Cleveland Indians vs. LA Angels series preview

Storylines

Can the Indians bullpen bounce back?

The Indians bullpen saw action in two games so far. One was an incredible outing featuring Zach McAllister, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen. The other performance cost the Indians a win on Sunday as Dan Otero and Tyler Olson allowed the Mariners to take the lead with two home runs given up in the seventh. The pen will be given a major test against a strong Angels lineup.

Will we see Shohei Ohtani in the lineup for LA?

The phenom two-way player had an incredible pitching outing on Sunday earning his first win in the bigs. But the Indians won’t see him pitch this series. There is a chance they will see him hit, however, as he was the Angels DH on Friday. In his debut as a DH he was 1-5 with one strikeout. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him batting on Tuesday or Wednesday after having time to rest from his pitching debut.

Best Worst Outcome

Best outcome 2-1 series win/ Worst outcome 1-2 series loss

It’s hard to see the Indian’s getting a series sweep against a hard-hitting Angels lineup. 2-1 feels like a more reasonable outcome for this series that sees the bottom half of the Tribe rotation making their debut while two of the LA pitchers will be making their second starts.

Next: 3 takeaways from the 5-4 loss on Easter Sunday

IF  Cleveland drops this series the hot takes will be out in full force before the Tribe even play their home opener. Again, a series loss isn’t the worst thing in the world for the team, but it wouldn’t do much for fan morale. But as long as Kluber is starting a game it is still hard to see the team face a dreaded sweep.