Cleveland Indians: Previewing the weekend series in Minnesota

Probable Pitchers

RHP Shane Bieber (CLE) vs RHP Jake Odorizzi (MIN)

Shane Bieber was called up to make his big league debut after being called up to Triple-A just over a month ago. This year between Double-A and Triple-A he is 5-1 with an ERA of 1.10 ERA in ten starts. He pitched a rain-shortened, seven-inning, no-hitter in his last Triple-A outing. Needless to say the 23-year-old has earned his big-league debut. He brings with him his fastball, slider, curveball and changeup.

He will be facing off against Jake Odorizzi, who lost to the Indians in the first Puerto Rico game. His ERA against the Tribe is 4.63, so needless to say the Indians have beaten up on Odorizzi. In fact, Odorizzi made his first MLB appearance against the Indians and was rocked for four runs over seven innings.

RHP Carlos Carrasco (CLE) vs RHP Jose Berrios (MIN)

Carlos Carrasco wasn’t his most efficient against the Astros, but he got the job done against a dominant lineup. Fortunately he has a knack for pitching well on the road. Carrasco has a 2.91 ERA on the road with a WHIP of 0.91. Carrasco pitched seven scoreless innings in that long 15-inning game against the Twins in Puerto Rico, where he allowed only three hits.

Jose Berrios will be making his second start against the Tribe. He matched Carrasco’s numbers in that game with seven scoreless, three-hit innings. Fortunately for the Indians, their lineup is hitting much better now than they were in April.

RHP Trevor Bauer (CLE) vs RHP Lance Lynn (MIN)

Trevor Bauer is actually in the Cy Young conversation at the start of June. Granted he has a ways to go before catching up to the likes of Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber. Still, Bauer is playing some pretty dang good baseball. He was another victim of a great Astros lineup but pitched deep into the game before the bullpen gave away his chances of a win. That said, Trevor Bauer has been lights-out on the road this year with an ERA of 1.97.

Lance Lynn has only faced the Indians once in his career. He fared very well by pitching six scoreless against the Tribe for the win. He got off to a rocky start in 2018 but has won three of his last five starts. Lynn doesn’t allow a lot of home runs but he does walk a lot. The Indians are pretty good at taking advantage of walks with how hot their lineup has been.

RHP Mike Clevinger (CLE) vs RHP Kyle Gibson (MIN)

Mike Clevinger rebounded from his rough few weeks gracefully. He worked 6.1 innings of one-run baseball against the White Sox. He struck out seven in that outing and has a WHIP of 1.19. Mike Clevinger’s biggest problem has been the inability to work beyond the sixth inning recently. He’s been struggling by coming out in the seventh with a lack of control therefore allowing runners on to lead off the innings. Maybe after his rebound against Chicago he will find his groove (pun intended) against the Twins.

Kyle Gibson has struggled so far this year. He has yet to win a game and is 2-6 with an ERA of 5.82 in his career against the Tribe. Gibson simply allows a lot of hits in all of his starts. He doesn’t walk many or allow many home runs but he can’t keep people of the bases. He’s not a bad starter by any means, he has just been faced with troubles early on.