Cleveland Indians Hitters: 2015 Team Preview
Sep 24, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians left fielder Michael Brantley (23) runs after doubling in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
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In my opinion, the Cleveland Indians were the team fantasy MVP’s of the 2014 season. Of course, there were teams like the Dodgers and the Nationals who produced better fantasy options, but Corey Kluber and Michael Brantley were among the best in baseball and they went for a low cost. I would venture to guess that Kluber and Brantley appeared on quite a few 2014 championship squads.
As for 2015, I like a lot of options in their lineup, but I am not buying a Jason Kipnis rebound. I wrote about his risks here, but I just have a very tough time investing in a player who was so bad at the plate in 2014.
Michael Brantley put up Andrew McCutchen numbers in 2014, but Brantley is almost bound to regress to some extent. I drafted Brantley 39th overall in the early mock draft and did not love the pick at the time, but I have changed my tune since then. Michael Brantley will be a five category contributor, and I believe he now has a solid floor as a top 50 fantasy option.
The Indians have a decent amount of pop, and I believe that Brandon Moss will lead the team in home runs. This is just another reminder that Brandon Moss had 21 homers for Oakland before the All-Star Break. Here are a few more details in this article. I like Tanner’s Brandon Moss projection of 29 bombs to lead the Indians in the power department.
Yan Gomes is probably my favorite high-end fantasy catcher in 2015. I think he will lead the position in homers without hurting your team’s rate stat in the slightest. Even though my ideal catching target is Travis d’Arnaud, I would have no problem landing the Indians’ backstop around the 10th round.
Tanner Bell of Smart Fantasy Baseball has created all of the projections seen in this post. You can read about how he develops his projections here. His projections are invaluable to this site. You can also visit his site at www.smartfantasybaseball.com.