Cleveland Indians: The healthy core needed for a title in 2017

The Cleveland Indians have dealt with numerous injuries in 2017. Here are the players who must remain healthy for the team to win a title this year.

The injury situation the 2017 Cleveland Indians have had to face has been nothing short of laborious. Yet, somehow, the situations haven’t been disastrous.

Whenever a team loses its ace starter for a month, its all-world left-handed demigod, its third and fourth best starters, two of its best three outfielders and its All-Star second baseman to multiple DL stints, one would think their team is well below .500.

That is far from the case for the 2017 Indians. Sure, losing Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Danny Salazar, Lonnie Chisenhall and Josh Tomlin all to multiple stints on the DL has been painful to watch, but when something like this happens it opens the door for others to shine.

They either shine or the season is over. The men who have stepped in have certainly shined.

Bradley Zimmer has been a borderline five-tool wonder in center field. The Jay Bruce trade has worked wonders for this team in solidifying the corner outfield, and with Bruce hitting sandwiched between Edwin Encarnacion and Carlos Santana, it has helped both men take off at the plate in the second half.

Giovanny Urshela has shown flashes of third base excellence this organization has quite possibly never seen. All of these contributions have helped the Indians to a 76-56 record, and comfortable AL Central lead heading into September.

Yet, when weighing the larger goal here, the Indians have to make sure September goes well. The team simply cannot be this beat up when October comes and playoff series become tighter than ever.

In an ideal world, every player is needed to fulfill their role in order to produce the best results, but we know that isn’t always the case. The Indians don’t need every name healthy, and they probably won’t get that anyway. What they have proven is that they can succeed on the big stage even when they aren’t at peak health.

Injuries occur and will continue to occur, sure, but when analyzing the Indians potential success, they absolutely need these core players to have any hope whatsoever.