Cleveland Indians: Top storylines as the postseason approaches

Before even thinking about the postseason roster, the Indians still have business to take care of on the field.

The Indians enter Tuesday with a 1.5-game lead over the Houston Astros for the best record in the American League, and trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by three games for the best record in baseball.

Fans won’t see Terry Francona go crazy trying to secure either top spot, as the health of his team is more important than home-field advantage. However, he also won’t put in B lineups either.

Don’t expect to see Andrew Miller come out in every single close game, and don’t expect Corey Kluber to start on short rest to secure one of these top spots.

Indians fans have seen nearly this entire expanded roster contribute all month, and that should continue, barring any jet lag in Los Angeles. The main goal should be securing that top spot in the AL, while the top record in baseball would be a bonus.

The playoffs are such a crapshoot it is not a given that the Dodgers are automatically going to the World Series, meaning the top spot in the AL may be enough. Sorry, I’m getting way too far ahead of myself.

The Indians just need to play even with the Astros for the remainder of the season to secure that top seed in the AL. Doing that would mean only having to face the Astros or the Boston Red Sox, instead of both, to get to the World Series. That is, given the Red Sox hold off the New York  Yankees in the AL East race.

I won’t even try to predict the complete final outcome given how unpredictable all these teams have been, but I will say the Indians should be able to hold on to the top spot in the AL.