Behind new ace, Tribe aims to reclaim title

CLEVELAND -- At the beginning of Spring Training in February, the Indians reported to Arizona with the mindset of being the underdogs. After sitting atop the American League Central for three straight seasons from 2016-18, the Twins knocked the Tribe off its divisional throne last year. Whether the underdog mindset changes now that the season is a 60-game sprint, the goal of regaining the title remains the same.

Once again, the Indians will rely on their starting rotation, with Shane Bieber making the leap from their fifth starter last season to their ace in 2020. After trading away Corey Kluber in December, Bieber seems fit to follow in his footsteps. Mike Clevinger and Carlos Carrasco will follow Bieber in the rotation, with Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac filling out the back end of the starting staff.

• Here is the Indians' Opening Day roster

The Tribe’s infield has been set since the first day of camp, with Carlos Santana, Cesar Hernandez, Francisco Lindor and José Ramírez. The outfield still has some question marks and will likely remain a fluid situation throughout the season, but with the batting order having much more depth than it did to start the year last season, the Indians are in a much better spot to make a run in the shortened 2020 season.

What needs to go right?
Aside from keeping the team healthy, especially the starting rotation, one of the biggest keys to their success will be Ramírez’s bat. The third baseman had a quiet ending to 2018 and got off to an excruciatingly slow start to '19, as the team was 11 1/2 games behind the Twins through the first week of June. But once he started to gain offensive momentum, the Indians jumped in the standings. From June 14 until the end of the year, Ramírez hit .314 with a 1.031 OPS, 19 homers and 62 RBIs over 63 games. In games in which he knocked in at least one run, Cleveland went 39-8, while also posting a 17-1 record in games where Ramírez recorded multiple RBIs. In a 60-game sprint, the Tribe will need to rely on his bat more than ever.

Big question: Is Franmil’s timing back and can he play the outfield?
After a red-hot Spring Training during which he launched five homers in 10 games with 11 RBIs and a 1.631 OPS, Franmil Reyes returned to the Dominican Republic during the shutdown and did not face a live pitcher until Summer Camp started. It took some time for him to rediscover his timing at the plate, though his monster bomb against Bieber on Sunday indicated that he’ll be just fine offensively. The bigger question may lie in the outfield. The team is hoping that Reyes can spend some time in the corners to free up the designated hitter spot for Domingo Santana or others at times, but because he missed a few days of camp due to COVID-19 testing and back pain, he didn’t get the number of defensive reps the Indians were hoping he would. His defensive abilities are not his strong suit, but the Tribe is hoping he can give the club at least two or three games a week in the outfield.

Prospects to watch: Yu Chang, Cam Hill
The Indians have a number of young players who are on the cusp of playing vital roles on their roster, but the two to keep an eye on in the immediate future are Chang and Hill. Chang has had a scorching Summer Camp, displaying tremendous power at the plate, while Hill has been catching his coaching staff’s and teammates’ attention since the start of Spring Training with his work ethic and arsenal. Both made such strong impressions that they both were carried on the Opening Day roster despite not being heavy favorites to break camp with the Tribe at the beginning of the month.

On the schedule
Based on the win-loss totals of all teams last season, the Indians have the second-easiest schedule (.451), trailing only their division rival, the Twins (.449). However, Cleveland will have to play 17 consecutive days to start the season without a day off. One series to watch will be the four-game, home-and-home series against the Reds from Aug. 3-6. This will be the Indians’ first chance to face former Tribe pitcher Trevor Bauer, and it will only be a more competitive outing if his good friend Clevinger is opposing him.

Team MVP will be: Francisco Lindor
There’s so much speculation of whether Lindor will still be with Cleveland at the end of the season. If the season consisted of 162 games, maybe he wouldn’t be. But the 60-game sprint makes it more likely to assume that Lindor has at least one more season with the Tribe.

Lindor's résumé speaks for itself: He's the only player in the Majors to have hit more than 30 homers and 40 doubles in each of the last three seasons. This year, Lindor's RBI total may increase (as much as it can in 60 games) now that he’s expected to drop down to the third spot in the lineup as opposed to leadoff.

Team Cy Young will be: Shane Bieber
Not to discredit Clevinger, Carrasco or any of the other arms on the Tribe’s endless list of quality starting pitchers, but Bieber is set to thrive on the big stage once again. In his sophomore campaign last year, he won the All-Star Game MVP Award in front of his home crowd at Progressive Field and posted a 3.28 ERA with three complete games, two shutouts and 259 strikeouts in 214 1/3 innings in the regular season. Indians manager Terry Francona always mentions that he catches himself saying the same things about Bieber that he did about a young Corey Kluber. This season will show that Bieber’s success has been more than just beginner's luck.

Bold prediction: Bieber will win the AL Cy Young Award
Bieber placed fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting last year, and his stuff looked like it was in midseason form all through Summer Camp. He has the likes of Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Charlie Morton to compete with in the AL, but the 25-year-old has a strong chance to be more than just the Indians’ best starter.