Cleveland Indians: 2020 Season Recap and Awards

The Cleveland Indians 2020 season came to a crushing end Wednesday. Not it’s time to look back and reflect on the most unique season in team history.

In a season that some called “fake” due to just 60 regular season games being played and no fans allowed in any ballpark amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the heartbreak of Cleveland Indians fans was anything but fake.

The Tribe put together a 35-25 regular season resulting in locking down the fourth seed in the AL postseason, the Indians season ended in heartbreak as they were swept in a best-of-three Wild Card series by the New York Yankees.

After watching Shane Bieber allow seven-runs in a 12-3 Game 1 loss, Wednesday’s Game 2 loss was among the most painful losses in team history. The Indians took a 4-0 first-inning lead only to watch their former third basemen Gio Urshela hit a go-ahead grand slam in the top of the fourth.

Cleveland would claw back to take a 9-8 lead into the top of the ninth where Brad Hand blew his first save of the entire season by allowing two runs as the Yankees stole a 10-9 season to send the Indians home for what figures to be a gut-wrenching offseason.

While a potentially dark offseason may loom and the Indians’ season ended in heartbreak, there was plenty of positive to take away from their 2020 season. Here’s a look back at some of the best and worst moments and some hardware for the most and least valuable Cleveland Indians of 2020.

Indians storm back to shock White Sox, clinch playoff spot 

In a season that saw the Cleveland Indians struggle to push across runs, their September 22 battle with the then AL Central leading Chicago White Sox looked like another painful loss.

After a first inning solo home run from Cesar Hernandez the Indians offense disappeared for eight innings and their 1-0 lead faded in the top of the sixth as Jose Abreu hit a solo shot off Adam Plutko.

The game would head to extra innings where in the top of the 10th, the White Sox hit what seemed to be the dagger as Adam Engel delivered an RBI triple and Nick Madrigal hit an RBI single to put the Sox on top 3-1.

Cleveland’s start to the bottom of the 10th went as many expected from their struggling offense as Josh Naylor popped out and Delino DeShields struck out putting the White Sox an out away from victory with a runner on second.

Instead of a loss that would’ve surprised nobody, the Indians rallied back. Francisco Lindor hit a two-out double to score Roberto Perez who was placed on second base as part of the 2020 extra inning rules and pull the Tribe within one.

Then, Hernandez walked setting up Jose Ramirez with a chance to win the ball game. Down to his final strike, Ramirez came up clutch as he delivered a stunning three-run walk-off home run to clinch a comeback 5-3 Indians win and clinch Cleveland’s fourth postseason berth in the last five years.

The win sparked a late-season hot streak from the Tribe as they went onto sweep four-games from the White Sox and jump-ahead of them in the final AL Central standings.

Honorable Mention: Santana’s three-run bomb in the 10th leads Cleveland past Pirates.

An instant classic ends in heartbreak and elimination

In a game that will go down as one of the most dramatic postseason games’ in MLB history, the Cleveland Indians saw their 2020 season end in heartbreak.

After dropping Game 1 of a best-of-three Wild Card series to the New York Yankees, the Tribe entered Game 2 of the series with their backs against the wall.

The game got off to a wild start as after a rain delay pushed first pitch back from 7:00 to 7:50 p.m., Cleveland began to rally in the bottom of the first as Ramirez hit an RBI-double off Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka to give the Tribe an early 1-0 lead. Then the rain began to fall again, leading to a 45-minute rain delay.

After the delay, the Indians picked up right where they left off as Naylor hit a two-run double and Perez hit an RBI single to give the Tribe a 4-0 lead.

The Yankees would get one back off Carlos Carrasco in the top of the second with a solo home run from Giancarlo Stanton, but the Indians kept the lead at 4-1 until the top of the fourth.

In the top of the fourth, the Bombers knocked Carrasco out of the game, leaving James Karinchak with a bases-loaded no-out jam. This would not end well for the young right-hander as former Indian Gio Urshela lifted a grand slam to left-center to put the Yankees in front 5-4.

New York would extend the lead to 6-4 in the top of the fifth, but the Tribe showed no signs of quitting. Ramirez answered back with a two-run double off Yankee reliever Chad Green in the bottom of the fifth to even the game at six.

The Yankees would regain the lead in the top of the sixth, however, as Gary Sanchez hit a two-run home run off Indians rookie Triston McKenzie but again Cleveland would not go away.

In the bottom of the seventh, Jordan Luplow delivered a clutch two-out, pinch-hit two-run double to tie the game and in the bottom of the eighth, the Tribe pulled ahead with an RBI single from Hernandez.

With a one-run lead, the Indians called on closer Brad Hand who was the only reliever in baseball during the 2020 regular season not to blow a save. That streak would come to a crushing end, as the Yankees loaded the bases with nobody out. Hand would strikeout Brett Gardner but with one-out, Sanchez tied the game with a sac-fly.

It appeared Hand was set to escape the inning with the game tied but with two strikes, DJ LeMahieu delivered an RBI single to put the Yankees ahead 10-9. This time, there would be no comeback from the Indians as Aroldis Chapman struck out three in the ninth to end the Indians’ season.

With a game that lasted nearly five hours (4:50) and featured four lead changes being the end of the Indians season, there’s no competition in naming this the worst loss of the year.

Honorable Mention: Cubs walk-off Tribe handing Indians eighth straight loss

Indians Offensive Player of the Year: Jose Ramirez

In a year that saw the Indians offense struggle, Jose Ramirez was a major bright spot.

Ramirez got off to an ice-cold start in July and early August but turned things around in the second half of the season to slash .292/.386/.607 with 17 home runs and 46 RBI’s.

The Indians infielder finished tied with LeMahieu among AL position players with a 2.8 WAR and will join Bieber among the finalists for the MVP Award.

Despite the Indians’ brief postseason stint, Ramirez’ monster regular season carried over as he hit .429 with four RBI’s in Cleveland’s two-game series loss to New York.

While much of the attention will be on Francisco Lindor this offseason, the Indians’ front office will also have a decision to make on Ramirez as his contract is set to expire after the 2020 season and he will likely be in line for a mega deal on the free-agent market.

Thus, his MVP caliber season may just have been his last, calling Progressive Field his home ballpark.

Honorable Mention: Cesar Hernandez (.283/.355/.408) 3 HR, 20 RBI’s 

Indians 2020 Least Valuable Player: Oscar Mercado

With the Indians woeful season at the plate, there are, unfortunately, plenty of candidates for a team Least Valuable Player of the Year Award. The down-year that stood out most, however, would be outfielder Oscar Mercado‘s brutal campaign.

In 2019, Mercado finished 8th in AL Rookie of the Year voting as he slashed .269/.318/.443 with 15 home runs, 54 RBI’s and 15 stolen bases to take over the starting job in center field.

With the Indians counting on him to be a major part of their everyday lineup in 2020, Mercado flopped in a big way. He slashed just .128/.174/.174 with just one home run and six RBI’s and was even demoted to the teams’ alternate site at one point during the summer.

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Looking ahead, Cleveland’s outfield now has major questions as Mercado may not be the long-term center fielder; it looked as if he was set to become after his big rookie season and Delino DeShields struggles in his first year with the Tribe after coming over from Texas in the Corey Kluber trade.

Honorable Mention: Francisco Lindor (.258/.335/.415) 8 HR, 27 RBI’s