Cleveland Indians Roundtable: Bold predictions for 2018

David Gasper

(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

It’s getting to be the time of year where everyone starts making predictions about the Cleveland Indians’ upcoming 2018 season.

Those of us here at Believeland Ball wanted to get in on the action and make our bold predictions for this season. With plenty of promise and high expectations for this season, these predictions needed to be even bolder.

These aren’t going to be the typical win-loss predictions that computers try to put out. Computer predictions are generally never bold and they have a tendency to be wrong, especially when it comes to baseball. This is not a sport that is easily predicted. Few outside the Houston area would have predicted their World Series title last year.

The Cleveland Indians may be in the final year of their World Series window, meaning that they will need to make the most of this season. If these bold predictions come true, the Tribe should be well on its way to winning its first title since 1948.

In this roundtable, the writers at Believeland Ball each make one bold prediction for this upcoming season. These predictions involve everything from rookies to veterans to impending free agents. The Indians will need contributions from all these players throughout the season to achieve the success the Indians faithful have been hoping for.

With an ideal lineup hopefully in place for next year, the Indians will be able to get the most out of their players. After the free agent losses of Carlos Santana and Jay Bruce, there will need to be some players that will step up and replace the production that was lost with those two. It may be tough, but it’s not impossible to replace that kind of production.

With that being said, here are our bold predictions for the Cleveland Indians for the upcoming 2018 season.

Chris O’Reilly

Bold Prediction: Bradley Zimmer will lead the Indians in runs scored.

If you’ve been following along this winter, you know some of us here at Believeland Ball have pretty high hopes for Zimmer in 2018.

Despite a tough go at the plate late last season, Zimmer has the skill set to break out in his second year. He slashed .285/.339/.450 leading up to the All-Star break before opposing pitchers figured out how to shut him down.

We’re going to choose to believe in his early-season numbers rather than the .196/.275/.318 line he posted after the Midsummer Classic. When a young player goes through a long-term slump, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a bad hitter. It just means that there’s enough evidence on him for opposing teams to formulate an adequate scouting report on how to get him out.

The scouting report on Zimmer last season was pretty simple: He will chase pitches out of the zone, and he hasn’t proven the ability to make contact on them. As a result, he struck out 99 times.

With last year’s experience under his belt and a full offseason to prepare for 2018, Zimmer can respond to the adjustments opposing teams made to him in the second half of his 2017 campaign. We should see his numbers climb back up closer to where they were in the first half.

Furthermore, Zimmer is a pitcher’s nightmare on the base paths. He stole 18 bases on 19 attempts last season, and that’s even with a modest .307 on-base percentage. Once he refines his plate approach and proves to be a tougher out, he will have considerably more chances at thievery.

Zimmer will cut down on the strikeouts, he will get on base more often, and he will improve upon his promising stolen base total from last year, making him a strong candidate to bat near the top of the Indians’ lineup. The big guns in the middle of the order will capitalize on the RBI opportunities he will provide, and he will score more than 100 runs, making him one of the American League’s top breakthrough players in 2018.

Dan Zerby

Bold Prediction: Lonnie Chisenhall will have a career year

Lonnie Chisenhall led the team with 51 RBIs before the All Star Break in 2017, but he was limited to just 18 games in the second half. As 2018 approaches, he will look to sustain his success for a full season.

Throughout the course of his seven-year career, 29-year-old Lonnie Chisenhall has yet to have a full season in the major leagues. Early on in his career, his struggles kept him moving back and forth between the minor leagues and the big league club. Since putting it all together, he has been held back by injuries. Lonnie played a career high 126 games in 2016, and was held to just 82 this past season.

Over the years, Lonnie has shown flashes of brilliance, but has yet to be able to continue it for a full season. While nobody will ever forget his 5-5/ 3HR/ 9 RBI game on June 9th, 2014, his 2017 season went largely unnoticed. Lonnie ended his first half with 12 HR/ 13 2B/ 51 RBI/ .305 BA/ .376 OBP/ .578 SLG/ .953 OPS.

Despite these very strong numbers from Lonnie, the Indians disappointing 47-40 record at the break distracted from it. Chisenhall’s injury riddled second half limited him to only 18 games, in which he hit just .224 with 2 RBI.

As the regular season approaches, it seems as if Lonnie will be an everyday outfielder for the Cleveland Indians. Terry Francona does like to platoon Lonnie, and with Brandon Guyer’s track record against left-handed pitching, Lonnie might be more of a platoon. However, we also do not know how well Zimmer will hit lefties, or how well Brantley will hold up in the outfield every day. Guyer is primarily a left fielder by trade, and Lonnie saw some time in center this past season.

This makes it very plausible that Lonnie will indeed be an everyday player. Lonnie has never been an everyday player for a long period of time, but it is my belief that if he can stay healthy in 2018, this year will be a career year for him.

David Gasper

Bold Prediction: Francisco Mejia earns starting job, becomes All-Star as a rookie.

The catching situation for the Indians leaves much to be desired on the offensive end. Roberto Perez hit .207 and Yan Gomes hit .232 last season. Luckily, the Cleveland Indians have the best catching prospect in all of baseball with Francisco Mejia. He didn’t achieve much success in his 11 at bats in the big leagues last year, but he is primed for success.

Mejia should get a chance to earn the starting spot in Spring Training, and given his offensive prowess, he can earn that job. If Mejia gets the starting job, he will do it all for the Indians. He can hit for good average, which is something the team didn’t have last year. He also has a cannon for an arm and will be a major asset defensively. He will be an All Star for this team, and he’ll do it in his rookie year.

He was in Double-A for all of last year, with the exception of his call up to the big leagues. So he hasn’t had any at-bats in Triple-A yet but he could be pressed into duty. With the lack of offensive output from Gomes and Perez, plus the free agent losses of Jay Bruce and Carlos Santana, the Indians will need a boost in their lineup. Mejia could be that boost.

Honestly, there’s not too many competitors for the All-Star team at catcher in the American League. Gary Sanchez is a big name but outside of that, Salvador Perez is going to be on a losing team, and Brian McCann isn’t that great of an offensive player. If Mejia can come in and hit for the high average that he normally does and is as advertised defensively, there is little reason to keep him off the All Star roster.

Mejia is the future at the catching position for the Cleveland Indians. In my opinion, he should be the starter coming out of camp and he will be an All-Star.

Brandon Kring

Bold Prediction: Yonder Alonso and Edwin Encarnacion combine for 75 home runs and 200 RBIs

The Indians loss of Carlos Santana still stings in the hearts of many Indians fans. The Tribe went out to help fill that void and ended up signing Yonder Alonso. Alonso hit a career high 28 home runs in 2017 while Edwin hit 38. The two combined for 66 home runs and 174 RBIs last year.

With a healthy Cleveland Indians lineup around these two, they should see plenty of pitches to hit. With Michael Brantley, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Jason Kipnis around them at the top of that lineup, they will have plenty of opportunities to drive in runs.

Alonso had a very large jump in his power numbers last season. Much of it could have had to do with the power jump around the league. But he did adjust some things with his swing to get more lift on the ball to help him utilize his strength.

What makes this prediction so bold is that Encarnacion is aging and could hit the wall at any time. Also, Alonso’s large gap could be an outlier due to the factors listed above. One thing is for sure, this prediction could be reached or even exceeded in 2018 with a healthy lineup around these two middle of the order hitters.

Matt Bretz

Bold Prediction: Jason Kipnis returns to form and is a top three second baseball in the American League

There are multiple players primed for rebound seasons with the Cleveland Indians, but the player I am most confident that will rebound, is Jason Kipnis. In fact, my bold prediction is that Kipnis will not only bounce back, but be a top three second baseman in the American League this year.

This may sound crazy, given that in 2017, Kipnis had a mere 0.7 fWAR, which ranked 32nd in all of baseball among second baseman with at least 300 plate appearances. He hit just .232 with a sub-.300 on-base percentage and just all-around looked off last season. However, he was also hurt from the get-go, missing most of Spring Training, and he never got his footing.

In 2015 and 2016, when healthy, Jason Kipnis had a combined 9.7 fWAR, good for the third-best in all of baseball among second basemen, behind only 2017 American League Most Valuable Player Jose Altuve (11.3) and former Tiger Ian Kinsler (9.8). Offensively, Kipnis was arguably a top five second basemen in all of baseball in that time as well with a 120 wRC+, good for fifth in baseball behind Altuve, Daniel Murphy, Robinson Cano, and Ben Zobrist.

With the news that Kipnis may be heading back to second base after a brief (and ill-advised) stint in centerfield, I am very confident that Kipnis can return to form. Perhaps he isn’t the near-five-win player he was in 2015 and 2016, but I am boldly predicting he will be a three-plus win guy and that his bat returns to near 2016 levels (at worst).

Altuve is clearly the cream of the crop among AL second basemen and Brian Dozier is still a force. But after that, I think Kipnis can best the likes of Jonathan Schoop and Jed Lowrie. The only question is, will it be good enough to make the All-Star team again?

Steven Kubitza

Bold Prediction: Indians win 103 games

The 102 wins in 2017 were special, but my bold prediction is that the Indians will top that in 2018 with 103 wins in the regular season.

The main reason for this is because the AL Central is not expected to be competitive this season. The Minnesota Twins should be decent, but the other three teams should not challenge the Indians in any way.

More from Away Back Gone

The bulk of the group that won all those games in 2017 is back, with a few notable subtractions but nothing too major.

Past Indians teams have had success one year only to regress mightily the next year, but this team is too talented for that to happen.

Some fans may say to be careful on such a lofty prediction, but we are supposed to be bold and honestly after last season I don’t see 103 wins as something too crazy.

Even if the team deals with injuries this season, we have consistently seen players step up every year to fill the voids.

Next: Top 5 home run hitters in franchise history

And with other writers expecting big years from players like Mejia and Zimmer, fans may be seeing some rising stars shine in 2018 the same way we have seen the rises of players like Ramirez and Lindor.

David Gasper

Graduate of UW-La Crosse. Been covering the Brewers for the last 7 years and editor at Reviewing the Brew since 2018. Host of the Cold Brew Podcast. Follow me @dgasper24