TORONTO -- Wednesday afternoon, the Cleveland Indians punched their ticket to the World Series with a convincing 3-0 win over the Blue Jays in Game 5 of the ALCS (box score). The Indians won the low-scoring series -- they outscored Toronto 12-8 in the five games -- and are heading to the Fall Classic for the first time since 1997.
"I'm honored that we're going to the World Series," said manager Terry Francona after Game 5. "We always said if we could do it with this group, it would be so special because this is as close to a family feel as you can get in a professional setting. So for that part of it, it is beyond feeling good."
Although they've won seven of eight games in the postseason, getting to the World Series has not been easy for the Indians. They've had to overcome significant injuries. Michael Brantley, their best hitter, has essentially been out all year following shoulder surgery. Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, their No. 2 and 3 starters, both got hurt in September and haven't pitched since.
"I think one guy, out of the eight games, pitched on the day he was supposed to," said pitching coach Mickey Callaway following Game 5 on Wednesday. "That was (Corey) Kluber in the first game of this series. Everybody else kind of pitched whenever. Like, 'Surprise! You're going tomorrow!' It's been unbelievable."
The Indians have overcome those big injuries not only because they're a deep team, but also because they've had several players step up and provide more than expected. Every team needs guys like that to get to the World Series. The Indians have needed them more than any other pennant winner in recent memory. Here are six unsung heroes who have helped Cleveland get to the World Series.
Coco Crisp played with the Indians from 2004-05, and the team reacquired him in a minor trade with the Athletics on Aug. 31, the last day to add a player and have him be eligible for the postseason roster. Crisp has taken over as the team's regular left fielder against right-handed pitchers, and although he only has three hits in the postseason, two were important home runs.
The first homer was a two-run blast against the Red Sox that provided what proved to be the game-winning run in Game 3 of the ALDS. The second was a solo shot to give the Indians an insurance run in Game 5 of the ALCS. The Indians added Crisp as an extra depth outfielder, a veteran switch-hitter who could fill-in on occasion, but he's gotten a chance to play regularly in October and has gone deep in each series clincher.
The story of Game 5 on Wednesday was rookie lefty Ryan Merritt, who was making his second career big-league start. The Indians simply had no one else to start that game due to the Carrasco and Salazar injuries, and also because Trevor Bauer sliced his pinky open repairing his drone over the weekend.
Merritt used a fastball that averaged 86.5 mph to hold the Blue Jays to two hits and no runs in 4 1/3 innings in Game 5. He struck out three and walked zero. Pretty amazing for a guy who was in Instructional League two weeks ago throwing bullpens to stay sharp in case he was needed.
"He threw strikes. He worked ahead, even with an 85-86 mph fastball," Francona said. "You saw him beat their barrel a number of times. He didn't let the noise get to him. He was phenomenal. And I'm sure when all is said and done, a game like this will go light years in his development, in his maturity."
Also, in Merritt's only regular season start, he held the Royals to one run in five innings as the Indians were fighting for homefield advantage, which they later secured against the Red Sox in the ALDS.
The catching situation has been pretty terrible, at least offensively, for the Indians this year. Starter Yan Gomes had a miserable year -- he hit .167/.201/.327 (33 OPS+) during the regular season -- around some injuries and forced the Indians to go with Roberto Perez and Chris Gimenez down the stretch.
Perez has started behind the plate in all eight postseason games, and while he hasn't hit much (4 for 23), he's been phenomenal with the pitching staff. That's not surprising for a guy Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner rated as one of the 13 best pitch-framers in the game during the regular season even though he was only 39th in innings caught.
"We've played eight playoff games and he's caught three shutouts," said Callaway. "He didn't try to trick a hitter once. It was unbelievable, the games he called. He was fantastic."
The Indians have not had Brantley pretty much all season due to his shoulder surgeries -- he did play 11 mostly ineffective games in April and May -- but they have had a pretty good facsimile in Jose Ramirez. After coming into the season as a utility player, Ramirez forced his way into the everyday lineup by putting up numbers similar to Brantley. Check it out:
| PA | AVG/OBP/SLG | OPS+ | 2B | HR | SB | WAR | |
| Brantley, 2014-15 average | 636 | .319/.382/.494 | 139 | 45 | 17 | 19 | 5.1 |
| Ramirez, 2016 | 618 | .312/.363/.462 | 112 | 46 | 11 | 22 | 3.9 |
That's a heck of a lot closer than anyone, including the Indians, expected coming into the season. Ramirez played left field early in the season when the club was short on outfielders, then slid over to third base once Cleveland made some moves at the deadline and was satisfied with itsoutfield depth. Ramirez has been a Swiss Army knife. Whatever the Indians needed, he did, including provide big offense.
Francona rode Andrew Miller and Cody Allen hard in the ALDS and ALCS, and understandably so. They're two of the best relievers in baseball and the Indians have the best chance to win with one of those guys on the mound. Bryan Shaw has been a reliable third option as well, both during the regular season and in the postseason.
Dan Otero has been the fourth member of Francona's Circle of Trust™ in 2016. He had an excellent regular season, pitching to a 1.53 ERA (307 ERA+) with a 0.91 WHIP in 70 2/3 innings. Otero had a 57/10 K/BB and a 62.3 percent strikeout rate, so he did it all. Missed bats, limited walks, got grounders, the works. He hasn't seen much action in October (only 3 1/2 innings) but he soaked up a lot of important innings during the regular season.
There was a point in early September in which the Indians had to remove Tomlin from the rotation because he was pitching so poorly. He had a 4.89 ERA on the day he was shifted to the bullpen and he finished the regular season with a 4.40 ERA (106 ERA+) in 174 total innings. Tomlin allowed a staggering 36 home runs as well.
The Carrasco and Salazar (and Bauer) injuries have pushed Tomlin into the No. 2 starter role behind Kluber in the postseason, and he's responded by allowing three runs total in two starts and 10 2/3 innings. He reinvented himself late in the season and started throwing a ton of curveballs, which is why he had a 1.75 ERA in his final four regular season starts. Tomlin has been able to carry that success over into the postseason.
The Indians won't get Brantley and Carrasco back for the World Series. That much is certain. Salazar could rejoin the roster for the Fall Classic and Callaway seemed pretty confident Bauer's finger would heal up in time for him to start in the World Series. Either way, the Indians will continue to need their depth players to provide big impact in the postseason. That's how they got here in the first place.
"I think you have to have some depth because things happen over the course of a year," said Francona after Game 5. "I also think our bullpen did some phenomenal things. They answered the bell time after time after time. And they're going to have to continue to do that. But everybody chips in wherever they're asked and they do the best they can. And to this point it's been good enough."