Cleveland Indians Fantasy Report: Week 3- Return of the Tigers

Week 3 is coming and Wahoo’s on First has your Indians fantasy analysis

With week two of the season in the books and week three on the horizon, lets take a look at some of the newsworthy things out of the week before getting to a preview of the Cleveland Indians week ahead.

That’ll leave a mark! 

What was going to be a great 2 start week for Carlos Carrasco quickly turned ugly as he got hit in the face by a line drive off the bat of Melky Cabrera in his start against the White Sox last Monday. Carrasco was taken to the hospital and given x-rays and concussion tests. He, quite luckily, passed all of the tests, walking away with only a jaw contusion. TJ House was pushed back to replace his start on Sunday and Danny Salazar was brought up to pitch Saturday. Everything appears to be ok with Carrasco, the only thing is soreness in the are where the ball hit him. Terry Francona was even making jokes

Carrasco was originally announced to be starting Monday and Cleveland Indians beat reporter Jordan Bastian has said on Twitter Sunday that Trevor Bauer and Carrasco are going to swap days. Bauer will now be the starter on Monday, Carrasco Tuesday.

"Indians are flip-flopping Carrasco and Bauer in rotation. Bauer will start Monday in Chicago. Carrasco will start on Tuesday now. — Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) April 19, 2015"

Apr 18, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Danny Salazar (31) pitches against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Sensational Salazar start on Saturday Danny Salazar was recalled from Triple A Columbus and started for the Indians on Saturday against Minnesota. He pitched extremely well, going six innings and striking out 10 batters on 104 pitches. According to BrooksBaseball.net, Salazar got 23 swings and misses, looking like the starter that we saw in 2013, rather than the wild pitcher we saw over the spring. Terry Francona has said Salazar is up to stay, and that Zach Mcllister will be used as a “weapon” put of the bullpen

Bauer finally gives up a hit After opening the season with 6 no-hit innings against the Houston Astros, Trevor Bauer picked up where he left off and no hit the White Sox for three innings before giving up a single in the 4th to Jose Abreu. Bauer was dominant again, keeping hitters off-balance with a mixture of pitches all day. He will pitch against them again on Monday, hoping to see those results continue. 

Apr 4, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer (47) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers at Maryvale Baseball Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

 Week 3 Preview! Finally a normal week. After only 5 games in week 2, the Cleveland Indians have a 6 game slate, all of them on the road. Carrasco was originally scheduled for a 2 start week and that is now in jeopardy with his move to Tuesday. Skipping TJ House or Salazar could happen, especially after a shaky start by House on Sunday in Minnesota, but seems unlikely as the front office is skipping Carrasco for health, not preference. Bauer would more than likely claim the 2 start week, one against the Chicago White Sox and one against the Detroit Tigers.  Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field is a hitter friendly park, ranking 2nd in the majors, with only Colorado ahead of it. This should not be much of a problem, as Bauer, Carrasco and ace Corey Kluber are the scheduled pitchers. The Cleveland staff has the highest number of strikeouts and Bauer is tops in the league in K/9 rate, while Chicago has struck out the 2nd most of any team in the AL. This bodes well for a couple good fantasy matchups for the fantasy relevant three.  The White Sox will bring John Danks, Hector Noesi and Jeff Samardzija to the mound to face the Tribe. Danks was on the losing end of the Bauer blowout, and gave up 4 runs in only 4.2 innings. He will face a lineup likely to have Brantley back, but could see Brandon Moss on the bench since this will be the only lefty of the week for the Tribe. Noesi has only pitched once this season, throwing 4.2 IP against the Twins. He struck out six batters but also walked six batters. Samardzija was one of the key additions for the White Sox this winter and has had mixed results. He has a 0-1 record and a 4.29 ERA, but has 14 strikeouts and only 3 walks in 21.0 IP. 

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Cleveland will be looking for revenge after the series with the White Sox when they travel to Detroit.

Comerica Park

in Detroit  has a reputation for being a pitcher-friendly ballpark, but actually ranks fairly neutral, according to ParkFactors.com. Cleveland will miss

and

this time through Detroit, with

scheduled for Friday,

on Saturday and the ever elusive TBD throwing on Sunday. It’s possible that spot is set aside for

, but its more likely going to be

. Greene and Simon have both pitched well this season, but both have higherFIPs than their respective ERAs which would indicate that they are getting bailed out by better defense than they are pitching.  Could this be the week that Cleveland turns it around and rips off a winning streak? They face only one nominal “ace” inSamardzija and with only one lefty scheduled against them, they will (hopefully) get into a groove.