We have a good lineup,” Kipnis said. “I don’t think anyone wants to face us

I think they'd pitch to our lineup that bat against our starting pitchers.

I think they'd pitch to our lineup that bat against our starting pitchers.

I am not following you on this one, Civ. Can you clarify your statement for me?

The making of a Cleveland Indians post-clinch ‘hangover lineup’

Zack Meisel Sep 16, 2018

CLEVELAND​ — Terry​ Francona had sketched​ two lineups for Saturday’s​ game between the​ Indians and Tigers.​ When​ the Tribe​ fell short​​ Friday night, Brad Mills tacked the one filled with regular starters onto the bulletin board on the far end of the home clubhouse.

With the Indians ahead 15-0 in the seventh inning Saturday afternoon — before the players soaked every square inch of the clubhouse with champagne and Budweiser — Mills hustled up the tunnel and pinned what he termed a “skeleton lineup” to the board. Referring to it as a “hangover lineup” would also suffice.

José Ramírez could recline in his black leather chair at his locker and puff his cigar until dawn if he wanted. He knew he’d have Sunday (and Monday’s off-day) to recover. The same goes for Francisco Lindor, who was dripping from goggles to flip-flops in champagne.

The day after a division-clinch celebration often brings a batting order packed with unfamiliar names.

When I approached Greg Allen — whose name was scribbled in Sharpie in the No. 2 spot, just ahead of former AL MVP Josh Donaldson — he hadn’t yet seen the lineup. I showed him a picture of the order and, after a lengthy laugh, he counted how many of the starting nine had played for Class AAA Columbus at some point this season.

(The answer: five, not including rehab assignments for Donaldson and Brandon Guyer)

Here’s the Sunday lineup:

1. LF Rajai Davis
2. CF Greg Allen
3. 3B Josh Donaldson
4. 1B Yandy Díaz
5. DH Brandon Guyer
6. RF Brandon Barnes
7. C Eric Haase
8. SS Erik González
9. 2B Adam Rosales

Barnes, Rosales and Haase joined the big-league club from Columbus earlier this month. Donaldson joined the organization two weeks ago following the trade with Toronto. He’s only in the lineup so he can continue his recovery from a calf injury. González has spent the season as the Indians’ seldom-used utility man.

“There are guys who need days off,” Mills told The Athletic. “Now, they’re going to get Sunday and Monday, which is nice. Some of these guys, we haven’t seen since spring training, or we haven’t really seen (at all). It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch them play.”

The Indians are pretty much locked into the No. 3 seed in the American League. They sit 10 games behind the Astros. Their primary objective for the final two weeks of the regular season is to return Donaldson, Trevor Bauer and Andrew Miller to full health.

Last year, the Indians were in pursuit of home-field advantage. They had a day off after their celebration and then they kept their foot on the gas.

Ah, but the 2016 hangover lineup was a beauty.

1. CF Tyler Naquin
2. 2B Michael Martínez
3. RF Abraham Almonte
4. DH Carlos Santana
5. LF Brandon Guyer
6. 1B Jesús Aguilar
7. 3B Chris Gimenez
8. C Adam Moore
9. SS Erik González

It marked Gimenez’s first career start at third base. In that game, Moore registered three of his five plate appearances with the Indians that year. The Indians lost to the Tigers 12-0.
(2017)

In 2001, the Indians had an off-day after their celebration, but Charlie Manuel still trotted out a few backups in a 5-1 loss to the Royals.

1. CF Milton Bradley (his first career start with Cleveland)
2. SS John McDonald
3. 2B Roberto Alomar
4. RF Juan Gonzalez
5. DH Jim Thome
6. LF Marty Cordova
7. 3B Russell Branyan
8. 1B Wil Cordero
9. C Eddie Taubensee

In 1999, the Indians clinched in between series in Texas and Chicago. A year earlier, they defeated the Twins 9-1 with a bevy of backups in the batting order. Of course, in that era, even the Indians’ reserves could offer opposing pitchers nightmares.

1. 2B Joey Cora
2. SS Enrique Wilson
3. 3B Travis Fryman
4. RF Manny Ramirez
5. DH Jim Thome
6. 1B Richie Sexson (his rookie season)
7. CF Mark Whiten
8. LF Brian Giles
9. C Einar Diaz (his ninth career start in the majors)

The Indians didn’t clinch until the final week of the regular season in 1997, a rarity during that stretch.

1. 2B Bip Roberts
2. 3B Jeff Branson
3. RF Manny Ramirez
4. 1B Jim Thome
5. DH David Justice
6. C Sandy Alomar
7. CF Brian Giles
8. LF Bruce Aven
9. SS Enrique Wilson

And then, there’s the golden standard of hangover lineups. The 1996 team topped the White Sox 4-3 on Sept. 18 at Comiskey Park with this order:

1. 2B Casey Candaele
2. 3B Geronimo Pena
3. RF Brian Giles
4. DH Manny Ramirez
5. LF Nigel Wilson
6. 1B Jeff Kent
7. CF Ryan Thompson
8. C Tony Pena
9. SS Damian Jackson

I think they'd pitch to our lineup that bat against our starting pitchers

Boy that sure didn't make any sense. Let me try in English:

"I think they'd rather pitch to our lineup than bat against our starting pitchers."

Meisel’s Musings: The Indians’ postseason pitching plans, Josh Tomlin’s favorite quarterback and Francisco Lindor’s payback
By Zack Meisel Sep 24, 2018 16
CLEVELAND​ — Josh​ Tomlin walked​ through the Indians’ clubhouse​ Sunday afternoon proudly​ sporting a bright red​ Kansas​ City Chiefs​ jersey.

On the​​ back read the name Mahomes and the No. 15. Patrick Mahomes leads all NFL quarterbacks with 13 touchdown passes. He has yet to toss an interception. He has steered the Chiefs to a 3-0 start.

And he knows Tomlin well. They both graduated from Whitehouse High School, albeit about a decade apart. They also each attended Texas Tech and have used the same offseason trainer in Texas. Their paths occasionally cross during the offseason.

“He’s unbelievable, isn’t he?” Tomlin said. “He’s an athlete.”

The Tigers selected Mahomes, who pitched in college, in the 37th round of the 2014 amateur draft. He didn’t sign. Mahomes’ father, Pat, pitched for the Twins, Red Sox, Mets, Rangers, Cubs and Pirates from 1992-2003.

“I thought he made a mistake going to Texas Tech to play football, but he obviously didn’t,” Tomlin said. “He’s a hell of a baseball player, too.”

Here are a few thoughts about the Indians and their postseason roster puzzle.

The 200 Club: Sure, strikeouts are sold by the bushel these days. Starting pitchers register double-digit strikeout performances with relative ease. That shouldn’t diminish what the Indians accomplished this week, though.

Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger have all eclipsed the 200-strikeout mark. No other team in major-league history has boasted four pitchers who have accomplished that feat. And no other team this season will match the Tribe’s achievement. Clevinger sealed the club’s historic fate with a second-inning strikeout of Jackie Bradley Jr. on Saturday night.

“A lot of people are going to say it’s our division or whatever the case may be, but it’s a lot of work, a lot of effort, and a lot of process that went into all of our stories and the way we got here,” Clevinger said. “I’m just proud to be a part of this and be a part of this starting rotation. It took a while to get into, and you can see why.”

Those four starters – each acquired via trade – all rank in the top eight among AL pitchers in WAR and among the top nine in ERA and FIP.

How will the Indians order those four starters once the calendar flips to October? By all indications, Kluber and Carrasco will likely start the first two games — at Minute Maid Park in Houston, should the Astros hang on to their advantage over the Athletics in the AL West race.

The rest of the plan could hinge on Bauer’s status. He’s scheduled to start in Chicago on Tuesday. Here’s the tentative plan for the remainder of the regular season:

Monday: Kluber
Tuesday: Bauer (with Carrasco piggybacking)
Wednesday: Shane Bieber
Thursday: Tomlin
Friday: Clevinger
Saturday: Kluber
Sunday: Carrasco (with Bauer possibly piggybacking)

“At the moment we look like we need about 18 innings for Sunday, and nobody wants to play 18,” Francona said.

The Indians will hold a scrimmage at Progressive Field a week from Tuesday to get the players some extra work during the four-day break before the ALDS. The club will hold workouts Wednesday and Thursday as well.

“Hopefully the rest helps, but doesn’t affect the rhythm or timing,” Francona said. “That’s the biggest source of anxiety, I bet, for every manager.”

Pen pals: Andrew Miller has passed every test. He has pitched on consecutive days. He has pitched more than an inning. He has thrown more than 30 pitches in an outing. He has pitched in a box. He has pitched with a fox. He has pitched to a mouse. He has pitched in a house.

“The more question marks you can eliminate, the better off you are,” Francona said. “We feel really good about bringing him into games now.”

Miller probably won’t take on a workload reminiscent of October 2016, when he appeared in 10 of the club’s 15 postseason games, and logged more than one inning in each outing.

“But I still think we feel really good about where he’s at,” Francona said.

Cody Allen, meanwhile, hasn’t appeared in a game since Sept. 15. The right-hander worked so much after his rough August — both in games and in the bullpen — that the team wanted to provide him with a breather before ramping him back up for October.

“I was throwing a lot in between appearances, just ironing stuff out,” Allen said. “That started to catch up with me a little bit.”

Allen threw a bullpen session Saturday at Progressive Field. He’s slated to pitch in the Indians’ series opener Monday in Chicago.

Through the turnstiles: The Indians fell just shy of 2 million fans this season, a slight decrease from last year, when they surpassed that number for the first time since 2008.

Per-game average in 2018: 24,084 (21st in MLB)
Per-game average in 2017: 25,285 (22nd in MLB)
Per-game average in 2016: 19,650 (28th in MLB)
Per-game average in 2015: 17,806 (29th in MLB)

Money matters: Francisco Lindor lost a $500 bet to José Ramírez, so he taped row after row of $1 bills to Ramírez’s locker, with a note that read (in Spanish): “What I owe you. Thanks, Paquito.” Lindor wouldn’t reveal the root of the bet. Ramírez removed the packing tape from each bill after his postgame shower.

“I’m a man of my word,” Lindor said.

‘This ride’s not over yet’: Five years later, reliving Jason Giambi’s memorable walk-off and exploring why the 2013 playoff chase still matters to the Indians

T.J. Zuppe Sep 24, 2018 10
CLEVELAND​ — Matt​ Underwood remembers​ the questions vividly. Any​ time the television​ play-by-play voice of​ the​ Indians would​ take part​​ in an interview or chat with fans during the 2013 season, he would frequently hear similar thoughts.

“Why is Jason Giambi so important to this team?”

“Why does Terry Francona have such a connection with Giambi?”

Francona frequently spoke of the veteran’s importance — on and off the field. So did many of the players on that team, Francona’s first group as Indians manager. But fans would also see Giambi’s batting average. They’d see his advanced age. They’d note his inability to do much but DH and pinch hit. For those on the outside, something didn’t quite add up.

To this day, Underwood still struggles to put those intangibles into words.

“You couldn’t quantify what he brought,” Underwood told The Athletic. “That leadership, that sort of a John Wayne, ‘Hey, boys. I’m here to save the day.’ And the way that I watched him interact with players, young players, even guys who had time in the game, if there was something bothering them or something they were wondering about, they went to Giambi.”

Jason Kipnis, who some felt might have gained the most by having Giambi’s presence in the clubhouse, explained why that was important.

“(He was) not a middle man between us and Tito and the staff,” Kipnis told The Athletic, “but he was just like, you could get your questions answered without having to go to Tito. You can ask him questions all the time. And he was coming from experience. Obviously, you listen to what he says. He was just a shining light in our locker room coming down the stretch.”

For a team lacking a load of winning experience, it was the sort of presence that helped shift a culture that needed a reset following a disastrous 2012 season.

“Guys adored him,” radio play-by-play voice Tom Hamilton told The Athletic. “There aren’t many of those guys that have that kind of persona, where they can galvanize an entire club. It doesn’t matter what nationality you are, Jason related to everybody.

“You never would have known what his resume was based on how he treated and interacted with everybody. Whether you were the broadcaster, whether you were a writer, whether you were a player, whether you were a coach, he had so much respect for everybody.”

Of course, if superheroes must face their eventual mortality, so must professional athletes. He was no longer the same man that won an MVP award in 2000 or was a multiple-time All-Star. Not even his infamous gold thong could keep Father Time away forever.

But the 2013 Indians didn’t need the 28-year-old version of Jason Giambi — though, they certainly would’ve enjoyed that level of contribution. The 42-year-old Giambi had much to offer a club eager to crack open their winning window.

To this day, several players point back to his brief time with the Indians as a memorable, needed time at a critical point of their young careers.

“Having guys like Jason Giambi here were vital, helping all of us cut our teeth in the big leagues,” Cody Allen told The Athletic, “figuring out what type of players or what type of team we wanted to be.”

Perhaps, that helps explain why his connection to the organization was so strong.

“He was a big part of the growth that we had,” Yan Gomes said. “He was definitely a pretty awesome example or role model for all of us.”

But for all he brought off the field, Giambi was still capable of changing the game with one flick of his mighty wrists. If he was saving his best for the end of their 2013 story, he picked one hell of a way to write a final chapter.

On Sept. 24, 2013, in the midst of a 10-game streak to send the Indians to the playoffs for the first time since 2007, Giambi dusted off his cape, gripped his bat and gave his club one of the most memorable moments in Progressive Field history.

The Athletic spoke with several members of the front office, coaching staff and active roster from that season, along with the two people who called the massive home run, reliving a memorable night against the White Sox and exploring why their first playoff chase helped set a tone for the organization we see today.

The Indians entered the day with a record of 86-70. They had won four consecutive games and remained one game back of the Rays for the top wild-card spot. The Rangers were one game back of the Tribe for the second wild-card slot with just six games remaining.

Corey Kluber, starting pitcher: That was my first experience with really competitive September baseball, trying to make the postseason. Every game was kind of amplified.

Tom Hamilton, radio play-by-play: I was looking at it every day going, “We’ll be in a playoff to go to the playoff.”

Jason Kipnis, second baseman: It was our first chance, first time I’ve been close to getting to the playoffs, that I’ve been in a playoff race. It was probably the first for a lot of guys. We were emotionally invested in that stretch, that season.

Matt Underwood, television play-by-play: It’s too cliché to say it felt like a playoff game because there’s nothing really like a playoff game. But you knew the importance of every single game. It’s like, “God, if they lose tonight, they could fall out of this real fast.”

Kipnis: We were in such a good groove of showing up to win that day that we just kept it going. We didn’t think, “We need seven or eight (wins),” we thought we needed every game that we showed up to play.

Michael Brantley, outfielder: Every game counted. Every game mattered to us. We were playing it like that.

Ubaldo Jimenez and Hector Santiago started. The Indians grabbed an early lead on Michael Brantley’s RBI single in the second, but the White Sox responded with a solo run in the fourth and went ahead in the seventh, courtesy of a run-scoring single by Alejandro De Aza.

The Tribe immediately responded in the bottom half of the inning. Brantley tied it with a solo blast off Santiago, then Kipnis gave his club the lead with an RBI single off Nate Jones, scoring Mike Aviles. Joe Smith pitched a perfect eighth, setting up Chris Perez for the potential save.

Underwood: When Perez comes into the game, you’re thinking, “OK, we got the lead, we still got the lock on the wild card.” Then he gives up the two home runs.

On his third pitch, Perez, in his final season as the Tribe’s closer, served up a game-tying homer to Dayan Viciedo. Then, after recording back-to-back strikeouts, he surrendered the go-ahead blast to De Aza on the first pitch of the at-bat. The Indians now trailed by one.

Hamilton: You’re like, “Are you kidding? We blew the game in the ninth inning when you couldn’t afford to lose any games?”

Underwood: The first one, you’re like, “Now we gotta go bottom of the ninth or extra innings.” And then he gives up the second one. It felt like a kick in the gut. You could just feel the air go out of the whole stadium.

Terry Francona, manager: At that point, we needed to win every game we could. And we were sitting on a bad loss.

Kipnis: I thought I had a big hit. Now, I’m like, “Damn, we need to stay in this.”

Bryan Shaw eventually recorded the final out of the ninth, but the Indians needed a rally to maintain their current streak. Yan Gomes began the inning with a strikeout, but Brantley gave them a baserunner by collecting his third hit.

Cody Allen, reliever: Once we got a guy on and started to get a little bit momentum, it was like, “OK, here it comes.”

However, Aviles struck out on three pitches. The Indians were down to their last out.

Underwood: Matt Carson was due up. I don’t remember the circumstances of how that (happened). But now, I see Giambi coming up.

Yan Gomes, catcher: That was when the “Goon Squad” thing was going on. It just kind of made that story even better.

The “Goon Squad,” Aviles’ nickname for the Tribe’s reserves in 2013, consisted of Giambi, Gomes, Aviles and Ryan Raburn.

Hamilton: You also had a sense that it could happen just because of how that year unfolded. That to me was one of the most enjoyable years we’ve ever had here. Because it was so unexpected. That club kept overachieving.

With the tying run at first base, the nWo “Wolfpac” theme rumbled through the Progressive Field speakers. Giambi dug in. He had already tagged the Sox with a walk-off earlier in the season, but was it fair to believe he could do it again?

Mike Sarbaugh, first base coach: There were two outs. It was off Addison Reed.

Gomes: He was doing really well at the time.

Reed, in his third big-league season, finished the year with 40 saves, a 3.79 ERA and 3.17 FIP for the White Sox. Entering the day, he was 39-for-46 in save chances. Three of his blown saves that season came against the Indians.

Sarbaugh: You always felt like G had a chance to leave at any time. He just had that aura about him, that he could change the game with one swing of the bat.

Underwood: But Giambi was really scuffling. I actually went back and looked. He was 4-for-34 going into that at-bat with no home runs. I’m not even remotely thinking about a Hollywood ending here. I’m not thinking home run. I’m thinking, “I hope he can get a base hit and maybe there’s somebody left that can run for him, just keep this thing going.”

Giambi went down in the count 0-1. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Brantley broke for second and successfully put himself in scoring position with a stolen base. The count was now 1-1.

Hamilton: I think you are so wrapped up in the moment and you try to stay relatively sane. I’m not always good at that.

Kipnis: Everyone was on the bench standing up for it.

White Sox catcher Bryan Anderson flashed the sign toward Reed and extended his glove. Reed kicked into his motion and fired toward the imposing slugger. The 80 mph breaking ball didn’t break nearly enough. Giambi flexed his arms, lifted his right leg and swung his bat at the ball ticketed for the inside corner. The left-handed hitter connected.

The ball was launched with vicious force toward right field. Giambi briefly held his bat high, then tossed it aside with conviction. The ball, seemingly on a trajectory for the International Space Station, sailed high over the right-field wall, Underwood screamed, “Oh, my!” and the Indians, in unexpected fashion, extended their win streak to five, courtesy of Giambi’s mammoth two-run bomb.

Brantley: It was a no-doubter. I was on second. I got to see the swing. I got to see his reaction. We all knew it was a homer.

Allen: He clicked it. That ball was deep.

Fans in the seats bounced up and down at nearly the same rate as the congregation around home plate. Reed walked off the field, head lowered in defeat. Giambi rounded third, touched the bag and gave third base coach Brad Mills a high-five. The connection had so much force, it almost spun Mills completely around.

Sarbaugh: When he hit it, the feeling you had, it was like playoff atmosphere for us. I don’t remember how many people were here, but it was just such a cool moment.

Underwood: When he connected, as soon as he hit it, I knew it was gone. I’m thinking, “Oh, my. He actually did it. He did what we’re all dreaming of doing as kids, in one of the most important games of the season.”

Brantley: Watching that ball leave, watching Big G celebrate and what he meant to us, it was a special moment.

Josh Tomlin, pitcher: It was almost like a storybook moment.

Allen: I remember he had the coolest (look) when he rounded third. He like approached home plate (with his arms extended). It was one of the coolest things ever.
Jason Giambi celebrates his walk-off against the White Sox in 2013 as he heads for home. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)


Hamilton: That, to me, was like the old days in the ’90s. When those guys hit home runs, there was never any doubt. You never made a call where it was like, “Oh, it was caught at the wall.” They were gone halfway up the bleachers. That’s the way his was. You knew, that sound, when it left the bat, that that was going to be a game-winning home run.

Allen: I would say that was one of Hammy’s better calls. That was awesome.

Francona: Oh, my goodness, Hammy’s call of it. I still get chills every time I hear it.

https://youtu.be/g8y3SHtomn8

The ball landed just to the left of where the visitors bullpen once sat. It was collected by 6-year-old Jake Raffin, who traded the souvenir for a signed Giambi bat. He was later invited with his family to meet Giambi. Jake was also given a pair of batting gloves and a “Goon Squad” T-shirt. But before that exchange could take place, Giambi was owed a massive home plate mobbing from his euphoric teammates.

Kipnis: I swear to God, I remember, it was the first time that I’ve — not got teary-eyed during a game — but like a laughter, like a joy. We were laughing. I was jumping up in the celebration. It was one of the best, most genuinely joyful mobbing at home plates after a walk-off that you’ll find.

Allen: Big G was like Kip’s dad. It was like watching his dad come up and hit a homer.

Kluber: It was definitely more exciting than just a — not that they’re normal — but just a normal walk-off. It felt like there was a little bit extra special to it.

Gomes: I don’t know where that ranks in his homers — he’s got a ton of those — but I know, for us, that home run ranks really high.

Tomlin: I just remember watching him with the Yankees and with the A’s and doing things like that. It was “OK, he’s 23 again, playing the game.” It brought back that kind of moment. The happiness that it brought the team and him was very, very special.

Chris Antonetti, team president: There have been a lot of electric moments in our ballpark over the past 10-12 years, but that one is certainly right up there. Just what that game meant to us, where we were in the standings, the guy who did it, the game situation, it was one of the more exciting moments that I remember in the recent history of the ballpark.

Hamilton: I think the greatest home run in the history of this ballpark is Rajai Davis in Game 7 of the World Series, but I would say that at-bat by Jason Giambi is a top five moment for me in the history of this park. I think it’s because, one, he’s such a good guy. He’s one of my all-time favorite guys that have ever played here. He’s just a phenomenal person. He brought so much to that ballpark, almost as much in the clubhouse as he did on the field.

Aviles straddled the plate, inviting Giambi into the mosh pit with a devilish look. Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana jumped up and down on each side of Aviles, closing the scrum around the slugger as Giambi touched home plate. Kipnis and Gomes began to pound on Giambi.

Kipnis nearly tore the jersey off Giambi’s shoulders before Asdrubal Cabrera jumped into the veteran’s arms. Kipnis soon followed Cabrera’s example, then Giambi was served a healthy dose of high-fives and hugs from each of his teammates and coaches. Giambi then shared a hearty embrace with Francona before receiving a Gatorade bath from Swisher and Aviles.

Antonetti: When you came down to the clubhouse after the game, you could feel it. I mean it was an elation, almost like a playoff-clinching celebration where it was that emotional.

Gomes: When could you say you were on the same team as Jason Giambi? You got to watch him hit a walk-off. I know it meant a lot to everyone here.

Francona: He touched everybody. For him, to get that love back, for everything he had done for everybody else, it seemed so appropriate.

Tomlin: Seeing Tito’s face and his face after the fact when they were hugging on the field, stuff like that, that’s what it’s all about.

Kluber: Shoot, Tito’s got a picture in his office that you walk by every day. You’re constantly reminded of it.

Francona: I love it. That’s why it’s there.
Jason Giambi shares a memorable hug with Terry Francona after his walk-off homer helped keep the Indians’ playoff hopes alive in 2013. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)


The Indians would go on to record five more wins over their final five games to end the season on a 10-game winning streak. With the Rays and Rangers nearly keeping pace — they each went 8-2 over their final 10 games — the Tribe would need each of their victories, including the clincher against the Twins on the final day of the season, wrapping up the top wild-card slot and guaranteeing a home game for the one-game wild-card matchup.

Antonetti: We went into Minnesota needing every single one of those games.

Hamilton: I don’t think, without Giambi’s at-bat, that club wins a wild-card spot. I think that loss would have been so devastating that it could have had an impact for a day or two, and as it was, they couldn’t afford (that).

Kluber: The fact that he was the one that hit it even made it that much more exciting. And then the fact that it was a win that got us closer to the postseason.

Underwood: I remember thinking to myself, this might just be the thing that carries them the rest of the way. Because it was just so incredible. The reaction of his teammates and the fans that were here, everybody just went bonkers. After a while, you just sit back and think, my gosh, that’s just incredible.

Allen: Every game mattered so much, but we never felt the pressure. It was just like, we were in such a good spot. I remember Scott Kazmir was dealing for us, Ubaldo was dealing for us, (Justin Masterson) had come back and he was in the pen. We just had so many ways and so many guys that stepped up in a huge way when we needed them most. Earlier in that year, Ubaldo wasn’t pitching well, and you never would have thought that was the guy we were going to count on down the stretch to start the last game of the season to get us into the playoffs. He just threw us on his back. We just rolled.

Gomes: I remember we actually finished a game back of the division. That was kind of a crazy thought. … (That experience) changed the culture of this organization. It showed we were on the cusp of becoming a pretty good organization.

The Rays and Rangers finished tied for the second wild-card spot, forcing a tiebreaking Game 163. Tampa Bay would emerge victorious, sending them to Cleveland (92-70) for the all-important opportunity to battle the Red Sox in the ALDS. Unfortunately, Alex Cobb outpitched Danny Salazar, and the Tribe’s wild ride ended with a 4-0 defeat at Progressive Field.

Hamilton: It was like, “Huh, what do you mean it’s over?” That’s why I always say now, who knows, there’s no guaranteed formula going into the playoffs. There’s none. In ’97, we won 86 games. We didn’t blow into the playoffs. And you’re one win away from winning it all. You don’t know. You would have thought, how could you have more momentum than you had in ’13? But Alex Cobb took care of that.

Brantley: I always remember it as my first playoff game, the experience I got to take away from that. The chills and the goosebumps and basically not feeling my body for six innings because you’re just in the moment of being in the playoffs and fans were so electric. It was one of those things you never forget.

The next two years didn’t feature similar playoff runs. While each of those clubs finished above .500, injuries and inconsistent play kept the organization from returning to the postseason until 2016. Of course, talent will always play the most tangible factor in a team’s success, however, many still point to the lessons learned in 2013 and the leadership provided by Giambi during their first playoff chase.

Tomlin: It was one of those moments, I wouldn’t say it propelled the organization to a tradition of winning, but it kind of seems like that. It’s like an addictive habit. You see that and you want to be part of it again. It didn’t happen the next two years after that, but once it finally got timed in ’16 when it happened again, it was like, “OK, we’re back. We are a good enough team to do this.” That all started in that moment when Giambi was here and hit that home run. We got that taste of winning again.

Kluber: That was really the first taste of trying to get to the postseason, play in the postseason, that kind of stuff. I think we all realize how fun it was. We went a couple of years without getting to that point, but I think those experiences were still important, still critical in guys learning how to handle a situation, perform in a situation.

Antonetti: The only way to get experience is to live through it. The only way to have that feeling of what it’s like to perform and execute when there’s a lot on the line is to be in those moments. I think a lot of those guys benefited from going through that in 2013. And some of those lessons carry forward when we’ve had other meaningful games.

As for Giambi, the slugger returned in 2014 but only managed to play in 26 games, smacking a pair of homers. He retired prior to the start of the 2015 season, finishing with 440 homers and a career slash line of .277/.399/.516. He did not respond to a request from The Athletic to discuss the moment, but the willingness of others to speak on his behalf sheds light on the impression he left behind.

Hamilton: I think he had as big an impact as any one player I’ve ever seen here for one year. I’ve never seen anybody come to a ball club and have a bigger impact than he did and he didn’t even play every day.

Gomes: Whether he had delivered it or not, I don’t think that would have changed the narrative of how we felt about him. He meant so much in many ways. Sometimes, he wouldn’t have to do anything. You just knew who he was. It was almost one of those things where you wanted to impress “dad” when you go out there.

Tomlin: It was a moment that Jason Giambi turned himself into a 23-year-old kid again and did what he was very capable of doing.

Kipnis: You remember all the stories of Big G, relying on our older guy and all that stuff. It wasn’t like a last hurrah for him but it was just like a “I’ll give you guys one last pick-me-up. This ride’s not over, yet.” I think that really gave us the spark to keep going down the stretch. Like, “Hey, we’re meant to do this.”

Q&A: Indians GM Mike Chernoff on postseason roster building and the balance between anxiety and excitement
By T.J. Zuppe Sep 26, 2018 3
CHICAGO​ — The​ Indians spent​ many days planning. They​ had countless conversations.​ They discussed several​ scenarios​ and spent​ a few late​​ nights at the ballpark. And finally, after much deliberation, they arrived at the group of players they carried into the 2017 Division Series against the Yankees.

Then, Edwin Encarnacion twisted his ankle at second base in the first inning of Game 2.

Just like that, their early plans to use Michael Brantley as a pinch-hitter and leverage bat shifted. Brantley, returning from an ankle injury of his own, was now starting at DH in the most important games of their year. Encarnacion wasn’t able to return until Game 5.

On top of that, Lonnie Chisenhall was finding it difficult to time a Luis Severino fastball. Corey Kluber wasn’t himself. Regular rest. Short rest. It didn’t matter. Gio Urshela, in the lineup because of his typically stellar defense, was making a critical mistake in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium.

A 2-0 series lead became an unthinkable first-round exit, a season seemingly destined for a fairy-tale end became a nightmare, and their plans became a point of emphasis for much winter discussion and criticism.

Front offices don’t always foresee things like a twisted ankle or a drone mishap, but it’s still their job, along with the manager and coaching staff, to think of as many scenarios as possible leading into the postseason.

Sometimes they’re right. Sometimes they’re wrong. And it’s always the miscalculations that stand out most.

This year, the Indians are currently working through those plans in advance of their third consecutive trip to the playoffs. The brain trust plans to have most of it settled by this time next week, but with Trevor Bauer still ramping up his workload, Andrew Miller still rounding into form and Josh Donaldson continuing to work his body into regular playing shape, the past few weeks have felt unsettled.

Mike Chernoff and the rest of the front office hope the weeks of uncertainty and possible chaos leading up to October transform into a beautiful masterpiece by the time Game 1 arrives. The Indians GM, from the top step of the dugout at Guaranteed Rate Field, spoke with The Athletic, MLB.com and cleveland.com about the differences between last year and this year and explained why he feels really good about the group they’ve assembled.

How different has planning for and building this year’s postseason roster felt compared to the past few years?

Last year, I think we felt like we were kind of scrambling to figure out who was going to be available and are we going to be able to build up volume for the guys, even if they’re healthy. A lot of open questions. This year, fingers crossed, it has felt a little bit different. I think we’re still working some guys back, whether it’s Trevor or Andrew, to figure out exactly what they can give us in the postseason. But I think things feel a little bit more settled as far as the regulars that are out there.

You’re inching closer and closer to what you believe will be the best version of this team, but there’s still uncertainty. How much of what you feel is anxiety about the unknown and how much is excitement about the potential?

Our sports psychologist would tell you, you have the same physiological reaction to both anxiety and excitement, so I would say in my head it’s anxiety, but I think it’s also excitement (laughs). No, I think it’s a super exciting time. And it’s really hard to be making these last-minute decisions as you’re building up for the postseason, but it’s a lot better to be having that type of anxiety than thinking about how you’re going home and thinking about offseason planning right now.

With what you’ve seen from Andrew Miller, do you think he can do what he did in 2016? Or does the presence of Brad Hand and Cody Allen impact the need for that?

I don’t see any difference whatsoever. I think he’s pitching the best we’ve seen him pitch all year. In fact, he looks a lot like what he looked like in 2016. He’s coming in with a lot of confidence. Both fastball and slider look really good right now. I don’t think there are any limits to what he potentially can do. I do think our bullpen is in a (good) position, especially with the three guys at the back end, where in ’16, we had two of those guys. We had (Bryan) Shaw, but he was more in a set-up role. Now, you have three guys that have pitched at the back end of a game, so, potentially, it’s even a stronger bullpen if everything is going well.

It’s never easy to put a postseason roster together, but the fact that you are now in this position for a third consecutive year, does that make it any easier to put this together?

No. I don’t think so. Each team is unique. You’re trying to figure out what’s the best roster. You’re going to spend just as much time and effort figuring out what is the best possible roster, what’s the best strategy for using our guys. So, I think you can maybe plan ahead a little bit better and know some of the decisions you’ll have to make, but the decisions are just as hard to make.

Without knowing what’s going to happen in the postseason …

Do you know what’s going to happen in the postseason?

I don’t.

Damn it.

Do you feel better equipped right now than at this time last year, even though the record isn’t as good?

It’s hard to compare year by year. You have to remember, last year’s team was unbelievable. Twenty-two game win streak. I think there was a lot of uncertainty heading into the postseason, but especially coming off the 2016 season, I think we also felt really strong about the group that we had and what they had accomplished that year. 2016 was a little bit different. It was the first year in the cycle. You don’t know exactly what to expect and you’re tackling those challenges for the first time. This year, what I would say is different is, OK, our record, we might not have as many wins as what we had in those previous years, but it does feel like over the past several weeks, we’ve seen a lot of things come together in ways that we hadn’t seen for the majority of the season. So, we do feel like we’re sort of on an upward trajectory heading to the postseason.

And you have Corey Kluber pitching well, the guys in the bullpen seem to be pitching well …

Yeah, you have Kluber pitching great, Andrew looks like the best he’s been all year. Cody looked great last night. Hopefully Trevor is able to build up some volume. Josh Donaldson on the team and a month ago he wasn’t even here. It’s those types of things.

Speaking on Donaldson, I’m sure you guys wouldn’t have made the trade if you didn’t feel good on some level that he could come back and be a difference maker. But now that you’ve seen him take some Donaldson-like swings and he’s played in back-to-back-to-back games, what’s it been like from your perspective seeing him progress?

When you make a move like that with a guy that has been on the DL or whatever for 100-plus days in a season and had like 11 rehab innings leading into the trade, there’s uncertainty, for sure. We had seen some signs of life in the bat during those rehab outings, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t uncertainty. And we felt really good about the swings that he’s taken, how he’s looked in the field, his arm, how he’s run the bases. I think we’re feeling optimistic about where he is.

What about Jason Kipnis in center field? What have you thought of his transition?

He has really seemed to have taken to the position well. Obviously, he’s continued to be really good with the bat. I think, more than anything, his ability to just commit to that position has allowed him to succeed out there. We’ve been pleased with what we’ve seen.

What will happen with Lonnie Chisenhall?

We’re still working through that. He’s continuing to rehab. Most importantly, we just want to get him healthy. I’m not sure we can answer any of those questions on some of the guys that are injured in Arizona until we just get them healthy and figure out what we can.

Francona said Chisenhall and Tyler Naquin were playing in sim games out in Arizona. Is that still the case?

I just think we have a live pitcher. Like, Cody Anderson is out there throwing. We have some other guys throwing. They’re still getting live at-bats. They’re continuing to do their agility and rehab work, also.

How important do you view the days off leading up to Game 1 of the ALDS?

It’s a little bit awkward in baseball. You don’t ever have four days off. It’s a real balance. You want to give guys rest, but you also want to keep them fresh and feeling really good and locked in. We have to balance that. Tito has tried different things over the past couple of years. I think we’ll make sure we have some sort of competitive environment for them during that time, so it’s not just four days off.

Last year, some of the front office guys played the field during a simulated game in the days leading up to the ALDS. Are you going to play shortstop this year?

I don’t think that’s happening again.

Francona said they wanted real athletes this time …

Easy. Come on. I say front office versus writers, how about that?

And then you criticize us.

Yeah. And we get to write about it after the game.

Francona had talked about possibly inviting fans on Tuesday for a scrimmage or intrasquad game. Could that actually happen?

We need to work through the logistics to see if it’s possible to do that. Some of that will just depend on what time we can do that sim game. But I love the idea of a scoreboard and a PA announcer, ideally if we can get fans in the park, just making it a little bit more of a real environment. It’s hard for guys to get their adrenaline up. We see it when they throw bullpens. Their velocity is lower, just because there’s no adrenaline. We get hitters in there, that obviously helps. Or for a hitter facing live pitching, that helps. Anything else you can do to sort of raise the stakes a little bit, I think it helpful for guys.

What do you think of the way Bauer attacked his rehab?

I think, first of all, he was incredibly diligent doing all the things he needed to do medically, but also innovative in what he was thinking about to keep his arm in good shape. We always are thinking about how do we keep a guy’s arm or bat or whatever it is, depending on the position, in a spot where, as he comes back, that’s not the thing that holds him back. The way that Trevor did that was unique and really innovative in a lot of ways. I think it has allowed him to hopefully be in a better spot as he returns to competition.

What sorts of things did you find innovative?

Just the way that he sort of mapped out every five days within his rehab sequence to make sure he was getting a high intensity day as if it was a start day. Or doing some of the throwing drills that he was doing, even if he couldn’t use his lower half, to make sure he was in the best spot he could be in terms of his arm.

Do you think you guys are flying under the radar entering the postseason?

I haven’t paid a lot of attention to the radar. I hope we go in under the radar. That’s great. But I think we feel good about the team we have and their ability to compete against any team out there. A lot of the pieces have come together over the past month. We hope they’ll continue over the next week. Relative to last year, I’m not sure exactly how I feel, but I feel really good about this team.

(Top photo of the Indians celebrating Greg Allen’s walkoff single: Scott R.

‘Let’s go!’ Terry Francona is just as eager as you to get the playoffs started (if not more so)
By T.J. Zuppe Sep 27, 2018 8
CHICAGO​ — Terry​ Francona wasn’t just​ a little upset leaving the​ ballpark Tuesday night.

“I​ was pissed,” he​ said.

It​ was an​ emotion he​​ carried all the way back to his hotel. He then brought some form of it back to Guaranteed Rate Field on Wednesday.

“(Brad Mills) and those guys are looking at me,” Francona said, “like, ‘Fucking relax.’ ”

It wasn’t necessarily Tuesday’s walk-off loss to the White Sox that stuck with him (and truth be told, he was probably being a bit facetious). It was the way the final inning played out.

Trevor Bauer, working his way back from a stress fracture in his right leg, gave the Indians four innings and 60 pitches. If he is to make a postseason impact, each of those offerings carried significance.

Carlos Carrasco, needing a healthy workload of his own to stay on track for a start in the ALDS, followed out of the bullpen. It was equally important for the righty to stay in line with a starter’s usual volume.

When the White Sox began a rally in the ninth with a walk, Brad Hand initiated his warmup routine in the bullpen. As the base traffic began to pick up, Hand stood ready to enter. There, he continued to wait.

“We could’ve had the lefty (come in) and then make them pinch-hit and do some things,” Francona said.

Moments before Leury Garcia sacrificed the eventual tying and winning runs to second and third, the Indians called for a replay challenge on a pick play at second base. The safe call was upheld, but even then, Francona’s mental wheels were turning.

“We had an open base. We could’ve gone out, brought in a righty, walked the lefty, see what they do,” Francona said. “But … sigh … let Carrasco finish it.”

In any other normal situation — one in which the Indians haven’t piggybacked Bauer and Carrasco — they probably would have considered walking the left-handed hitting Daniel Palka. Instead, they chose to pitch to the Sox slugger. Palka slapped Carrasco’s third offering of the sequence into center field, Adam Engel and Yolmer Sanchez scored on the single, and the Indians were relegated to walk-off loss territory.

Under normal circumstances, the loss would feel like a missed opportunity. But with the division wrapped up and their opponent, the Astros, locked in, Carrasco’s few extra pitches in defeat had a more pleasant silver lining.

In some ways, that was a victory.

But managing to lose a battle to win a war isn’t always easy to stomach in the moment.

“I hate it. I hate it,” Francona said. His voice carried a hint of pain and exasperation but managed to make the room of reporters laugh. Having covered recent games lacking postseason implications, each of the writers knew exactly what the manager meant.

“I’m so tired of this,” he continued, generating a few more laughs. “Last night, watching Carrasco give up runs, I’m sitting there like, you know, we’ve got a guy out in the bullpen that probably could’ve come in and (got the final outs). But, we need to (keep Carrasco’s pitch count up).

“I can’t wait until we start playing fucking games where we can try to do what we’re supposed to do.”

Thankfully, those games are coming.

For an impatient Francona, they can’t get here soon enough.

“Let’s go!” he exclaimed.

But in the meantime?

“It sucks!”

While the momentary venting — or maybe just a desperate cry for someone to manipulate the space-time continuum — made for a light, funny moment prior to the Tribe’s series finale in Chicago, it’s easy to understand where he’s coming from. Each of the games since the clinch has been a little odd to process.

Win or lose, the outcomes are overshadowed by the individual storylines happening within the battles. Those are the factors that will help determine where the Indians go this October.

And that’s not to say Francona disagrees with how the club has chosen to handle the weeks since their division clinch. He knows the best version of his team is the one that comes through keeping Carrasco’s pitch count on its typical level or ramping Bauer up to a possible postseason workload. He knows it’s vital to give his regulars rest or build Josh Donaldson’s body up to everyday activity. He understands the benefits of limiting Cody Allen’s usage or slowly working Andrew Miller back into the bullpen’s plans.

All of those big-picture goals mean sacrificing a little of the “win each day” mentality that Francona strives to achieve. Instead of managing to specific situations or with particular matchups in mind, the team is concerned with getting their pitchers enough work and preparing everyone for the start of the playoffs.

That makes managing these games a different sort of a challenge.

“There is a good reason for what we’re doing,” Francona said. “It just goes against …”

He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

“We show up to win,” Francona continued. “But there are days in spring training when we lose a game and I get the ass. Because (trying to win) is what we do.”

And that’s what they hope to do when the playoffs begin at Minute Maid Park next week.

While managing through a long-term lens, they’ve managed to line up their pitching for the first two games of the series. Corey Kluber is projected for Game 1, Carrasco is expected to follow him in Game 2, and Francona indicated there’s a good chance Mike Clevinger takes the ball in Game 3 (and those plans are always subject to change).

Where Bauer fits, though, is still a bit of a mystery.

Carrasco will start Sunday in Kansas City and throw about 75-80 pitches. Bauer will follow out of the bullpen, likely to feast on whatever is left. Whether his three appearances offer enough time for the club to feel comfortable starting Bauer in the ALDS — or whether they might keep him available out of the bullpen earlier in the series — is still left up to speculation.

“We need to get through the season first,” Francona said, “because you don’t want to announce something and then have to undo it.”

Thankfully, their games will soon carry more weight than ever before. All of their preparation will be tested. And if those matchups go the way they hope, all of the time spent focusing on the larger picture will be extremely worth it.

“Yeah,” Francona said. “We’re getting there.”

Trevor went 4 innings and 60 pitches on Tuesday. I don't see why he can't be counted on for 5 or 6 and 75-80 next week.

No doubt. Clearly he will be a starter in the playoffs in my mind.

Q&A: Corey Kluber on playoff experience, preparation and redemption

Zack Meisel 2h ago 1
KANSAS​ CITY, Mo.​ — No​ American League pitcher logged​ more innings this​ season than Corey​ Kluber,​ who eclipsed​ the 200​​ mark for the fifth consecutive year.

He won 20 games for the first time. He again registered an ERA below 3.00. He averaged more than a strikeout per inning. He led the AL in walk rate. He earned his third consecutive All-Star nod.

And yet, to many, his season will be defined by the month ahead. The regular-season feats are mere footnotes, given the Indians’ ultimate aims.

Kluber has already proved himself as one of the league’s premier starting pitchers, as dependable and productive as they come. But after last October’s ALDS debacle, when Kluber surrendered nine runs in 6 1/3 innings across two abbreviated starts and the Indians coughed up a commanding lead against the Yankees, it’s all about playoff redemption. Right? Right? Bueller?

That’s not how Kluber sizes up the situation.

If he’s thinking about his misplaced fastballs to Didi Gregorius, that’s bandwidth he isn’t devoting to his Astros scouting report. That’s inefficient. So, no dwelling on the past.

Kluber is treating his next start — Friday at Minute Maid Park — as he would any other. He held off on studying up on Houston until he completed his final regular-season tuneup in Kansas City on Saturday evening.

The two-time Cy Young winner sat down with The Athletic and MLB.com this weekend to discuss his mindset as the Indians begin another postseason journey.

What can you take from the postseason experiences the last two years that might help you this time?

As far as the actual game itself and being out there and pitching and that kind of stuff, to me, I think they’re all different. I think each series is different. You’re facing different teams, things like that. But I think the emotional side of it — the extra adrenaline, things like that — having done it, I think it gives you some experience to fall back on. How you feel, what was different, what was the same, how you dealt with extra adrenaline, things like that. You want to try to stay as normal as possible, but that being said, I think it’s only human for everybody to get a little bit extra excited when those games roll around. So you have to learn how to control it and try to get yourself back so that you aren’t so amped up and start trying a little bit too much. So I think those experiences, you can learn from.

You opted to have an extra day before your first playoff start. Was the reasoning behind that based upon previous knowledge of how to navigate the postseason?

It wasn’t, per se, that I wanted an extra day before the playoffs. It was just the three or four games we tried to line up, that made the most sense without having two different stretches with seven days off. Whether it would’ve been Saturday or Sunday, there are so many times throughout the year when you have an extra day because of off-days that you almost have two different routines. You have a way to deal with having that extra day to adjust things.

What was the most significant thing you learned from the 2016 playoff experience, when you were pitching on short rest for a full month?

We just had to do a lot of stuff to focus on recovery, because we had three starters and we started on three days’ rest every time out. So I think just the extra attention to recovery to bounce back and make sure that, if it’s needed to come back on short rest or if it’s needed to go out to the bullpen, just to do those extra things that maybe help you bounce back a little bit quicker in case one of those situations does come up.

Do you feel as though the pitching staff is better equipped for October than it was the last two playoff runs?

All bets are off when you reach that point in time. It’s all hands on deck trying to win that day’s game. It’s not really worrying about trying to log that extra inning to save the bullpen. The way those games are managed now, you see guys are quick to go to the bullpen if they think it’s a big spot and I think it’s just because of the magnitude of those games and the importance of runs. Managers realize if you wait around to try to save a guy, sometimes you don’t have a chance to get to him. That’s why roles get pushed aside a little bit. If a guy’s been a starter all year, they have no problem going to the bullpen, just because those outs are all equally as important, whether it’s the start of the game or the middle of the game or to finish the game.
Given how the last two postseasons ended, is there a sense of striving for redemption, or is that out of mind when gearing up for this run?

I don’t want this to come off the wrong way — I think fans tend to dwell on things like that a little more than we do as players. Obviously, when we were eliminated last year, there was disappointment, just like when we lost Game 7 of the World Series, there was disappointment. Part of preparing yourself for the next year is putting that behind you and getting ready for the next spring training, the next season, the next postseason. It’s always having that mentality of looking forward. There’s enough to worry about without having to try to make up for last year.

Does that apply on a personal level for you, too, given how last season’s ALDS unfolded?

Not any more than the year prior and the last game. Obviously those situations didn’t play out the way I would’ve liked them to, but it’s no different than if you have a bad start during the season. The best way to cope with that is to flush it. If you sit and dwell on it, those things start to eat away at you and you start carrying a weight around that makes doing things that are already difficult even more difficult. Whether it’s a pitcher pitching poorly or a hitter in a slump, guys have experience of pushing that aside and you keep looking forward and you focus on the task at hand for that day.

How would you assess your body of work this season? Your strikeouts are down, which you’ve attributed to the approach of the hitters, but your other numbers are right around where they typically are.

That’s the name of the game, is adjustments. Pitchers are going to try to adjust to hitters. Hitters are going to try to adjust to pitchers. It’s that back and forth throughout the course of a game, throughout the course of a season-long series against a team, a whole season. I think it’s constantly adjusting. You guys know that I don’t put too much stock into whatever the numbers say. To me, it boils down to being able to make those adjustments and try to give your team a chance to win as many of the games you take the ball as you can.

Do you feel any different, health-wise, than you did going into the playoffs the last two years? Do you feel any fresher?

No, I think I feel like I’d like to feel, just as I have the last few years.

What sort of impact has Josh Tomlin had on the team and, in particular, on younger pitchers over the years?

You could go a million different ways answering that question. He’s made an impact on everybody he’s come across. But specifically about younger pitchers, baseball nowadays is so infatuated with numbers and spin rate and velocity and all that kind of stuff. I’m not sure how many of those boxes he checks, but he’s had a really good career and he’s been a big part of this team for a long time. It’s a good visual for players who are developing to see that, just because TV networks and broadcasts talk about velocity and all that kind of stuff, that’s not a game-changer. That’s not the only way to get here. Examples like him are big in that, on top of the pitching side of it, it shows the importance of being a good teammate. He’s the glue that keeps our clubhouse together. That importance can’t be overstated, either. He brings all of those different intangibles off the field, as well as the competitiveness and the determination that he has when he’s on the mound.

What have you, specifically, drawn from him in your time together?

That’s what’s neat about our staff, is that we all talk to each other, watch each other, learn from each other, even if it’s something as little as how you hold a pitch. It’s not necessarily saying, “Hey, I want to go steal this from this guy.” I think it’s just through relationships and conversations and stuff, you pick up on things. It’s constant learning from each other, helping each other. You might have a conversation with a guy and you don’t even know that it has an impact on him. That’s one of the cool things about Josh and our team in general. Nobody’s off-limits in that regard.

Would it be strange not having him as your locker mate next year?

Hopefully he still is. (laughs)

(Top photo of Corey Kluber: David Maxwell/Getty Images)

How the inner workings of the Indians’ front office have helped build a sustainable winner in Cleveland

Zack Meisel 7h ago 6
KANSAS​ CITY, Mo.​ — In​ the summer of 2002,​ a Mets marketing intern​ named Mike Chernoff​ chauffeured​ a player to​ an autograph​​ signing at a Sports Authority store.

On the way back to Shea Stadium, as they approached a fire station in the heart of New York City, the player instructed Chernoff to pull over. They exited the car, walked into the building and thanked the firefighters for their service, a gesture greatly appreciated by those in the department.

Few days were so eye-opening for the intern, who still had a year’s worth of college credits to accrue before he obtained his economics degree. Chernoff helped hand out bobbleheads at the ballpark gates on game days. When he interned with the Indians a year later, he accepted minor-league pitch charts via fax and transferred every handwritten pitch result, one by one, into the team’s database.

“You felt like you were just pressing the button a thousand times, over and over and over again,” Chernoff told The Athletic.

Technological advances have eliminated some of the busywork once bestowed upon those at the bottom of the front-office hierarchy. When Chris Antonetti joined the Expos in 1997, he made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, sold ice cream and served as the official scorer at Gulf Coast League games.

Once, when the Indians were on a road trip and CC Sabathia was rehabbing in Cleveland, the club needed someone to catch his bullpen session. Chernoff wasn’t far removed from his playing career at Princeton, where the light-hitting infielder was team captain. He strapped on some gear, said his prayers and received the hard-throwing southpaw’s tosses.

Those sorts of experiences occur less frequently today. A fresh-faced 23-year-old didn’t catch Trevor Bauer’s side sessions last month or retrieve Chernoff’s dry cleaning.

In fact, Eric Binder, the club’s director of baseball operations, can recall his third day in the office in 2013, after he joined the organization as an advance scouting intern. He was brewing a cup of coffee when Antonetti asked him whom that night’s opponent, the Blue Jays, were sending to the mound.

“What do we have on him?” Antonetti asked.

“I was shocked he was asking me,” Binder told The Athletic. “I was trying to walk through the scouting report the best I could. He was truly interested in what the attack was. It was just astounding to me. It really opened my eyes to the culture of the office.”

For the Indians to construct a sustainable, winning product on the field — without the benefit of a boundless payroll — development is essential. The Indians contend their player development system is a competitive advantage, and a swift examination of the starting rotation, anchored by four previously undervalued trade acquisitions who blossomed under the organization’s watch, supports that claim.

But take a peek at the staff directories across the league. Notice how many front office members have roots in Cleveland, how many stem from the tree planted by Mark Shapiro and Antonetti. For the Indians to evolve into a model, midmarket franchise — not just a short-lived, brief-occupant-of-your-memory-bank winner — it requires the right people in decision-making positions, and that requires development of people off the field, too.

“As soon as we stand still,” Antonetti told The Athletic, “that’s an opportunity for everybody to pass us by.”
For Derek Falvey, lunch was the most important meal of the day.

When Falvey interned with the Indians a decade ago, he was often tasked with ordering lunch for the office. He had nightmares of Shapiro, then the fourth-floor boss at Progressive Field, receiving the wrong meal. So, when he placed everyone’s orders, he would request the exact same meal as Shapiro. That way, if the restaurant botched Shapiro’s order, Falvey would claim the screwed-up sandwich.

“Those things were nerve-wracking,” Falvey told The Athletic.

Now, Falvey serves as the Twins’ executive vice president and chief baseball officer. All because of his innovative sandwich-securing system. OK, not quite.

When Falvey joined the Indians in late 2007, he didn’t intend on climbing the ladder toward a premier position within a major-league front office. Chernoff didn’t, either. Now, he’s the Indians’ general manager. And on his first day with the Tribe in 2003, he didn’t even eat lunch. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to stuff a brown bag with goodies or if his new colleagues would invite him to a nearby restaurant. Turns out, neither happened. Those loud rumbles echoing throughout downtown Cleveland on that day 15 years ago originated in Chernoff’s stomach.

Both Falvey and Chernoff adhered to a simple tenet that Shapiro and Antonetti stressed: Each week, complete your 40 hours of work in your particular field. It’s what you do with the rest of your time that will define your career trajectory.

When Antonetti wasn’t driving Expos prospects to and from the airport in a van, he studied player development, hitting philosophies and defensive techniques.

“It was like a graduate school in baseball,” he said.

Even as an intern, superiors encouraged Chernoff to contribute on projects he considered “way above (his) pay grade.” During his tenure in Cleveland, Falvey held roles in player development, scouting, baseball operations and administration. By his final years with the club, he joined the team on many road trips and served as a conduit between Terry Francona, the coaching staff and the decision-makers back in Cleveland.

“You very rarely heard, ‘No, you can’t learn about that area,’ or, ‘Stay in your lane,’ ” Falvey said.

And when people broaden their knowledge base, it allows for the organization to fill voids left by those who earn promotions elsewhere. The Twins poached Falvey from the Indians to oversee their entire operation. Falvey and David Stearns worked side by side as the Indians’ directors of baseball operations in 2012, before Stearns advanced to an assistant GM role with the Astros. The Brewers named Stearns their GM in 2015.

Shapiro tabbed longtime Indians executive Ross Atkins as the Blue Jays’ GM when he relocated north of the border three years ago. Neal Huntington, whom Antonetti considers a mentor, spent a decade in the Indians’ front office before he earned the Pirates’ GM gig in 2007. Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen initiated his front-office career as an intern with the Indians nearly 20 years ago. He also held roles in advance scouting and player development.

The familiarity certainly helps ease communication between the Indians and other front offices. And it offers up-and-coming executives examples of the benefits of working in Cleveland.

“Chris has said this a lot: ‘We’re just looking for good ideas,’ ” Falvey said. “ ‘We don’t care where they come from. I don’t care if it’s from the intern who’s been there for three days or a tried-and-true person who’s been there for 20 years.’ If we have a good idea, we’re trying to bring it to the table.

“That’s really valuable, because it’s no longer just a system based on the time you put in. Too often in a lot of industries — and in baseball for a long time — it was, ‘You have to put in the time before you can have that conversation with the general manager.’ In (Chris’) case, it was, ‘I value your input. I want to see it. Bring it to me and we’ll find ways to incorporate it.’ That really is empowering for a junior employee to know that they have that level of direct access. And then it’s not only empowering, but then you feel a sense of obligation, where you have to keep to that level of standard and that becomes a cycle. If you keep that cycle going, that becomes the environment and culture that you’re supporting and, ultimately, you’re building.”

The Indians have never forked over nine figures for a free agent. Their payroll ranked in the middle of the pack this season, a franchise record of about $142 million.

Misfires on Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn hamstrung them for a bit. Edwin Encarnacion has paid dividends, though even his lucrative contract creates some hurdles.

There’s little margin for error when functioning with such restrictions. The Indians aren’t alone in that regard. Billy Beane’s bunch built a 97-win club in Oakland this year with one of the league’s stingiest payrolls. Now, is it sustainable? The Athletics hadn’t qualified for the postseason since 2014, and they haven’t escaped the ALDS since 2006.

The Indians have amassed more victories since 2013 than any other AL club. This will be their fourth foray into the playoffs in that span (sorry, Kenny Lofton). But they’re also staring at the sport’s longest title drought, which stands at 70 years.

When operating with limited financial resources, unearthing other competitive advantages is essential.

“There’s a lot of focus right now in the development space,” Falvey said.

The player development system is the backbone of any big-league organization. That’s especially valid with the Indians, since free agency isn’t the most accommodating avenue by which to acquire talent.

Patience is often the key to the exercise, as evidenced by the paths that Carlos Carrasco, José Ramírez, Trevor Bauer and others traveled to reach stardom.

Before the Indians acquired Mike Clevinger, he was contemplating other career choices in wildlife control or biology. Indians scouts identified some attributes they liked, and when they completed the trade with the Angels for Vinnie Pestano, they overhauled Clevinger’s pitching delivery. A few years later, he bloomed into a 200-inning, 200-strikeout hurler.

The Indians converted Corey Kluber from a non-top-30 Padres prospect into a two-time Cy Young winner, thanks to pitch refinement, instruction and plenty of diligence from the right-hander.

It’s different for everyone. Shane Bieber breezed through the Indians’ system in two years. Conversely, the Indians were careful with top prospect Triston McKenzie this season. Brady Aiken didn’t throw a single pitch for an Indians affiliate, as he spent the summer in Arizona working on his velocity and command.

They have worked to enhance their drafting process over the years, an initiative Brad Grant spearheaded when he took over as amateur scouting director in 2007. Grant handed off those reins to Scott Barnsby last winter. After a decade of spending 200 nights a year in various Marriotts from Carlsbad to Cape Cod, Grant assumed a role supporting Antonetti and Chernoff in a cozy, fourth-floor office.

They have made strides on the international front, as well, especially at the lower levels. This year, Anna Bolton left her post as team translator to, among other assignments, implement a curriculum for the prospects at the team’s Dominican academy. If players can communicate better, learn more quickly and feel more comfortable in their foreign surroundings, it will aid their pursuit of a baseball career.

“All of these areas,” Falvey said, “that, when I came into the game, certainly there was some focus, and we felt in Cleveland we were a little bit ahead of the game.”

The Indians have discovered ways to stand tall in each facet of the front office. That’s the most sensible way for a club based outside of New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago to compete on an annual basis. Even with a handful of players destined for free agency next month, the Indians plan to contend again in 2019 and beyond.

Clevinger (through 2022), Ramírez (through 2023), Bieber (2024), Brad Hand (2021) and Francisco Lindor (2021) are under team control for the long haul. Carrasco and Bauer are tied up through the 2020 season.

As those years pass, there will surely be changes to the Indians’ staff directory. It seems as though the club has a never-ending pipeline.

Six years ago, Binder was pitching for the Trinidad Triggers of the independent Pecos League and the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League. He also spent time at the Texas Baseball Ranch, where he and Bauer developed a friendship and studied lower-half pitching mechanics.

He interviewed with the Indians for an internship, started his new job and, a couple of days later, delivered a scouting report to Antonetti. Now, he regularly travels with the team, acting as a resource for the coaches and a liaison between the team and the rest of the front office.

“It’s like, ‘Hey, what are you seeing on the field? How can we support that?’ ” Binder said. “ ‘What can we dig into for you guys to help see what we see in the numbers?’ And then, we really just try to work with them the best we can, and they have a great feel on how to break it down or how to present it to the players. We have a really healthy back and forth and really get to a root cause and effect.”

The collaborative culture has paid dividends, and the Indians continue to churn out capable front-office executives, whether they’re pinpointing a potential tweak in a pitcher’s delivery, unearthing a talented prospect or catching an ace’s bullpen session.

“I talk to a lot of my peers,” Chernoff said. “It’s unique. And it’s why, even though a lot of people have obviously left for great jobs, a lot of people have made decisions to stay here.”

Why the Indians went out of their way to simulate an average day at the ballpark during their playoff layoff
By T.J. Zuppe Oct 2, 2018 4

CLEVELAND​ — A steady​ hum of​ conversation filled the Indians​ clubhouse, occasionally punctuated​ by the rhythmic​ bouncing​ of pingpong​ balls between​​ morning combatants Tyler Olson and Brandon Barnes.

Their continued crossfire kept the surrounding crowd of reporters on their toes.

A large contingent of media had infiltrated the Tribe locker room Tuesday morning — a group that began to resemble the usual size of a postseason crowd — but that couldn’t hide SportsTime Ohio reporter Andre Knott from an incoming Rajai Davis.

“Are those new shoes for the playoffs?” Davis shouted across the room.

“Man, these are old,” Knott responded with a recognizable laugh.

Elsewhere, familiar faces filtered in and out of the room. Brandon Guyer and Corey Kluber shuffled through the clubhouse, while an inquisitive reporter asked Josh Tomlin whether he had a few minutes.

Being the Indians’ most accessible player, you know he did.

It was a day like any other.

That was the point.

But the magnitude of the days ahead would soon come to light.

Tyler Naquin made his way to his locker, returning from a stint in Goodyear, Ariz. Naquin, who is attempting to serve as postseason injury insurance, underwent hip surgery in early August. Excluding a couple of live at-bats at the team’s facility over the past two months, he was set to mark his first game-like action since late July.

Exciting?

“Yeah, bro,” Naquin told The Athletic. “You get to put on a fucking jersey, go out there and maybe get to make a diving play or something.”

On the other side of the clubhouse, Yan Gomes was swarmed by microphones and television cameras. They were pointed at the catcher’s face, but reporters took a larger interest in the right thumb of Gomes, the one that burst open and was almost instantly covered in blood after an unfortunate connection with Alex Gordon’s bat in Kansas City.

The thumb was still swollen, stitches in place, but Gomes didn’t think it would keep him from catching Game 1 of the Division Series.

“Right now,” he explained, “it just feels like a bad cut on my hand. And it’s on the outside. It’s fine. The ball’s not going to rub against it or anything.”

On the far end of the locker room, a separate group began to surround Jason Kipnis.

Not missing a chance to escape the lingering crowd, Gomes pointed across the room.

“Go get Kipnis,” he said slyly.

Kipnis, on his second (or maybe third) scrum of the morning, calmly responded to questions about the team’s mindset. He was asked about the faith in Corey Kluber. He was peppered with questions about center field and being “built for October,” whatever that might mean.

Finally, the veteran was asked about the four-day break between games — and most important, how they planned to manage the emotions of arriving at their long-awaited destination: A best-of-five series against the Astros, the reigning world champs.

This isn’t their first postseason rodeo, after all. They’ve dealt with similar lengthy layoffs in the past, each time gaining experience and learning what best works for them.

“We’ve been anxious for months, to be honest,” Kipnis said. “But that being said, now that we get so close, we have to tone it down a little bit. Because I think we’ve got a lot of stuff to do before Friday. This is where you really have to buckle down.

“As much as you just want to run through a wall to get out there, it comes down to being a professional and how do you handle it. Because we’ve been there and it’s more than just emotions that’s going to get us through this.”

That mentality is partially why the team arrived at the ballpark well before noon Tuesday.

Hell, it was why they were there at all.

Terry Francona, his staff and the Indians’ front office wanted to mimic as much of a typical game day as they could in the days leading up to Friday’s opener at Minute Maid Park. Francona wanted more than just some live at-bats to get the blood flowing, he preferred an intrasquad matchup, one featuring loud music, actual fans, pregame interviews and somewhat competitive showdowns.

He viewed the week leading up to the playoffs as their chance to “build momentum.”

And they were willing to do nearly anything to simulate the real McCoy.

In the end, it wasn’t possible to get real fans through the gates, but they’ll certainly hope the manufactured atmosphere is enough to keep players in rhythm during the lengthy break between Sunday’s end of the regular season and the Friday afternoon start of the playoffs.

But before Tuesday’s fun could begin — unforgettable moments like Barnes robbing Francisco Lindor of a hit and offering him the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag, José Ramírez taking Shane Bieber deep to right field seats, a hopeful sign of his slump reaching its end, or Barnes getting deked into a fake rundown between Lindor and Josh Donaldson after his homer clanked off the left-field railing and landed back on the field — there was some important housekeeping to attend to.

For Francona, that meant a 20-minute session with reporters prior to the eventual rain-shortened 2-1 win by the Dobys, led by Barnes and Adam Rosales, over the Fellers, who featured many of the Tribe’s regulars.

Francona touched on everything from Erik González’s status — the infielder was cleared to participate in the scrimmage after taking a pitch to the head last week — to the latest on Brandon Guyer, who has been battling a right shoulder issue and was cleared to see some pitches during the intrasquad matchup.

Most important, he laid out their tentative pitching plans beyond Corey Kluber in Game 1 and Carlos Carrasco in Game 2.

As of now, Mike Clevinger is scheduled to pitch Game 3 at Progressive Field, while Trevor Bauer or Bieber will start Game 4, if necessary. The decision will come down to a potential need to use Bauer earlier in the series out of the bullpen. If Bauer remains unused, Francona’s preference is to start him. But if a situation in Game 1 or 2 calls for his services, they won’t hesitate to call upon the durable righty.

Certainly, had Bauer not suffered a stress fracture in his leg in August, he’d be slated for a more definite role. But as it stands now, the rehabbing hurler can still have a major impact.

“I can see,” Francona said, “if we get where we want to go, Trevor having a bigger hand in it than he realizes right now.”

But before making any official announcements on the roster, the size of the bullpen or the number of outfielders they’d carry into the first round, they needed to make it through an afternoon of piped-in crowd noise, empty seats and playful competition between teammates.

Clevinger took the field just before 2 p.m. to begin firing his warmup tosses. Bob Tayek, the team’s public address announcer, introduced the American League Central Division champions to a nonexistent crowed (outside of a few club staffers seated in the lower bowl). Yonder Alonso fired a baseball to each of the infielders in typical pregame fashion, Greg Allen dug in and Clevinger offered his full arsenal to the first of the three hitters he’d face.

They say nothing can truly simulate October baseball.

… And this confirmed it.

Still, the day served its purpose — beyond a handful of light moments.

Clevinger, Bieber, Cody Allen, Oliver Pérez, Dan Otero, Brad Hand and Adam Cimber all earned some level of work. Tribe hitters were able to track pitches and take swings, giving them some sort of activity during the lengthy layoff. Guyer, González and Naquin were also able to clear some form of hurdles by taking part in the day’s action.

Most important, it offered some level of productivity for everyone involved.

That does nothing to guarantee a preferred series outcome — nothing can — but it certainly beats sitting back and waiting for the inevitable to arrive.

“Everybody gets nervous,” Francona said. “But I really enjoy (playoff games) because our preparation is so good. What gives you anxiety, at least in my opinion, is, ‘Man, what am I gonna do?’ Once you kind of know, sit back and enjoy the competition because it’s so hard to get here. I think you have to enjoy it.”

Being Trevor Bauer: From wanting to quit baseball to wanting a mantel full of Cy Young awards

Zack Meisel 3h ago 5

HOUSTON​ — At​ the Texas​ Baseball Ranch, in between​ morning workouts and​ afternoon throwing sessions,​ they​ relaxed at​ lunch and​​ played Risk.

And yes, even on the app, the stalemates between Trevor Bauer’s contingent and Eric Binder’s Red Army consumed hours of their daily itinerary. In their spare time, Bauer and Binder compiled notes about lower-half pitching mechanics, preparing for a presentation they would deliver to an audience of about 150 people at the ranch.

That was Bauer in his element: studying the science of pitching, challenging his eternally hungry mind and interacting with others who similarly craved that sort of knowledge.

But that was also Bauer during a fragile stretch in his life. See, what makes Bauer so capable on the mound also tends to stand in his way. In November 2012, when Bauer and Binder presented their findings, Bauer’s career was at a crossroads. His toxic relationship with the Arizona Diamondbacks had reached a crescendo.

He contemplated quitting baseball.

The guy who, last winter, devoted part of his weeklong vacation in Iceland to working on his new slider, ceased his throwing regimen once the 2012 season expired. He eliminated baseball from his routine. He deflected thoughts about the sport, his career, his team, his personal goals and his future. For nearly two months, he morphed into a version of himself few would recognize today.

Those long-term visions of collecting Cy Young awards, influencing change in the industry and basking in World Series glory had vanished.

Six years later, only a José Abreu comebacker could spoil Bauer’s dream season. He had worked his way into the Cy Young conversation before he suffered a stress fracture in his fibula in mid-August in Chicago. (Bauer contends he would have won the award had he avoided the disabled list.)

He’s relieved with how everything has unfolded, and that includes the bumps in the road that surfaced after his split with Arizona.

After all, Bauer considered retiring in 2016.

This season has altered the trajectory of his career, though. His results on the mound have validated his process, have overshadowed those heated conversations with coaches, have answered all of those questions about whether his methods and his personality would translate to the majors.

“I feel like I’m just now scratching the surface,” Bauer told The Athletic.

Roberto Pérez would crouch behind the plate and flash a finger.

Nope.

Two fingers.

Nope.

Four fingers?

Nope.

Pérez often felt as though he couldn’t make a pitch suggestion that appealed to Bauer.

“I’d get offended by him shaking me off,” the catcher told The Athletic. “It was hard. I used to ask everyone, like, ‘What can I do with this guy?’ ”

As time passed, the process eased. Pérez has served as Bauer’s personal backstop for much of the last few seasons. They know each other’s tendencies, know the league better, know what works at the right time.

“He still does it,” Pérez said, laughing, “but not as much. Now I know what he likes to do. It took me a while, but I stuck with him.”

That’s all Bauer has ever needed. A couple of weeks after the presentation at the Ranch, the Diamondbacks traded the right-hander to the Indians. Bauer stepped outside of Chipotle to take the call from his agent, and then returned to his seat and gobbled up the rest of his monumental burrito.

For Bauer, ditching the Arizona desert was essential. His relationship with the Diamondbacks rapidly disintegrated in the year and a half after the franchise selected him with the third overall pick in the 2011 amateur draft. During Class AAA Reno’s playoff run in 2012, Bauer’s manager requested a meeting in his hotel room, which he deemed to be an atypical demand. After consulting with his agent, Bauer declined. That about sealed his fate.

“It was so toxic there,” Bauer said. “I wanted to quit baseball. I didn’t want to play anymore.”

Bauer noted there was “fault on both sides.”

“I don’t want to ever portray that I’m completely in the right,” he said. “I recognize that I’ve done things wrong as well.”

He said it’s his tendency to sever ties when he’s uncomfortable or displeased with his surroundings. If a friend strikes his final nerve, he cuts them out completely.

Bauer was confident he could build a life outside of baseball. He had an engineering background. He was driven. So, for nearly two months, he escaped his customary baseball-’round-the-clock habits.

“At that point, I was like, ‘If this is how pro ball is, then I’m just done. I don’t need this,’ ” he said.

And then, he landed in Cleveland.

“I was actually invigorated again to play and to work and to train,” he said.
Trevor Bauer (Ken Blaze/USA Today Sports)
The top few buttons on Bauer’s uniform have remained untethered during his recent outings on the mound. The fashion decision reveals his undershirt, which features his personal logo: a silhouette of him holding his patented shoulder tube, which he uses before starts to activate the necessary muscles.

In Kansas City last weekend, he asked an Indians media relations staffer about flaunting his logo during his postseason appearances. He knows the league rules, but he wanted the conversation on the record to protect the employee. He joked that the brand exposure would be worth a fine.

For the first time in his career, Bauer finally feels comfortable with his surroundings. He and Mike Clevinger wage competitive wars as if they’re brothers. He has helped Shane Bieber navigate his way through his rookie year. When the club acquired Adam Cimber, Bauer sat down with the reliever and chatted at length about his submarine-style delivery.

Bauer is no longer afraid to impart his expertise, something he says wasn’t always encouraged. It helps that the Indians have built an organization on an idea-sharing premise, from the president of baseball operations in the corner office to the intern in the cubicle.

About six weeks after the Indians traded for Bauer, they hired Binder as an advance scouting intern. Not only did Bauer receive a sorely needed change of scenery, but he had a familiar face in his new front office. The Indians appreciated Binder’s background, with an education at Northwestern, some minor-league pitching experience and his work at the Ranch.

As for Bauer’s reaction upon learning of Binder’s hire?

“I was disappointed,” he said. “He turned into a suit. I wear him out for it all the time.”

Bauer was sad to see his buddy call it a playing career, but, really, he was thrilled that the Indians valued Binder’s skill set, and he was intrigued with Binder’s potential as an executive.

“I was like, ‘He’s going to be a GM by the time he’s 40,’ ” Bauer said. “Probably not even 40. Probably, like, 35.”

Binder, 32, has ascended to the role of director of baseball operations. Bauer has blossomed into one of the better pitchers in baseball.

For Bauer, it wasn’t the smoothest path. He concedes it takes him a few years to settle into his surroundings, to develop rapports with his teammates and coaches. He endured similar growing pains in high school and college. He says he’ll have issues everywhere he goes, because he’s “a disruptor,” because he craves new information and doesn’t often follow tradition. He’s shrewd, but he’s stubborn, and that leads to debate and dissension from time to time.

“He’s not afraid to push the envelope,” Binder said. “He’s not afraid to try things differently.”

He dedicated his 2013 season to overhauling his delivery. The few years after that, he regularly flashed potential, but struggled to piece together that one, well-rounded season that plants a pitcher on everyone’s radar. Josh Tomlin can recall watching Bauer throw upper-90s fastballs in the later innings during a start at Class AAA Columbus early in 2014.

“I’m watching this guy, like, ‘How come you can’t sustain that?’ ” Tomlin said. “He can now.”

Along the way, Bauer battled his superiors, including a sometimes-detrimental relationship with Mickey Callaway. It boiled over at the start of the 2016 season, when Bauer was relegated to the bullpen. He planned to finish out the year, “out of respect to my teammates,” but that was it.

“I was firmly committed,” he said.

He imagines he would have spent a year or two doing something else, but that he would have tried to come back and pitch. He could only stay away for so long. After all, this is the guy who threw a bullpen session in Arizona a mere 36 hours after the Indians’ 2017 season crumbled, a guy who was studying other hurlers’ sliders and changeups before the Progressive Field grounds crew removed the postseason logos from the grass, a guy whose offseason work ethic prompted Pérez to call him “a freak.”

Bauer didn’t stay in the bullpen for long, though. His flirtation with abandoning his primary passion quickly dissipated thereafter.

“He was hardheaded,” Pérez said, smiling. “He still is.”

That’s all in the past now. Bauer feels as though his words carry more weight when he converses with teammates or coaches about training methods or pitching approaches. In the winter, he crafted a new slider and changeup for his repertoire, additions that have aided his progress on the mound.

He wants to alter the industry, influence how teams develop pitchers. To do that, it certainly helps to have tangible results that illustrate how his methods work on the diamond.

Bauer ranked third among American League pitchers in WAR, despite missing six weeks because of Abreu’s comebacker. He posted career-best marks in ERA (2.21), FIP (2.44), home-run rate (0.5 per nine innings), walk rate (2.9 per nine) and strikeout rate (11.3 per nine), and he earned his first All-Star nod.

“A lot of the goals that I have — career goals, changing the industry — have been accelerated,” Bauer said. “It’s an exciting time.”

(Top photo of Trevor Bauer: Tommy Gilligan/USA Today Sports)