Cleveland Indians 2012 Preview

Written by The Sports Network

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - There wasn't a better story through the first four months of the season than the Cleveland Indians. But the story didn't end well.

Cleveland stormed out of the gate and into first place in the AL Central by opening with a 14-2 record at home and a 30-15 record through May 23.

It wasn't just that they were winning, it was the way they were winning. Mixed throughout the season were 36 comeback wins and 18 victories in the last at- bat. The Indians enjoyed 12 walk-off wins, including seven that came courtesy of walk-off home runs. That marked the most walk-off blasts in one season for the Indians since the team had nine such shots in the 1995 campaign.

Injuries, though, started to take their toll and the team struggled mightily in the second half, before ending the year 80-82, up 11 wins from 2010, but still a whopping 15 games back of American League Central Division champion Detroit.

The club used the disabled list 22 times and only had Hafner, Choo, Cabrera and Grady Sizemore -- Cleveland's four most established hitters -- in the same lineup for 17 games. In all, Tribe players lost 826 days due to time spent on the DL.

Injuries have already reared their ugly head this year, as Sizemore (of course), is out until June following back surgery, while closer Chris Perez might not be ready at the start of the season because of an oblique injury suffered early in spring training.

Hopefully that is not a sign of things to come for the rest of the team.

Below we take a capsule look at the 2012 edition of the Cleveland Indians, with a personnel evaluation and prognosis included therein:

2011 FINISH (80-82) - Second Place (AL Central)

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Cleveland Indians 2012 Preview