Cleveland Indians: Previewing the weekend series against the Twins

The Cleveland Indians return home from a shaky road trip for a weekend showdown against their AL Central rivals, the Minnesota Twins.

It was certainly an interesting week in Chicago for the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe found themselves splitting their four-game series against the Chicago White Sox. The week was filled with runner’s stranded, few home runs, birds on the field, and some kind of bugs that were bigger than our lovable Cleveland midges.

Now we look forward to the weekend. The Indians will look to get some revenge on the Twins who lead the season series 4-2. The Twins still sit behind the Detroit Tigers in the division race, but everyone is chasing the Tribe. Cleveland sits at the top of the AL Central by 4.5 games; easily the largest lead for any division leader. That being said; if any team has Cleveland’s number, it’s the Twins.

The Indians are 14-11 against Minnesota since the start of 2017. It may not seem like much, but no other division foe comes close to the Twins when it comes to competition against the Tribe. The Indians will send some of their best to take the mound this weekend. The question is, which version of the Tribe offense will show up? Heres how the lineups stack up.

Minnesota Twins (29-36) vs Cleveland Indians (36-31)

Minnesota Twins: 2B Brian Dozier, DH Eddie Rosario, 3B Eduardo Escobar, 1B Logan Morrison, RF Max Kepler, LF Robbie Grossman, CF Ryan LaMarre, C Mitch Garver, SS Ehire Adrianza

Cleveland Indians: SS Francisco Lindor, LF Michael Brantley, 3B Jose Ramirez, DH Edwin Encarnacion, 1B Yonder Alonso, RF Lonnie Chisenhall, 2B Jason Kipnis, C Yan Gomes, CF Greg Allen

Probably the biggest story coming out of Minnesota is that Miguel Sano has been sent down. Not to Triple-A, or Double-A, no; Sano was sent all the way down to Single-A. This guy was almost voted an All-Star over Jose Ramirez last year.

Now to players who are actually on the Twins roster. Eddie Rosario is having himself an incredible season under the radar. His slash line of .348/.550/.898 is All-Star worthy, and he has played well against Cleveland batting .385 with four homers against them.

As for the Indians, their offense was in a slump this weekend, but their stars are still shining bright. Jose Ramirez is playing the best baseball of his career right now. It’s reflecting in his All-Star voting as he leads the AL in third base votes. Now the Indians may have the luxury of getting Tyler Naquin back in the lineup. He was batting .333 before hitting the DL last month.