Cleveland Indians: Three things that went right in April

Three things that went right in April for the Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians wrapped up the first month of the 2021 Major League Baseball season with hard-fought victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night. Shane Bieber broke an impressive record, formerly held by Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, after recording eight or more strikeouts in 18 consecutive starts. The Indians lineup did as much as they needed to do to earn the win in the third inning. With the win, the Tribe secured a .500 record (12-12) in the month of April.

It has not been a particularly awe-inspiring 24 games for the Tribe to start the campaign, but as the old adage goes, ‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint.’ The season is still very young and a lot happens throughout the long slog of a 162-game campaign. However, the on-field product has already offered glimmers of hope for an Indians team that is a perennial slow starter.

It’s those hopeful rays that will need to start burning brighter if the Cleveland Indians wish to stay relevant in an American League Central division that promises to be one of the most competitive in baseball. The Kansas City Royals have gotten off to a hot start as they have positioned themselves at the head of the pack. The Chicago White Sox have been surging as of late, while the current division champion Minnesota Twins have had a difficult first month, but are too talented to not be in the mix come September. Against much more well-rounded teams, the Cleveland Indians will have their work cut out for them to remain in the hunt.

In many ways, the Tribe’s 2021 campaign has gone as expected. The starting pitching, while experiencing some shakiness at the back-end, has been solid; the bullpen has, for the most part, put up zeroes and held onto leads; and the offense, after losing two of their best hitters from 2020, remains the team’s Achilles heel.

However, the focus of this article is on the positives from last month, so let’s take a look at three things, in particular, that have gone right for the Indians, so far. If you want to go down the rabbit hole of the negatives, take a look at our article highlighting the three things that went wrong in April.