Looking Back at the 2019 Season, the Cleveland Indians Still Have a Lot to Be Proud Of

The 2019 regular season didn't end the way that the Cleveland Indians envisioned, as they were officially eliminated from postseason contention this evening following the victories by both the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays, all but putting a quick end to the thought of there being an American League Wild Card play-in game. As such, it's time to look ahead towards the 2020 regular season for the Cleveland Indians and the offseason planning that will start here over the next few weeks.

Although the Cleveland Indians missed will miss out on the playoffs this season, they still have a heck of a lot to be proud of considering a multitude of different factors that occurred throughout the span of this year. At the conclusion of play tonight, the Indians had a cumulative record of 93-67, good enough for a (.581) winning percentage. A lot of that has to do with the extraordinary leadership of Terry Francona and his entire coaching staff, but there were a number of other key factors that played into the success and eventual postseason contention run for the Indians as well.

For starters, look no further than the starting rotation which was decimated by injuries and bad news dating back to May of this year. At the beginning of May, the Cleveland Indians officially announced that their ace, Corey Kluber, would be put on the 10-Day Injured List with a right ulna fracture which ultimately ended up turning into a season ending surgery. Unfortunately for the Indians, Corey Kluber was a pivotal part of their plans heading into this season meaning that when the news was announced, it was a blow to the overall spirit of the team and their fanbase.

Additionally, it was later revealed that another key component of the Cleveland Indians starting rotation, Carlos Carassco, was diagnosed with leukemia. The diagnosis was officially announced once July rolled around, but with some good spirit and a courageous effort both Carassco and his entire medical team, were able to find a way to beat the disease. Thankfully Carassco is in good health and was able to make a return to a big league mound before the regular season ended. Being the classy guy that Carlos Carassco is, he ended up not only bringing a lot of awareness to leukemia, but announced that he would donate $230 dollars of his own money towards cancer research. While the official diagnosis was announced in July, the last appearance that Carrasco made prior to September 1st was May 30th.

Therefore, by the start of June, the Cleveland Indians were already without two key cogs of their starting rotation and were still waiting for pitcher, Danny Salazar, to attempt his comeback. That comeback finally came at the start of August, but it only lasted one-game as Salazar was placed back on the 10-Day Injured List with a right groin strain, which ultimately ended up turning into him landing on the 60-Day Injured List as the season progressed forward. While the Cleveland Indian's weren't necessarily counting on Danny Salazar to make massive contributions to their ball club this year, they still were hoping to receive something from him down the stretch. Unfortunately, that never happened outside of the one start he made.

As such, when all of this was happening, the Cleveland Indians had to quickly assess their own assets within their organization and look for replacements to take over. That's where right-handers: Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, and Adam Plutko came into the picture and eventually right-hander, Aaron Civale, joined the trio as well. Luckily, the Cleveland Indians had plenty of starting rotation depth sitting in their organization and had done a phenomenal job with scouting and player development to where they could instantly turn to these internal replacements to help. As the season wore on, Shane Bieber quickly became the next ace of the Cleveland Indians pitching staff, Zach Plesac and Adam Plutko added stability to the middle and back end of the starting rotation and Aaron Civale ended up becoming the next best starting pitcher that no one had ever heard of before.

As it turned out, they weren't the only names to have a significant impact on the Cleveland Indians starting rotation down the stretch either. Right-hander, Mike Clevinger, started the season in the starting rotation, but was later placed on the 10-Day Injured List which ended up turning out to be only a short absence. Once he returned from the Injured List, Clevinger was able to pitch at virtually the same level as Shane Bieber and provide the Cleveland Indians with a true 1-2 punch that many thought could propel them to another potential appearance in the World Series. Now, that the Indians have officially been eliminated from contention, that dream won't come to fruition, but it doesn't mean that all was lost from a starting pitching standpoint.

In fact, with the injuries this season, the Cleveland Indians were able to identify some impactful arms in their system and come to the realization that they had plenty of starting pitching depth. That eventually helped lead the front office to a decision to trade starting pitcher, Trevor Bauer, to the cross-state Cincinnati Reds prior to the July 31st Trade Deadline because the front office brass wanted to be able to deal from an area of depth to address other needs on their 25-man roster. The trade was done brilliantly and brought outfielder Yasiel Puig, designated hitter Franmil Reyes, lefty Logan Allen, lefty-pitching prospect Scott Moss, and rookie-level infielder Victor Nova to Cleveland. Although some were concerned that the trade would ultimately work out in the Indians favor, it was a tremendous move in hindsight because it lengthened the teams lineup and added prospect depth to the organization for future years.

Besides the starting rotation and the emergence of Shane Bieber, Zach Plesace, Adam Plutko, and Aaron Civale, another key takeaway from this season for the Cleveland Indians was the emergence of young outfielder, Oscar Mercado. Heading into this season, there were significant concerns industry wide about the outfield that the Indians were planning to roll-out featuring Jordan Luplow in left field, the aforementioned Oscar Mercado in center, and Tyler Naquin in right with Greg Allen occupying a bench spot rotating between the three positions. When the Indians acquired Mercado from the St. Louis Cardinals prior to last year's July 31st Trade Deadline, they did so thinking they would be adding depth to the organization, but they likely didn't envision the massive type of contributions that Mercado would have on the big league club.

At the end of play tonight, Oscar Mercado had combined for a slash line of: .274/.323/.451 over 474 plate appearances with 118 hits, 25 doubles, 3 triples, 15 home runs, 54 RBI, 28 walks, and 81 strikeouts. The impact was so significant that some were discussing Oscar Mercado's name in the conversation for the American League Rookie of the Year Award, but thanks to the sheer dominance of Houston Astros designated hitter, Yordan Alvarez, that probably won't be happening. Despite that fact, the Indians know that they have someone capable of playing centerfield every day next year and that wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the Indians having an open spot in their outfield for Mercado to audition for.

Lastly, another key takeaway for the Cleveland Indians from the 2019 regular season is knowing that they can count on third baseman, Jose Ramirez, once again. For a majority of the first-half of the season, Ramirez severely struggled which put a significant cramp in the overall production of the Indians lineup especially when shortstop, Francisco Lindor, was forced to miss a little over three weeks to start the season as well. Going into this year, the Cleveland Indians were planning to rely heavily on the combination of Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez in their lineup, but as always there are unexpected things that come into the picture and that's exactly what happened.

Prior to the All-Star Break, Jose Ramirez put up a slash line of: .218/.308/.344 with 69 hits, 15 doubles, 2 triples, 7 home runs, 35 RBI, 41 walks, 49 strikeouts. However, since the start of the second half at the conclusion of play tonight, Ramirez was batting: .327/.365/.739 with 54 hits, 18 doubles, 1 triple, 16 home runs, 48 RBI, 11 walks, and 25 strikeouts. July was essentially when Ramirez turned it on and really started to find his groove which showed plenty of promise to the Cleveland Indians to the point where they expected to be able to take over reign of the American League Central. Based on his second half performance, it brings back visions of the Jose Ramirez of the 2018 regular season for the Cleveland Indians and their front office.

As a result, with the second half that Jose Ramirez put together, the Cleveland Indians know that looking ahead towards next season, they can once again rely on the offense that he provides at third base to couple with shortstop, Francisco Lindor, like they have the past handful of seasons. That alone helps to provide clarity regarding their offense and what their lineup will look like albeit assuming that neither one gets traded this coming offseason. Cleveland seems very unlikely to trade either Ramirez or Lindor this coming offseason, but if they feel as though a trade of one can put the organization in a better position moving forward, then they are going to entertain the thought of completing one.

Although the Cleveland Indians season ended rapidly this evening with their official elimination from postseason contention, there are plenty of positive qualities for the Indians to take away from this season as they begin looking towards and planning for 2020. Regardless, with the amount of injuries that the team faced throughout this season as well as some of the unfortunate events that took place, it's still quite impressive that the team was able to stay in contention for this long and bring back hopes of another World Series returning to Cleveland. If it weren't for the qualities outlined above mixed with the extraordinary leadership of skipper, Terry Francona, none of that would have been likely to happen in the first place.