Cleveland Indians Could Still Surprise Despite Losing Streak

And as quickly as it all began, it evaporated. After starting the season hot, the Cleveland Indians have dropped four out of their last five, eliminating them from postseason contention.

At least, that’s what it feels like. This is the time of year when you start to expect things to stabilize. Albert Pujols started the season in a horrible slump, but you knew he was going to turn back into Albert Pujols. The Rays and Red Sox, who started their seasons by losing a combined 429 games out of 428, have already moved out of the AL East cellar. And the Indians will slink back to their cozy loser’s nook to spoon with the Royals at the bottom of the AL Central.

Maybe. But even though this is when the surprise teams and players start to fade, that doesn’t mean they all have to fade. Sam Fuld probably isn’t the new Wee Willie Keeler, but at least he can point to Andres Torres. And though the Indians’ perch at the top of their division is precarious, there has to be one team that comes out of nowhere every season -- rule 4.12 (a-b), look it up -- so why not the Indians?

Surprise winners like the 2006 Tigers and the 2008 Rays had something in common: a core. They were teams that you could point to before the season started and say, "Except for players a), b), c), and d), this team isn’t very good." But at least they had the foundation of a good team. A foundation of Evan Longoria, James Shields, B.J. Upton, and Carl Crawford was a fine start to a roster, and complementary players exceeded expectations. Carlos Pena was a middle-of-the-order force, and Dioner Navarro picked a fine season to have his only productive stretch of major league at-bats. The same could be written about the 2006 Tigers, who started the season with Curtis Granderson, Magglio Ordonez, and Carlos Guillen, which allowed surprise performances from Marcus Thames and Craig Monroe to push them over the top.

The Indians have an enviable core. Shin-Soo Choo is so underrated that he’s overrated in his underratedness, which is to say he’s a fantastic player. Carlos Santana his started the season slowly, but he should still be a monster run producer. And if Grady Sizemore is really healthy this time, he’s so talented that even your mother will stop what she’s doing to watch him play. (No, really, that’s why she’s watching him.)

That’s a start, and that’s all it is. Just because a team has three or four good players, it doesn’t mean that they’re entitled to play meaningful baseball in September. But it’s three or four more good players than most awful teams have, and it allows the surprise performers to push the team to another level. For example, before you sniff at Michael Brantley, check out his K/BB ratios in the minors. He’s a bat control artist, and lesser players have figured things out at the major league level. Having the core in place allows players like Brantley to push a team towards contention if their development is for real.