2016 Cleveland Indians

From BR Bullpen

ClevelandIndiansLogo 2015.jpg

2016 Cleveland Indians / Franchise: Cleveland Guardians / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 94-67, Finished 1st in AL Central Division (2016 AL)

Clinched Division: September 26, 2016, At Detroit Tigers

Won AL Pennant

Managed by Terry Francona

Coaches: Sandy Alomar, Jason Bere, Mickey Callaway, Brad Mills, Matt Quatraro, Mike Sarbaugh and Ty Van Burkleo

Ballpark: Progressive Field

Source[edit]

  • Joe Noga: "Clinching days for the Cleveland Indians: 15 times the club celebrated a playoff bid in the last 100 years", Sept. 23, 2020

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 2016 Cleveland Indians came into the season with high expectations in spite of coming off a so-so season in 2015 largely because they had on paper one of the strongest starting rotations in all of the major leagues. They started the year slowly, however, and at the end of April were one game below .500 and in 4th place in the AL Central. May went slightly better, as on May 28th, they briefly took over first place with a 26-21 mark. They lost their final three games of the month however, but they got red hot just as June started. They won their first six games that month to reclaim first place, then starting on June 17th, they reeled off 11 consecutive wins to be up by 5 1/2 games in front of their nearest pursuers on June 28th. It was the Indians' longest winning streak since the 1982 season. They didn't stop there, however, winning their next two games as well to finish June with 13 straight victories behind 14 strikeouts by Carlos Carrasco in a 4-1 win against the Toronto Blue Jays. This was now the team's longest winning streak since Cleveland had also won 13 in a row in 1951. They set a new team mark on July 1st when they defeated Toronto, 2-1, on Carlos Santana's 19th-inning homer off infielder Darwin Barney, pressed into mound service after the Blue Jays had run out of pitchers.

The Indians decided to go all-in at the trading deadline sending four prospects to the New York Yankees on July 31st in order to acquire closer Andrew Miller. They also tried to acquire C Jonathan Lucroy from the Milwaukee Brewers that same day, but the tentative deal fell apart when the Indians balked at offering Lucroy a contract extension. Catcher remained to one sore spot for Cleveland, with Yan Gomes on the disabled list for another month after hitting .165 through June, and his two back-ups, Chris Gimenez and Roberto Perez hitting .202 and .043 respectively.

On September 17th, the Indians set a new major league record by using nine pitchers in a combined 1-0 shutout over the Detroit Tigers in a game that went 10 innings. Carlos Carrasco had to leave the game after facing only one batter, forcing Terry Francona to use everyone in his bullpen that day.

Awards and Honors[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Bob Nightengale: "Cool summer: Indians ride wave of glory to commanding AL Central lead", USA Today Sports, July 7, 2016. [1]
  • Bob Nightengale: "Bizarro World: Yankees sellers, Indians buyers at trade deadline", USA Today Sports, August 1, 2016. [2]
  • Joe Noga: "Clinching days for the Cleveland Indians: 15 times the club celebrated a playoff bid in the last 100 years", Cleveland.com, Sept. 23, 2020
  • John Perrotto: "Indians maintain high expectations despite disappointing 2015", USA Today Sports, March 31, 2016. [3]