No one could have seen this coming.
The Indians have been suffering injuries almost from day one of spring training, a sure fire way for a young team that underwent another offseason of roster moves to not have a very good team.
Instead, it's been a surprisingly fun and productive run thus far for the Tribe, as they enter play on Wednesday evening with a mark of 36-28, eight games over .500.
The team is really the only team that appears they will challenge the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central, entering play 4.5 back for the division lead.
The Kansas City Royals are 30-36, and don't appear to have what it takes from a consistency standpoint to challenge for the division or AL Wild Card.
The Tigers and Twins are bringing up the rear, with maybe the biggest shock in all of baseball being Minnesota, who sit at 26-41, 16 games back of the White Sox.
The Indians have had moments where it looks like they may run out of gas, and that may still happen, but as game 64 approaches Wednesday, it looks lke Terry Francona is pushing all the right buttons - again.
The starting pitching rotation is taking a beating right now, the latest being last year Cy Young award winner Shane Bieber being shut down due to a shoulder issue.
We've already seen the likes of starters inclduing Logan Allen, Sam Hentges, Jean Carlos Mejia and Cal Quantrill take the bump to start a game - something many didn't think they would see in 2021.
Combine the young pitching showing promise along with an offense that has had plenty of ups and downs, and the Tribe truly is playing better baseball than many could have expected.
From a histortic point of view, how good have the Indians been two and a half months into 2021?
How about this team having their BEST 64-game mark in 14 years dating back to the 2007 campaign.
Let's see how it all plays out - but it's been a fun ride to this point - and per usual Francona and the team seem to be right in the mix to be playing October baseball.
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