Cleveland Indians vs. LA Angels series preview

Pitching Matchups

Mike Clevinger vs JC Ramirez

Mike Clevinger earned his spot in the Tribe rotation after a terrific spring training. He was 2-0 with an ERA of 3.79 and allowed only four home runs; an impressive feat considering how the ball flies out of the park in the Cactus League. Now he gets a chance to prove his doubters wrong by bringing the Indians back up to .500 in this young season.

Clevinger uses his four-seamer nearly three times as much as any other pitch. It has an average velocity of 93 MPH. That fastball results in a lot of ground balls while his slider causes more whiffs than most average pitchers.

JC Ramirez went 11-10 for the Angels last season and beat out the competition this spring to earn a spot in the Halos rotation. Since 2015 he has appeared in five games against the Tribe while losing his only start against Cleveland.

Josh Tomlin vs Garrett Richards

Seeing Josh Tomlin in the final rotation spot makes one wonder about his security in the rotation after the return of Danny Salazar from the DL. But that is a story for another article. Tomlin is coming off a 2017 season where he struggled early on and found his footing as the season went along. Tomlin is known for inducing a lot of fly balls; something that has made him susceptible to the long ball at times.

Garrett Richards is the first pitcher this season that has actually played a game that we can talk about. Richards blanked the A’s through four in the season opener but allowed back to back homers in the fifth. He wasn’t credited with the loss as the Halos forced the game into extra innings but it was anything but an ideal start for Richards.

Corey Kluber vs Tyler Skaggs

Corey Kluber pitched a complete game and allowed only six hits in his first start of 2018. I will not say his win-loss record. Okay fine, he lost. A home run to Nelson Cruz in the first inning on Opening Day cost Kluber a win. While the offense did little to help the Cy Young winner in the 2-1 loss, it was still a defeat for Kluber nonetheless.

Now Klubot will look to atone for his loss and bring the Indians back to Cleveland with a win. He will try to do so against an Angels lineup that has scored 22 runs in four games this season; albeit those runs came against a barren A’s rotation.

Skaggs earned the Angels their first win of the season in an impressive outing against Oakland on Friday. He allowed three hits in 6.1 innings without allowing a run. A matchup between these two projects to be another low scoring affair to cap off this series.