Indians Stat of the Day: April 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Indians this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

April 30: Indians 5, White Sox 3 -- Bieber's historic start
After striking out 11 batters against the Chicago White Sox, Shane Bieber is now the only pitcher in MLB history to record at least eight strikeouts in 18 consecutive games. Yasmani Grandal's swinging strikeout to start the bottom of the fourth inning was Bieber's eighth of the night and his history-making strikeout.

April 28: Twins 10, Indians 2: Rosario a little bit extra
The Indians have been trying to find more ways to keep Amed Rosario's bat in the lineup, because they are confident he'll be able to be an impact hitter. In the series finale against the Twins, he started to show more of that potential by logging his 15th career game with multiple extra-base hits, connecting on a double and a homer. It was the first time since Aug. 15, 2019 -- a span of 106 games -- that he had done so. His efforts boosted his career average against Minnesota to .455 -- his highest against any club.

April 27: Indians 7, Twins 4 -- Reyes dials it up to 111 (mph)
Plenty of Indians players have logged multihomer games in the last six years, but none have done so with the same intensity as Franmil Reyes against the Twins. Reyes launched his first solo shot of the night 452 feet with an exit velocity of 111.3 mph. Four innings later, he sent another ball into the left-center-field bleachers with an exit velocity of -- you guessed it -- 111.3 mph, again. He became the first player since 2015 (when Statcast first started tracking) to record multiple home runs over 110 mph.

April 26: Indians 5, Twins 3 (10 innings) -- Division-rival ownage
Cleveland has had its recent struggles with Minnesota, dropping seven of 10 against the Twins in 2020. But over the past five years, the Indians still have the upper hand. Cleveland's victory in the series opener at Progressive Field improved its regular-season record to 46-41 against Minnesota since the start of the 2016 season -- the most wins of any MLB team against the Twins during that span.

April 25: Indians 7, Yankees 3 -- Reyes puts streak to rest
Franmil Reyes decided to add to his newly formed list of speed achievements with his first career stolen base in the series finale. After reaching on a single in the second inning, Reyes broke for second and backstop Gary Sánchez couldn't get off a throw, allowing Reyes to advance. Reyes went 314 games to start his career without stealing a base, the fourth-longest such streak among active players. The Marlins' Jesús Aguilar entered the day owning the longest streak (518 games), followed by the Brewers' Omar Narváez (410 games) and the Pirates' Colin Moran (382 games).

April 24: Yankees 2, Indians 1 -- 9 more K's for Bieber
Shane Bieber has been a strikeout machine this season. During Saturday's outing, the right-hander fanned nine over seven innings, tying an MLB record by notching at least eight strikeouts in 17 consecutive games. Randy Johnson also achieved the feat from Sept. 24, 1999-June 19, 2000.

April 23: Yankees 5, Indians 3 -- Reyes ropes double
Franmil Reyes put the Indians in front with a 114.9 mph RBI double in the first inning. It was his hardest hit ball since April 12, 2019, vs. Arizona as a member of the Padres (115 mph). Reyes has recorded a hit in all eight home games this season and is batting .394 (13-for-33) at Progressive Field.

April 22: Yankees 6, Indians 3 -- Reyes' first career triple
Heading into this game, Franmil Reyes owned the longest streak without a triple among active players in the Majors. His sprint speed of 26 feet per second (which clocked in just lower than his average 2020 sprint speed of 26.2 feet per second) was enough for him to leg out his first career triple, snapping a streak of 1,135 plate appearances without one.

April 20: White Sox 8, Indians 5 -- Digging the long ball
The Indians have relied on the long ball this season, as 38 of their 62 total runs (61.3 percent) have come via a home run. That marks the highest percentage that Cleveland has relied on the homer since at least 1974. It also ranks as the second-highest rate in the Majors, trailing just the Giants' 63.9 percent.

April 18: Indians 6, Reds 3 -- Bieber joins elite company
As if Shane Bieber didn't have enough accolades on his résumé, the 25-year-old right-hander still somehow finds ways to add more. With 13 strikeouts against the Reds, Bieber brought his season total to 48, which is tied with Nolan Ryan (1978) for the most by a pitcher through their first four appearances of a season since at least 1906. The next most on the list? Ryan again, with 46 in 1973. So, it's pretty safe to say Bieber has found his way into some decent company.

April 17: Reds 3, Indians 2 -- Cleveland hits into triple play for first time since 2000
Josh Naylor lined to first, Eddie Rosario broke for home and Joey Votto seized the moment on Saturday. Votto snared Naylor’s eighth-inning liner, tagged Franmil Reyes at first and then was easily able to throw out Rosario at third, because Rosario had mistakenly ran home and was already headed for the dugout. It was the 27th time in franchise history that a Cleveland player hit into a triple play, but the first since Sept. 1, 2000, when current first-base coach Sandy Alomar Jr., hit into one against the Orioles. The Tribe had turned four triple plays in-between hitting into one.

April 16: Reds 10, Indians 3 -- Rosario bucks two-strike trend
When Amed Rosario went deep off Jeff Hoffman in the second inning of Friday's game at Great American Ball Park, it was significant not just because it was his first homer as a member of the Indians, but because it was his first homer on a two-strike pitch since July 21, 2019 -- a span of 105 games played. Rosario entered the night with just a .188 career average and .249 slugging percentage with two strikes.

April 15: Indians 4, White Sox 2 -- What's in a batting average?
Although the Indians were able to muster enough offense after being held hitless against the White Sox and Carlos Rodón the day prior, the offense still isn't clicking on all cylinders in the way that the club would've hoped. In 1971 and '79, the Indians batted .199 and .191, respectively, through their first 12 games. It took until 2018 for the club to collectively hit below .200 through its first 12 games again.

Cleveland's bats have once again registered below the Mendoza line through the first 12 games of the '21 season, checking in at .198 (tied for the fourth-lowest in club history in that span).

April 14: White Sox 8, Indians 0 -- Tito's unfortunate 1st
This is certainly a streak Indians manager Terry Francona would've liked to have seen last longer. He had managed 3,146 regular-season games in his career before being on the losing end of a no-hitter against Carlos Rodón and the White Sox. The only two managers who were at the helm for more games before getting no-hit were Bucky Harris (3,661) when Virgil Trucks tossed a no-hitter in 1952 and Walter Alston (3,610) against hurler John Candelaria in 1976.

April 13: Indians 2, White Sox 0 -- Bieber doing Bieber things
Leave it to Shane Bieber to start setting strikeout records once again. With 11 K's against the White Sox, Bieber joined Gerrit Cole (2018) and Nolan Ryan (1973) as the only hurlers to have more than 10 strikeouts in each of his first three appearances of a season since at least 1906. Through three starts, Bieber has racked up 35 strikeouts, which is tied for third (with himself from 2020) behind Ryan's 37 in 1973 and Cole’s 36 in 2018 in that span. And just to top it all off, Bieber set a franchise record by extending his streak of fanning at least eight batters to 15 consecutive games, passing Corey Kluber.

April 12: White Sox 4, Indians 3 -- Rosario keeps streaking
Dating back to Sept. 15, 2020, Eddie Rosario has reached base in 10 consecutive road games (collectively as a member of the Twins and Indians). He extended this streak in the series opener at Guaranteed Rate Field with a two-run homer in the second inning. The long ball was his third in his previous five games against the White Sox.

April 11: Indians 5, Tigers 2 -- Ramírez extends on-base streak
With two walks in the series finale against the Tigers at Progressive Field, José Ramírez extended his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games, which ranked as the fourth longest active streak in the Majors at that time. It's a stretch that dates back to Sept. 16 of last season, when he logged a two-hit game against the Cubs. His streak trailed Justin Turner (39 games), DJ LeMahieu (28) and Mike Trout (28) entering the game.

April 10: Indians 11, Tigers 3 -- Cleveland leaning on HRs
In the Indians' first seven games, they scored 75 percent (24 of 32) of their runs via homers. Only three other teams since 1974 relied on the long ball more than 75 percent of the time in the first seven games of a season, including the 2003 Rangers, '20 Tigers and '13 Nationals. The '03 Rangers and '20 Tigers each finished in last place of their respective divisions, and the '13 Nationals missed the postseason after going 86-76.

April 9: Indians 4, Tigers 1 -- Reyes clubs his longest HR at home
Franmil Reyes has hit plenty of long balls in his career, but he set his own personal record for the longest blast at his home ballpark. After crushing a projected 409-foot homer, according to Statcast, earlier in Friday's series opener, he followed that act with a 446-foot home run in the sixth against the Tigers. It not only was his longest at Progressive Field (seventh-longest overall in his career), but it also marked Reyes' ninth homer against Detroit, which is his most against any opponent.

April 7: Indians 4, Royals 2 -- Bieber's K streak keeps rolling
On Opening Day 2020, Shane Bieber started a streak that he has yet to snap. Since last July, Cleveland’s ace has fanned at least eight batters in each of his outings. The 14-start streak matches a franchise record set by Corey Kluber from June 1 through Aug. 13, 2017. The streak also ties for the fifth-longest in Major League history.

April 5: Royals 3, Indians 0 -- 417 games without starting a lefty
Before Logan Allen toed the rubber for the Indians' home opener, Cleveland had gone 417 games since the last time a left-handed pitcher was penciled in as its starter (Aug. 30, 2017, Ryan Merritt). That's the fifth-longest streak in the Modern Era (since 1900), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Dodgers hold the record by going 681 games without starting a lefty from September 1992 until July 1997. The most recent occurrence (before Allen) was the Brewers, who went 474 contests without a left-handed starter from August 2013 until August 2016.

April 4: Indians 9, Tigers 3 -- Clase's velocity
The Tribe bullpen hasn't been known for its velocity over the past few seasons, but it's been scrappy enough to put together solid numbers. But now that Emmanuel Clase has joined the mix, the average velocity will undoubtedly jump up a tick or two. In his first appearance of the 2021 season, Clase threw nine pitches over 100 mph, more than any other Indians hurler during their career in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). As if that wasn't jarring enough, Clase has thrown just four fewer 100.0-plus mph pitches than every Cleveland pitcher combined from '08-21.

April 3: Tigers 5, Indians 2 -- Rosario's hard-hit balls
In 2015, Eddie Rosario launched a homer in his first Major League plate appearance with the Twins. He did the same the first time he stepped into the batter’s box in the '17 postseason. In '21, however, Rosario made the Indians wait until his first plate appearance of his second game before he hit his first long ball as a member of the Tribe.

The blast induced an exit velocity of 108.4 mph, which is tied for Rosario’s second-hardest hit batted ball (all of which are homers) in his career.

April 1: Tigers 3, Indians 2 -- Bieber K's 12 to join elite list
Same Shane, different year. Shane Bieber wasted no time continuing the strikeout momentum he established in 2020 by fanning 12 batters in his '21 Opening Day performance against the Tigers. After striking out 14 batters on Opening Day in '20, Bieber joined an exclusive list of hurlers who have recorded at least 12 strikeouts in multiple Opening Day starts. Only Bieber, Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson and Randy Johnson have accomplished the feat in the Modern Era (since 1900).