2017 Indians - Day by Day

[CatKnight]

For the past few years I've admired rjl518's and other efforts to play the season through day by day and compare their results to their real life counterparts.

I've held off partially because GMing an organization with 8ish minor league teams, international free agents, and so on intimidates me. In the past few months I've grown more accustomed to managing however, so that's what I plan to do. Mike Chernoff (AI) will make the GM decisions, while I'll take what he gives me and try to finally bring the World Series trophy back to town.

As an added effect, for good or bad, Challenge Mode is on. The biggest effect I've noted is that injuries are frozen at Low, which I suspect will have a big impact in modern play.

Next we'll meet the team along with some personal thoughts. On April 2nd we'll announce the preseason predictions, and the fireworks begin in Arlington on April 3rd.

It's Tribe Time!

[eck.nicholas]

Following. Good luck with the team that I feel can repeat as American League Champs!

[CatKnight]

eck.nicholas Thanks! The Tribe's mostly intact from last year, though another year older of course. I think it'll be an exciting season!
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2017 CLEVELAND INDIANS
Opening Day Roster


STARTING PITCHERS
Corey Kluber (Age 30) (18-9 3.14 in 2016) (5/5s) - The Cy Young Award winner in 2014 looks to be back as strong as ever. Scouts can't find a weakness worth talking about, and he has five commanding pitches. I put his iffy performance in Game 7 of the WS to overuse and fatigue. He should do well with a little care.

Carlos Carrasco (30) (11-8 3.32) (4.5/4.5) - Our scouts love Carrasco, who like Kluber has five commanding pitches. In real life he was rocked in his last preseason start however, and he's recovering from an injury. If he can reach his potential he'll be great, but I worry what that potential is.

Danny Salazar (27) (11-6 3.87) (4/4.5) - A solid performer, but a strake down from Carrasco or Kluber. He'll do well if not pushed too hard.

Josh Tomlin (32) (13-9 4.40) (2.5/2.5) - It's hard to believe Tomlin is in his thirties. He's made a decent career for himself here in Cleveland, though never particularly outstanding. Our scouts love his control but little else.

Trevor Bauer (26) (12-8 4.26) (2.5/3.5) - Another 'decent' pitcher. No outstanding strengths, no outstanding weaknesses. He'll do.

RELIEVERS
Dan Otero (32) (5-1 1sv 1.53) (3.5/3.5) - My bench coach only likes him for middle relief work, probably for his decent stamina, but like Tomlin he has excellent control and 2016 was arguably his best year (0.91 WHIP) yet. Solid and reliable, that's all I ask of relievers.

Zach McAllister (29) (3-2 3.44) (2.5/2.5) - McAllister's spent his career bouncing up and down the minors and majors. He'll eat up innings, but I won't expect too much of him.

Shawn Armstrong (26) (0-0 2.53) (1/1.5) - Hm. Never heard of him. Apparently he has 18.2 career innings. Incredible fastball and a decent slider. Probably useful to get us out of tight innings, but not sure how much I can trust him in longer roles.

Bryan Shaw (29) (2-5 1sv 3.24) (3.5/3.5) - Shaw, meanwhile, has built a decent career in middle inning support. Good pitches, good control. I think he's a keeper.

Cody Allen (28) (3-5 32sv 2.51) (4.5/4.5) - Allen has been our closer for about three years now and usually shuts our opponents down pretty hard. Bench coach wants him in setup this year rather than the closer role. That's something I'll have to decide on Opening Day, or whether I even want a 'closer' in the modern sense versus a handful of stoppers like in the 1980s. Regardless, I'll send Allen out there when I want the other team to suffer.

Boone Logan (32) (2-5 1sv 3.69 w COL) (3.5/3.5) - Good one inning guy (if that). Excellent fastball and slider, but little else. After the first few batters the other team will figure him out.

Andrew Miller (31) (10-1 12sv 1.45 w NYY/CLE) (5/5) - Down the stretch last year acquiring Miller was one of the smartest things we could have done. Like Logan he only has two pitches, but he's master of both and, for the most part, wrecked our foes last year with a 0.69 combined WHIP.

[CatKnight]

2017 CLEVELAND INDIANS
Opening Day Roster II
* denotes projected starter


CATCHERS
Roberto Perez (28) (.183 3-17) (2.5/2.5) - Hm. Bench coach wants him to start. No one hitting under the Mendoza line starts on my teams without a really, really good reason. Granted, he's strong defensively and will no doubt see plenty of action. He'll tend to frustrate pitchers with indifferent control, but meh otherwise.

* Yan Gomes (29) (.167 9-34) (1.5/1.5) Hm. I may have typed too soon. His raw talent seems a little better, but his defense is worse. Hmm..where did we put Santana?

FIRST BASE
* Carlos Santana (30) (.259 34-87) (4/4) Except Santana apparently has lost ability to catch. So be it. Decent batter with above average power and plate discipline. He doesn't wow me at the plate like his predecessor, Victor Martinez, but I'll take him.

*DH Edwin Encarnacion (34) (.263 42-127 w TOR) (4.5/4.5) Encarnacion may be starting to slow down, but Chernoff's banking that he still has a few gallons left in his tank. He'll be at the heart of my order hopefully blasting homers left and right.

SECOND BASE
Ronny Rodriguez (24) (.258 10-59 w AAA-Columbus) (1/1) Placeholder til Jason Kipnis comes off the DL. Nuf said.

THIRD BASE
* Yandy Diaz (25) (.325 7-44 w AAA-Columbus) (1.5/3.5) Diaz has the batting prowess, notably his discipline and ability to get on base, to last several years in the Majors. He's a defensive question mark though.

*2B Jose Ramirez (24) (.363 11-76) (2/3.5) In real life, the Tribe may give 3B to Giovanny Urshela, who'll start our simmed year in Columbus. Jose isn't a bad choice though, and certainly much better defensively all around than Yandy.

SHORTSTOP
* Francisco Lindor (23) (.301 15-78) (5/5) Lindor has really excited the home crowd since coming up in 2015. He's arguably one of the better defenders in the game, his bat isn't anything to sneer at, and he's 23. He's on the short list for franchise players right now.

Erik Gonzalez (25) (.313 0-0) (1/1) Gonzalez had a cup of coffee up here last year, and it's a question mark whether he has the chops to stay. This year might say alot about the rest of his career.

LEFT FIELD
* Michael Brantley (29) (.231 0-7) (4/4.5) After injuries wiped out the majority of last year, it was an open question whether Brantley could return to his 2015, or preferably 2014 (.327 20-97) form. His preseason went very well however, so hopefully the sky's the limit.

CENTER FIELD
* Tyler Naquin (25) (.296 14-43) (1/4) Last year was Naquin's first at the MLB level and he did pretty well. If he can continue to build on last year's success he'll be in the Majors a long time.

Austin Jackson (30) (.254 0-18) (1/1) Austin's been in the Majors for a number of years now, and may already be in a slight decline from his heyday in 2012-13. He's solid, but unremarkable. A good backup.

RIGHT FIELD
* Brandon Guyer (31) (.266 9-32 w TB/CLE) (3.5/3.5) Guyer improved noticeably after coming to Cleveland. People here are excited to see what he can do with a full year in a Tribe uniform.

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DISABLED LIST - MAJOR LEAGUE LEVEL

RP Cody Anderson (2-5 6.68) (2.5/2.5) will miss the entire year. Since this is a one season replay, nothing else need be said except good luck.

RF Lonnie Chisenhall (.286 8-57) (1.5/1.5) will be back in 3-4 weeks. He also has some infield experience, making him a solid utility player. I'll hope Chernoff brings down one of the infielders when he's healed. I'm not very comfortable with only four outfielders.

2B Jason Kipnis (.275 23-82) (4.5/4.5) will be back in about two weeks. I have no doubt he'll be my starting second baseman going forward.

[rjl518]

thank you very much for the props and best of luck with your CLE Indians.

[CatKnight]

rjl518: Thanks! Good luck with your Mets. Maybe we'll meet in October!
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APRIL 2 - OPENING DAY

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

BNN released its final predictions for the 2017 season. They predict the Indians are in good position to repeat as AL champions, while the Dodgers have a good chance to take the Nationals.

Other playoff contenders in the AL include Boston, Baltimore, Minnesota and Seattle, while we can also expect strong performances from the NY Mets, Chi Cubs, San Francisco, St. Louis and Arizona.

Red Sox		87-75	Mets		89-73
Orioles		87-75	Nationals	86-76
Blue Jays	80-82	Marlins		82-80	
Rays		79-83	Phillies	74-88
Yankees		75-87	Braves		73-89

Indians		99-63	Cubs		93-69
Twins		89-73	Cardinals	87-75
Tigers		80-82	Reds		80-82
Royals		71-91	Pirates		76-86
White Sox	71-91	Brewers		68-94

Mariners	84-78	Dodgers		107-55
Rangers		83-79	Giants		93-69
Astros		82-80	Diamondbacks	87-75
Athletics	72-90	Padres		71-91
Angels		70-92	Rockies		61-101

American League players to watch include Manny Machado (BAL, .336, 130 RBI), Edwin Encarnacion (CLE, 45 HR), Cole Hamels (TEX, 17W), Brandon Kintzler (MIN, 50 SV) and Corey Kluber (CLE, 3.13)

National League players to watch include Corey Seager (LAD, .327), Kris Bryant (CHC, 44 HR, 113 RBI), Clayton Kershaw (LAD, 19W, 2.35 ERA) and Wade Davis (CHC, 40 SV).
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INDIANS open tomorrow against Texas
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OTHER ACTION

Tampa 5 Yankees 3 - Brad Miller goes 3 for 4 with 2 singles and a homer. Mashiro Tanaka left after 4.1 innings and will miss 4 months with a ruptured finger tendon.
Arizona 11 San Francisco 10 - Paul Goldschmidt hit an RBI single in the seventh to secure the win.
Cubs 7 St. Louis 6 (17) - Anthony Rizzo gets 5 hits in a double length game including two doubles.