Tribe wins 85: Happy, but not satisfied

Eighty-five wins. You know how many wins the 1997 Cleveland Indians had when they were two outs away from winning the World Series? Eighty-six. Not one person complained when that team won 86 games because the AL Central was so horrific that the Indians were the only team over .500. So when I hear a faction of “Indians fans” whining about this season, it begs the question, where is the perspective?

Two years ago last week, the Indians fired Manny Acta after a 94-loss season. Take a step back and realize something obvious: Things could be a lot worse.

Two years ago the organization was in shambles. The September lineups included the likes of Vinny Rottino, Thomas “T-Daddy” Neal, Brett Lillibridge, and Russ Canzler. Their wasn’t a lot of pitching to be excited about and Chris Perez spent most of that summer talking about how playing in Cleveland isn’t any fun and free agents would never sign here because the fans don’t care, among other reasons. Everyone wanted Team President Mark Shapiro and General Manager Chris Antonetti fired and the trust in the Dolan ownership was at an all-time low.

So now people have a problem with 177 wins in two years with just TWO meaningless games played in that that time frame? Again, do I need to remind you just how bad things were before the Terry Francona era? The Indians won 85 or more games in back to back seasons for the first time since 2000 and 2001. I am no math major, but that was 13 years ago. Am I satisfied with 85 wins and not making the playoffs? Of course not. But things could be so much worse like they were during the Acta Ball days.

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The Tribe took two of three this weekend against the Tampa Bay Rays, finishing the season at 85-77, third place in an AL Central division that boasted two playoff teams, the 90-72 Detroit Tigers and the 89-73 Kansas City Royals. The Oakland A’s are the second AL Wild Card team and they collapsed during the second half, but finished 88-74. Sure, many are choosing to look at those first two games of the Royals series a week ago where the Tribe laid eggs offensively and defensively, but those two counted just as much as any of the six straight losses in April against the LA Angels and San Francisco Giants where the bats managed just 13 runs total.

The future is bright. There is a lot to be excited about in the next few years and beyond. This team is not as far away as you think. This is a team that could not figure out the rotation beyond Corey Kluber until late July, was one of the worst defensive teams in Tribe history, leading all of baseball in errors, and had an offense that would go through long stretches where they couldn’t buy a run, yet three more wins and they are a playoff team. Terry Francona won’t win AL Manager of the Year for a second consecutive year, but he is certainly worthy when you add all of that up.

I know this team is flawed, but they have set themselves up for contention on 2015. This weekend the pitching once again showed why they will be a forced to be reckoned with next season. Kluber was fantastic again, making his final start Friday night. Naturally he got little run support, but the one run – a first inning solo blast off the bat of Jose Ramirez – stood up because he went Klubot all over the Rays. He exited after eight innings of shutout ball where he allowed just five hits and struck out 11. If Kluber was trying to stake his claim on that AL Cy Young Award, he made quite a lasting impression.

“He looked like he was on a mission,” Francona said. “Saying that, he’s looked like that since the second game of the year. That was Kluber at his best, but he’s done it so many times and done it so consistently.”

As good as Cliff Lee’s 2008 Cy Young season was here in Cleveland, Kluber’s may have been better.

#CurtainCall for Kluber’s 2014 campaign: 18 Wins, 2.44 ERA, 269 K’s, and 10 games of 10+ strikeouts. Simply #CyKluber.

— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) September 27, 2014

Did we mention he walked just 51 in 235.2 innings pitched and in his last five starts became one of four pitchers in the modern day era to win his last five starts with at least 50 strikeouts? Kluber had 39 punchouts in his last three starts! Finally, this:

Corey Kluber finishes 2014 with 18 wins, 269 K & a 2.44 ERA, joining impressive company: pic.twitter.com/jtaFtZFYqJ — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 27, 2014

So in other words, Kluber was pretty good. But this weekend it wasn’t just Core. Carlos Carrasco and T.J House came to pay as well. On Saturday night, the offense once again failed a Tribe starting pitcher. Carrasco again did all he could to keep his team in the game. Carlos allowed two runs, but only one of them was earned thanks to, surprise surprise, an Indians error. But when you go seven and two-thirds, allowing one earned run on four hits with 10 Ks, you should walk away a winner. Carrasco did not as the Tribe was shutout 2-0. In his final three starts, Carrasco allowed three earned runs in 24 innings, yet the offense scored just TWO runs for him. But the league has been put on notice; Cookie has figured it out and it is bad news for offenses everywhere.

“I would say it flew past encouraging,” Francona said of Carrasco. “He’s got so much to be excited about going into the offseason and into next year.” Some much credit must be given to both pitching coach Mickey Callaway and bullpen coach Kevin Cash who helped create another successful reclamation project, this one coming on the fly. But the key was Carrasco finally finding something that worked for him.

“Those two guys trusted me,” Carrasco said. “And now I trust myself, too.”

In his 10 starts since returning to the rotation in August, Carrasco had a 1.30 ERA with 78 strikeouts, 11 walks, a 0.81 WHIP. Imagine that over a full season…

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Sunday was House’s last chance to close out his strong finish. He became a stable force as the Indians’s fifth starter in late July and never looked back. Like he has done so many times down the stretch, House gave his team a great chance to win. Being the final game of the season, Francona gave other guys a chance to shine and he removed T.J. from the game after five innings, despite throwing just 49 pitches. He gave up one run on five hits with two strikeouts and no walks in the Tribe’s 7-2 win. Incredibly, the Indians were 8-1 in House’s final nine starts where he posted a 2.25 ERA in 52 innings with 48 Ks to just eight walks. This is your fifth starter we are talking about here.

The story of the weekend was obviously the Tribe pitching, which set a new Major League record for most strikeouts in a season (1450). “It’s pretty cool,” closer Cody Allen said. “But it doesn’t always translate into a ton of wins. We’d be willing to trade that record for about five or six more wins. But, it’s pretty cool to be a part of.”

If only the Indians could have gotten these kind of results from their starting pitching earlier in the season. Things would have been so different. But you have to feel good about the team’s strength heading into 2015. Now as for that offense…

Friday and Saturday night’s they combined to score a single run, which came on a first inning solo homer Friday night. So with little to play for Sunday, Francona trotted out a Columbus Clippers-esque lineup. It is not as if they could do any worse than the previous two games. So with J.B. Shuck as his leadoff man and a bottom four of Jesus Aguilar, Zach Walters, Roberto Perez, and Tyler Holt, it was obvious that the bats would explode for seven runs on 14 hits with four of those runs and 10 of those hits coming against Alex Cobb. You remember him don’t you, the guy who shut out the Indians in the Wild Card game a year ago? Of course they were going to light him up.

Walters and David Murphy hit solo blasts in the second inning which got the party started. Of course we can’t get too excited; they only went 2-13 with runners in scoring position. Zach McAllister, who has found a home in the bullpen, pitched the final two innings that closed out the win and the season.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention yet another weekend milestone. Our own Michael Brantley, Dr. Smooth himself, got is 200th hit Saturday night with a fourth inning single. Francona gave him Sunday off which left him three RBIs short of 100, but it didn’t matter. His historic season was as impressive as the numbers themselves look when you consider how he did it. Brantley wasn’t hitting with Carlos Baerga in front of him and Albert Belle behind him. In a season bereft of offense, Dr. Smooth was a shining light of clutch hits.

Brantley became the first player in Indians history to collect 200 hits, 40 doubles, 20 home runs, and 20 steals. He finished third in the AL in batting average (.327), second in hits (200), fourth in on-base percentage (.385), seventh in OPS (.890), sixth in runs scored (94), fourth in outfield assists (12), and according to Fangraphs, he was fifth overall in WAR (6.8), trailing only Mike Trout, Kluber, Clayton Kershaw, and Andrew McCutcheon.

“I actually don’t need the stat line,” Francona said. “I know that backs up everything, but he has had a remarkable year in every way, shape and form. To play the amount of games he played (156). He hit third all year. He made an All-Star team. He was one of the best teammates you’ll ever see. He cares so much. He knows his responsibilities to our team.”

So 85 wins wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs and for some many of you, it wasn’t good enough period. I’ve seen my Twitter timeline flooded with calls for the heads of Shapiro and Antonetti. Let me tell you something, that is not going to happen. I said it earlier and I will say it again, have some perspective and think about where this organization was two years ago and compare that to where they are today.

All five starters are under club control for the next three years minimum. The pen will return the key guys that were so effective all year long (Allen, Bryan Shaw, Marc Rzepcyznski, Scott Atchison) plus the young arms that grew into key roles (Kyle Crockett, Nick Hagadone, C.C. Lee). The prime core of Brantley, Yan Gomes, and Santana are all entering their primes. The jury is still out on what they will get from their three highest paid players (Jason Kipnis, Michael Bourn, and Nick Swisher) as well as Lonnie Chisenhall (check his second half numbers). Ramirez showed a lot of promise after taking over at short for Asdrubal Cabrera. He may have pushed uber prospect Francisco Lindor’s debut to mid-2015. But this front office cannot rest on what they have. Spare me the “we will get big bounce back years from Kipnis and Swisher” routine. Nobody wants to hear it. Action has to be taken.

In 2008 and again this past winter, the Tribe brass failed to capitalize on those two fantastic seasons and for the most part stood pat. I think anyone who watches this team knows they need a right-handed power bat in the worst way. The logical spots for improvement are at third base and right field. I would be stunned if one of, if not both of those spots were not addressed via trade this offseason. There are two logical targets out there: Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre and Diamondbacks 1B/OF Mark Trumbo. If there is one thing you can say about this front office, it is that they have had great success with trades. Their drafting? Not so much.

So that puts a bow on the 2014 season. On a personal note I want to thank all of you for reading and commenting along with me from April through September. We here at WFNY do this for the love of the game and writing daily about this Tribe is truly a labor of love. I bleed Wahoo Red, White, and Blue and nothing will ever change that. Win or lose, this is my team. Thanks again for riding along with me.