A month ago, any baseball fan would have said the Dodgers were the best team in the league, followed perhaps by the Astros.
Oh, how quickly things change.
Yes, the Dodgers still have the best record in baseball, but the Indians have won 22 games in a row to narrow the gap, and the Nationals are not far behind, despite a crush of injuries.
So who is the best team in baseball as of Sept. 15? We asked our staff that very question.
Who is the best team in baseball?
Joe Lucia: I think the answer is Cleveland, and not just because of the winning streak.
The Indians brought back nearly the same team that won the World Series last year, replacing Mike Napoli in the lineup with Edwin Encarnacion and getting a full year of Andrew Miller in relief. They essentially have six viable starting pitchers right now, but Danny Salazar and Josh Tomlin will likely end up pitching out of the bullpen in the playoffs (to add to a loaded relief corps that includes Miller, Cody Allen, and Bryan Shaw, who have all been dominant this season).
Their offense is also pretty great, and the team can roll out a lineup that includes seven or eight guys with a wRC+ above 100.
Oh, and there’s that whole winning streak thing, which has (currently) bumped them ahead of the Astros for the AL’s top seed, meaning that instead of an ALDS matchup with the Red Sox (who the Indians easily handled last year), they’ll get the Wild Card, a much easier matchup.
If they’re able to keep everyone on the field, I think Cleveland is going to coast over the final couple weeks of the season and through the playoffs.
Matt Clapp: This question is all about timing. Over the full season, it’s probably been the Dodgers. But right now, the Indians are the best team in baseball. And they very well may be the team best built to win in the playoffs anyway.
This winning streak has been completely absurd, and while there always has to be some good fortune involved with a large winning streak in baseball, they’ve full-on earned this streak. Their ERA over the 22-game streak has been under 2.00 and they’ve outscored opponents 142-37. And this is with relief ace Andrew Miller not pitching since August 21. He’s just now coming off the disabled list, making the team even scarier on paper.
Overall on the season, the Indians’ pitching staff has the best ERA (3.35) and FIP (3.38) in the majors. They strike out more hitters than any team (10.01 K/9), they walk fewer hitters than any team (2.59 BB/9), and give up the fewest home runs (1.03 HR/9). They have the second-best pitcher in baseball this season in Corey Kluber, another ace-level arm in Carlos Carrasco, and again, their bullpen now gets star reliever Andrew Miller back into the fold.
Cleveland is an elite unit offensively, with a .791 OPS and 106 wRC+ (both rank second in MLB). This is an extremely well-rounded team, and the team to beat right now.
Jay Rigdon: Well, Cleveland basically doesn’t lose anymore. That should probably count for something. They’re playing otherworldly baseball.
over the last 21 games cleveland’s staff has pitched 190 innings, so basically a full individual season. their ERA over that stretch is 1.47
— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) September 15, 2017
Which brings us to the recency bias debate; the Dodgers were amazing for a very long time, and then they lost a ton of games in a row, while Cleveland has a real shot at breaking a record that’s stood for more than 100 years. (By some measures they already have.) So how much should you weight recent results? I think it’s fair to go ahead and give Cleveland the nod, even though they’re clearly not going to keep up anything close to this pace.
Probably.
Deesha Thosar: This is going to sound like the easy answer, but the Indians really are the best team in baseball. Look deeper into the Tribe’s record-breaking 21-game win streak and we find a rotation that simply cannot be permeated. Corey Kluber leads the AL in eight different categories, including best ERA (2.44) and average allowed (.191), while tying teammate Trevor Bauer for most wins (16). Indians’ bats steamrolled through tough division opponents like the Yankees and Orioles, collectively putting up 41 homers on a .305 BA in these seemingly flawless last 21 games. We shouldn’t erase the Dodgers, Astros or Nationals in this discussion… but the Indians will be the best team in baseball even when the consecutive win streak inevitably comes to an end.
Ian Casselberry: It feels too easy to say the Cleveland Indians because of their record winning streak, but does any team look better right now? I still think the Dodgers are the team that’s best built for the postseason, especially with their deep bullpen and bench. But the Indians are strong in those areas too, along with a lineup that features more power and speed, and gets on base more. They also have the best player among the two teams in Francisco Lindor, who doesn’t seem to be getting nearly as much acclaim as he should be. And at this point, Cleveland has the best starting pitcher with Corey Kluber, who’s pitching even better than Clayton Kershaw.
No, a team isn’t going to win a World Series simply on the strength of one spectacular player and pitcher. And a team that’s playing well now won’t necessarily play well in October. But the Indians made a World Series run last year with a manager who has loads of experience in the postseason. This will be familiar for most of those players. The Dodgers, meanwhile, were chasing history before September and are how faced with questions as to how it all could have fallen apart so quickly. Those questions will only intensify if they don’t win the World Series.
Alex Putterman: I’ve read all of these Indians-loving answers, and… I’m going to play devil’s advocate a little.
It’s easy to call Cleveland the best team in baseball when all of their pitchers are putting up Kershaw-caliber stat lines, two or three of their hitters are playing like MVPs and they’re pulling out every close game they wind up in. But, as the Dodgers have shown recently, that kind of other-worldly performance over weeks and months is not sustainable. You know how Alex Wood and Chris Taylor have been hit with the inevitable regression that follows breakout performances? Well the same thing is coming for Mike Clevinger and Trevor Bauer. You know how Justin Turner’s MVP-level performance was never going to last? The same can be said of Jose Ramirez. You know how the Dodgers seemed to get zero breaks whatsoever during their downturn? That happens sometimes.
When you broaden the lens and look at the Indians’ and Dodgers’ full resumes, Los Angeles is at least right there with Cleveland, with an all-world ace, a star shortstop, a breakout third baseman, six or seven capable starters, a tough bullpen and a lineup without many holes. The Indians are surging while the Dodgers are coasting. That won’t continue forever.
