Cleveland Indians: Three Players Ready for a Big July

These three members of the Cleveland Indians are likely to play well in June

When the month of June opened for the Cleveland Indians, things looked quite a bit different than they do now. Then, the Indians found themselves half a game behind the Kansas City Royals for first place in the American League Central. Over the month, the roles reversed, with the Tribe holding a six-game lead at the writing of this post.

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The biggest part of this change was an incredible 12-game winning streak, driven by a resurgence in starting pitching and offense. This said the team experienced a similar caliber of success over the entire month of June. FanGraphs assigned the team 10.4 wins above replacement during the month, by far the best among all Major League teams.

Now that we have established the high level of play seen during June, let’s briefly recap how my picks performed. Jason Kipnis had a solid month, slashing .269/.340/.484 with some good defensive marks. This falls in as better than his yearly average, so I would call this a successful selection.

Cody Allen was a bit of a risky pick given his shaking outings, but he had exhibited some underlying signs of improvement – and improve he did. Across just over nine innings of work, he saved nine games while striking out an impressive 13 batters. Equally impressive, he allowed just three earned runs on two walks and nine hits. During June, the closer looked a lot more like the star to whom we had grown accustomed to seeing.

Finally, Lonnie Chisenhall returned from injury to play very well. Batting .305 over 89 plate appearances, his offensive output was roughly 28 percent better than league-average. Although he hurt the team a bit with his glove, his presence in the outfield was much appreciated. Only Francisco Lindor had a better month at the plate.

Now, let’s turn our gaze on July and see who looks to help continue the playoff push.

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