ESPN ranks Kyrie Irving as only the ninth best PG in NBA
March 31, 2015USA! USA! Nike’s LeBron 12 low gets gets patriotic
March 31, 2015The genesis for these articles was spawned from one of my alltime favorite WFNY running articles (Anderson Varejao Enthusiasm Charts from Denny Mayo). Denny has graciously allowed me to completely mangle it by extending the concept to the Indians and the player who wears his emotions as outwardly as anyone ever has.
To see exactly why Klubots are utilized and the method to this madness, please see the explanation in the original Klubot Expectation Chart article. However, the basic premise is that Indians pitcher Corey Kluber’s enthusiasm can be measured in a standard unit called a Klubot. The more Klubots measured, the higher Kluber’s enthusiasm is for that item.
For example, the Cleveland Indians are to wear a commemorative Al Rosen seven patch this season. Seven Klubots (Obviously)
Cleveland Indian Spring Stories
This is how Scott Atchison rode to his prom pic.twitter.com/PcUlWCX0zF
— Corey Kluber (@CKluber) July 23, 2014
Reliever Scott Atchison turned 39(hundred) years old on March 29. The Cleveland Indians twitter feed decided to post some of the light-hearted jokes posted about this obviously landmark event. Three Klubots (As overall, he was disappointed in the jokes.)
Michael Brantley made the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four. Wait, no that’s Michigan State guard Travis Trice, whom Michael Brantley has said is his little brother and evidence to the contrary has not yet been presented. Five Klubots (Final Four plus an extra Klubot given for the Tom Izzo connection.)
Cleveland Indian players thoughtfully take the time to read and respond to the insightful commentary that was posted by their fans. Five Klubots (One Klubot per Corey Kluber appearance and another per Kluber shirt worn.)
The valet service in Goodyear is second to none. The attendants do not believe in merely bringing your car around front for you. In fact, they will bring the car directly to where you view the game so you do not have to fret about walking out of the ballpark as Jose Ramirez found out firsthand. Six Klubots (Mike Aviles is a funny guy and wears the best shirts.)
Finally, there is a special place in the heart of Corey Kluber for feats of strength. Jerry Sands hitting a 480-foot homerun to center field certainly qualifies. Four Klubots (as Jerry Sands could never do that facing Kluber)
National Pundit Expectations for the Cleveland Indians
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Grantland’s Jonah Keri continues to stalk the Cleveland Indians like a lovestruck teenager as he picks the team to win the American League Central Division.
The Indians now infamous Sports Illustrated cover was known to only be a regional cover, however SI’s Ben Reiter did pick the team to win the World Series no matter which team was placed on the cover of the magazine you bought1 .
CBS Sport’s Matt Snyder has also jumped on the Indians bandwagon as he ranks the Indians first in the AL Central and second in the American League (to the Mariners).
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Even ESPN’s Buster Olney picks the Indians to make the playoffs though he has Seattle Mariners winning the American League before losing to Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.
FoxSport’s Craig Goldstein has decided that creating power rankings himself was too difficult, so he is utilizing the Baseball Prospectus playoff odds instead. As such, the Indians rank second in AL Central and sixth in AL, which means they are just outside the playoffs. These are similar to the Baseball Prospectus rankings from our first chart except they factor in the odds of making the playoffs from the AL Central.
In all, four of the five MSM outlets picked the Cleveland Indians to make the playoffs in 2015. The only writer that picked the Indians to finish outside the playoffs is utilizing a projection model that issued half apology because their modeling did not know what to do with Kluber’s breakout performance, which would really also extend to Brantley.
In the first chart post, I had written “Now, I fully suspect that the human driven power rankings will put a damper on the overall expectations of the Indians. Humans tend to lend more bias towards splashy offseason moves and the Indians do not own the offseason.” However, instead, the Cleveland Indians have become full-fledged media darlings where a pitcher that will have to start the season in Columbus was called out as a Cy Young award sleeper candidate and Carlos Carrasco has been among the most popular breakout candidates for 2015. Seven Klubots.
My Expectations for the Cleveland Indians
It is fantastic that the contention window looks to be propped open for the Indians2, but my expectations are based specifically on 2015. It is important that the team avoids the customary slow April starts (under Terry Francona) since the schedule is even heavier than usual with division rivals early in the season3 . It should help that the Indians have more depth and are stronger at the bottom of the roster4 with even more help (like Jesus Aguilar5 ) waiting in Columbus, and that their defense is likely to be improved relative to 2014. In the end, it will come down to how the pitchers and hitters perform6 . I believe that the Cleveland Indians will have enough talent and depth to contend for the American League Central Division title, and I expect that the 2015 season will be one worth watching. Seven Klubots.
12 Comments
It warms my little heart that, even in my favorite Cleveland sports blog, I get reminded that we made it to the Final Four.
There is so much going on in this article (from gifs, to links, to h/t’s) that only a Klubot could comprehend it all, but I did my best. And while I agree that the rest of the Old Man Atch jokes are weaksauce, Klubot’s joke deserves at least 5 Klubots itself.
Yeah, this post demonstrates how my mind works. I try to take it down a notch most of the time, but it’s good for the soul to let loose once in awhile.
That Kluber joke was from 2013. Had to pull it in though as it demonstrates how weak the rest of them were.
Glad to provide the kindling. I am cheering for them to unexpectedly take the Bball crown much like the Buckeyes did the football one.
And that comment demonstrates my Tweeter skillz. I don’t check dates, I just assume everything is recent.
Thing I like about this season: depth, lots of players who have shown they can have big years
Thing I don’t like about this season: not many guys with recent, proven track records
“not many guys with recent, proven track records”
I’ll take that over signing guys like Bourn, Swisher, Murphy, Raburn, and Aviles.
Yeah, it’s unsettling when we’re betting on comeback years from a lot of key guys, be it Kipnis, Swisher, Bourn, McAllister, or Moss (from inj), or big improvement years from guys like Chiz, Bauer, Salaz…ok never mind that one.
We have those guys too.
Well, Kipnis and Bourn should be better than last year. Not sure on Swish because of the knees. Of course, Kluber and Brantley should be a little worse this year too.
The value in the Tribe is the youth and the depth. We are going to have some guys struggle, but others pick them up (we hope). And, we have more guys that at least seem worth trying out on the MLB club than in recent years.
It could all fall apart, but they seem decently protected against a total collapse.
Unloading guys like Asdrubal and Masterson seemed like a shot in the arm last year, so if they can merely add a few wins based on not having those guys in the lineup for the whole year, it’s going to be really interesting.
At the same time as that unloading was a major increase in defense (Jose Ramirez, Tyler Holt and even Roberto Perez as 2nd catcher). The Tribe must really believe that Bourn is healthy to have not kept Holt. I still prefer him as the 4th OF, but I have a feeling we’ll see him before long.