Cleveland Indians Predictions 2006
A lot of people are giving high marks for their 2006 Cleveland Indians predictions, but we say proceed with caution. The Indians are the most improved team in baseball over the past 2 seasons. They improved 12 wins from 2003 to 2004 and they totaled 93 wins last season for a 13 game improvement from the previous year. Cleveland decided to rebuild their team with young talent and it has paid off. This could possibly be the year that they break the hump and get back to their former glory, but they are going to have to get through the defending World Champion Chicago White Sox.
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With the way the Indians came on strong to test the White Sox at the end of last season, many feel Cleveland can take the division. They don’t appear to have any big Achilles heals, but I’m not sure their pitching staff is quite good enough to win a division title and their streaky home play and difficulty with left handed pitching could be the sign of reaching a plateau in 2006. The loss of Kevin Millwood and Scott Elarton could harm this team that had the lowers ERA in the American League last summer. CC Sabathia is the team’s ace and they are hoping that he will finally mature into the ace that the team is hoping for. Paul Byrd and Cliff Lee are also quality guys who should help this team have a much more successful season. The bullpen does have a nice anchor with reliable Bob Wickman, but the rest of the relievers might be a little questionable and cause some problems by blowing leads. Time will tell how they pan out.
This young, Cleveland team was surprisingly unstoppable on the road last season posting a 50-31 mark. However, they were just 43-38 at home for a loss of 13 units. Although I don’t think they can have the same road success they did last season, I think they will still be a solid road team and they will improve immensely at home. With another year of maturity, Cleveland’s young guns will do a better job of defending their home turf by being more disciplined at the plate. Travis Hafner is a great DH with a lot of power and ability to drive runs in. Grady Sizemore was signed to an impressive contract this off season and will be anxious to show the Cleveland faithful that he was worth every penny. Jhonny Peralta and Victor Martinez are two additional young hitters who have plenty of power and will help the Indians get plenty of runs across the plate.
Like the Chicago White Sox, the Tribe also struggled against south paws in 2005. They won just 50 of 108 games the past 2 seasons versus lefties as opposed to their 122-93 record versus righties. It’s typical for teams to struggle more versus lefties as they don’t see them quite as often. Cleveland will have to get their extensive woes versus left-handers figured out, however, if they want to make a playoff run this season. Otherwise, if Cleveland gets behind in games, teams will be able to dip into their bull pen early and keep them off balance with left-handed relievers.
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