- Joined
- Oct 3, 2019
- Messages
- 9,859
- Reaction score
- 28,245
- Points
- 135
As the smoke clears from the big Clevinger trade it's time to get back to work. The Indians play a 3-game series against the 13-21 Royals who have lost 9 of 13. They are weak offensively, ranking 25th in runs per game. To add to the problem, Salvador Perez is on the IL. He's hitting .307/.837 from the cleanup position so they'll miss his bat and glove behind the plate.
The Royals' pitching is not bad, ranking 12th in team ERA. Could be another low-scoring series. The Royals scored five runs in three games against the Indians in the first series of the year. You have to avoid making a mistake in a close game against Merrifield or Soler, who have 7 and 8 home runs, respectively.
Tonight it's Bieber, who held them scoreless in the season opener while striking out 14, against Brad Keller, 3-1, 2.08. Keller was unscored on in his first three starts covering 17.2 innings before getting tagged for 5 runs in 4 innings in his last start against the Cardinals.
Tomorrow we get the return of Zach Plesac, stepping in for Clevinger, against Jakob Junis, 0-0, 4.26. Junis has started three games, pitching a total of 12.2 innings. They don't let him get too deep into a game. His max pitch count was 76.
Wednesday it's McKenzie against lefty Danny Duffy, 2-2, 4.11 in seven starts. Duffy has a career ERA of 3.98. He started the opener against Bieber and gave up two runs in 4.2 innings. He has only made it through the sixth inning once in seven starts.
I don't think the Royals are as bad as their record suggests. They are the only team in the A.L. Central below .500 so their schedule has been challenging. They're 5-5 against the Twins. They don't like the Chicago teams having gone 1-4 against the Cubs and 1-5 against the White Sox. Against everybody else they're one game under .500. If they play us the way they played the Twins for 10 games this will be a tough series. Plesac hasn't pitched in a real game for over three weeks. When Clevinger came back he struggled for the first few innings.
The Indians will hopefully get a boost from Josh Naylor, who I assume with bat 7th. That spot in the lineup has been a black hole this year.
With Allen being traded and Mercado and Zimmer in Eastlake we only have one center fielder at the moment. I'm surprised they haven't brought up Mercado and let Sandy Leon go.
The Royals' pitching is not bad, ranking 12th in team ERA. Could be another low-scoring series. The Royals scored five runs in three games against the Indians in the first series of the year. You have to avoid making a mistake in a close game against Merrifield or Soler, who have 7 and 8 home runs, respectively.
Tonight it's Bieber, who held them scoreless in the season opener while striking out 14, against Brad Keller, 3-1, 2.08. Keller was unscored on in his first three starts covering 17.2 innings before getting tagged for 5 runs in 4 innings in his last start against the Cardinals.
Tomorrow we get the return of Zach Plesac, stepping in for Clevinger, against Jakob Junis, 0-0, 4.26. Junis has started three games, pitching a total of 12.2 innings. They don't let him get too deep into a game. His max pitch count was 76.
Wednesday it's McKenzie against lefty Danny Duffy, 2-2, 4.11 in seven starts. Duffy has a career ERA of 3.98. He started the opener against Bieber and gave up two runs in 4.2 innings. He has only made it through the sixth inning once in seven starts.
I don't think the Royals are as bad as their record suggests. They are the only team in the A.L. Central below .500 so their schedule has been challenging. They're 5-5 against the Twins. They don't like the Chicago teams having gone 1-4 against the Cubs and 1-5 against the White Sox. Against everybody else they're one game under .500. If they play us the way they played the Twins for 10 games this will be a tough series. Plesac hasn't pitched in a real game for over three weeks. When Clevinger came back he struggled for the first few innings.
The Indians will hopefully get a boost from Josh Naylor, who I assume with bat 7th. That spot in the lineup has been a black hole this year.
With Allen being traded and Mercado and Zimmer in Eastlake we only have one center fielder at the moment. I'm surprised they haven't brought up Mercado and let Sandy Leon go.
Last edited:
