Indians continue dominating AL Central with third straight division title
The champagne corks are popping in the home clubhouse at Progressive Field. The Cleveland Indians became the first team to wrap up their division on Saturday, clinching their third straight AL Central championship with an appropriately dominant 15-0 win against the Detroit Tigers.
The Indians join the Boston Red Sox as the only two teams to clinch a playoff spot.
[Yahoo Fantasy Football leagues are open: Sign up now for free]
It’s only the second time in franchise history that the Indians have won at least three straight division titles. Their dominant teams from the late 1990s won five straight to close out that decade. Yet despite their success then, and despite the run of success they’re enjoying now, they’re still looking to snap the longest championship drought in MLB.
This season marks 70 years since Cleveland’s last World Series championship in 1948. Ending that drought is the ultimate goal that this Indians squad will now set its sights on accomplishing.
The Indians have nearly three weeks to plan and prepare for their first playoff game, which barring major changes will come against the Houston Astros. In the meantime, here’s a quick look back at how the Indians dominated their division again, while looking ahead at what they’ll need to do to win it all.
Led the division since April 21
The Indians were a step slow out of the gate, but once they took firm control of the division they never looked back. It helped that the rest of the AL Central was in shambles this season, with only the Twins really looking competitive for any significant stretches. The Royals, White Sox and Tigers are all in rebuilding mode right now.
Cleveland took a 7.5 game lead into the All-Star break, and has led by as much as 16.5 games during September. It was always the Indians’ division to lose.
Plenty of award candidates
The Indians superstars have been just that in 2018. The AL MVP picture includes two of Cleveland’s best — Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. Both players have somehow taken another step forward in their development to be among the AL leaders in nearly every offensive category.
Ramirez already has a 30-30 season in the bag with 38 homers and 32 steals, and could still challenge for 40-40 if he desires. Lindor has already established career highs in home runs (35) and stolen bases (23). In fact, with his 35th home run Saturday, he became the first shortstop ever to produce 35+ HR, 40+ 2B and 20+ SB in the same season.
Ace pitcher Corey Kluber is once again among the AL’s top Cy Young award candidates. He’s 18-3 with a 2.91 ERA over his league-leading 195 innings. Trevor Bauer might actually have a better case. He’s 12-6 with a 2.22 ERA for 25 starts. A late season injury put a damper on his candidacy.
What the Indians need to do to win the World Series
First and foremost, they need to be healthy. The Indians were not healthy in the 2016 postseason, and that caught up to them at the worst time. The pitching staff ran out of gas as they fell one victory short of topping the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.
At this point, it’s uncertain whether Trevor Bauer will be able to return from the stress fracture in his right fibula. His absence would put more pressure on Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevenger. There are also question marks surrounding the health of Andrew Miller, Josh Donaldson. and now Edwin Encarnacion, who suffered a mild ankle sprain Saturday.
If all those players can contribute in October, the Indians will be very dangerous.
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Nike stock closes at all-time high after Kaepernick ad
• Le’Veon Bell congratulates his fill-in RB
• Horrifying allegations against Celtic emerge
• Terez Paylor: Nike’s controversial campaign is nothing new
