Nine Highlights from the Cleveland Indians' 2018 Baseball Season

It was an unusual year for the Cleveland Indians and their fans. The team entered the year as a heavy favorite in the American League Central, and not even the few offseason additions made by the Minnesota Twins to their wildcard-winning team of 2017 amounted to any kind of significant challenge to the Tribe. Despite coasting to a record tenth American Central Division title (Minnesota has won the second-most AL Central Division titles at six), the Indians played well beneath their expected win total all year long, and struggled to find consistency, especially from an embattled bullpen. Bad bullpens make for mercurial fan experiences, as no one ever knows if a lead is really "safe" or if a seeming win can be enjoyed before the 27th out is actually recorded.

With that said, the Indians won 91 games, they saw four of their starting pitchers rack up 200 strikeouts or more, they saw MVP-type seasons from Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, and they saw career milestones from Corey Kluber, Jason Kipnis, and Cody Allen, and a great comeback season from Michael Brantley. There were plenty of great moments from this year, and it’s important to celebrate those as much as we also mourn another early playoff exit. Let’s look back on a highlight from each of the eight months of the 2018 season.

Saturday, March 31st, 2018 – Cleveland Indians 6, Seattle Mariners 5

The Indians got their first win of the season in Seattle, enjoying Yonder Alonso’s first homer of the year, a grand slam off of a great lefty pitcher in James Paxton. The Indians’ signing of Alonso looked really smart through most of July, as he replaced Carlos Santana’s offensive value at less than half the price tag Santana signed for in free agency, but then the new first-baseman rapidly declined after the All-Star break and through the playoffs. The Tribe, meanwhile, continued to enjoy success with the bases loaded all season, hitting 11 grand slams on the year. Yan Gomes also homered in the win, beginning an excellent bounce-back season for him, in which he led the American League in fWAR among Catchers who finished the season in the league at 2.2. In an ominous portent of things to come, Andrew Miller pitched a scoreless inning of relief but allowed three hits…

Tuesday, April 17th, 2018 – Cleveland Indians 6, Minnesota Twins 1

In an amazing opportunity afforded to two small-market teams, the Indians and Twins got a chance to play two of their regular season games in Puerto Rico, and the short series began with an impressive and emotional Tribe win, as Francisco Lindor hit a two-run home run in his home country and Corey Kluber stoically dominated the competition as Tribe fans had come to expect their ace to do. Lindor’s homer is sure to be shown on any highlight video of both this season and of his career. His joy and enthusiasm is a gift to the game which we should all treasure and protect (namely, by doing anything it takes to keep him from being signed by the New York Yankees in three years’ time). Jose Ramirez and Michael Brantley also homered, continuing to establish the theme of the top three hitters in the Indians’ lineup carrying the team’s offense through most of the season. This game was a joy to watch and a gift that all Indians’ fans can cherish in their memories, something that can’t be said about too many games that have been played throughout the years in April.

Sunday, May 27th, 2018 – Cleveland Indians 10, Houston Astros 9

It would be hard to top the comeback win over the defending champs for game of the year, as Jose Ramirez continued his run at American League MVP by putting up a 17-pitch at-bat against Astros’ closer at the time Ken Giles (the Astros’ Front Office would later replace Giles with a domestic abuser to improve their team’s chances at winning a World Series) eventually leading to a tying-run and a Greg Allen game-winner in extra innings. After going down 8-3 during a rough start from Trevor Bauer and a by-then typical poor showing from the Tribe bullpen, the Indians scored 5 runs in a wild 9th inning and walked-it-off in front of an ecstatic home crowd, blissfully unaware of a yet future Tribe matchup with Gerrit Cole and the Astros that would not end so happily. However, it’s not really fair to let our knowledge of that future encounter ruin what was an amazing game that reminded everyone vividly of the relentless nature of the Tribe teams from 2016-2017 who seemed like they had solved the game of baseball through a combination of fun, consistency, and talent-filled comradery. These teams were worth rooting for, every step of the way.

Wednesday, June 27th, 2018 – Cleveland Indians 5, St. Louis Cardinals 1

One of the clear highlights of the Indians’ 2018 season was the arrival and success of rookie pitcher Shane Bieber. While Bieber debuted on May 31st, he was able to get his first major league hit and a win against a quality team in staving off a series sweep against the Cardinals. Lonnie Chisenhall and Edwin Encarnacion hit home runs in the game, and I had honestly forgotten that Chisenhall still had his calves intact at this point in the season. Tyler Naquin also got a hit, reminding me as I look back at it today of the significant losses the Indians’ outfield sustained in 2018 from Chisenhall’s calves, Naquin’s hip and Bradley Zimmer’s shoulder, to Leonys Martin’s illness, the whole fleet of them seemed snake-bit and, to some degree, the Indians never quite recovered from those losses. However, this win was a welcome sign at the time that the Indians were still capable of being a good team even amidst a frustrating 14-12 month.

Wednesday, July 4th, 2018 – Cleveland Indians 3, Kansas City Royals 2

As an extra game for the year, I have chosen to point to this win against the lowly Royals because it marked not only another excellent start from Trevor Bauer while on his way to a career year, but it also featured Cody Allen’s setting of a franchise record for most all-time saves. Saves are a mostly meaningless statistic when they attempt to distinguish from all high leverage relief work, but they do indicate reliable relief pitching at the end of games, which is obviously important to any team. Cody Allen overtook my all-time favorite Indian, Bob Wickman, and I was thrilled to see it happen. From being a 23rd-round pick, Cody Allen rode an excellent curveball and a lot of guts to several years of dominating relief work for the Tribe. It was a shame to see him bring a likely end to his career with the Tribe with such a frustrating and uncharacteristic down year. I’m not sure I’ll ever quite forgive the nameless, faceless fans who booed Allen during his struggles this year for their thoughtless disregarding of the courageous efforts Allen expended to try to win a World Series for the Tribe, not allowing a run in the 2016-2017 postseasons. More important than Allen’s saves record, of course, was the celebration of his son Cason’s first birthday during the season, a child he and his wife Mallory conceived after a prolonged struggle with infertility. The stories written on this theme were touching and meaningful to me and many other Tribe fans.

Sunday, July 15th, 2018 – Cleveland Indians 5, New York Yankees 2

You can’t get a much better send-off into the All-Star break than a win against the hated New York Yankees. It’s even better when it includes seven strong innings from Trevor Bauer, a dominant inning of relief from Carlos Carrasco and Cody Allen’s 20th save of the year. Meanwhile, on the offensive side of things, Michael Brantley hit a go-ahead home run off of Chad Green, and Jose Ramirez got his 20th steal achieving a 20/20 season with his 29 home runs, proving that the Yankees had not, in fact, discovered some secret to getting him out (that secret remained to be discovered until late August, unfortunately). This win felt great and served notice that the American League could not count the Indians out as a threat for the pennant. Brantley, meanwhile, continue to prove the Front Office’s trust in him as wise en route to a 3.5 fWAR season, likely the swan song of an excellent career with the Indians.

Tuesday, August 21st, 2018 – Cleveland Indians 6, Boston Red Sox 3

The Indians took their second-straight game from the Red Sox behind heroics from Melky Cabrera, Shane Bieber and Greg Allen, who followed a home-run in the game before, with two game-saving catches and an RBI double. July acquisitions Adam Cimber and Brad Hand pitched well and Andrew Miller looked healthy, briefly, in a 13-pitch, two-strikeout eighth. Unfortunately, this game was one of the first in a long-slump for Jose Ramirez, who ended a season at which he had been making a run at the greatest single-season of WAR in franchise history and just the fifth 40/40 season in MLB history by putting up a .174/.309/.295 slashline from the Boston series to the end of the year. On this day, however, it was just encouraging to see the bottom of the lineup win the Tribe a couple games against a great team, playing a notable role in ruining any dreams the Red Sox had of setting a modern MLB record for regular season wins. In the long-term, Bieber’s ability to handle the pressure of pitching in Fenway and beating an all-time great team gives fans hopes for a bright future for the young Indians’ hurler.

Wednesday, September 19th, 2018 – Cleveland Indians 4, Chicago White Sox 1

Another potential September loss in which the Indians seemed to be again sleepwalking their way to the playoffs turned into a classic victory when Jason Kipnis hit a walk-off grand slam to send the fans home happy and dreaming of October redemption for the longtime Tribe second baseman. I think Kipnis deserves credit from salvaging a season that seemed lost, possibly ending with him on the bench, by posting a solid second-half hitting performance and handling another forced positional switch with as much grace as humanly possible. Josh Donaldson got a hit in one of these few games he was able to play in a Tribe uniform. Carlos Carrasco put up another great pitching performance, and journeyman Oliver Perez got a win in an unexpected season of excellence from the reliever who was discarded earlier in the year by the Yankees. It’s kind of a shame Perez didn’t even throw a pitch in the postseason, when you think about it…

Monday, September 24th, 2018 – Cleveland Indians 4, Chicago White Sox 0

I had fully intended to include one of the Indians’ games against the Astros in October on this list when I started this post, but, who am I kidding? Those games were not highlights in any sense. Lindor, Clevinger, Gomes and Carrasco deserve credit for showing up, but the rest of the team fell woefully short. With that said, let’s appreciate that Corey Kluber won his 20th game in a season for the first time in his career on this date, backed by a second-string lineup that was still enough to beat the hapless White Sox. The Indians were supposed to dominate their division and they did – let’s just remember that in future years when the Tribe is rebuilding and savor the inter-divisional dominance of their past three years. Andrew Miller and Cody Allen even threw scoreless innings in this game, falsely giving some hope that they might be valuable contributors in the playoffs. But, all the same, we were blessed to see some amazing pitching from Andrew Miller, especially in his insanely dominant 17 postseason innings leading up to game 7 of the 2016 World Series, and from Cody Allen, as mentioned before. Let’s not let postseason struggles for any of the three pitchers who got us a win in this game taint our appreciation of all the success they have achieved for Cleveland Indians fans during their time here. No matter what, I’ll always be proud that Kluber, Miller and Allen pitched for the Tribe. Just as I’ll always be happy I got to root for Michael Brantley and that sweet, smooth swing, Kipnis and his perpetually dirty uniform, Lonnie Chisenhall and his penchant for big hits and carrying celebratory trays of water, and good-guy Rajai Davis and his ineffable, impossible home run off of the game’s great villain. I’ll be sad to see these guys go, even if their time to depart has justly arrived. (Just to be clear, Kluber will likely be on the Tribe next year, as will Kipnis unless the Indians unload his contract somewhere. I’m appreciating those two "just in case").

I enjoyed this season of Tribe baseball immensely, despite a lack of conviction regarding their chances for postseason success. The additions of Brad Hand, Leonys Martin and Josh Donaldson indicated a desire on the part of the Indians' ownership and front office to put all their chips in on a World Series run, and, while it didn't work out this year, it should give us confidence for the next two years of runs at a title. Honestly, the quick exit against the Astros wasn’t unexpected to me, but it does increase the sting of 2017’s inexplicable collapse against the Yankees. You’ll never convince me that the 2017 Indians were not the best team in baseball, but that’s how it goes sometimes. You have to enjoy the good times for what they are, appreciate the fun, excellent and virtuous players who represent your hometown while they are here, and remember that this cruel and beautiful game isn’t here to make you happy but to give some good memories and good perspective to carry with you into the parts of life that really matter. Here’s to more good times with a far more pleasant ending in 2019 for our Tribe.