Despite the fact the Cleveland Indians haven’t made the playoffs in the past couple seasons, they entered this year as a trendy pick to contend. In fact, more than a few tabbed the Tribe to win the AL Central in 2016.
The reasoning for this was simple – pitching. Cleveland’s rotation was one of the best in the majors last year, and it was returning in full this season. The bullpen wasn’t in the league’s top-tier, but was also good enough to keep the team in games. All in all, consensus belief was the Indians’ pitching would help alleviate the lack of offense and help guide the team back to the playoffs.
Four games is hardly enough of a sample size. However, in that time, the supposed backbone of the Tribe hasn’t looked up to par. Pitching is where Cleveland was expected to excel, but so far it’s been a weak spot for the team.
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