Cleveland Indians: Previewing the series against the Detroit Tigers

The Cleveland Indians hit the road again as they return to division play. The Tribe will start a series of games against the division starting with the rival Tigers.

It was a bizarre start to the second half for the Cleveland Indians. They played three road games followed by three home games. The MLB schedule now pits the Indians against a series of division rivals. It starts with the Detroit Tigers who have completely fallen off the map.

The Tigers were vying for the lead in the AL Central just a few months back. Now they are 12.5 games back and are likely to sell at the upcoming deadline. They don’t have much to play for at this point nor does anybody in the AL Central aside from the Indians.

Here is how they stack up in what could be a lopsided affair this time around.

Projected Lineups

Cleveland Indians (55-46) vs Detroit Tigers (44-60)

Cleveland Indians: SS Francisco Lindor, LF Michael Brantley, 3B Jose Ramirez, DH Edwin Encarnacion, 1B Yonder Alonso, RF Melky Cabrera, 2B Jason Kipnis, C Yan Gomes, CF Tyler Naquin

Detroit Tigers: CF Leonys Martin, 2B Niko Goodrum, RF Nicholas Castellanos, C John Hicks, DH Victor Martinez, 3B Jeimer Candelario, 1B Jim Adduci, SS Jose Inglesias, LF Victor Reyes

The Tigers have had some struggles at the first base position since the injury to Miguel Cabrera. They’ve been starting Jim Adduci who has a .219 batting average in just 14 games played since coming up from Triple-A Toledo.

As for the Indians, the Pirates did a good job of keeping the Indians offense in check. Jose Ramirez was held hitless in that series, but he’s still walking as well as anybody in the majors and he earned four more in that series.