Sunday, March 4, 2012

Cleveland Indians 2012 Season Preview

At the beginning of 2011, the Cleveland Indians were essentially an afterthought when it came to teams that could content. Then the season started, and the Indians found themselves surprisingly competitive. They made moves at the trade deadline, such as acquiring Ubaldo Jimenez. While the acquisitions did not work for 2011, and the Indians found themselves under .500 yet again, they have at least given notice that they are no longer the pushovers they had been for the past few seasons.

Cleveland’s starting rotation is filled with ground ball pitchers, so the infield defense is going to be vitally important. Fronting the rotation is the aforementioned Ubaldo Jimenez, who endured the worst season of his career. While his peripheral numbers were similar to what they had always been, he lost a couple of miles per hour from his fastball. If he can regain the lost velocity, he gives the Indians a very good ace. Otherwise, he becomes a good pitcher who will provide solid innings. Justin Masterson had a breakout season, as he shaved nearly a run and a half from his ERA. His walk rate drastically improved, and he appears to finally be tapping into this potential. Veteran Derek Lowe was brought over as the third starter. Despite his age, he still induces plenty of ground balls, and fits well into their rotation. Josh Tomlin may not be able to dent a piece of bread with his fastball, but he is a surprisingly effective starter. Kevin Slowey is the best bet to round out the rotation, as he looks to bounce back from an ineffective and injury plagued season.

The ‘Bullpen Mafia’ may actually be the best relief corps in baseball. Chris Perez returns as the closer, but may actually be one of the Indians worst relief pitchers. Even though he is expected to be back from his injury by Opening Day, there is no guarantee that he holds the spot all year. Vinnie Pestano, the pitcher most likely to take over from Perez, may be one of the top three set-up men in baseball. Last season, he held right handed batters to a .118 batting average. Joe Smith and Rafael Perez are both ground ball specialists, and are excellent specialists. This is an extremely deep group, and will not cost the Indians many games over the season.

The outfield is slated to have Michael Brantley in left, Grady Sizemore in center, and Shin-Soo Choo in right. Any idea of expecting production, health, or Sizemore missing fewer than 100 games is pure insanity at this point. Expect Brantley to end up in center. He provides solid defense and good speed, but also has issues staying healthy. Choo had an abysmal year las tseason, and needs to have a bounce back campaign for the Indians to take the next step forward in their quest to contend. Aaron Cunningham, a castoff from the San Deigo Padres, or Shelley Duncan, will likely see a lot of action this season.

Around the infield, the Indians have a nice blend of veterans and youngsters. Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis will be starters for an entire season in 2012, and both are intriguing prospects. Chisenhall may never reach the gaudy numbers that he was thought to early in his minor league career, but he looks like he may be another Travis Fryman-type player. .280 with 25 home runs and solid defense would not be a surprise. Kipnis, meanwhile, may be an absolute stud. He was overlooked by most people due to Dustin Ackley being in the minors at the same time, but Kipnis was just as good. Asdrubal Cabrera put together a monster year in 2011, and will be hitting in the middle of the lineup once again. Expect some regression, but he will have another solid year. Casey Kotchman provides excellent defense, and a decent bat, at first base. Power has never really been his thing, but he will hit enough to stay in the lineup. If either Chisenhall or Kotchman falter, defensive whiz Jack Hannahan is waiting in the wings.

At catcher is Carlos Santana, who happens to be one of the best in the game. His batting average was low, but he still got on base, hit for power, and was versatile in the field. Backup Lou Marson will see more time than the typical backup catcher, since Santana plays a lot of first base as well to take some wear and tear off his knees. Travis Hafner returns as the DH, but like Sizemore, can he be expected to remain healthy all season? If he can, Hafner provides another power bat to what is a solid lineup.

If the Indians can remain healthy, and that is a big if, they could have a shot at winning the AL Central. At the very least, they will be in contention for one of the wild card slots in the American League.

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