FanPost

Which Tito will we get in the 2018 Playoffs?

The Cleveland Indians were a tale of two teams in the playoffs of 2016 and 2017. While winning the AL Central by wide margins both years, the postseasons had contrasting finishes. The differences in manager Terry Francona in the last two postseasons had an indelible impact on his players, and their performances.

In 2016 the Indians won 94 games and were the 3rd seed and featured a lineup with virtually no postseason experience compared to Boston and Toronto. The Tribe flew under the radar in large part due to a decimated starting rotation. Carrasco had a broken hand due to a fluke line drive in late September, Salazar was out with a forearm strain and Bauer cut his finger fiddling around with a drone.

Tito seemed to make all the right moves as Boston was swept, Toronto was put to bed in 5 games, and then the Indians took the Cubs 7 games. Relying on Kluber and Tomlin and the bullpen, Tito seemed to relish the role of being the underdog in all three series, and the Indians came ever so close to winning a World Series’ title. Tito’s greatest strengths were on display as he juggled a patchwork rotation and squeezed the most out of Cody Allen and Andrew Miller. Tito looked fresh, rejuvenated and ready to make this his masterpiece in Cleveland after winning 2 titles in Boston.

In 2017 the Tribe won 22 straight in September and won 102 games overall to secure the #1 seed. While there was some decisions to be made with injured players coming back late in the year, the rotation was (alledgedly) healthy and ready to go - a sharp contrast to 2016.

Poor playoff roster and starting pitching decisions were made by Tito last year at this time. 2017 Tito was too loyal to injured veterans and it cost the Tribe dearly as the Indians were upset by an inferior Yankees’ team in 5 games.

Brantley and Chisenhall were suspect additions to the postseason roster after dealing with long -standing and late season injuries. They sure looked like they were still injured, going a combined 1 for 18 in the ALDS. Kluber may or may not of had a back injury depending upon who you ask. Starting rotation depth was the Tribe’s primary strength, and for some unknown reason Bauer ended up pitching game 4 on short rest while a perfectly healthy Clevenger was basically mothballed into the long relief bullpen. If indeed Kluber was injured (which seems to be the real truth) why was Carrasco, who finished 3rd in Cy Young voting, not pitching games 1 or 2 so he could pitch game 5 if needed? Instead the Tribe ended up with an obviously non-100% Kluber in a deciding game.

The end of the season press conference had a somber tone as Tito made some surprising comments:

"This is the most wiped out I've ever been after a season physically. When I go home, whenever that is, I need to make a concerted effort in getting stronger. I don't mean stronger as in looking good in the lobby stronger. I have a responsibility to do something here. I feel at times I leaned on Millsie (Brad Mills, bench coach) and some of the coaches too much. It's supposed to be the other way around. So I need to get a little stronger so I can uphold my responsibilities here because that's not good."

The first thing I thought was, "Why were you wiped out after the first round? That's the short 5 game round. There's two more 7 game series coming after this!" That’s like a marathoner saying he’s wiped-out after 15 miles. If ever there was a season to be preparing oneself for the long haul, the marathon of a World Series’ race, 2017 was it. I would give a pass to Buck Showalter for being wiped out if the Orioles’ made the playoffs this year – because Showalter was confident he’d be fishing come October 1 with the horrible team Baltimore had. But everyone in the Indians’ organization should have been ready for the marathon of the playoffs in 2017. To hear Tito say he was wiped out was disappointing.

Tito had a physically and no doubt mentally challenging 2017 regular season. Francona had heart ablation surgery on July 7, 2017 after experiencing fatigue, dizziness and rapid heart rate for weeks before, even leaving two games in June due to the symptoms. And perhaps the weight of his father being close to the end weighed on him as well (Tito's father passed away in February this year).

Let’s not just gloss over this or make light of the demands that health and family can place on any of us. Many Cleveland fans love Tito and give him a pass on all decisions made when it comes to the Indians. And with the success he’s had here who can really blame them. But maybe he didn’t make all the right decisions for himself last year, which had drastic implications on his ability to manage the marathon that is a World Series-caliber baseball team. Tito's lack of energy sure looked contagious to the players as they appeared listless and lost in the 2017 ALDS, like they peaked too early.

Maybe Tito came back from surgery too soon? Maybe he should have let Brad Mills manage for a few weeks, not days? The Indians were certainly in no danger of losing the AL Central crown, so a few weeks off might have given Tito that much needed lift in October that just wasn’t there when he needed it. Maybe Tito didn’t keep himself in shape in the offseason? His postseason comments seem to allude to the fact he wasn’t in the physical shape he wanted to be in.

Dodger great Tommy Lasorda seemed to do better when less was expected of his teams in the playoffs. The Dodgers were 27-26 in the 2nd half of a strike-shortened 1981 season. Far from impressive, but they went on to beat a Yankee team that had beaten them twice before that. Lasorda could not get 95+ win Dodger teams in 77, 78 and 85 to win a title. However, in 1988 they were huge underdogs against a stacked Oakland A’s team. But Lasorda knew how to have underdog teams hit their peak when they needed to – sometimes when fans, even their own, least expected it. The Dodgers upset the A’s to win the World Series that year.

Francona, like Lasorda, has had some great over-achieving seasons....and some catastrophic under-achieving finishes. His 2004 Red Sox famously came back from a 3-0 deficit.....while his 2011 team had a 7-20 record in September in one of the biggest collapses of all time. His 2007 Red Sox came back from a 3-1 hole against (some unnamed team) in the ALCS.....while his 95 win team in 2009 laid an egg and were swept by the Angels in the ALDS.

Tito has had a long and colorful postseason history, with epic achievements and epic disappointments. In 2016 Tito showed what he can do with an underdog team and pacing it like a fine racehorse so it can peak at the right time. Let’s hope 2018 is a vintage Tito performance like that (with one more win).…not a repeat of 2017.

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