Ball Played: Lindor, Indians laugh in the face of adversity

The true character of a man or team cannot be found when everything is going well. No, the underlying character is only brought to the surface when times are difficult and when, perhaps, seemingly impossible obstacles need to be overcome. For true character is seen when one is afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.¹ The Cleveland Indians (72-72) have had their share of adversity throughout the 2015 season, but they find themselves just four games back of the AL Wild Card² after defeating the AL-leading Kansas City Royals 5-1 led by a special night from AL Rookie of the Year candidate Francisco Lindor.

The Indians’ adversity has come in waves throughout the season. They stumbled to a 7-14 April. Horrific team defense and injuries to Yan Gomes, Michael Brantley, Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and others plagued the early months. Then the team traded away veterans for prospects when they shipped out Swisher, Bourn, Brandon Moss, David Murphy, and Marc Rzepczynski.³ The Tribe lost their 60th game of the season on August 13 (Wednesday’s loss was the Royals’ 60th) and were still eight games below .500 on August 24.

Jason Kipnis has struggled since an August shoulder injury after he carried the team offensively early in the season. To add to the frustrations, since that time Carlos Carrasco went on the DL, Danny Salazar missed a start and lost five to six pounds with an illness, and Corey Kluber has missed the past week with a hamstring injury. The only consistently healthy member of the Indians once-strong rotation has been Trevor Bauer, who has struggled with inconsistency in his recent starts.

Oh, and the Indians suffered what felt like a fatal blow on Tuesday night when manager Terry Francona completely botched the ninth inning to give away a much needed win (or, at least the chance to get it).

Despite the struggles, the Indians have somehow maintained their composure and focus on winning baseball games. The team defense has transformed over the past few months from horrific to phenomenal as Lindor, Giovanny Urshela, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Abraham Almonte have all been significant upgrades at their positions. When the bench players come in the game, Mike Aviles, Jose Ramirez, and Jerry Sands have ensured the defensive integrity is maintained. Cody Anderson and Josh Tomlin have provided much-needed strong starts to hold the rotation together. In fact, since August 24, the Indians are 14-6, while averaging five runs per game with a staff ERA of 3.40.

The Indians still have a steep hill to climb. With 18 games remaining, the Tribe can likely afford only five losses (at most). But, with the Houston Astros fading, seven games remaining against the Minnesota Twins, and a virtual tie with the Los Angeles Angels, the Cleveland Indians have the AL Wild Card spot in their sights. Now, they just have to keep winning to obtain it. No matter what adversity pops up over the next few weeks.

Keys of the Game

Lindor racing past Correa for AL ROY has a familiar ring:
A member of the Cleveland Indians is in a race for a prominent regular season award with a better nationally known player from the AL West. The AL West player’s team began September in better postseason positioning, and it was widely assumed that he would run away with the award once his team took the postseason berth. However, the Indians player puts together an amazing September as the AL West team fades from playoff contention and the Indians make a late push for a playoff spot before ultimately falling just short.

If you are not a fan of Francisco Lindor, then you are not a fan of baseball

Am I talking about Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa battling for the AL ROY Award? Or, am I talking Corey Kluber and Felix Hernandez in the 2014 AL Cy Young Award battle? Either could be the case by the end of this month, but let’s hope that there is a happier end to the Tribe’s playoff quest this time around.

Francisco Lindor once again demonstrated why there really is not an AL ROY race this season on Wednesday. Not only did he go 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs and his customary defensive wizardry, but he just has a special way he goes about doing it.

After the Indians fireworks guy had a tough night on Tuesday, everyone wanted to see him get a chance to redeem himself with an Indians home run firework display so that we could all move on. Well, in the first inning, Lindor made sure it happened. He did not just get a ball to barely clear the fence where the umpires could go to replay and rule it a triple. No, Lindor sent a towering shot high into the sky that easily cleared the playable surface. Fireworks guy could put an emphatic stamp on that button.

Did I mention that Lindor hit that home run right-handed?

With Mike Aviles and Jason Kipnis in scoring position in the second inning, Lindor broke the game open with a hard shot that would just nip the glove of Ben Zobrist before finding rest in right field. In comparison, his fourth RBI on the night would be rather boring as he slapped a ground ball single up the middle.

However, when Aviles made a diving stop and throw from his knees to end the second inning, Lindor must have been jealous. In the top of the fifth, Alex Rios hit a ground ball up the middle for a single to center field. At least, the play-by-play would have read that way against a team without Lindor at shortstop. For the Indians, Lindor made the diving play up the middle, rotated around on one knee, and made the throw to get the out. All with a mile-wide smile on his face and the crowd loudly stating its approval.

Lindor: "I’ve never been a fan of a guy that makes a great play & acts like he’s done it 10,000 times. Smile, man. That’s what we play for."

— August Fagerstrom (@AugustFG_) September 17, 2015

During the second half of this season, Francisco Lindor has been playing defense like Ozzie Smith, hitting like Alex Rodriguez, and leading like Derek Jeter, all the while finding the perfect balance between Corey Kluber’s stoic persona and Yasiel Puig’s over-the-top theatrics. He enjoys the game while respecting it. I don’t know if he can continue his torrid hitting (probably not). But, if you are not a fan of Francisco Lindor, then you are not a fan of baseball.

Carlos Santana, base thief:
With a stolen base (and a strong night overall as he went 1-for-2 with two walks), Carlos Santana tied Jason Kipnis for second on the Indians with 11 stolen bases. However, Kipnis has been caught stealing eight times, Santana has only been caught once. Advantage: Santana.

Among the notable players in MLB that Santana leads in stolen bases is Mike Trout (10). Santana also leads all AL first basemen, as the Royals Eric Hosmer is second with a mere six swiped bases. However, the Arizona Diamondbacks Paul Goldschmidt remains the gold standard of thievery amongst first basemen with 21.

Hey now, don’t forget Salazar:
It did not feel as if Danny Salazar dominated the Royals lineup on Wednesday. But, he pitched seven strong innings, while only giving up a single run (a Mike Moustakas powerful solo home run). Salazar struck out six Royals, walked two, and gave up a total of four hits.

What Salazar did on Wednesday was control the Royals lineup. He limited them to mostly weak contact. He did not allow any inning to get away from him. He was the beneficiary of some outstanding defense (thank you, Aviles and Lindor), but the only time the Royals truly threatened was in the third inning when they put runners on second and third base. Salazar induced a weak grounder from Lorenzo Cain to end the inning. It would be the last time the Royals had a runner on third the rest of the night (other than the moment when Moustakas tapped it on his home run trot).

Shhhhhh, saying nothing at all is the greatest compliment:
When there is not much to say about the bullpen, the relievers have done their job. Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen pitched near flawless innings as they locked down the eighth and ninth innings. Shaw struck out three while walking one. Allen struck out two while only allowing one baserunner as well. With the four-run lead, it was a non-save situation, but Francona took no chances. His most trusted bullpen arms delivered.

Indians Weekend Fan Guide to the AL Wild Card Standings

There are a million different scenarios and outcomes left where the Indians could sneak into the AL Wild Card (or a play-in game for the play-in game). But, there are games THIS weekend. Here is an Indians fan guide to some of the most important AL series of the weekend.

Thursday through Sunday (4 games):
Los Angeles Angels (73-72) at Minnesota Twins (75-70)
With neither team all that far out ahead of the Indians, a split is likely the best-case scenario, but as long as neither team sweeps, it should be fine. The Indians still have seven games left against the Twins, so they would still be able to take back any deficit on the field, though it becomes more difficult if the Twins continue to win. The Angels are only ahead of the Indians by a half-game, and they have many games left with both the Astros and Rangers.

Thursday:
Houston Astros (77-69) at Texas Rangers (78-67)
The Astros and Rangers play each other three more times later this month in Arlington. Really, the best thing for an Indians fan would be for one of these teams to sweep the remaining games (and any games against the Angels) to run away with the division and push the other teams down the AL Wild Card standings. It appears much more likely for that team to be the Rangers.

Friday through Sunday (3 games):
Oakland Athletics at Houston Astros
Here’s hoping that the recent promotion of Barry Zito is the feel-good story that allows the A’s to finally start playing good baseball. It would be a pleasant surprise if the A’s could continue to send Houston downward in the standings. Then again, the Astros are falling apart. They are 6-12 in their last 18 games and the A’s won a three-game set against them in Oakland at the beginning of September.

Friday through Sunday (3 games):
Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers
Felix Hernandez is currently slated to pitch the Sunday game, so that helps. The entire Seattle organization is currently in the midst of some turmoil with no GM and an uncertain future, but the M’s have actually been playing spoiler these past few weeks. They won a series against Houston to begin September, split another versus Texas, and battled Los Angeles tooth and nail to clinch that three-game set on Wednesday. So, it is not out of the realm for them to help the Tribe out.

1. In no way am I taking credit for the good words from Corinthians, just using them in application here. [↩]
2. Three games back in the loss column [↩]
3. I so wanted the chance to type his name out again. Love you, Scrabble. [↩]