OK, Indians, I’m on board.
I still don’t believe you can win the World Series or even the Division Series, but I do think you can win the Central Division — your only route to the postseason this year.
Why?
Mainly because of the — no offense, here — mediocre division you play in, with two of the four teams still alive in the race (Chicago and Minnesota) sporting sub-.500 records.
Detroit, which trailed you by a half game in the standings through Friday, might be a little better than you, but they haven’t proven it yet. Meanwhile, you’ve shown throughout the first half of the season that you are good enough to contend with anyone in your division.
That’s what being in first place for the majority of the first 3 1/2 months of the regular season says.
What you have on Detroit is pitching. Without Shin-Soo Choo, who wasn’t doing much anyway, and with only injury-prone Travis Hafner and Asdrubal Cabrera to carry your offense, the Tigers, led by Miguel Cabrera and two of your former teammates — Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta — can outslug you.
But with two starting pitchers — Josh Tomlin and Justin Masterson — maybe three, if you add Carlos Carrasco into the mix, that give you a chance to win nearly every time they take the mound, and one of the best bullpens in the American League, you can outpitch them.
Don’t they say pitching wins championships?
That’s not all. You guys are resilient, as evidenced by the 20 comeback wins you had posted through Friday to go along with your league-leading 14 victories in your last at-bat.
You were questioned when you got off to that blazing hot start and called a fluke. Then when you came back down to earth a bit, you were counted out on numerous occasions. But you’re still standing heading into the All-Star break. Yes, you have to do it again in the second half without Choo for the majority of it, and with suspect players such as Matt LaPorta, Austin Kearns, Travis Buck and Lonnie Chisenhall in the lineup on a regular basis.
But you’ve got enough to hang on in the Central Division. And after already proving as much for 87 games, you believe that, don’t you? Because that’s half the battle.
You know you’re good enough to compete with the likes of the Tigers, White Sox and Twins. Heck, plenty out there are. So go out in the second half of the season and prove it.
Show these people that call themselves Indians fans, yet haven’t shown up all year for their first-place team, that they were wrong not to support you, while rewarding those that have in the process.
Again, I’m talking about winning the division, nothing crazy like winning Cleveland’s first world championship since 1948, or even an American League title.
Then again, you guys have already proven me wrong plenty of times this season. Go ahead and do it again.
Power poll
1. Philadelphia Phillies: It’s going to take a lot to knock these guys off the top of the pile.
2. Boston Red Sox: A recent surge has left the BoSox atop the AL East standings.
3. New York Yankees: A couple of losses to the Indians have helped take the Yanks down a few pegs.
4. Atlanta Braves: The Bravos have managed to stay in the race with Philadelphia, and that’s an impressive feat.
5. Texas Rangers: Thus far, the defending AL champs have withstood challenges from a couple teams in the West.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
