Cleveland Indians 2017 Season Preview
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CONTENTS Cleveland Indians Preview ...........................pg. 2 Cleveland Indians Schedule .........................pg. 6 Lake Erie Crushers Schedule......................pg. 10 Columbus Clippers Schedule .....................pg. 11 Toledo Mud Hens Schedule ........................pg. 12 Detroit Tigers Schedule ..............................pg. 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Schedule .........pg. 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Drivers .......................pg. 16 Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine 1 Cleveland Indians 2017 season preview Francisco Lindor By: Joel Hammond So yeah, it hurts. same team back that nearly won the job. It still hurts, of course. But pride remains. the title without making significant "I think there were four or five The Cleveland Indians, down “You’re disappointed, because additions. After all, the thinking (additional) teams that had inter- two starters for much of the you want to win. But when the went that Carlos Carrasco and est in me, but I made the decision stretch run, a catcher for long game’s over you talk to the play- Danny Salazar and Yan Gomes and to come here because here I have periods and one of their best hit- ers. maybe, just maybe, Michael Brant- the opportunity to win the World ters for nearly the entire season, When I was by myself, when I ley all would be back at full Series,” said Encarnacion, who hit almost pulled off the unthinkable: could think – we were disap- strength for another run. 42 homers and drove in 127 runs They ran away from the pack in pointed, but pride won out,” said And yet the Tribe didn’t stand last season for the Blue Jays. the American League Central, Terry Francona, who won the pat: The club pulled off the coup of "They look great and they have then steamrolled big-money American League Manager of the the offseason, patiently waiting out great young talented players. They Boston and Toronto in the Ameri- Year award for guiding the team to the market for the top hitter of the will have a lot of opportunities to can League Division and Champi- the World Series. “Everything we offseason, Edwin Encarnacion – be in the World Series again and win it." onship Series, respectively. asked our guys to do, they did. We then waiting out the market for Encarnacion replaces Mike But their bad luck finally went up against really veteran one of the best lefty relief special- Napoli, who had a career year; caught up to them: The Tribe, up teams and beat them. The Cubs ists on the market, Boone Logan. Francona and others within the 3-1 in the World Series against yet were a really good team. When Add it all up -- $60 million guar- organization’s first call upon com- another big-money team – the Rajai (Davis) hit that homer, lesser anteed over three years for Encar- pleting the deal for Encarnacion Cubs, who won 103 games in the teams would have folded. But the nacion and another $5.5 million was to Napoli, whose presence in regular season – ran out of gas Cubs didn’t and they deserve credit guaranteed for Logan -- and the the clubhouse was crucial and who and lost in the 10th inning of for that.” Tribe will carry a record payroll they were unable to bring back Game 7 of an all-time-great World The temptation, of course, was and lofty expectations into the Series. there to stand pat -- to bring the 2017 season as they look to finish See INDIANS, 3 2 Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine in August, at deadline for this pub- lication was participating in simu- lated games at the team’s complex and building up toward his debut in spring games. And despite losing Rajai Davis – the AL steals leader who signed with Oakland – the Indians say they’ll maintain their aggressive approach on the basepaths. The Tribe, led by Davis’ 43 steals, led the AL with 134 stolen bases. "We're going to preach the same thing we did last year," Kipnis said. "We want to run often, run early and don't come back with your tail between your legs just because you got thrown out once or twice. We want guys to still be aggressive, and to still kind of push it on the offensive side." While the Tribe’s offense was a surprise last year, the club’s pitch- ing staff lived up to its billing as one of the AL – and all of baseball’s – best. Carrasco had a 3.32 ERA and struck out 150 in 146 innings The Cleveland Indians celebrate their AL Championship win. before an ill-fated comebacker by Ian Kinsler ended his season on among the top players in the have an offense that could be even Sept. 17. Salazar, like Lindor and INDIANS league. His middle infield tag team better than last year’s, which was Kluber, was a first-time All-Star From 2 partner, Jason Kipnis, had a career fifth in baseball in runs. Brantley, who underwent a second surgery year with career highs in homers, See INDIANS, 4 after the deal. And while the sign- runs and more. ing drew plenty of attention in the Carlos Santana hit 34 homers, offseason -- and ticket sales, as the also a career high, and set career Indians Season Ticket base is at highs in slugging percentage and levels the club hasn’t seen in about OPS; Jose Ramirez, meanwhile, seven years – the club’s strength morphed into Michael Brantley. will remain in its core players. The unheralded one-time utility You know the players: Corey player not only seized the third Kluber finished third in AL Cy base job midway through the sea- Young voting after going 18-9; he son, but also took the league by went 4-1 in the postseason and storm at the plate, becoming one likely would have been the World of baseball’s best hitters in the Series MVP had the Tribe held on. clutch. Overall, he led the team He started Games 1, 4 and 7, the with a .312 average and had 176 latter two on short rest, as the hits, while also knocking 46 dou- Tribe dealt with injuries to Carlos bles. Carrasco and Danny Salazar. Add to that Encarnacion’s power Francisco Lindor, a first-time and ability to put the ball in play All-Star like Kluber, won the AL while maintaining a relatively low Gold and Platinum gloves at short- strikeout rate for a power hitter – stop and hit .301 with 5.7 WAR – and, potentially, Brantley, and you Andrew Miller Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine 3 INDIANS From 3 who battled elbow soreness that limited his impact late in the sea- son. In their absence, Josh Tomlin and Trevor Bauer were key contrib- utors down the stretch and in the postseason; Tomlin dominated the Red Sox at Fenway Park, the Jays in Toronto, and the Cubs at Wrigley Field before falling in Game 6. Bauer, meanwhile, set career highs in innings and wins. Oh, and there’s the small matter of the bullpen, which was the AL’s second best and which now will have Andrew Miller for a full sea- son and Logan – against whom lefty batters hit .142 last year – added to Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, Corey Kluber Dan Otero and others. "What we tried to do is find the right guy to complement our bullpen," said Chris Antonetti, the Indians president of baseball oper- ations. "We weren't just going to sign a guy because he was left- handed. In fact, we wanted to try to identify pitchers who we thought could help us. Boone, we feel, is that guy." The present, then, is promising. The future has been on display in camp, too: Outfield prospects Bradley Zimmer (No. 1 prospect according to MLB Pipeline), Greg Allen (No. 9), and Yandy Diaz (No. 10) all have impressed, as has No. 2 prospect, catcher Francisco Mejia. Pitchers Ryan Merritt, Shawn Arm- strong and Mike Clevinger all con- tributed to the big-league club in 2016, while younger pitchers such as Triston McKenzie, Brady Aiken and others are on their way. “To say that the future is bright,” Francona said, “is probably the understatement of the century.” 4 Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine 5 6 Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine 7 8 Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine 9 Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine 11 12 Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine 13 14 Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine 15 16 Spring 2017 Voice of the Firelands Magazine .