There are a great many things that are interesting about the Cleveland Indians. They’ve arguably been the best small market team in baseball since 2013. They currently have three of the top 15 players in the game in Corey Kluber, Jose Ramirez, and Francisco Lindor. But, Cleveland is also very loyal. You can’t quantify loyalty, but you certainly can recognize it.
Cleveland’s loyalty, led by players’ manager Terry Francona, was there in 2013 when Jason Giambi got 216 at bats at age 42. It remained when he got 71 more at age 43 in 2014. It was there when Cleveland was the only team in baseball that wanted to employ Michael Martinez in 2016 and 2017. It was there when Cleveland never gave up on Josh Tomlin, despite him allowing over 1.5 home runs per nine innings between 2015 and 2017. It was even there when a money-tight Indians’ team exercised Michael Brantley‘s $12 million option for 2018, knowing he was having his third surgery in two years.
The point is this: the way that Cleveland operates, you get used to seeing familiar faces.
Michael Brantley, Josh Tomlin, Yan Gomes, Cody Allen, Lonnie Chisenhall, Jason Kipnis, Carlos Carrasco, Corey Kluber, and Zach McCallister have all been Tribe regulars since (at least) 2013.
In other words, 36% of Cleveland’s 25-man roster in 2018 have been consistently on the active roster since 2013. It isn’t really a surprise guys like Kluber, Carrasco, Kipnis, and Allen have stuck around, as they’ve put together various All-Star caliber seasons, but guys like Chisenhall, Tomlin, and Gomes have dealt with their fair share of mediocrity or outright struggles over the years. Nonetheless, fans knew to expect to see their names whenever they’ve gone to Progressive Field over the past five seasons.
However, it looks like that is beginning to change. Sure enough, we’re beginning to see momentum for the next group of Tribe regulars to move into center stage.
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