Only in Cleveland: Indians' playoff success not easy to emulate
— -- CHICAGO -- The Cleveland Indians are too busy trying to beat the Chicago Cubs to give much thought to the idea that they're changing the face of postseason baseball. But they've definitely made the unorthodox fashionable while going 8-2 in October and splitting the first two games of the World Series.
The Indians have logged a 1.82 team ERA this month with a modestly-priced pitching staff, and they've used reliever Andrew Miller in ways that conjure memories of a time "when men were men" and a fire-breathing Goose Gossage roamed the earth. They're big fans of the platoon advantage. And while they love to put pressure on opposing pitching staffs with the running game, a lot of their stolen bases come from segments of the batting order traditionally known more for their slugging than baserunning acumen.
Baseball is a copycat sport, and the question invariably arises when a team finds new ways to thrive in October. When the San Francisco Giants reeled off three titles in five years, all the talk was about their homegrown pitching talent and their pitcher-friendly ballpark. In 2014 and 2015, the Kansas City Royals won pennants with defensive-oriented, contact-hitting lineups, and they showed that walks weren't necessary a vital part of success in the postseason.
So what lessons can be gleaned from the Indians' 94-win regular season and their impressive October? They're an inspirational team, for sure. But can their winning formula make them trendsetters?
"I would be careful about drawing too many conclusions from it," said Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti. "Every market has its own challenges and opportunities, and it's incumbent on each leadership group to figure out how to be successful with the group of players they have and the organizational circumstances.
"We're no different than any other team. We just try to take what we have and make the most of it."
Is Antonetti just being modest? The Indians deserve credit for being resourceful and open-minded, but they're also dealing with financial constraints because of their media market, low attendance and other economic concerns. They haven't ranked among the top 20 MLB teams in payroll since 2009, so they have to hustle to keep pace in the American League Central.
"They've shown a lot of creativity with an inflexible budget," said a competing MLB executive. "But it's not all strategic. You can't shop in the Mercedes aisle when you can only afford a Honda."
Here are four areas in which the Indians have flourished while coloring outside the lines.
Bullpen use
Amid a chorus of voices that say Miller is revolutionizing bullpen use with his strategically-placed two-inning stints, his performance this postseason seems difficult to emulate. He's extremely talented, but also selfless and adaptable in a way that makes him extraordinary.
"You have arguably one of the top five back-end relievers in baseball throwing in the sixth and seventh innings because he just doesn't care," second baseman Jason Kipnis said. "He's doing it to win ballgames, and that's rubbed off on a bunch of other guys."
The toughest, least appreciated part of Miller's role is the down time between all those swings and misses. As Miller attests, it's not so much throwing 40 pitches in an outing, but rather, the 10-15 minutes he has to sit in the dugout between the 22 pitches one inning and the 18 pitches the next. Miller, his fellow Cleveland relievers and manager Terry Francona all think it would be a tough routine to maintain during a 162-game grind.
The perception that relievers who gripe about their "roles" are automatically divas isn't entirely fair. Most pitchers develop set routines over time and are conditioned to perform better when they have a general sense when they're going to be used.
"Ultimately there has to be a little bit of structure where guys know what inning they're going to pitch most of the time," said Indians closer Cody Allen. "If we're playing against Kansas City in a big in-division series, it could go a little different.
"But you're ultimately trying to protect your guys and win games at the same time. If Tito [Francona] tried to do for 162 games what he's done throughout this postseason, there's a chance you might not have those guys there for October."
Platoon advantages
"Since I've been here, I think we've had about three every year, so that really helps," Francona said. "If you're trying to create a platoon advantage, you're always going to have a head start on everybody else because of the switch-hitters."
With All-Star Michael Brantley on the shelf for all but 11 games, the Indians employed platoons at all three outfield spots during the regular season. In left field, not a single Cleveland player surpassed 165 at-bats, but Rajai Davis, Jose Ramirez, Abraham Almonte, Brandon Guyer and four others combined to rank fifth in the majors with a .787 OPS at the position.
While Bob Melvin and the Oakland A's are the acknowledged masters of platooning, small-market teams aren't the only ones going all-in on time-share arrangements these days. The big-money Los Angeles Dodgers went heavy on platoons with their outfield in 2016, and there were rumblings of discontent in the clubhouse. As a rule, it's typically more challenging to get an established player such as Andre Ethier or Howie Kendrick to buy into a platoon arrangement than it would be for the Indians to sell the idea to a Guyer or Davis.
Francona recently said this season marked the first time in his managerial career that not a single player griped about taking a seat or being lifted for a pinch-hitter. The Indians talk incessantly about how they've "bought into" a collective win-above-all-else culture and sacrificed personal goals for the good of the team.
"I know everybody wants to play every day," Francona said. "I get it. I just think when we use all 25, we're a little better team than just using 18 or 19."
The speed-challenged leadoff man
The Athletics popularized the concept of on-base ability as paramount atop of the order when they used Jeremy Giambi and Scott Hatteberg at leadoff during the advent of the "Moneyball" debate. So the Indians aren't exactly breaking new ground by using Santana, their designated hitter, in the No. 1 spot this postseason. Santana has 35 stolen bases in 962 career games, and at a stocky 5-11, 210 pounds, he'll never remind anyone of Billy Hamilton.
During the regular season, Santana split his time between leadoff and the No. 5 hole, and the players around him ran freely enough for Cleveland to lead the American League with 134 stolen bases. Davis enjoyed a rebirth at age 36 and stole 43 bags. Kipnis' 15 steals in the No. 2 hole were the third most by any MLB hitter in that spot in the order this year. Francisco Lindor stole 18 bases as Cleveland's No. 3 hitter, and Ramirez collected 13 steals out of the fifth spot.
The Indians were aggressive on the bases, but their unpredictability was just as impressive.
A cost-efficient approach to pitching
The Indians never chase the elite free agents, and it's been clear since they traded away Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia that they're challenged to keep their own. But they've been adept at pouncing on high-upside candidates in trades and exercising the requisite patience to let those pitchers figure it out.
While Kluber is now regarded as one of baseball's elite starters, it took him four seasons to emerge after Cleveland acquired him by trade from San Diego. Kluber was 29 years old when the Indians locked him up to a five-year, $38.5 million contract extension in 2015.
"We're always patient, especially with pitching, because we can't let somebody go somewhere else and be good," Francona said.
As impressive as Cleveland's October pitching numbers have been, there's reason to wonder if the Indians can maintain it for another week. Through the World Series opener, Kluber, Miller and Allen had combined to throw a 46 2/3 of the team's 80 postseason innings. Bauer's shaky performance in a 5-1 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday certainly didn't inspire much confidence that he'll be the answer his next time out.
So Francona will ride his horse all the way to the finish. If the Indians and Cubs play seven, Kluber will join Curt Schilling of the 2001 Diamondbacks and Chris Carpenter of the 2011 Cardinals as the first pitcher since Jack Morris of the 1991 Twins to start three games in a World Series.
As events began to unfold and the options became clear, the Indians took stock as a group and chose a relatively novel path. Their success this month might not be revolutionary or groundbreaking. But they're never afraid to think bold.
