From Almonte to Zimmer: Ranking the Previous 10 Indians Opening Day Lineups

We don't yet know where 2020 will rank in the history of Indians opening day lineups, but what if you were tasked with ranking the previous 10? Would you account for injuries? Would you adjust for the opposing hurler? And what method would you use to grade them?

Maybe the real championship was the lineups they made along the way.

After all, who could forget the 2016 World Series squad for the Indians, which began the season with Collin Cowgill and Marlon Byrd in their opening day order? Or Tyler Naquin striking out three times in the three-hole last season?

OK, any memory loss was probably self-inflicted.

Daily lineups, despite their ability to raise blood pressure, are often pretty forgettable and overblown, and the starting nine teams use coming out of spring training typically morph and change by mid summer -- if not sooner.

In a few weeks, Cleveland will have another opening day lineup to add to the franchise record books. Some of the past orders have terrorized opposing pitchers. Others have terrorized Indians fans. And each was just the first of 162.

We don't yet know where 2020 will rank in the history of Indians opening day lineups, but what if you were tasked with ranking the previous 10? Would you account for injuries? Would you adjust for the opposing hurler? And what method would you use to grade them?

Well, since this is my list, I'll set the rules.

We will only be allowed to judge the lineup on the field -- sorry, no Francisco Lindor in the 2019 batting order on opening day. If the Indians started the season against a lefty, that's the platoon lineup which will be assessed. 

Then, we will add up the total wins above replacement (via BR) for that group, stacking lowest to highest. If a player starts the season with the Indians and eventually ends up elsewhere, we'll only account for their WAR with Cleveland.

Got it? OK, let's begin.

10th: 2010 (10.2 WAR)

-April 5, 2010: 6-0 loss to White Sox

1. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS (1.4)

2. Grady Sizemore - CF (-0.4)

3. Shin-Soo Choo - RF (5.9)

4. Travis Hafner - DH (2.4)

5. Jhonny Peralta - 3B (1.8)

6. Matt LaPorta - 1B (-0.3)

7. Mark Grudzielanek - 2B (0.2)

8. Lou Marson - C (0.4)

9. Michael Brantley - LF (-1.2)

Michael Brantley: Nine-hole hitter. What a time to be alive. Shin-Soo Choo's best WAR season of his career highlights a group of familiar names that had unremarkable seasons, as Manny Acta's first opening day lineup found scoring runs to be as difficult as spelling "Grudzielanek."

Eric Stamets (Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)

9th: 2019 (11.8 WAR)

-March 28th, 2019: 2-0 loss to Twins

1. Leonys Martin - CF (-0.3)

2. Jose Ramirez - 3B (3.3)

3. Tyler Naquin - RF (1.4)

4. Carlos Santana - 1B (4.5)

5. Hanley Ramirez - DH (-0.2)

6. Jake Bauers - LF (-0.6)

7. Roberto Perez - C (3.9)

8. Brad Miller - 2B (0.3)

9. Eric Stamets - SS (-0.5)

Yeah, so this isn't exactly fair. No Francisco Lindor. No Jason Kipnis. Jose Ramirez hit more like Neil Ramirez in the first half. But depth is part of planning, and this lineup doesn't even account for Carlos Gonzalez, who was designated for assignment last year one day after hitting cleanup. 

Oh, and here's a fun fact: Miller finished with a total 1.4 bWAR between Cleveland and Philadelphia last season (and wasn't pleased when the Indians let him go). Kipnis, the man Miller was briefly replacing, was credited with 0.5.

8th: 2014 (12.2 WAR)

-March 31, 2014: 2-0 win over Athletics

1. Nyjer Morgan - CF (0.2)

2. Nick Swisher - 1B (-1.2)

3. Jason Kipnis - 2B (0.5)

4. Carlos Santana - 3B (2.6)

5. Michael Brantley - LF (6.7)

6. Ryan Raburn - DH (-1.5)

7. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS (1.0)

8. David Murphy - RF (-0.5)

9. Yan Gomes - C (4.4)

*Spits out coffee* Nyjer Morgan! Now there's a name I've not heard in a long time [Obi-Wan Kenobi voice]. Morgan subbed briefly for the injured Michael Bourn. *Spits out more coffee* Santana at third! That experiment, of course, didn't last long. Most notable, though, outside of the MVP caliber season Brantley was about to have, was Swisher. This was the beginning of the end.

Rajai Davis (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)

7th: 2016 (14 WAR)

-April 5, 2016: 6-2 loss to Red Sox

1. Rajai Davis - CF (0.6)

2. Jason Kipnis - 2B (4.2)

3. Francisco Lindor - SS (5.9)

4. Mike Napoli - 1B (1.2)

5. Carlos Santana - DH (3.2)

6. Yan Gomes - C (-0.7)

7. Marlon Byrd - RF (0.3)

8. Juan Uribe - 3B (-0.5)

9. Collin Cowgill - RF (-0.2)

Byrd. Uribe. Cowgill. That trio gives new meaning to the sarcastic (and tired) Twitter responses of "WORLD SERIES!" to every less-than-enthusiastic offseason move. Hey, guy ... sometimes! This lid-lifting lineup didn't feature Ramirez, Tyler Naquin and Lonnie Chisenhall, who would each play a vital role in helping the Indians ultimately reach the fall classic.

T-5th: 2011 (14.1 WAR)

-April 1, 2011: 15-10 loss to White Sox

1. Michael Brantley - CF (2.1)

2. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS (4.7)

3. Shin-Soo Choo - RF (1.6)

4. Carlos Santana - C (4.1)

5. Travis Hafner - DH (1.6)

6. Orlando Cabrera - 2B (-0.9)

7. Austin Kearns - LF (-0.6)

8. Matt LaPorta - 1B (-0.8)

9. Jack Hannahan - 3B (2.3)

It wasn't that long ago, but Santana serving as the Tribe's catcher feels like a different lifetime in a parallel universe. Also, as the tale goes, Orlando Cabrera was partially to credit for Asdrubal Cabrera's power surge in 2011. So, if the elder Cabrera really did convince the younger Cabrera to hit for more power, perhaps it was one of the better sub-replacement level seasons to date. Sorta.

Yan Gomes (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

T-5th: 2015 (14.1 WAR)

-April 6, 2015: 2-0 loss to Astros

1. Michael Bourn - CF (0.4)

2. Jason Kipnis - 2B (4.6)

3. Michael Brantley - LF (3.4)

4. Carlos Santana - DH (1.0)

5. Yan Gomes - C (0.7)

6. Brandon Moss - RF (-0.6)

7. Ryan Raburn - DH (0.9)

8. Lonnie Chisenhall - 3B (2.3)

9. Jose Ramirez - SS (1.4)

Ahh, yes. This was before Lindor made his debut later that season (he needed that bit of minors seasoning after all -- and it had nothing to do with service time, duh). Moss was expected to bring some needed middle-of-the-order thump, but that party wouldn't arrive until the following season.

4th: 2012 (18.1 WAR)

-April 5, 2012: 7-4 loss to Blue Jays

1. Michael Brantley - CF (3.3)

2. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS (3.3)

3. Shin-Soo Choo - RF (3.6)

4. Carlos Santana - C (3.7)

5. Travis Hafner - DH (0.8)

6. Shelley Duncan - LF (-0.4)

7. Casey Kotchman - 1B (-0.9)

8. Jason Kipnis - 2B (3.9)

9. Jack Hannahan - 3B (0.8)

Any hope of catching the Tigers this season was erased by the abysmal August that got Acta fired. But opening day was a long way before that fateful 5-24 month, and this lineup was actually full of enough solid performances to keep them close for the first four months of the campaign. That didn't last, as they finished with their second-lowest run total of the past 10 seasons.

3rd: 2013 (20.3 WAR)

-April 2, 2013: 4-1 win over Blue Jays

1. Michael Bourn - CF (2.2)

2. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS (1.0)

3. Jason Kipnis - 2B (5.7)

4. Nick Swisher - 1B (3.6)

5. Michael Brantley - LF (2.7)

6. Carlos Santana - C (4.3)

7. Mark Reynolds - DH (-1.2)

8. Lonnie Chisenhall - 3B (1.3)

9. Drew Stubbs - RF (0.7)

Given this was Terry Francona's first opening day lineup as Indians manager and Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher were big offseason acquisitions, this opening day just carried a different look and feel -- and for good reason, given the team snagged a Wild Card slot by winning 10 in a row to end the season. 

Reynolds' hot start would have fans demanding Cleveland sign him long term (he successfully predicted his demise long before he was released in mid August). Meanwhile, Swisher's endless barrage of bros had yet to reach its expiration date, and the hope around the club didn't feel misplaced.

Yandy Diaz (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

2nd: 2017 (22.4 WAR)

-April 3, 2017: 8-5 win over Rangers

1. Carlos Santana - DH (3.4)

2. Francisco Lindor - SS (5.5)

3. Michael Brantley - LF (2.1)

4. Edwin Encarnacion - DH (2.8)

5. Jose Ramirez - 2B (6.9)

6. Yan Gomes - C (1.3)

7. Tyler Naquin - CF (0.1)

8. Yandy Diaz - 3B (0.3)

9. Abraham Almonte - RF (0.0)

Fresh off of their trip to the World Series, the Indians replaced Napoli with Encarnacion, Brantley was set to return after missing nearly a year with his shoulder issues and, as a result, the lineup felt like it was deep enough to crush any opposing pitcher. Diaz's biceps were even large enough to hide that Almonte was hitting behind the young third baseman in the opener.

That leaves us with ...

1st: 2018 (24.5 WAR)

-March 29, 2018: 2-1 loss to Mariners

1. Francisco Lindor - SS (7.9)

2. Jason Kipnis - 2B (1.6)

3. Jose Ramirez - 3B (7.9)

4. Yonder Alonso - 1B (1.6)

5. Edwin Encarnacion - DH (1.9)

6. Lonnie Chisenhall - RF (0.1)

7. Yan Gomes - C (2.6)

8. Tyler Naquin - RF (0.8)

9. Bradley Zimmer - CF (0.1)

Something, something, Alonso, something, something, Zimmer -- ahhhh, kidding. This demonstrates the benefits of having two near eight-win players -- Lindor and Ramirez -- in your opening day lineup. Also, this was also the first opening day lineup since 2010 to not feature Santana. The team disliked that feeling so much they made it a point to re-acquire him for 2019.

Even though this exercise was only to judge the lineups the Indians utilized on the first day of the season, there is something fulfilling about the top two lineups in total WAR -- 2017 and 2018 -- finishing tied for the most runs scored as a team over the past 10 years, each scoring exactly 818 runs.

If nothing else, it gave us a reason to think about some Hall-of-Fame level random ex-Indians. That's never a bad idea.

What method would you use to rank the opening day lineups? Let us know which were your favorites in the comments below.