Cleveland Indians: Five expectations for the 2019 season

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CLEVELAND, OH – NOVEMBER 02: A view of Progressive Field prior to Game Seven of the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians on November 2, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

The Cleveland Indians open the season as a favorite to make the postseason in 2019. While they lost many contributors from the past few years of successful teams, they have a lot of promise still remaining and expectations should be high.

The Cleveland Indians team looks a lot different from 2018 to now. They did, however, make some additions that should help them stay on top of the division and make it to the 2019 postseason.

The team still possesses one of, if not, the best rotations in all of baseball. That alone will keep them in many games this season.

With the bullpen having one of the worst seasons they have had in a long while, the additions they have made there look to help turn that around this year. They have a good mix of young guys and veteran leaders in both the pitching staff and the lineup to keep the dugout balanced and motivated.

The Indians fell short of expectations last season after an embarrassing divisional round exit. Expectations vary from fans to front office to media, but here are five expectations that the team can live up to in 2019.

Win the division

The Indians have won the AL central division each of the last three seasons. There is nothing to suggest they cannot do this again for a fourth straight crown in 2019.

The pitching staff returns fully intact and one through five they are one of the top rotations in baseball. With a top pitching staff, the pressure isn’t on the lineup to score 10 runs a game.

The lineup does, however, need to give that rotation some support. As we saw in 2018 with Mets starter Jacob DeGrom, run support is still needed no matter how well you pitch.

The Indians lineup has enough balance to be able to score runs and help their rotation control games every game. They have a good mix of speed and power as well as speed to control the base paths.

The rest of the division did not do much to get better. The Twins look to be the biggest threat but baseball always has surprises and a young team like the White Sox could surge into the discussion. Regardless, the Indians have the best team in the division and there is no reason they shouldn’t win the division in 2019.

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Rotation finishes top five in the majors

I cannot stress enough that the Indians have one of the best rotations in the major leagues. This goes a long way in making a team a contender and it plays huge in the postseason.

We saw in 2016 what excellent pitching can do in the run to the world series. We also saw what a lack of depth can do after injuries finally caught up to them in game seven.

The Indians reached a huge milestone in 2018 having four members of the same staff reach 200-plus strikeouts in the same season. They could absolutely break that and have all five hit 200-plus as Bieber finished 2018 with 118 in just 19 starts.

They finished in the top 10 in wins, strikeouts, WHIP, runs allowed, walks allowed and average against. They were without Shane Bieber as a mainstay fifth starter until the middle of June which is what leads me to believe a full season of these five will bring a top-five finish among the entire major leagues in 2019.

Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez finish with 30/30 seasons

The 30/30 (30 homers and 30 stolen bases) season is uncommon and has not happened a lot in history. In 2018, there were only two players to accomplish the feat: Boston’s Mookie Betts and our very own Jose Ramirez.

This expectation is not far-fetched despite it not occurring often. In fact, the 2018 pair were the first players to achieve a 30/30 season since the 2012 season.

I say this is not far-fetched because Jose accomplished it in 2018 and Francisco Lindor came close to achieving it himself with 38 home runs and 25 stolen bases of his own. Ramirez actually finished with 39 homers and 34 stolen bases.

Ramirez could finish with a 40/40 season if he builds on his 2018. Lindor is only going to continue improving as well and I see both finishing with 30-plus home runs. If the Indians continue to be aggressive on the base path as they have been the last few seasons, the pair could become just the third set of teammates to finish with 30/30 seasons in MLB history.

Team to make a big deadline move

The Indians have made big trade deadline moves each of the last three seasons. It started with the addition of Andrew Miller in 2016 which propelled them to the world series. They added Jay Bruce in 2017 and he elevated the offense and helped them down the stretch.

2018 was no different as they made a big move acquiring Brad Hand at the deadline and bolstered the bullpen for the rest of the year and beyond. Every team always has one spot where they can upgrade their team for a playoff push and the Indians will likely have a move to make come July.

The outfield is full of new faces and question marks and is the most obvious spot to look for help as it stands today. The way the bullpen plays will be a big factor on the year and another spot they could look to improve.

With trading Yan Gomes, if Roberto Perez and whoever breaks camp as the backup underachieve, they could look to improve behind the plate. An extra bat in the lineup, à la Jay Bruce, could also be a possibility if the offense is stalling mid-summer.

Five all-star players, minimum

The Indians have a lot of talent on their roster and they have plenty of players capable of making the all-star roster. The top five with the best odds are Lindor, Ramirez, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, and Corey Kluber.

There could be some surprise all-star performances in the first half but these five are almost locks, barring injury, to represent the Indians in Cleveland for the 2019 all-star game.

There are lofty expectations and there are reasonable ones. I feel the ones I have listed are all reasonable and absolutely achievable for the Indians in 2019.

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It is time to get excited Tribe fans. The season is going to be here before you know it and Believeland Ball has all the coverage you need all season long to stay up to date with the team!

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