Cleveland Indians: Previewing the homestand against the Pirates
Storylines
Okay bullpen, you can start being good now.
Turns out you can’t just trade for two pitchers and hope it instantly improves your bullpen. We’re likely to see more of Brad Hand and Adam Cimber in this series and they weren’t bad by any means in their first appearance. But Oliver Perez and Neil Ramirez were not very effective in yesterday’s game.
Cody Allen pitched just one out and the bullpen allowed an extra run on Saturday night. One thing that has been a surprise is Zach McAllister‘s last two games. he’s pitched two clean innings and worked out of a bases loaded jam on Friday night in extra-innings. Andrew Miller is still pitching rehab games in Columbus but we could see his return as soon as next week.
Worse/Best case scenario
Worse case: 1-2 series loss
The Pirates have won nine games in a row. A sweep here would put them at 12 in a row. But I don’t see a sweep happening here. They haven’t faced a rotation as dominant as the Indians’ since this streak started. Not to mention the Indians are putting two of their best pitchers on the mound in this series. But the Pirates are playing good baseball and they’re perfectly capable of winning this series.
Best case: 2-1 series win
The aforementioned goes for the Indians as well. They’re playing good baseball and can take this series but the Pirates aren’t just going to waltz into Cleveland and be swept with as well as they’ve played. This all makes for a fun series that can hopefully be a statement win for the Indians.
Next: The day the Indians pitched to Babe Ruth
The series kicks off tonight at 7:10 PM EST and continues into Wednesday afternoon. The Indians will then get an off day before hitting the road once again.