Can the Cleveland Indians Finish Above .500 in 2021?

Can the Cleveland Indians Finish Above .500 in 2021?

Alex Kaufman
3 years ago
1 min read
Can the Cleveland Indians Finish Above .500 in 2021?

As we head into the final 10 days of the 2021 MLB season, the Cleveland sit at 74-76 a pretty remarkable achievement given that this season has been marred with catastrophic injuries, and a seemingly inexcusable lack of ability to hit the ball.

Shane Bieber has not made a meaningful pitch in almost three months, Zach Plesac and the rest of the pitching have been completely inconsistent for the most part, the Indians have been no hit a Major League record three times this season and yet here we are…

Assuming the Indians lose all five games they have left with the White Sox (one of the best teams in baseball) and win the seven other games with the Royals and Rangers (two of the worst teams in baseball) they can finish the season at .500.

However, given how the team played out of their minds against the Yankees (potentially knocking them out of the playoffs) it is not an automatic conclusion that they cant pick up a win or two against the White Sox.

What Would Finishing Above .500 Mean For Tribe?

After everything this team has gone through this year, finishing above .500 would be an accomplishment for sure and there is room for optimism going forward. 

It was recently announced that longtime Cleveland manager Terry Francona will be returning in 2022 to manage the team. Bieber, Civale, Plesac, Quantril and McKenzie will look to reestablish the dominant Cleveland pitching of the last half of the 2010s.

Amed Rosario, who proved he is a stable bat in an otherwise unstable lineup, and some of the other young offensive talent will continue to get opportunities to get better. Ty Van Burkleo SHOULD be gone and replaced with someone who can... you know….actually teach a hitting approach.

The Final Verdict

All in all, if there is anything these last few seasons have taught us about this team it is that you can never count them out. In spite of the ownership seemingly making every questionable move that they can, the team plays hard and is never in full tank mode. If the pitching can hold up next year, this team may make a deep playoff run on guts alone.

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