Ready to Fly

Getting so close to a championship looks to be his springboard to the next level.

- Dave Sliepka

Heading into the 2017 season, Francisco Lindor appearing on the covers of major sports magazines is not unexpected. Coming off a highly successful 2016 campaign, he and his Cleveland Indians showed they are on the move upward. In his first full season with the Indians, Lindor made the American League All-Star team and led the franchise into its first World Series in 19 years. At the plate, Lindor batted .301 with 182 hits in 604 at-bats, 99 runs scored and 78 RBI. He added 30 doubles, and hammered 15 home runs with 19 stolen bases.

There was no letup in his first ever postseason. There he was one of the leaders of the Tribe, with a .310 average, 6 RBI and a .820 OPS. As sweet as all that would sound toa Cleveland fan in 2015, they now know the heartbreak of falling one game short of a World Series title. We’ve been busy talking this past fall and winter about Kris Bryant, Ben Zobrist and Anthony Rizzo, but we very easily could have been talking about Rajai Davis, Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor. Just one game, or even a few outs away.