Cleveland Indians: Francisco Lindor off to an amazing start on offense

The Cleveland Indians have not been great at the plate early in the 2017 season, but Francisco Lindor has helped pick up the slack.

Francisco Lindor has endeared himself to Cleveland Indians fans with his amazing work at shortstop. But it is his offense that has fans excited in 2017.

Lindor leads the team in nearly offensive category through seven games, with his four home runs standing out as the most impressive stat. He only has eight total hits, so he is on a historical home run pace. One can dream.

This all comes after he opened the season 0-for-6 in the first two games of the season. It wasn’t until the third game that he really began to rake.

After making a crucial error that allowed three runs to score in the third game against the Texas Rangers, Lindor hit a home run in each of his final two at-bats, including a game-winning grand slam that gave his team the sweep. He hasn’t slowed down since.

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His solo home run in Tuesday’s home opener gave his team the early lead, while a walk in the bottom of the tenth inning put him on base to ultimately score the winning run on a hit by Michael Brantley.

Lindor’s performance has helped carry the offense while players like Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Ramirez have gotten off to slow starts. It is too early in the year to claim any player is in a slump, but it certainly isn’t too early to say that Lindor has made himself the face of the team on both offense and defense.

The roar of the crowd during team introductions at the home opener was enough proof that Lindor is the star of this team, as he received a Lebron-like cheer as he emerged from the dugout with his patented smile on his face.

No one expected Lindor to struggle in 2017, but it is still surprising to see him off to such an amazing start. Perhaps it was playing in the World Baseball Classic or maybe it’s just his natural ability, but Lindor could have another historic season filled with postseason honors in 2017. Not bad for someone who is just 23 years old.