The 2020 Cleveland Indians

[B Mac]

Some online sportsbooks will allow you to "cash out" your bets after the odds change. So, with that being said, the Indians at 10/1 to win the AL and at 25/1 to win the World Series both looked incredibly enticing to me. If the season goes the way we hope and the Indians make a run, I have my doubts that I'll let either bet go through to completion, but Im hoping that we see enough of a shift in the odds that I can cash out both bets early and hopefully at least triple up on what I think are odds that are too low to start the season.

I did it a few years back when the Saints were 25/1. I ended up cashing when the odds dropped to 8/1. They lost in the playoffs the following game so I was stoked to have cashed at peak value.

And just two days later the odds have already dropped to 22/1. Please don’t ruin this season Rona!

 

[BimboColesHair]

Bieber, Plesac, Civale combined career numbers:

10.3 WAR, 40-23, 530.1 IP, 3.43 ERA, 558 K, 121 BB, 9.5 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 4.6 K:BB ratio.

Rest of the 2016 draft class pitchers combined career numbers (46 players):

7.1 WAR, 107-106, 1899.2 IP, 4.68 ERA, 1800 K, 780 BB, 8.5 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 2.3 K:BB ratio

Just incredible production from 1 draft class by the Indians.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Bieber, Plesac, Civale combined career numbers:

10.3 WAR, 40-23, 530.1 IP, 3.43 ERA, 558 K, 121 BB, 9.5 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 4.6 K:BB ratio.

Rest of the 2016 draft class pitchers combined career numbers (46 players):

7.1 WAR, 107-106, 1899.2 IP, 4.68 ERA, 1800 K, 780 BB, 8.5 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 2.3 K:BB ratio

Just incredible production from 1 draft class by the Indians.

Yeah, and they were drafted in the 3rd, 4th, and 12th rounds. There was some luck involved but mostly great player development.

In that draft there were 22 pitchers taken before the 2nd round and 13 more taken before Civale went to the Tribe in round 3. By the way, the Indians also got Nolan Jones in that draft so it has the chance to be the best draft in franchise history. Heck, maybe it already is.

We also took Will Benson and Logan Ice before any of the pitchers. Like I said, there was some luck involved. Daniel Johnson was also in that draft although he was not taken by us.

 

[MadThinker88]

Yeah, and they were drafted in the 3rd, 4th, and 12th rounds. There was some luck involved but mostly great player development.

In that draft there were 22 pitchers taken before the 2nd round and 13 more taken before Civale went to the Tribe in round 3. By the way, the Indians also got Nolan Jones in that draft so it has the chance to be the best draft in franchise history. Heck, maybe it already is.

We also took Will Benson and Logan Ice before any of the pitchers. Like I said, there was some luck involved. Daniel Johnson was also in that draft although he was not taken by us.

Let's not forget another pitcher from the draft of 2016 - Scott Moss..
The Tribe is mining that draft very well...

 

[Sebastian]

I'm no expert, but it appears that the Indians are having issues on offense.

Is this expected, because the pitching looks good.

Can't be losing so many games when the most runs your pitchers allow in the series is four.

 

[Derek]

I'm no expert, but it appears that the Indians are having issues on offense.

Is this expected, because the pitching looks good.

Can't be losing so many games when the most runs your pitchers allow in the series is four.

It’s unexpected. There’s a debate to be had about the extent, but the top 5 guys in the lineup have been well above average hitters in their careers, and multiple guys in the bottom part of the order have at been solid with glimpses of more (Luplow/Domingo/Mercado/Naquin).

Unfortunately, nearly everyone is performing as the worst version of themselves right now.

Our lineup isn’t on par with Houston/NY/Minn, but in terms of talent and track record, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be highly productive.

 

[Kiddo]

I'm no expert, but it appears that the Indians are having issues on offense.

Is this expected, because the pitching looks good.

Can't be losing so many games when the most runs your pitchers allow in the series is four.

If we're even just average offensively we'd have several more wins and at the top of the division. A 7-6 record is pretty remarkable considering how horrible our offense has been. Lets just hope the pitching continues to dominate, after 13 games our staff is leading Baseball in Ks.

 

[prf100]

The Indians have been slow starters no matter the mix of players for the last 10 years, probably longer. The hope was that it was perhaps due to the cold weather at the beginning of the season. Maybe not!

Do well enough to make the expanded playoffs, then hopefully the bats will have woken up by then.

If they don't make the playoffs this year... then they really really don't deserve to be there regardless of talent.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

The problem with offense is widespread around baseball. Just look at team batting averages. In 2019 the lowest team average was .236. As of now 18 of the 30 teams are at .236 or below!

The average team last year scored 4.75 runs per game; this year it's 4.33.

So part of the problem is that the pitchers are dominating the hitters right now around baseball. Maybe the three-week summer camp is partly responsible since the hitters had less time to get their timing down. Franmil Reyes was on fire in Arizona in March but after more than three months of not being able to face live pitching he is really out of whack with only three weeks to prepare.

The Indians are averaging an astonishing 2.62 runs per game, lowest in baseball. The next lowest team is at 3.11, so we're a full half-run per game behind the next worst team.

The White Sox are averaging 5.4 runs per game in their nine games against other teams. Against the Indians they averaged 3.3 runs per game.

The Twins are averaging 6.6 runs per game against other teams and 2.5 in their four games against the Indians.

As mind-blowingly bad as the offense has been the pitching has been mind-blowingly good. I think that as hitters get more games under their belts the hitting will improve for all teams. The White Sox and Twins are doing fine, however (except when they face the Indians), so maybe the short ramp-up isn't the problem.

The Twins are 10-2. They've won three straight against the 2-10 Pirates and play them again tonight. Then seven of their next 10 games are against the 3-10 Royals while we get the 7-5 White Sox and 10-2 Cubs in our next two series. The Twins are poised to get out to a huge early lead like last year, but by the end of the season the schedule will even out.

In fact, the Twins play the Royals 10 of their next 16 games. The other six are against the 4-5 Brewers. So no teams with a winning record for the next 16 games.

 

[LL3]

MLB To Implement 28-Man Rosters For Balance Of 2020 Season, Postseason
By Steve Adams | August 5, 2020 at 9:45pm CDT

AUG. 5: The league announced that it will go to 28-man rosters and, if clubs choose, five-man taxi squads for the regular season and playoffs beginning Thursday. Teams will be able to carry 29 players for doubleheaders.
AUG. 4: While the initial plan for the shortened 2020 season was for rosters to begin at 30 players, drop to 28 after 15 days and drop to 26 two weeks later, it appears that plan will change. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that rosters will drop to 28 players as scheduled on Thursday, but they’ll remain at that level through the end of the regular season and through the postseason. The three-man taxi squad that teams have been allotted will also be expanded to five players. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted earlier today that some potential alterations to roster reduction were being discussed.
The implementation of 28-man rosters for the balance of the season comes in a direct response to the number of injuries that have popped up throughout the league and the Covid-19 outbreaks within the Marlins and Cardinals organizations. The hope is that carrying a pair of extra players over the standard 26-man rosters can help to reduce strain on players — pitchers in particular — after an abbreviated three-week ramp-up period during Summer Camp. There’s no indication that the change will carry over beyond the 2020 season.
Larger rosters will leave managers with more flexibility and reduce the need to put extra stress on pitchers, though the extra relievers being carried by each club won’t do any favors in terms of limiting game times, as MLB has sought to do in recent years. That’s far from a pressing concern at this point, however, as all involved with the league are prioritizing player health and simply being able to get through a 60-game regular-season schedule before playing an expanded 16-team playoff format.


So it will be 28 players the rest of the way (with a taxi squad expanded up to 5 players. I would like to think it is Allen who goes, but suspect it will be DJ...one of Yu Chang or Arroyo (though out of options). We could drop a pitcher, but that seems unlikely to me.

 

[Kevalier]

Very surprised to see Arroyo DFAd. The Ruben Cardenas trade doesn’t look so strong right now.

 

[DCTribefan]

Very surprised to see Arroyo DFAd. The Ruben Cardenas trade doesn’t look so strong right now.

Actually all of the deals with the Rays have been one-sided against the Tribe. The vaunted Tribe FO has been outflanked by the Rays talent evaluators.

 

[LL3]

Very surprised to see Arroyo DFAd. The Ruben Cardenas trade doesn’t look so strong right now.

Arroyo just has not played much ....they determined they like YCC better in the moment. If they lose him, fine. They should not be about protecting trade appearances, but constantly evaluating their guys and using roster space accordingly.

I did not know DeShields was ready, so sending out both Allen and DJ makes sense. We now have just one LH bat (Zimmer) in the outfield, until Naquin returns.

 

[TxBuckeye]

Actually all of the deals with the Rays have been one-sided against the Tribe. The vaunted Tribe FO has been outflanked by the Rays talent evaluators.

Not really sure TB can declare a win either. They got a guy who hasn't made it out of A ball and got one good month from Yandy Diaz.

 

[Derek]

I hope I’m wrong, but Zimmer not being in the lineup today makes me think he’s on the chopping block when Naquin returns