Indians Dynamic Young Superstar SS Has Everyone Smiling

CLEVELAND - The Indians walked off the field early in July after a solid outing from their ace pitcher Corey Kluber. The Tribe Cy Young award winner from 2014

CLEVELAND - The Indians walked off the field early in July after a solid outing from their ace pitcher Corey Kluber.

The Tribe Cy Young award winner from 2014 had just thrown a masterpiece, holding the AL West leading Houston Astros in check as the Indians offense did just enough to earn a hard fought 2-0 win.

While the Indians were happy about a win, their rookie shortstop had just hit his low point when it came to trying to find himself at the plate.

Francisco Lindor was going through growing pains. He was scuffling at the plate, hitting just .205, but the team was set to be patient with a player they had invested so highly in.

From that point, the 8th pick of the Indians in the 2011 draft just went back to the basics, back to doing what he knew best, which is to focus and take each plate appearance one at a time and not look too far ahead.

Needless to say, it's paid off.

Following Wednesday night's win over the Royals 5-1 at Progressive Field, Lindor sat in front of his media flashing his infectious smile and talking about his big night on the plate in which he went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBI.

Lindor spoke about the turnaround, which for him actually started in AAA Columbus, and eventually staying focused and taking it one plate appearance at a time has started to pay off big time at the Major League level.

"It all started in the minor leagues, Rudy Odor (AAA Columbus hitting coach), he always helped me, he told me 'don't waste an at-bat,' my dad the same thing he tells me the same thing 'don't waste it,'" Lindor said.

"I get myself out a lot, and I am sure I am not the only one, pretty much everybody gets themselves out a lot, you got a good pitcher on the mound he's going to get you.

"Most of the time you are getting yourself out, your chasing, thinking something that you shouldn't be thinking, next thing you know you are all over the place and not focusing, giving it all you got on that one at-bat. That's what I am trying to do focus on that one at-bat, that exact moment, not waste it."

It's mature talk for a young player, one who went from hitting .205 back on July 7th to coming into Thursday's contest hitting .317 with nine homers and 41 RBI.

"I wasn't myself, I was trying to do a little too much," Lindor said.

"(I was) doing things I wasn't supposed to do in at-bats. The success I've been having, (Jason) Kip(nis) in front of me, (Michael) Brantley behind me, that's been helping me a lot."

His presence and play has been a reason for the teams' major turnaround to being a wild card contender, just three games back in the loss column.

He's gone from being a somewhat shy kid just finding his way in a locker room which at the time boasted a number of vets to a fun-loving guy who is having a blast like the last two weeks of his senior year of high school.

"Just be myself, learn from everybody else, learn from my mistakes, and keep putting in the work," Lindor said. "Eventually it was going to happen."

Manager Terry Francona has said more than once that the maturity of Lindor, and the way he's come out of his shell, has reminded him of when Dustin Pedroia arrived with the Red Sox in 2006 when Francona was the team's manager.

Pedrioa also took some time to get acclimated to playing in the Majors, but once he got into a groove, he became a superstar. Lindor is getting to that point even faster, as he leads all American League rookies in batting average.

"I don't play for Rookie of the Year, I don't play for MVP or for the RBI title, or for home runs or batting average or any of that stuff, I play for the love of the game, I play because I want to win, I play for my family, I want to represent my family, I have to make sure I represent them the right way," Lindor said.

Even when Indians fans seemed to think that despite calling for the wonderkid to be brought up to the Majors, maybe it was just too soon, and he needed more times in the minors.

That was then, this is now.

Lindor is the future, and based on his play on a nightly basis, it appears the future is now for the scrappy Indians who wake up today as more of a contender for a playoff spot than just about anyone felt they would be based on how they played the first three months of the season.

Wednesday he made a great diving play of a sharp ground ball off the bat of Alex Rios in the 5th. He flashed a smile after the play, in which he threw out Rios from his right knee. He even peeked at the scoreboard to see the replay.

"I've just never been a fan of a guy who makes a great play, and acts like he's done it 10,000 times," Lindor said. "Smile, that's what we play for, you've got to enjoy the game.

"A smile doesn't mean you are hot dogging it or disrespecting the game or anything like that."

Lindor, as Francona has said, should be confident. He's playing as well as anyone on the team, and is at the forefront of the push for the Indians which has fans excited for the last two weeks as well as the future of the position for the franchise.

For the 21-year-old, he may have had moments of struggle, but always believed in the process of working hard to get better - and now it's paying off.

"I believe in God, I believe in myself, eventually it was going to happen and if not I was still going to enjoy the game," Lindor said. "I could go 0-for-10 in one game, and if we win that night....I'm always going to have music so it's going to change my mood immediately."

For Lindor and the Indians, let's hope the music keeps playing into the second week of October.