Cleveland Indians: The 5 Most Important Series of 2017
By Gregory Kula
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.