2012 Cleveland Indians season

The 2012 Cleveland Indians season was the 112th season for the franchise. The team attempted (but failed) to improve on its 2011 campaign in which was 80-82 and finished 2nd in the American League Central division. The team was also looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2007. The team played all of its home games at Progressive Field, which will be in its 19th season.

2012 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record68–94 (.420)
Divisional place4th
Other information
Owner(s)Larry Dolan
General manager(s)Chris Antonetti
Manager(s)Manny Acta
Sandy Alomar, Jr.
Local televisionSportsTime Ohio · WKYC
(Matt Underwood, Rick Manning)
Local radioWTAM · WMMS
Cleveland Indians Radio Network
(Tom Hamilton, Jim Rosenhaus)
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The Indians were in playoff contention for much of the first four months of the season. The team had a record of 44-41 at the All Star Break, and were just a few games back in both the AL Central and Wild Card races. However, the team struggled through the second half, going just 24-53 after the break, for a final record of 68-94, placing 4th in the division.

This marked the third and final season under the leadership of manager Manny Acta. Acta was fired on September 27 with six games remaining. Bench coach and former Indians' catcher Sandy Alomar, Jr. was named the interim manager for the team's final six games.

Spring training

The Indians had a 7–22 win–loss record in spring training, their .241 winning percentage being the worst among all MLB teams during pre-season. Three of their games finished tied and were therefore not included in the standings.[1]

Regular season

Opening Day lineup
  1. Michael Brantley – CF
  2. Asdrúbal Cabrera – SS
  3. Shin-Soo Choo – RF
  4. Carlos Santana – C
  5. Travis Hafner – DH
  6. Shelley Duncan – LF
  7. Casey Kotchman – 1B
  8. Jason Kipnis – 2B
  9. Jack Hannahan – 3B
Justin Masterson – SP

April

For the fourth straight season, the Indians would lose the season opener, in record fashion. The Indians played host to the Toronto Blue Jays and had a 4–1 lead before allowing the Blue Jays to even the score in the ninth-inning. The game would last 16 innings before the Indians fell 7–4 in what would be the longest season-opener in Major League history, besting the previous record of 15 innings (done in 1926 and 1960).[2] The next day when the clubs had finished their second meeting, a 7–4 win for Toronto in 12 innings, it was the first time since 1969 that two games to open the season had gone 12 innings or more.[3]

On the road against Seattle, the Indians had their largest comeback win since May 25, 2009 when they rallied from a 7-run deficit before eventually winning 11–10.[4] The Indians won two of three against the Oakland Athletics and thus for the first time since the 1988 won their first three road series on the year.[5]

After a 13–7 win over the Kansas City Royals, the Indians had for the first time in the club's 111-year history scored at least 8 runs in their first 3 road games of the season.[6] The team failed to hit a home run in 11 straight games to end April, the franchise's longest homer-less streak since the 1983 season when they went 14 games.[7]

The Indians would go 11–9 in the month, finishing with a ​1⁄2 game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. The team was 7–2 on the road.

May

The Indians started May with a stretch of 21 games in 20 days. The Indians went 13-8 in this stretch. The Tribe started the month on the road and when they won the third game of a three-game series with the Chicago White Sox, it was their fourth road series win in a row to start the season, which was last done by the 1961 Indians (although the 1961 club opened the season with a one-game "series" at Detroit).[8] They would lose their next road series to stop the streak, losing to the Boston Red Sox in three of four games. The club would have their first day off of the month on the 21st, and continued their good play with a home sweep over Detroit that would give the Indians a 3​1⁄2-game lead over second place Chicago and a 6-game lead over Detroit. However, this lead was short-lived as the Indians were immediately swept by Chicago in a three-game road series en route to ending May with losses in five of their last six games. Injuries contributed to this poor performance, as shortstop Asdrúbal Cabrera (hamstring), designated hitter Travis Hafner (knee), and catcher Carlos Santana (concussion) all suffered injuries late in the month. Despite being in first place during most of May, the attendance at Progressive Field was last in the majors.

June

The team started June at a 6-9 clip. The poor start was highlighted by a sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati June 12–14. However the Tribe would return the favor and sweep their in-state rivals at home, earning a split in the year's Ohio Cup. The rest of interleague play did not fare well as the Indians went 8-10 against the Senior Circuit. Near the end of the month, the Indians lost five straight games including being swept by the New York Yankees.[9] The Indians ended the month recording a season-high 19 hits in an 11-5 road win over the Baltimore Orioles to keep them from going below the .500 mark. The Indians went 12-15 in June and entered July with an overall record of 39-38, good for second in the Central, 2​1⁄2 games behind Chicago. Asdrúbal Cabrera led the team with 6 HR and 18 RBI in the month, while right fielder Shin-Soo Choo recorded a team-high 34 hits. Also during the month, center fielder Michael Brantley had a 22-game hitting streak, the longest in the MLB to that point in the season.

July

Shortstop Asdrúbal Cabrera and closer Chris Perez were named to the American League All Star Team on July 1. Cabrera participated in the game as a reserve infielder. Perez did not pitch in the game.

The Indians as a team struggled offensively for much of July, as the team scored three or fewer runs eight times in the first 13 games of the month. Cabrera and catcher Carlos Santana had the greatest slumps. Between July 1 and 22, Cabrera's average fell 28 points, from .300 to .272. Between May 15 and July 17, Santana was hitting .168 with no home runs. After a July 17 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the team batting average with the bases loaded fell to .193, the third lowest in the AL.[10] Second basemen Jason Kipnis, who had 46 RBIs heading into July, recorded 9 for the entire month while designated hitter Travis Hafner had 6.

However, the Indians' pitching staff, specifically the back end of the bullpen kept them in most games. The club has been able to rely on Perez and set-up man Vinnie Pestano to hold the lead in close games. To the July 17-point in the season, Cleveland held a 27-3 record in games which both Perez and Pestano saw action.[11] The Indians' woes continued in the latter half of the month, however, and ended July on a four-game losing streak, including losses to the Twins and Royals, both below them in the Central standings. The Indians' record fell three games under .500 for the first time since April 11. Starting pitcher Josh Tomlin, who went 2-5 with a 7.02 ERA in his last eight outings, was moved to the bullpen at the end of the month to take on relief pitching duties.[12]

August

The Indians ended a nine-game road trip with a loss on August 5, failing to win during a road trip of 9 games or more for the first time in franchise history.[13] The losing streak continued for two more home games and ended with a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on August 8. The 11 straight losses was one short of a franchise record. After the Indians lost a ninth-straight game on August 24, it marked the first time in franchise history two losing streaks of nine games or more had occurred within the same season.[14] Following a 5-3 loss to the Texas Rangers on August 31, the Indians finished the month at 5-24, tying a franchise record for the most losses in a month, originally set in July 1914.[15]

September/October

After a disastrous August, the Indians had a decent start to September, beginning the month 3-2 against eventual playoff teams Texas and Detroit. The Indians' struggles would continue, however. On September 27 the team fired manager Manny Acta and promoted bench coach Sandy Alomar, Jr. to interim manager for the team's final six games. Alomar, who was in contention for the Indians' managerial job in 2013, but lost the job to Terry Francona, led the Indians to a 3-3 record in these games.

The Indians wrapped up the season on October 3 with a shutout 9-0 loss at the hands of the visiting Chicago White Sox. The Indians finished 68-94, which was 4th place in the American League Central Division.

Season standings

American League Central
AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Detroit Tigers 8874 0.543 — 50–31 38–43
Chicago White Sox 8577 0.525 3 45–36 40–41
Kansas City Royals 7290 0.444 16 37–44 35–46
Cleveland Indians 6894 0.420 20 37–44 31–50
Minnesota Twins 6696 0.407 22 31–50 35–46

American League Wild Card
Division Winners W L Pct.
New York Yankees 9567 0.586
Oakland Athletics 9468 0.580
Detroit Tigers 8874 0.543
Wild Card teams
(Top 2 qualify for 1-game playoff)		 W L Pct. GB
Baltimore Orioles 9369 0.574 —
Texas Rangers 9369 0.574 —
Tampa Bay Rays 9072 0.556 3
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 8973 0.549 4
Chicago White Sox 8577 0.525 8
Seattle Mariners 7587 0.463 18
Toronto Blue Jays 7389 0.451 20
Kansas City Royals 7290 0.444 21
Boston Red Sox 6993 0.426 24
Cleveland Indians 6894 0.420 25
Minnesota Twins 6696 0.407 27

Game log
Legend
 Indians win
 Indians loss
 Postponement
BoldIndians team member
2012 Game Log

Player stats

Batting
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB
Jeremy Accardo 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scott Barnes 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Michael Brantley 149 552 63 159 37 4 6 60 .288 12
Asdrúbal Cabrera 143 555 70 150 35 1 16 68 .270 9
Russ Canzler 26 93 9 25 3 0 3 11 .269 0
Luke Carlin 4 14 2 3 1 0 0 1 .214 1
Ezequiel Carrera 48 147 20 40 6 3 2 11 .272 8
Lonnie Chisenhall 43 142 16 38 6 1 5 16 .268 2
Shin-Soo Choo 155 598 88 169 43 2 16 67 .283 21
Aaron Cunningham 72 97 5 17 4 0 1 7 .175 0
Johnny Damon 64 207 25 46 6 2 4 19 .222 4
Juan Díaz 5 15 4 4 0 0 0 0 .267 0
Jason Donald 43 124 18 25 2 1 2 11 .202 4
Shelley Duncan 81 232 29 47 10 0 11 31 .203 1
Jeanmar Gómez 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .250 0
Travis Hafner 66 219 23 50 6 2 12 34 .228 0
Nick Hagadone 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Jack Hannahan 105 287 23 70 16 0 4 29 .244 0
Ubaldo Jiménez 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Jason Kipnis 152 591 86 152 22 4 14 76 .257 31
Casey Kotchman 142 463 46 106 12 0 12 55 .229 3
Matt LaPorta 22 58 2 14 2 0 1 5 .241 0
Brent Lillibridge 43 111 15 24 5 0 3 8 .216 6
José López 66 213 16 53 13 0 4 28 .249 0
Derek Lowe 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 0
Scott Maine 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Lou Marson 70 195 27 44 8 2 0 13 .226 4
Justin Masterson 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Thomas Neal 9 23 2 5 1 0 0 2 .217 0
Chris Perez 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Vinnie Pestano 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Cord Phelps 14 33 2 7 0 0 1 5 .212 0
Esmil Rogers 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.000 0
Vinny Rottino 18 28 4 3 1 0 1 2 .107 1
Carlos Santana 143 507 72 128 27 2 18 76 .252 3
Tony Sipp 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Joe Smith 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Josh Tomlin 2 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 .400 0
Totals 162 5525 667 1385 266 24 136 635 .251 110

Pitching
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
Jeremy Accardo 0 0 4.58 26 0 0 35.1 19 18 16 28
Cody Allen 0 1 3.72 27 0 0 29.0 12 12 15 27
Jairo Asencio 1 1 5.96 18 0 0 25.2 17 17 8 21
Scott Barnes 0 0 4.26 16 0 0 19.0 9 9 7 16
Jeanmar Gómez 5 8 5.96 20 17 0 90.2 66 60 34 47
Nick Hagadone 1 0 6.39 27 0 1 25.1 18 18 15 26
Roberto Hernández 0 3 7.53 3 3 0 14.1 15 12 3 2
Frank Herrmann 0 0 2.33 15 0 0 19.1 5 5 4 14
David Huff 3 1 3.38 6 4 0 26.2 14 10 5 19
Ubaldo Jiménez 9 17 5.55 31 31 0 176.2 116 109 95 143
Corey Kluber 2 5 5.14 12 12 0 63.0 44 36 18 54
Derek Lowe 8 10 5.52 21 21 0 119.0 79 73 45 41
Scott Maine 1 2 10.50 9 0 0 6.0 7 7 3 6
Justin Masterson 11 15 4.93 34 34 0 206.1 122 113 88 159
Zach McAllister 6 8 4.24 22 22 0 125.1 78 59 38 110
Chris Perez 0 4 3.59 61 0 39 57.2 25 23 16 59
Rafael Pérez 1 0 3.52 8 0 0 7.2 3 3 4 4
Vinnie Pestano 3 2 2.57 70 0 2 70.0 20 20 24 76
Esmil Rogers 3 1 3.06 44 0 0 53.0 19 18 12 54
Chris Seddon 1 1 3.67 17 2 0 34.1 15 14 13 18
Tony Sipp 1 2 4.42 63 0 1 55.0 29 27 23 51
Joe Smith 7 4 2.96 72 0 0 67.0 27 22 25 53
Josh Tomlin 5 8 6.36 21 16 0 103.1 74 73 25 56
Dan Wheeler 0 0 8.76 12 0 0 12.1 12 12 7 2
Totals 68 94 4.78 162 162 43 1442.0 845 769 543 1086

Roster
2012 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager
  • 15 Sandy Alomar, Jr.

Coaches

  • 15 Sandy Alomar, Jr. (bench)
  • 64 Armando Camacaro (bullpen catcher)
  • 60 Francisco Morales (bullpen catcher)
  • 10 Steve Smith (third base)

Notes/Records
  • On April 5, the Indians and Toronto Blue Jays set the Major League record for the longest Opening Day game, a 16-inning, 7–4 Indians loss.
  • On April 16, the Indians set a franchise record by scoring 8+ runs in their first three road games. On April 18, they extended the record to four games.
  • On May 7, Zach McAllister recorded his first career win and Nick Hagadone recorded his first career save, the first time for Indians pitchers in the same game since 1993.
  • On May 15, Derek Lowe pitched a complete game shutout without recording a strikeout, the first time an Indians pitcher did so since 1973.
  • On May 17, Travis Hafner broke a franchise record (Nap Lajoie) with his 80th career hit-by-pitch.
  • On May 22, Vinnie Pestano broke a franchise record for relievers (Paul Shuey), recording a strikeout in 22 consecutive appearances. On May 23, he extended the record to 23 consecutive appearances.
  • On May 29, Luke Carlin reached base on errors three times, the first time an Indians player did so in one game since 1973.
  • On June 15, Michael Brantley extended his hitting streak to 22 games, the longest for the Indians since 2007.
  • On June 19, trailing 2-1 in the 10th, shortstop Asdrúbal Cabrera hit a walk-off home run off of Cincinnati Reds' closer, Aroldis Chapman to defeat the Reds 3-2.
  • On July 1, Asdrúbal Cabrera and pitcher Chris Perez were selected for the All-Star team, the second selection for both players.
  • On August 5, Travis Hafner hit his 200th career home run.

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Columbus Clippers International League Mike Sarbaugh
AA Akron Aeros Eastern League Chris Tremie
A Carolina Mudcats Carolina League Edwin Rodríguez
A Lake County Captains Midwest League David Wallace
A-Short Season Mahoning Valley Scrappers New York–Penn League Ted Kubiak
Rookie AZL Indians Arizona League Tony Medrano

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Akron

References
  1. "Spring Training Standings". MLB. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  2. "Blue Jays outlast Indians in 16th of record opener". SportsIllustrated.CNN.com. Associated Press. April 5, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
  3. "Blue Jays topple Indians 7-4 in 12 innings". SI.com. Associated Press. April 6, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
  4. "Vargas leads Mariners past Indians 4-1". SportsIllustrated.com. Associated Press. April 18, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
  5. "Indians win again on the road, beat A's 5-1". SportsIllustrated.com. Associated Press. April 21, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
  6. "Hafner hits long homer, Indians sweep Royals". SportsIllustrated.CNN.com. Associated Press. April 15, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
  7. "Indians' Lowe beats error-prone Angels 4-0". Sports.Yahoo.com. Associated Press. April 29, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  8. "Kipnis powers Indians past White Sox 7-5". Sports.Yahoo.com. Associated Press. May 4, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  9. Freeman, Rick (June 27, 2012). "Pettite fractures fibula in Yankees' 5-4 win". Sports.Yahoo.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  10. Pluto, Terry (July 17, 2012). "Cleveland Indians fail to take advantage of opportunities, lose to Tampa Bay Rays". Plain Dealer. Cleveland.com. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  11. Bastian, Jordan (July 17, 2012). "Bullpen comes through for Tribe vs. Rays". MLB.com. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  12. Bastian, Jordan (August 1, 2012). "Indians can't come back after Lowe's short outing". MLB.com. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  13. Bastian, Jordan (August 5, 2012). "Tribe's skid hits nine in extra-innings loss". MLB.com. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  14. Bastian, Jordan (August 24, 2012). "Try as they might, Indians can't get untracked". MLB.com. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  15. Bastian, Jordan (August 31, 2012). "Indians rally late but drop sixth straight". MLB.com. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
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