Cleveland Indians: Previewing the three-game series against Texas

Storylines

Two teams with a lot of injuries

These two teams know a lot about using the disabled list. On top of the aforementioned players on the Rangers DL, they also have Carlos Tocci and Tim Lincecum along with three other pitchers down due to injury. The Indians have Andrew Miller, Lonnie Chisenhall and Danny Salazar all on the DL. All three of them play key roles for this Indians team, and it has shown that the team misses them.

Can the Indians find other ways to score

It’s fun to watch your favorite team sock five home runs in one night. It’s not fun when that is the only way that team seems to be able to score. The Indians are the most home run reliant team in baseball right now. Their 36 home runs are good for fourth in baseball. But the 92 RBIs are 26th in the majors.

That is a very extreme gap, and is not a formula for sustained success. If the Indians are going to get things going, they need to find ways to get hits with runners in scoring position; a problem that plagued the team early on last season as well.

Worse/Best case scenario

Worst case: 1-2 series loss- I still have a hard time seeing this team get swept. Especially to the 11-win Rangers and especially when they have Corey Kluber on the mound. Make no mistake, this Indians offense is in trouble, and the Rangers can score runs. Until the Tribe bats can come together, even a two-run lead feels insurmountable.

Best case: 2-1 series win- With the three pitchers the Tribe are bringing into this series, they could easily sweep. But as stated, they will continue to have trouble winning games until they can start hitting. Until then, it’s likely one of these incredible starters is going to have another hard-luck loss.

Next: Should we worry about Jason Kipnis?

The first game starts at 6:10 pm ET tonight and the series continues until Wednesday. After that the Tribe will play a makeup doubleheader against Toronto, in Cleveland.