Cleveland Indians Roundup: Indians Win 14th Straight Game; Jay Bruce Not a Good Fit; Draft Notes

Cleveland Indians win 14^th straight game to set a new team record

The Cleveland Indians made history last night when they broke the all-time team record with their 14^th straight win. It took 19 innings for the Tribe to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 in a game that lasted 6 hours and 13 minutes. After the victory, the Indians pushed their lead to six and one-half games with the potential to make it seven should the Kansas City Royals lose to the Philadelphia Phillies. 

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Josh Tomlin gave another great outing last night, and the one run allowed proved to be the most that the team could afford. Over six innings he struck out eight batters while allowing just seven hits and two walks. The right-hander exited the game with an impressive earned run average of 3.21, although advanced metrics suggest that he may be somewhat worse than that lofty mark.

The only two runs the Indians could muster came in the 3^rd and the 19^th innings. The first of the two came on a sharp ground ball up the middle by Jason Kipnis that scored Carlos Santana. Santana also scored the winning run on a line drive home run late in the night, sparing any more damage to the exhausted pitching staff. Seven relievers entered the game for the Indians before they turned to Trevor Bauer for the last five innings.

On another topic, I argued that acquiring Jay Bruce would be a mistake for the Cleveland Indians. With the Cincinnati Reds likely to be sellers at the trade deadline, Jay Bruce said that he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause in a trade to a contender. This has led some pundits to suggest that such a deal could work between the Reds and the Indians, but they are wrong.

Jay Bruce would barely be worth his salary with the Indians, and that excludes the lost value of the prospects included in a deal. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that he would be much of an upgrade considering his defensive problems and the relative strength of the outfield. Attempting to find a place for him on the roster yielded nothing making a trade worth pursuing.

Finally, Matt Bretz did a status update on the Cleveland Indians’ top draft picks. After signing their fourth round pick, Shane Bieber, the Indians have signed all ten of their top 11 picks. Now, only second round pick Nolan Jones remains to be signed.

Jones has always seemed to be the toughest sign of all the players the Indians drafted, but the Tribe has saved quite a bit of money with their other signings. As things currently stand, they have $763,800 to spend in addition to the $1,159,200 slot value. The Indians might need to use a fair portion of that amount to lure the high school graduate away from college, especially since he was considered to be a top-25 talent. The biggest reason why he fell to the 55^th overall pick is because teams assumed he would be hard to sign.

More from around the American League Central:

Cleveland Indians Win Team Record 14^th Straight in Marathon – Wahoo’s on First

Cleveland Indians: A Jay Bruce Acquisition Makes Little Sense – Wahoo’s on First

Cleveland Indians Draft Update: All But One Top Pick Has Signed – Wahoo’s on First