- Joined
- Oct 3, 2019
- Messages
- 10,386
- Reaction score
- 29,787
- Points
- 135
Eight days until the trading deadline and the Tribe returns home for a four-game series against the 57-39 Rays, who trail the first place Red Sox by one game. The Rays are 27-21 on the road. They have some injuries, notably to starters Glasnow and Archer. C Mike Zunino and Yandy Diaz are listed as day-to-day.
The Rays went 3-0 against the Indians in Tampa just before the break. The Indians starters that series were Mejia, Allen, and Hentges. Only Mejia will start this series.
The Rays are a quality team across the board, ranking 4th in the A.L. in scoring at 4.88 runs per game, 3rd in ERA, and 4th in fielding (errors per game). They have won 7 of 10.
In the three-game sweep in Tampa the Rays hit .322/.957. Manuel Margot went 4-for-4. Kevin Kiermaier went 4-for-7 with 5 RBI's. Brandon Lowe had two home runs and five RBI's while Yandy went 3-for-8 with 4 RBI's. However, they won't get Allen and Hentges this time.
Mike Zunino is hitting only .196 but has 19 HR's. Lowe is hitting .214 with 21 HR's. They have some guys who are gettable but punish mistakes. Austin Meadows is hitting a modest .240 but has 65 RBI's. The Rays rank 12th in batting average but are 4th in runs per game. Part of the reason is they're 3rd in walks per game, which offsets the low batting average. You have to throw strikes. Their on-base percentage in the first series was .388.
Tonight Cal Quantrill faces Luis Patino, age 21, who is 1-2 with a 4.87 ERA in 20.1 innings. He's started four games; the last two he gave up 9 runs in 8.2 innings. He looks like a young kid who they just want to go five decent innings. He's definitely a fly ball pitcher (39/17 FB/GB) but he's only allowed three home runs. The key is to get on base; batters are hitting .400 off him with RISP. His road ERA is 7.71 against 1.04 at home, so that's in the Tribe's favor although the samples are very small.
Quantrill is coming off a good start where he held the A's to one run in five innings. He has improved in each of his last three starts. Tonight's matchup probably favors the Indians.
Tomorrow Plesac goes against Rich Hill according to ESPN, but Hoynes has their starter as either LHP Josh Fleming (7-5, 3.93) or an opener. Hill is not on the injury report so I don't know who will be pitching.
Fleming has started seven games and relieved in eight. Fleming has been more effective as a reliever and his road ERA is 6.35 versus 1.83 at home. Fleming has allowed 17 runs in his last three starts so it's seems unlikely they would start him over Hill.
Hill, age 41, is 6-4, 3.87. He went 3.1 innings against the Indians in the first series, allowing one run. Neither one is going to pitch deep into the game.
Plesac went six innings against Oakland in his last start, allowing two runs. This matchup should favor the Indians whether it's Fleming, Hill, or a bullpen game for Tampa.
Saturday it's Mejia taking another stab at it against LHP Ryan Yarbrough, 6-4, 4.59. Yarbrough's ERAs the last three months are 3.42, 4.91, and 5.17, so he's trending the wrong direction. In his 14 starts (in 19 appearances) opposing batters are hitting .270/.764 and .307 with runners on base. The Orioles got six runs in 5.2 innings in his last start. Right-handed hitters have a .767 OPS against him. He's definitely hittable. (Hoynes has either Hill starting or a bullpen game).
Mejia has been a train wreck, allowing 16 earned runs in his last 11 innings covering three starts. He started against the Rays on July 7, allowing 6 runs in 2.2 innings. Lefties killed him. In the first inning he walked Choi, hit Meadows, then gave up a single and double to Brujan and Kiermaier - all lefties. In the third he gave up a hit to Wendle, a righty, but walked Meadows and gave up a home to Kiermaier for three more runs. He'll face the same lineup in all probability so he needs to have a better plan to attack those lefties.
Sunday it's McKenzie against Shane McClanahan (according to ESPN) or Yarbrough or an opener (according to Hoynes). If McClanahan starts he's another lefty, age 24, 4-3, 3.88. He's allowed 14 earned runs in his last seven starts, so he's been pitching great lately. He beat Baltimore Tuesday so Sunday would be his next start.
McKenzie went four innings in his last start against Houston, giving up five runs. Through the first four innings he allowed two runs, both on Altuve solo homers, but then the roof caved in when he had to go through the batting order for the third time.
If the Indians can go 2-2 in this series to finish 5-5 against Oakland, Houston, and Tampa I think they will be pretty happy with that. Whether that will make them buyers at the deadline is the question. Civale is supposed to start throwing off a mound this weekend. If we get strong performances from Quantrill, Plesac, and McKenzie to go along with Morgan's solid effort against Houston last night there may still be some hope.
With the strong possibility of three lefty starters for Tampa the Indians need guys like Franmil, Jose, Amed Rosario, Harold Ramirez, Cesar, Clement, Chang and Mercado to step up. I could see Mercado in for Zimmer and Chang for Bradley when the lefties start. Hopefully the home cooking will result in a lot of hits.
Edit: I would not be surprised to see a lineup of nine right-handed batters when their lefties start. It would be Harold, Mercado, and Reyes in the outfield; Clement, Amed, Cesar, and Chang in the infield, Perez/Hedges at catcher, and Jose at DH. I don't know if Tito could stand to put Reyes and Harold in the OF at the same time, though, so he might go with Zimmer in center and Mercado in for Harold in left.
The Rays went 3-0 against the Indians in Tampa just before the break. The Indians starters that series were Mejia, Allen, and Hentges. Only Mejia will start this series.
The Rays are a quality team across the board, ranking 4th in the A.L. in scoring at 4.88 runs per game, 3rd in ERA, and 4th in fielding (errors per game). They have won 7 of 10.
In the three-game sweep in Tampa the Rays hit .322/.957. Manuel Margot went 4-for-4. Kevin Kiermaier went 4-for-7 with 5 RBI's. Brandon Lowe had two home runs and five RBI's while Yandy went 3-for-8 with 4 RBI's. However, they won't get Allen and Hentges this time.
Mike Zunino is hitting only .196 but has 19 HR's. Lowe is hitting .214 with 21 HR's. They have some guys who are gettable but punish mistakes. Austin Meadows is hitting a modest .240 but has 65 RBI's. The Rays rank 12th in batting average but are 4th in runs per game. Part of the reason is they're 3rd in walks per game, which offsets the low batting average. You have to throw strikes. Their on-base percentage in the first series was .388.
Tonight Cal Quantrill faces Luis Patino, age 21, who is 1-2 with a 4.87 ERA in 20.1 innings. He's started four games; the last two he gave up 9 runs in 8.2 innings. He looks like a young kid who they just want to go five decent innings. He's definitely a fly ball pitcher (39/17 FB/GB) but he's only allowed three home runs. The key is to get on base; batters are hitting .400 off him with RISP. His road ERA is 7.71 against 1.04 at home, so that's in the Tribe's favor although the samples are very small.
Quantrill is coming off a good start where he held the A's to one run in five innings. He has improved in each of his last three starts. Tonight's matchup probably favors the Indians.
Tomorrow Plesac goes against Rich Hill according to ESPN, but Hoynes has their starter as either LHP Josh Fleming (7-5, 3.93) or an opener. Hill is not on the injury report so I don't know who will be pitching.
Fleming has started seven games and relieved in eight. Fleming has been more effective as a reliever and his road ERA is 6.35 versus 1.83 at home. Fleming has allowed 17 runs in his last three starts so it's seems unlikely they would start him over Hill.
Hill, age 41, is 6-4, 3.87. He went 3.1 innings against the Indians in the first series, allowing one run. Neither one is going to pitch deep into the game.
Plesac went six innings against Oakland in his last start, allowing two runs. This matchup should favor the Indians whether it's Fleming, Hill, or a bullpen game for Tampa.
Saturday it's Mejia taking another stab at it against LHP Ryan Yarbrough, 6-4, 4.59. Yarbrough's ERAs the last three months are 3.42, 4.91, and 5.17, so he's trending the wrong direction. In his 14 starts (in 19 appearances) opposing batters are hitting .270/.764 and .307 with runners on base. The Orioles got six runs in 5.2 innings in his last start. Right-handed hitters have a .767 OPS against him. He's definitely hittable. (Hoynes has either Hill starting or a bullpen game).
Mejia has been a train wreck, allowing 16 earned runs in his last 11 innings covering three starts. He started against the Rays on July 7, allowing 6 runs in 2.2 innings. Lefties killed him. In the first inning he walked Choi, hit Meadows, then gave up a single and double to Brujan and Kiermaier - all lefties. In the third he gave up a hit to Wendle, a righty, but walked Meadows and gave up a home to Kiermaier for three more runs. He'll face the same lineup in all probability so he needs to have a better plan to attack those lefties.
Sunday it's McKenzie against Shane McClanahan (according to ESPN) or Yarbrough or an opener (according to Hoynes). If McClanahan starts he's another lefty, age 24, 4-3, 3.88. He's allowed 14 earned runs in his last seven starts, so he's been pitching great lately. He beat Baltimore Tuesday so Sunday would be his next start.
McKenzie went four innings in his last start against Houston, giving up five runs. Through the first four innings he allowed two runs, both on Altuve solo homers, but then the roof caved in when he had to go through the batting order for the third time.
If the Indians can go 2-2 in this series to finish 5-5 against Oakland, Houston, and Tampa I think they will be pretty happy with that. Whether that will make them buyers at the deadline is the question. Civale is supposed to start throwing off a mound this weekend. If we get strong performances from Quantrill, Plesac, and McKenzie to go along with Morgan's solid effort against Houston last night there may still be some hope.
With the strong possibility of three lefty starters for Tampa the Indians need guys like Franmil, Jose, Amed Rosario, Harold Ramirez, Cesar, Clement, Chang and Mercado to step up. I could see Mercado in for Zimmer and Chang for Bradley when the lefties start. Hopefully the home cooking will result in a lot of hits.
Edit: I would not be surprised to see a lineup of nine right-handed batters when their lefties start. It would be Harold, Mercado, and Reyes in the outfield; Clement, Amed, Cesar, and Chang in the infield, Perez/Hedges at catcher, and Jose at DH. I don't know if Tito could stand to put Reyes and Harold in the OF at the same time, though, so he might go with Zimmer in center and Mercado in for Harold in left.
Last edited: