Cleveland Indians: The 5 Most Important Series of 2017

@Orioles (June 19-22)

The Indians were simply terrible in 2016 against the Baltimore Orioles. They went 1-5 overall and lost all three games in Baltimore. Oddly enough, most of these games were close contests.

The Tribe was only outscored 31-25 in the season series against the Orioles, but this looks a lot closer due to the 11 runs scored in the Indians’ one win.

The Indians let the Orioles score five runs in all three home contests and this cannot happen again in 2017. In the two home losses to Baltimore, the Orioles scored six runs. Even in the Indians’ win, the Orioles scored four runs.

The Indians found every way to lose games against Baltimore last season with the lowest point coming in a walk-off home run in the ninth with two outs. This was definitely one of Cody Allen’s lowest moments of the season.

The Orioles may not be in the Indians’ division, but they hope to contend in the American League East against the Red Sox, Yankees, and Blue Jays. The Indians must win all their division games, but to gather the best record in the MLB, they have to beat semi-good teams like the Orioles.

With this series so early in the season, and with the way the Indians played on the road versus at home, they must find a way to squeak out a few more wins against teams that are not among the top teams. The Orioles are by no means bad, but they are much more beatable on a daily basis than the Red Sox or other top teams.

The Indians have to beat these teams throughout the entire season if they hope to regain their AL crown.

White Sox (September 29-October 1)

The last series of the season can either be very important or just a few games of AAA players showing off their skills. For the Indians last season, every game mattered. This season will most likely be the same.

This series is large not because of the opponent (the White Sox have started to completely rebuild with the Chris Sale trade and will look to beat out the Twins for last place) but rather because of the best record in the MLB.

The Cubs will win 90-100 games this season. The Red Sox will win somewhere near that as well. The Indians know their division will be easy to win, but their thirst for a title means they would love home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

With the final games for the Indians coming at home against an easy opponent, the Indians can make-up a few games if they need to catch to any teams.

The White Sox do not have much talent left on the field, and no one expects them to make any moves toward a division title in the next year. Other than Jose Abreu hammering every pitch off Indians pitchers, the White Sox have not played well against the Tribe in recent seasons. They were 8-11 versus the Tribe last season, but most of the wins for the White Sox came at the end of the season when the Indians were resting or hurt.

Plus, if the Indians are ahead (or if the best record is out of reach), these games will showcase the Indians teams to come with Bradley Zimmer, Greg Allen, and others taking the field.

If the Indians are ahead in the standings by enough, I hear Jason Giambi might sign a one-day contract just to hit another walk-off against Chicago.

Red Sox (August 21-24)

The Cleveland Indians hosting the Boston Red Sox has never been this special. The two best teams in the American League will meet in 2017 with two amazing additions (Edwin Encarnacion and Chris Sale) on squads that were already loaded last year.

With everyone picking either of these teams to take home the AL crown this coming season, this series could turn into an instant classic. Although the Red Sox host the Indians three weeks before this series, it will be in Cleveland where the two teams will meet for the final time in the regular season. A four-game series means the Indians and Red Sox will be able to showcase their starting rotation and entire team.

Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, and Josh Tomlin annihilated a healthy Red Sox. Now without their large bat in David Ortiz, the Red Sox must find a new identity and also find a way to beat the Indians.

These games will be packed and the atmosphere will be playoff-like. With a little over a month of the season to play, the division rankings will have started to taken their final shape, and this series will have everything riding on it.

The two series against Boston may be the toughest of the season, but as the Red Sox showed last year, their pitching does not do well under pressure.

A series win can lead to home-field advantage and an upper hand against Boston if there is a rematch.

Can Chris Sale pitch under pressure? Can the Indians continue to dominate the Red Sox or will they regress to normal Cleveland against Boston in the regular season? Will a lineup without Ortiz hold-up? Will the Indians pitchers be able to hold the Boston lineup to a few runs? Will the Red Sox adjust and win at Progressive Field?

This series will answer these questions and hundreds more.

Padres (July 4-6)

The Indians’ all-time record against the lowly San Diego Padres is 8-4.

This .667 win percentage is the best against any team in the MLB for Cleveland, and it has to continue this season. With this series coming right before a series against Detroit, the Indians can pick up a few wins and then not have so much pressure against the Tigers.

The Tigers series is the last before the All-Star break, so winning at least two games against the Padres (which seems simple) can help the team’s confidence going into the break.

The Indians need to beat-up on teams that are not the best because any win throughout the season counts the same in the standings.

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Writing this list, I could not name any Padres. I looked at their team roster and was not sure if it was real or was Backyard Baseball. When I did not see Reese Worthington or Pablo Sanchez, I realized it was in fact a Major League team.

There is not much to say about this series other than the Indians should sweep and go into Detroit with a head of steam.

This type of series should show how much better the Indians are than the bad teams in the MLB.

The Indians want to play with the best, so they must beat the worst. The Detroit series will be tough right before the break, but a series win against the Padres will improve the Indians margin for error going forward.

This may not seem as important as games against the top talent, but a win is a win…and this should be three easy ones.

@Detroit (May 1-4)

The number one series for the Indians this season is very early on in the year. At the start of May, they start a long road-trip at Detroit and it could set the tone for the rest of the season. The Indians play their division rivals for four games before going to Kansas City for three games and Toronto for three games.

In all, this week-and-a-half could be the Indians’ entire season. Although Detroit does not seem threatening after last year (the Indians went 14-4 against the Tigers), it is still division play, and the Tigers are one of the two teams that could stand in the way of the Indians coasting to another division title.

Detroit still has superstars in Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, and many others. This team has definitely aged in the past few seasons, but they are still a threat. Aside from the division rivalry, the fact that the Indians immediately go to Kansas City and Toronto makes these four games even more important.

Winning at least two games in Detroit is necessary to start the road trip. Kansas City looks to be back in the Wild Card conversation this season if healthy, so those games will also be hard-fought.
Then comes the first return to Toronto for Encarnacion. With last year’s defeat of the Blue Jays in the playoffs and the insanity that usually ensues in the Rogers Centre, those could also be difficult games.

The rule-of-thumb is winning at home and going .500 on the road. If the Indians can win three of four in Detroit, they would only need two more wins to go .500 on the trip.

On the flip side, a bad showing in Detroit could set a poor tone for the trip and lead to more losses in the next two cities.

This stretch of games is by far the toughest (if not because of the strength of teams but the meaning of the teams and them all being on the road) for the Indians this season.

Next: Could Tribe Have Interest in Wieters?

10 games is a huge swing in the MLB, and these specific 10 so early in the season could be the difference between the playoffs or disappointment. But, it all starts in Detroit.