The Cleveland Indians may have no starting pitchers, but they enter Friday with a 38-28 record on the year.
That has the team 3.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central division.
In fact, the Indians have the sixth-best record in the AL.
The Indians are 38-28. It's incredible, really.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) June 17, 2021
It is still only June, but playoff odds are something to keep an eye on.
So let’s get right into it and see the low odds that will have Indians fans angry.
Still Surprising Odds
The Indians are playing like one of the better teams in baseball, even with all the absences.
However, FanGraphs has the team with only a 28.4 percent chance to make the postseason and a 14.5 percent chance to take the division.
The World Series odds are at 1.4 percent, so there is still some sort of faith in the Indians.
Perhaps the most surprising thing from looking at the projections is how much faith is still given to the Minnesota Twins.
The 38-28 Indians are projected to have an 86-76 finish.
Meanwhile, the 27-41 Twins are still projected to go 77-85.
What these projections show is a ton of faith in the Twins to turn it around, and plenty of faith in the Indians to be just above average.
While it is fair to expect the Indians to slow down, it is also just as fair to expect them to do the opposite.
We are all witnessing a great stretch of baseball and there is no reason why the team should get worse when the injured talent returns.
However, a harder schedule does begin in July.
That is where these odds can drastically shift in either direction.
Ignoring The Odds
Indians fans are no strangers to seeing a contender come out of nowhere.
The team began the year with low expectations, at least nationally, and have jumped out to one of the better starts in recent franchise history.
That is no accident, and proves that the young talent is doing enough to win, even if it is not pretty every single time.
Or ever, for that matter.
Getting Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac back in a timely manner may be the difference between contending and just being an early surprise.
The front office can also make matters easier by swinging a trade for any veteran MLB pitcher with experience.
We are not talking about a blockbuster Max Scherzer deal here, but just anyone who can hold their own on the mound every five days.
It remains a tall task to expect the likes of Jean Carlos Mejia, Cal Quantrill, Sam Hentges, and Eli Morgan to instantly have success without any real experience.
Tentative starting pitching plan for CLE this weekend in Pittsburgh:
Friday: J.C. MejÃa
Saturday: Cal Quantrill
Sunday: Sam HentgesMejÃa & Quantrill will, technically, be on short rest, though they each logged only four innings last time out. Hentges threw an inning today.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) June 17, 2021
Learning on the fly is great, however, it does involve plenty of rough patches.
Fans can just ignore the odds for now and enjoy the ride.
That is what we all did in 2016 and that year turned out to be pretty fun.
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