Indians will be opposed this week by a team with an even more storied history of falling short of the ultimate prize in baseball, the Chicago Cubs. The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series championship since 1908, 108 years ago. The “Lovable Losers” seem to have the will of a century of hungry fans on their side, as well as possibly the most talented all-around team in baseball.
So how can the Indians answer their own city’s long-running baseball suffering, and make the Cubs fans wait at least one more year to shake the curse? Here are three keys to a Cleveland Indians World Series championship.
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The Cleveland Indians bullpen has been nothing short of masterful throughout the 2016 postseason, but the banged-up Indians starting rotation will need the help of Trevor Bauer to keep the bullpen fresh in a series that has a high likelihood of going the distance.
Bauer, who we all know likes to fly drone airplanes (just ask the White Sox about their brand new scoreboard earlier this season) injured the pinky finger on his throwing hand prior to the American League Championship Series against the Blue Jays. Bauer received stitches to repair the cut, but was pulled early in his Game 3 start in the ALCS after he re-opened the injury and caused it to bleed profusely while on the mound. This left the Indians bullpen to cover nearly the entire game.
Reports seem to indicate that Bauer will in fact be able to go when he takes the mound in Game 2 on Wednesday night in Cleveland, but you have to wonder if that is in fact accurate and if it is, how long or effective will Bauer be having not thrown a baseball in about a week. This is the time of the year, when a pitcher’s arm begins to shut down when they stop throwing, to begin the recovery process that allows a pitcher to prepare for the following season.
In order for Terry Francona to manage his bullpen in a fashion that will allow relievers to enter in key swing situations each and every game, Bauer will have to hope that his wicked cut-fastball is the only cut that has an impact on the game Wednesday night.
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While the Indians pitching has been masterful throughout this postseason, the bats on the other hand have been largely absent from the scenario. The Indians became the team with the lowest batting average in a League Championship Series to advance to the World Series in Major League Baseball history last week.
Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana, Roberto Perez, Rajai Davis, Mike Napoli and Tyler Naquin all have batting averages under the .200 mark this postseason. The six of them have combined for 22 hits in 138 at-bats thus far, and have only driven in 13 runs.
The Cubs have allowed 30 runs over the course of 10 games this postseason. The only team that has allowed more runs than the Cubs is the Los Angeles Dodgers, with most of those being scored by the Cubs offense in the NLCS.
The Indians ranked fifth in all of baseball during the regular season in runs scored, with a whopping 777 Wahoos crossing the plate in 2016, so we know for certain that the Cleveland Indians can put up runs in bunches. If the Indians have a chance at winning the World Series they will have to get close to their regular season average of 4.83 runs per game early on in the series.
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If in fact the Indians can manage to score some runs, and get some support from a dinged-up starting rotation, they will be in the driver’s seat when they enter the late innings of the game as they turn the ball over to their bullpen.
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The Indians pen led by Andrew Miller has allowed a combined three earned runs over the course of their 26.2 innings of work this October, and there is no reason to believe they will let up, given the way they handled the extra workload created by Bauer’s early exit in the ALCS.
Andrew Miller will be the X-Factor in this World Series if the Indians are to be crowned champions of this year’s World Series.
Terry Francona has already proven that he is not afraid to use his bullpen unconventionally, and have his star reliever Miller step into a pivotal moment in the game regardless of the inning, having confidence in the rest of the bullpen to step in and handle the latter innings after Miller sucks the life out of any potential rally by the opponent.
The Chicago Cubs are only hitting .222 as a team this postseason, and if they don’t gain early leads against the Indians, they will be in big trouble.
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