Cleveland Indians 2019 Betting Odds, Preview: Can the New-Look Tribe Coast to Another Division Title?
Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports. Pictured: Terry Francona.
- The Cleveland Indians will have their normal starting rotation back, but will have several new players in their starting lineup and will be without both Andrew Miller and Cody Allen in the bullpen.
- Since their pitching is still so good and their division is so bad, they still have a win total of 91 games and are heavy favorites to win the AL Central.
- They will need Jason Kipnis to produce to take some of the pressure off of Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, as their lineup does not have much depth after that.
Original analysis published on Feb. 20.
The 2019 Cleveland Indians are in a strange spot. They’re easily the best team in their division and are once again among the preseason World Series contenders. At the same time, they’ve reportedly shopped their ace Corey Kluber and 2018 breakout arm Trevor Bauer this offseason.
They will look very different in 2019. The days of Andrew Miller followed by Cody Allen to close out games are over. Their starting lineup will have four or five new faces in it every day.
Can the “New Indians” put up another 90-win season and contend for a title, or will they struggle (and probably still win the division)?
2018 Results
- Record: 91-71 (-18.8 units), 75-87 ATS (18.5 units)
- Over/Under Record: 76-75-11
- Preseason World Series Odds: +735
- Win Total: 94.5
- Most Profitable Starter: Shane Bieber (13-6, +3.2 units)
The Indians have been among the top World Series contenders for the past few years, but underwhelmed last year despite winning 91 games and easily taking home their division.
Since they were often massive favorites, they were a very unprofitable team despite their record. They were dogs just 17 times during the season, giving bettors very few plus-money payout opportunities.
Against their division, the Indians went 49-27, but bettors still would have lost about four units if they took them for all those games. They were favored in literally every game against the Royals, Tigers, Twins and White Sox, and were -200 or higher in 44 of the 76 games.