The Indians are paying the price for last off-season’s puzzling inactivity, but the piper’s final bill is yet to come.
The Optimist says that there are still 95 games left to play and that comes with the reinforcement of Mike Clevinger‘s reinsertion into the starting rotation next Monday in Arlington; a blossoming starter in Zach Plesac (Wednesday’s bumpy start notwithstanding); and the stubborn refusal to believe that the Twins will continue to do anything and everything and they still get all of the breaks.
The Pessimist, or Realist, whichever term it is that you prefer, sees that this team was flawed from the start. Without even taking into consideration the things that transpired that were and are completely out of their control (Corey Kluber‘s broken arm, Clevinger’s back and Carlos Carrasco‘s troubling blood issue), choosing to go into the 2019 season with ultimately the same team that includes an imposter of José Ramírez, the faded Jason Kipnis and Drew Stubbs–er, Leonys Martín, whose feel-good story has quickly succumbed to a murky and unappealing baseball-only sequel, has all been part of a plan that has failed rather spectacularly.
Essentially, the 2019 Indians have wasted another year of Francisco Lindor‘s prime. “Enjoy him,” indeed.
There are no waiver-claim trades in August anymore, so teams need to know where they clearly stand by July 31. And the Indians have settled in on the part of their schedule that will tell them, once and for all, where they stand. And by all accounts, this is the stretch that they should be able to make hay on. Not 22 wins in a row, but significant, anyway. Right…?
Starting on Friday, three in Detroit, then four with the Rangers. Then back home for series with the Tigers and Royals. The final roadtrip before the All-Star break takes them to Baltimore, Kansas City and Cincinnati. Really, the rest of July is a soft, gooey cupcake: Lots of Tigers, Royals and Blue Jays to beat up on to maybe strengthen their Wild Card chase.
But do they really want to be a BIG buyer simply for Game 163?
Then again, not even beating up on the bad teams is easy this year. This season has been so dumb.
But at least we’ll know what to expect in August and for the rest of the season. One way or the other.