1978 Cleveland Indians season

Offseason

 * December 5, 1977: Bruce Compton (minors) and Norm Churchill (minors) were traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Dave Rosello.
 * February 28, 1978: Tom Buskey and John Lowenstein were traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Willie Horton and David Clyde.
 * March 15, 1978: Rico Carty was traded by the Indians to the Toronto Blue Jays for Dennis DeBarr.
 * March 30, 1978: Dennis Eckersley and Fred Kendall were traded by the Indians to the Boston Red Sox for Rick Wise, Mike Paxton, Ted Cox, and Bo Díaz.

Regular season
On May 12, pitcher Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out Buddy Bell for the 2500th strikeout of his career.

Notable transactions

 * June 14, 1978: Dennis Kinney was traded by the Indians to the San Diego Padres for Dan Spillner.
 * June 15, 1978: Mike Vail was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Joe Wallis.
 * June 15, 1978: Joe Wallis was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Gary Alexander.
 * June 22, 1978: Bill Laxton was traded by the Indians to the San Diego Padres for Dave Freisleben.
 * June 26, 1978: Dennis DeBarr was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Paul Reuschel.
 * July 3, 1978: Willie Horton was released by the Indians.

Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Awards and honors
All-Star Game