Putting the current Cleveland Indians offense into historical perspective

Before this season began, most of the projection models liked the Cleveland Indians offense well enough. Not as good as the pitching staff obviously, but not too terrible overall. And most national newsstand publications had the Tribe near the bottom of the division because of their offense, or lack of it in their eyes.

With the season just over a third of the way over, we can do an easy extrapolation. Now, of course, this is not fully accurate depending on changing playing time, slumps and forbidding any injuries. But it is a simple exercise nonetheless. All data was calculated through the end of the Mariner series in Seattle.

Two players are on pace right now for over 700 plate appearances -- Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor. The last player to have more than 700 PA for the Indians was Grady Sizemore who did it from 2005-2008. This has only happened 33 times in club history and only once did three players reach that plateau in the same season, 1982 (Toby Harrah, Andre Thornton, and Mike Hargrove). The last pair to reach 700 was Kenny Lofton and Albert Belle in 1996.

Mike Napoli and Lindor are both on pace for 104 runs scored, which would land them just outside the Top 50 in club history. The Tribe hasn't had anyone break 100 since Asdrubal Cabrera and Sizemore accomplished it in 2008.

Jose Ramirez is on pace for 143 games played, which is remarkable considering he was supposed to be the utility guy heading into the season. He is obviously now a super-utility player. He is also on pace for 41 doubles, which would rank 48th all-time in club history.

And will the meme finally die in 2016? Mike Napoli is on pace for 38 home runs while Santana, yes that guy, is on pace for 27 homers. The last player to outperform the meme was Grady Sizemore with 33 in 2008. That means we haven't seen a 30 homer season in just shy of a decade.

Napoli is also on pace to drive in 118 runs, which would be tied for 27th all-time with Earl Averill in 1930 and Ken Keltner in 1948. The Indians haven't broken 100 RBI since the glory season of 2007 when Travis Hafner drove in 100 and Victor Martinez knocked in 114.

Rajai Davis is on pace for 38 steals, which would tie for 21st overall. Kipnis did break 30 in both 2012 and 2013 and Sizemore did as well in 2007 and 2008, but before that you have to go back to Robbie Alomar in 2001.

Napoli is also on pace for a most dubious honor. He already has a whopping 84 strikeouts. That puts him on pace for a massive 230 Ks, which would shatter Jim Thome's record of 185 in 2001. He would also be in play to break the MLB record of 223, which was done by our old friend Mark Reynolds in 2009 when he was a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

From a team standpoint, the only statistic they lead the league in is sacrifice flies, with 22. That projects to 60 for the season. They are also averaging 4.7 runs/game, which hasn't happened for the Tribe since 2009. They are on pace for 30 triples, which hasn't been done since 2005. And they are also on pace for 186 homers, which was last bested by the 2006 team with 196. The team is also on pace for 1315 strikeouts, which would beat the team mark of 1283 in 2013.

So all in all, the Tribe offense is having one of its best seasons in years, and all without Michael Brantley no less.