Yesterday we ran out the bottom of the Power Rankings and this morning we finish them off with the top 18 players from the Indians 2016 regular season. As with the previous rankings, players are ranked by their entire season’s performances, then evaluated by their performance in the final month of the season compared to their expectations coming into the month (Above, Even Below). As with the first half, we will continue with the worst first, ending with the top players on the team.
19. Mike Clevinger – Even (0)
After a “permanent” move to the bullpen in August, the Indians stretched their top pitching prospect from 2015 back out to start temporarily in September. This turned permanent as well when Tomlin, Salazar and Carrasco had to be removed from the rotation at different times and his last starts of the season turned out to be significantly better than those at the beginning. After giving up 17 runs in his first six starts this year (the first time Carrasco was injured in a bizarre play), Clevinger allowed just five in his first four starts once rejoining the rotation. While he pitched less innings in his late season starts, this was by design as he was kept on a strict pitch count. Thanks to the advance warning, however, he was able to get back into starting shape (80+ pitches) for his last couple starts.
18. Abraham Almonte – Even (-2 Change Since August)
Almonte may not be eligible for the post season, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t play a significant role in getting the Indians there. After returning from his PED suspension, Almonte was a very consistent hitter and in September he came up big, helping make up for Davis’ struggles at the plate and Naquin’s struggles in the field.
17. Andrew Miller – Above (+3)
Miller’s place this low in the Power Rankings is not an indictment of his play, just a realization that he was not with the team very long. For the two months Miller was with the team, he was not only unquestionably the Tribe’s best reliever, but was arguably the Tribe’s second best pitcher overall behind Kluber. In the final month (plus two days), Miller struck out 22 batters in 14.1 innings earning five holds and three wins in 14 games. Overall, he struck out 46 in 29 innings with a 1.55 ERA and an incredible 0.55 WHIP.
16. Josh Tomlin – Above (+1)
No pitcher came through in the clutch for the Tribe in September as much as Tomlin. After starting the month in the bullpen thanks to a rash of poor starts, Tomlin was nearly perfect after rejoining the rotation on September 14th. In his final four appearances, he allowed five total earned runs, throwing 25.2 innings and allowing an average against of just .213. Most importantly, Tomlin allowed just one home run in his final four starts. It is likely that Tomlin had just hit an innings wall in August and never before has a little rest done so much to get a man back on track.
15. Bryan Shaw – Even (0)
Yet again, Shaw was among the most used pitchers in Indians history this year and yet again, he was nearly perfect for the month of September. He successfully completed all five hold situations handed to him and allowed just ten hits in 10.2 innings. He finished the year with a less than impressive 3.24 ERA, but this was overly inflated by three appearances where he allowed at least four runs. He didn’t have any appearance where he allowed more than one earned run over his final 31 games and did not blow a save or hold situation during this period.
14. Rajai Davis – Below (-1)
Age catches up with all of us and no one expected the level of play Davis contributed this year at all, let alone to have it continue through September. He batted under .200 in the final month, but continued to be a menace on the base paths, stealing eight times with just one time caught. If anything, he even turned up his rate of attempts as the season ended as he only reached base 13 times in September with a walk or hit. Another facet of his game that didn’t diminish was his defense and he should continue to be a positive performer in the post-season as long as those two parts of his game maintain.
13. Lonnie Chisenhall – Below (-1)
With Terry Francona taking full advantage of the outfield platoons, Chisenhall has seen a decrease in playing time since Brandon Guyer was acquired. Despite facing right handers in most of his at bats, he only batted .259/.317/.310 in the final month with just three extra base hits. His numbers for the season were still good (.286/.328/.439), but this drop off at the end of the hearkens back to inconsistencies earlier in his career.
12. Trevor Bauer – Below (-3)
The Indians began the year with so many starters they had a hard time whittling it down to five to start the season. At the end, Bauer was the only healthy pitcher to make it through the entire season without missing a start although he did begin the year in the bullpen. Even the durable Bauer showed signs of wear at the end, finishing his final month with a 6.75 ERA in a team high 32 innings. That he is the Indians safest option in the postseason is a scary proposition, but he does deserve credit for pitching a career high 184 innings with 159 strike outs and just 68 walks, even if his ERA (4.26) wasn’t pretty.
11. Dan Otero – Above (+3)
With the exception of Miller over the final two months, the argument of who has been the Indians best reliever comes down to Otero and Allen and here I give Allen the boost because his numbers have come in much more high leverage situations. This doesn’t take away from Otero, who was often asked to pitch multiple innings and to come in at any point in any game (he pitched in every inning from the 3rd through the 12th excluding the 11th). September was Otero’s weakest month, allowing four runs and 12 hits in 13 innings, although he struck out 13 and didn’t walk a batter or allow a home run.
10. Tyler Naquin – Even (0)
The Indians rockstar Rookie of the Year candidate finally made some of the adjustments we’ve been looking for over the past few months and has started laying off the high ones. He had another solid month to end the year, leading all Indians starting outfielders with a .279 average and finishing the year with a .296 mark, although he didn’t qualify for the batting title.
9. Cody Allen – Above (+2)
As mentioned, Allen was the Tribe’s top reliever this year and a 0.69 ERA in September and October where the only run he allowed was on a solo home run did nothing to hurt that. It isn’t just that he was the closer either, although saving 32 of 35 and 7 of 7 in September (plus two games) is impressive. Allen was the best because he allowed a .177 average (second to Miller among those with more than 20 IP), struck out 11.5 batters per 9 (second to Miller among all pitchers with at least 10 IP) and did so in 68 innings (second among relievers to Otero). During the short period Miller was with the team, he was the Tribe’s top reliever, but for the whole season, none could match Allen’s work.
8. Danny Salazar – Above (0)
Salazar made just two September starts before being shut down for the regular season with right forearm tightness, but because rosters had already expanded, he was never placed on the DL. He finished the season with 161 strike outs in 137.1 innings, the best K/9 among any Indians starter. His .235 average against was second to only Kluber and his 3.87 ERA behind only Kluber and Carrasco.
7. Carlos Carrasco – Even (-2)
Officially, Carrasco ended the season on the 60 Day DL, but he was on the roster until there were only three games left, so we’ll make an exception here.
Carrasco pitched in the same number of starts as Salazar (25) and also ended the season after a short September due to injury. His broken hand won’t allow him to return during the post-season as Salazar could, but Carrasco easily had the better season. While he allowed more home runs (21 to 16), he pitched more innings (146.1) and allowed less runs overall for a 3.32 ERA. He also exhibited the second best control on the team to Tomlin with a 2.09 BB/9 and had a very paltry 1.15 WHIP, second to only Kluber.
6. Mike Napoli – Below (+1)
If there was a primary theme to this season it was the Party at Napoli’s and why not as the free agent first baseman hit 34 home runs and knocked in 101, power numbers unseen in Cleveland since the days of Pronkville. Unfortunately, the party died out with a whimper as Napoli batted just .140 over the final month. He was still productive with five home runs and 13 RBI, but he also spent plenty of time working on breaking and escalating the Indians single season strike out record, now set at 194.
5. Carlos Santana – Above (+1)
While Napoli grabbed the headlines, Santana was down the line a better hitter, batting .259/.366/.498 with 34 home runs of his own and an impressive 87 RBI considering the fact that he batted lead-off for much of the season. Believe it or not, Santana was also a better defender in his limited time at first base worth a 4.3 UZR/150 with Napoli at -6.5. Both were superb sluggers for the Tribe in 2016, but Santana was just a little bit better.
4. Jason Kipnis – Below (0)
Like many of the Indians hitters, Kipnis struggled in September, but his full season accomplishments outweighed his recent downfall. He finished the season with a .275/.343/.469 line, a career best 23 home runs and 41 doubles to go with that. According to fWAR, Kipnis was the Tribe’s third best player overall considering pitching, hitting and defense and he was the player who most balanced his value between offense and defense.
3. Corey Kluber – Even (0)
Just like Salazar and Carrasco, Kluber ended his season early due to an injury (strained quad), but he made it all the way to his second to last scheduled start and put together a Cy Young quality season along the way. He finished tied for second in the AL in fWAR with 5.1 and third in wins (18) for those who like that sort of thing. His 3.14 ERA was supported by a 3.25 FIP. He struck out more than 200 batters for the third year in a row, the first Indians pitcher to do so since Gaylord Perry from 1972 through 1974.
2. Francisco Lindor – Below (-1)
Lindor wasn’t just the best defender on the Indians this year, the best defensive short stop in the AL or the best defensive player in the AL, but according to Fangraphs, the single greatest defensive player in all of baseball in 2016. He was worth ten more runs than the next best in the AL, Jose Iglesius, and should be adding a Gold Glove to any team hardware he happens to win this year. Of full time short stops, only Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts had better offensive seasons as Lindor has quickly become the kind of all around threat that most years you can only dream of. Despite hitting just .103 from September 10th through the end of the year, he still batted over .300 for the season, giving the Indians two of the top 11 hitters for average in the AL this year.
1. Jose Ramirez – Above (+1)
I’ve fought it all year, but have finally given in. JRaMVP. A below average month for Lindor in September sealed the deal, but Ramirez has arguably been the Indians greatest offensive performer all season. He finished the season with a .312/.363/.462 line, 22 steals (only 7 caught) and lead the team in runs produced according to Fangraphs. Also on the advanced side, only Lindor, Kipnis and Kluber outranked him in fWAR and all of that for the first two was due to defensive performance. After starting the season as a part time player, once he became a regular he essentially never had another day off all year and, unlike pretty much everyone else on the team, never had any trouble with fatigue or injury. Coming into the season, the Indians biggest perceived weakness was left field and Ramirez fixed that, only to move to third when that became the team’s biggest weakness. It was this value, being not only the best offensive performer on the team, but coming up huge in areas of great need, that made him the best player on the 2016 Cleveland Indians.
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