Cleveland Indians: Top 5 players from the first half of 2018

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(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

The Cleveland Indians have had an interesting first half to the 2018 season. With a ton of breakout stars, who has cemented themselves as the best so far?

It’s been an exhilarating baseball season to this point to say this least. The Cleveland Indians have already played a roller coaster season and we’re only halfway through. Despite what’s felt like some really bad struggles, they’re close to the same position they were at the break last year.

This year the Indians are 52-43 at the break, last year they were 47-40. That being said, they have played nine more games before the break than they did this last year.

This year has seen it’s share of new faces. The inclusion of Yonder Alonso after Carlos Santana left town has proven to be a great move. Alonso has a .258 batting average compared to Santana’s .209, and he has a higher .OPS for nearly 1/3 of the price of Santana.

We’ve seen our fair share of rotating faces in the bullpen. Oliver Perez came in during some of the worst struggles we’ve seen this bullpen face. In his 21 appearances this year, he has a 0.69 ERA and 13 strikeouts along with a WHIP of 0.53.

Another splendid addition to the Indians roster has been Shane Bieber. Bieber was called up after the struggles of Josh Tomlin saw him moved to the bullpen, and Adam Plutko proved to be too inconsistent.

Bieber gave the Tribe nothing but consistency. He’s been a strike throwing machine and more effective at it the Josh Tomlin had been. Bieber has solidified his spot in the rotation for now and may even see himself hold that spot all year.

But there have been All-Stars and breakout studs that we have yet to discuss. So without further ado, let’s get into the top 5 Indians players from the first half of this season.

Michael Brantley

Was there anyone in the Indians fan base that wasn’t a little concerned after the Tribe extended Michael Brantley before this year? Everyone thought that his injury history would plague his season and that the team had placed too much trust in him.

Needless to say Michael Brantley proved everybody wrong. The only players on the Tribe roster with a higher batting average than Brantley are Lonnie Chisenhall, who is injured; and *squints* Shane Bieber in three at-bats? Brantley has a .303 batting average.

The month of May was exceptionally kind to Brantley. He had a .977 OPS and slugged .579 with 26 of his 56 RBIs. He earned himself his second consecutive All-Star Game nod and has been the one constant in the Indians outfield this year.

If there are any remaining Brantley doubters out there, seeing how incredible he’s been when healthy is all the proof you need that this extension has been worth it. If he is able to stay healthy for the whole season, Brantley will be a game-changer in the second half for the Tribe.

The Indians will likely have to trade for an outfielder with the injuries they’ve seen to Bradley Zimmer and Chisenhall. No matter who the Indians go after, it will be comforting to know they’ll have Michael Brantley there at their side.

Corey Kluber

It would be tough for Corey Kluber to top his second Cy Young award-winning season that he had last year. Yet still, Corey Kluber is having yet another remarkable season. He already has 12 wins and is easily on pace to top his career-high 18 wins.

His strikeout numbers are just slightly below par, but that’s an attribute to how great Kluber was last year. He missed nearly the entire month of May in 2017 and still ended the season with 265 strikeouts.

As the Cleveland Indians have proven to be second-half teams throughout their history, it’s safe to see we have yet to see Kluber’s best in 2018. Still, he has a 2.76 ERA and has pitched a whopping 133.2 innings.

Kluber has had one weakness this year and it’s been the long-ball. He’s allowed 19 homers after allowing just 21 last year. So why isn’t his ERA higher? Well, he mainly only allows solo homers. He has a WHIP of 0.91 and has the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in baseball. He even went over a month without allowing a walk!

Corey Kluber is still the ace of this team, and he’ll likely be in the mix for his third Cy Young award. Kluber recently received an injection in his leg after he said his mechanics were being affected. So as we go into to the break, let’s hope this slight setback doesn’t alter his already remarkable 2018 season.

Trevor Bauer

Who would’ve thought the outspoken righty would arguably be the Tribe’s best pitcher this year? Trevor Bauer surely did. After an offseason of working in his “lab” to change some of his throwing mechanics, Bauer came into 2018 with a vengeance. He created a new form of curveball in an attempt to replicate Corey Kluber’s.

The result? Bauer has been one of the best strikeout pitchers in baseball. He’s got an insane 31.4 strikeout percentage and has the lowest HR/9 innings rate at 0.40. His 2.24 ERA is second in the AL and third in majors behind Chris Sale and Jacob deGrom. That’s some pretty good company for Bauer.

It’s also something Tribe fans have not been used to seeing. Last year at this time, fans were calling for Bauer to be benched after the drone incident. There was worry about another first-half struggle after a loss to the Mariners at the start of the year.

Francisco Lindor

How do you top slugging .505 and having a .842 OPS in your third season? How about slugging .562 and a .929 OPS the following year. Francisco Lindor has done just that. It felt like Lindor couldn’t get much better than his 2017 self, but he’s come out and cemented himself as one of the best shortstops in baseball. That’s not small feat as this is the golden age of shortstops in the MLB.

It’s not only the 25 homers and 63 RBIs that has made Lindor a household name. His defense is absolutely superb. It seems like every week you see a highlight of Frankie flying around the infield making remarkable plays.

Francisco Lindor has unofficially worked himself as the current face of the Cleveland Indians. He has the smile that’s contagious. He plays a premium position. He’s a switch hitter that can dominate on both sides of the plate. Any team would love to have Lindor in their infield.

Cleveland has the luxury of having Lindor in their city for years to come, but he’s a once in a generation player. It’s important to enjoy it while it lasts. As long as Lindor is in an Indians uniform, he’ll always have Cleveland smiling.

Jose Ramirez

There were a lot of questions surrounding the Cleveland Indians coming into this season. One player who was never in question, and frankly hardly talked about was the Indians third baseman, Jose Ramirez.

Now Jose Ramirez has solidified himself as one of the best players in baseball as well as an AL MVP candidate. Ramirez is tied for the MLB lead in home runs with 29 along with having 40 RBIs and an incredible .402 on-base percentage.

Ramirez also boasts a 6.5 WAR which is just a decimal below the leader Mike Trout. He was voted in as the starting All-Star 3B for the American League and is the first Indians player to have 20 steals and 20 homers before the All-Star break since Grady Sizemore. On top of that he has 26 doubles.

Despite all of those breathtaking numbers, Jose Ramirez is not talked about much. It seems like he is under the radar of the big names that have significantly lower stats than he. But it doesn’t seem to stop Jose from his remarkable performances.

Ramirez has only gotten better in every year of his young career. The fact that the Indians were able to extend him before his big breakout is a major blessing for the Tribe. He’ll be a fan favorite and a Cleveland All-Star for a long time to come.

Next: Indians beat Yankees to close out the first half

Honorable mentions:

Mike Clevinger, Yan Gomes, Shane Bieber, Edwin Encarnacion

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