Cleveland Indians: Ranking potential playoff opponents by desirability

By far, the most desirable postseason opponent for the Indians would be the young and upcoming Toronto Blue Jays.

Toronto’s rebuild has run a year ahead of schedule due to their outstanding offensive attack and a young bullpen that have exceeded expectations, but they don’t quite have the depth or experience needed to make a deep playoff run.

Their offense has almost no postseason experience and would likely have trouble against Bieber and the Indians filthy starting rotation.

As for their pitching, Toronto’s starting rotation outside of Hyun-jin Ryu have struggled and will be counting on veteran arms such as Tanner Roark and Robbie Ray to return to form as solid mid-rotation options.

While there’s been a lot to like from the Toronto bullpen, former closer Ken Giles has had a miserable season, current closer Rafael Dolis is a journeyman who seems to have simply caught lightning in a bottle and the rest has almost no experience.

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Thus, if the Indians can move up in the AL Central standings and into second place or perhaps win the central to matchup with Toronto, they could have a great chance to clinch a trip to the ALDS.